Peace Hunter

The next day.

The holiday season had arrived for the academy students. Although students were not allowed to leave the academy grounds during the holiday, they were still happy to have a full month break. Well, some students might not be happy about this, finding the academy holidays boring. Others were unhappy because they were facing serious problems, such as failing the academy for fourth years or not being promoted to the next class for first and third years.

Even though it was already the holiday season, I still practiced in the morning as usual. Irene, Leandra, Lily, and Julie did the same. They didn't let the holiday get any better and continued to train to become stronger. Not only them, but Charles, Chloe, Noa, and Kotaro also joined in the morning training. Because of this, the number of group members training in the morning increased.

Even though we had already earned silver badges, we were still using the first-year training ground for Class A. We wouldn't be able to use the second-year training ground until we officially became second-year students in the new school year. Since we were training in our own class's training ground, Lillian couldn't train with us since she was in a different class. But Noa said not to worry, as she would train with Lillian again in the afternoon or evening.

After we'd practiced for a while, we started chatting in the training ground.

"By the way, Lily, have you been getting any bad treatment lately, like being teased or anything like that?" I asked.

"Teased? No one's done anything to me lately, not even Leandra. But I feel like more people are staring at me when I'm around people," Lily said.

"Is that so," I said.

"What's wrong, Rid?" Lily asked.

"As you know, the attack incident at this academy was carried out by a group of Demi-Humans and several humans. I'm worried that the people at this academy will treat you even worse, considering you're a Demi-Human," I said.

"Wait a minute, Rid. Like you said, weren't there some humans in the attack group? They shouldn't have treated Lily worse just because she's of the same race as the one that attacked this academy. Humans were also involved in this attack, and everyone except Leandra and Lily at this academy is also human," Julie said.

"I know what you mean. There's no way the people at this academy, who are humans, would treat Lily worse considering there were also humans involved in the attack. But some of them won't care about that. They'll just assume it was Demi-Humans who attacked the academy. Some people already have a deep hatred for other races besides humans. If the attack was just one Demi-Human accompanied by hundreds of humans, they'd assume it was just Demi-Humans," I said.

"I see. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them thought that way," Julie said.

"Even so, it doesn't seem like they did anything bad to Lily. From what Lily said, she only received a lot of stares when she was around people. I wonder why they didn't do anything bad to Lily, since before the attack, Lily had always been treated badly by several students at this academy. Not just Lily, but Leandra too," I said.

"Isn't that because you won this academy tournament, Rid? Since you won the academy tournament, that means you're the strongest student at this academy. Lily and Leandra are Irene's assistants, and Irene is your current girlfriend. That means you also have a close relationship with Lily and Leandra. Once they know you're close to Lily and Leandra, they won't dare do anything bad to them. Because they realize that if they did something bad to Lily and Leandra, it would be the same as having to deal with you," Charles said.

"I see, that makes sense. But somehow I feel like I've become the one being feared at this academy," I said.

Then the others laughed.

"But yeah, if it helps keep them from doing bad things to my friends, then I'm fine with it," I said.

Then, after chatting, we went back to training.

In the middle of training, I approached Lily, who was practicing physical attacks using Mana.

"Lily, I want to ask you something," I said.

"What are you asking about, Rid?" Lily asked.

"When I fought a Demi-Human who attacked this academy, the Demi-Human used a technique similar to ~Magic Martial Arts~ because an elemental magic enveloped her. But what made that technique different from ~Magic Martial Arts~ was the form of the magic that enveloped her,"

"The elemental magic that enveloped a ~Magic Martial Arts~ user takes the form of the user, while the elemental magic that enveloped a Demi-Human takes the form of an animal related to that Demi-Human's form. Since I fought a Demi-Human Jaguar, the elemental magic that enveloped her took the form of a fairly large jaguar. The jaguar form had claws and a long tail that it could use to attack. In addition, the jaguar form could also breathe elemental magic from its mouth. The Demi-Human's defense, strength, and speed also increased after using that technique. Not only that, but its attack range also increased,"

"If I'm not mistaken, the name of that technique was ~Armadura Elemental Animal~. I know this because one of the Demi-Humans said that before using it. Since you are a Demi-Human race, do you know anything about that technique, Lily?" I asked.

