Now it was time for their training lessons, and Instructor Joshua was torturing class 1B as usual.
"Faster," Instructor Joshua calmly stated as his students fought to get around a massive bolder. Which was attached to a metal chain that wrapped around the student's hands, legs, and hips.
For three hours, all of the students moved the enormous rocks around while Instructor Joshua watched from a distance while eating his lunch.
After three hours, Instructor Joshua then stated, "Alright, that's enough."
"Take a ten-minute break," he added.
The students, sweating and breathing heavily, exclaimed, "Finally!"
Xavier then questioned Instructor Joshua, "Instructor, why do you make us do such hard exercises while wearing a 20 kg weighted suit?".
Instructor Joshua answered, "Well, that will help accelerate your growth."
"Is moving around bolder also a way to accelerate our growth?" Jupiter sarcastically asked.
"Stop complaining," Instructor Joshua replied.
"All this hard work is to help build your body to withstand your ethereal core's growth.".
"Plus, you guys can now conduct your auras," he added.
Xavier then asked, "Wait, is that true?"
"Yeah!" Instructor Joshua responded.
"Try concentrating, and imagine you're opening a water bottle container and realizing the water that is within.".
"And you will be able to release the ethereal energy within your core," Instructor Joshua added.
All of the students then did what Instructor Joshua told them to do, and to their astonishment, energy began to pour out of their bodies.
The students were overjoyed when they realized they could finally use Aura for the first time.
Instructor Joshua noticed how happy they were and stated, "Look at how each of your auras is different."
"Everyone's auras are different, whether in color, the way they flow, or the effects they have on their surroundings.".
A student then inquired, "Our aura can affect our surroundings."?
Instructor Joshua responded, "Yes, and it all depends on the gifted ability you possess."
"For example," Instructor Joshua explained as he sparked his aura.
"My aura freezes my surroundings and makes my enemies' movements easy to read," Instructor Joshua explained as the training ground gradually froze.
"Because their movements get limited by how slippery the ground becomes," he commented.
The students exclaimed in wonder, "That's awesome!"
Instructor Joshua smirked proudly and added, "But there's another benefit besides intimidating your opponents or influencing your surroundings."
"And that benefit is that, as you release the ethereal energy within your core into your surroundings,".
"You could re-absorb the energy you released and the ethereal energy within your surroundings to boost your abilities and physical capabilities.".
Xavier then questioned, "And how is that possible?" as he wiped the sweat from his face.
Instructor Joshua then answered, "Well, that's because everything contains ethereal energy."
"Whether they're inanimate or animate, including nature as well.".
"But unfortunately, we're unable to absorb the ethereal energy that is within animals and others by force," Joshua, the instructor, commented.
The students were astounded at how advantageous and versatile Aura was.
Instructor Joshua then remarked, "So you guys better stop whining and start doing what I say.".
"Aura can be a huge advantage during battles.".
"Plus, you guys will need it for the upcoming event," he added.
To this, the students inquired, "Which event?"
Instructor Joshua, confused, inquired, "Wait, you guys don't already know about the upcoming Forest Crown Hunt?"
To which the students responded with a "no.".
Instructor Joshua was perplexed as to why they were unaware of the Forest Crown Hunt, but he proceeded to explain the event to them.
"To begin, the Forest Crown Hunt is an annual event hosted by the school for each grade level," Instructor Joshua explained.
"And for this year, your grade and everyone in it will be participating in the Forest Crown Hunt Event.".
A student then inquired, "What is the event all about?"
And Instructor Joshua responded, "Well, it's very simple.".
"You will be combined with the other students in your grade."
"And you will all be randomly placed in a 6-person group and placed in a large forest.".
"There will be 16 different groups in total, which is around 96 total participants," he added.
Instructor Joshua then started describing the rules, stating, "For each team, there must be:
A king is someone who oversees the group's overall strategy and makes crucial decisions.
Two Warriors: Those who focus on battle and the protection of their team and king.
A scout is someone who will navigate through the forest and spot nearby enemies.
A healer is someone who gives medical care and healing to their teammates.
A strategist is someone who assists in developing tactics and plans the team's moves.
"And your group will be tasked with stealing the crown from the King of each group to win the event," Instructor Joshua added.
"And the winning team of the event will not only be given a special reward from the head principal of the school.".
"But also from the High Councils of the Nobles of the Kingdom of the United States," Instructor Joshua exclaimed with excitement.
All of the students were now very eager and motivated to participate in and win the Forest Crown Hunt Event, intrigued by the award.
As the students celebrated, Instructor Joshua replied in a cold tone, "Hey, your 10-minute break is well overdue.".
"Get back to moving those boulders around," he said in a frightening tone, startling all the students.
As the students hurriedly returned to move the boulders, Instructor Joshua grinned and thought to himself, "I'm quite excited to see how this year's Forest Crown Hunt event goes.".
"And how those two geniuses, Xavier and Jupiter, will fare during it," he said with a chuckle.
As school ended, Xavier was heading home with Aleksander and Violet, and Violet inquired, "How was school, Xavier?".
And Xavier responded, "It was great. Well, a little more torturous than ever.".
Violet giggled and remarked, "It sounds like you had a great time."
To which Xavier laughed, but then he remembered something: "Oh yeah, I forgot!"
"What is it?" Violet inquired, concerned.
Xavier then responded, "Today we learned about the Great Race War and about the mysterious monsters called Vermits.".
Violet exclaimed enthusiastically, "Oh, that's amazing!"
Xavier went on to say, "And we also learned about this one very strong guy, named King Julius von Audrius, the Grand Emperor of Lithuania, in history class.".
"Oh, you learned about Julius the Dreadlord today?" Aleksander inquired.
"Yes!" Xavier responded.
Xavier continued, saying, "Emperor Julius is a very strong Grand Herrscher, but a very evil guy."
"But I don't think he's as strong as you, Big Brother," Xavier added.
Aleksander laughed in astonishment and responded, "Well, I wouldn't say I'm stronger.".
"So you're not?" Xavier asked, perplexed.
And Aleksander responded, "In my current state, I wouldn't leave a scratch on him."
"Let alone stand in his presence without being erased from existence by his aura," he continued.
Xavier then said, "But what if you were to reach your full potential?"
Aleksander responded, "Well if I were to reach my full power and remove the limitations imposed by my contractor,"
"And he was to have full possession of all his weapons and his armor of chaos.".
"It will be an extremely tough and difficult battle that I will ever have in my entire life," Aleksander continued.
"And would you lose, Big Brother?" Xavier inquired, now quite curious.
Aleksander responded with a confident expression on his face: "On the contrary, I will be victorious."
And Xavier, taken away by his brother's level of confidence, said in adoration, "You're so cool, brother!"
To which Aleksander laughed in return, but Violet, jealous of Xavier's admiration for Aleksander, said, "I'm cool too, right little brother?" with a puppy face.
And Xavier cheerfully said, "Don't worry, Big Sis, you're also super cool!"
Violet hugged Xavier tightly and said with happiness while blushing, "I love you, Xavier."
"I love you, too, Big Sis," Xavier replied joyfully.