When her barrier shattered, Mavis' eyes widened, and then narrowed. Her lips parted, ready to chant the next spell.

That was the role of a mage.

Verity scoffed. "Aren't you disregarding me too much?"

He prepared a thrust, but he was immediately forced to dodge the tip of spear shooting straight for his temple.

"Fast rea–"

The edge of a blade came for his right side before he could even comment on Apatia's attack. This one was coated in sword Aura, and Arthur had attacked so that simply evading would be impossible.

In response, Verity twisted his body, and deflected Arthur's sword away. Thin cracks spread throughout his spear as he did so, and he clicked his tongue.

'This damn standard issue spear… it won't be able to withstand that boy's Aura…'

He looked ahead. Finishing off the mage always took priority.

But when his eyes landed on her, or where she had been, she had disappeared, and a sense that something was wrong overcame him.

"Lead them astray - Confusion."

Verity shook his head, and there she was again. It was as though he'd mistaken up for down, and right for left. 'Mind Magic huh…'

It wouldn't work on him again, which was one of the major downsides of Mind magic, but that slight moment of hesitation was enough.

Before, the students had been half a step too late due to Verity's sudden attack, but thanks to Apatia's and Arthur's quick reaction, as well as Mavis' composure, they were back on tempo.

Igor, who'd risen into the air with the aid of a strange artifact, shouted. "[Rally - Inspire]!"

All of his teammates suddenly felt that if it was now, they could even take over Kaizel itself. A new wind flowed through them and their morale was at an all time high.

Fabio smiled. "I think you underestimate us, sir. [Camouflage]." he said, before completely disappearing.

While everyone was preparing, Arthur and Apatia had taken on the role of keeping Verity tied up.

CLANG CLANG

Their clash was fierce. Arthur's sword Aura forced Verity on the defensive, every parry chipping at his spear. Apatia filled the gaps, her precision cutting off every counter before it began. She pressured him with quick, yet, precise blows to his vitals.

Verity scoffed. 'Did I teach her too well?'

"Hold your tongue,

halt your step,

no noise shall mark our fleeting trace,

let sound be bound,

Hush the ground,

Let silence reign - Mute!"

All sound within the training room was snuffed out. Whether it be the swing of weapons, the clamor of footsteps, the ringing of steel, or even the soft song of a breath.

"What an interesting spell… confusing your enemy with the lack of sound." Verity said, not that they could hear him.

'But aren't you going to affect your teammates too? Or does the spell only apply to me? Or…'

He shot a glance toward Igor in the air. 'Is he keeping them coordinated? How interesting.'

This was indeed the Supernova class.

Verity leaned forward, straight into Apatia's spear. The thrust missed his throat by an inch, and he sunk his foot into the ground.

Apatia grit her teeth, she knew what would come. 'When Master feels pressure, this is what he does!!'

She switched her stance at lightning speed, from Limbo, to Fraud, and attempted with all her might to step out of the way. 'I'm too late…!!'

SWOOSH

At the last moment, Verity was forced to break his momentum, only allowing him to deliver a meager hit to Apatia's side.

He turned to his right, where an arrow had been embedded into the wall. He then looked around, but could not find Fabio.

[Apatia! Are you alright?]

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Apatia nodded. The Mind link only worked one way. She'd been hit, and it had hurt like hell, but it wasn't near enough to put her down.

She breathed in, and adopted the stance of Violence. She would pressure her master even further.

Arthur, on the other hand, retracted his sword Aura. 'I see… this is what he was trying to tell me.'

Fabio chuckled. 'Try avoiding this.'

Three arrows, which became visible as soon as they left Fabbio's bow, shot toward him. Verity deflected the first.

The second curved in the air, circling to his back. That one, Verity evaded by tilting his head to the side. The third one, which came from the left, Verity caught, and crushed with his hand.

"Hm, if that's all you can do then–"

SWOOSH

A split second decision. Verity's entire body bent backward, and an invisible arrow scraped the bridge of his nose, drawing blood.

His eyes widened. 'He can… do that?'

'Hehe, the mana expenditure is ridiculous for invisible arrows… but if I use them right, it makes it worth it.'

The battle resumed even more fiercely than before. Having discarded his Aura, Arthur's swings had become sharper, finer, and most importantly, more lethal. Instead of showing off and tiring himself by maintaining Aura around his blade for longer periods of time, he only drew it forth when absolutely necessary.

This was somewhat more wasteful as every time he dispelled his Aura it was a dent in his reserves, but Verity found it much more difficult to deal with him this way.

Apatia, on the other hand, was putting everything into raw power. Now, her attacks could hardly be blocked, even by Verity. If she really put her back into it, she could send him sliding back with one thrust.

Verity's spear was lined with cracks, moments away from shattering.

"Oh!"

The field of silence was now lifted. All noise returned to Verity's ears. Sound crashed back like a breaking wave.

Mavis wiped a trickle of blood escaping her nose, and she chanted her next spell.

Arthur raised his sword. "Secret art… Horizon cleaver!" and the Aura around it grew exponentially.

Apatia lowered her stance. "Nine Hell Spearmanship seventh stance… Violence - Annihilation."

