Ranking Tournament

Conversely, Adrian was feeling pretty good about himself at the moment. He knew that as long as he continued to grow at this rate, he would easily outclass any of his current peers sooner or later.

The sparring class was over, and Adrian was on his way to the next class along with everyone else. But halfway there, he suddenly felt an unfamiliar spiritual sense directly lock onto him.

Alarmed, Adrian immediately probed back with his spiritual sense, tracing it back to a man who was waiting ahead of the group, as though waiting for them to approach.

They made eye contact with each other the moment they got close enough, but Adrian wasn't about to stop and initiate conversation with some random man. However, the man was not about to let Adrian pass just like that.

"Captain Adrian," the man called out emotionlessly.

"Who are you?" Adrian was surprised to hear a stranger addressing him by his rank.

"Follow me, let's talk."

The man obviously didn't treat Adrian with much respect, not even bothering to wait for a reply and walking away from the group immediately after speaking.

Adrian let out a sigh helplessly upon seeing this. He just wanted to take his time to slowly grow stronger now when he was still young, why did it seem like so many people wanted to pick a bone with him?

"Do you know him?" Sam asked, worried about his young friend.

"You guys go ahead, I will catch up," Adrian was a little worried, but he knew that he had to learn to handle such issues by himself anyway, so why not start now?

"Are you sure?" Elise was just as worried. The man definitely did not seem to be friendly in any way.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I don't want to bother you guys with my own affairs either," Adrian smiled before following after the man.

"He's such a kind kid," Elise reluctantly stayed behind and watched as Adrian separated from the group.

"Yeah," Sam couldn't help but agree.

Adrian was definitely worried about himself just as much as his peers were worried about him, but from this man, Adrian also sensed a strength that was almost similar to that from Sir Raymond Nyx. From that he knew that even if his friends came along, there was nothing they could do to help him out anyway.

So rather than have they come along for nothing, he might as well just face the problem himself while acting nice to earn some more social points with his peers.

They walked for a minute before the man stopped in the middle of a small courtyard. It was just one of the many courtyards within the academy compound, nothing exceptional. It just happened that there was no one else around at the moment.

"Who are you?" Adrian asked once again after realising that they have arrived at their destination.

The moment those words left his mouth, Adrian felt a heavy pressure crushing onto him, instantly forcing him to his knees!

Adrian gritted his teeth to endure the pain, feeling as though he was being crushed underwater with the pressure weighing on every inch of his body. The pressure was so strong that he even had to use his elbows to prop himself up if he did not want to just fall flat on the ground.

"I really don't understand what the Vice General sees in you," the man turned around to glare at Adrian. "You are so weak it's pathetic. How was a person like you made a Captain instantly?"

"Maybe you want to take the issue up with your Vice General instead!" Adrian tried not to let the pain get to him as he stubbornly refuted.

He was in complete disbelief right now. While he was a little worried initially, Adrian never expected the other party to just start on the offensive without a word of warning!

He was a 10 year old kid! What kind of adult does that to a 10 year old kid?

From his words, he seemed to be from the Royal Noc Military. A soldier would act so unreasonably against a 10 year old kid? What kind of military was this! What happened to helping the civilians and having a strict code of conduct to follow?

"Full of pride now, aren't you? Still trying to get the last word in?" the man didn't ease up on the pressure at all.

"What about you? Are you that proud about suppressing people less than half your age?" Adrian continued to express his defiance.

It hadn't been long since they first entered the courtyard, but Adrian was already covered in sweat by now. It was taking him everything he had got just to prop himself up from the ground.

It took another minute, but the pressure finally eased. Adrian was already panting heavily by then, desperately trying to get as much oxygen to his body as possible.

"The ranking tournament at the end of the year, it'd be best for you to win the entire thing," the man continued speaking emotionlessly.

What? Did he just tell him to win?

Adrian had long started treating this man in front of him with maximum animosity, but then he just told Adrian to win? What's the big idea?

"The ranking tournament is already too close for you to train up on your physical body. Regardless, recklessly training your physical body now when you are still in the growing phase is not the best solution long term. So all you can capitalise on is only your slightly superior mana reserve," the man continued.

Adrian let his body fall to the ground and turned around to lie on his back as he listened.

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Adrian mumbled weakly, still panting heavily.

"Shut up and listen!" the man was obviously displeased. "What you just experienced is called spiritual pressure. It is done by materialising your mana into Spiritual Aura, something that can exert direct influence. There are many uses to your Aura, but all you have to know is how to exert direct pressure on your opponent. Since everyone else has such pathetic mana reserves, it is likely that no one will be able to defend against that if you are able to do so."

Adrian had to consciously stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Who the hell was this man? What's in it for him? He definitely did not seem to be friendly towards Adrian, so why was he helping him?

Additionally, if this man wanted to help him, then do so properly! Why did this man have to torture him for so long? Was he a sadist or something?

"Whether I win or not is my problem. What's it got to do with you?" Adrian continued to show his defiant side.

There was a moment of silence as the man looked at Arian in disdain. Then the spiritual pressure from before abruptly returned!

Urgh-!

Adrian couldn't help but groan out in pain as his body was once again forcefully pinned to the ground.

All he could do was desperately circulate the mana within his body, trying to create a form of internal resistance. But this was far from sufficient to alleviate his troubles as the pressure continuing to mercilessly bear down on him.

"There's no longer enough time for you to slowly learn to materialise your own spiritual aura. The fastest way would be for you to experience the feeling of spiritual aura with your own body and then try to replicate it. This is the only way your talentless self can hope to learn it in time for the upcoming ranking tournament."

