251-260

Zenith wasn't peaceful due to recent events.

Alex had just entered Zenith and a storm had already been set in motion.

And the person who was in the middle of the storm was trying his best to keep calm.

He was called for the coronation ceremony but instead of being crowned he was going to be thrown into the academy and that means he cannot leave the capital and this matter had already brought him headaches.

And it also delayed his meeting with Yvonne's parents. Now, he was ashamed to face them.

"The way things developed is quite bizarre, I almost imagined you coming with wounds or an arm missing."

"But thank god, you came out safely from the den."Athena teased Alex.

Alex laughed bitterly hearing Athena's words.

"I don't know why I have an inkling that the thing was going to turn like this in the end."

"Perhaps, The Emperor wanted to enrol you in the academy from the beginning," Catherine said.

"Why do you think so?" Both Riya and Christina stared at her with questioning gazes.

"You might have already known about the law of the Crown Prince, have to graduate from the academy. I just thought that Alex would be an exception but I guess, I was wrong this time."Catherine murmured.

Alex swept his glance at everyone around and his stare stopped at Catherine.

"Out of everyone present here, only you have attended the Academy so tell me how it is?"

Catherine nodded and started to explain"The main class will be divided into groups depending on your choice and talent."

"Magic class, Knight Class and Literary Class."

"Magic class is for those who wanted to become a mage and their body had an aptitude for magic. Knight is for those who wanted to walk the martial path to become warriors and Literature is for those who are unawakened and opt to become scholars."

"And you were in Literature Classes filled with worthless and outcasted ones," Alex spoke with a smile.

Catherine nodded proudly but stopped in the mid as she realised Alex's hidden meaning.

"Pftt!"

The entire room burst into laughter as they stared at Catherine who made a fool of herself.

"Alex!" Catherine glared at him angrily clenching her fist and refuting.

"It's not filled with worthless ones, rather it is a class of scholars. Don't underestimate scholars."

"Scholars were also taught how to fight. There were many awakened ones in literary class also and without scholars, the civilization wouldn't have progressed to what it is today. There wouldn't be any difference between, demons beastman and us."

"Hmmm!" Catherine snorted.

"Since, we are already doing this. I have to think of some ways to profit."Alex spoke.

"Don't tell me you are going to kidnap some people," Christina asked with a startled expression.

Alex gritted his teeth seeing her expression and muttered"I will try to find a way to groom students and request them to work for us."

"I think you misspoke the kidnap as requested," Catherine spoke with a teasing smile.

"I wish Alice was there. When would she enter the academy?" Alex asked.

"Next year," Riya answered.

At the same time, they heard a knocking sound on the door.

Christina stood up and went out to look into the situation and returned with an envelope and passed it to Alex.

Alex squinted his eyes and took the envelope.

Alex closed his eyes as he saw the shining letter which almost blinded his vision.

"What do we have here?"

Alex read the letter and his expression turned solemn.

"Haaaa!" Taking a deep breath, he threw it towards the table and messaged his forehead.

"What's in there?"Everyone asked.

"Is the content too heavy even for you?"Athena spoke.

"It's the admission letter."

"Ohh!"Everyone grasped a cold breath.

" And Riya, you also have to enrol."

"What!" Riya shrieked with a panicked expression.

"Me…I have to enter the academy with My Lord."

At first, she was frightened and wondered if she had heard something wrong but as she thought about it more, her eyes glistened with delight.

'Wouldn't it mean, I can accompany My Lord?'

'Ohh, God! I am so lucky.'

Alex along with others noticed Riya's trail of thoughts and poured a cold bucket on her.

"You are going to enrol in Knight Class."

Riya's expression turned ugly and she started to grumble about it.

"Which class are you assigned?" Catherine asked curiously.

"Magic!" Alex answered nonchalantly.

"How did he know you had magic affinity?" Catherine asked.

Even Alex was suspicious about it. Except for the healing spell, he hadn't used any magic spell in front of others and his enemies who might have seen it always ended up dead.

And a healing spell is only possible with Goddess's blessing so it doesn't matter whether one had an affinity or not.

"Maybe they have tested your affinity before when you were a child," Athena muttered and looked toward Riya.

"Have they ever tested it?" Alex asked curiously.

"I don't know about it?"

"There were times when you were taken by people who were ordered by the Emperor to go somewhere and I asked you whether you remember anything."

"You always replied incomprehensibly and said you were taken into a study room or something and after that, you don't remember anything," Riya answered.

"Hmm!" Alex nodded and rubbed his chin falling into deep thoughts.

Alex does have a magic affinity, otherwise, how could he use magic? Surprisingly, he could use most of the elements.

Fire, water, wind, rock, lightning, plants, ice and light. These were the basic attributes of magic spells.

He didn't have any affinity with light elements but with Goddess Rebecca's help and Hirt, who is Goddess of Nature, he was able to develop an affinity with light elements.

Inborn attributes were quite strong but one can also develop by using external means.

Unlike others, he spent a lot of time in the Sanctum of Goddess where time flows slower and he had a lot of time to develop other magic attributes.

Any person who has a greater number of affinities has an aura that can be identified with a single glance.

Maybe, someone that day was able to notice this in the Throne room or those people who secretly observed his battle against Amidon noticed something.

Out of everyone 1000 mage, only a couple could use more than four elements.

And his affinity for lightning and fire elements is the strongest while the wind is the lowest but that didn't mean he didn't have any affinity with wind and cannot use wind spells.

Alex didn't know about another member of the Royal family but he heard from Alice that she had an affinity with three nature elements currently and Prince Sean had all except light and plant, who can be considered genius mages.

Alex stared at the letter and spoke.

"And we have to enter the second year and we are already six months late."

"I could already feel a headache."

He could ace the practical but he didn't know if he could keep up with writing exams and papers and documents piling up in Leonhart, he felt as if he was undergoing the greatest crisis in his life.

Alex stared at others with a bitter smile"We were able to meet up after so long and that scum old man forced us to depart again."

Alex's heart became heavy and tore up.

Although they can stay in Zenith, Leonhart will be ignored at this rate.

And either he or Catherine's presence was required to handle the matters otherwise their long absence may cause all the development in vain.

Athena noticed his expression and spoke, "Don't worry, a family may be separated but can never be broken."

Alex got up and opened his arms and hugged each of them once and said"I am lucky to have wives like you but it might be your bad luck to have me as your husband."

Catherine unknowingly felt a bit emotional and snuggled in his chest.

After meeting Alex, she always had the feeling of being protected and didn't need to keep up her guard.

"Next, the time I return I will draw a grand magic circle whose activation can transport me directly from my dorms to Leonhart so we can meet every day," Alex spoke with a smile and tried to spend some pleasant time with his wife.

Christina just enjoyed his warm embrace without any words still she felt a little sorrowful about it.

When Alex moved toward Athena, she smiled and spoke in a heavy voice.

"Don't forget us and don't dare to pick up girls. Riya, if you find any vixen drawing near or if this fellow dares to seduce, just cut the thing and nip the bud."

Alex screamed and flinched back.

"What do you mean cut the thing? Aren't you destroying your future happiness?"

Except for blockhead Christina, everyone understood the underlying meaning and their faces became red.

"I am talking about the girl. Riya just cut that girl."

"Dirty Minded Pervert!" Athena stuck out her tongue and teased Alex.

After a brief meeting, it was decided that Catherine, Christina along with Athena would go back to Leonhart after staying at Zenith for a few days.

