And the great day arrived. Zuri's entire class was present at the soldiers' training grounds, and Alex was watching alongside Milena. Ícaro and Zuri's parents were in the stands, proud of their sons.
Zuri's tutor appeared in the middle of the field, revealing which students had shown the most promise, and of course, Zuri was among them, as was Thaís.
Dênis had graduated a year prior. Unlike the schools in the world Zuri came from, where classes were formed by people of the same age, here the class consisted of students aged seven to nine; despite their different ages, they learned the subjects together.
In this new world, the focus of the lessons was for the students to become better at magical combat.
The previous year, Dênis had demonstrated his abilities in front of everyone and fought against a common army soldier, receiving much applause from all. Now it was Zuri's turn, but he would face the best student from the intermediate class, meaning one of the 16-year-old students. This boy was none other than his brother Ícaro.
So, Zuri, currently 12 years old, would show the entire city how skilled he was.
When the two discovered they would fight each other, they were both excited and promised it would be the best presentation that had ever occurred in the city of Milena.
But before the young students' fight, Zuri's classmates gave a presentation with fire magic; all together, they executed their spells against a wall formed by Damon. The erected wall was strong enough to withstand the simultaneous magic of a hundred soldiers.
And so it was, and everyone showed their powers, and, to Alex's surprise, Zuri moderated the execution of his magic. Thus, as Alex wished, Milena was not too surprised, and he felt relief.
Afterward, there were battles between the students of Ícaro's class; everyone fought each other, and lastly, it would be Ícaro and Zuri.
The two were in the waiting room, and Ícaro encouraged Zuri:
"Let's give it our best, okay Zuri? I want everyone to see that we are the best students this city has ever had. But let's not use aura magic; let's save it for a special occasion."
"Alright! I'll give it my all; don't think I'll let you win easily. We're going to surprise Alex with the result of our training."
"That's the spirit." Touching Zuri's shoulders.
And the time arrived. Damon called the two boys to present themselves in the middle of the field. And they exited the waiting corridor, Zuri and Ícaro. Their mother began to applaud them, while Atlas asked her to calm down.
One faced the other from opposite sides, at the edge of the field, and Damon prepared to start the combat. After a few minutes, he nodded for them to begin the fight.
With his hand pointed at Ícaro, Zuri started with a fireball. With great reflexes, Ícaro countered with a spell called "Stone Lance," and the magics collided.
Ícaro used an intermediate spell, "Stone Rain," in which sharp-pointed stones emerged from the sky and were launched towards the opponent.
The audience did not expect such magic to be executed in this combat, as Zuri had only learned basic-level spells, and this magic, which Ícaro executed, was strong enough to take down fifteen or more soldiers together.
But Zuri was already expecting this, as he had told Ícaro not to hold back and to use his magic in the best way possible, assuring him that he would not retreat.
Then, with the stone magics coming from above towards him, Zuri took a very high jump, dodging them through gravitational magic. The audience was amazed that a young teenager was capable of using gravitational magic. This type of magic was even demonstrated in the classes he had taken, but it was too complex for a child to master its execution. The jump Zuri made was much more elaborate than that of the best students in the basic magic class, showing his talent. Milena watched in admiration as she analyzed the boy's movement, applauding his competence. Taking the opportunity, Alex revealed to her:
"What did you think, Milena? He learned it from me during our trip here."
"Really? Your ability with dark magic is remarkable; among the masters of dark magic, you are at the top in Epíria."
In this way, Alex revealed to Milena that he had taught Zuri a few things, so that she would believe it was his teaching ability rather than Zuri's own skills.
Returning to the combat, in the air, Zuri launched several fireballs at Ícaro, who easily dodged them. Levitating, Zuri controlled gravity to stay in the air longer, but Ícaro counterattacked with "Stone Lance," to which Zuri responded with the "Stone Shield" spell, protecting himself from his half-brother's attacks.
