Chapter 133: True Identity —— Mastery of Both Magic and Martial Arts

After gathering with Alice and the others, Rod finally visited the Holy Light Academy, renowned as the best academy on the continent, under the guidance of the four of them.
It was enormous—bigger and more magnificent than he had imagined. He encountered many students, and without exception, whenever he saw Kiro and the others, especially Kiro’s appearance, it always drew strange looks from others. Rod and the others might have become accustomed to this, so they paid it little attention. But Rod remained somewhat puzzled—was it really that prestigious to become a dean’s disciple? Every student at the Holy Light Academy was exceptionally talented, and most of them were from noble families. Moreover, with the empire’s population of nearly 100 million, the academy had only 800 students across its five grades. It was easy to imagine how high their status was—there seemed no reason for such attention.
This information made Rod even more curious about Kiro. There must be something about him he didn’t know. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have received such treatment, let alone become a dean’s disciple.
Watching Kiro lead the way ahead, Rod’s expression changed slightly.
“Hmm, isn’t that guy Viski? Is he here to train too today?” As Rod stared at Kiro in confusion, a voice from beside him made him startle. His eyes lit up, and he quickly looked ahead.
Viski—the golden warrior hailed as the greatest genius by many, a golden warrior under eighteen! He hurriedly looked ahead, only to see dozens of students. Unnoticed, they had arrived at the Holy Light Academy’s largest training ground.
This training ground was divided into four smaller areas, each with a fighting platform. “The writing competition will take place here. I guess he’s here to get used to the venue. As the undisputed leader of this group, he certainly won’t allow himself to make any mistakes!” It was then that Kiro spoke with a smile beside him.
“Which one is Viski?” Rod asked helplessly, unable to tell which of the people was Viski.
“The one with red hair! Hehe, it seems we’re in for some fun. We’re lucky—we haven’t seen Viski fight in a while. I wonder how much he’s improved!” Anderson provided the best answer to Rod’s confusion.

Looking ahead, as expected, on the third arena, he saw a red-haired boy around his own age, giving off a cold aura. His short red hair stood upright on his head, and he wore a headguard. His face was slightly round, and he appeared very serious. He held a long sword and was dressed in a deep red robe, which only served to emphasize his unsettling coldness.

Opposite him stood a man slightly older. The two faced each other in battle, the atmosphere tense, suggesting it was time to fight. Rod quickly focused his attention—such a battle couldn’t be missed. No wonder Anderson had said they were lucky; indeed, encountering training of this level right away was a rare opportunity.

He widened his eyes and watched as the two suddenly moved, swirling like two whirlwinds across the arena. Soon, if not for the combat energy concentrated in their eyes, their movements would have been invisible, even then, they appeared blurred. Their actions were fast, and their techniques changed rapidly. At first glance, Rod concluded that both men possessed golden-colored combat energy, quite dense—clearly, they were both Golden Warriors!

Their swordsmanship was fierce; at least Rod believed his own techniques weren’t yet that sharp.

“It’s changing!” Kiro’s meaningful voice beside him made Rod look in confusion.

Sure enough, the next moment, a huge change occurred in the arena. With a loud roar, a phantom beast soul appeared beside that man named Viski—a majestic eagle spread its wings and cried out loudly from behind him.

A Thunder Eagle! The king among the imperial-grade magical beasts! A lightning-type magical beast with such a beast soul, already in the late stages of growth, soon to reach adulthood, as could be seen from its appearance, feathers, and claws.

Its gaze was icy, coldly awaiting its opponent. Meanwhile, a green light flashed beside the man fighting Viski, revealing the beast soul of a green wolf, a silver-grade magical beast soul. Clearly, it wasn’t on the same level as the Thunder Eagle, nor was its growth stage as advanced.

It was evident that the Thunder Eagle had followed that boy named Viski for a long time, which piqued Rod’s curiosity about his background—another powerful family.

It was the first time Rod had seen two Golden-level masters fighting with beast souls, which sparked his great interest, especially in how and how powerful such beast souls could be used in battle. This made Rod, who also had his own beast soul, even more curious and attentive.

“Thunder God Sword!” he growled softly. Viski took the lead in attacking, unleashing his lightning-based combat energy fully. With the help of the royal-class magical beast, the Thunder Eagle, attacks came from both heaven and earth, combining magic and combat skills to target the other person.

In a flash, he disappeared from sight, while the Thunder Eagle’s magic had already been unleashed. Truly a royal-class magical beast—its magic, once fully developed, was terrifyingly powerful, far beyond what that green wolf could withstand. One defensive spell was instantly shattered, and then, with astonishing speed, he appeared above the green wolf. Before the wolf could react, he grabbed it with his claw and tore it apart in an instant. The wolf then turned into a streak of light and disappeared back into its master’s body.

