Asura Conqueror

The weekend quickly went by and soon Marcus and Emily had to go back to school.

Under the heat of the sun, Marcus stood with his classmates. Humid air, brushed their skins as the mid-morning breeze blew.

In front of them, as usual, was Hedi. He wore a sleeveless combat suit and held two long daggers.

"Alright, I've already taught you the concepts of combat last week, now let's move on and discuss all about magic items." Hedi paced in front of his class. He looked at each and every one of them.

Hedi raised both daggers. "These two weapons look identical, but there is a difference, a big difference. Can anyone tell me what that is?"

Brina raised her hand, followed by a couple of other students.

"As I said before, I'll be the one to choose. Put your hands down." Hedi surveyed the students. He looked for the ones who seemed to be hiding their faces.

"You!" He pointed.

A male student looked at him. "Uhm, I think that, uh, their sharpness is different."

"Hmm, sharpness? Could be. There might be a difference in sharpness but that's not what I'm looking for." Hedi proceeded to look for another one.

This went on for a few minutes before he finally called the student who ponytailed her hair.

Brina, who also wore sleeveless black combat gear, like all the other students, spoke. "The difference is their rank."

Hedi nodded. "Good!"

He hid the aura of the daggers to make the question a lot harder to answer. Of course, other students also knew the answer, but Hedi made sure that he chose the dumb ones. The ones he thought that didn't know the answer he was looking for.

"These two have different ranks." Hedi continued. "One of these is only rank 3 while the other is rank 4. What stage do you need to reach in order to be able to wield anything above rank 3?"

"Commander and above!" the students incoherently answered.

Some were wondering why Hedi was teaching this. All of it seemed to be basic.

"Correct!" Hedi nodded. "You can use rank 4 to 5 magic weapons when you reach the Commander Stage. Rank 6 to 7 when you reach the Preparation Stage. Rank 8 to 10 when you reach the Transformation Stage.

Lastly, rank 11 to 12 magic weapons when you reach the legendary Enlightened Stage. A stage only for those who are loved by mana."

A lot of students' eyes sparkled when they heard the last part of his lecture and they started talking with each other. That's everyone's dream, reaching that stage where people would have to respect you.

Marcus inwardly scoffed, but then he thought for a second. Individuals who reached the Enlightened Stage here in the mortal realm would have to be extremely talented.

'Future captains of my army, wait for me.' His scoff turned into a smile.

Hedi asked everyone to quiet down. "This applies to both offensive weapons and defensive items."

Hedi asked. "Do you know why I asked you if you could tell the difference between these two weapons?"

A few students answered but Hedi kept shaking his head.

"People would tend to mask the aura of their weapons, making it look weaker. This is a famous method that's commonly used by assassins." Hedi explained.

He then questioned. "Have all any of you heard of Spiders Den?"

The students nodded, Marcus unconsciously did too.

"They are extremely proficient at doing this. This is why I urge you to practice discerning the true rank of a weapon. Manuals are located in the library, you are free to take it after class or during your free time as long as you return it afterward without any damage." Hedi pointed in the direction to where the library was.

"Ahem," Hedi stood straight. "Now, grab a weapon in the shed then come back here right away."

Hearing this, every student excitedly ran towards the place where the weapons were kept.

Marcus jogged. Not because he also wanted a weapon, but because he wanted to get some shade.

The students already knew what weapons they wanted so it didn't take long before everyone got back to their lines.

Marcus retrieved a bow and a couple of arrows.

Hedi once again surveyed his students. Almost everyone was holding swords. "This morning we'll be having combat practice. However, there will be no use of magic."

Groans came out of almost every student's mouth. They were not used to fighting without magic.

Hedi didn't mind their reactions, he continued to explain. "I know that in most competitions, weapons are not allowed to be used. In real life, however, it's different. Sometimes, after fighting for a long time, you'll run out of mana. You won't be able to release your favorite spells or do your favorite move."

Hedi paused. "When that happens, if you don't know how to properly fight without the use of your mana, you'll die. When you don't know how to wield weapons properly without mana, you'll die. Do you get my point? Magic weapons are stronger when you inject your mana in them, that's a fact, but you won't always have mana on the battlefield."

He received slow nods from the students.

"We'll have two battles at a time. I'll be choosing your partners." Hedi then started calling out names making two students stand beside each other

Hedi looked at Marcus. "You won't be taking part in this. Go and sit down."

Hedi thought that it would be unfair for Marcus' partner.

"Excuse me, sir." A blond teen who stood 6 feet tall with pompadour hair raised his hand.

His wide-set eyes stared at Marcus.

Hedi turned his head. "Yes, Mr. Ed?"

"Why shouldn't he join us?" Ed asked.

Hedi narrowed his eyes. "If you want to be his partner then be my guest. Just remember that this is graded based on performance. If you perform well, even if you don't win, you can still get a perfect score. However, if your performance is only mediocre, then your grades will be too."

"I'm not afraid of taking him on. Just because he hit those shots last week doesn't mean he's skilled. He's just good at shooting while standing still."

The people beside him chuckled.

Nedo, Reno, Brina, and Pia shook their heads. For them, no one could beat Marcus in this class.

"Both you go." Hedi didn't really care about Ed. This would serve as a good lesson for him.

Marcus held his bow with his left hand and three arrows with his right. He walked towards the open field together with Ed.

'This asshole just had to challenge me.' Marcus grumbled. He felt relieved when Hedi told him that he didn't have to take part.

Hedi reminded. "The two of you will have to fight without magic. Anyone who even attempts to cast a spell will fail. Begin!"

Marcus gave a slight nod.

Ed smirked as he raised his sword and pointed the tip towards Marcus. "You make the first move."

Marcus shook his head. "If I do, this match won't last any longer than 5 seconds. To give you a chance, I'll let you come at me. I won't even shoot right away."