Amelia strode back to the group, as she walked by Vincent she heard him whisper.

"Good Job"

"Thanks," She whispered back impassively.

"Next Taudar Maeth" Instructor Pryde.

'Mm it looks like stick head is up next, Let's see how strong you are Taudar'

/////

[Status]

[Name: Taudar Maeth Mammoth

Race: Mammoth Migas

Innate: Strength of Mammoths, Ether Manipulation

Skill: Ice Movement, Ice Wave, Frost Aura.]

Taudar wore well-made armor with a silver chest plate, armguards, and leg guards.

He sheathed a sharp, heavy, double-handed greatsword to his side

Taudar walked towards Instructor Pryde and the center of the arena that had already reverted to normal.

"Taudar you will be facing Sagitta," Instructor Pryde announced

A Dark Beast among the remaining was brought towards him, The Dark Beast was edgy, to say the least.

Saggita was a beast that resembled a feral hedgehog, it had deadly long white spikes laid on its orange fur and even more deadly claws protruding out of its limbs.

While short in height, it was a few times bigger than Taudar.

When in front of Taudar, Saggita snarled in hostility while feral it was smart to a degree.

It knew that to escape should be its focus rather than to fight.

So using his clawed limbs it attempted to use an ability that made it a hassle to catch.

It made an effort to dig into the ground but Taudar made his move faster.

'[Ice Wave]'

Copying the skill Amelia used, He covered the arena floor with ice although the range of his wave was smaller than that of Amelia it still proved useful.

Sagitta fell over due to the frozen floor providing Taudar a window of opportunity that he took advantage of.

He dashed at Sagitta and swung his greatsword.

While his sword was just as long as he was, Taudar was able to swing it with relative ease.

Sensing danger, Saggita slinked into its shell and rolled away a distance although not unscathed.

It had a deadly gash above his neck leaking out huge amounts of blood onto the frozen ground.

Losing a lot of blood Saggita lost its strength and dizzily fell onto the ground and.

Looking at the pathetic form of the Dark Beast, Taudar grinned in sadistic victory and strode pompously to it.

Looking at the cause of its pain walking towards it to land the final blow.

Saggita was put between the floor and a hard place driving it to the corner

Looking at this situation Instructor Pryde shook his head in displeasure, "The Boy fails to remember his teaching"

''A Dark Beast is at its most dangerous when pushed to the corner''

"Never drop your guard"

*BOOM*

An explosion of raging fire attribute ether burst out from Sagitta. Immediately melting the ice beneath and around it, and also injuring Taudar to the point he had to retreat.

Gradually Saggita began to visibly heal, Its spikes began to rise, its claws grew longer, and its fire burst grew bigger making the additional students of class A-A retreat.

Instructor Pryde stared at the ongoing issue with a scowl on his face, but he made no move to stop it.

Vincent was unaffected by the rising heat and instead focused on the Dark Beast that was changing rather.

'Evolving'

The Impending danger had pushed Sagitta to evolve.

Growing from B-Rank Danger Threat sharply to A-Rank Danger Threat Improved its intelligence and power enough to use Ether Burst.

But Alas, Saggita was interrupted as Taudar snapped out of his stun and dashed through the heat making use of [Frost Aura] to keep himself cool.

He came off at the side of the defenseless Saggita, Taudar swung his greatsword at it,

Taudar swung his Greatsword with great force but he was met with the hard spikes of Sagitta that increasingly grew harder, So Taudar used another of his skills to increase his odds.

'[Strength of Mammoths]'

With his new gained strength, Taudar pushed against the hard spikes of Sagitta and cut into it leaving a deep gash going through its chest.

Sagitta let out a pained cry and again fell onto the ground and this time not getting up.

After a while, the dome was let down and the hot temperature gradually began to cool.

Medics were called and gave attention to the students, mostly Taudar as he was the closest to the blast.

He was for the most part okay and just suffered first-degree burns.