He quickly descended, Ícaro advanced towards him, and Zuri, to stop him, began to create stone spikes where he was passing, causing him to retreat. But Ícaro did not retreat to observe Zuri, and, just as Zuri altered the environment by creating sharp-pointed rocks, Ícaro responded by using the "Quicksand" spell.
They both used environment-altering magic, which allows changing what already exists according to the magic user's desire.
The ground gave way, revealing a pit of quicksand. Being pulled down and almost getting stuck, Zuri used gravitational magic to escape the softened ground. Zuri barely escaped this trap, but Ícaro already had his hands prepared to launch fireballs at him. The attitude then, to deal with the fireballs, was to create stone scales on his arms, not holding back on mana usage to make them rigid enough to defend himself.
Zuri executed effectively, but the collision expelled him from the field, rolling on the ground. The impact was enough to injure Zuri. And when Damon was ready to end the battle, Zuri stood up and asked to continue a little longer.
Zuri stood up and, towards Ícaro, began to run, but it was not a normal run; it was propelled by the ground. With each step, the earth rose into stone steps, propelling him like lightning.
This magic had been taught by Ícaro himself; therefore, Zuri's tutor was stunned to see that Zuri knew more magic than he had been taught in class.
The maneuver Zuri used to execute such an elaborate and effective magic was to use gravitational magic to make him go like a cannon shot while his feet supported themselves on the steps. Like a shot, from step to step, Zuri astonishingly approached Ícaro, who, startled, raised a stone wall. Predicting his reaction, Zuri jumped high towards his brother, in such a way that he could escape the wall and hit Ícaro, and as he controlled gravity, he descended with greater acceleration; his trick was to increase his weight. With his feet outstretched, Zuri hit another wall that Ícaro raised to protect himself, but it did not prevent the collision between the two.
A cloud of dust rose, and gradually the vision cleared, and the two could be seen sitting and laughing. They surrendered in unison. Damon raised his hand and declared a draw. The crowd applauded the two students as they stood up. From her chair, Milena stood up and asked everyone to calm down. She spoke:
"Brilliant spectacle, a fight worthy of great soldiers; you truly surprised me. It was the best fight in years. After graduation, I will make a request for both of you to become my soldiers, but not just any soldiers, but my bodyguards. You will reside in my castle; I hope you will not refuse."
As Alex had predicted, she already wanted to get her claws into them, thwarting his plans, but he would not let that happen; immediately after the presentation, he would request their guardianship from Milena.
…
Milena was in the company of Alex in the dining room of her castle, and they were discussing the boys. The room was large, and in it was a huge table with 16 chairs, one chair at each end of the table, and 14 on each side. Golden candlesticks were scattered on the tables and furniture in the room, and there were also paintings of various kinds. One of the portraits showed her and her lover Eris, governor of the city of Deokrasis, sitting on majestic chairs. The two rulers were allies.
While they were having their meal, Alex spoke with Milena, who excitedly said:
"I was surprised by the beautiful fight of Atlas's sons. Among all the graduations we've had, this was certainly one of the best."
"Yes, I marveled at the boys' ability and skill; therefore, I ask that you consider them as my pupils." Alex went straight to the point and made the request seriously.
"But I've already decided to have them as my soldiers; why would I go back on that?"
"I can make them much stronger than they are now; you know that, right?"
"Indeed, if the two of them become like you, I will have two powerful assets that will give me advantages in a war."
"I agree as well. So, please, allow me to take the boys with me on my travels; I guarantee I will do my utmost to make them stronger."
"I will allow them to stay in your care, but first, I would like to see them fight against you, so that I can better evaluate them, and thus decide what will be done."
After the meal with Milena, Alex hurried to Atlas's house to fetch his future pupils.
Alex said to Atlas:
"Milena agreed to leave the boys under my guardianship, but she demands that a small demonstration of the boys' abilities against mine be done."
"So she didn't make it easy for you. What does she expect from this fight?"
"She must want to see how great the difference is between my powers and theirs."
"I understand; I'll call the boys and explain the situation to them."
Alex returned to the castle with Atlas's two sons. Atlas also wanted to see the combat, and at Alex's request, Milena allowed him and Ophelia to watch the fight.
