Behind those tall bushes outside the academy was a large and cool spot that only a few students knew about and by few, the exact number meant, was just two students.
There wasn't really anything special about the spot since it was just grass and a couple of trees further down but to Arsha, it was the perfect spot to conduct his strange training session without being disturbed by anyone or getting strange stares from other students.
However, since he wasn't the only one who knew about the place, it wasn't exactly the all peace and quiet that he wanted.
The other student who knew about the place found out about it only a few days ago, and just like him, she thought it was going to be the perfect training spot.
Arsha carefully scanned the area to see if anybody was coming before slipping through the bush to get to his perfect training spot.
The first thing he saw on getting there was a blonde-haired girl slowly removing her red jacket.
Her hair was somewhat golden blonde compared to Arsha's and being loose, the hair stretched down to the lower part of her back.
She had emerald green eyes, to go with her little straight nose and thin pink lips.
She was quite the looker according to most of the boys in her class and she had a good stature for a young lady.
The girl in question was the third-ranked second-year student of Aigis Academy, Claudia Hart, but unlike Arsha and Preston, she was at level four.
She was the other person who knew about this hidden spot, and of all the people who had to find out about it, Arsha believed that anyone else but her would have been okay.
He didn't say anything to her as she pulled off her jacket and hung it on the rock beside her before proceeding to tie her hair back.
While she was doing that, Arsha walked off toward the right to find what he hid there, but just before he could pick it up, she made a comment.
"You know you didn't have to be that brutal with them." She said before picking up the katana blade that was sitting on the rock.
"I see, so you were watching that," Arsha responded before slowly turning to her.
"Yeah, those two were stupid, but did you really have to punish them like that? They could die in there, I know how intense your flames are." She expressed before slashing vertically with her sword.
"If that's what you're worried about then it's okay, those flames aren't enough to kill them but they are feeling terror in there, if I really wanted to kill them, I would have just done it on the spot, no need to prolong it."
"Just as expected, you're just as heartless as everyone says." She scoffed.
"If you're that worried about them, then you can go save them, I won't stop you," Arsha remarked before turning away from her to grab what he was looking for.
"And why would I want to do that?" She chuckled. "Your punishment was way too harsh but ultimately I think they got what they deserved."
Arsha didn't reply to that as pushed the leaves to the side to reveal a gold surface buried down there.
He was about to lift whatever was buried down there when something popped into his mind.
"Hey." He called before turning his gaze to her.
"Huh?" She responded before slowly bringing her sword down.
"Hey, by any chance were you stalking me the day you found this place? You also seem to stare at me a bit too much during class, do you have a crush on me?"
That was a direct approach to provoking her, and he said it all with a straight face.
She didn't seem to have a response ready at the go, as she stared at him for a while with mixed expressions of annoyance and surprise written all over her face.
'Time to blow a fuse.'
He was expecting things to spark up but at the last second, he noticed the expression on her face settle.
"You're really funny, Arsha but you know very well that the only person that has a crush on you is the Devil, sorry to disappoint you." She responded calmly before resuming her sword training.
"Well, that's quite a shame, I mean you have a pretty face but with a..."
"That does it!"
This time he seemed to have hit the right spot. The air suddenly felt stuffy and that was all her doing.
Someone's body was sparking with lightning and that extended to her sword, as she glared at Arsha with murderous intent but the expression on his face didn't change a bit.
'That was easier than I thought.'
"You may be ranked higher than me, but that doesn't give you the right to talk to me anyhow you want to!" Her voice thundered in anger as she quickly raised her sword.
That was one of her deadliest attacks which required gathering lightning on her sword for a few seconds and then releasing it all with one strike.
"Yeah, that looks like it could hurt me."
Claudia believed that she could finish it with one blow and put him in his place, however, just before she could deliver that slash, she felt something wrap around her leg, and before she knew it, she was lifted off her feet and flung to the side.
Arsha used his water ability to form some kind of water rope and that was what he used to get her off her feet, the strength was his of course.
He made sure to give her a painful experience by slamming her into the tree further down the area.
"Argh." She let out a fairly loud groan as Arsha proceeded to slam her on the floor before letting go of her.
That was all it took to take out her lightning but she was still conscious.
"Bastard." She bit her lower lip in anguish as she tried to get up from the floor.
It wasn't noticeable but her uniform was covered in dirt now but at least it was noticeable on her hair and face.
"Hey, don't be like that when you were the one that attacked me first. If we're having a conversation then stick to the rules of conversation, don't attack me, and expect me to go easy on you." Arsha articulated just after stopping in front of her.
Her response to that was sending a lightning blast his way but Arsha didn't have any problem avoiding it.
"I see you still want more."
A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he suddenly blasted her back with a strong water blast.
She slammed her back against the tree once again before letting out a groan as little drops of blood spilled out from her mouth along with the normal liquid that always comes out of there.
"Remember, you were the one that started it so prepare an explanation for the teachers because you won't be using both of your hands for a while," Arsha remarked before forming a pistol-like shape with his right hand. "It's time you know your place."
"Claudia Hart, it's time you know your place."