In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they had dealt with their opponent—this really surprised Rod. Could it really be due to such a large gap in level and growth stage? Not necessarily; proper training also played a crucial role.

With the illusionary beast defeated and fighting one against two, the man was instantly forced into retreat. The Thunder God Sword—truly worthy of its name—was as fast as lightning, with relentless attacks. The might of the Thunder God was invincible, and he was defeated in just a short while.

It was astonishing that two warriors both at the gold rank could settle the battle so quickly, with such a decisive advantage. Rod was secretly amazed and shocked. Indeed, that boy named Viski was very strong. Rod believed he would be no match for him in a fight and would suffer a crushing defeat.

“He’s really improved a lot again, this freak! Hey, it seems we’re really going to get eliminated!” Kiro said with a bitter smile. The outcome was already decided.

“Yes, with his strength, he could easily apply for graduation!” Alice added in admiration.

Anderson, on the other hand, looked displeased. As a third-year student, he knew better than anyone just how much of a gap there was between him and second-year Viski.

“Senior Kiro!” A cold voice came through, drawing their attention. They had been so absorbed in their thoughts that they hadn’t noticed how Viski had already arrived in front of them in such a short time. He gave Kiro a slight nod.

“Hehe, you’ve improved a lot again. It seems I won’t be able to compete with you anymore. Hehe, truly a genius. It looks like Dean Sinrich will have something to brag about again!” Kiro stepped forward and expressed his sincere admiration for Viski.

“I still can’t defeat you! I know! I’m leaving first!” With a determined look in his eyes as he stared at Kiro, Viski’s words caused Rod’s expression to change drastically. Before he could react, Viski left like a gust of wind.
“Can’t defeat Kiro? Damn it, who exactly is this Kiro, and what abilities does he have? I’ve seen Viski’s strength with my own eyes, yet even he can’t beat Kiro. Then…” With these thoughts, Rod’s expression became complex as he turned to look at Kiro, who was smiling bitterly beside him, his mouth agape but unsure what to say.
“Hehe, don’t listen to that guy’s nonsense. By the way, he’s the only disciple of Dean Sinrich—he’s very strong! I’m not as strong as he claims, hehe!” Sensing Rod’s gaze, Kiro said awkwardly.
“Enough, Kiro. Stop acting tough here. We still don’t know everything. Although you’re just a Silver Warrior, that’s probably just a side job for you. As a Mage, you master both magic and combat. Hehe, even someone at the peak of a Gold Warrior might not be able to easily defeat you. Even though you’re only at the beginner level of a Mage, combined with your status as a Silver Warrior… Tsk tsk tsk… Truly one of the top three in the fourth grade, indeed one of the top ten masters in the academy!” Roy scoffed at Kiro’s words.
“Mage, Silver Warrior, master of both magic and combat!” These words hit Rod like a bomb, leaving him stunned. He couldn’t imagine what they meant.
Mastering both magic and combat was considered something only those with extraordinary talent could achieve. Such people were rare, and most achieved nothing. There were three major obstacles: first, the barrier when moving from the first stage to the second; second, the barrier from the second stage to the third—both referring to reaching that level in both fields simultaneously. The third obstacle was integration. Many failed because they lacked sufficient time, energy, or talent, making it impossible to master both. Even if they tried, one skill might advance while the other stagnated.
The biggest problem with mastering both magic and combat was that whenever one skill advanced by one level, the other also had to reach that same level, otherwise, no progress would be made.

Just like Kiro now, his magic has reached level six, which is the level of a mage, yet his combat energy is still at that of a silver warrior. Therefore, he must advance to a gold warrior before he can further enhance his strength. Only by reaching the pinnacle of both magic and combat can he have the chance to face the second stage and break through to a higher level. Reaching this level requires twice the effort and time of an ordinary person, which is why so few people master both magic and combat. There were many who tried to do so on the continent, but most achieved nothing. Only two succeeded and became famous—LipoUltra from a thousand years ago, indeed the supreme master who mastered both magic and combat! The other is Solomon, known as the God of War ten thousand years ago, a man who left behind countless myths and entered the realm of the gods. Rod stared at Kiro in awe. At that moment, he finally understood why this guy was so powerful, why he was so admired by others, and why he became the dean’s disciple. He also realized why he had felt something strange all along—because he had never considered this aspect and thus never paid attention, failing to see his true nature.