Athena decided to move to the orphanage and take the children with her.

Little did she know that Alex had pulled the string from behind, as Alex observed the children and the group seemed to consist of bronze and silver geese for him who might become slaves…he mean pillars for Leonhart.

If only Athena knew about this, she would kick Alex to death for having ulterior motives, she would kick him to death.

.....

Zenith Academy.

When considering a future that is filled with all kinds of danger, if a person has to stand way above others, he has to possess some sort of skills in whatever department he is interested in or might have a talent for a particular field.

As the institute that stands way above everything not only in the Kinley Empire but also throughout the continent, it is a dream of everyone who aims to reach the top.

The cadets weren't only humans and all kinds of species were present here.

Zenith Academy is one of the best academies where future generations are cultured and it was the oldest academy that had existed for thousands of years with a rich heritage.

And here he was, standing before the gates of such a prestigious place which was the next step to his new life.

It was huge and comparable to a mini city like one in his previous life.

Tall buildings with white shiny surfaces and magnificent facilities with a large gate leading to the academy resemble a big castle of its standing in glory.

The towering building seemed to be touching the clouds like skyscrapers.

Alex and Riya stood there lost in thoughts while observing the things.

Alex's expression was quite grim and he was quite frustrated about entering the place but witnessing the marvellous and glorious academy had lessened some of his bitterness.

Before stepping into it, Alex felt a slight sour feeling. It was due to the separation from his other wives.

All of them have barely united and in a way have to be separated again.

He shook his head to stuff the feeling in his heart and stared at Riya who smiled and held his hands.

A flight of stairs leading to the gates was cleanly arranged and on top of which guards stood waiting for them to climb.

Two guards who stood before the gates served as his escorts to show the way.

Alex stared at the guards patrolling the area.

There were eight guards and each of them was highly proficient.

Alex was stopped by them and after showing his newly created seal of Leonhart Kingdom as well as the enrollment letter, the guards gave their approval and allowed both of them in.

A guard made a hand sign and a remarkable phenomenon occurred. A glimmer of faint light emanated from the bars causing them to rise, following which a narrow passage appeared on the barrier which granted them access to the Academy compound.

'The security is quite good.'Alex nodded in satisfaction.

"You are to be directed to the Admission Department. Show them this special letter otherwise you may be thrown out. Keep walking straight and take a right turn." A guard spoke.

Alex could feel a hint of jealousy from his words. He seemed to be single and seeing Riya being lovey dovey with him might have flared him up

Alex offered his thanks and started to walk followed by Riya.

Upon entering, they were greeted with a vast compound with several buildings across the area.

As Alex walked, he felt quite strange and as he turned his head, he could feel countless stares observing him.

As far as their intention, Alex couldn't sense any malicious intent coming from them so he ignored them.

But still getting that kind of weird gaze could make anyone uncomfortable.

The situation was quite similar to all the neighbours peeking through their house hoping to get a good show.

"My Lord, that's the Admission Department." Riya pointed at the huge sign board.

It stood out quite well and was different from other buildings. It looked quite sturdy. Though the materials used in construction looked plain yet all of them seemed to be quite exquisite that could take a blow from them.

Alex could imagine hundreds of students lining up in front of it during the admission season but it was empty now.

"Good afternoon gentleman, how may I help you?" The middle-aged attendant asked with a sincere smile.

"Hello Sir, I along with her came for enrollment."

The attendant expression stiffened and he stared at them with a shocked expression.

"Ahem…Ahem…"Coughing slightly, he spoke.

"I think you have a misconception. The Academy admissions are already over. If you want to study here better luck next time." He spoke with a warm smile.

Alex laughed a little seeing the man who had kind intentions.

"Sir, I know about that. I didn't want to attend but The Emperor forced me to come here." Alex spoke with a pitiful tone and took out the enrollment letter.

The attendant took out the letter and studied it carefully.

He took out a pair of glasses and tried to verify the letter along with all the documents.

Under the glasses, the seal along the deed would glow showing a certain light due to the mana signature which could be verified easily.

"Hmmm, these are all valid." He muttered with a confused expression.

He was just a minor attendant so he didn't know the things that happened outside recently nor he was informed about the special case.

"I will ask for the higher authorities." He muttered and walked away after asking Alex and Riya to wait for some time.

Both of them chatted a bit and after a few minutes, the attendant returned and asked them to follow him.

They were led to the inner room where a neatly dressed man stood.

Alex sensed the man to be a legendary rank mage.

"King Alex, forgive me for my discourtesy but you would be addressed as Alex here. Your status doesn't matter in this place."

'Perfumery words. Everyone knew whether status mattered or not.'Alex snorted inwardly.

"Sir, how may I address you?" Alex asked.

"You can call me Marx."

"Due to The Emperor Order, you are going to enrol in the academy but don't think that you are a special case. Many transfer students came in the mid-seems or at the end from other Empires."

"But even if you are entering the academy through Emperor orders, we will not mould the rules and you have to pass the entrance test just like others. Even the transfer students had to pass it."

"Sir, if I can't pass the test will I be sent home?" Alex spoke with bright eyes shining gleefully.

Marx's mouth was opened wide for a moment seeing Alex's expression.

'Is this kid an idiot? Many cried and begged to enter the academy due to strict entrance. Many noble children weren't even able to enter and there is no back door here and while many were dying to study there, this kid wanted to get out.'

"No!" He cut off Alex.

"If you fail, you will be put in a scholars class."

Alex sighed with a disheartened expression.

"Take this identification badge and walk through this door and you will enter the arena. Your magic affinity would be tested and after which you will undergo a battle test and then your attributes will be checked"

Alex stared at Riya and asked him to follow.

"Don't take her with you, she has to go to the other side."

"Martial arts department has to be tested there," Marx said, giving a badge to Riya and pointing to the other side.

Alex gave Riya a thumbs up and parted from her.

Welcome Everyone!"

A very loud and clear voice echoed throughout the place.

It filled the largely empty hall where no one was present where Alex entered and hearing the voice, he wondered whether it was sarcasm and the man was trying to play with him.

The man who stood on the stage felt Alex's razor-sharp gaze as if Alex was going to dig a hole in him.

"I didn't want to embarrass you kid. I thought that since I am doing it, I should do it properly."

Alex just shook his hand and muttered faintly"I don't know how many kinds of animals I am going to meet here."

"Hey, what did you say? I didn't hear you?" The man glared at Alex.

"Hehehe!I just said I cannot wait to meet the students in my class."Alex spoke.

"Hmmm!"

"You seem to be quite a free-spirited kid, the way things are going, you might be pummeled by the second year. Most of them had already reached disciples rank and some even reached Master rank waiting to advance to Epic rank by end of the year or next." The man warned.

"Now, come let's test your rank."The moderator spoke and pointed at the huge white crystal ball before him.

" You just need to touch it and pour your mana. The crystal ball will test the quality of your mana and discern your rank."

"When a person emits mana, the particles of mana oscillate at a particular frequency specifically to rank. The higher the rank, the higher the frequency of oscillation." He explained professionally.

Alex turned a deaf ear to him and was lost in other thoughts.

He was wondering what rank he needed to show. He had concealed his sure strength correctly to peak Disciple rank and though many were sceptical about his rank as he bombed the gates of the palace.

Concealment wouldn't work in front of this crystal test but that's not the case for him.

Only his close ones knew about his real rank and he made sure to hide his rank according to the occasion.

