Santiaga was led to a large hall with walls made of a strange metallic material. He could tell that these weren't normal walls, as their footsteps didn't echo, despite the large, empty space.
Also, he wasn't the only one who was brought here. There were also five more people inside the hall with him.
But none of them was from any of the hero families that he knew.
"Alright! Here's the objective..." Jefferson walked to the middle of the room, holding an iron sabre which was hanging on the wall across the room.
"You'll be allowed to wield one weapon each. Automatically, having an SSS-ranked ability would guarantee your study in this academy. But this is to see how strong you guys are right now." Jefferson had a smug smile on his face.
He removed the jacket of the white suit he was wearing, revealing a tight black bodysuit underneath.
"Alright, I am a C-class hero, Jefferson Pierce, and chief instructor at this academy. For this test, you'll fight me with weapons but without your abilities."
Santiaga's lips twitched. Just looking at the face of Jeff made him want to go mad.
"What? A C-class? I heard instructors in this school are ranked A-class and above. Who are you?" a guy asked, walking ahead of the group.
He wore traditional combat leather attire. His straight black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and his sharp, grey eyes stared at Jeff with disgust.
"Well, why don't you go first? If you can defeat me, I'll really quit," Jefferson said, laughing lightly.
The boy gritted his teeth, going over to grab a long spear which had a wooden shaft.
"Let me show you," the young man said, getting into a low stance.
"Before we start, can you tell me your name?" Jefferson asked, glaring at the boy.
"Weaklings don't deserve to know who I am," the boy sneered, rushing towards Jefferson.
"Hehe, hahahahaha..." Jeff laughed, looking at the boy rushing toward him.
"Boy, you don't know who you're talking to." Jeff launched forward.
Santiaga frowned at what happened next. This head instructor is fast.
The other guy's technique was flawless. He spun his spear, whipping it forward at different angles.
Jefferson was just blocking all the attacks head-on.
The boy suddenly sped up, standing in one place and piercing his spear forward again and again.
In Santiaga's eyes, it looked like the work of a high-speed machine. Whoever this young man was, he was not to be trifled with.
The same could be said about Jefferson. He was dodging all of the attacks with an arm behind his back, having a mocking smile on his face.
Dust began to gather around the two as they clashed again and again. Santiaga shook his head, looking at the two of them.
Unfortunately, he was no match for either of them.
Bang!
Santiaga's eyes widened, seeing the boy crashing with his back against the wall. On this side, Jefferson had a satisfied smile on his face.
"Now who's next?" Jeff asked with a smile, adjusting his blonde hair.
That was how they all went one by one...
...and lost.
The boy who went first was Raikuro. Turns out Santiaga's hunch was correct.
'Turns out he isn't a Native American.' He shrugged, sitting on the ground after being defeated in three blows.
When the demons began to attack, all the humans began to group up together on one continent, which merged with others.
This big continent is now called Elarion today. Raikuro is a Japanese guy...
He suspected that he was also a Mexican, but turns out he was wrong.
"Alright, that's everyone! The next part of the assessment will be to fight together with your abilities."
"Finally!" Raikuro was the first to step up.
He had an angry gaze directed at Jefferson. He felt that the teacher wouldn't have a good ability, to be C-rank.
"Start if you're ready, Kuro," Jeff said, pointing his sword at the young man.
His eyes glowed a bright yellow, and his hair lit up, glowing yellow.
Raikuro took on the stance he took before. Lightning suddenly surged around him, surrounding the spear.
Streaks of lightning escaped his body.
He suddenly moved. The only thing the others saw was streaks of lightning moving towards Jeff.
Clank!
The spear was stopped right in front of Jeff by an invisible barrier. The instructor smiled, swinging his sword in a wide arc.
Kuro managed to dodge it, but he was met with a flurry of attacks afterward.
Jeff moved like a sword demon. Any opening was an illusion. He kept swinging his sword, forcing Kuro to keep defending himself without stop.
"Hahahaha." Jeff moved in close to Kuro, kicking him in the stomach.
Before the boy knew it, he was already flying towards the same spot in the wall where he crashed earlier.
Bang!
The others looked at the wall, seeing Kuro sitting there helplessly.
The next person stepped forward.
It was a mature-looking lady with short brown hair and deep green eyes. She wore a green blouse and leather pants. There was a quiver of arrows strapped to her waist, a longbow in her hands.
"I'll be using my full ability now. What is your name?" Jeff asked, stabbing his sword into the ground.
"Mireya," the girl answered straight, getting ready to fight.
'His full ability? He was just playing with Raikuro...' Santiaga's lips twitched.
Also, there's something important that he learned from that fight: Raikuro was probably more skilled than him, being able to hold against Jeff's relentless attacks over and over.
So the boy, who was obviously younger than him, was more skilled and powerful than he was.
Well, at least he's not fighting next. He stayed back to observe Jeff's fighting style.
Mireya bent down, getting on one knee. She wrapped something around the arrow, a thin vine, confusing the group.
The next second, the arrow whistled, cutting through the air. Jeff calmly parried the attack with his sabre.
However, something unexpected happened. The vine on the arrow exploded, releasing little seeds all around the area.
Mireya smiled, snapping her fingers.
All around them, vines began to grow, wrapping around the invisible barrier around Jeff.
She squeezed her fist, tightening the vines around the barrier.
"That's insane," the young man beside Santiaga commented, seeing that the instructor was trapped.
He had a small beard on his chin. The brown-skinned man had braided hair that was tied up currently. He wore nothing but a plain T-shirt and grey shorts.
"She won't win," Santiaga mumbled, and the guy looked at him, his eyes scanning Santiaga.
"Why do you say so?" he asked.
There was no way the instructor was getting out of the barrier from their point of view.
"Have you forgotten? He's ascended. Unlike us... Only 10% of heroes can ascend. He's at the peak mastery of his talent," Santiaga stated, smiling.
The fight wasn't over yet.