After Professor Magarita's class, a break was given for about half an hour. At that time, half of the class surrounded Meera and started throwing various types of questions that came to their minds. I turned to Zod and asked him what the next class was.
"Next class gonna be Swords Art Class, Professor Xegar Y Zondrecs will teach us. He's quite strict at teaching but also a generous professor outside classes" as Zod was explaining about Professor Xegar, a man about 6 feet with well-toned body having monolid eyes it was a face which I could recognise at first glance, a face I can recognise even from far away distance because he was the person who saved me once.
I couldn't hold my excitement after seeing him, as everyone was settling down in their seats, I stood up, shouted "Is it you, Mr. Mountain Slicer? Or should I call you by the name of Professor Xegar?". Everyone turned their faces to me, including Professor Xegar, and were murmuring with each other about what I called the professor.
"It's rude to shout in the class when the professor is present, Kex. I think you didn't leave any of your mercenary manners, and it has been quite a few months since I have seen your face, Kex. I thought you would continue as a mercenary for the rest of your life. Well, it's good to see you fit and healthy after the subjugation, but right now we are both in the academy, so you should address me as Professor Xegar." he smirked at me and sat in the professor's chair.
"There's still some time left for your break to finish, do the things you want to do after the break. We are going to have a sparring practice. And those who lose will get the punishment." After Professor Xegar announced his content for today's class, many were trembling in fear due to his punishment.
"Hey Kex, how did you know Professor Xegar before coming to the academy, and he is talking about subjugation and mercenary something. What happened between you two in the past?" Zod asked with an astonished expression, and other students gathered near me to listen to the answer.
"Three months ago, I joined a mercenary group for hands-on experience as my master ordered me to do so. In that time, we went to the nearby kingdom, Luthasia Nation, where some monster subjugation was needed. At first, we only encountered small and mid-sized monsters, which were not that strong, so we killed them with no problem. As we thought that the subjugation was over, a herd of huge cyclops surrounded us, as if they were waiting for us. The cyclops attacked us nonstop, and most of our weapons were not working on them. We were quickly losing our strength, only a few were fighting back, and others were trying to escape, but mostly ended up in the cyclops' mouth. I too was fighting, but I got a deadly blow from a cyclop's club, which got me severely injured and, in that state, I couldn't even stand on my feet. I thought everything was over and, in a blink, all the cyclops were sliced in half, and the mountain on the backside was slain in half. That was the first time I saw Professor Xegar, and this is how he saved me and that mercenary group that day." They all listened with very keen interest, and some started asking if I really fought those cyclops or if it was a made-up show-off.
The bell rang, and all the students of class 5 slowly moved towards the training grounds, and I observed another class going in the same direction as us, but they were ahead of us. One guy asked, "Professor Xegar, are we going to have combined sparring practice with the Class 2 kids??" With that question, all looked at the professor's face, waiting for his answer. "That's why, if you lose today, the punishment is going to be worse than before," the professor replied with an imitative look on his face.
At the Training grounds:
"So, are you ready to lose the bet, Professor Xegar?" a woman with a massive built body, which is only possible for a species, the barbarians, was talking while shaking her hand with Professor Xegar.
"I just wish that your students are not like you, no brain, just brute force. Even though my students will come out as the winners in today's sparring match, Professor Chloe, be ready." As Professor Xegar finished his words, Professor Chloe got enraged and started shouting at him. Eventually, her students managed her.
"The rules are simple - who makes their opponent surrender, they win; otherwise, who has more hits is regarded as the winner. And the time limit is only 5 minutes for each battle; if you want to finish your opponents, you'd better be quick enough. Myself and Professor Xegar will act as the judges for the matches. Class 2 will win over Class 5 today and end their winning streak." Professor Chloe changed the mood of the whole Class 2, and everyone on the ground got quite worked up.
"So, bring out your best swordsman, student Professor Xegar. Let's go with the old policy - Launch the Best Attack at the First Strike and see who gets the upper hand in the first match." Professor Xegar nodded to Professor Chloe's request and shouted four names to come forward, the names were 'Julian Kaiser, Celine Hermes, Owen Maximus Snyder, Kex Tejowrath'.
"Your top student can select anyone to fight according to his choice; these four students use different styles that are good and suitable for them. Tell your top student to select any one of them quickly, so we can start our sparring practices class Professor Chloe" as Professor Xegar concluded his words, Professor Chloe called her top student, Manette Brongers, and told her to choose her opponent.
In the first year, the only class that won three consecutive wins in sparring matches of swordsmanship was Class 5, and the main reason was that they had many good swordsmen, and then there was Owen Maximus, one of the best swordsmen in the first year.
Many rumours spread across the campus that Owen can even defeat 2nd and 3rd year students. To put the rumours to the test, even some second years had sparring matches with him and lost to him. These things fueled the fire in the heart of Manette Brongers, and she thought that if she defeated him today, she might prove her worth and become famous.
But in the end, it was a bad day for Manette as she chose Owen for the sparring. Owen defeated her in the first ten seconds by using the Sound steps, which make him faster than sound and could not produce any sound from his steps, so no one can keep track of his movements, and he can finish them off with a surprise attack. The first match left everyone in a state of awe, witnessing a match ending this fast in a fight between students was the reason for it.