To avoid suspicion, he didn't break through into Epic rank in Leonhart and only stepped into it after leaving it and securing a place alone to break through.

As per the test, he can control the frequency of the mana a bit due to his good control of the mana.

Alex stepped forward and placed his hands on the mana crystal.

The white crystal started to shimmer, emitting a blinding flash.

The crystal can measure mana up to Epic rank and beyond it, the ball would burst.

The rank would be indicated by colour.

White for the squire, yellow for the disciple, orange for the Master and red for Epic rank.

The flash of light started to disappear and the crystal turned into orange colour which surprised the Moderator greatly.

He didn't think even in his dreams that the boy without any guidance would already step in as Master rank. If he was an heir or a child of a noble household then it would be okay but he naturally knew Alex's identity.

As he observed the scene, his expression changed a bit as the orange colour flickered abruptly and finally returned to yellow.

Alex sighed and stared at the Moderator asking innocently with a curious gaze.

"Why did the colour change?"

"It's because you seem to be at the peak of Disciple rank and need a push a bit to enter Master rank. At first, your body emanated mana vigorously at Master rank but soon it was unable to do so as you are not Master rank."

"Ohhh!" Alex made an understanding expression and nodded his head.

"Now, what about the next test?"

The moderator stared at Alex and said"In the next, your affinity was going to be tested and at last your prowess but the order had been changed and you have to show your battle skills first."

"What's the reason for this sudden change?" Alex asked curiously.

"Ask the person in charge." The Moderator muttered and both of them disappeared with a snap of his finger.

Alex appeared in a huge stadium of the Colosseum on a hard metallic platform and heard the voice carrying a tone of narcissism.

"Taking charge of the second test is none other than the mighty me. The Extraordinary Professor, the Professor of the year…..Quinn Russ…"

Suddenly a gust of wind gathered at the place drawing Alex's attention.

Alex's eyes bulged as he caught the sight of the man who appeared from within the winds.

"Nice to see you, Alex!" He greeted me.

"Nice to meet you too," Alex muttered with a cautious expression because the one who appeared before him was a beast in a real sense.

He gave out the aura of a legendary rank but as soon as Alex activated the eyes of truth, his eyeball widened.

Name:Quinn Russ

Rank:Legendary[Mid-Mythic]

Class:Mage

Talent:Has a high aptitude for magic.

Potential:Superior

'Mid Mythic rank!'

'Are you kidding me? Who the hell is he?'

Mythic rank and a professor even though he looked young, this guy wasn't ordinary in any sense.

"Alex, as informed you are going to study Magic class so without wasting any time, I should begin the second round of the test."

"Let me state the requirements."

"The purpose of this exam is to see Magic casting. Your casting speed, your efficiency and as a student who is going to enrol one should be capable enough to utilise mana to a certain degree as expected of you."

"You will step forward and launch your powerful spell if you have at me as much as you can. I shall judge your abilities according to second-year criteria as instructed which is many times tough, as no matter what we have orders that you have to enrol in the second year."

"Now, come at me with everything you have got," Quinn shouted trying to cheer up Alex who looked quite lazy.

Alex thought about the spell and decided to begin with the fire spell.

Alex raised his hand and a small twinkle lit and was about to form a ball of fire when Alex realised something and stopped the spell.

Swoosh!

Black smoke emerged instead of fire and Alex laughed bitterly"Sorry, I misspelt."

Quinn felt a hint of disappointment and asked him to start really.

Alex sighed in relief. After going wild, he had forgotten that he could cast silently and some spells he didn't need to even chant.

He almost summoned a fireball without any chant which might have caused trouble.

Alex closed his eyes and his lips started to move quickly, an indication that he had already commenced his spell.

Quinn noticed that Alex had applied speed enhancement magic to increase his chant speed.

Mana began surging around Alex and started to churn around him as he raised his palm.

The air started to rotate before him and a scorching heat started to radiate from his palm with a swish.

"[Flaming Tornado Bazooka]" Alex shouted

A strong gust set forth and a pillar of flames emerged that twisted before Alex in the shape of horizontal tornadoes whose tempo increased and it shot towards Quinn.

Quinn felt a brush of hot air hitting him and his clothes fluttered still he stood unafraid before the rising tempests that descended upon him trying to engulf him.

While Alex was undergoing a series of tests, inside a room filled with a group of people staring at the scene displayed on the screen projected by a crystal.

Each of them observed Alex.

From his behaviour to his facial expression when he took the test.

As Alex finished the rank test, many praises started to pour on him.

"He sure had royal blood in him."

"Although compared to others he is still a bit behind and falls short before others but thinking about all the things he has gone through in his life, it's quite remarkable for him." Neon, a professor, spoke.

Though Alex was a little belittled compared to other royal offspring it wasn't entirely false.

Alice, who is the youngest, had already reached Disciple rank and by the time she entered, she might have already reached Master rank if she strives hard to move forward.

As everyone mumbled, in the head seat an Old man watched the crystal with an inexplicable gaze.

His long beard fell over like a waterfall and he looked quite old as if he was going to drop dead any moment but his eyes seemed to be filled with vitality.

His gaze was sharp and probing, he seemed to be searching for something on the screen.

His eyes didn't leave Alex and there was a bit of surprise in his eyes as he observed him as if the child was a mysterious being.

He caressed his long beard and raised his brows as the next stage began.

All of them heard Quinn's speech and shook their heads with a bit of worry.

"Headmaster Douglas, was it alright to let him go and take over the test?"

"Instead of judging according to Academy standards, he will surely upgrade the difficulty and make things hard for Alex."

"He just went there to have fun." One of the professors spoke.

"I hope he just doesn't forget what he is doing and hurt Alex?"

Douglass sighed and spoke, "He said that he wanted to be the judge otherwise he will turn the place upside down."

"I just hope he doesn't push the kid all around."

Everyone nodded their head on hearing his words.

Quinn Rusk wasn't an ordinary mage. He was already near an archmage level and had already made his name on the Continental list.

In the list of top mages, he had been ranked 18th but no one knows his actual prowess.

The rankings except for the top 10 change a lot and one challenges another and defeats them to take their rank.

Quinn was in 40th rank when he got into a battle with the 18th place Gordon accidentally but surprisingly defeated him easily.

"Huuh!"They let out a shocked expression as they saw Alex misspelt and many clicked their tongues in disappointment but Alex's motion didn't go unnoticed in Douglas's eyes.

He could perceive the change and wondered whether he misspelt spelt or there was something else.

"They are starting for real." A Professor whispered and everyone's attention was drawn to the screen as Alex started the spell.

…

WOOOOOSH!

A powerful vortex made of flames frighteningly hurled toward Quinn but he maintained his ground without stepping back.

His expression was quite relaxed to the point that he started to take a deep yawn even though the danger closed in.

As the flame vortices closed the proximity, they engulfed him wholly trying to devour him.

A snapping sound was heard and the vast cluster of twisting flames instantly scattered and nullified within a moment.

The hot flames dispersed all around sending hot winds enough to burn one skin.

The hot flames dissipated quickly while Alex gazed in surprise at how to ease the man dispelled his spell.

'Sure enough, this guy is not ordinary.'

The spell was basic tier but he had full mastery over it and it could even nullify an intermediate spell.

The man's ability to dispel it with a simple flick means his understanding and mastery were comparable to him at the current stage.

"Next move please.'

Alex's lips twitched seeing the man's expression as if he was asking for the next dish to serve in the restaurant.

