Chapter 217: Young Group Of Talents Part 1

Cole activated his hardening Innate Ability that would also cause him to become wild and desire to battle, while the others also activated their Soul Spirits and prepared to use them.

Milo seemed to have purchased some other beast blood or acquired them through missions, as he used a transformation that Damian hadn't seen before.

It seemed to grant him great power, and he transformed into some sort Rhino Beast, which matched with the Rhino Charge and Iron Hammer Fist Skills that he learnt would allow him to unleash great power and speed.

Julia had formed an armour that coated her entire body and two short blades using her Water Creation Innate Ability, while Matilda's Innate Ability didn't change her appearance and couldn't be seen.

While Clay placed his palms on the ground and was ready to support the 4 of them who seemed just as capable as he was after preparing for battle.

"You guys just focus on fighting them and I can provide you guys support using my Soul Spirit that allows me to manipulate the ground and form things using it. I will also be by Damian's side to protect him, so do not worry," stated Clay.

He acted and spoke coldly and they all looked over to Damian to see whether they should trust him, and after seeing him nod his head, agreed to leave Damian's protection in his hands.

"Milo and Cole, take on the main defence and close combat. Matilda and Julia, I am relying on the two of you to deal the most damage and Clay will support all of you. Buy me some time to recover and I am sure you can handle them yourselves any way" 

Damian was trying to encourage them and help them stay calm, as they hadn't had the experiences that he had during his time away from the academy and during the escort mission.

However, their resolve and composure impressed him, while their power should be enough to buy him some time to recover as much as he could.

Kong, who was experiencing all the pain that Damian was and could tell what he was feeling and thinking, jumped to his side.

"What are you doing? I told you to keep your distance, it is too dangerous for you to reveal yourself and you also need to protect and keep those beast cores safe as they are my only opportunity of taking the Inner Student Test." 

Damian spoke in his mind to Kong, and he could understand what Kong was saying back despite it sounding like screeching in his mind.

Kong communicated that he wanted to lend his aid to Damian and his friends and it was clear that Damian was badly injured, but Damian couldn't allow that to happen, but gave him permission that he could intervene if one of them was about to die.

Their survival was the most important thing and the value of living couldn't be compared to the value of some beast cores and keeping the secret of Kong's true capabilities.

Damian believed in his friends and, although the mercenaries were frightening individuals and all crazy with unknown abilities, Damian's friends were also frightening individuals and shouldn't be underestimated.

They had come to his aid and Damian would never forget that, but he also saw it as an opportunity for them to fight a life or death battle, as only by experiencing such danger and pressure could they truly surpass their limits.

Milo and Cole stood at the front, closest to their opponents, with Julia and Matilda standing slightly behind them and on each of their sides, ready to attack from the sides.

Clay stood close to Damian, but had his alms on the ground and was ready to fight, while the others had also prepared themselves for battle.

The three mercenaries stood in front, with the two royal academy students, who were being forced to fight, stood close behind them.

Despite the dangerous situation they were in, Damian had no choice but to put his trust in his friends and knew that Kong would intervene if anyone was about to die, so began recovering his body and his energy as quickly as he could.

With Utsusu's help and after copying Clay's Innate Ability, Damian was able to recover at rapid rates since his energy density, energy absorption rate and body had all been greatly improved.

Cole's body had a silver sheen to it and since his Innate Ability caused him to become wild and unable to hold back his desire to fight, he charged straight in towards the mercenaries.

Milo made sure to keep up Cole's speed and was planning on fighting on his side and supporting him, but also quickly taking down one of the mercenaries so that they could have an advantage in numbers.

At that moment, Damian was unable to fight, so couldn't be counted as someone that was fighting with them, so it was 5 against 5.

The weakest links in the opponents' group were clearly the royal academy students, and that was exactly who they were aiming for first, hoping to quickly gain the upper hand.

While Damian had been diligently training and working hard, his friends hadn't sat around idly and had also had their own fair share of tortuous encounters and enlightenment.

Seeing how quickly Damian was progressing merely made them progress faster, and they had managed to keep up with him throughout, which amazed Clay, who had never expected that so many peerless talents could be friends.

Usually, those that were talented and capable preferred to stand alone at the top of the world and were never friendly, wanting to take on the world alone and act arrogantly.

Yet before him, Clay watched four incredibly talented individuals that he had never heard of or seen before, risk their lives to fight for another individual their age.

Clay had seen a few great talents and considered himself one as well, yet he had somehow come across 5 more and was also fighting on their side.

Everything that was happening was amazing to Clay and he couldn't help but be excited to observe them battle and see who comes out on top, despite the dangerous situation they were in.