They were about to take him to the infirmary but he chose to stay and watch the remaining fights.

The medics agreed because his skill [Frost Aura] had already mitigated most of the heat and he was already healing, a little patching up was what he needed.

As they healed him, Taudar glanced at Vincent and gave him a pompous smile as if to say 'I am better than you.'

While Vincent just cracked up on the inside.

'Why are you so proud of yourself?' He chuckled as he directed his attention to instructor Pryde, 'Weakling'.

Since Taudar was alright, Instructor Pryde went on with the assessment and called students out to assess.

Most of the students in the A-A Class were capable of dealing with their foes, Some had difficulties and a few were unable to deal with the beasts.

The numbers went on to diminish until Vincent was the last one.

"Okay up next, Vincent Gate"

Vincent walked to the center of the arena and a Dark Beast was brought out but as it was about to be released for the fight.

A voice reverberated across the room.

"Release the other," The Voice said

The students were confused about who said that, but Vincent and Instructor Pryde knew well who that voice belonged to.

"Yes Principal" Instructor Pryde replied respectfully.

'Principal!' The students thought. Then they reasoned

'The Principal has been watching us'

At this thought, those that didn't perform too well paled in fright as they had thoughts of them being expelled.

Instructor Pryde turned to the carriers of the Dark Beast and said, "Bring the other" They nodded in response.

Another Dark Beast was then brought before Vincent. Both Dark Beasts were of the same species and looked alike.

The Dark Beasts were huge beefy reptiles that released B-Rank Danger Threat Aura and together it could be equated to an A-Rank.

One of the Dark Beast had beautiful blue scales with two emerald green slitted eyes.

The other had Vibrant green scales with mossy grey linings, it too had emerald green slitted eyes.

"Vincent, you will face Aqua and Virgo. Good luck"

The two Dark Beasts were set free, They came out of the cages and slithered around each other as they focused on the figure before them.

They assessed him as he assessed them.

'Obviously, it's evident that Aqua is water attuned and the Virgo is Earth attuned.'

'Seems like they are pitting me against the weaknesses of my dual element'

With his thoughts done, Vincent began to walk towards the twin snakes and slowly untreated Firestorm as he did.

"Although this is unforeseen it changes nothing."

"I'll deal with it and I'll deal with it well"

"[Fire]"

In an instant waves of fire came from his feet and quickly approached the twin snakes.

Amongst them, Aqua unfolded her mouth and spat out a large amount at high speed to the wave of fire approaching.

The water blast met the fire wave and mitigated it creating a wall of smoke that covered the arena.

The students like the Dark Beasts were blinded by the smoke which was right along with Vincent's plan.

Abruptly a voice was heard gaining the attention of the Dark Beasts.

"[Burst]"

From the Sky, Vincent dropped upon the dark beast with a powered-up ether punch.

Knowing that they couldn't dodge together, The two dark beasts separated to the sides of Vincent which allowed them to evade the dangerous punch.

Vincent brought his powerful fists upon the ground and they blasted through creating a crater that further split the dark beasts apart.

Without waiting Vincent cast another skill.

"[Thundra]"

From the sky, A blinding strike of lightning fell upon Aqua the water affixed Dark Beast, Bringing screams out of it as it fell onto the ground dead.

The on-watching students almost had their mouths falling off, Vincent had just killed a B-Rank Dark Beast with one strike.

Now they knew why he didn't wear armor. He didn't need it.

Even Taudar was shocked by the power Vincent held before jealousy and anger replaced it

'With such power in his hands, How am I supposed to be the best and win her hand'

[AN: Ha, You poor Fool]

To make sure of its death, Vincent waved Firestorm and cut off its head which made the instructor Pryde nod in acknowledgment.

"Well, that was easy." He said as the head of Aqua rolled onto the ground, Then he focused on Virgo.

"Now it remains only you"

Vincent felt he should be a little more conscious of Virgo, His fire and lightning were not too effective against it.

