Aizen finally lost miserably in the sparring. He was sprawled on the training ground floor, out of breath. It was much different from the first sparring back then. But that didn't mean the fight was one-sided.
Ainkrad was also in no better shape than Aizen. He was sweating profusely and out of breath after successfully knocking Aizen down. He put all his strength into the sparring, even though it wasn't the full power of a Tier-9 Knight. Otherwise, the training ground room wouldn't be intact from the start of the battle.
"You exceeded my expectations. I don't think there's anything else I can teach. And this is the first time I've met a student who's not even a year old and has progressed as much as you."
Ainkrad praised Aizen. Previously, he had been in awe of what was shown at the competition festival. But during the sparring just now, he realized he still underestimated Aizen's growth ability. "That's why you should use 30 kg weights first before jumping far into 40 kg. No matter how talented and genius you are, nothing is instant. You still need to do it step by step." He reminded Aizen.
"Yes, sir! I will remember that." Aizen just smiled and answered like a textbook.
He knew that 30 kg of weight would be meaningless because of the changes he was going through physically. Even now, 40 kg of ballast felt just right for use in sparring.
Usually, every time he used those weights, he would find it difficult to carry out the daily activities the first time he used them. But the 40 kg weight did not give him difficulty when moving around, and he only felt the effect directly when fighting, even though he had just used it.
He thought maybe he should use 60 kg of weight instead of 40 kg. But remembering what Ainkrad had just said and what he had experienced in pursuing the trail of the organization, he decided not to rush things.
"Rest for 15 minutes. And come to my office later."
"Yes, sir," Aizen answered while getting up to sit after recovering his breathing.
Ayduin and the others entered the classroom training ground room and surrounded Aizen. They were amazed by the sparring. It was much different from the previous sparring. What just ended felt like a fight between two knights exchanging attacks with each other's fighting styles. It looked beautiful and inspiring, even if it was hard to follow with the naked eye.
"Are you wearing 40 kg weights? That's crazy."
"We still haven't graduated from using 10 kg weights. You must be having a hard time. But already able to keep up with Instructor Ainkrad in sparring. You're great!"
"That's right. Just compare it with Ayduin, who pretends to wear 20 kg weights. Now look, he's the weakest of us all."
"Shut up! Just wait another two weeks. You guys will eat the whole thing up."
"Ha ha ha."
"I can't wait to see you embarrass yourself later!"
Ayduin and the other students laughed heartily and merrily around Aizen. Although not close to each other. For them, Aizen had become their classmate despite having a bad start.
Deep down in Aizen's heart, he was also filled with joy amidst the newfound camaraderie. Having been in constant wars for almost 35 years, he continued to walk forward on that lonely and suffering path without knowing the warmth of companionship.
His companions, who were brought together in those wars, died one by one without achieving results in the struggle for the desired peace. In the end, he felt that the fate of the Azure Realm was an obligation he had to carry alone.
And that hadn't changed even today. Aizen still felt that he was the one destined to confront and stop the Omni War. He grieved in his heart and clenched his fists.
He got up and left the Class 3 students behind after taking his leave to Ainkrad's office. For some reason, he didn't feel like opening up to those kids, even though he knew he had to live his life in the present.
Fear still clouded his heart even though he didn't waver about his purpose. It was the fear of failure and the expectation of being successful. In spite of no one knowing the task, he was in charge of it.
And Ayduin was the only one who could sense Aizen's aloofness. He was thinking about what he should do for his friend not to be like that anymore.
Meanwhile, Aizen arrived at Ainkrad's office and accidentally found Principal Elric there as well.
"Student Barthomelo? Nice to meet you. This is our first time meeting. Isn't it? I am Raven Academy's principal, Kallias Elric."
Kallias introduced himself with his arms behind his back. He came because Ainkrad asked him to meet Aizen. He was intrigued by Aizen's abilities as a First Year student.
"My name is Aizen Barthomelo. Student of Class 3 of the Knight Division. Nice to meet you, Master Elric."
"Hoho. I am flattered to be called a master. Haven't heard that call in a long time."
Aizen greatly admired Raven Academy, and the figure he looked up to most in history was Kallias Elric. Although not a figure who raged during wartime, all of Kallias' achievements were not trivial.
Born as an ordinary person, no one would have guessed that Kallias would manage to reach the Arch Mage level at the age of 30. It was fast because Arch Mage was a challenging rank to achieve.
Arch Mage had a different ranking system from Apprentice Mage and Mage, where both ranks had nine levels. And the difference between one level was not too significant in terms of strength and ability.
As for Arch Mage, they only had seven levels, and the one-level difference would be noticeable in battle.
Kallias himself, at the age of 103, had reached the 7-Star Arch Mage. He was among the strongest mages in the Azure Realm. Just one step away from becoming the legendary mage, Grand Magus.
Mage and knight have different ratios. The mages were indeed superior to the knights in the number of people. But in the distribution of each level, knights were more balanced than mages.
Mages were more at the level of Apprentice Mage and Mage, with numbers reaching into the tens of thousands. Whereas Arch Mages were only in the hundreds, and Grand Magus was no more than three people In the Azure Realm.
For knights, their numbers were evenly distributed across Apprentice Knights, Knights, and Grand Knights, with thousands at each level. As for the Genesis Knights, there were only 10 or 20 of them in the Azure Realm.
Meanwhile, Kallias observed Aizen carefully and thoroughly. Somehow, ever since Aizen first entered, he felt a lump in his heart.
'This child is full of surprises. I feel the power of the magic spirit inside his body. Although it's faint, that's certain.
'Then, does that mean he's a knight who can use magic?'
Kallias was about to conclude it was impossible. But his mind was racing. He knew. Even if it never happened, it was theoretically possible. It was just that. It was never proven in reality and only became a discourse of discussion or, in theory, solely by knights who felt they could surpass a mage's abilities.
He threw those thoughts back because he didn't want to chat in Ainkrad's presence. Sending the instructor away for a private chat would be awkward at this point since Ainkrad needed him for something else.
"Ainkrad said that he wanted you to be a model student for the First Year Knight Division. Do you know what that means?"
Aizen lifted his face from his bow and looked at Kallias and Ainkrad together. "Students who have the privilege of not attending classes or lessons that year. In addition, will also gain access to the upper floors of the school library as well as obtain weapons or armor from the armory early than others."
"Indeed. But at the same time, you had the duty to succeed in the knight test during the remaining days of your model student. And this test is not for Apprentice Knights but for the Knight rank.
"Are you confident about that? Just a reminder before you make a decision. The Knight level test is different from Apprentice because it will be your starting point in walking the warrior path. When you fail, you have to wait a long time. And your student status will be suspended for two years.
"That's why many prefer to take the Knight's Apprentice test instead of the Knight because that level can be reached later after several achievements and requirements."
Kallias explained at length, even though in his heart, he already had expectations and wanted to see if Aizen was indeed able to use magic because of the help of a spirit. If only Ainkrad wasn't here now, he would have pulled Aizen into his office. And asked Aizen about the spirit magic he had sensed.
It also showed that information and news about spirits were rare and fascinating at the same time. As far as his life experience went, he had only seen spirit magic a few times and had never met anyone that merged with it despite hearing about that.
Aizen smiled and glanced at Kallias after receiving a sharp and serious look from Ainkrad. "I accept, and I'm fine for the Knight rank test."