The next hour was spent with Carlos explaining what Theo needed to do while training with the mantis. Once he finished the explanation, he moved on to dealing with the three frozen students.

Darrian did his best to break free from the suppression. He gritted his teeth, and even while practicing, Theo could see the frustration on the boy’s face.

He couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The boy had guts. Not many could keep looking at the mantis, especially into its eyes, and still try to move.

The other two, meanwhile, were frozen stiff. Only after Carlos slapped them hard across their faces did they finally start moving again.

Darrian, on the other hand, was left alone. Carlos didn’t do anything violent to him.

Theo could guess the reason behind it. It felt like Carlos had noticed Darrian was actually making progress, no matter how small it was. At the very least, he was genuinely trying, unlike the others.

The hour passed as quickly as it had began, and Theo felt slightly grumpy when Carlos called him forward along with the others.

The mantis was finally returned inside the beast space, and for some reason, it went without any reluctance too, almost as if it wanted this activity to end as quickly as possible.

"Your beast tries to work with you, from what I saw just now, but it’s too chaotic and aggressive for you to keep up with," Carlos explained.

"You either need to bring that aggression under control, or if you can’t do that, then you will be the one that will need to change a lot. You will have to learn how to keep up with your beast, and that’s what we will focus on."

Theo looked at Carlos with excitement before nodding eagerly.

He was the first teacher who truly understood what Theo wanted to learn.

Rhys and the baron were very peculiar but good teachers. Still, they never saw their own beasts as companions, so they never really fought alongside them.

But Carlos was teaching him how to truly work together with his beast, which had been Theo’s goal with the sword from the very beginning.

"Tomorrow, we will work on exactly that," Carlos said before turning toward the trio, who could finally breathe properly again.

"And you three, the challenge ahead of you will either break you this year or make you somewhat special. Personally, I am hoping you will be in the first category no matter what, alright?"

His words made the three place their fists against their left chests with serious expressions.

Once they left the training ground, the group walked together in silence while the other three kept glancing at Theo over and over again.

By the tenth time, Theo finally thought it was enough and broke the ice.

"If you want to ask something, you can do so normally," Theo said, making Darrian immediately avert his gaze in embarrassment.

The others, however, didn’t share his hesitation. Curiosity burned fiercely in their eyes.

"Sir Theo, how were you able to gain lower medium-level aura at such a young age?" Pavel asked with his hands clasped, as though he was talking to a respected senior.

Technically, Theo was a senior, just not within the academy. They were all in the same year.

"Our goal is to manifest aura one day as well. Only then will we be able to achieve our goals," Seris chimed in.

Before answering them, Theo grew curious himself.

"What are your goals, Sir Seris and Sir Pavel?" he asked, making both of them just look at him with a smile.

"I want to join a hunter team one day and help hunt down the outer devils, Sir Theo," Pavel said, fire burning in his eyes. Theo could see a passion there that couldn’t be denied.

"The forest near my town was burned down during a battle between a high-level tamer and a metal demon ten years ago. The land there eventually recovered from the scorched barrenness, but the big trees have never returned. What we lost almost destroyed our town completely."

The fire in his eyes only burned brighter as he spoke.

"I see." Theo nodded, feeling the guy’s passion almost contagious.

’Metal demons are what they call robots... So a robot attacked and burned their forest just ten years ago? Why haven’t I ever hear about it?’

"I am very sorry that happened to your forest, Sir Pavel. But why is there no news about it anywhere?" Theo asked bluntly. There was no point dancing around the topic.

This time, Pavel seemed to have gotten a little more comfortable with the conversation. He clicked his tongue with bitterness.

"It’s because anything related to the outer devils is always kept hidden from the masses, Sir Theo. They don’t want to spread widespread panic." He spoke, then bit his lips.

"Only those who suffer are the ones that know about their stories. And there are countless more..."

The conversation quickly took a dark turn, and silence lingered for a full minute.

"You are trying to manifest your aura for a very noble cause, Sir Pavel. I hope the benevolent artifact helps you achieve your goal soon," Theo said.

At the mention of the artifact, Pavel raised his gaze up. He lifted a finger to his lips and kissed it with closed eyes before returning to normal.

The world viewed the artifact as their god, but Theo didn’t feel anything about it.

"What about you, Sir Seris?" Theo asked, making the boy grow slightly embarrassed.

"My goal isn’t as noble, Sir Theo. I just want to become strong enough to give my family the luxuries I believe they deserve..." he admitted, worried that Theo might look down on him for his reason.

Darrian side-eyed Seris, and when he felt like things could take a bad turn, he kept a hand around his shoulder.

"Look at you, trying to sound so serious." He said with a wide grin.

Seris’s expression changed to an awkward laugh, though he could still see the look on his friend’s face.

"I can understand that, Sir Seris. I would do anything for my family too. And I see something noble behind your goal too, so don’t worry about it being too ordinary," Theo replied confidently.

The trio stared at Theo in utter shock, while Darian’s mouth hung open.

They had never seen a noble this down-to Earth, and they felt conflicted about it.