Fabio drew multiple arrows onto the string of his bow.

Verity scoffed as he both saw, and sensed the incoming attacks. He spun his spear in his hand, and he shifted his grip. "Should I give you all a lesson on finesse?"

Igor, high in the air, had large beads of sweat rolling down his temple.

[Not yet Mavis… not yet. Wait for my signal.]

Both Apatia's and Arthur's attacks were set to land simultaneously, all the while Fabio would fire the remainder of his invisible arrows at Verity.

[Not yet…]

Verity's grip tightened. "Nine Hell spearmanship –"

[Now!!]

"Traveller, join me in my song, let go of your worries, your duties, your responsibilities. Listen to my voice, abandon your companions, and swim into my warm embrace. O traveller…"

Mavis was singing. A combination of both Mind and Sound magic - Siren's song.

Verity stumbled, and he found it difficult to remove his focus from Mavis. For some reason, he felt incredibly drawn to her.

He bit his lip and drew blood.

He'd already snapped out of it.

But it was too late.

In that split second, a moment shorter than a breath, Verity had a thought. 'Am I… going to lose?'

Of course, he couldn't use [Beyond Reason], any of his runes, or even his spear Aura, but even so… Could he even look himself in the mirror if he lost to these kids?

No way.

Verity admitted it. He'd grossly underestimated them. Their synergy and individual skills were better than most mercenaries or bandits he'd encountered in the Other World. Even adventurers and knights rarely reached the level these kids were at.

But so what?

This did not mean he would lose.

Verity's lips parted. "[Demonic Pressure]"

It was as though the sharpest of swords had pierced their hearts.

Arthur's aura dissipated, while Apatia's stance was shattered. Mavis' song was interrupted, and Fabio released his arrows completely off target.

Every single one of them found their hands slamming against the cold stone floor.

[W-What's going on? What's happening to all of you!? Stand up!]

Igor shouted from above, unaffected by the skill.

Mavis spit blood from her mouth due to being interrupted mid-cast. "What… is this…!?!"

Arthur looked at his trembling hands. 'What just happened? I'm sure we had him… so why am I like this??'

Even Fabio, who'd been invisible, had been caught in the skill, forced to reappear. He'd dropped his bow, and he couldn't stop shaking.

Apatia immediately raised her head. "This… won't work on me…!!" She said, already halfway on her feet.

Verity appeared in front of her, the tip of his blade at her throat. "Maybe so, but you'd already be dead by now."

She lowered her eyes, pained. "It's… your win, Instructor."

Verity nodded, but internally he was sweating profusely. 'Good thing I have this skill… I was actually in trouble back there…!!'

He then dispelled the skill and tossed his battered spear away. "That's enough for today I say."

Igor descended from his magical artifact. "What a cheap trick… We had you!" he said, pointing at Verity.

Fabio walked to Mavis' side and helped her up. "You okay there, friend?"

Mavis nodded. "Mhm. Thank you." she said, before spitting some more blood.

Fabio gave her a health potion.

Arthur and Apatia, who'd been closest to Verity at the moment of the skill's activation, still found themselves shaken by the ordeal, but they were no novices. They quickly regained their composure.

Arthur shook his head. "Perhaps you wouldn't know because you're no warrior… but there's no such thing as a cheap trick, Igor."

'Well, that Elio would probably disagree, but who cares what he thinks? Tell him Arthur!'

Igor snapped back. "Then what would you call what he just did!?? If it wasn't for that weird skill we would have won! It was a cheap trick"

Apatia interjected, her voice low, but measured. "Is… that what you'll tell the demon when he rips out your heart? That he didn't fight fair? That he wasn't honorable?"

'Look at her using my lines… I'm so proud I could cry.'

Igor bit his lip, and he turned around. "Still, what kind of instructor would need to pull out something like that against students? He can't be that much better than we are."

Fabio laughed. "Hahah!! You're hilarious, Igor! You support classes are always fun to have around!" he hollered, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Do you really think the instructor was using everything he had against us?"

Igor frowned. 'Looking down on support classes, of course.' and then shot a glare toward Fabio. "...Obviously not, but even so, I don't think he had that much mo—"

Verity clapped his hands. "Enough. Enough. You're free to do what you want, Igor. Come back tomorrow, or don't, it's all the same to me whether you give up or not. You're useful, but not indispensable to the team's synergy."

Igor turned around and left without saying anything.

'A-Ah, wait, I thought that would get him fired up… Are my taunts not effective anymore??'

Verity cleared his throat. "Same to the rest of you, and Mavis, make sure to go to the infirmary before going home. Internal damage should be taken seriously." He said, before sending them off.

—

Night had fallen a few hours ago.

"Yeah, this is a lot better."

Verity was now under the mask of his King of Fools persona.

"Master, I think you shouldn't take what Igor said to heart. He's… a particular one, that guy." Apatia said, walking a few steps behind him.

Verity shrugged. "I don't really care either way."

"...Right."

"Oi, I really don't"

"...Yes, Master, sure."

"I'm serious!"

Apatia looked away. "Mhm. I believe you, Master."

Verity took in a deep breath, and started walking faster.

"W-Wait for me!"

'Why am I getting Deja Vu from her…'

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