"~Armadura Elemental Animal~? I've never heard of the name of this technique. But from your explanation of the technique, there's no doubt that it's one of the strongest techniques the Demi-Human race has because I've heard of the technique but didn't know the name of the technique. It turns out the name of the technique is ~Armadura Elemental Animal~. So what do you want to know about this technique, Rid? Don't tell me you want to copy this technique?," Lily asked.

"How could I possibly copy that technique, after all, it's a technique from the Demi-Human race while I'm a Human race. I'm just curious about it and by the way can you use that technique?," I asked.

"I can't use that technique. I told you that it's one of the highest techniques the Demi-Human race possesses. If I could use it, I would definitely become stronger, but right now I'm still very weak."

"I might be able to use ~Magic Martial Arts~, but I can't use the ~Armadura Elemental Animal~ technique yet, but at least I can do this," Lily said.

Lily unleashed her electricity magic and enveloped both of her hands in it. The electricity that enveloped her hands resembled the front paws of a fox, quite large and with sharp claws.

"I might not be able to envelop my entire body and make it take the form of an animal I'm related to. But I can still transform my hands into that technique," Lily said.

"You're right, this technique is similar to the ~Armadura Elemental Animal~ technique the Demi-Human I fought used, although the elemental magic that enveloped you was only on your hands," I said.

"Well, you could say this is an imperfect version of that technique," Lily said.

"Did you learn to use it by practicing on your own?" I asked.

"No, I did practice ​but my father taught me. This technique isn't taught in a book, so it can only be taught directly by someone who can use it."

"I've heard that the ~Armadura Elemental Animal~ technique you mentioned was obtained through rigorous training by Demi-Humans. I don't know what rigorous training he's referring to. My father doesn't know either, because he can't use it. Furthermore, none of the Demi-Human race's highest techniques are published in books or records. Therefore, I can't use the ~Armadura Elemental Animal~ technique, which is one of the highest techniques, because I've never learned or practiced it," Lily said.

"I see. If you knew how to use that technique, you would be able to use it already. It would be a shame if you couldn't use your strongest technique, but for now, just focus on practicing with the techniques you have. Even without the strongest technique, I'm sure you'll still get stronger if you keep practicing with the ones you have," I said.

"Ok, Rid," Lily said.

Then we went back to training.

-

We spent our academy holidays with practicing, walking around the academy, and hanging out in one of the dormitories. We did this every day until we didn't even realize we'd already been through two weeks of holidays.

-

​Mid-June.

That afternoon, I received information from Senior Florian that the Elevrad members were ordered to appear in the Elevrad room. After receiving this information, I immediately went there with Irene, Charles, and Chloe. We weren't with Enzo, as we hadn't seen him much in the previous days. It seemed he had arrived at the Elevrad room first.

When we arrived, Enzo was indeed there with the other Elevrad members. However, some members were still missing, so we decided to wait until everyone was there.

After everyone was present, Senior Florian immediately began the discussion.

"I thank you all for taking the time to attend this meeting even though you're on holidays," said Senior Florian.

"Don't worry, chairman. We'll always be there if the Elevrad chairman requests it," said Senior Vanina.

"Vanina is right, chairman. So, why did you call us all here?" asked Senior Darryl.

"I called you all here because I wanted to announce who will be taking the new position at Elevrad," said Senior Florian.

Several students who heard this seemed surprised.

"Oh, so it's time, huh," said senior Darryl.

"That's right. For Elevrad, senior Florian is currently the only one who has taken the new position of chairman. The other positions, like vice chairman, secretary, and treasurer, haven't been filled yet," I thought.

"I'll announce who will take which positions right away because I don't want to waste your time while you're enjoying your holidays."

"For the position of vice chairman of Elevrad... Rid Archie, I appoint you as the new vice chairman of Elevrad," said senior Florian.

-To be continued