-1st person-

I stared at him for a few more seconds before turning to everyone else. I looked at the teachers and waited for the old man to speak.

"Now that the tournament has ended and Raymond Valtere has been crowned winner of this class, we will begin with the Instructor spars." They didn't say anything, but everyone understood and quickly began to speak with each other.

I looked towards the brown haired child and walked to him.

"Hey." I said.

"Raymond Valtere," He must've heard my name from the teacher who announced me as the winner.

"Yeah, and what's your name?" I asked.

"Vincent Lersin. And what was that arrow move you did at the end?" Vincent stared at me with piercing eyes that made me wonder whether he saw my aura arrow.

"What do you mean? All I did was create multiple mana arrows to corner you?" I spoke.

"No, there was something else in there." He paused as if waiting for a response and I felt my forehead being covered with sweat. Then he continued, "You infused qi into your arrows, and their force wasn't weak..."

Ah... Thank goodness, I thought he was talking about the aura arrow I accidentally created. 

[Master, you should be careful of him if you'll be enemies. It would be better to become his ally though] 

Why?

[An ordinary human, especially one who uses technology, shouldn't be able to notice the energies that easily. Even if there were numerous qi arrows, it shouldn't be easy to notice since they were somewhat masked to look like different elements]

I could tell he's special when I used that spell earlier, his craftsmanship rivals even masters and that energy shield wasn't shabby at all. I'd say he has quite the talent for martial arts too.

Why don't you become friends with this child, Ray? He seems quite friendly. Eris, who was in my arms, spoke after a long time.

"Ah! That, all I did was do what I did with mana. It's not that hard." I replied after some thought, shaking my head and waving my hands as I talked.

"I see..." He murmured.

"Well, do you want to be friends, Vincent?" I asked, it was kind of early but they do say battling communicates your heart and all. 

He'd be useful...

"I guess it wouldn't be too bad..." He looked hesitant as I held out my hand. It took a second or two but he eventually shook the hand.

Time passed and then the old human spoke again.

"I presume all our students have recovered their energy and have also gotten acquainted with each other?" There was a series of nods from some students and then he continued, "Then, we should get to the instructor spars. All students with the rank of 200 and above should line up in front of the instructor you wish to fight, if you have no particular preferences, then wait in front of me."

All the instructor battles would place handicaps on the teachers. Like not using certain powers or items and so on.

I slowly walked to the front of the old man followed by Vincent, we then waited for everyone else.

After a short while, the man led us to different instructors with less students lining up.

I came to an elven instructor, he had shoulder-length grey hair and drooping light grey eyes. His long ears popped out of the hair and stood out.

Soon after all the students were lined up with an instructor, We began the fights.

Instructor Rein, as he said he was called, allowed us the first hit since we were young children with no experience. Other students thought their pride was being ruined so they refused, apparently they wanted a 'fair fight'. I snickered as I walked up to the elf.

I stood there and created multiple spells by 'murmuring' under my breath.

[Bullet of Qi]

[Arrow of Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Dark]

[Inferno]

[Support: Strength enhancement, Speed enhancement]

[Debuff: Durability weaken, Endurance weaken, Strength weaken]

[Glacial Freeze]

Thousands of bullets and arrows appeared around the battlefield, mesmerising everyone as they stared at the elements and colours.

---

-3rd person-

The ground turned into a battlefield of fire and the air froze. It was a contrast that would discomfort everyone, Rein felt a small crisis but stood still as he had promised. Snowflakes fell from the sky as they melted as soon as they touched the fire dancing along the ground. However, Ray wasn't breaking a sweat, it was as if he hadn't even felt the temperatures.

[Converge: Light & Darkness, Fire & Water, Earth & Wind]

[Arrows of Nature and Light]

Hundreds more arrows appeared, looking as if they'd merged with the other elements.

Fire turned to water, Light turned to darkness, and Earth turned to wind.

All other students and instructors momentarily paused to marvel at the creation before them. This wasn't the first [Converge] they had seen, but the child doing it was very young for this skill.

[Fall]

Simultaneously, all weapons fell in coordination with Ray as he ran forward. The catalyst glowing in his right hand and a dagger held in his left. He dashed towards the teacher slightly after the magic and aimed for Rein's neck with the tip.

The attacks hit and a millisecond after, Ray attacked as if he knew the attacks would do nothing. His attack rebounded and he was thrown to the wall behind him.

"You have the power, but you lack experience." Ray's situation in one sentence.

Rein was revealed with minor injuries all over his body and also a major injury on his abdomen.

---

-1st person-

That was so... Cool... Ray, you need to calm down. Act like you're really depressed cause you just lost a battle and look like you took a really bad hit. Act like you're injured.

I gave a minor groan as I pretended to stagger to my feet, using the wall (which had a hole in it) as a balance for me. I bowed to Rein before staggering along the wall to Vincent, who was staring at me with his eyes wide.

"I knew you were strong, but to get the recognition of the Elf of Violence" He marvelled at my power as I sat down uncomfortably and waited for him to calm down.

But what the hell is that tacky name, 'Elf of Violence', it's like they couldn't be bothered to actually try naming someone properly... I actually feel sorry for that elf.

"Haha... Well, I've only been training and learning my entire life so it makes sense, wouldn't it?" I said, brushing the compliment off partially.

"No way, he hasn't even recognised the Imperial Crown Prince." 

"Really? But isn't the Crown Prince really talented? I heard he reached Count rank at 24 years, I think that earns recognition." 

"And? I've done some looking into you and I've seen you reach Count rank at 5 years old? Compared to you, that seems like nothing."

"Haha, no, I'm not that praiseworthy. I was only lucky to go to a mana-abundant place which caused a speed in my cultivation."

That's the excuse I used when I was questioned. I said that I went to another place which felt sort of stuffy yet sort of comfortable and whilst I was waiting, I used the opportunity to train. And whilst I trained, I noticed that I was getting stronger more quickly and I hurriedly focused to get a lot stronger. And by the time I reached Count rank, I was back 'home'.

***

Author's Note

Well, I have nothing to say here, carry on and enjoy the novel!

...

I'd be touched if people actually read this bit.