Turning in to sleep early, the elf convinced herself to do so in order to wake up early for her second day at the academy - and definitely not because Annabelle and Lydia refused to inform her about the progress with naming their merchant house, although she could tell from their behaviour that they had found one already. Nisha did not sulk.
Aside from greeting the various guards and employees at the Dharnas estate and quietly walking to the Royal Academy without Henry, as he had headed out earlier already to take an additional cla.s.s, the dragon safely arrived at the training field in the warrior part of the academy without a problem.
By not having to accompany her older step-brother, Nisha arrived even earlier than last time at the training ground and settled in the hindmost section, picking up a similar spear-shaped weapon from the previous practice.
While she enjoyed fighting with her [Taurith Short Swords], they always only managed to give her the feeling of a cheap replacement for her dragon claws. The spear shaped training weapon on the other hand allowed to wield an oppressing might comparable to her hunts as a peak predator in the Wilderness, an enjoyable and addicting thrill.
Furthermore, Nisha wanted to pay more attention to her cla.s.smates and make up for her previous shortcomings, maybe even form closer contacts.
Due to the elf’s careful foresight, she did arrive as one of the first students and had the grounds all to herself for almost half a candle. Wantonly swinging the crude wooden arm, Nisha lacked grace and elegance that usually accompanied her act as a n.o.ble young lady. And she almost missed the first arrival in the primal joy every monster knew - inflicting pain on the wooden dummy.
Looking up when she felt a gaze resting on her, Nisha discovered a young human boy walking into the yard, apparently startled at the student who had shown up even earlier than himself. After evaluating the dragon silently, he similarly picked up a wooden sword and started to practice on his own.
Based on his comparably thin physique and the desire to avoid all troubles by practising by himself, the elf guessed with a certain confidence that the other student belonged to the scholars.h.i.+p group and did not go over to introduce herself, respecting his choice.
Not long afterwards, more and more pupils arrived, giving Nisha facing the back of her wooden scarecrow in the back of the yard a perfect view and opportunity to study all of them closer.
Just by counting their races alone, two-thirds of all arrivals appeared to be pure blooded humans. Only rarely did telltale signs such as pointy ears or the bright purple skin shade seem to make it easier for the casual observer to arrive at definite convictions.
Fortunately, a little elf possessed a pair of heavenly blessed eyes, granting her [Spirit Sight], which in turn quickly allowed her to sort everyone by their mana and aura, which in turn acted as if she could see their physiques and spirits. Even a slight amount of elven blood in the human n.o.ble faction failed to escape her eyes and initially almost perfectly human shaped guests from the twin kingdoms surprisingly had almost nothing in common with a regular human spirit, although the physiques naturally coincided. The observation opened more new question than it answered at the end when their martial instructor arrived, Nisha still felt satisfied to have a better grasp on their overall makeup.
“Good morning students. For the training session this time, the objective can be said to be incredibly simple.
All you need to do is to study a skill you picked with your corresponding weapon and leave a mark on one of the training scarecrows. Simple, isn’t it?”
Compared to his usually weary atmosphere, the mirth in Mr. Oak’s voice frightened the students.
Naturally, this fright stemmed from the forest of wooden puppets surrounding them rather than their instructor; they had already seen the formidable defensive strength imbued by formations on their bodies. Was leaving a mark on the training scarecrows merely a dream?
At this time, Lisa and Unico found the missing member of their group and slightly nodded to her, then returned their gazes to listen to the teacher. After all, no one would be so bold to whisper and chat during the only second lesson.
And as an instructor, how could Mr. Oak not know what the students felt, even if he was newly instated.
“Did anyone think the Academy failed to prepare a reward when the overall system is based on merit? To give you a goal to work towards to, now and then the profound formation on these training puppets will increase in toughness and eventually even start to counterattack and block.
Only those staying at the top will retain their right to receive the reward for their talent and hard work.”
Some of the n.o.ble students already had to know which reward awaited them, based on the experiences of their senior family members, yet everyone still showed visible signs of antic.i.p.ating and longing.
Swerving her gaze over the crowd, Nisha felt an unusual arrangement appearing in front of her eyes.
The other exchange students from the twin kingdoms formed two groups, one containing three males while the other consisted of two boys and two girls.
Aside from their kinsmen, no other human made it in their group, and their eyes similarly scanned the ground, as if searching for danger.
Rousing the Hunter sleeping in her mind, Nisha naturally never openly expressed her vigilance with such an obvious tell tale sign as the many wary gazes scanning their fellow students instead of the lecturer.
“As for the reward, four times a moon, at the end of each week, the warrior faculty will hold a joint exercise between all cla.s.ses. Those who qualify by defeating the training dummy and inflicting an injury on it will all be allowed to partake on the trip if they wish so.
For the first trip, the location traditionally has been the first Dungeon level. However, the [Adventurer’s Guild] locked down all access for the time being. Whenever the Dungeon is undergoing changes, the practice location will be s.h.i.+fted to a nearby village, surrounded by mostly first rank monsters.”
