Fast forward to an hour or so later, and Wang Jin was now in class. While on the way to the school, he had made a few detours in order to train his physicals.
A few laps around the main academy building was enough to make him feel tired, and Wang Jin could already feel his Agility stat increasing. It was only a matter of time before it would breakthrough to the next rank, from which he would then enjoy a big increase to his overall speed and reflexes.
Just as Wang Jin was about to drift off to sleep once again, Shiloh's figure walked through the door, garnering attention from the whole class.
She wasn't carrying any papers, so most of the class sighed in relief upon seeing that there wasn't going to be a theoretical exam.
Class 1-B could be said to be the more… practical of the classes. Sure, they were as bright as the others in terms of academics, but their passion for battles was simply unmatched.
With a devious smile plastered on her face, Shiloh clapped her hands together, and began announcing what the class would be doing for today.
"Right, so for now, the entirety of Class 1-B will be undertaking the Dive Exercise! This is so that we can train your stamina, so just power through it as best as you can."
Audible sighs of disapproval immediately echoed throughout the classroom. The Dive Exercise was well known around the academy for being a difficult and grueling program.
It was basically a more intense version of a popular training for marine and navial soldiers who were expected to be in the water for extended periods of time.
A person would stay underwater for as long as they could, while simultaneously trying to destroy the chains locked around both of their ankles.
That wasn't all, however. Most of the time, the water the school used was infused with a weak amount of Negative affinity, making casting spells or augmenting oneself with mana virtually useless.
Unless someone could, at minimum, break a car with their strength alone or through magic, this test was nigh impossible. If you couldn't break the chain in one stroke, it would turn into an endurance test.
"Ah, I forgot to mention! We'll be putting our own twist on the original Dive Exercise. The chains are now thrice as difficult to break, and the water is infused with the Negative energy of a B rank Hero. You'll be going against one of your classmates, and the first one to knock the other out will be set free. Also, only the usage of Iron Style is permitted. Using any other method of combat will result in your disqualification!"
All hopes of ever getting out of this assignment unharmed were soon thrown out of the window with this last statement.
***
"May the best fighter win, Wang Jin."
The opponent Wang Jin was now up against was Denzel himself. There was no time to return his goodwill. Both of them were instantly plunged into the freezing cold water, where the metallic chains instantly locked around their legs.
All fights took place inside a transparent glass cube that had enough to contain a pool's worth of water.
"Alright… time to activate Iron Style."
The moment he willed it, Wang Jin's arms rapidly began to harden. His limbs had completely iron-ized themselves in no less than a few seconds.
But despite the increased density of his limbs, Wang Jin felt no difficulty in moving them. Sure, the weightlessness was probably because they were underwater, but the fact that he was able to punch forward as if he was above water was weird.
"Now this ain't so bad. Get ready for my fist, Denzel!" He thought in his head.
Clenching his hand into a ball, Wang Jin prepared to aim an attack towards Denzel, who had somehow stayed unmoving ever since the match started, almost as if he was refusing to activate Iron Style.
With a smile on his face, Denzel pointed to his chest, where there was a reddish sticker. Then he nodded slightly, urging Wang Jin to do the same.
Confuse, Wang Jin looked at the part of his own uniform where Denzel's hand was pointing.
Surprisingly, there was also a sticker there. Finally realizing what Denzel was referring to, Wang Jin followed the former's actions and pressed his own sticker.
"Good, we can talk now."
"Wait, wha– how the hell did this thing get on my uniform?"
"You don't remember? It was on the first day of school that I gave you that. Told you it acted as a device that would conceal you. Imagine the look on my face when, even after two weeks, the device hadn't been activated once. You must be a masochist, huh?"
"The hell you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you never even bothered to test out the device I gave you. Who knows? It might've been a bomb, or even a camera. But what kind of person would just choose to ignore it completely? Forgetful ones, probably."
"Alright, I admit I forgot about it…"
"Yeah, it's all cool. Well, at least we've got some time now to ourselves, so just play along. I'm gonna activate Iron Style now, so I want you to follow along."
At that very moment, Denzel repeatedly clenched his right hand, until it was suddenly covered in a shiny metallic hue.
Wang Jin could feel the difference in his Iron Style and Denzel's. His seemed… stronger, and more concentrated.
"Surprised? I recently made a breakthrough in Iron Style, too. I call it Enhancement, where you pour in all the energy you'd otherwise use to manifest Iron Style in other parts of your body to instead move to one part."
"I'll teach you it, but I need you to listen to me talk first. It's an entirely unrelated subject, but you'll thank me later."
"Sure, sure. Tell me."
"Glad we're on the same page, then. Tell me, Wang Jin. Have you heard of the Magic Tournament?"
"No, why?"
"Oh, buddy. Let me tell you. Firstly, start throwing your fist at me, and act like we're fighting."
To the outside, it looked as if Wang Jin and Denzel were sending attacks to their opponent, but in reality, they were communicating through the device they both possessed.
"Ball your fist up a bit more. Yeah, that's better. Anyway, let's continue. The Magic Tournament is, as the name itself spells out, a tournament of magic. Every year, all of the world's educational institutes battle for the place and title of "Supreme", a name that is given to the strongest Academy."
"The schools pit up their strongest first, second, and third years in a massive tournament, and have them fight it out."
"Uh huh, I hear ya. By the way, do I harden the lower part of my shoulder, or this one?"
"It's kind of a bit of both, but you want to direct a bit more into the part of your fist that makes contact. It'll help with absorbing blows and dealing more damage."
Just then, Wang Jin felt the entire length of his arm harden in a way he didn't even think was possible. His arm felt like it had turned into the hardest of metals.
And the best part was that he felt it could get even harder!
"Yeah, you're getting it. Let's keep going. You might be asking… how does the tournament concern you in any way?"
"Well, my friend, due to some strings that Lillian pulled, you'll be up against students from the current first and second strongest academies."
"Wait, aren't we the strongest school?" Wang Jin asked.
"It's cute you think that. No, actually, we're the fourth strongest. But going back to Lillian, she used a bit of her authority as Cendria's little sister and used that to fudge the numbers, which resulted in you getting nominated. And you're fairly strong too, so that's another reason for your nomination."
"That bitch. I wonder why she did it."
"Well, her methods can be a bit extreme. No, throw your fist like this. She'll do her best to break the person she has her eye on, and I mean it literally. And it doesn't help that you're fucking stubborn."
"Anyway, we're getting to the end, so just practice what I told you, and you'll achieve the Enhancement stage very soon. Here, as thanks for listening, I'll let you win this battle. Come on, hit me."
"With pleasure, bud. I've always wanted to take a crack at your all-knowing face." Wang Jin smiled, preparing his strongest Iron Style augmented attack yet.
"Heh, I figured."
Gathering the entirety of his strength into his right arm, Wang Jin donned a smug look, before launching his fist in Denzel's direction with as much force as he could muster.
The ensuing blow connected with Denzel and sent him hurling backwards in the water, and into the glass wall. Subsequently, the reinforced glass cracked from the hit, surprising the people watching from outside.