Quinn just shrugged his shoulders seeing Alex glare.

" You are quite relaxed even though I am throwing spells at you? Can you at least hide that boorish look on your face, it's quite irritating."Alex muttered.

"What can I do? I haven't had fun for ages. Now begin your next spell?"

"If you want to have fun, you should look for a girl instead of fighting, otherwise it makes you look like a masochist," Alex said with a teasing smile.

Alex threw a fireball into the air and suddenly it split into hundreds of balls at a time and all of them surrounded Quinn.

The fireball started to rotate and became a spindle shape and swirled around rotating with a high speed over the pointy edge at the front.

From afar it looked like a bullet had materialised and the shell was made of fire.

Alex raised his hand and aimed at Quinn.

"[Fire Bullet]" Alex chanted and his fist closed.

Swish!Swish!Swish!Swish!

Hundreds of bullets darted toward him as if a machine gun was firing at him.

The bullets tore through the air and reached Quinn who had an amused smile on his face.

Quinn chanted a spell and the air around him swelled and puffed, becoming many times denser.

The wind swirled and started to concentrate around him.

Alex's eyeball bulged as he noticed the strange phenomenon.

A barrier made of high-density wind appeared and as the bullet passed through the transparent barrier, small ripples started to appear all over the barrier enacted by Quinn.

As the bullets went deeper into it, they left a trail and suddenly disappeared after passing inside it but none of them was able to reach Quinn.

Alex stared at the wide grin on Quinn's face.

He could have easily destroyed his spell but for an unknown reason, he tried to show a creative spell.

Instead of forming the general impenetrable shield used by a mage, he forms a dense layer of the air barrier.

The principle was quite similar to the dense atmosphere destroying a meteorite.

When meteorites entered the atmosphere, the dense air rubbed against them creating friction and many of them were burnt leaving nothing before reaching the land.

Soon all the bullets failed to reach Quinn while Alex started to conjure the next set of spells.

Alex chanted another spell and suddenly, the ground on which Quinn stood sank to the ground forming a small hole.

Quinn was taken by surprise and his balance was broken as he fell, and at that time the barrier enacted by him dispersed while Alex, chanted another spell and swung his arms like a sword.

"Flame Blade."

A long blade made of condensed flame shot toward Quinn. Even though the barrier is dispersed, he manipulated the wind to regain his balance and his body shoots up and his figure floats in the air, he raises his finger pointing at Alex and the wind starts to condense.

Swish!

An invisible mass of pressure shot toward Alex and even before he could react, it passed through Alex's scratching his cheek, surprising him greatly.

Alex stood rooted to the ground unable to react. He felt as if an invisible sharp blade passed through him as fast as lightning.

A small amount of blood trickled while a few strands of hair fell on the ground.

"Kid, I didn't come here to play or waste time. I heard some interesting things about you so I thought I could have some fun with you."

"I can see a lazy and indifferent look in your eyes and just like me, you are holding back," Quinn muttered with a solemn expression.

"Seeing body stature and physical fitness, you seem to be a battle mage and well versed in close combat. So, just throw everything you have at me. If you can please me, please I will owe you a favour and you might not know but my favour carries a huge weight for friends and a great threat for foes." Quinn grinned.

Alex lifted his chin observing Quinn and his whole body trembled.

It was neither due to fear nor oppression, rather it was due to excitement.

His blood boiled and the fighting spirit within him aroused greatly and he clenched his fist tightly.

There were two things, hardware and software.

Martial Arts depend on hardware which is the physical status while magic aptitude depends on software, chanting and thinking which is similar to calculating maths.

Not many may know but Alex finds the magic much more amicable than martial arts. Under Goddess Rebecca and Goddess of Wisdom's guidance, Alex progressed leaps and bounds.

Some of his theories even surprised the Goddess. Alex finds magic interesting and in a way, scientific knowledge can help one to understand the underlying principle.

His way of looking at magic scientifically and comparing both science and magic made it easier to understand things.

But after returning from Sanctum, he worked hard on hardware and neglected the software aspect.

Even though he had vast knowledge, he wasn't able to utilise it properly because his body was holding back and needed to accumulate that knowledge otherwise his brain circuit would be damaged due to overflow.

Most magical knowledge can be said to be a seal waiting to be explored when the need arises.

If his previous processing speed in Sanctum can be described as a supercomputer then his current self was a high-speed processing simple Pc and the difference between the processing speed was quite vast.

So, Alex waited to slowly get over magic after strengthening his body but after meeting Quinn, his passion for magic had been rekindled again.

"Let's do this," Alex shouted and armed several spells on himself within a quick period.

A burst of mana exploded from his body with a gust of wind.

BOOM!

In a flash, Alex shattered the ground beneath him, truly breaking into pieces as he zoomed towards Quinn.

WHOOSH!

Alex's momentum was quite fast as he accelerated toward Quinn who let out a hearty laughter.

BOOOM!

Alex's arms clashed against Quinn who stood in the air and blocked it casually.

The air around them was torn apart.

Swish!

Alex raised his fist and aimed for his head.

BAAM!

Quinn stared at the approaching attack as if it was a child's play and raised his arms to block it.

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

Alex threw a series of punches but it was of no avail and he wasn't able to move the man an inch.

He thought that man might be weaker in close combat range but that wasn't the case.

Both of them landed after exchanging a few bouts which Quinn defended with one hand quite easily.

Quinn grinned in amusement seeing Alex struggle.

Alex summoned many fireballs and threw them at Quinn in quick succession.

"Old tricks!" Quinn muttered and waved his hand.

But unlike previously, the ball of flames burst into smoke before reaching him and covering his vision entirely, cutting off his eyesight for a moment.

A tint of flames fell on the ground and instead of extinguishing, it ignited and flames spread like waves surrounding Quinn trapping him in a closed perimeter.

Quinn waved his hand, and a strong hurricane blew extinguishing the fire but Alex took the chance and cast the spell, turning the ground into liquid mud.

Quinn's eyes narrowed as his feet sank to the ground quickly but he didn't fail to maintain the same nonchalant look, he glided his body to rise from the ground but to his surprise, the ground quickly dried around his feet and his lower body was stuck on the ground.

Alex waves his hand and alters the structure of the liquid mud and solidifies it, trapping him on the ground and cutting his motion.

Quinn twisted his body to get out but at that time, a whip of a plant rose from the ground and hurled towards him.

The thick vine swirled and bent in the form of the whip to hit him.

FWOOSH!

The whip of the vine caught fire before reaching him and burning into the dry shoot, following which several vines shot towards him covering him from head to toe but this way far from over.

Alex stomped the ground heavily forming a large pit under his feet, the ground rumbled like sea waves and several blocks stood up and rose from the ground.

They started to vibrate faintly and soon several pieces of a block of soil altered and moulded into rocks surrounded Quinn.

Alex sucked cold air and his eyes glowed with a sinister smile wondering how Quinn would go out.

Swish!Swish!Swish!

With a casual flick of Alex, several rocks shot toward him wanting to pulverise the main into meat paste.

"Hahahahahahah!"

Loud laughter echoed throughout the place and all the vines caught fire while the ground cracked and Quinn started to step forward.

An earthen wall appeared before him forming a shaped shield which clashed against the rocks and boulders but none of them was able to breach the walls.

BAM! BAM!BAM!BAM!

Loud crackling noise emerged and the rocks turned into pieces after crashing on the wall.

