With Aura using space shift Daimon and the others didn't take too much time to arrive at their next destination, which was a good thing considering Aleah seemed ready to fight with her life on the line, if she couldn't spar with Daimon.
Now that the tournament was over, the training grounds of the academy returned to what they used to be, so Aura simply transported everyone to the private training grounds of the elite class.
As soon as they arrived Arianna turned to see Aleah and couldn't help but bitterly smile, the other day she spent some time with her, Gina and Lana, just to realize that they weren't exactly compatible.
They ended up being in friendly terms, but Aleah was… problematic, no matter where they took her, she somehow managed to get in a fight with someone, due to her straightforward personality.
While Arianna wouldn't mind helping in the fight if it was justified, most of the times it was caused due to her no filter mouth, she simply criticized what she didn't like in front of the one she was talking about.
At some point some older generation people got involved so, Ulises had to interfere, she then understood why Calvin called her a "walking disaster".
That being said, it was actually heart relieving to have her as an ally on the battlefield.
Aisha and the other girls sat on the floor and started casually chatting with each other, while Daimon and Aleah went up the platform.
"Master… are we just going to sit and not train or anything, isn't it a waste of time?", asked Arianna as she sat next to Aura.
Erin who was talking with Aisha, suddenly giggled before she answered to her question.
"Little girl, you are on the same boat as us, so I will tell you a little secret, if it's about little Daimon, we could even watch him sleep all the day without getting bored~".
She then pointed at the platform where both Daimon and Aleah were actually smiling, something which could have been normal, if it weren't for the fact that their mana and battle aura respectively, were clashing causing explosions here and there.
"Besides he looks like he is having fun".
Arianna was speechless, the more she got closer to them, she realized Daimon was quite important for them, but again if she put herself in their place, according to the story of Daimon's life who was known by the public, Erin supposedly adopted Daimon, Aisha was his only living relative, Aura was his master which is equal to a parent or tutor, not to mention Liz and Elaine who were engaged to him.
Still one thing that caught her attention was how close they were after spending just a few years together, that was accentuated a few minutes ago when she saw Daimon giving his classmates those resources, which would cause friends and family to argue, without expecting anything in return.
In Arianna's defense, Daimon's case was an exception, normally those who end up in the same class at the academy don't become friends, the "normal" is for those from the same family/force to group.
In some cases, those who are from ally families might get closer but that's as far as it gets, that or relationships developed thanks to marriage are the other option.
That's why Aisha, Liz and Elaine appreciated their friendship so much and the same could be said of Aura and Erin, because friends who didn't look for the other for benefits, or some other ulterior motives were hard to come by.
It's not made on purpose but everyone belongs to a force or family, so ultimately after graduating they will return to said family and occupy a position, and in most cases those who they shared a classroom with, would end up being their enemies, maybe not on a battlefield but in an economic or respect seeking way.
Unless someone was special enough to break from their origin, like the Greenwich Sage for example.
By coincidence, luck, fate or however you want to call it, a group of people who either weren't forced to anything by families like Calvin or Michael, or had the support of their loved ones, like Yvonne, Leslie, Liliana or Loren, ended up in a single classroom, and in another strike of luck, they found someone who was capable enough to lead them.
Resulting in Richard's words "A class full of monsters".
And this is what has been making Arianna be lost in her thoughts recently, now that she spent more time with Lana and Gina, she realized they could have done much more if they joined hands before, and now they realized they somehow enjoyed the company of the other, resulting in them becoming friends all of a sudden, after one year or being maybe not enemies but indifferent towards the other.
Arianna turned to see the black-haired youth on the platform who had an excited expression as a combination of black and purple mana was being radiated out of his body, and she couldn't help but think.
'An alpha is someone who inspires others to follow him with his strength and actions, but you are different, your sole presence helps others become a better version of themselves… I wonder what in the world are you, I guess you are my senior brother now'.
Having reached her conclusion, Arianna sat closer to Aisha, she watched her fight as a lightning user herself she was marveled by her spells, although it didn't go along with her close combat style which was the another one of the reasons as to why Aura took her in, she still admired Aisha's spells.
…
Leaving the girls aside, on the platform Daimon and Aleah were getting heated up more and more with each clash.
Aleah punched the ground destroying the shadow spikes which Daimon used to attack her, before she took some distance.
"That spell you used against that Alexander guy, "Demon Coffin" was it, you are still dominating it right, how about you use it against me?".
Daimon bitterly smiled as he played with some lightning on his left hand and darkness on the right one.
"Balancing two elements to coexist in a single spell isn't easy you know, especially two whose natures are so different like lightning and darkness".
Aleah smiled showing her fangs at Daimon as she giggled.
