Reagan appeared the next day.
『You guys done already?』[Reagan]
They sat there looking at him with a sour look.
『We finished a long time ago, just realized that having the modifier active doesn't make our shield change in color.』[Jenny]
When he heard this, he burst into laughter.
『Haha! That's a good lesson, huh? You learn from watching, but at the same time, you should learn from experience!』[Reagan]
Nova looked the most irritated of all.
『You wasted a week of our time because you didn't teach us to cast spells by memorizing circles. You wasted another week of our time because you didn't tell us that the shield wouldn't change color with the modifier on.』[Nova]
Reagan just held a smug smile on his face.
『You could have come to me for help any time. By the way, Raina says "Hi".』[Reagan]
『Wait. Is this because we made trouble for your wife?!』[Katherin]
He shrugged.
The class just looked at him in awe as he began to leave the classroom.
Nova stood up and yelled at him.
『Wait! Where do you think you're going?!』[Nova]
『I'll return when you start doing some ranking battles. I'm looking forward to it.』[Reagan]
That was when Nova realized something.
He silently pulled out his student id and queued up for a battle.
『Oops. I haven't been ranking.』[Nova]
The class looked at him with a confused expression.
….
Almost immediately, he had a match.
『Oh? When's the match?』[Nova]
He checked his phone and saw a message that told him to go to the sparring arena.
After a few minutes, he had arrived at the arena.
He looked around and found Professor Hayton standing at an empty arena.
『Ah, Nova again, yes?』[Professor Hayton]
He was surprised that he remembered him.
『Uh.. Yes! It's nice to see you again.』[Nova]
He nodded at Nova.
『Your opponent isn't here yet. I'll give you my utmost respect for your punctuality. Very fitting of a gentleman.』[Professor Hayton]
Nova was a little taken aback.
『Uh… Thank you.』[Nova]
Professor Hayton nodded his heads and looked at Nova with a kind smile.
Before long, a crowd appeared out of one of the exits.
『Hahaha! You gonna take this one out too?!』[Male Student]
『Of course! You can bet I'm gonna destroy them!』[???]
Nova vaguely heard that voice and was reminded of something.
『Hmm? Who is that?』[Nova]
The crowd slowly got closer and grew bigger.
『Hmm… They seem familiar.』[Nova]
Before long, the small group became bigger and bigger.
And as they got closer, Nova's eyes got larger and larger.
Standing there, was Trent, with an entourage of guys and girls.
『Haha! I'll clown this guy in 10 seconds flat!』[Trent]
『...』[Nova]
Something about the way Trent said that pissed Nova off.
『Is that so?』[Nova]
When Nova spoke, Trent looked up and saw him.
A pale look hit his face immediately.
『Yeah! He said he'd beat you in 10 seconds flat!』[Male Student]
The crowd got riled up.
『You're going down! Who do you think you are?!』[Male Student]
『Haven't you heard of Trent?! Haha!』[Female Student]
『I have.』[Nova]
They all laughed at Nova.
『Then, why haven't you surrendered yet?! Don't you know about his title?!』[Female Student]
Nova shook his head.
『In fact, I don't know his title. Can one of you please tell me?』[Nova]
A male student held his head high and laughed.
『Trent is called the "Immortal"! This is due to him being one of a healer! Do you know how rare a seed that can heal is?! It's insanely rare! Legend is, the "Conqueror" is the only other healer in our grade!』[Male Student]
Professor Payton looked into the distance with an aloof look and smiled.
『Hmm… I never knew that a healing seed was rare. That's interesting!』[Nova]
『So, do you want to surrender?』[Male Student]
Trent looked up at Nova with a confused look.
Nova murmured to himself under his breath.
『...Wait, I swear Jack has a healing seed skill... what the heck are they talking about...?』[Nova]
One of the entourage overheard and cut back at Nova.
『Who the heck is Jack?! Is there more people who have a healing seed?!』[Male Student]
Nova then connected that the most likely outcome was just that all of the first year's cards hadn't been revealed quite yet.
He then got onto the stage, feeling a bit bad for Jack.
『I'll win. Let's do this.』[Trent]
He seemed so confident, it made Nova wonder.
「We HAVE been training for the last month or so… Is it possible that he's stronger now?」[Nova]
Nova slightly raised his guard.
『Hmm… Alright. Then, are we ready to begin?』[Professor Payton]
Nova nodded and maintained his Torrential Rain Fist stance.
『Hahaha! What is that stance? Was he watching a Lin film? Hahaha!』[Male Student]
『I'm ready.』[Trent]
Professor Payton nodded his head.
『Begin.』[Professor Payton]
The moment Professor Payton said that Trent has rushed at Nova and landed a strong kick.
Or he would have- if Nova didn't have his mana shield ready ahead of time.
The moment Trent's foot landed on Nova's shield, he was sent flying a huge distance- even farther than Rai was sent the first time he attacked Nova's shield.
『Nice!』[Nova]
Because of the reinforced shield, it was clear that it could exert more force to fling Trent away.
And because of the shields that stacked together, he was sent flying.
Trent was sent flying above his group of friends and into another arena, kicking up dust.
『...Huh?!』[Male Student]
Professor Payton looked over to Trent and smiled until his eyes closed.
『Nova wins.』[Professor Payton]
The group of friends looked at Trent.
『Ugh… I guess they don't call him the "Conqueror" for nothing...』[Trent]
『Area.』[Nova]
『...The Conqueror?!』[Female Student]
She looked back, but Nova was already gone.
Professor Hayton looked back at the spot where Nova stood.
『Not bad, young lad. You beat him like a true gentleman.』[Professor Hayton]
He then looked into the distance again.
『...So, you have your eye on him, don't you?』[Professor Hayton]
Where Professor Hayton's eyes were looking, there was a large wall of Genesis Academy.