Alex's eyes lingered on the wall and he noticed that the man had applied intermediate enchantments to it to make it stronger and studier

"Hey, isn't it cheating? We were fighting with basic magic and you used intermediate magic so in this case, shouldn't I be already declared the winner." Alex grumbled while staring at the men ferociously who looked back at Alex with an amused expression.

"Kid don't twist the logic? When did I say, we will be fighting with basic magic? Many of your groups have already mastered intermediate magic." Quinn shouted while flying up.

"Do you think that I am naive enough to be fooled by your words?"

The high wall fell back and became one with the ground.

"Since you have shown me quite a good show then I should also show my sincerity."

"Here take this brat!" Quinn spoke with a smile and pointed his finger at him, a small piece of rock appeared that started to dance on top of his fingers.

Lightening started to flicker around it and covered it in a cocoon and without wasting any time, he launched it at Alex.

Alex's eyes widened as he felt a sense of crisis from the attack.

Quinn had intertwined basic spells but the speed at which he shot it was too fast. With this speed, it could even blow a tank and puncture a hole in the warship if compared to his previous world.

"Damn! Are you trying to kill me?" Alex screamed and waved his hand.

Mana surged towards him from all directions. Alex's mana heart started to pump mana faster and Alex didn't hold back in casting the barrier as it was a question of his life and death.

A strong golden barrier appeared enveloping him and Alex applied enhancements over it.

The golden glow started to enlarge and grew sturdier and thicker forming an impenetrable shell.

A battlemage uses enhancements to strengthen his body to fight unlike the warriors who had strong bodies but Alex decided to use his physical strength and aura in the worst-case scenario cause he may die.

Alex was already circulating all his mana and was ready to channel his aura to cover himself in the case of the worst situation.

SHINING!

The small piece of rock that was shot tore through the air as he darted towards Alex.

It left a small fissure on the ground due to the high speed creating a small sonic explosion one after another behind.

Leaving behind a bluish trail, the mini rock hit the barrier with great impact and exploded.

BOOOM!

Alex's barrier wasn't able to hold on and the blast sent him flying back in the air like a ragdoll as he slid off the ground after crashing on it.

Although the barrier was destroyed, it neutralized the attack and Alex was blown away mostly by the momentum of the collision.

If he had used his aura to protect himself, the blast couldn't have moved him by an inch but since the main danger was eliminated, he didn't use it and used his body to take the blow.

Alex coughed a few mouths filled with blood and glared at Quinn.

"I was correct, you use the higher intermediate spell." Quinn rejoiced.

"That doesn't mean you can kill me. If I didn't know intermediate spells shouldn't I have a big hole in my chest due to your carelessness?"Alex spoke in an angered voice.

"I was certain that you could defend it and it seems you still held back a bit, isn't Alex?" Quinn grinned.

'This man surely had a frightening intuition.'Alex cursed and a sudden thought struck his mind.

'Did he already know that I am hiding my strength and is he trying to force out my Epic rank strength?'

Beads of sweat covered his forehead as he thought about it.

He wasn't sure about it but the possibility made him afraid. If this guy ever turns out to be his enemy, he might be gone for sure.

Because oddballs like this come in pairs. He already had that madman Albert under him and now there was another madman, at least this one was cultured and civilized compared to Albert.

Still, that didn't mean that he could do as he wished.

"Since you want it badly, I will gladly accept it and try to beat you at your own game," Alex grumbled and stood up.

WUUUUSSSHHH!

Alex's whole body glowed and the air around him vibrated, emitting a defeating roar comparable to the phenomenon of a natural disaster taking place.

Powerful ripples emerged around him and his figure started to float slowly.

Alex raised his hand and encompassed a mass of wind that surrounded him and like Quinn, his figure drifted up towards the sky.

Instead of using a flying spell, Alex used air to lift him and glided his body.

Alex glared at Quinn and his body was soon surrounded by lightning that flickered all around him dancing on his palms.

The scene looked like a beautiful purple snake wriggling around Alex trying to please him.

His eyes became blue emitting a flash of lightning and his hair rose to defy gravity and his whole body was covered by lightning.

Applying lightning on one body can increase the speed by several folds and can be used both as an offensive and defensive means but it could also greatly damage the body as lightning burns the part of the body if it passed inside.

Only those whose bodies have resistance to lightning damage or people who tempered their bodies to take on the lightning could use it like this.

It could also increase the brain processing speed as the lightning pass-through neurons.

Even though Alex's body hadn't any resistance to lightning, he had used the blessing and healing spell that we're working on in the background to deal with the damage mending the burns inside his body and preventing him from being fried till crisp.

"You….Alex stop, you don't need to push yourself." Quinn almost screamed in panic.

...

Even those who were watching the high-interest interest felt their scale going numb.

"This kid is a maniac, he might die at this rate."

"I knew something like this was going to happen. Quinn is already a freak and now Alex is also a freaking maniac like him. The rumours were all true. This kid doesn't give a damn about anything"

"He even pushed himself to the death door just to defeat Quinn even though this was just a test."

"Headmaster please do something."

"If something happens to this kid, The Emperor will skin us alive."

All the professors screamed in horror and looked at the headmaster to do something.

"Just sit down and observe the match," Douglas muttered in a calm tone.

"But…Headmaster.." The other tried to refute.

"Keep your worries to yourself. There isn't any damage to his body. If something was going to happen, it might have already happened."

"Shouldn't he be burnt to a crisp under normal circumstances but he still looks good."

Douglas's words brought them some relief and they also understood the situation and looked at Alex with a curious gaze.

They could see the burns on his body repairing as soon as they appeared.

"I have heard that he has received Goddess Rebecca's blessing and will soon be appointed as Holy son officially. It might be due to the blessing he was able to survive."A professor gave a plausible explanation.

...…..

In the vast place, as if the storm was going to come, strong heavy winds were surging all around.

"Alex Sto-!!"

Lightning crackled and trailed its way towards him even before he could finish his sentence.

BOOM!

Alex manipulated the winds and threw a wind scythe at him and caused the high-speed wind to spiral throughout the air to slice off the barrier Quinn crafted while streaks of lightning rained down on him.

Quinn was momentarily taken by surprise seeing his barrier being broken by Alex.

ZZAP! ZAP!ZAP!

BOOOM!

Alex uses the wind to surround Quinn and send him crashing down to the devastated ground below them.

More rocks scattered as Quinn's body crashed to the ground.

Alex surrounded flames, rocks and lightning and threw all of them toward Quinn.

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

Mini crackling explosions wreaked havoc one after another. The firepower was enough to roast and grill a transcendent rank until nothing remained except ash which might also be carried away by the wind leaving behind nothing.

But unfortunately, Alex's hope was shattered and as the layer of dust dissipated, under the large crater, a man still stood without a single scratch on his body.

"This was quite good."

"Not bad!"

"Alex, you have already passed and surpassed my expectation," Quinn spoke, dusting off his coat.

Although Alex was happy to hear his words, his mood became sour as he wasn't able to narrow the huge gap between them.

"But, it's far from over," Quinn muttered softly.

"If you can take this blow then you can think of yourself as the winner."

"Water arrows!"Quinn shouted pointing at the sky.

It suddenly started raining and dark clouds appeared over them, the rain that started to fall suddenly morphed into sharp water arrows and moved towards Alex.

The arrows were thousand in number and could bring panic to anyone facing them.

