Arthur stood calmly like always in front of the target, his classmates watching him with awe and admiration. As a demon hunter, he was used to being the center of attention and the subject of stares. But now, as a student at the prestigious magic academy, he found himself the object of even more scrutiny.

Marcus-sensei had given them a task: to use the same magic they had shown in their entrance exam. Arthur had considered trying something different, but he knew better than to disobey a teacher's instructions. He raised his hand and focused on summoning his mana.

The energy began to gather in front of him, swirling and compressing itself. Shin, one of Arthur's classmates, watched in amazement. Though he could not see the mana with his normal eyes, his mana sense allowed him to perceive the enormous amount of energy Arthur was gathering.

"He's compressing the mana," Shin whispered to August, who was standing next to him.

August looked on in awe as the energy continued to gather, becoming more and more compressed until it formed a ball. The ball took on a red hue as Arthur added the fire attribute, and it glowed brightly like a red orb.

"What is that?" August asked Shin.

"I think it's a fire spell," Shin replied. "But it's more destructive than anything I've ever felt."

The other students were also taken aback by the power of the spell. Though they could not see the mana, they could sense the incredible amount of energy that Arthur had gathered.

Arthur smiled calmly as he released the spell toward the target. Shin watched in horror, fearing the destruction that the spell would unleash.

But he was too late to stop Arthur, and the ball of energy hurtled toward the target at an incredible speed. In just a fraction of a second, it collided with the target, exploding in a massive burst of energy.

Boom!

The force of the explosion destroyed not only the target but also the walls surrounding it. Dust and debris flew everywhere, and Arthur was left covered in a layer of dust.

For a moment, there was stunned silence as the students tried to comprehend what had just happened. Then, one by one, they began to cheer and applaud Arthur.

"Amazing!" one student shouted.

"No wonder he's a top ranker in S class," another one shouted.

"Very good. Next, August Von Earlshide."

Marcus-sensei looked at the performance and praised Arthur and called the one next in line.

Arthur looked at his uniform and cleaned it with a normal clean spell and returned to his spot, but he was quickly surrounded by his classmates, who were eager to learn more about the spell he had just cast.

Shin, however, was not so easily distracted. He looked at the destroyed wall with a serious expression, trying to understand how Arthur had managed to control the spell even after its release.

"What happened, Shin-kun? Is anything wrong?" Cecily asked him.

"I-It's nothing, Cecily," Shin replied, his face turning red.

But Cecily could tell that something was bothering him. She looked at him with concern, but he turned away, his mind still consumed with the mystery of Arthur's spell.

How had Arthur been able to control the spell even after it had been released? It went against everything Shin knew about magic. Once a spell was released, it was no longer under the control of the magician who had cast it.

But Arthur had done it. He had compressed an enormous amount of mana into a small ball and added the fire attribute, creating a spell that was more powerful than anything Shin had ever felt.

And then, just before the collision, Arthur had somehow taken the mana out of the ball and dispersed it back into nature, reducing the spell's power and preventing it from causing even more destruction.

It was a feat that should have been impossible. But Arthur had done it, and Shin was determined to find the mystery of it.

For the first time, Shin felt the rivalry he wanted from childhood. The reason for attending the academy was to make friends of the same age. And also to learn new magic and improve with friends.

But after a certain amount of time, he realised the crudeness magic performed by the students in the academy.

They were not bad, but not good to match him. And realising it, he eventually let the desire of finding a rival as a superficial dream.

But what in front of him now was something out of his expectations. The spell he just saw opened his eyes. That spell and the fine control of magic to push it to do high level, he was shocked.

Shocked to find someone of same age having such attainments in the field of magic.

His grandfather - The Sage Merlin was weaker compared to him but here in academy he found a boy of same age with high level magic.

The forgotten desire of competing which was lost, started to come out once again. A smile crept upon his face.

'It's good… that I agreed to attend the magic academy.'