Class B swung into action right away that same afternoon.
After classes ended, they reserved the training grounds and launched a class-wide special training session.
There was nothing particularly outlandish about what they did.
First, Ermes had everyone undergo the same kind of training he had given Albert — honing their basic magic power output and magic control ability to raise their magical capability even if only by a little.
This was something Ermes had learned from his master, and its effectiveness was unquestionable.
...That said, this kind of training only bore results when done consistently over the long term. If someone said it was unclear how much they could improve in two weeks, they would not be wrong.
But — it was far from meaningless, and in their current situation, he believed its effects might actually be surprisingly significant.
After all — and this was putting it bluntly — the way they had been handling magic until now had been terribly crude.
It seemed that, like other nobles, they had relied on the raw performance of their Bloodline Magic and never bothered with proper training. Or even if they had, their methods had been fundamentally wrong.
Because of that, at the very beginning, there was a period where even a slight shift in awareness and how one handled magic power could lead to a dramatic improvement in performance. Albert, who had received his guidance first, had made such remarkable growth in a short time precisely because of this principle.
So, while using this group training to raise everyone's baseline, he would call them up one by one for individual training sessions.
This would be the basic approach to their special training from now until the academy festival.
"...Alright, that's it for this round."
"G-got... it..."
"Your magic power output still has inconsistencies. Your magic's strength lies in its speed of rotation. In contrast, the opponents you imagine tend toward powerful techniques that require charging —
just as you
showed me,
keep landing precise strikes to shut down their attacks. Fight with that image in mind."
As the round of individual training with one student came to an end, Ermes calmly delivered his feedback — a stark contrast to the student, who was breathing heavily.
The student, still visibly astonished by his words, nodded in acknowledgment.
Seeing that student head back to basic training, Ermes glanced around, wondering who to take on next.
"—Yo. Good work."
A water bottle suddenly extended toward him from the side.
When he turned, there she was—the silver-haired female student, wearing her usual smile.
"Lady Nina. Thank you for this."
"Ahaha~ I've got it the easiest out of everyone in this training, you know. At least let me do this much."
She was, as an exception, someone who didn't need magical training. Of course, that didn't mean she had no role in the mock battles—but there was only so much she could do here. So she had taken on the task of supervising and assisting, keeping an eye out for anyone performing their basic drills incorrectly.
With an expression thickly laced with both exasperation and admiration, Nina spoke up.
"…Seriously though, you never stop doing insane things, do you?"
"Hm? Insane things?"
"That individual training just now. Going up against all 27 students—minus me and Sara—in a consecutive string of matches is already nuts, but on top of that…"
She narrowed her eyes, just as he had seen her do once before.
"You're tailoring your fighting style to match each person individually, aren't you? I could tell you were picking the opponent each person would likely face in the actual matches, then replicating your magic casting, speed, timing, and even breathing patterns to simulate that. You even modified the content of your spells—using applications of your own magic to produce similar effects."
…Nina was exactly right.
What Ermes had gained from observing the A-class magic exercises wasn't limited to their Bloodline Magic.
It was the habits of the A-class students themselves—how they wielded magic. What level of output they produced. How high their control precision was. What timing they released their spells, and where gaps appeared in their defense.
He had formed a detailed mental image of each and every one of these things, and was now recreating them as faithfully as possible during his matches against them.
On top of that, he was pseudo-replicating their Bloodline Magic as closely as possible through Enhanced universal magic—in short, he was standing before them as "an opponent bearing characteristics close to their real competitors in the actual tournament."
"…I was planning to say something once today's training was over, but I suppose it's no surprise you caught on."
"Heh, well, yeah. ……I'm not gonna lie, even I had to do a double take at first, but I figured it makes sense if it's El. It feels like you've been thoroughly corrupted at this point."
She glanced slightly away as she said it, then turned back with a serious expression.
"But there's no denying it's actually effective. At the end of the day, the best way to find your edge is to fight the people you'll be facing in the real thing head-on."
"Right. As long as you can at least beat me, you'll stand a real chance in the actual tournament. ……It's frustrating that I can't fully replicate the sheer power, though."
"No, the fact that you can replicate everything else is already completely insane, you know?"
She muttered that with a hundred percent purity of exasperation, then paused and added, "That said—"
"Even you have your limits. So with that said—tei!"
"Huh?"
A perfectly executed foot sweep sent Ermes flat on his back.
Wondering what had just happened, he planted his hands to push himself back up—but the arms that should have had strength in them crumpled beneath him.
"Whoa."
"Don't 'whoa' me. ……You've been through 19 straight bouts by now, you know? You're not some tireless machine, even if you'd like to think so—take a rest. —Okay everyone! El's gonna take a quick break, so keep up your independent practice!"
