The following day, after the final class bell rang, Damian entered his dorm room with slow steps because he had a lot on his mind. Thoughts of ancient paintings, Elric, and Liam were still spinning endlessly in his mind.
Damian closed the dormitory door behind him quietly, then looked down at his wooden desk full of scattered books and notes. Among the thick papers and pens, there was one small piece of paper.
He walked over, staring at the neat writing on it: an invitation from Professor Limbert, principal of Zephyrus Academy. His heart beat a little faster.
"Come to the practice arena at sunset."
Damian furrowed his brow, leaning in closer to reread. "Practice arena? What did Professor Limbert want to show me that he invited me personally?"
Damian's left hand reached for the paper again, flipping through it in search of more clues. Damian bit his lower lip and thought, "Is this a secret exam, or... something more dangerous? Could it be that he knows the secret of me and my friends?"
Damian took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. But his heart was still beating fast.
He stepped back, lay down on the bed, and imagined the painting that reacted yesterday when he went to the room below the training arena. "What did Professor Limbert want to show me? Was it about the painting yesterday?" he murmured softly.
For a moment, Damian felt his chest heavy with fear and anticipation. With a piece of paper in hand, he walked to the window, looking at the setting afternoon sun.
Sunset was about an hour away. Damian folded the paper slowly, put it in his pants pocket, and then began to close his eyes. Confusion still inhabited his mind, but he knew one thing for sure: tonight, everything would be answered.
When the sun had fully set, Damian made his way to the training ground.
Arriving at the training arena, in the middle of the room stood a figure of a man with dark purple hair with a neat short cut. His gaze was sharp, as if he wanted to attack Damian right then and there. Without a word, the man threw out a cold criticism:
"So you're the one who shook the academy, defeating Kyle Ardent in the survival test. How strong are you?"
Damian flinched, furrowing his eyebrows. "I... I just did what I could."
The man stepped forward, a dark aura appearing around him. "All eyes are on you," he said. "Even though I was the first to be able to elicit a reaction from the painting, and I'm also number 1 in the entrance test."
"You... Nero Valtzreid? Ranked first in our year?" Damian said in surprise.
Before Damian could continue his words, the man jumped, a shadow attack lashing out from the side. Damian quickly created an ice sword and then parried the shadow attack with his ice sword, the clash of the two magics creating cold shadow sparks in the air.
The shadows attacked in succession: whips, spears, and black hands that tried to ensnare. Damian stepped back, then heard a taunt: "You rarely use that sword. Use it seriously if you don't want me to underestimate you, because if you don't use it, I will defeat you in this decisive duel."
Damian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out, which showed that Damian was now serious. Damian drew the Setsu'ryū sword from its sheath. The cold aura of Setsu'ryū spread to the floor, freezing the entire surface around the arena in a thin layer of ice. In one swift swing, a flash of ice froze the shadows that approached. The sword glinted under the light of the moonlight.
"I don't want to fight you," Damian whispered softly.
"Too late," Nero replied, and the shadow of darkness enveloped the room again.
The fight began as Nero swung two shadows from the right and left. Damian jumped back, then slashed one of the two shadows aimed at him, but the shadow split into three.
Quickly, Damian parried while twisting his body. Now, a kick came from above, he raised his sword to block it. The next attack struck from below the ground, grabbing Damian's leg.
"Braaak!" Damian fell, but his reflexes immediately worked: he froze the floor, creating a slippery surface, then kicked the floor and slid away.
Nero said, "Smart." He jumped, and his shadow turned into a shield. Damian jumped as well and slashed at the exposed part, but the shield moved and protected the part, so the slash bounced off and Damian flew away.
Damian stood up, breathing rapidly, holding the frozen Setsu'ryū in his hand. "If you force it, I'll get serious," he whispered. Damian created many small icicles and formed them into ice pillars as footholds.
Rising upward, he dived like a spear, sword in front. Nero crossed shadows into a crossguard, their collision making a loud CLAAANG! A wave of air spread, dust flying.
They exchanged blows, ice and shadow, each impact leaving cracks in the floor. Damian managed to freeze the area around Nero's feet, but his shadow power swirled and shattered the ice.
The fight continued until Nero jumped for a vertical stab, then slipped on the slippery floor. In an instant, the tip of Setsu'ryū was at his neck. "CLINK"
Silence fell, heavy breathing audible between them. Then footsteps were heard: Professor Limbert stepped into the training arena, long black robes and a curved cane in his hand.