But thankfully it was only a B-Rank Danger Threat on its own, He just needs to kill it in one fine hit.

And so he commenced the plan.

He channeled his pure fire attuned ether, Purer and more powerful than before because he drew it from his Fire Core.

The engravings on Firestorm lit up with a red glow signifying the fire ether running through it.

Seeing the death of its companion Virgo mossy grey linings lit up and it hissed in anger.

It dug his tail into the ground and the earth responded as earth spikes began to spring out toward Vincent to impale him.

But Vincent nimbly turned over the spike and instead used it as a footing to launch himself to the angry Dark Beast.

While Vincent was in the air, Virgo used this chance to launch more spikes at Vincent.

The Earth Spikes soon enveloped Vincent leaving little to no room for escape.

At this scene, Taudar smiled in pleasure which quickly changed into a grimace as Vincent used another of his skills.

[Fire Burst]

Fire Affined Ether violently burst all-round Vincent and shattered the earth spikes surrounding him, it also made Virgo lose sight of Vincent.

It looked around in confusion and was caught off guard when Vincent suddenly appeared behind it with a firestorm already in a slashing motion.

Virgo was enough to use Earth affined Ether to reinforce its scales but its efforts were for naught as Firestorm cut through it with relative ease, releasing a strong blast of fire as residue.

Virgo halted as its eyes went white and half of his body slid off.

Even with his enhanced scales, it couldn't stand up to the might of an A-Rank weapon like Firestorm.

And just like that Vincent easily solved two B-Rank Dark Beasts. No one applauded as they were too shocked to react, even Instructor Pryde.

He knew that Vincent could probably deal with both Dark Beasts but he didn't expect it to be simple for him.

'He moves like a skilled Veteran' Instructor Pryde thought.

After dealing with both Dark Beasts, Vincent walked back to the still shocked group, ignoring the glare of Taudar.

Instructor Pryde declared the end of the Power Assessment and told the students to head back to their rooms.

Along the way, several students began to pester Vincent about his strength but he soon dashed to his room and turned in for the day.

His last thoughts for the day were, "With this, they have to improve my rank"

"Months from now the Dark Beast event will begin, The goal is to grow stronger, win the event, and get that fucking ring."

///Council of Instructors POV///

In the Principal's office, The Instructors of A-C, A-B, and A-A classes gathered before the principal.

"Report" He began

Instructor Bryne came forward and began to speak, "Few of The A-C Class students seem capable of dealing with a Dark Beast one on one but they are not ready to participate in the event"

"Mmm" The principal hummed to himself, "And what about the A-B class"

Instructor Olva came forward and reported, "Most of the students are capable of surviving the event with only some falling behind."

"Overall I believe that some elbow grease and preparation before the event should toughen them up"

"The only talent I see in the class is Ama Ivory, I suggest moving her up to A-A class if she performs well in the event."

"Mmh Ama Ivory, If she performs well move her up a class, And what about A-A Class"

Instructor Pryde came forward and reported, "Potential in the A-A class is high, All of the students have adequate strength to not only fight but also escape."

"Although some seem hesitant, with due time they would be honed into capable fighters"

"Good, Are there any distinguished talents?" The Principal asked

"We only have a few talents, Amelia Maeth, Taudar Maeth, Lena Elv, and Vincent Gate."

"Mmm, Vincent Gate…...what are your thoughts about him"

"Strong, Smart, has the potential to be a leader but prefers to be alone, Talented. Overall he has the most chance of winning the upcoming event," replied Instructor Pryde.

"That is true." Instructor Sellusa added

"Keep an eye on him we don't want those clans to get their hands on him". The principal ordered

"Yes Sir"

"Also when will the expedition end?"

"A week after the Dark Beast Hunting event, They should return 2 weeks after that"

"Good, Our top talent is entitled to the top teachers"

"Also improve the boys rank, He deserves it after what I did to him today"

"Yes Sir"