The next morning, Ash still felt a bit hesitant to practice again. Who knew if he might end up burning his room, or even the entire apartment, down?
It was his day off, but he had no idea how to spend it.
He wanted to return to the castle, but he couldn't just go without a reason, especially since Milo wouldn't accompany him.
In the end, he decided to head to the arena for a sparring session. Today, he planned to practice with one of his summoned creatures.
After getting ready, he walked to a nearby restaurant that served breakfast and ordered a few pieces of garlic bread and a bowl of corn soup.
As usual, Jagu stayed behind in the room, preferring not to go along with him.
'That creature is getting lazier and lazier,' Ash thought while chewing on his bread.
After feeling full, he made his way to The Unveilers' training arena.
Several people who recognized him as a member of Milo's elite team greeted him warmly. This was a stark contrast to how he had been dismissed and underestimated during his initial test.
He returned their greetings politely and approached Steven, who was manning the test registration desk.
"Good morning, Steve," he greeted.
"Hi, Ash. How are you? I heard you joined Milo's team. Impressive," Steven replied with a broad smile.
"Haha, yeah."
Steven chuckled. "You're amazing. Just joined, and you're already in the elite team."
"Ah, that—uh, well," Ash stumbled over his response, noticing the test participants looking at him with envy or admiration.
"Ugh... Steven, I'd like to borrow a field for practice. Is that possible?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away.
"Oh, of course," Steven replied with a laugh, "Go ahead. All members are free to use the training grounds."
"Alright, thank you," said Ash as he walked away, leaving Steven, who was busy talking about him to the test participants, and he could hear those as he departed.
With flushed ears, he walked towards an empty field.
Some regular members who were training gave him space and chose to watch him practice instead.
Fortunately, today the test examiner wasn't The Bull, so he avoided a second round of embarrassment.
Ash stood on the empty part of the field and took a deep breath.
He concentrated, and a Centaurion emerged from a glowing blue circle on his forehead.
Everyone watching gasped. Many had rarely, if ever, seen a Centaurion, and some even clapped.
With his face growing increasingly red, Ash tried to stay focused as he unsheathed his sword.
The Centurion stood at a towering height of about two and a half meters. His face was handsome and framed by long black hair. His broad chest was bare except for a necklace made of animal fangs.
In his hands, he gripped a long silver spear, matching the silvery-white color of his body fur.
Ash smirked at him, and the Centurion bent one knee and bowed to him.
He then gave him a mental command to assist in a sparring session.
The Centurion smiled and nodded in response.
They both took their stances, ready to attack.
Ash leapt into the air, swinging his sword downward toward the Centurion's head.
The Centurion effortlessly raised his hand, blocking Ash's strike with ease.
Rising his body and stood with both of his hind legs, he pushed against the sword which was locked with his spear, sending Ash's body and arms backward.
He flipped mid-air to regain his balance.
'Sh*t. Definitely a whole different level compared to regular humans,' he thought.
He leapt once more, this time sliding across the ground, swinging his sword in an attempt to slash at the Centaurion's legs.
The creature effortlessly lifted both his front legs, then quickly switched to lifting his hind legs.
Ash's attack struck nothing but empty air. Using his forelegs for balance, the Centaurion spun his body around, positioning his hind legs to deliver a powerful kick.
Ash gasped, there was no time to dodge.
His mind raced, and he swiftly activated his shield.
A transparent blue shield appeared before him, absorbing the Centaurion's kick with an ear-splitting bammmmm.
He was thrown backward, rolling on the ground, but managed to absorb the impact of the kick.
On one knee, he coughed, feeling the pressure left behind by the force of the attack.
The Centaurion simply stood there, watching him with its head slightly tilted to the side.
He raised one hand, signaling that he was fine.
With a faint smile, the Centaurion strode towards him, aiming his spear at Ash.
He quickly dodged, and the spear struck the ground next to him, leaving a gaping hole in the earth.
Without hesitation, Ash leapt high into the air, aiming a kick at the Centaurion's waist before he could pull back his spear. The Centaurion blocked Ash's kick with his free hand.
However, the kick was meaningless to the Centaurion.
Ash, feeling as though he had just kicked a boulder, cursed internally and immediately swung his sword towards the creature's chest.
The Centaurion once again blocked the strike with his spear, then spun the weapon skillfully, disarming him and sending his sword flying.
Chuckling in acknowledgment of his defeat, he commanded the Centaurion to return to the Grimoire.
The Centaurion bowed once more to him before transforming into blue light and retreating into the glowing circle on his forehead.
As he walked over to retrieve his sword, he was suddenly met with a roar of applause from the onlookers who had paused their own training to watch his sparring session.
Surprised, he glanced around the arena. Everyone, including those who had been administering the test and Steven, was clapping for him.
"Sh*t," he muttered with a grin, trying to stay cool.
Then he awkwardly made his way toward the exit, attempting to respond to the cheers with a hesitant, sheepish smile.
Finally, he managed to leave the arena and took a deep breath.
'I thought no one would care about my training earlier,' he mused, walking back to his apartment, lost in thought and grumbling.
'If I'm going to get applause like that every time I practice, how am I supposed to train in peace...'