"Damn! Just what kind of enmity he has! He clearly said I qualified but still he isn't stopping. Does he want to injure me?"

"It's just a trifle drizzle. That's not enough."

Quinn flicked his finger and a dozen wind blades shot from him.

He raised his hand and waved his hand following which four tornadoes appeared spinning frantically and growing stronger.

"If you can take this blow and survive my attack. I will consider your passing a flying colour."

"You don't need to be afraid of death. I have controlled my strength."

"If you are unable to handle it, I will save you from dying, "Quinn spoke and started to wave his hand as if he was conducting an orchestra.

The tornadoes started to swirl around and their tempo started to blow away everything in their path.

He raised his hand and waved it, in to and fro motion and the four tornadoes started to rotate around Alex coming towards him from all sides and closing his escape route.

Blue wind blades spun frantically at the outer edges of the tornadoes, slicing the hard stone on the floor. The tornadoes grew fiercer and fiercer soon causing the entire place into disarray and starting to spew wind blades all around.

The whole colosseum started to tear apart and large cracks appeared on it as the wind blades clashed with it.

It was extremely destructive and in a battle arena where the opponent was unable to move further, this kind of enveloping magic had an advantage.

Each spell was at a basic level but the combined strength already surpassed that of the intermediate level.

Seeing Alex motion, Quinn spoke in a teasing voice"It's not over little boy."

A water bubble appeared outside of Quinn which covered him wholly and let him rise slowly in the air.

Quinn started to chant another spell quickly and a blue light coagulated at the tip of his fingers, he pointed at Alex and shouted.

"Whirlpool Tsunami!"

BOOOM!

A loud explosion erupted as though the sky had been split apart.

Waves of tsunami standing tens of metres in height appeared crashing toward the four tornadoes and Alex.

Quinn smiled and lifted both of his arms and commanded in a low tone"Rise!"

The crazily spinning tornados elongated upwards as they rammed into the tsunami.

The wild wind clashed with the crashing waves and prevented the waves from crashing.

"Can you feel the horror of the storm? This fear, the feeling of the unknown that one faces when he is in the middle of the storm." Quinn smiled and pointed his finger at Alex.

Another fifth tornado rose from the ground.

"That's your current situation, Alex! I have already created a canvas and portrait of your present scenarios. Now, show me how you will tackle and fill your canvas."

The five howling tornadoes cracked open the ground as the wind blades crashed on the ground picking up dust, debris and stones.

It rose and crashed straight into a tsunami.

A small whirlpool appeared directly under Alex which rotated vigorously like a blackhole and with a strong suction pressure, it tried to pull Alex's body into it.

If Alex was on the ground instead of floating, he might already succumb to death.

"Hushhh!"

"Did you already finish your spell?"

Quinn, who was enjoying the match, suddenly heard a loud lazy voice.

He stared at the gaps of the tornadoes to see Alex yawning heavily which baffled him.

Alex looked around. He was surrounded by a trap of spells.

From the above rain of arrows fell while beside him five tornadoes spewed wind blades while on the ground huge waves of tsunami surged towards him from all around trying to devour him while on the ground the whirlpool was pulling him.

"I was frightened for nothing," Alex murmured.

The present situation wasn't that bad. If Quinn had used any other elemental spell, Alex might have found it hard but after learning so much, this situation couldn't even implicate him.

Alex raised a hand and with a sinister smile that even surprised Quinn snapped his finger.

He had been preparing the spell since Quinn started the rain and was overcharging it to the absolute limit.

Overcharging is the phenomenon of charging the spell with mana before casting and enhancing its effect, pushing the limit to get the best results from the current spell.

Alex decided to do a higher intermediate spell and close everything which was enough to scratch this guy's ego.

Alex thought of using the advanced meteorite spell but the effect may be too much.

"Absolute Glacier Field." Alex's loud voice reverberated.

Cold air started to leave his body and his voice became colder.

A strong frosty aura erupted from Alex and spread like waves all around.

The entire place plunged into the chilling frostiness as if it was the onslaught of winter which froze everything.

A strong blizzard blew from all around and the chilly aura caused everything to freeze in an instant.

The water arrows made of rain that we're hurling towards Alex suddenly froze into icy arrows and stopped in their tracks and were broken down into pieces of snow.

The fierce onslaught of tempest suddenly stopped and a strong crackling voice started to revert from all around.

The roaring tsunami raging around him stopped and the tornadoes started to freeze from downward that extended upward until everything froze.

Huge sheets of ice covered the ground and five ice statues of tornadoes stood tall which twinkled reflecting the light of the sun.

The entire place was frozen leaving him and Quinn.

"I am impressed. You are more than qualified." Quinn spoke praising Alex.

"The last spell was too good."

He did well, much to his surprise.

Using ice to counter his water spells was quite clever.

"It's good that I qualified but I am disheartened to see that you were able to come out without a single scratch."Alex sighed.

"It's not true Alex. When you poured everything and fired a spell at me non-stop, I was taken by surprise and got a scratch here," Quinn spoke with a smile and raised his arms.

Alex saw a small tear on his clothes and it was so minuscule that it didn't make a difference.

Alex gritted his teeth and spoke, "I am talking about you, not your clothes."

Quinn laughed seeing Alex's frustrated expression and walked towards him and patted him the next time.

"You can try it next time.I am not running away anywhere."

Alex sighed and resigned to his fate.

After finishing the test, Alex came back to the admission department to find Riya already finishing her test.

Riya had used her concealment technique and showed peak Master rank strength which didn't surprise many as many had guessed her to be strong as she was somewhat considered as his guardian and caretaker.

Alex was concerned about the judge who might be hacked by Riya. Luckily Riya didn't go overboard.

Alex and Riya were finally admitted peacefully and all the ongoing procedures were over and now Alex just has to start the class.

He wasn't forced to enter the very next day and he along with Riya was shown their dorms and were asked to get a rough understanding of the academy.

Alice along with his wives visited Alex for one last time before departing and he was quite pleased to see them.

Alex presently stood before his forces who had accompanied him on his trip to Zenith.

All of their eyes reddened on hearing about Alex's stay in Zenith.

Though Alex acted like a rogue, it also added a bit of fun to their boring life. When he was serious, his gaze was as cold as polar ice which could freeze everyone and his ruthless and strict training had made them what they were today.

"Don't slack off in my absence. If I don't see any progress when I visit during my holiday, I will personally take the matters into my own hands." Alex threatened.

Alex was quite satisfied with their progress. Harry was also going to return to Bright and with all the disputes being over, Leonheart could forge a strong relationship with Bright and their mutual help could make them rise higher and prosper together.

As for Albert, Alex was really in a pinch thinking about him.

Albert was also a student of Zenith academy. In Zenith Academy, three years from 18-20 would be a learning period while the remaining year would be voluntary service in the military where they could put their knowledge and skills into use.

The Magician and Martial Artist warriors would be in charge of the front line while scholars would be in charge of administration works or else the scholar can also submit a thesis or work under a professor as an assistant to graduate.

But Albert didn't want to be posted in some backwater areas with nothing to do so he left the academy looking for strong warriors to fight and improve himself.

Now, Albert was forced to stay in Leonhart and take up a commanding job and he had many more idiots to accompany him in training.

Alex gave his men some guidance and provided them with some scrolls and techniques brought in the market.

Max, Antwan, and Ben sobbed until their eyes became red.

