AN: Sorry for the delay, I didn't have time to write these days,
"A waste of talent who thinks he has the right to retort something I…" The boy couldn't finish what he was going to say. After feeling the slap, Kayden reacted automatically, using a concentrated beam and punching the boy in the chin.
Before the boy could even think about what happened, Kayden already had his sword pointed at the boy's neck.
"You...". Kayden slapped the blunt part of the blade across the boy's face.
"Still! I don't mind you being funny like the little shit you are, but if you touch me again, I'll cut your throat like a chicken." The blade's edge passed lightly past the boy's neck, close enough for him to feel the cold air of the metal.
Before the boy could start crying, the teacher appeared at the door. All the noise in the room quickly fell silent. The boy on the floor was still in shock, but when he saw the teacher, he started shouting:
"Teacher, help me! Kayden went crazy and tried to kill me!" The boy made a scene worthy of an Oscar, unfortunately for him, the teacher saw everything that had happened.
"Kayden, come with me." His tone of voice was calm . "And you," she looked at the crying child on the floor, "go to the principal's office. His attitude was outrageous. We expect more from our students than that."
His tone of voice was indisputable. Kayden was not anxious. He already expected his actions to have consequences, but they probably wouldn't be very serious since he didn't do anything. It was just a warning not to bother him again.
Upon leaving the room, the teacher asked Kayden to follow her. It was a few minutes of silence until she opened her mouth:
"Boy, I don't know what to do with you." His tone seemed to express several feelings, but the most prominent one was tiredness.
"I will accept any punishment, teacher, don't worry." Kayden had affection for her tutor, she always tried to teach the boy what she could and never despised him like other people.
"It's not about that now, kid. I say about your teaching. Students normally only reach 4th rank when they are 10 years old or older. I could send you to the best classes in our school, but no teacher will accept you."
The question wasn't about Kayden's talent, but rather his potential. A level 1 innate talent was something no teacher would want to take on, as the boy would likely not progress. Reaching the fourth rank was already considered a miracle by many.
The teacher sighed and said:
"I can't give you private lessons just because you're in front." His face had a look of conflict. "You're free, kid, until 7th grade at least. You can still look for me to ask questions."
The teacher expected to see a look of joy on the boy. Normally, children didn't like studying the theoretical part of magic. But there was nothing. Kayden didn't show any significant reaction.
"Okay, teacher. Could you tell me who I can talk to about getting on the high school competition team?" His question surprised the woman.
"Of course, Kayden. You should look for Professor Nila on the deepest floor of the gym." The teacher was happy to help the boy, even with something as simple as that. Kayden bowed to his first teacher.
"Thank you, teacher. I will take your teachings to life." His words were sincere. In 5 years, she was the only one who reached out to him at school.
"Don't be silly, boy. I did nothing but my duty." The teacher smiled. Kayden said goodbye to her and continued looking for teacher Nila. The path was not strange to him.
He went down the first flight and saw the conventional magicians fighting each other. It seemed to be the same scenario as always. Kayden went down one more flight. He didn't know what was below. The boy never came down or was curious to know.
The second floor was filled with warriors training, from swordsmen to knights. It was similar to the gym Ryan first introduced him to. Kayden went down one more flight. The third floor surprised him. It was a gigantic counter with several counters and cauldrons.
He didn't even know this existed at school. He paid attention for a few seconds and soon lost his curiosity. He went down another flight of stairs. This time, it was a place full of furnaces and people hammering different things. There were strong air exhaust fans to remove smoke from the place.
Kayden went down another floor and this time... there was nothing. It was just an empty place, in its center a woman was sitting at an office table. She seemed to be bored.
His attention was on a computer screen. She didn't even notice Kayden's steps towards her. The woman appeared to be in her 20s and seemed out of step with the other prehistoric students at the school.
"Hello?" Kayden tried to speak in a low tone so as not to scare the woman. But it did not work. The secretary jumped up from her chair and let out a small cry of surprise. The woman quickly regained her calm and pretended nothing happened.
"Hello, I am the secretary of the elite team. How can I help you?" His speech surprised the boy. Even a team from a random school had an office for themselves.
"I would like to speak to Professor Nila, please." Kayden tried to be as polite as possible. The woman's eyes sparkled in understanding.
"You want to join the team, don't you?" The woman didn't give Kayden a chance to speak and continued: "The process is very simple. You need to beat the last-placed team and you will be entitled to a place. It's a simple 1-on-1 fight, with the same rules as a duel." The woman seemed to have said that a thousand times.
Kayden thought for a moment about what she said. It seemed to be very simple. He expected a few more tests or another assessment method. But it made no difference to him. His intention was only to join the team and not to prove his abilities.
"When can I fight the last-placed team?" The boy directly expressed his will. The woman appeared to check something on her computer before turning to Kayden.
"Right now, but I must warn you that if you lose, you must stay 4 months without challenging anyone. We need to prevent incessant challenges. I hope you understand."
"Very well, I want to fight right now, please." Kayden didn't feel like he needed to prepare. He was at his best. Hearing the boy's request, the woman asked him to wait a moment.
A few minutes later, the floor opened up, revealing another staircase. Out came a girl wearing heavy cold clothes. It looked like I was going to face a blizzard. His hair was blue and so were his eyes.
But what surprised Kayden was the amount of clothes. It wasn't even cold that day. The girl headed towards a circle that appeared behind the secretary. Kayden hadn't even noticed when he appeared.
"Boy, please come to the circle. Your fight will start 10 seconds after stepping on it." The process was carried out quickly. It seemed like the intention was to avoid wasting the elite students' time. Kayden walked to the edge of the circle and positioned himself with the katana.
After 10 seconds, the secretary clapped her hands and the two took that as a sign to start fighting. Kayden instantly started with a Pop Flash. This was one of his strongest weapons.
The girl was attentive, but not for something simple like that. Kayden charged at her. His opponent threw several icicles to slow his movement. There were so many that Kayden couldn't even see the person behind them.
"That almost got me, What a scare!" The girl wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Kayden took every battle seriously and didn't say a word. His response was a concentrated beam shooting out from his sword.
The girl erected a wall of ice and hid behind it. His attacks began to rain down on Kayden. Spikes and spikes of ice were thrown out without stopping. Kayden had faced opponents of this style before.
The boy waited for the girl to make a mistake. It was dodging and throwing lightning from time to time. But the girl's defense was solid. After a few minutes, the ice wall she was standing on collapsed from wear and tear.
Kayden found his chance. Using a well-aimed Pop Flash, the girl was blinded. Kayden also used a concentrated beam that hit the girl's legs. With the entire path prepared, he used acceleration at maximum speed.
His body quickly approached his opponent, but his instinct told him something was wrong. It seemed to be very simple. Kayden ignored that nagging voice in his head and continued with his assault.
When he reached 2 meters from his opponent, the boy understood what was wrong. The ground was icy. Unfortunately, it was too late. Several ice spikes exploded at the boy. Kayden tried to defend the most critical parts of his body.
"Very silly, boy." Kayden could hear the girl mocking.
Several cuts could be seen dripping blood on his arms. His clothes became rags. But his will was still firm. He prepared to continue but felt his body being healed and the girl turning to leave.
"Wait, this isn't over yet!" The boy screamed. His body still had adrenaline coursing through it.
"Unfortunately, it's over. You are only conscious because she spared your vital parts." The secretary's voice could be heard. The penny finally dropped for Kayden. His body slowly cooled down. His mind began to think about what had happened. Where did he go wrong?