Parallel Memory

This same schedule continued until Friday. I was made to come to the Gravity Room every day in the morning and practice there for at least one and a half hours.

Then after the class, we will once again meet to train. It wouldn't be until late at night that I would be free to leave.

I would immediately drift off to sleep the moment I reached my room. Even forgetting to take a shower sometimes.

The majority of the time, I would sleep in class because I was so tired. Luckily, the Professors didn't scold me or even try to wake me up.

However, it was not only me who seemed exhausted in the class. Even the Main Characters seemed to have been put through some intense training.

Though I would argue that I have it worst among all the participants. Professor Mia's training method is more difficult compared to other professors.

Professor Mia will increase the difficulty of training little by little every day.

After the class was over, I headed over to the gravity room thinking that it would be the same old training.

However, the moment I entered the room, Professor Mia was standing there wearing her gym clothes.

It was a tight black that seemed to suit her perfectly. I took a few seconds to admire the view. It is not every day that you get to watch the most beautiful woman claimed by many, in a tight dress.

"Looked enough!"

Bringing me back to reality was Professor Mia's voice.

"Ahem! Why did you change into different clothes?"

Trying to divert Professor Mia's mind to other things, I asked about Professor Mia's decision to change her clothes. Normally she would be in her skirt and heel.

"Oh, this? This is because today we are going to do different things."

She said as she backed away a few meters away from me.

"Today, you will be fighting me."

"AHA…Eeh… What?"

I was dumbfounded that I didn't know what to say.

What did I just hear? Did Professor Mia just tell me she was going to fight me, a puny insect at Rank-D -.

Does Professor Mia have any grudge against me? Don't tell me it is her revenge for ogling her body.

Nah, she wouldn't be so petty, I hope.

It is impossible for me to survive if I fight her. She is freaking Rank-A+ and one of the most talented people in the world.

Even Rank-S might have to go through lots of trouble in order to defeat Professor Mia.

It is even possible that Professor Mia could defeat Rank-S if he/she was to let their guard down against her.

How can I, who is just in Rank-D - be able to defeat someone who is three ranks higher than me, it is impossible even for Hiro after using all his power. Even the Main Character's plot armor would not be able to save him if he fought with Rank-A right now.

They would not even need to lift their fingers to defeat people in our ranks. They could suppress thousands of us with just their mana aura.

"Don't worry, it is not like I will kill you. It is just to let you experience how it feels to face a stronger opponent."

Professor gave out the reason why she decided to have a fight with Zero. Though it was one of her reasons for fighting Zero, it was not the sole reason she decided to fight with Zero.

Her true purpose was to check the full power of Zero. While she has seen many fights involving Zero, she didn't see any instances where Zero seemed to be really pushed into a corner.

Only when people are desperate would they show all their power. She wants to know the extent of Zero's power to decide on his future training. She would know what he lacks after she fought with him.

Professor Mia does not have any intention of being lenient towards Zero. Additionally, she planned to use her mana aura and her Art.

She wants him to know what Rank-A power really feels like. Get used to fighting under a higher-rank mana aura.

Many people have difficulty fighting with higher-ranked people because higher-ranked people will have a more refined and dense mana aura which they use to suppress lower-ranked people.

Furthermore, people are intimidated by the mana aura and the bloodthirst and end up making stupid decisions.

She wants to let him experience the Rank-A mana aura earlier so that he could be calm when facing a higher-ranked mana aura.

By getting used to a higher-ranked mana aura, Zero would be able to make calm decisions even when facing enemies beyond his rank.

By fighting with her, he will get used to fighting with a strong opponent and make the right judgment during battle.

It was also a way for Zero to get a bit of fighting experience. With Zero's power, hardly any student can last long enough to make Zero fight seriously.

So, fighting her could also greatly improve Zero's fighting skills.

"We will start in one minute."

She gave Zero one minute time to sort out his thoughts and come up with a plan to deal with her.

It might seem short but in actual battle, you only get a couple of seconds before you have to make a decision. A poor decision can mean death in a real battle.

Zero used that one minute to calm down his emotions and to think about ways to deal with Professor Mia.

He knew that Professor Mia would not change her decision and that he needed to definitely fight with her.

( I can't use Cryomancy Art against her. )

Ice Magic against someone who is more skilled at Ice Magic would be a dumb decision.

While it could work, using Shadow Style would be better when fighting against Professor Mia.

We both use Ice Magic Art and although I have level 9 Art, I should have had the advantage against everyone who uses Ice Magic. But Professor Mia's rank is very high and her proficiency in her Art should be greater than mine.

So, the advantage that I could have against other Ice Mage is irrelevant in this current scenario.

The good thing was, although my Ice Magic was ineffective against Professor Mia, the same should apply to me.

My resistance towards Ice Magic is high due to practicing Cryomancy Art and Professor Mia's Art should be ineffective against her.

Though I doubt that she needs to use her Art to defeat me. If Professor Mia went full power mode right from the get-go, one finger would be enough to kill me a hundred times.

It wasn't like when I fought Solomon and Glenn, who were unable to use their Rank-A power.

I was going to fight a Rank-A at her peak without any injuries or any form of restrictions.

And compared to Professor Mia, Solomon and Glenn could be considered normal. Even among Rank-A people, Professor Mia could be considered as strong. She might be even 2-3 times stronger than Solomon who was in the same rank as Professor Mia.

"Let us begin!!!"

One minute was up and Professor Mia signaled the start of the battle. She stretched her hand from left to right as she readied herself to fight.

The battle had already begun, but she hadn't released her mana aura, otherwise I would not be able to move.

[ "Dual Art" ]

There was no way I was going to fight Professor Mia while hiding my powers. She has already seen me use this Art before.

It also was no use hiding this Art. First of all, Professor Mia is currently assessing me and I think she is trying to know the extent of my power.

She might not be satisfied until I use all the power in my arsenal and make me fight her again and again.

Secondly, I was not worried about Professor Mia revealing my secret to others. After knowing her for months, I believe she is not the kind of person who spills others' secrets.

[ "Dark Ice Embodiment" ]

Professor Mia flinched a little.

She has always wondered what kind of Art Zero is practicing. She felt two kinds of energies fighting each other in Zero's body when she was helping Zero at the BloodyWolf incident.

There has never been a case where a person uses two energies simultaneously. A person may use multiple different energies but they don't employ them at the same time.

Not to mention, Zero seemed to merge the energies rather than just using them at the same time.

However, she could not conclude anything with her assumption. It might be a newly discovered Art or it could be an entirely different energy that Zero is using.

But she was happy that Zero was taking this battle seriously. If he didn't use his trump cards even when he was facing her, she would have definitely taken that opportunity to teach Zero a lesson.

"Let's see whether you can withstand my punch."