Chapter 53: Unprecedented Talent

In an unprecedented move, two boulders were brought into the swordsmanship training hall on the very first day of class, since there were two students that already possessed a complete understanding of basic swordsmanship.

One glance was enough for instructor Mae to determine that both Rocky and Sophia did indeed have excellent technique as the cuts they left in the practice dummies were clean from edge to edge.

To her it was clear that they were not achieved through possessing brute strength or a great blade, but because of perfect technique, which qualified them to move onto the next stage of assessment, the boulder slash.

The boulder that was brought in was about 10 meters tall and four meters wide, being taller than both Sophia and Rocky, making it challenging for them to slice completely through it since they could not use an overhead strike.

To slash apart a boulder this size they needed to have truly exceptional understanding of the sword as generally without the use of a special sword skill, achieving the level of mastery required to split apart a boulder was quite high.

"Start whenever you want, don't worry about failure since I don't expect you to succeed on the very first day of class, but still try and give it your best shot" Instructor Mae said, as she signaled for Rocky and Sophia to begin.

Sophia looked at Rocky, who politely signaled her to make the attempt first as he said "Ladies first...." With a fake smile.

" Alright-" Sophia said with a confident smile on her face as she stepped a feet away from the boulder and took a perfect slashing stance.

Taking in a deep breath, she gathered her strength as she focused sharply on the target she wished to hit.

'Sophia! Sophia! Sophia!'

Chants of her name could be heard in the background as she gathered the attention of the entire class as usual with her brilliance.

'Please make a fool of yourself and fail-' Rocky thought internally, as he hoped that Sophia suffered a crushing defeat, however, contrary to his prayers she succeeded and quite spectacularly at that.

"HAIIIIIYAAHHH"

She shouted, as she slashed the Rock from the center using an overhead slash technique that seemed to extend her swords area of effect to several times the swords size.

Although it was just for a moment, Rocky could almost visualize a larger sword overlapping with her actual sword as she sliced the boulder as perfectly as she sliced the practice dummy.

Cheers broke out amongst the students once more as once again it seemed like both the chosen champion of gods seemed to be a cut above the rest and equal in comparison.

While instructor Mae observed the clever trick Rocky pulled off, she only smiled about it as being clever was also a part of the warrior's skill and the challenge never specified how exactly one was supposed to cleave through a boulder.

"Bravo-" she said, clapping politely for Rocky as well, however, unlike Sophia she did not take him into a hug, nor was she dazzled by his swordsmanship.

Nonetheless, she did acknowledge his success and deemed the challenge to be fulfilled perfectly.

" Wow, it seems like I'll need to hold special classes for the two of you while the rest of the class catches up, haha, I've never had anyone clear the first two stages within the first two months of academy.

This is new for me as well-" Instructor Mae admitted candidly as the students who fell behind now felt a small degree of jealousy towards Rocky and Sophia.

While some attributed their success to their position as a Champion, there were many more who cursed their inferior background and upbringing for the lack of progress as they hacked away at their practice dummies with increased determination.

'I haven't come all the way to this academy after paying so much gold to fall behind the rankers on day one. I must catch up, I must to better-'

'So what if they're champions, I refuse to lag behind while they receive special tution widening their gap between them and me! I will definitely clear the first two stages within a week as well'

Rocky and Sophia's success, sparked the inferiority complex in many and created an urgent need inside them to improve, which was audible through the intensity with which they began hacking at their dummies which was notably louder than before.

'Oh this is not bad at all, at this rate we will progress much faster than I expected' Instructor Mae thought as she looked at the class, feeling happy at seeing the competitive spirit that Rocky and Sophia ignited in everyone's hearts.

" Perfect as always, good job!" Sophia said, as she smiled and extended a hand for Rocky to shake, as she continued with her act of being friendly

And Rocky, who had perfected the art of being fake on the surface, took it with a smile as well as he replied "I look forward to learning more about swords from you-"

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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone.

The goal this week is one bonus for every 200 PS, This is first as we have already hit 200, but I need more! Come on guys ///