Arthur Reinnes

Mephys maintained his smile as he looked at the two demigods. One couldn't really tell what he was thinking.

With a look of extreme reluctance, Kandor quietly walked out of the room with his brother. It was about time they left.

Walking through the coliseum's corridor, Emvell sighed as he looked at Kandor.

'To think the day would come when demigods would be used as circus performers.'

Truth be told, he was also pretty mad at what had occurred.

Once they left the coliseum and entered a forest, Kandor finally couldn't resist fuming. Noticing this, Emvell mentally focused his attention to the surroundings.

"Who does he think he is?!" Kandor shouted into the air, so loudly that a few birds started flying away, "Stealing my weapon, then forcing me to fight in this ridiculous farce so he can promote his stupid business? Always wearing that smug grin, I can't wait to smack him one day!"

Kandor continued rambling on, brandishing his halberd around, not caring if he would hurt anything around him. Emvell carefully maintained a two meter distance.

"I swear on our father's name, he will pay for this! Mark my words brother, we'll cast him back into Hell soon enough."

"Hm, yes. A matter of time." Emvell replied as he admired a butterfly whipping past.

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After the tournament was done, everybody in the lounge was happily recapping what they just saw. Unfortunately for Leo, he had to leave.

"Hm? Hey, where are you going?" Jeffrey noticed him walking to the door and called out. His voice also attracted Austin's attention.

"Sorry Master Quinn. But I have something important to attend to." Leo gave a polite response.

Hearing this, Jeffrey smiled and waved his hand. There was not a hint of arrogance on him.

"Don't be so formal. I may be a lord, but I prefer it if you could just call me Jeffrey," he smiled, "If you have something to do, then I won't stop you. But are you sure you don't want to stick around for any snacks? They're coming soon."

Leo hesitated as he considered the offer. Austin immediately came to reassure him, however.

"It's okay," Austin spoke out, "If you want, I can save a few snacks for you."

"Thanks. Then I'll trouble you." Leo nodded his head before leaving.

----------

It was still a little over an hour before dinner time in Halo Academy.

Leo walked to a room with double front doors. There was a label above it with the words "Training Area".

Leo took a deep breath before opening the doors. Most of the room was a wide open space in the shape of a hexagon. Once inside, he saw Gerald surrounded by students in the middle. Around this time would be when Gerald's own special club would start. It was where people can learn and practice close combat techniques involving mana.

Although combat classes are a mandatory subject for all students, that was only for the first two years of their time in Halo Academy. Afterwards, they were free to choose new subjects to replace it. However, if a student still wanted to learn, but had too many classes they wanted to fit into their schedule, then they had the option of joining a club.

Gerald was considered the best instructor in the entire school at melee combat. Due to being a veteran, he would undoubtedly possess many real life experiences. Being quite passionate about his subject, Gerald would also open his own private school at his home for any students still interested in learning over the holidays.

Sensing someone walking towards him, Gerald casually turned around and greeted Leo.

"About time you showed up. I was worried that we were going to start without you."

"Sorry Mr. Armstrong," Leo rubbed the back of his head, "I had some things to do with a friend of mine."

When he was with Gerald during training, Leo would always maintain a respective attitude. Even if they are friends, he still had to give his teacher some face. It was also not appropriate for other students to know of their good relationship.

Hearing Leo's reply, one of the students snorted, "Heh, you're talking about Austin, right? Don't pretend like you have anyone else around you.

"You two hang around together so much, you should start considering marriage."

A few people giggled at the remark, but immediately stopped when Gerald looked at them.

"Arthur Reinnes," Gerald spoke sternly to the person who snorted, "I don't believe I have to ask you again to remain respectful to your classmates."

The person, Arthur Reinnes, remained silent but still respectfully nodded his head.

After that was done, Gerald got everyone ready to do some stretching first before they exercised. Of course, they were to use their regular strength.

When they soon finished, the students got themselves ready to demonstrate the techniques they've previously learned around the room. Gerald wanted to see if everyone had maintained any practicing after the break.

He walked around among the students, lecturing them and correcting them when necessary. After being satisfied, he had them form up in groups according to what each student is currently learning.

Leo had previously been taught sword techniques last year and was now focusing on the staff. Naturally, he joined the staff group and saw some familiar faces.

After several minutes, it was break time. People could sit around and relax their aching bodies.

In one corner of the training area, Leo could see Arthur talking to some friends of his. He soon noticed that the person was holding something peculiar. Before wondering what it was, Arthur started speaking loudly.

"I've already consolidated the mana in my body," Arthur bragged in a raised voice, "As a reward, my own family has bought me a new sword. Naturally, it has been forged out of a rare metal and been enchanted with magic by the best enchanter my father could find."

"Amazing! As expected of my lord. You'll definitely become a great warrior one day!" One of Arthur's friends flattered.

That one friend's words sparked a reaction from the rest of the crowd around Arthur, with all of them complimenting his magic weapon.

"Oh, god! How much did this cost? Are you sure your family can spend away so much money?" said another friend, concerned.

"Hmph, it's nothing much," Arthur scoffed, "Just a few 1000 gold coins. They're a pittance to the Reinnes family."

His voice carried across to more than half of the students in the room. Some people were envious about Arthur's wealth while others showed disdain at his bragging. Leo didn't care much about the magic sword, however.

'He has consolidated his mana already?' he thought in wonder, 'But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. He probably couldn't wait anymore."

Consolidating one's mana was a special technique often used by those who trained in the arts of melee combat. It involves the concentration of all the mana in an individual's body and solidifying it into their muscles. Once the transformation was done there was no turning back.

This technique was seen as more of a meditation ritual. After successfully completing it, a person's control and power during close combat would be increased several fold. But there was a cost. After using it, their body can no longer cast most of the spells used by mages. Even if they had previously been able to, they are forever incapable of becoming a complete mage. Instead, they are simply treated as warriors.

As Leo pondered about this, he considered the drawbacks and benefits of becoming a warrior. The difference between the physical strength and speed of both a mage and a warrior using mana would be a ratio of 2:10. And this was only the average comparison involving a recently emerged warrior.

They could still keep training and build up power beyond their limits.

Although only being allowed access to basic spells, warriors have special techniques of their own that can resemble magic. Some talented individuals have even developed unique skills that can grant them similar abilities almost on par to what powerful mages can use. While different, warriors can still be very dangerous in their own right.

'Though it is usually recommended for students to wait until they graduate first, a few can still do it early on if they have already grasped the consolidation technique.'

Thinking this, Leo sighed at Arthur's decisiveness. Though he would like to wish him ill fortune, he knew for a fact that Arthur was indeed quite talented.

'If only he could just deflate his ego,' Leo frowned as he stared at Arthur showing off his shiny new sword, 'Didn't they say that you can become more mature once you consolidated your mana? His mental abilities should have already received a boost. Guess Arthur is just a late bloomer.'

Truth be told, Leo had never held any grudge against him. The guy was mostly just annoying and arrogant, and had never went too far beyond being obnoxious. But now that he was observing him, Leo couldn't help but be worried for the future.

He had known Arthur since they were children. Leo and Austin lived on the land ruled by the Reinnes family. When playing around outside, they would encounter Arthur on rare occasions. However, being the heir to a proud noble family with a rich history had caused him to look down on others born of low status. As he grew older, Arthur came to possess a strong desire to flaunt himself whenever he can.

"This blockhead is definitely going to cause trouble for others once he becomes a real lord." Leo muttered.

Beside him, other students had overheard his statement. Sadly, they agreed with his assessment.