"My family will scold me, huh! By the way, Leo, maybe my memory got a bit weakened, that's why I can't remember when you were appointed as one of my family's elders. Why don't you help me remember first?" Henry said with a poker face, pretending as if he were truly trying to recall.

Art could barely hold back a laugh. He wasn't from a legacy family and knew better than to offend them openly.

Leo's face flushed with rage at Henry's dismissal. He whipped around to glare at Derek. "You think you're some big shot, huh? Soon, I'll show you where you truly belong." He sneered and stalked off.

"You know him?" Derek asked once Leo had gone.

"Yeah. We kinda know each other — both from legacy families. But we're not close. I don't like his temper," Henry replied.

"He actually thinks he can beat Derek. What a fool," Art scoffed.

Henry's expression turned serious. "Don't underestimate him. Not you either, Derek. Me and Cecilia might be the most talked-about names in our generation, but Leo's no pushover. His family has a history of keeping their strength hidden, so I don't really know his full capacity... but I do know one thing: he has two attributes."

"W... what?! Two attributes? Isn't that super rare?" Art asked, swallowing hard.

"Yeah. That's why I warned you to be careful around him."

While Henry and Art argued, Derek's gaze followed Leo's retreating figure.

'Yeah. I remember him well,' Derek thought. 'He was the one who helped destroy the Zarakan Kingdom alongside the demons. I'd put an end to his life right now if I could, but first I need to know why he did it. If there's a chance to save him and later turn him against the demons, he could become a powerful ally.'

When Derek asked Henry whether he knew Leo, it wasn't because Derek didn't recognize him. Rather he knew Leo too well. He only wanted confirmation. It fit perfectly: the boy who'd helped raze a kingdom and fight with demons was Leo, the one with two attributes. Lightning and spatial magic. Lightning was powerful, but spatial magic was even rarer and far more dangerous.

Soon after lunch, everyone returned to their respective rooms.

Back in his own, Derek rested for a while before heading toward the special training chamber that the housemaster had permitted him to use.

Once inside, he stretched a little and began to think. 'What should I do today? Should I cultivate and test the Qi gathering speed in this room? Or should I explore the other features this chamber offers?'

He pondered for a moment before finally making up his mind. 'Yeah… let's go with martial arts training today.'

With that thought, Derek walked up to the control panel and pressed the button labeled Level 1 for Martial Arts Mastery, followed by the Start button.

Almost immediately, several sections of the floor slid open, and a single dummy emerged. It looked oddly impatient — it didn't even wait for the sections of the floor to return to their initial place before charging straight at Derek.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Thud!

The dummy moved like a skilled martial artist, throwing punches and kicks while also ducking and weaving to dodge Derek's strikes. Though Derek didn't find it particularly challenging, he wasn't bored either.

For several minutes, he exchanged blows, his score rising steadily. Before long, he figured out the scoring pattern — every successful dodge or landed strike added points, while every hit he took deducted them.

Within ten minutes, Derek had racked up one thousand and eleven points, and with that, the session came to an end.

He cracked his neck and knuckles with a grin. "Now that was interesting. This academy really does have its perks. Whether I unlock my sealed power or not, I'll definitely become far, far stronger this time. And maybe… maybe I won't even need that demonic power anymore."

With that thought, Derek selected Level 2 for Martial Arts Mastery and hit Start again.

This time, three dummies emerged and lunged toward him simultaneously. Derek sprang into motion as well.

He ducked under a swing and delivered an uppercut — Thud! Then raised his elbow to block a punch before countering with a sharp kick. Bam!

A split second later, a kick struck his back, hurling him forward. But instead of falling, Derek flipped midair and landed upright in a clean somersault.

The battle grew fiercer. Not just the number but also the strength and speed of his opponents had clearly scaled with the level.

Yet the harder it got, the more Derek's excitement grew.

After another ten intense minutes, the session ended. His score this time was eight hundred and thirteen points.

"I don't know what the record is," Derek muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "but I'll just keep making and breaking my own."

Without hesitation, he pressed the Level 3 button and started again.

Five dummies appeared this time. But that wasn't all. As soon as the round began, a knife came whistling through the air straight toward him.

'What the....?!' Derek cursed inwardly, twisting his body just in time to dodge. But that wasn't a fluke. Knives kept flying at random intervals from every direction.

'Whoever designed this training system must've had a personal grudge against cultivators,' he thought grimly as he fought on.

Forced to divide his focus between dodging blades and battling dummies, Derek took more hits in this round. He flipped over one flying knife, landing a double kick to two dummies charging from opposite sides. But the instant his feet hit the ground, another blade came whistling toward him.

He leaped aside, narrowly evading it — only to be caught by a kick from behind that sent him staggering forward.

The clash continued relentlessly until the timer finally ran out.

This time, his score was seven hundred and one points.

The score had reduced. He was panting. Even so, a wide grin spread across his face.

"This is fun… really fun."

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