However, no matter what the man said, none of it was absorbed by Adrian. He had no spare energy to listen to this stranger blabber on when he was experiencing such pain!

With his spiritual sense, Adrian was able to see how the spiritual pressure originated from this man, as well as the path it took in the air. With all his brain power, he desperately tried to find a way out of his current situation.

However, being able to see something and being capable of blocking it were completely different concepts. Especially when the opponent was this much stronger than him!

The man watched Adrian closely, hoping to find some form of significant resistance, only to be disappointed as the clock continued to tick. Eventually, he relieved Adrian of the spiritual pressure once and for all.

"I truly do not understand what the Vice General sees in you. If you even have any form of fighting spirit within you, then repay the Vice General by winning the ranking tournament even if you have to struggle with the last bit of your life. Though I don't know if even that is enough," the man snorted in disdain as he walked away, leaving Adrian panting heavily as he continued to lie there on the ground helplessly.

What a crazy bastard! From the start to the end, Adrian still had no idea who he was! All he could infer was that he was an associate of Sir Raymond Nyx, and this was his way of trying to help Adrian strengthen himself.

But while the man might be strong, he was one hell of a shitty educator!

Spiritual pressure, eh?

Adrian pondered hard as he stared up at the blue sky above. He couldn't help but to agree with the man that if he were able to exert such strength as he pleased, none of his peers would stand a chance against him!

Closing his eyes, Adrian thought back about the exact feeling from before. Using his spiritual sense, he started trying to mould the mana within him, hoping to force it into something material, to form his own spiritual aura just like what the stranger did.

It was by no means an easy thing to do though. If it could be done just by wanting to do it, everyone would have formed their own spiritual auras by now. He wasn't able to do it previously when under pressure, and he definitely wasn't able to suddenly manage it now.

Still, the repeated attempts still granted him slightly better control over his mana, bringing him one step closer to forming a spiritual aura. By the time he was done, the sky was already dark.

A growl from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't taken both his lunch and dinner, and he quickly headed over to the canteen to have his meal before heading back to the dormitory.

"Where have you been all day!" an angry shout shook him from his daze as he approached the dormitory gate.

"Who?" Adrian was already significantly exhausted from the events of the day, but the shock woke him up immediately as he turned to look at the one who spoke.

But the people he saw made him release the tension in his body. Sam and Daemon rushed over to his side, busily inspecting him from head to toe.

"Why are your clothes so dirty? Did you fight with that man?" Sam exclaimed in shock.

Adrian instinctively looked down at his apprentice robe and sighed helplessly after realising that it was truly stained with dirt and sand. This was understandable as well. He had just spent the entire afternoon on the floor, so it would be a wonder for his robe to still be clean after that.

"Yeah, but not really a fight, more like a one-sided beating," Adrian muttered grudgingly.

Images of what happened previously came flooding into his brain once again. That crazy bastard! When he gained enough strength, he would be sure to repay this a hundred times over!

"Do you want to report this to the professors?" Daemon was treating this seriously, as he should be. An apprentice was literally just attacked in the academy after all.

"Forget it, he's from the military so I don't want to blow this up. But don't worry, if this happens again, I will personally report it to the professors," Adrian was being honest about his feelings this time. Not knowing the true identity of the other party, he truly did not want to blow up the matter.

After that short conversation, Adrian returned to his room, showered, and went right back into meditation as always. No matter how tired he was, he never deviated from this daily routine of his. This was the sole reason why his mana reserve was now larger than any of his peers, and he was not about to let this advantage slip.

The night passed silently, and dawn finally arrived.

As the freshmen streamed into the courtyard for their first lesson of the day, they were greeted with a professor who looked extremely solemn. The heavy pressure in the air caused the students to cease all idle chatter, waiting patiently for their professor to speak.

"I have something to announce today, so listen up all of you!" the professor bellowed.

The freshmen didn't have to be told twice. In fact, they were already giving the professor all their attention even without him asking for it.

"As most of you know, our annual ranking tournament would be held at the end of the year. This has been the tradition of our Gryphon Academy and there's nothing surprising about it. All of you will be battling it out among yourselves to decide on the most proficient magic combatant within the freshmen this year. However, something is different this time! This year, as part of an educational exchange, the freshmen from Sand Academy will be joining us in the ranking tournament," the professor announced.

"The Sand Academy?" one of the freshmen couldn't help but ask upon hearing that unfamiliar name.

"While the Gryphon Academy is widely believed to be the most prestigious magic academy in the empire, in fact the Sand Academy is also thought to be just as good. The two academies have frequent exchange of information, and this time we have decided to hold a combined ranking tournament to expand the horizons of both sides' apprentices. This will be a good opportunity for all of you to compare yourselves to apprentices of other schools."

The professor paused for a moment as he scanned through the freshmen's facial expressions. All of them weren't too affected by his words. To them, it just meant more participants in the ranking tournament, nothing more.

"But that said, we have no intention to lose!" the professor's voice significantly increased in volume, causing some student's to jump slightly in surprise.

"We are the prestigious Gryphon Academy! We cannot afford to have our reputation tarnished by some combined ranking tournament. The decision to go ahead with the combined ranking tournament because we are confident in your abilities, that you will be able to obtain the spot of the overall champion. So do not let us down!"

All these freshmen were just 15 year old kids, with their feelings easily fanned by words of promise. The blood within these impetuous youths immediately boiled as they heard this speech from the professor, all feeling pumped and looking forward to showing off their skills in the upcoming ranking tournament.

If they were lucky, they could possibly become the one that stood above all else within the two academies! What sort of endless glory would that be?