"Enough," he said calmly. Damian lowered his sword, and Nero slowly rose to his feet. With a wave of his hand, Limbert restored the training arena to its original state, the cracks closed, the shadows, and the ice disappeared.
"I am Professor Limbert," he said. "From now on, I will be leading your night training. You are students with a great destiny, because you managed to make the ancient painting react. The last time this painting reacted was a long time ago. So, because of that, I called you two here personally, to train you to become stronger and find out about the ancient painting." Damian and Nero looked at each other, realizing that this was just the beginning.
That night, after the training arena was cleaned, Damian walked into his dorm room with heavy steps. Liam was already sitting on the bed, holding a cup of tea and writing down a list of this week's kitchen ingredients.
"Welcome back, Master Damian. How was the night class?" Liam asked kindly.
Damian threw himself onto the bed. "So tired..." he complained, pulling the blanket and covering his face for a moment.
Liam smiled, then stood up to make tea for Damian. "You're great, Master Damian."
Damian lifted his head. "Liam... have you ever felt like you have to be stronger than you think you can be?"
Liam stopped stirring the tea and looked at Damian seriously. "Always, Master Damian. Because if I don't, how can I protect you?"
Damian lowered his head, then smiled faintly. Liam's eyes shone in the light of the dorm lights. Damian took a deep breath, then began to tell the story of his fight with Nero in the night class, while Liam listened carefully.
The next day, class went as usual: magic theory, battlefield strategy, then element combination. Tessa rolled her eyes when the teacher read the essay assignment, while Rin almost begged for extra homework to get better at it quickly. Damian just held back his sleepiness, trying to stay awake even though his eyes felt heavy.
As soon as the bell rang, Damian immediately stood up and hurriedly walked out of the classroom because he wanted to take a nap in his dorm room. Damian walked down the school hallway. At the end of the hallway, he saw Nero standing with a cold face, his eyes sharp like a predator waiting for its prey.
Damian took a deep breath and then stepped forward. When the two passed each other, Nero stopped and turned his head slowly, his voice soft but cold, "It's quiet this morning." He looked at Damian seriously.
Damian answered in a flat voice, "Yes." His sentence was concise, but the tension between them immediately peaked.
Liam suddenly appeared beside Damian, he said. "Oh, this is the number one rank. He is strong, but his social etiquette needs to be improved." The other two students standing behind the pillar held their breath, seeing Nero's reaction.
Damian turned to Liam, his soft voice trembling, "Liam… please don't."
Liam shrugged. "I'm just stating the facts. He attacked Master Damian last night without permission. If you want to test your strength, at least ask for permission first."
Nero squinted, the shadowy aura around him clouding, then took a step forward. Meanwhile, the air around them began to feel cold. The children in the hallway spread whispers: "The two highest-ranked first years… are going to fight?"
Nero stood right in front of Damian. "If you think I lost yesterday, you're wrong."
Damian took a deep breath and exhaled, his breath sounding heavy in the silence of the hallway. "I don't think so." His words were firm, rejecting Nero's provocation, but his voice remained controlled.
But the atmosphere remained tense. Liam took a step forward, his right hand ready to reach for his magic revolver from the holster at his waist. Damian gripped the hilt of Setsu'ryū tightly. Both of them knew that this tension could explode at any moment.
The previously quiet hallway was now filled with tension. The morning sunlight cast shadows on the floor of the school's tall pillars. The seconds passed slowly, as if letting the watching students feel the tension that was about to explode.
Damian and Nero stared at each other. Both knew that in an instant, the challenge could turn into a merciless fight. Liam still stood beside Damian, his revolver waiting for his command, as if to say, "I'm ready."
Finally, Damian drew his Setsu'ryū sword slightly from its sheath. A flash of cold blue lightning struck from Damian's mana aura, repeatedly striking the air around him. The students felt a chill run through the school hallway, while a strong wind suddenly hit them all, blowing their hair and fluttering their uniforms. On the other hand, Nero took a deep breath and slowly released the shadows that had gathered around him. The dark aura began to appear, which also indicated that he was ready to fight. The two stood face to face, their powers clashing and filling the hallway. Ready to explode at any moment.
The hallway was silent, except for the sound of the students' light footsteps as they stepped aside. All eyes were on them: the two strongest young men in the first grade standing in the middle of the hallway.