"Uncle Mordek, please take care of my wives. I have passed some techniques and tricks to Catherine. You will get it when you reach Leonhart. Don't stop recruiting and training soldiers. They are our pillars." Alex spoke.

"Your Majesty, I will properly take care of Leonhart in your absence," Mordek spoke earnestly.

Alex nodded and after spending some sweet time, asked goodbye to his wives.

Alex had brought a huge number of goods from Capital which would be of great use to his people.

He had managed to form a network and connection here.

His Kingdom wasn't isolated like before and he could finally get in touch with others.

Alex rubbed his nose as his people who were considered his family left and as he returned his gaze and became sharp.

He was sure that his academy life wasn't going to be smooth.

He researched about the Academy as one of the most common novel scripts was the academy getting attacked by enemies and Alex wondered whether this was going to happen in his presence.

And surprisingly, it was not a new thing as four or five years ago it was attacked.

Catherine was studying during that period and spoke about the crisis and thankfully it was resolved quickly with just a handful of casualties.

There have been more cases like this throughout history and it wasn't that the Academy security was bad rather there have been many moles and bad apples in it.

"Let's see what it has in store for me." Alex grinned and walked into the Academy with heavy steps.

….

Classes for the second year were about to start.

Alex and Riya walked beside each other following Professor Neon who was taking them to the class.

Alex felt his heart beating fast.

'I can't believe I am having such feelings when going towards my class. It makes me feel alive.'

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't excited about his class.

Till now, he didn't have a single friend..No matter whether one age was above or below him, everyone had to show him respect.

Even Harry had taken him as a benefactor and addressed him as King. It felt good but sometimes unknown loneliness crept up from inside him due to this.

'Maybe I can make some dependable friends.'Alex muttered, turning his head towards Riya and his mood immediately became worse.

There was no special treatment here and Riya couldn't cover her face with a veil.

Wondering about all those venomous gazes staring at her makes his heart bleed.

BAM!

The door of the classroom opened and all the mumbling ceased.

The sudden sound snapped everyone to the start of the class but as they saw their homeroom professor, they were startled to see two figures beside him.

From the corner of their surprised eyes, they observed the figure who entered the classes.

The boy had a usual and casual air around him and his outfit was quite radical. He followed the teacher with a nonchalant stride towards the centre.

Beside him was a devilish mesmerising beauty which drew the utmost attention of everybody in the class.

Some even swallowed their saliva unable to breathe in seeing her ever glowing angelic face carrying a hint of natural seduction.

Riya just tiptoed in a shy manner, feeling everyone's gaze.

Professor Neon too stood on the podium and folded his hands behind his back and spoke.

There were around 50 students arranged in the auditorium classroom.

The classroom was quite large and spacious and his voice seemed to be amplified naturally by the structure of the walls.

"Starting today, we have two new students joining your academic venture."Neon spoke and stared at Alex.

" Please welcome these two with a warm round of applause.'

"Go introduce yourself."

Alex nodded and walked forward under everyone's curious gaze making him feel like a lab rat.

"Hello, everyone!Nice to meet you all."

"I am Alex Von Leonheart and I would like to be in your care from now on," Alex said.

His voice was loud and filled with confidence carrying a hint of dominance.

Alex stepped back and Riya with a meek expression took small steps forward.

There are only a handful of people who have seen her face but now getting such exposure naturally made her a bit uncomfortable.

"Hello, I am Riya Von Leonheart. Nice to meet you all."

"I will be in your care from now on."

As soon as Riya's words fell, the entire atmosphere descended into silence and all gazes fell on Alex and they glared as if they wanted to poke a hole in him.

Alex ignored those gazes and nodded in satisfaction while giving her thumbs up.

'Nice, this will keep the annoying flies away.'

The first day wasn't as bad as Alex imagined.

Except for a few people looking at him as if he was a scumbag nothing much happened as many came to know about his true identity soon and afterwards as the words and gossip travelled quite faster, many started to look at him curiously.

Some gutsy guys even believed that they had a chance to hit on Riya as she was forced to marry him and may soon find all sorts of trouble with him in the future.

For them, Alex was already sharpening his knife to butcher. His hands were already itching to fight. How can academic life be boring in their presence?

He was already looking forward to the fun times.

He avoided fights but if provoked he wouldn't let them leave in one piece.

Meanwhile, Riya was already burning incense for those lecherous.

She also noticed several eyes stealing glances at his lord but they didn't approach him hastily and might be waiting to see his performance and see whether he was worthy or not.

Like his Lord, she already started to keep a tab on those girls who might come under her dagger.

Alex had thought that Riya and he would be in a separate class but he came to know that, a class consisting of all three groups of Magician, Martial Arts and Scholars and the other classes had to be chosen as electives.

History, literature, Social Science, etiquette, Sewing, Geography and Theology were some of the elective subjects and they will move to other classes when their turn comes to their course.

One had to select five electives and the main course was divided into general and honours.

General can be taken by everyone who wants to try another field while honours can only be taken by the students enrolled in the particular department.

For example, Alex may take Martial Arts classes in general but he cannot do honours in it. Similarly, Riya can take general magic classes but cannot do honour in them.

Alex was looking forward to Quinn's lectures but he was saddened to know that he took lectures only in 3rd year.

His classes are packed from Monday to Friday with three one and a half an hour classes each day.

Saturday was the physical class Magician and Martial Arts where they would practice their spells against each other and issue challenges.

In a month, there would be one physical class where both the classes exchanged blows with one another.

It starts with a friendly smile but ends with all kinds of curses poured on another.

Magical theory and Mana application were common for all which was taken by their homeroom teacher Neon.

Since Alex was new, he along with Riya was forced to join the first-year supplementary classes which were conducted for those who failed to advance in the first final semester of the First Year which was quite humiliating for him.

….

"Just like people consider air to be the basis of life, mana is considered as the basis of strength."

"Without mana, the world wouldn't be what it is today. You can find people who can't feel or use mana and those who use, and draw out substantial differences."

"It's not true that only an awakened person can feel mana. Many unawakened ones can also feel mana. The difference between the two is the ability to draw out, channel, store and manipulate mana."

"Mana accelerates our body growth, healing and regenerative power and even a low level awakened one can have a longer and healthier life than unawakened."

Currently, they were taught about Mana from the basics by Professor Kale.

Alex knew about all those but listening to the professor drew his attention. His speech was quite good. Neither too slow nor fast and best of all it wasn't boring in any sense.

"Now let's move on to the next thing," Kaleid spoke and raised his glasses.

"Now, the most basic question? What is mana? Where did it come from" He spoke and started to explain without asking anyone.

It's not as if he was ignoring everyone, rather everyone in this class was a failure except Alex and Riya and a few others who were also transfer students like him.

"Mana is present in the world as naturally as air. Even in elementary magic, we can manipulate air but have anyone tried to create air out of nothing."

"There is a famous saying. Mana can neither be created nor destroyed and can only be changed from one form to another."

"Some big scholars and philosophers consider mana as small minute particles which cannot be seen under naked eyes but are theoretically present. Whether it's true or not, only future research will tell us."

"Like mana, all the nature magic didn't sprout from nothing."He paused and started to explain.

His questions brought discussion among everyone.

Many of them haven't even thought about it. All the elemental magic was used by manipulating other elements.

In water magic, the molecules of air were broken and chemically reacted to form water.

The people subconsciously applied science through magic with the help of their spells.

The dust particles and molecules joined to form rock while light, flame and lightning were natural forms of energy which can be converted into one another and altered into different things by the use of mana as they were the natural form of energy.