Inside the castle, there was a small arena, the place where the fight would occur.
This arena was where Milena tested the soldiers to evaluate their power before promoting them. The place was reserved only for the highest-ranking soldiers, and therefore, only a few were there to watch the fight.
Milena would be the one to start the confrontation.
Before the fight, Ícaro and Zuri began to discuss what they would do during the test. Their plan was for Ícaro to face Alex in close combat, and Zuri would stay at a distance, conjuring magic against Alex. They had barely seen Alex fight, and therefore, they were undecided if they could perform well in this fight. But they were excited and ready to face him.
With the three of them in the arena, Milena stood up from her seat and nodded:
"Let the fight begin!"
Ícaro advanced right after the signal, and Zuri immediately began with a fire magic attack against Alex. Alex dodged Zuri's attack, not taking his eyes off Ícaro. Ícaro had learned a little gravitational magic from Zuri, and in this battle, he felt he should try to use it against Alex.
Alex stopped Ícaro's attack using the earth magic "Imprisonment," magic that raises pieces of the earth to trap the opponent's feet. Ícaro was trapped but quickly used small fireballs to break free from the prison. Zuri did not allow Alex to attack his comrade and constantly used "fireball" magic that prevented him from approaching Ícaro.
Ícaro broke free from the imprisonment, and at the same moment, advanced towards Alex. Zuri stopped using "fireball" and changed strategy, now trying to trap Alex on the ground. And with his hands on the ground, Zuri used gravitational magic against Alex, who was surprised. Gravity around Alex increased.
Together, Ícaro jumped towards Alex, who was trapped on the ground because of Zuri's magic. From above, Ícaro came at extreme speed; just like Zuri, he was using the same concept of gravitational magic, increasing the weight of the blow he would deliver against Alex.
With a stone gauntlet made on his hand to protect himself from the impact, Ícaro tried to punch Alex, but Alex had rooted his own feet to the ground, and with clenched fists, he counterattacked Ícaro, fist to fist. The two clashed, and Zuri ended the gravitational magic so that Ícaro would move away from Alex.
The impact was enough to destroy Ícaro's stone gauntlet, and his hand was quite injured. He distanced himself from Alex, and together with Zuri, began to cast magic against him.
But unfortunately for the boys, Alex used teleportation magic to approach them; while advancing, he dodged the boys' magic, getting closer to Zuri. The two brothers tried to hit Alex before he attacked Zuri, but it was in vain; in a minute, Alex was face to face with Zuri. Zuri was pleased that he had advanced against him and expanded his mana aura, which created an energy around him that protected him from attacks and repelled any physical blows directed at him. If Alex punched him, he would suffer a lot of damage.
Since Zuri had more mana and power than Ícaro, the aura magic would cause Alex enormous damage to his body, which would give them an advantage.
According to Zuri's plan, when Alex tried to hit him, he saw an aura around Zuri, and upon approaching, he felt violent shocks, as if his bones were breaking, so he retreated to avoid further damage. Startled, he tried to understand what had happened, as he had never seen this magic before.
Like Ícaro, Alex's right fist was injured. And to end it, Alex surprised the boys by launching "fireballs" against both of them simultaneously. His plan was to make the two of them get closer while dodging the magic launched at them.
Alex succeeded in his plan, and when the two were together, he used the magic "Hellfire," this magic was four times larger than a fireball, and a tail, like that of a comet, followed it. The magic was too fast for the two to dodge, but escaping would not have been a problem; however, Alex's trick was to make the launched magic disappear and, in the blink of an eye, and in moments, the magic was colliding against them without them being able to react, knocking them down with considerable injuries. What he had done was teleport the magic; Milena knew this ability, but many of those watching did not.
With the two young men on the ground, Milena ended the combat and decided that the boys would be Alex's pupils; she had realized that Alex had much to teach them. When the boys were at the level of dark magic masters, she would use them to train her soldiers. Since Alex was not a native of her city, she could not force him to join her army, but the boys could, as they were her citizens.