Cyziel continued to explain why he could burst the water balls with water bullets. The first reason was that the water bullets that he used was precise and fast. If the bullets just hit the edge of the spheres of water then its impact might not have been that effective. If it was also not fast enough then it would lack the force to burst the water ball spell.

The second reason was that the maxima lacked control of his spell. If his control was much better then his spell would not immediately burst. It would continue forward albeit having its speed reduced or having a hole in its center. With enough mastery, he could also replenish its water essence and aether energy to reinforce the spell.

Cyziel then proceeded to list out the other flaws that he saw from the battle, like the lack of combinations. The two maximas could have supplemented their spells with their minor elements to create a stronger spell which Cyziel started to demonstrate.

Cyziel asked Thom to have a duel with him in which he gave him the initiative to attack. Thom reinforced himself with all the defensive combat art that he could use. He then created thousands of bubbles to cover the whole arena. He already understood that he would have no chance against Cyziel using magic. All the lessons that Cyziel gave was about magic spells so he planned to fight him hand on hand using combat arts. The bubbles were just a distraction to enable him to get closer to Cyziel.

The bubbles of course would be pretty easy for Cyziel to remove with the wind element which his opponent did not know that he could use. Fortunately for Thom, Cyziel was here to teach so Cyziel was already planning to use a different method to win. Cyziel stomped his right foot as the top of the arena changed into loam. It should be noted that the arena beneath them was also created by him so it was easy for him to transform it.

Thom who was hiding behind the countless bubbles felt the change on the ground and discarded his thought of ambushing Cyziel. He charged directly at where he last saw Cyziel stood, hoping that Cyziel was still in that location. Suddenly, water gushed out from different portion of the ground like geysers. One of which was directly below him, flinging him up in the air before landing back on the ground.

Thom immediately tried to stand up but he fell back down. He felt that the ground is getting wet. The soil around him has transformed into mud. The mud stuck on his clothes making it hard for him to move. Muddy water also kept piling on top of him as the time goes on. He tried to push back the ground beneath him to help himself stand up but his hands started to sink instead.

"I surrender! I surrender!" With only his face left above the ground, Thom shouted.

The muddy water started to mysteriously drain and the ground started to solidify again. Cyziel walked towards him and helped Thom stand up.

"Thank you instructor for the lessons!" Thom nodded as he curiously gazed at Cyziel.

Cyziel smiled, feeling satisfied at his example. "I guess that concludes the lesson for today." With a clap, the barrier around the arena started to disappear as the arena he made slowly sunk until it disappeared.

"Instructor. Can I know your name?" Thom politely asked.

"Ah! Instructor Leon. I didn't know that you would be here." Before Cyziel could answer, Lyka who was currently the assigned instructor for freshmen flew down beside Cyziel. *What are you doing Cyziel?* She murmured.

Cyziel nodded as he went with the flow. "Instructor Lyka. I am just giving some notes so that they would get better results if they are ever chosen to participate in the competition."

"Oh! That is good but today is not the time for that. They should try to learn from each other." Lyka replied before looking at the students at the bleachers. "Okay everyone. You should all go back and participate in the sparring. It would be a better experience for you."

"Uhh... I still have some questions for instructor Leon!" One of the Styrtan intermidis said.

"Me too! I would also like to clarify something." A maxima from the Amari grounds added.

Lyka flew a few meters above the air, overlooking at the surrounding students. She placed her two hands on her waist. "I said go that you may all go." Her shout seemed to contain a compelling magic as the students felt that they should leave. The students started to scatter and went away. The only people that remained were Vera's group and Aadit's group.

Lyka pulled Cyziel a few meters away to talk with him. "You do understand that what you are doing is the opposite of laying low right?"

Cyziel scratched his head. "I was actually just trying to teach my group mate."

"Well! If you want a quiet life until you graduate then you better stay hidden. There are a lot of people, including those that are not from the institute that are snooping around trying to get information regarding you." Lyka reminded.

"Really? That sounds interesting." Cyziel chuckled. "By the way, I noticed it also from before but you seem to be able to use sound magic. Why are other types of magic not included in the books or curriculum."

"You are familiar with that too? Well, you are always surprising." Lyka sighed. "You already should have taken the affinity exam and you should have seen that only the 5 basic elements plus light and dark are there. The reason is that there are very few users of other magics that they cannot be documented properly."

"Does that include the people in the other cities and the capital?" Cyziel asked.

"It includes the people in the other cities. As for the capital, I am also not sure. That place is a mystery even for me but it is most likely that they have deeper knowledge on this topic." Lyka replied. "This is actually the same with void and divine energies. Instructors for void magic seem to be non existent but I believe some people who could actually use divine energy exist in the capital."

"I see. That makes sense."

