The past week had been nothing short of hell for Kai. The training that he had undergone under Ray was simply insane. Initially, he had believed that all he'll be doing is learning from Adeline how to activate his Luminos at will. However, that sadist named Ray felt that that wasn't sufficient. To increase the challenge, he had pushed Kai physically, mentally and even magically!

Kai could only shudder when he reflected on his training schedule. Imagine starting the session with a 10 km run, followed by several static exercises such as push ups. Subsequently, when you expect a break after that intense workout, you got to practise activating your Enigma Ability for half an hour.

Finally, you get a break for about 15 minutes before the process repeats itself, just that the physical training sessions get replaced by combat magic sessions. In these sessions, Ray was his sparring opponent and he literally gave Kai no chance at all. Kai was made to practise depleting all his mana within those sessions, which Ray believed would help grow his mana pool.

Despite going through such torturous training, Kai never wavered because of 2 reasons. Firstly, he could really feel the results from training, as he could cast higher tier spells with less fatigue and mana than before. Next and more importantly, he had Adeline training together with him, which helped to ease his mental stress knowing that someone was going through the same training as him.

For Adeline, she could now understand why Ray held the title of Saint. He had much to offer her, as he had a completely radical approach towards magic. Most magicians only knew how to increase their mana output at any one time to cast stronger spells to overpower their opponents, but Ray taught her to focus more on preventing wastage rather than increasing output.

Ray called it refining magic, as he compared it to sharpening a sword versus getting a bigger sword. This way, he believed that even lower tier spells can beat higher tier spells since they were more focused to a single point.

Adeline tried to convey this idea to Kai but he still didn't understand until Ray intervened. He said, "Okay, imagine this. You have 2 hoses, one with a bigger circumference than the other. For the same volume of water shot at the same rate, which hose would generate greater pressure?" Kai replied indignantly, "Of course it's the hose with the smaller circumference. This is basic science!"

Ray smiled and said, "You're right. Now, applying this concept to magic, imagine your mana flowing from an outlet on your body. If you were to shrink this outlet with your imagination and pour the same amount of mana through it, won't you generate more power? Another way you can approach this is by imagining that your mana forms a cloak around your body, where you try to keep it as tight as possible. That's how you make full use of your mana, get it now, my dear boy?" Kai nodded and started practising on his own with greater vigour.

Adeline watched on, captivated. If she had to pick Kai's best quality, that would be his determination. He honestly had little talent in magic, but through sheer hard work over the past week, he's now able to cast Expert tier spells easily. The physical training actually helped both of them in terms of stamina, as they realised that they were able to spar longer than before.

Sadly, despite all their hard work, Kai's progress in mastering his Luminos was minimal. Even with Adeline coaching him, Kai only managed to activate his Luminos once during that week. To make matters worse, his Luminos did not do anything worth mentioning and deactivated within a few seconds. Kai sighed. He felt sorry for Adeline and even Ray for spending their time to help a hopeless cause like him.

Just before the end of their training session for the week, Ray advised him, "Kai, your progress is actually pretty decent already. Don't worry too much about your Luminos. If you want a tip from my observations, I suggest that you think of a trigger point.

A trigger point is something like a mental image that's strong enough to invoke the greatest emotions within you. It can be a flashback or simply an imagination. With a trigger point, you would not rely on the situation turning desperate before you can activate your Luminos. Think about it." Ray then left Adeline and Kai to their own devices, disappearing in a blur.

It was close to midnight, and the night was bright with the light from a full moon. Kai was struggling in his sleep as he was suffering from the same nightmare that had plagued him occasionally for these past 7 years. "Argh!" Kai screamed as he awoke from that terrible nightmare. When he looked at himself in the mirror near his bed, he realised that his left eye had turned sky blue shortly before reverting back to normal.

Kai wondered, "Could this nightmare of mine be the trigger point that Ray was talking about? Surely there must be a better way?" As he found it difficult to sleep after being woken up so rudely, he decided to recall the situations which he had activated his Luminos well.

From what Adeline had shared with him, he activated it first during his fight against the Duelbot and next, against Jaeger. Both situations he was in danger of losing his life…both situations he had thought of his mother's plight. Suddenly, Kai realised that his trigger point might be simply the desire to protect his loved ones.

Using the method taught to him by Adeline combined with the strong feelings to protect his family…and Adeline, he tried activating his Luminos once more. To his delight, his Luminos came almost naturally. He attempted its abilities by creating a fireball in his right hand and willing his Luminos to erase it. True enough, the fireball fizzled and the room became dark again.

