Intimidating Through Numbers

Grand white walls and humongous metal spears along with a forest's worth of wood and a mine's worth of stone combined with the work of an army of forgers and artisans, so was the Royal Institute.

As the pair arrived at the huge white entrance to the institute, Ventus found himself barely able to speak as his jaw hung open and his eyes seemed to want to jump out of its sockets. Everywhere he could look along the pristine walls of the institute there were guards perched on top, not only that but there were also several wyverns standing ready to fly at any second and riders ready to fight as they held crossbows and lances to fight in mid-air.

They wore heavy sets of armor that shone in the glistening sun and smooth beast fur standardized velvet capes on their shoulders, all of that combined with their stiff and righteous composure as well as their fierce glares as they scouted the surroundings made them look that much more majestic and dangerous.

As they watched him coming closer Ventus felt an immense pressure on himself, his breathing became somewhat heavy as his hairs stood on end whilst his legs felt somewhat weak as they started to trembled lightly. It was as if several demons glared at him ready to devour his little life at any second.

He was about to kneel when suddenly he felt the pressure no more. The golden beast core and the tattoo shone slightly whilst releasing waves of soft power that washed over his body and mind, calming him down and negating the fierce pressure's effect.

"Hooo…so fierce, what a great posturing they're making right now" Ragnar snorted.

"Couldn't agree more scaled friend of my young host, such dangerous looks they are giving" the energetic voice of the wind avatar added obviously displeased.

"If they were stronger I could have believed that posturing, but with their strength? Oh no, that's just arrogance right there! Ants posing as tigers before yours truly, intolerable!" The dragon said angrily.

At this point, Ventus inquired confused.

"What do you mean?"

"What the dragon means to say young one" the avatar replied instead, "is that those warriors on the wall although having at best the strength comparable to that of a senior magus rank, are simulating the aura of a higher ranked warrior through their posturing and combined aura"

"So instead of having that actual strength" Ragnar continued, "they are trying to intimidate with great numbers"

"When in fact" the avatar now spoke, "every great being knows that in front of true strength, numbers matter little"

"That is not to say that you should go out of your way to provoke them" Ragnar warned, "It's just that we think that such tactics are somewhat despicable as they just serve to pacify the common folks that have little to no personal strength whatsoever"

He didn't expect to see the two god-tier beings inside of himself to show such a mindset, it was a fact that they had their strength severely limited by him but it seemed that their pride as beings that watched the universe unfold was still there, a pride etched in them so deep that it seemed to come from their very souls! It was obvious that such a despicable display by the warrior put them on edge as they could not tolerate such a thing before them, and especially, that such a thing was affecting their new home and partner, Ventus himself.

"But when you have the strength kid" Ragnar continued, "you should definitely kick their sh*t otherwise I'll look down on you!"

"Okay okay, I promise!" Ventus laughed.

"I'll take you up on that you brat! A true powerhouse never backs down on his word" Ragnar laughed as well.

"Okay, it's a deal" Ventus nodded.

Although he said that, it was not exactly a new desire in his heart. He too longed for the day when he would swagger across the world unrivalled with mighty strength.

After this brief exchange in his mind, Ventus perceived that his master had arranged everything. Coincidentally at this day, there were a new student's entrance exams being held, which he as an apprentice magus could skip most of the competition. That, however, did not mean that he could skip the last bit where there would be a battle against other candidates.

"Everywhere in the world huh? No matter how long one may walk in this land, the ultimate rule is always the bigger fist commands" Ventus sighed.

It was not that he did not enjoy fighting, especially considering that he had trained for almost three months with his master to raise his combat abilities. But the fact that he had to already fight again after barely having reached the city was quite a bother and he did not have the slightest interest in fighting in, from what his perspective was, a mere brawl.

Richard quickly noticed the thoughts of his apprentice and laughed before slapping him in the head.

"Ow! What did you do that for old man!?"

"Call me old man again and you see how many of those I'll still give you!" the man snorted.

"Sorry sorry, forgive me master!" the boy winced.

"That's better you brat!" he laughed, "Just because you're stronger than most people your age, does not mean you get to act cocky you idiot! Having confidence is good, but being foolish enough to underestimate your opponents with blind arrogance will only lead you to an early grave" he warned.

"Yes, you are talented and quite smart too" he praised, "but letting that false sense of invincibility within you take over and get the better of you will only bring you trouble. Don't underestimate your foes nor overestimate yourself!" he harshly instructed.

He knew that it was asking much of the teen to have such a sense when he just started his road on this world, but he had to warn nonetheless otherwise this brat disciple of his mind really end up killing himself one day. Such an immense potential being killed early would really be a shame.

"I understand master"

Ventus hurriedly corrected his mindset and set off to participate in the entrance battle exams, but still, in a corner of his mind, a slight disdain was held towards the competition.