Conquering The Novel

Soon after wearing our safety gear, we made our way to the arena, where Bianca was waiting for us.

"Watch closely as I show the skill that I wanted to teach you, students," Bianca stated and held an apple in one hand.

She then hurled the apple into the air, and it split into several pieces in an instant.

The apple was split into pieces, yet all we saw of her was as she stood motionless in place.

Not even her sword's sheathing could be seen by us.

"...."

"This is the skill imparted to me by my teacher when I was a teenager, just like you, and it is the reason I chose to follow the path of the sword," Bianca explained.

"I realize it's foolish to use a sword after watching just one skill, but I thought she was cool when she quickly sliced the apple into numerous pieces in a flash, and I wanted to do the same,"

Bianca began narrating her stories.

...

"...Miss Bianca, you are getting off-topic right now," Ziona said.

Although Bianca's story was intriguing, but we were more eager to learn the skill that she just demonstrated to us.

"...."

"O-Oh, sorry about that, so where was I?" Bianca stated.

"You were explaining the skill," I said.

"Oh, yeah, the skill I just displayed is called Atomic Slash, It helps the user to perform numerous strikes with astonishing speed in an instant," Bianca explained.

When she finished speaking, she grabbed a wooden sword and grinned at us.

"As I use this skill on you, why don't you guys try to block it," Bianca remarked.

As soon as we heard her, our faces turned grim, and even before we could respond, we were suddenly attacked by a barrage of sword strokes that slashed all over our bodies in an instant, leaving us with no chance to react.

However, we only noticed Bianca just standing still without doing anything; and we were unable to see her attacks coming at us with our unaided eyes.

Bianca didn't stop at that and continued to use her skill aimed directly at us.

I, accordingly attempted to deflect the sword slashes coming my way, by observing them using my skill Hawk eye, but I was still unable to block every attack and continued to take damage.

...

Until the bell sounded to signal the end of class, she persisted in attacking us.

"Oh, let's stop here for now; I'll continue your beating—er, I mean teaching—in our next session," Bianca said with a smile as she departed the training area, leaving us lying on the ground bruised and sore from her relentless onslaught on us.

While Kevin and Ziona were in worse shape than I was.

"In what way is this imparting a skill? This is just us getting beaten here," Kevin cried out.

"I knew there was something fishy when she stated she'd be teaching us one of her skills," Kevin continued with his whining.

Ziona and I remained silent since we, too, had no idea what Bianca was trying to achieve by constantly beating us up.

"...."

"This looks to be something personal," Irethiel commented.

"Even you have no idea what that was?" Ares questioned Irethiel.

"Nope, I had no idea what she was up to either, maybe you humans learn that way, or ...maybe she simply likes bashing you up," Irethiel said while laughing.

"Fuck this skill, let's get out of here," Kevin remarked as he began to make his way toward the infirmary.

"The infirmary has become our daily visit," Ziona sighed as she dragged herself to the infirmary as well.

'Perhaps there's something we don't know about her training?' Or her previous master may have taught her in the same way,' I reasoned as I followed Kevin and Ziona to the infirmary.

***

"I think it serves you right," Irethiel remarked as we walked back to our classroom without being treated.

The Infirmary was already overcrowded with over a hundred students, and the healers were overworked.

Worse, the students began screaming in terror as soon as they saw Ziona.

Yes, they were absolutely terrified by Ziona, not me, since I was knocking them out quickly, whereas Ziona took her time beating them.

She was having a thrilling time, with a big grin that could scare anyone, just like a psychopath.

"I guess it's karma, we beat them and sent them to the infirmary, and now there's no room for us in there," I murmured as I stared at Ziona.

When Ziona realized I was staring at her, she began to giggle nervously and with a guilty expression.

"...."

"Ziona, could you perhaps ask Ayla to treat me as well?" Kevin said.

"S-Sure, will do," Ziona replied.

We quickly arrived in the classroom, which was now mostly vacant due to the previously mentioned reasons, and Ayla approached and treated us, as she always did, but this time she even treated Kevin at Ziona's request.

"Let's talk about what your next plan is, Ares," Ayla said as soon as she finished treating us.

After hearing her statement, everyone's gaze was drawn to Ayla.

"...Now? What about the lecture?" Perplexed, I inquired.

"No, there will be no other classes today, thanks to you," Ayla answered sarcastically, smiling.

As if to confirm Ayla's assertions, Roselia who is the teacher in charge of our classroom quickly entered the classroom and announced the cancellation of today's lectures.

Then she stared at me for a few seconds before walking out.

"...."

"That's fine, I don't like attending these lectures, so we should just beat these potatoes more frequently so we can easily skip these lectures," Livia said abruptly.

As we turned our attention to her, we noticed Livia sitting nonchalantly in her seat, staring at Ayla.

Ayla simply smiled at Livia's stare before turning her gaze to me.

"You received a meeting invitation from the 2nd year representative," Ayla explained.

"...Already?" Surprised, I inquired.

"Yes, it was delivered to the Student Council this morning, and since you may not know, I am also a member of the Student Council, so I am simply forwarding it to you," Ayla explained.

"...."

"You are also a member of the student council? Since when?" I inquired confused.

"Oh, it happened when you were on leave," Ayla replied.

Nothing interesting happens when I attend the academy regularly, and when I was gone for just a few days this happens.

"...."

"Is Diana a member of the student council as well?" I inquired.

As in the novel, Ayla was not a member of the student council, but Diana was.

"Pfft! No, I am not. You should know that I do not work with anyone, but everyone works for me," Diana stated abruptly.

"...Yeah, how could I forget that our magnificent Diana would never work with anyone," I remarked, staring at Diana blankly.

"Oh, you know me well, don't you?" Diana boasted with a bright smile.

Diana's statements attracted everyone's attention, including mine, because she had already forgotten that she'd be working with me during the tournament.

Diana spoke up, sensing everyone's attention.

"What? Is there something wrong with my face?" She remarked this while pulling out her phone to examine her face.

"...."

"No judging anyone, this is the next Elven Empress," Claude commented.

Everyone simply nodded in accord as they heard Claude's words.

"Alright everyone, now let's hear what our first-year representative's next plans are," Ayla said, prompting everyone to huddle around and take a closer seat in anticipation of hearing about Ares's next strategy.

And soon everyone gathered around Ares, and he began to explain to them about his next move.

***