29 Trouble

The sun had already started to set when Samael finished imparting two martial arts to Princess Lina, one was a Cultivation art named "Titanic Crimson Star" which draws upon stellar light to cultivate and the other was a combat art called "Blood Lotus Sword".

When he finished imparting the two arts, Princess Lina looked at him as if he was a monster. Shocked and curiosity filled her mind but all that disappeared as it was replaced with joy and gratitude. She lifted her skirt lightly and bowed to Samael with the unmistakable bearing of royalty. After saying thanks and bidding him goodbye, Princess Lina went back to her own room to begin cultivating these two arts.

Shaking his head, Samael chuckled and went to find a seclusive place for him to practice his own art. His room isn't a good place as Julius was there, he may be a good guy at heart but Samael hasn't fully trusted him to nonchalantly practice his supreme arts in front of him.

Although the powerhouses of the academy could be watching, it was unlikely as not all experts have the time to continuously monitor the entire academy. It was a risk but he had to take it.

Samael rushed deep into the surrounding forest and found a place he was sure no other people would go to. There was a boulder nearby at which he sat and began cultivating.

Starting with his cultivation arts, Samael spent 2 hours each on both arts before stopping as his progress on the two arts was becoming slow. If he wants to continue cultivating them, it'd be best to practice where there rich source of lightning or Ice.

Deep into the night, he began to once again search his memories for the arts he planned to practice.

Fist Art: Heaven Breaking Fist...

Sword Art: Rings of Saturn...

Movement art: Mercurial Step...

Defensive Art: Protection of the War God...

Once the information regarding these four arts surfaced on his mind again, Samael began working. Taking off his top, he started practicing the punching routine stated in the "Heaven Breaking Fist" art all the while meditating about the mysteries of the technique itself.

Correcting himself once he finds a flaw or mistake in his practice, Samael continued practicing this way before he saw that he couldn't progress anymore without sudden enlightenment or sufficient understanding of the art itself. But his progress was satisfactory as he was able to use the technique itself. Its power would rise as his progress in understanding the profoundness of the art raises.

As he still didn't have a proper sword to train in, Samael just used a tree branch to practice. The "Rings of Saturn" is a sword technique that focused on speed and circular movements. It stressed on proper depth and angle of each step, the timing of each turn, and the fluidity of movements.

The movements itself was pretty easy to comprehend but once he got into integrating the mysteries of the technique, Samael found out that it was very hard to do so. He found out that whenever he tries to comprehend the technique as he practices, there will always be a lack of harmony. But he pushed through and it was only later that he realized that there was a need for rhythm and this rhythm differs from person to person.

Samael practiced the "Rings of Saturn" till he was satisfied before moving to the Movement art "Mercurial Step". This was a fairly easy technique to practice but extremely powerful once you've trained it to its peak. It focused on 7-3-7 steps to confuse the enemy, which seems easy but like the "Rings of Saturn" there was a need for a rhythm within the consecutive steps. Because he already has the rhythm from practicing the "Rings of Saturn" Samael integrated this rhythm into the "Mercurial Steps" so it would also work along his sword art.

Lastly, Samael sat cross-legged upon the boulder and began practicing his Defensive Art "Protection of the War God" normally this required the practitioner to be tempered in a constant state of battle. Using the chaos and bloodshed to temper the mind and use the unceasing conflict to constantly strengthen one's defenses. The result would be a soldier with insanely strong killing intent and superior defense.

By the time he opened his eyes after his rest, the sun had already started to rise. He stood up when his stomach started growling.

"I guess a night-long cultivation and practice really makes one hungry."

He then rushed back into his room and had a quick shower, changed his clothes before going back to the central area of the academy for something to eat.

Ohh?

Walking out of the dorm, he saw a cute familiar girl, he quickly caught up and called out to her.

"Hey, Stella! Wait up~"

The girl halted her steps and turned around with a smile "Sir Samael..."

He quickly stopped him and said "Just Samael will do."

Stella shyly nodded and the two of them found a nice restaurant to eat breakfast. When the food was served, Samael took the time to ask.

"Where's Silvia?"

Stella gleefully ate a spoonful and answered "She was already in deep cultivation when I woke up."

Samael chuckled and said, "She must've been really excited to practice those arts."

The two of them began talking for a bit before Samael heard a group of people loudly talking near their table.

"Ha-ha, these are really some nice weapons."

"The delivery man said they're from the castle for a person named, uhh, what was his name again?"

"Samael! He said it's for a man named Samael."

"Damn, i really have to thank the guy when I see him. This will improve my odds at the competition."

Hearing their conversation, Samael got interested and looked over. He saw a group of six people, one of them had a long wooden box strapped to his back and he was holding a Katana, marveling at its beauty.