"Alright! I need to go back at my arena. I left the Amari instructor there by himself. Remember not to cause any trouble and don't reveal yourself with those clothes, otherwise it would be too hard for us to hide what your are capable of!" Lyka uttered as she flew back to her stationed arena.

Cyziel went back to his team mates, wherein he saw that the group of Aadit was preparing to leave.

Aadit stared at Cyziel as he saw him approaching them. He took a deep breath before he opened his mouth. "I admit defeat. I already learned from them." Aadit momentarily looked at Vera before turning back to Cyziel. "You are not an instructor and you are really the number one freshman here. Well, you might as well the number one student in your school." He then chuckled. "I can't actually believe that someone like you exist."

Asif scratched his head as he stared at Cyziel without saying anything before Aadit slapped his back. "Uhh.. I apologize for looking down at your friend. Looking at her, she is actually a fast learner and she is also really pretty."

Cyziel tittered, hiding his amusement as he glanced at Rika who was actually not happy with what she heard and Jorak who was teasing her.

Malika stepped forward as she bowed to Cyziel. "Thank you for the lessons. I wish I could learn more from you in the future." She emotionlessly said.

The Amari trio turned around as they prepared to walk away.

"Wait!" Vera shouted with pressing eyes.

"Yes. We know. We will not tell anything about him." Aadit uttered as he stopped. "Also, I might have surrendered to him but I am confident that I could beat you."

"You could try!" Vera shouted at Aadit who was now walking away with Asif and Malika.

Cyziel didn't know what they talked about as he talked with instructor Lyka but it seemed to him that they have some rivalry going on due to their competitiveness which doesn't seem too bad for them.

Cyziel looked at his group mates. "So was I a good teacher?"

"Yeah! You are! Though some of your lessons are quite too much for me." Rika bashfully chuckled, scratching her head in the process.

"Hmph! He was just showing off!" Ru snorted, turning to Cyziel. "I am your student aren't I? Why don't you teach me that passionately before?"

"Okay everyone stop! We can't talk like that here." Vera reminded. "Some people are still being watchful of Cyziel."

"You meant instructor Leon?" Jorak teased. "So what do we do now?"

"Well... We certainly can't stay here." Rika turned to Ru. "How about we go to Ru's?"

"Its fine for me!" Ru agreed.

"We could also go in my house." Vera interjected.

"Your house?" Jorak inquiringly shouted. His eyes opened wide as he involuntarily swallowed his saliva. "That's no good! I won't go there." He shook his head.

"You are exaggerating so much Jorak!" Ru chuckled.

"There is no need to worry. They-" Vera reassured before frowning as she was cut off.

"No! I am not exaggerating. Maybe they are able to tolerate you but not me!" Jorak retorted before turning to Cyziel. "I am warning you Cyziel! We would be in danger there if we go to Vera's place."

Cyziel grinned as he heard his team banter. "Is there any problems with Vera's parents?"

"Ah! No. Its nothing really. Its just Jorak." Ru rubuffed, smiling at Cyziel.

"There is no need to defend my parents Ru. They are not really good people. They don't really like me bringing guest at home. Especially if it is a man." Vera leered, seemingly showing her vicious thought. "Unfortunately, they are not at home."

"Unfortunate? That is fortunate! You should have said that from the beginning!" Jorak sighed in relief.

"That's what I am trying to say from the beginning!" Vera rebuked.

"Okay guys! Let's stop arguing here! This is a rare occasion!" Rika reminded, pushing Vera and Ru forward to walk. "Cy! You should follow us a bit later! ----- And don't be seen!"

-- Vera's Home --

Two tall black gates barred what seems to be a private compound. There was a circular pathway surrounding a fountain inside the compound. In front of the fountain was a 4-story tall reddish-brown mansion. The mansion has two towers protruding from its roof. The taller leaner tower contained a large rectangular window while the shorter bulkier tower contained a circular metallic chimney.

In addition to the main mansion, smaller houses could be seen in the left and right sides of the compound. The one on the right was a single long building with two stories and multiple rooms which seems like an apartment. The ones on the left were three single detached luxurious looking houses.

Vera explained to Cyziel about the intricacies inside her home. The taller tower in the main mansion was her parents office. The bulky shorter tower was a magical lab. The long building on the right was the house for their employees while the left are for important guests.

A butler greeted the group as the car they were riding stopped in front of the mansion. He seemed to be surprised when he saw two guys went down from the car. He looked at Vera conflictedly but Vera ignored his reaction. Vera went straight for the mansion's entrance which was a double door. She opened it as the whole group went inside.

What greeted the group was a large indoor open area with two stairs going up. The immediate floor above has two corridors overlooking the open area. The handrails in the stairs and the overlooking floor was glistening gold. The tiles of the floor were sparkling white. There were painting scattered in the walls of the house.

