FSHUUU
Ash stepped out of the portal of light, both hands in his pocket as he coolly took measured steps forward.
The moment he returned to the hall, all eyes were on him—as expected—but their reaction to his arrival was the direct opposite of that of his twin brother. Rather than exclamations of utter shock and approval, what he got were looks of scorn.
The Beta Students were definitely shocked; shocked that he could sink so low.
Of course, none of them dared to say it out loud or to his face—not even in a small whisper—due to how influential his family was. As such, Ash was only greeted with looks of contempt as a Lesser Wind Spirit floated on his shoulder.
The Spirit had the form of a butterfly and it was covered in green energy. Sparks danced around it, but its small size and simplistic form gave its Grade away the moment anyone laid eyes on it.
"Master Ashfelt… this is disappointing." The Supervisor whispered, shaking his head. "I wish you the best in your future endeavors."
He said nothing more, but Ash understood the underlying meaning of his words.
'He thinks it's best if I drop out.'
Normally, he would have agreed with his dear Instructor, but things weren't going to be the same as in the original storyline.
'I'll be staying in the Magus Academy this time…' He smiled to himself. 'That's the first major change I'll be making to the story.'
Many would argue that contracting with a Supreme Grade Spirit was the first major change, but Ash didn't think that to be the case. After all, if he didn't reveal the contract to anyone, there was no way it would affect the story in any meaningful way.
At least, not anytime soon.
'My staying here, however, will affect many things.'
An image of Seth Zephyr appeared in his mind, causing Ash to nearly sigh. His stay in Akashic Magus Academy would definitely affect his twin brother, but the way he saw it… there was no other way to achieve his goals.
'Don't worry, Seth… I'm doing all of this for your sake.'
***********
[One Week Later]
WHOOSH!
Two students were locked in a battle simulation—also known as Combat Training—with a full house watching them as the audience.
The auditorium, where the fight was taking place, had two sets of seats located at the east and west sides of the room. The north and south featured the exit and entry doors, making the place akin to a sports court than anything else.
The chairs were positioned in elevated positions, which allowed the students to look down at the stage as they observed the two fighters exchange strikes with their respective weapons.
One wielded a wooden longsword while the other had a long staff.
And, as for the quality of the battle—if one could even call it that—it was completely predictable due to the kind of lineup present.
Elma, an Alpha Class Student… versus Ashfelt Zephyr, the Beta Class weakling.
It was obvious who would win.
WHAM!
As their weapons clashed with each other, wood slapping on wood, many students impatiently waited for it to end.
Ashfelt clearly looked like he was struggling to keep up, but he stubbornly clung to his blade and continued swinging despite none of his attacks even reaching his adversary.
It looked pathetic to the audience, but—once again—no one could say anything.
At least, not in the Beta Class.
"This Joint Training Session is a waste of time." One of the Alpha Students sighed while shaking his head as he looked at the match before him.
"Yeah." Another spoke in agreement. "Why do we have to do this kind of stuff every week?"
"They're incomparable to us. It'll only hold us back…"
The Alpha Students were seated at the western side of the hall, while the Betas were at the eastern area. The Joint Training Session featured Instructors bringing in the students from their respective buildings into one neutral place—the Joint Center—in order to have them compete with each other.
Or, as they called it… 'Exchange Moves.'
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Beta Class Students and how far apart in talent and skill they were compared to their counterparts, this Joint Training was viewed by many as an utter waste of time.
It always turned into a one-sided massacre.
Still, since this was the Akashic Academy Policy, no one could refute or change it. As a result, the students had to begrudgingly accept the wasted hours they would spend once a week with the other Class.
"Let this end already…"
***********
Ash kept up his struggling facade as he watched the next strike approach him.
SWISH
Just as planned, he barely evaded the attack. However, this caused him to stumble in the process.
"A-ah!" He yelped, struggling to hold onto his dummy weapon as he noticed his opponent taking advantage of the window of opportunity to attack him.
'As expected… you take advantage of every opening, Elma.'
The reason she chose the staff as her primary weapon of use was due to her tendency to poke at the weakness of her enemies and create openings for a single decisive hit. She took no big risks until it was time for the finishing strike.
'Thanks to the reach of her weapon, as well as her keen observation and intellect, she's considered a Combat Prodigy.'
There was probably no one more skilled than her in the Alpha and Beta Class combined.
'So what am I doing fighting someone like this?' He sighed. 'Well… you tell me.'
Ever since the Selection Ceremony, a lot of the Beta Class Students dropped out, leaving only 35 of them left. Of the 35, none of them desired to fight with the Alpha Class Students, who were miles ahead of them.
As a result, attention fell on him—since he was a Noble and it was his responsibility to lead by example.
'The Instructor intentionally singled me out to fight.'
It was annoying, but not unexpected.
As long as he did his best to struggle a little, so as to appear half decent, and then lose afterwards, he could end the Joint Combat Training for the day and focus on the more productive aspects of his life.
'Many people don't consider Combat Training to be very important, especially since we could simply use Spirit Arts as Mages, but very few people like Elma here take it very seriously. It would only make things worse if I lost too easily.'
That was why he painstakingly took his time to create this perfect opening for her.
'So… take it!'
As expected, the girl lunged forward with her staff, aiming right for his stomach.
'Here it comes…' With widened eyes, he anticipated her strike.
But—
"H-huh—?" Elma suddenly slipped from her position as well, her face heading straight to the ground as a result of her lost equilibrium.
Her eyes exhibited shock, same as Ash's, as she collapsed to the ground and hit her head very hard on the solid ground as a result of the immense power she poured into the strike which drastically increased her momentum.
The result?
THUD!
"The winner of this Joint Training Session is Master Ashfelt Zephyr!"