Samael recognized the material used and it looked like Dark Silver metal. At this point, Samael was 50 percent sure that these were the weapons he commissioned but without solid proof, he shouldn't do anything yet.

...

"...Screw it," He thought to himself.

He then turned back to Stella and said to her with a smile "Um...Stella, could you go and ask Sister Lina to send word back to the castle, see if the store called "Golden Leaf" ever sent two weapons?"

Stella curiously titled her head, though she looked really cute right now, it wasn't the time for that. She nodded and stood to hurry back to the dorm.

Seeing her innocently walking back, Samael's smile changed from an amiable one to a dangerous one.

"Alright...let's have some fun." He muttered to himself standing up.

He walked up to the table where those guys were seated and all the while they were still talking about the Katana and how awesome it looked.

"Hey Seniors, I kept hearing you guys talking about this awesome weapon. Mind if I join in?" Samael put on his most amiable expression.

The guys at the table saw him and shot gazes filled with hostility. Two of them stood up and started cracking their knuckles. They got close to Samael and began threatening him.

"You must be a newcomer right? Piece of advice, mind your damn business if you don't want any trouble."

"Yeah, it'd be a shame for a pretty boy like you to have...some sort of accident, catch my drift?"

Samael chuckled and this didn't go well with the two guys. They started pushing him lightly.

"Something funny, pretty boy?"

With a smile that was not a smile Samael responded "Nothing really, I just find you two very...disappointing."

In a flash, the guys flew across the room, broke the wooden wall, and crashed outside. The other guys flared up. "What do you think you're doing!"

"Attack!"

"You'll regret doing that."

They brandished their blades and swung at Samael. But the person himself just stood there with a calm look. To him who had been practicing the Lightning Emperor's Nine Layered Heaven and is able to move at absurd speeds, their attacks seemed to him as if they were in slow motion.

One of them raised his sword and attempted to swing it down on him. Another tried to pierce his side with a dagger.

But in a swift movement, Samael raised his right hand to catch the attack at his right. He lifted his left foot to kick the assailant to his left, then his own left hand punched the guy at his right.

Bam! Bam!

The two guys flew back after his attack, but only two remained. One was fast enough to sneak behind him, his hands burned, he was using a flame-type combat art. The other one, who seemed to be the leader of the group and the one holding the katana, unsheathed the weapon and took a swing at Samael.

Like earlier, Samael used little effort to counter. While he was still in motion from defeating the previous two, he spun counter-clockwise and kicked the guy's fist away with a bit of frost from his "Terminus Frozen Hell" aura. He continued to spin even after kicking the guy's fist away till he was faced to faced with the one attacking him with the katana, he blocked the incoming thrust with two fingers.

Firmly stopping the blade from budging...

The entire exchange happened in just a few moments, including the trash-talking. But Samael's dominance over them never waned.

"See? Just disappointing. I thought I would see people with actual skills here but I was wrong..." A swift kick then landed towards the guy holding the katana.

Samael was really all that disappointed but it is true that he had hoped to see actual individuals with skills not this garbage who only know how to leech off the academy.

I already knew there would be many disappointing people inside the academy but I didn't think they'd be this bad. They couldn't even make a scratch at me!

He was already clear on his path, he had powerful arts, the instincts, and talent to be above others. Scaling the heavens should only just be an easy step-by-step procedure. But he still needed to be tempered and stimulated.

That is why Samael is doing this, causing trouble will put pressure on himself by provoking those people who truly are powerful. This way, he can have a more stimulating fight and fun along the way.

Samael stepped back, katana in hand tapping the back of the blade on his shoulder. The four who he had already sent tumbling, started helping one another and stuck close. Apparently, they were a bit cautious after their exchange with him.

They didn't realize a group of people then started to gather around them, creating a crowd. The two other guys left inside rushed outside to help their comrades. Their eyes contained a shred of fear but also stubbornness.

Huh?

Suddenly, two figures rushed at him and attacked from his right. Samael saw a white gleam for a moment which meant a sword. Samael turned to the right and made a heavy step with his left, he swung the katana on his shoulder with his left hand. The Blade made a wide but clean sweep, it clashed with the long sword swinging towards him, parrying it away.

At the same time his right hand swung from his stomach area outward. With the back of his hand he punched out but stopped right at the face of the assailant.

A fist also stopped right at Samael's face but unlike his enemy who appeared shocked, he was calm like he knew that he would stop.

Finally, Samael got a good look at who these new combatants were. Turns out they were Dominic Pierce and Magni Saluk.

These two were also there on the recruitment day when the attack of the mysterious creatures happened. Dominic was from a noble clan and had a bit of conflict with Samael and Julius back at the first test. Magni was from a barbarian tribe outside and had already incurred the public wrath with his arrogant attitude.

It looks like this two would provide me with a better fight!