The most eye catching one was the large painting in the middle which portray a picture of a family. There was man and a woman standing behind three children. These children were composed of two female and one male. Looking closely at the picture of the female child in the middle, it could easily be surmised that it was Vera.

The group went up in the second floor and entered one of the doors in the left. The room contained multiple pedestals that has a glass container on top. The containers have some kind of small chips. Beside each pedestals were semi-circular shaped deluxe looking couches.

"What kind of room is this?" Cyziel asked.

"It is a library. If you have a reading tool that supports external memory then you could read what is inside of those." Vera pointed at the chips above the pedestal. "Modern luxurious watches should be capable of that. I could lend you one if yours is not capable."

Cyziel checked his watch and their seems to be a narrow opening that the memory could be injected. "Mine seems alright! What are the data inside this about?"

"Well... Its more of either history of our race and magic related information." Vera answered. "By the way, you can't bring those out or our alarm will go off." She then paused. "But if you really plan to borrow it then I'll find a way."

Rika comfortably sat down on one of the couch. "Come on guys! Let's rest! Ohh.. Its really soft!"

"Hey! This is not your house!" Jorak shouted.

"Its fine right Vera?" Rika smiled.

Vera didn't answer. Instead, she sat down on another couch. Cyziel followed as he sat beside her and Ru sat on the other side of Cyziel. Jorak then sat beside Rika.

"By the way, what is with the interschool competition? Why does it seem that students take it seriously?" Cyziel asked.

"You really don't know?" Ru surprisingly asked. "It is one of the sure way to graduate! If you do not know it yet, your total acquired merit points is calculated by the end of the year. If you reach 5000 merits points then you could graduate."

"Wait! Really?" Cyziel looked at his watch but didn't activate it. He seemed to be pondering something.

"Hey! What are you thinking? Suspicious!" Ru looked directly at Cyziel's eyes. "How many points do you have now?"

"I don't know." Cyziel shrugged, looking away from Ru but his eyes met Vera instead. "Uhh.. How about you Vera... How many points do you have now?"

"I almost have 3000 points." Vera answered.

"What?" Rika, Ru and Jorak shouted. As for Cyziel, he felt relief.

"I only have like half of yours!" Jorak shouted, feeling ashamed.

"Same for me!" Ru added.

"Hmph! I am just a little bit above a 1000!" Rika pouted.

The three then look at Cyziel. "How many merit points did you have?"

"Uhhh... Its just a little above Vera... Its 4200.." Cyziel innocently smiled.

"How is that possible?" Rika shouted. "I wish it is possible to transfer some points!"

"I think the instructors are bias towards you!" Ru uttered and Jorak nodded in agreement.

"Hmm.. I don't think its possible to suddenly get that high. You approximately get 200 merit points every month when you are in the top 3. There are 14 months in a year in Venturia but you have only been here for 3 months." Vera then thoroughly inspected Cyziel's eyes and reactions. "You must have done something to the instructors to give you so many extra bonus points!"

"I-I don't really know! I didn't do anything to them. I was just told that I don't need to worry about graduating." Cyziel shook his palm, showing them that he has not anything bad to get that grade.

Vera momentarily giggled, before turning serious again. "I was just joking. Only stupid teachers would not let you graduate early. Moreover, you also already have a recommendation to the capital so it won't really be an issue if you didn't graduate here."

"Did I hear that Vera just joked? I think my head is spinning." Jorak pretended to fall sideways as he rubbed his head.

Rika who was sitting beside Jorak, pushed him away. "Stop that Jorak or you are going to get kicked out of this house." She then laughed. "But yeah, I think they just want Cyziel to leave as fast as possible."

"Hey! I still want to graduate fairly!" Cyziel protested. "Anyway, how many points do you get from the competition?"

"You actually already get 300 points for participating. The farther you get then the more points that you will receive." Ru answered.

"That's pretty good. How many representative do we have? Not everyone in the indoor training area would participate right?" Cyziel asked.

"There are normally 15 to 20 representatives for each school. For our school, Five are usually taken from the top 10. Five are taken randomly from the top 50." Vera answered before she frowned. "Another five is voted by the organizations which is a bit complicated because of some politics. Finally, the school could also have up to 3 maximum substitutes which are optional."

"I still don't understand though why you are not chosen as a representative." Ru uttered.

"I was told that I would be allowed to watch though!" Cyziel said.

"Well, I think it is because you are too strong for the other freshman." Rika chuckled.

"There is still the regionals though! So the school might be planning for you to compete there!" Jorak added.

"Regionals?"

"It is a bigger tournament. It is held inside regional kingdoms and there is no division between freshman, intermidis and maxima there so it is mostly only for maximas." Vera explained.

"Oh! I would like that! Maybe I would be allowed to join that." Cyziel exclaimed as he then pondered. Hmm.. I was not able to ask if Volus or Ortix was actually chosen but they didn't appear in the training area earlier.