Perhaps Mr. Oak still had a hard time adapting to his new job as a teacher in the academy, Nisha got the feeling he divulged much more information than strictly needed. At the prospect of leaving the academy and having a real adventure, most of the youths surrounding the training yard broke out in cheers and started chattering with each other, planning for the trip and motivating each other to overcome the wooden scarecrow.
In the subsequent turmoil, Nisha slipped out of the crowd and headed towards the place she practised at earlier before the teacher showed up.
Unico grabbed Lisa by the scruff of her neck and pulled her along, arriving at the same spot as the elf.
Letting go of the confused girl, the purple skinned youth picked up two daggers, as usual, getting ready for the lesson.
“Stop pulling me already! I can walk by myself.”
Unlike her previous shy interaction with the other two in her group, Lisa already accepted them as friends and had fewer reservations when rebuking Unico for his rough treatment towards her.
Smirking at the complaint, the young man felt it beneath him to answer and attacked the target first, leaving a faint cross shape on its torso.
“Show-off.”
Muttering under her breath, the alchemist’s daughter retrieved a wooden sword as well, getting ready to train as well. She knew compared to the other two in her group her performance fell far behind and needed to catch up.
Nisha, on the other hand, grinned at their bantering, it reminded her of the interactions between herself and the two former maid sisters.
The dragon glanced at the wooden spear she had picked early in the morning, swinging it around somewhat absentmindedly while waiting for the other students in the cla.s.s to show up.
Since Nisha already finished obtaining a general overview regarding the different nationalities belonging to their cla.s.smates, she now placed the spear back on the weapon rack, looking for another armament to try out.
Comparing the spear to the [Taurith Short Swords] the elf enjoyed using before, a few common points of interest stood out. For the sword, Nisha enjoyed their speed and ease of use, allowing a broad range of possible attacks, attack and defence in one. The spear, on the other hand, wielded mighty power, each blow ma.s.sive and capable of heavily injuring the opponent. The trade off being a worse performance at close range and almost no defensive manoeuvres.
Inspecting the other wooden training gear, she soon found a compromise.
Picking up a great sword, the dragon weighed the weapon in her hand, smiling at the balance between weight and nimbleness emanated just by holding it.
Gripping the handle firmly with her hands, Nisha slowly angled the blade and lowered the tip until the entire edge aligned with her body. The sword wasn’t meant for thrust attacks, even the dull point at the tip proved it. But Nisha remained in the same posture for a while longer, feeling out the weapon in her hands.
Receiving a little feedback from the armament, the elf expelled the breath she held so far. Compared to fighting with a spear or a short sword, the greatsword somehow fell into neither category. Aside from the fact that the dragon had to learn any fighting style yet, just by handling the different kinds of weapons, she already comprehended some of the basic requirements needed to address all three weapons.
Nisha approached the wooden scarecrow, raising the blade overhead and then swinging it down as hard as the exploding force in her arms allowed.
While the blow did not break off any parts of the target, a minute crack appeared next to the doll’s neck, exactly the spot where the greatsword fell upon it. Grinning at her success, Nisha brought the blade back above her head, raining two more hits upon the scarecrow before retreating behind Lisa and Unico.
If the dragon wished for it, her enormous strength would easily allow her to handle a greatsword with a single hand, far exceeding the limits of either humans or elves. At the same time, Nisha also acknowledged how much the force behind her blows would weaken at the same time, at least the cracks now threatening to break apart the wooden training target would not appear.
“As freakish as the last time. Do you have some grudge against it? That scarecrow must have killed your family or something if you can summon this sort of superhuman strength to break it apart.”
Teasing her for the spectacle that drew some covert glances from other groups nearby and some not so disguised staring, Unico infused his aura in the daggers he carried around, lighting them up in Nisha’s [Spirit Sight].
Before she could guess his intent, the pair of blades already travelled through the air at high speed, homing in on the already opened cracks and furthering the rift, and finally lodging themselves into the wooden body.
“I don’t think I’m the only freak here. Didn’t you break the puppet just now as well?”
Returning his words and twisting her lips into an even wider grin, the dragon burned with fighting spirit, has found a worthy opponent. Sadly, the blue scarf still covered the region around her mouth. Otherwise, Unico might have run away with utmost urgency, in case he saw the burning fighting spirit on her face.
The young man in question only sighed and declined to comment further; he had already noticed the lack of red or black glow on the greatsword.
Without any enhancement through her aura, Nisha’s pure physical strength already splintered the practice target, and he shuddered thinking about the scenario that would occur if she added her skills on top of the already outrageous power.
He knew himself well enough to admit his inferiority if he tried to match the elf’s strength. While the previous knife throw looked impressive enough and managed to pierce the enchantment, Unico had only built on the breach already opened through the cracks on the wood.
Compared to the two heavyweights accompanying her, Lisa sighed heavily. Defeated by their offensive skills, the alchemist’s daughter neither had the brute strength nor the dexterity at the moment to step on their level.
Picking up her sword, the young human girl attempted to circle her aura into the blade. Otherwise, the dream of damaging the scarecrow would forever stay that - a dream.
Setting her party members as a goal, Lisa felt invigorated and roused to improve even faster than before entering the Royal Academy.