Nearly another hour passed.
The three-hour practical training session finally wrapped up just before dusk.
The students piloted their Magitech Knights back to the hangar. The moment they disembarked, they were drenched in sweat and gasping for air.
The teachers, long prepared, handed out water and bread they’d set aside for the students.
— When piloting a Magitech Knight, the soul projected from the body into the machine, linking all five senses to it.
Yet the physical body remained inside the cockpit, acting as an energy source while unconsciously mirroring the knight’s movements — though the pilot felt none of it.
Now, suddenly disembarking and consciousness returning, all the accumulated physical exhaustion exploded at once.
In comparison, Ye Xu’s trio — who had fought one-against-many — fared far better.
All three possessed top-tier talent.
Their young age limited them from using higher-consumption spells, but it didn’t change their vast innate mana pools.
Moreover, under the match system, their usable mana had been capped anyway.
Even if their personal reserves weren’t depleted, the system would shut down their cores after a set amount.
With mana pools far exceeding expenditure — and output throttled — their condition was naturally miles better than the average classmate’s.
“Good work today, Ye Laixi, Isxila, Lol~”
Though there were no rankings or chaos like in previous years, Ye Xu’s group had made her look incredibly good.
And even for them, while the drain wasn’t severe, they’d exerted the most effort today — that fact remained.
Teacher Hera bounced over with three exquisitely made little cakes and presented them to the trio.
“Here~ Replenish your energy properly~”
The three didn’t refuse her kindness. They accepted the cakes but refrained from eating in front of the others.
“Not bad, not bad — everyone did great today~”
Then, glancing at the exhausted classmates sprawled every which way behind her, Teacher Hera continued with a cheerful smile.
Today’s results had been bountiful.
Without question, this batch was the most talented she’d seen in years.
Piloting the latest customized units, Ye Xu’s trio could give even professional elite knights a headache.
Yet these students — after just an hour and a half of special training — had briefly held their own against them in outdated, generationally inferior machines. That was beyond expectations.
Their combat instinct and potential were exceptionally strong.
If anything was unexpected, it was that the top performer wasn’t the anticipated Isxila in Dawn Heart — a royal-exclusive special model developed specifically for royalty, arguably no longer mere customization but a branch variant in its own right.
Nor was it Lol, heir to a noble house with generations of service to the royal family, skilled in close-combat swordsmanship and magic.
One had lasted twenty-three minutes and taken out thirty opponents; the other only nineteen minutes and twenty-seven.
— Instead, it was the seemingly unremarkable Ye Xu.
This surprised every teacher except Hera.
For example, right now.
While Hera wasn’t looking, Hess sneaked over to Ye Xu, slung an arm around his neck, and whispered: “Hey, kid — you’re hiding some serious skills. Interested in switching to my class? I’d pour every resource into developing you…”
Before he could finish, an eternal sixteen-year-old beautiful girl’s flying kick was already sailing toward his head.
“I think you’re the one who doesn’t want to live — poaching my student right in front of me!”
She’d just finished encouraging all the classes together, only to turn and see this guy sneaking her student into a corner.
How could she tolerate that?
Even an uncle might endure it, but a beautiful girl could not.
Hera sent the shameless creep flying with one kick.
“I-I was just joking! Did you have to go that far?” Hess whined pitifully, clutching the massive dirt print on his face after being booted aside.
“Hmph~” Hera merely grabbed Ye Xu’s hand tightly and dragged him back to their class group, refusing to buy his excuse.
Sure, call it a joke — but if Ye Xu actually agreed, she’d love to see if it stayed a joke.
Watching the scene, the other teachers — along with Isxila — couldn’t help covering their mouths and chuckling lightly.
“Alright, alright, everyone — that’s it for today’s lessons.”
“I’m sure you’ve all fully experienced the charm of magic and Magitech Knights,”
“And understand what goal you’re striving toward.”
Positioning Ye Xu, Isxila, and Lol behind her, Hera clapped her hands and addressed the students, now reformed into their four class lines.
As she said, burning hope and longing shone in the others’ eyes — especially when their gazes fell on Nightfall and the other two machines returned to their berths.
And that was exactly the effect she and the others wanted.
To feel the power of Magitech Knights — and especially the power of top-tier ones.
Though the goal was impossibly distant for most in the world, as the saying went: effort might not guarantee success, but without it, you’d definitely get nothing.
Who knows — struggle hard enough, and you might trade your bird gun for a cannon.
“Get plenty of rest tonight, everyone. Tomorrow we begin formal studies.”
“Oh, and one more thing…”
Glancing at her three colleagues wearing pained expressions, Hera added with a beaming smile: “To commend your excellent performance today, the four of us teachers chipped in and deposited one hundred credits into every one of your cards.”
“This is a special reward only for today.”
“Have fun and relax tonight!”
This time, not just the commoners — nearly all the students erupted in thunderous cheers.
Most were minor nobles; aside from gear they’d brought from home, their monthly allowances converted to roughly five hundred credits.
As expected of the Magic Academy — the teachers were incredibly generous, handing out so much at once.
No wonder the students were this excited.
Tonight demanded celebration — and spending!!!
“One last thing — don’t stay out too late.”
“If I hear tomorrow that any of you dared sleep in class,”
“Next practical session, you’ll get to solo one of Ye Laixi’s trio.” Before the excited students could dash off, Teacher Hera added sweetly. “And they’ll use training machines too — one punch at a time, pinning you down and pounding you into the ground.”
“Eh??!”
The students turned in horror toward the three heavyweight figures behind her — the ones who’d traumatized them all day.
After today’s training, they deeply understood the massive gap.
Getting instantly wrecked by personal machines? Fine — they could blame the hardware difference.
A quick loss was no big deal; surviving even briefly would be bragging rights for ages.
But if those three used training machines and still couldn’t be beaten — unable to fight back or escape — getting publicly pinned and pummeled punch by punch until their health bars emptied…
Eek! What kind of ultimate humiliation was that!
At the thought, everyone nodded frantically, then scattered like startled birds, vanishing from the hangar in a flurry.