Before Ermes could get a word in, Niina addressed the entire class.
……Well, it was true—apparently the fatigue from the consecutive matches had accumulated more than he'd realized. If he kept going, he'd likely make some careless mistake against his next opponent around here. He should obediently follow her advice and take a short break.
"Here, just sit still and drink some water to rest your body. I'll wipe the sweat off you too."
"Huh, ah—w-wait—"
That was what he'd thought, but Niina was fussing over him with an attentiveness that exceeded all expectations. True to her word, a towel was draped over him from above.
……Having someone wipe his sweat off him was embarrassing, but he couldn't exactly push her away, so he let her do as she pleased.
"……Sorry about this, in front of everyone."
"It's fine, it's fine. Everyone was actually giving you weird looks like 'when is that guy gonna take a break?' So why don't you show them a human side for once?"
"No, I'm perfectly human—there's nothing unusual about me..."
However, as she'd said, he could feel his classmates' gazes softening with relief, as if thinking, "Thank goodness, he's not actually a monster after all." That stung a little.
As he was dwelling on that, Niina called out to him while adjusting the towel.
"...But you really do push yourself, huh."
"Hm?"
"Why? I mean, this might be out of line, but you... you never really seemed all that interested in this class, so I was wondering why you suddenly started working this hard. I'm not criticizing you—in fact, I'm really grateful."
"...You're right."
The catalyst had undoubtedly been the incident where Sarah stopped him.
He'd decided to hold off on writing them off just yet, and his hopes for Albert's transformation had only grown stronger.
When the inter-class competition came up, he'd wanted to confirm whether this kingdom truly wasn't past saving, so he'd rallied Class B.
And the result...
Everyone had refused to give up. They'd followed him, accompanying him through what was genuinely grueling training.
That's right.
He'd glossed over it, but this training was supposed to be brutally tough.
After all, it was designed by Rose—originally, it was part of the foundational regimen for mastering the
Primal Inscription
—a discipline for learning magic without relying on Bloodline Magic.
Naturally, it imposed a considerable burden. In fact, there were already scattered members of the class gasping for breath here and there.
But just as he'd hoped, not a single person had dropped out. So then—
"If that's the case, then I—the one who rallied everyone—should be the one suffering the most. ...I should be the one working the hardest."
If he hadn't, no one would have truly followed his lead. That was what he believed.
After hearing Ermes's response, Nina was silent for a moment.
"......I'm just saying—how many people can actually do that, you know?"
"Huh?"
"Mm-mm, nothing. ......Thanks."
She murmured something under her breath, then whispered her gratitude.
"I mean, sure, I could stick close to everyone, but I could never really set them on fire. I'm the kind of person who just gets swept along by circumstances beyond my control. ......But everyone now is way more alive than everyone back then was. ......So, thanks."
Her voice, for her, was remarkably sincere.
So without adding anything unnecessary, he simply nodded.
"Yes."
"......Mmm, somehow that feels a bit light. Are you really getting it?"
But she didn't seem satisfied with that. After telling him so in a somewhat displeased tone, she—for some reason—brought her mouth even closer to his ear.
"I really am grateful, you know? Right now, I'd be willing to grant just about any single request you have. ......What do you say?"
With a suppressed laugh and a teasing, bewitching lilt to her voice, she whispered those words.
Ermes had a vaguely bad feeling about this. Keeping his tone as calm as he could, he replied.
"......Then, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you to teach me how to fight with a sword next."
"Huh? You're going with that? Well, I suppose I'm happy about that too, but still..."
As expected—or rather, this didn't seem to satisfy her either—she pulled her face away with a pout.
"You know, come on—at least a normal boy would say something like 'I'd love to go on a date with you,' wouldn't he?"
"......A date?"
"...Yeah, sorry—maybe I was wrong to ask you about this kind of thing."
As if something had come back to her, she let out an exasperated sigh and finally pulled away from Ermes.
"Well, I think we've rested enough, don't you? It wouldn't be good to hold things up any longer—let's get back to training!"
She said it in her usual tone, then cheerfully headed back to her classmates.
"..."
...That said, even he had to admit his heart had skipped a beat just then.
He took a few moments to collect himself before standing up and composing his thoughts.
"...Alright then."
Just as Nina had said, his body felt back to normal.
It was still only the first day of training—there was plenty to do. First, he needed to get a closer look at his classmates' conditions and personalities.
With that thought, he shifted his focus to the next person and resumed the training.
It'll be fine—Lady Katia should be in the classroom right now.
The training arc is expected to continue for about one more chapter. Stay tuned for the next installment!