Chapter 282: Breaktrough

Prontea

Capital City of Arcadia Kingdom

Inside a huge building surrounded with tall white walls, a group of young cadets has been busy training their magic. The facility stood right next to the Arcadia palace.

It is the Kingsblade's headquarters, a place where all chosen special cadets were trained in hope that they would make it as a Kingsblade member and become one of the protectors of the kingdom.

Inside, multiple small glass rooms could be seen, and most of them were filled with a person and a training dummy to facilitate a personal training time for each.

In this place, they were expected to adhere to a certain standard. Advanced hand to hand combat is a minimum, coupled with advanced weapon combat, survival skills, combat tactics, basics for espionage, and most importantly protection detail. After all, there is a reason they are known as the king's sword and shield.

Inside one of the glass rooms, one particularly beautiful girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes was busy having a private training session with one of the most prominent figures in the facility.

[Bright Shield]

Bammm!

Multiple colored projectiles were shot towards her from all directions, while the girl was busy dodging and blocking some of the incoming bullets with the light element shield.

"Too slow! Cast faster!"

Three ball-shaped projectiles buzzing with electricity launched at her sides, and she was forced to dodge one while creating a light shield to block the other two.

Bam! Bam!

A loud explosion could be heard, strong enough to shake the room slightly.

"Very good!" The woman nodded, while the girl fell on her knees sweating. She had spent most of her time practicing and finally, her efforts bore fruit. She had managed to pass the level three projectile challenge.

She was still panting when she looked at the woman and said. "Master Cecil, let's continue to the level 4 test right away!"

The one teaching her was Cecilia, known by her title as the Arcadia Starlight. She was the commander of the Kingsblade.. The woman shook her head and said. "No, I think this is enough for you today."

"No, master, I am still too far behind the other cadets. I don't want to always be last!" The girl replied with a frown. She might as well have done everything except outright kneeling to her master.

The master asked her to check her improvement, and her stats were displayed in front of her eyes.

[Layla – Human]

[Battle power – 32 points]

[Spirit force – 142 points]

[Magician Rank 3 – High Stage]

The master has been checking on her progress daily, and in the last month, she has been improving by leaps and bounds. King Callan did order the Kingsblade to give every resource best suited for her, and since then she has been consuming high quality spirit potions every few days. Unfortunately, those potions would work differently for each person, and Layla's results were surprising, to say the least.

"Master, but I only need 8 more points, then I can try to breakthrough to rank 4. Please, master. I don't want to disgrace your name and become the weakest one in this place."

Indeed, Layla is the only rank 3 magician among the Kingsblade cadets. There was indeed a combat specialist who has less spirit force than her, but he has 4 times her current battle power. In other words, she was still dead last here.

Once again, Layla opened the manual for spirit force requirements to break through and let out a long, tired sigh.

[Spirit Force 150 – Rank 4 Early Stage]

[Spirit Force 250 – Rank 4 Mid Stage]

[Spirit Force 500 – Rank 4 High Stage]

Many cadets were in the early stage, while she herself needed to reach a mid-stage at least for her to be considered as a proper member of the Kingsblade. Later on, when she reached the high stage, she could become a captain.

As for rank 5, it was an elusive rank, as many combatants stopped at rank 4 high stage. The amount of people with that rank in the whole Arcadia kingdom could be counted on one hand.

"Master, you think I didn't hear their whispers? You have no idea what it's like to be called the golden girl… You know, some even thought that I am the King's illegitimate daughter! Argh! Oh how I wish to teach those pricks a lesson!"

Layla started cursing up a storm, but instead of saying anything, the master merely offered a listening ear. The woman knows a lot about the girl, and behind the violent temper and foul language, she was kind at heart. The girl reminded the woman of her younger days, where the most important lesson was:

"Being a magician is not all about spirit force."

Master Cecilia smiled and showed the same [Bright Shield] spell to Layla. It was a lower-tier spell, but it can be cast in smaller sizes, big enough to block the ball's trajectory yet not costing as much energy. With the smaller size, she could create a dozen of them without the need to dodge the 10 quick-moving projectiles at all.

"You see, Layla, if you have enough control, even with your current amount of spirit force you can finish the level 6 test easily. Not everything is about spirit force, and not every problem has to be solved with more powerful spells. You would do well to always remember this, as we need to always keep our wits about us when we're on a real battlefield."

Master Cecilia dissipated the bright shield, leaving it to turn into motes of quickly-dimming light before disappearing entirely.

"I understand, Master. Let me do the level 4 test now."

Master Cecilia decided to indulge her and let her try, and she summoned a rain of projectiles with very tight dodging spaces, likely to discourage her from trying what she did earlier. To her surprise, Layla took the advice she gave and cleared the level 4 test on her first try. It was even more impressive, since the girl was still worn-out from the previous one.

While the girl still stood in disbelief when Cecilia announced her result, the bracelet on the commander's arm shone with a white light, an indication of a new message for her.

"Are you being called, Master?"

"Yes, in fact, all of us are being called. The King has returned, and he wished to address all of the Kingsblade, let's go." Cecilia nodded.

"I understand." Layla walked behind her, as the two of them exited the personal training room.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,