Parallel Memory

Around the same time, humans around the world were preparing for the big war that was going to come. Small skirmishes happen all the time at the border between human and devil's lands.

Other races had also noticed the pending tension between the two species. Devils and humans made up the majority of the Edolas population, but there were also Eleves, Dwares, and other species which, in total, equal the population of humans.

While the Devil was hated by other species that dwelled on the continent, however, they didn't think well of humans as well.

Humans had a tendency to betray their own race and join the Devil. It is even possible for humans to betray their own race, and other races cannot trust such races. Many Devil Contractors had also killed many Elves and other species causing them to feel hatred towards humans.

In the past, they had also waged war against each other due to resources, so the current relationship between humans and other races was not good at all. Other races deemed the human race the same as the devil.

Nonetheless, they didn't intend to interfere with the current situation. A war between the devils and humans may be what they desire. With two major races at war, it could inevitably lead to a decrease in their power.

The Authority was recruiting many Explorers to work as soldiers. The guilds were obligated to send some of their members to serve in the military in an emergency, such as a war.

The big guilds were exempt from such obligations since they would be needed later in the war when the big battle took place. While unfair strength was what mattered and a strong guild was not something that people from The Authority can order easily.

******

The Ace Academy continues its normal operation.

Even though the wars were inevitable, students were not allowed to join the war. Upon graduation, they might, but before that, they are kept out of wars.

School jobs were to nurture future heroes who would be able to help them in the future. For this to be true, Ace Academy's teaching had become much more strict.

Occasionally, students would need to fight with professors in groups. Team works were essentially in conquering dungeons as well as when taking part in the war. Moreover, Devils were more like humans, therefore it was more efficient to train by fighting with professors rather than mindless monsters.

On that day, the session also took place.

Depending on the strength of the person, the professor would separate the students into groups and fight against them. The number of students in each group was 5.

Hiro, Zion, Lisa, Sylvia, and Misha who are ranked at the top-5 were placed in one group and were arranged to fight against Professor Mia.

While it might seem overkill for the students to fight Professor Mia who is in Rank-S, it was not. Each of them was talented and had grown beyond anyone's expectations.

Hiro was currently in Rank-B -, while Lisa, Sylvia, and Zion were in Rank-C +, one step before reaching Rank-B -. Misha who was the weakest among them was also in Rank-C +. With such students working together, average professors were not strong enough to teach them.

-WHAM! -POW!

"Ack!"

Currently, those talented students were getting their asses beaten by Professor Mia. Normally, some Rank-A professors would have taken care of them but based on their strength, Professor Mia decided to step in herself and fight with them.

She, as their class teacher for Hiro and others, was more knowledgeable about their power than other professors. She knew that they could easily defeat Rank-B professors and there was also a chance of Rank-A professors being beaten.

Even if the Rank-A professors were not beaten, he would have a hard time fighting with them. Therefore, she thought that she should go and fight with them.

In this fight, they were not only trying to increase the teamwork of the students, but they were also trying to teach them that there is always someone stronger than you, so one should always proceed cautiously. To teach them the danger of war and let them experience power similar to those strong devils that would be participating in war, professors had to step in.

During the Devil invasions, many students lost their lives because they overestimated their power and tried to fight the devil instead of retreating. They need to teach them the difference between being reckless and being courageous.

Still, it was total overkill for Hiro, Zion, Lisa, Sylvia, and Misha to confront Professor Mia. There was a vast gap in abilities between them and Professor Mia.

However, they were not the ones to give up easily. Even in training such as this, they make sure to give their 100 % with the aim to win.

[ "Imperial Spear Style: Sovereign Will" ]

An elegant strike that carried the aura of a king. It had an imposing power that forced the opponent to kneel down and receive the attack.

However, this kind of force was not strong enough to affect Professor Mia. She easily dodged Zion's attack and with a flick of her finger, sent Zion flying back.

-THUD!

"Damn It!"

Zion cursed as he struggled to stand. He was extremely frustrated at how all his attacks were blocked by Professor Mia.

( So this is the real power of Ice Enchantress! )

Zion thought frustrated at the result.

One of his objectives, when he was a kid, was to surpass Professor Mia and take the title of number one genius. But now that he got the opportunity to fight her, he could tell that he still had a long way to go.

[ "StarShatterer Style: StarFall" ]

They didn't stop their attack with Hiro coming right after Zion. Hiro also used his most powerful attack just like Zion. As they knew their opponents well, holding back would only hurt them.

[ "Ice Spear" ]

Professor Mia stood calmly as she conjured an Ice Spear.

With the Ice spear, she blocked the incoming attack from Hiro. Even though Hiro was using an A-grade artifact and StarFall skill, his attack came to a halt when it clashed with Professor Mia's Ice Spear.

-BANG!

Same as Zion, Hiro was also flung back with her fingers. Professor Mia's one finger was enough to knock him out.

Hiro was surprised to see that Professor Mia, who is supposed to be a magician, has strength equal to that of a warrior. He could see the gap in strength between them that could not be filled even if he used System power.

[ "Thundering Blaze!" ]

Lisa immediately attacked Professor Mia.

Black clouds started forming as they continuously fired off the lightning at Professor Mia. Not only that,

[ "Moonlight Radiant Arrows" ]

At the same time, Sylvia also fired off her attacks. Combining it with Lisa's Thunder attack, the number of attacks on Professor Mia was in the hundreds.

Professor Mia was caught between multiple attacks from Thundering Blaze and Sylvia's arrow, however, she easily dodged their attacks as she slowly made her way toward them.

"Seriously!"

Sylvia said as none of her attacks hit Professor Mia. She had worked her ass off and reached Rank-C + which only talented people reach when they graduate.

Her attacks were precise and quick and even Rank-B Explorers would not be able to dodge them. However, Professor Mia was not hit even a single time by her arrows, making her feel discouraged.

"Now!'

Lisa said.

Professor Mia had gotten close enough and Lisa predicted that Professor Mia's next target was her. She quickly spoke to Misha who was preparing for her attack.

"Here I go!"

[ "Shattering Flower Style: Belladonna Dance" ]

Misha charged in Professor Mia's direction. Belladonna Dance is the strongest move that she could use right now. It is not only powerful and destructive but also deadly due to the toxin released.

However, it takes quite a while for her to charge the attack and it also takes a ridiculous amount of man from her.

It was all worth it, as she hit Professor Mia with this. The chance of them winning increases as long as Professor Mia gets poisoned and becomes weaker.

Misha made her way toward Professor Mia who was busy dodging Lisa and Sylvia's attacks. However, even when Misha approached her, Professor Mia didn't seem to be bothered by her.

[ "Ice Wave" ]

As soon as Misha was in her skill range, she used her skill Ice Wave.

She saw through their plan and also analyzed the Misha attack. She could not let Misha's attack succeed by freezing her.

Though even if she got hit by Misha's attack, she would still not lose but she can't have Misha think that she could succeed in her attack.

With this one move, she froze Misha who was charging at her. With all the close combat knocked out, Lisa and Sylvia didn't have any chance to resist Professor Mia's attacks.

This happened again and again. Hiro and others refined their plan and dealt with more powerful attacks. However, they still failed to land a single blow on Professor Mia.

It was not like their plans were bad or that they lacked teamwork.

This was simply the result of Absolute Strength!