If one was out in the void, he couldn't use most of the elemental magic.

Alex, who had a brief knowledge of science, was able to correlate it with magic and came to know about all these plausible theories.

Mana was a special kind of energy and it is the purest form of energy.

Neon also explained something quite similar to him but it fell sort of in front of him as this world still didn't know about the presence of molecules, elements, electrons and protons.

Alex didn't dare to imagine what kind of scenarios would happen if all these things came into existence in a magic world.

Alex could already cast a spell of atomic fusion and if everyone came to know a spell like this wouldn't the entire world be wiped off existence?

"Now, all of you, let's get on the tiers of Mage."

"There are 10 Tiers of Magic spells which divide the magician categorically."

"Tier 1 to Tier 3 is known as a basic spell, Tier 4 to Tier 6 is known as intermediate spells and Tier 7 to Tier 9 advance and above it are Tier 10 which is known as a legendary spell."

"Magicians' classification is a bit different from the normal warrior's realms."

"A magician reaching the Mythic realm doesn't mean he could cast advanced Magic and is considered a Tier 7 Mage."

"It just means, he could cast the spell he knew more efficiently and the results would be much better."

"Magic depends on aptitude and amount of knowledge one holds. Swallow knowledge and lack of proper understanding hold many of you back."

"The reason why nobles rise while commoners are left behind is that nobles are taught early while commoners have to work hard to even get a chance to learn. On the other hand, some have already started their race."

"Archmage Sophia and Archmage Michael were the outstanding wizards who rose in the continental list from commoner and have spread their fame far and wide."

"Most of the backbenchers here are either commoners or fallen nobles. Even though you are behind but fret not. Your hard work will always be repaid. So, give your all."Professor Kale spoke in a gentle tone trying to encourage everyone.

As Alex had thought, he found it hard to mingle with others.

When students entered first, there would be a brief introduction and they would form groups after knowing each other.

His class consists of fallen nobles, commoners, Princes and nobles from Kingdoms and nobles' children from the capital.

Alex felt that he was on probation period where each move was observed with a hostile gaze aimed at him.

But sadly, Alex cannot blame them cause befriending him may either turn out to be good or bad and there is no between.

If one day, it turns out that the Prince and Emperor don't favour him and he doesn't have any power to even defend himself then all of them who had a connection with him would suffer.

So, all of them seemed to be evaluating him behind the scenes.

Being an Imperial Prince was sure hard. Even though he was disowned, he still had to go through all these troublesome things.

Alex could already discern a grand event that might be coming and many would decide after watching his performance.

Alex only hoped that his annoying brothers wouldn't interfere in his life and pull strings from behind but he knew there must be at least one among four princes who might be itching to provoke him.

And who that unlucky one would be, only time will tell.

The residence of boys seemed to always be teeming with life.

Some put their utmost focus on improving themselves while some could be seen lazing around enjoying the academy life as if it was a holiday spot.

Spending some free time, as usual, Alex tried to read the books to get himself familiar with the subjects.

He refurbished his outdated knowledge and looked at the new magical theories. The world was moving forward and new ideas were popping out every day.

Alex was recently studying the theory put forward by a magical scholar about making a mana core which pulled Alex's interest greatly.

As he has already spoken previously, while humans have vessels, beasts and monsters have magical cores.

This person came out with a theory. Some humans were born with clogged vessels in which mana couldn't be channelised or some people's vessels are severed, turning them into cripples.

For them, the scholar was trying to find a way to form a magical core in human beings. This was currently a proposal that was put forward which needs to be tested and discussed until one could prove it.

Alex thought about the matter greatly and wondered if he could do it. If a core can be formed then at which place?

Was it in the organ of the human body or internal space where tissue fluid flows?

After reading the idea, Alex thought that he could gather mana at a spot but will it take shape as a core, he didn't know about it.

The core was similar to an engine which would make the body run and supplement with mana.

"Core is an engine…." Alex's eyes glowed for a moment.

"Isn't the heart also an engine…Than Mana's heart?"

Alex could feel that he was getting somewhere.

Since his heart is a storehouse of mana, if he can form a core there to increase its efficiency wouldn't that mean, he could upgrade his mana heart?

Grumble…Grumble…

Alex was snapped out of his thoughts by his stomach crying for food.

It was an interesting theory, one that never seemed to end. After immersing himself in knowledge, he began to feel hunger.

"I will come on it later. Let's stuff the food into mini Alex"

Treading on the sturdy flight of stairs carefully, he descended slowly. It was empty and everyone seemed to be crammed in the dining hall of the cafeteria at this time.

Alex entered the separate canteen building. It had three floors.

The lower one consists of free food while the upper floors consist of reserved rooms where you can book the place and have your own space and can order all kinds of delicacies with money.

The haughty ones usually took the reserved room as they can't bring themselves to sit with everyone.

Alex took the food tray and a glass of coffee and found an empty bench.

The hostile gazes seemed to go down. Most of them were due to Riya and he had pulled an aggro as soon as he entered.

Some resigned to fate whereas some were desperately clinging to a chance.

Riya can be crowned as Goddess of Beauty though there may be some competition coming from Athena so many were not willing to go down without taking a chance

He looked around towards the group of girls and couldn't find Riya.

Both of them usually meet during eating hours but Alex's timing was becoming irregular as he was getting more and more immersed in the books forgetting the meeting hours.

'Next time, I should just ask Riya to knock on my door when she comes to eat.'

Alex took a bite of the sandwich and lifted his chin to see Riya entering the room.

Seeing her Alex finally sighed in relief and took a sip of coffee.

Riya waved her hand seeing Alex who gave a brief nod, she was about to go into the line for food when noticed someone walking towards her.

"Miss Riya, can you grace me with a little bit of your time?"

"I wanted to exchange some friendly greetings with you and get to know each other."

An expression of disbelief showed on everyone's face and the place erupted into chaos hoping to see an enjoyable scene.

The person who came for Riya was Joey, he was the heir and only son of the Marquise household.

"Sorry, I have to ask the Lord about it," Riya said with a nonchalant expression.

Joey's brows furrowed and he spoke"Miss Riya, seeing you calling him by the honorific, I guess you are forced to obey him."

"I, Joey, am a humble man. I can't tolerate anyone who is using his authority to bully weaklings. Only spineless cowards use their authority. If you want, you can seek my help."Joey spoke with a sincere expression.

Since Alex's senses had always been sharpened by magic, he was able to peak a bit of their conversion.

" Pffffff!"

Alex spurted the coffee and coughed violently.

'Bully, weak..authority.Kid, if this girl went out of control even your daddy would be crushed like paddy in the grinder.'

Alex stared at the wolf that was trying to tantalise his wife with a ferocious gaze.

Riya can be said to be an epitome of beauty and she was still growing. Alex knew that it was too much for these young horns to bear and many would have a hormonal imbalance with just a look at her.

God was indeed not fair. On top of her enchanting beauty, Riya's aura was enough to attract everyone.

Let alone boys, Alex feared that even some girls might be charmed by her and this was too much.

If Riya was a shrewd girl who knew a bit of acting the whole academy might be wrecked by her.

Riya stubbornly refused Joey and didn't even spare a glance at him who looked quite helpless which pulled great empathy from others.

While leaving, Joey's gaze landed on Alex and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

Alex could naturally see malicious intent in his eyes.

And the very next day, during the physical Magic class, Joey challenged Alex.