"Yeah, but that's what you used as a fuel, the reaction of them entering into contact at an intricate level, creates something extremely powerful although a bit unstable, right?".
Daimon raised an eyebrow, she was completely right, but again he shouldn't be that surprised considering the martial arts Aleah used were all originals, since there was no one from her same race here, she has been learning how to fight since she had use of reason, or at least that's how Calvin described the younger Aleah.
"Aren't you the same though, those shockwaves of yours made my fists itch with each clash, that's something caused by your battle aura, right?", asked Daimon as he looked at his slightly red knuckles, the result of countering Aleah's punches with his owns.
Aleah chuckled, a portion of her hair gained a silvery bright before a silver amor covered her right leg and left arm.
"You saw the true aspect of my lineage, the horn is the source of the shockwaves, as for you… I can't imagine what is that thing, but I guess your eyes are one of its strong points, since taking into account what those women said, means you could see their mana circuits".
Aleah then suddenly stopped charging her battle aura as she gave Daimon a weird gaze.
"Honestly I thought you'll use those eyes for other things, but I guess not everyone is like Calvin", she said as she looked at her own chest.
Although Daimon didn't show any reaction inwardly, he chuckled, he did watch one girl by accident when he recently got the infinity eyes and was experimenting with the amount of mana, Arianna was the "unfortunate" victim, that being said he only saw her upper body.
Aleah's eyes became feline like and then a huge wave of silver battle aura flooded with her as the center.
"If you can see it anyway, then there is no point in hiding it", she mumbled, as two pairs of silver wings vaguely formed on her back as well as a small white horn on her forehead.
Daimon's pupils contracted, not because of Aleah's appearance but because of the aura she was giving off now, her realm didn't change at all, she was still a peak five-star knight, but just by being standing there, her aura was that of a Knight Lord.
And as if to confirm his supposition those two sets of wings started attracting the metal affinity mana of the atmosphere.
This time not only Daimon, even Erin and Aura frowned as they looked at the platform, but after a couple of seconds they stopped paying attention.
While what those wings were doing was similar to the Lord realm exclusive trait of harmonizing with the mana, which resulted in the phenomenon called "Manifestation" where the mana with the same element as the one of a mage or knight resonates with the one in the atmosphere.
Aleah didn't become a Knight Lord, she was giving that feeling because of those wings, but she wasn't one, nor her battle prowess increased that much, in a rough calculation she could take on an early-stage mage lord, a bit more easily than when she wasn't in this state, but she didn't in fact advance like what happened to Daimon when he used core synchrony.
"Manifesting traits of your lineage, it must be a legacy martial art, right?", asked Daimon as he evaluated Aleah's current appearance, her body was brimming with vitality, he had to reduce the mana in his infinity eyes, because she looked like a silver sun for him, it was too bright.
"Yup, I call it "Regulus Manifestation" pretty cool right, in this form instead of using my battle aura, I can take what's in the air, so I don't get tired no matter how much I use, unfortunately I can't maintain it for too long, but it's enough for today's spar~", she cutely said.
Daimon looked upwards and inwardly sighed.
"That's a bit too much for a spar you know", he said as he pointed at the one-hundred-meter-wide lion's paw which was now descending from the sky.
"Regulus Suppressing Palm, one of the three martial arts I can only use while in this form for the time being".
Loyal to its name, Daimon felt some kind of pressure trying to tie him to where he was standing, of course it didn't work since mental attacks were useless against him, thanks to Overlord's Pride, but that didn't lessen the merit of Aleah's martial art, just imagine the weight of that thing multiplied for the momentum it gained and the gravity, she could flatten a small city with that, it was crazy considering she is a star ranked mage.
"Luckily Erin has the habit to use dark curtain around us all the time", mumbled Daimon as purple lighting and black mist gathered around him, the amount was such that his mana literally raised upwards violently.
The next thing Aleah saw was all that mana condensing in Daimon's index finger, until three was only a small black lightning crackling on his fingertip.
"Obliterate", the small black lightning shot upwards until it reached Aleah's attack, upon contact everyone's vision darkened as the lightning expanded into a huge black sphere devouring the lion's palm.
Erin used her own darkness to create a barrier around them, not even a second later a loud thunder reverberated through the place followed by a strong gust of wind which collided against the platform, forming a twister raising dust.
The Half Emperors who were still present on the academic city, suddenly looked at the direction of the training grounds, as there a sudden distortion in that area, but soon lost interest on it, they couldn't find the exact place since Erin was blocking them, well everyone but the field marshal who was having a lunch with the veiled vice principal.
"That little friend has gotten stronger since the last time I saw him, that's good, it means a bigger chance for us to survive what's about to come", said Parzival before he focused on his lunch again.