Claudia quickly shot her eyes open as soon as that voice resounded in her mind.
She didn't know how but she was back in her room and on her bed now.
She stared at the ceiling for a while with a confused expression on her face before raising both of her hands.
"My hands are still working normally? What is going on?" She muttered before trying to get up from the bed but her body was just too weak for her to pull herself up and she ended up crashing back on the bed.
That was the moment everything that happened just before she passed out came storming back to her memory.
Arsha was getting ready to use a very powerful attack on her, a quiet but powerful attack.
She had seen him use it before and she knew just how powerful it was, the thought of having her arms pierced by those water bullet attacks terrified her, but she was barely able to move her body.
She wanted to plead, but the words just wouldn't come out or in other words, her pride wouldn't let her.
"I think you should reconsider coming here after today." Arsha remarked before a water bullet shot out from his hand straight toward her.
She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth ready to take the hit but she didn't feel a thing.
The bullet flew past her and hit the tree behind her before releasing a shockwave on it that even shook her body.
The tree couldn't handle that impact as it was sliced clean from the point of impact and slowly fell backward.
Claudia was deeply terrified, she just stared at the floor with one thought continuously repeating in her mind.
'What if that hit me instead?'
With time, both her mind and body got exhausted and she ended up collapsing on the floor.
She was expecting to find herself on the floor because she believed that he wouldn't have any reason to carry him back but here she was, in her room.
"Was that really his goal? To terrify me and make me look pathetic in front of him." She muttered before turning her gaze to the right.
There was another made on that side of the room, an indication that she shared the room with someone.
"I wonder if Jessica has seen me like this?"
Her long black socks were off her body now leaving her with just her skirt, and for some reason, she couldn't help but wonder who took them off.
"I have to get up and clean myself up before Jessica comes back and sees me in this pathetic state." She muttered under her breath before attempting to get up from the bed once again.
She gritted her teeth as she managed to sit up on the bed this time but doing that seemed to have taken a lot out of her.
'My back hurts terribly and my arms and legs require a lot more effort to function than usual.' She thought before slowly bringing her legs down. 'It was stupid to pick a fight with him but still…"
Just thinking about that set her heart ablaze with a burning anger, one that made her feel like tearing something apart.
"I still don't know how I got back here but I'm sure that Devil had nothing to do with it." She said before attempting to get up on her feet.
That resulted in a failure as she came crashing down on her knee just before she could stand with both of her legs.
"Owww."
The door opened at the moment and a dark-haired girl walked in with a bag in her hand.
"Claudia." She gasped as soon as she spotted her roommate on the floor before quickly rushing over to her.
"Oh, hey, Jess," Claudia muttered with a weak voice as she helped her up the bed.
"You shouldn't be moving, you're still hurt."
This dark-haired girl with brown eyes and a height that made her a bit taller than Claudia was Jessica Roland, a level four second-year student who was ranked somewhere among the top twenty and was Claudia's roommate and best friend.
"I know, but I needed to go clean up," Claudia responded before placing her hand on her forehead.
"Don't worry about that, I'm going to help you do that." She assured her before moving to her bed to drop the bag she was holding there.
'So, I was worried about nothing, she had already seen me like this. Does that mean….?'
"Hey, Jess…."
"Taking you to the clinic would have been the better option." Jessica chimed in just before she could ask the question.
"Huh? What do you mean?" She inquired with a confused expression on her face.
"The person who contacted me to come find you told me that nothing serious happened to you, they said that there was no need to take you to the clinic and that would cause only more problems for you." She explained before turning her gaze to Claudia. "But when I got to you, I sort of doubted that, and the worst part is that I didn't get any explanation about what happened."
Listening to all that, Claudia felt quite confused, but before saying anything she had to confirm her thoughts first.
"This person that sent you this message, who was that?" She inquired.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Huh? But you said he sent you a message."
"Yeah, with an anonymous ID."
"Huh?" Claudia gasped. "But that's not even possible, the only people who can communicate with these wristcoms are the students and some of the teachers and the ID always shows whenever anyone gets a message no matter what."
"Yeah, I had the same thought as you but this person seemed to have figured it out somehow," Jessica responded. "But anyway, you'll have to explain how you got hurt like this later, I had to think hard to come up with an excuse for both of us to skip combat class."
Claudia seemed to have missed that part because her mind was somewhere else now.
'Was that Arsha or someone else?'
________ ________
With the sun slowly setting and the world slowly turning dark, Arsha could be seen standing in front of the entrance to a huge forest that was located in the south just outside the academy.
It was a huge forest with really tall trees but what really stood out in the area was a large blue crystal sitting on some kind of compartment to his right.
The crystal wasn't just there for decoration or anything like that, this forest was crawling with dangerous demon beasts and that crystal served as one of the energy sources for the barrier that sealed the monsters away.
"I'm still behind on the funds needed for the silver one." He muttered before walking closer to the crystal.
He stood there for a couple of minutes before letting out a deep sigh.
"I just wished this thing was a bit faster than this." He sighed before slipping his hands into both of his gauntlets. "This is why I hate combat classes sometimes."