Kai was overjoyed, but he lost his balance momentarily as he realised that maintaining his Luminos was tiring. He quickly deactivated his Luminos and was about to turn in to rest when he saw a large fireball shoot into the sky from the direction of Zion Academy. It felt like a distress signal and Kai quickly changed into an appropriate attire before dashing in the direction of the school.

The guards stood sleepily in front of the gates. One complained, "Why are we even needed here? Terran can settle the defence of the compound on his own." The other replied, "Could you find a better-paying job elsewhere? Now, shut up."

They both noticed a man loitering a tad too near the gates. They ordered, "Hey, you! Get back or else we'll use force. You're not cleared to enter this place, definitely not at this hour."

The man looked at them, with his eyes rolled up like a zombie. Suddenly, a symbol on his neck glowed and a single man appeared out of nowhere. Within mere seconds, a large group, numbering about 30, were gathered. The guards started panicking and one said, "Got to ring the bell…"

Before he or his partner could do so, their bodies were twisted in a horrific fashion, executing them on the spot before they were flung like discarded ragdolls. The man named Psycho said, "Too easy, they didn't even offer any resistance to my psionic powers, which a half-baked warrior or magician could do. Is that all Zion Academy has to offer?"

The leader, Shadow, replied, "Don't be careless, these guys are mere gate watchers. That old man isn't so foolish." Psycho nodded and using his telekinetic powers, the gates of Zion Academy flung open. A huge gust of wind welcomed them and they heard a howl. A large, cat-like creature which body was covered in small trees was blocking their path. It was the guardian spirit Terran.

Shadow smirked, "Now, that's the true defender of this Academy. Moon, do it!" Moon nodded his head in acknowledgement and activated his Enigma Ability, [Stasis] to cover the entire school, just before Terran could slash Shadow with its claws. Terran was frozen in time and Shadow kicked the spirit out of his way.

Shadow grumbled, "If only we could hurt and kill them while they are trapped like this, that's the only detriment of your otherwise extremely useful ability, Moon!" Moon replied calmly, "Guess whoever gave us these powers wanted to provide some balance. Anyway, I've covered the entire school already, we should face little opposition as we comb through the school for the map."

Shadow barked, "Alright men. Launch Operation Hellbreak now!" Everybody nodded and dispersed in all directions. Just as a few of the men were about to enter the main entrance of the Academy, they were greeted by a large wall of flames. Their screams were barely audible as the heinous flames quickly incinerated them.

Shadow muttered, "Damn! To lose 3 men so easily. Don't tell me the old geezer's here already?" On the other side of the wall of flames was an old man wielding a staff and dressed in wizard robes. He was the Year 3 Combat Magic teacher, Professor Zane. Zane scanned the enemies in front of him, noticing that they all wore the emblems of the dark guild, Night Wing.

Zane thought, "For Night Wing to gather so many people, this is big trouble, I can't handle them all alone. Help would be required." Zane quickly unleashed a large fireball towards the sky, which exploded like fireworks upon reaching the end of its trajectory. Shadow angrily muttered, "Looks like someone resistant to Moon's Enigma Ability is here. The only way to resist it is to put up a strong mana barrier before [Stasis] takes effect. This opponent won't be easy."

Zane thought, "Earlier, I felt that something was about to trap me but upon pouring in mana to resist, I could shake off this feeling. Nonetheless, I'm still in a dangerous situation and I can only hope to delay these guys as long as possible till reinforcements arrive." A woman with long black hair dressed in purple robes stepped forward, and said with a blank expression, "I'll take care of him. You guys go ahead."

The leader, from Zane's perspective, answered, "Very well. You stay here and hold back any reinforcements if they come. I'm counting on you, Violet!"

The remaining Night Wing members began to disperse, some heading towards the main entrance. Zane yelled, "Who do you think I am! [Searing Wave]!" as he swung his staff in a horizontal fashion, conjuring a large wave of flames that looked set to consume all the intruders present. Violet calmly mumbled, "[Wave Wall]." Immediately, water surged forth from her hands and formed a great wall of water to protect her allies. Upon collision, the flames and water cancelled each other out, leaving behind steam.

Zane could barely make out a single individual within the mist, which cleared after a while. Only Violet was left in front of him as the other Night Wing members had vanished. Violet spoke softly, "Now that they're gone…I have no wish to hurt you, but I cannot let you intervene, less they get suspicious of me so soon. Will you entertain me, fire mage?"

A bead of sweat trickled down Zane's forehead. To stop a Master tier spell so easily without batting an eyelid, this young woman was strong indeed, probably Grandmaster tier like him. Against opponents of similar strength, he had no guarantee of victory and even if he did win, he would probably be too weak to fight the others inside. He could only pray that Headmaster Zilean would be alright as he readied himself against his formidable foe. This was probably going to be a long night.