Chapter 71 Mistake (2)

71 Mistake (2)

It was the fifth day of the academy examination.

The empty, serene vast Greenfield of the inner circle was filled with people traversing towards the center, their eyes flickering with resolute determination.

Most of the participants had already arrived at the inner circle, and those that still hadn't... were most likely already weeded out from the competition.

Throughout the entire inner circle, the greenfield was filled with marks of battle — evidence of multiple battles that took place in days prior.

Whether it was skirmishes between participants, team cooperation against golems, or fractured team unity.

In one of the checkmarks near the center of the inner circle, there was a golem that was destroyed into pieces.

"Finally,"

Lance muttered to himself. He raised his hand and looked at the shimmering, stone fragment twirling on his fingers.

After a day of traveling, he finally found most of the fragments, missing only the last piece. It wouldn't have been so fast if not for those 'monkeys' giving their fragments to him.

Inspired by Elias and his gang, Lance forcefully took the fragments of the other participants his team came across.

It made his efficiency in gathering the fragments soar. His status as a noble did help quite a bit in convincing the monkeys to give in—but even if they didn't, he was more or less willing to use his strength.

Although his actions would give him a terrible reputation, not that he cared one bit, those people should blame themselves for being weak.

Weak people had no right to voice an opinion. Lance fully believed in that. Thus, even if his reputation were to be tarnished, it wouldn't matter to him in the slightest.

A man shouldn't be influenced by the growling and thoughts of the common rabble.

Furthermore, as a Schultz, he was educated from a young age that not using one's strength was the height of foolishness.

Thinking of something, Lance's eyes flickered a cold gleam. He took out several stony fragments from his pocket.

Then, as though attracted to each other, the shimmering stone fragments floated and connected with each other, forming a stone tablet.

However, the stone tablet was not yet completed. In the middle, there was one fragment absent: the missing last fragment.

From what he had heard, the last fragment only appeared at the checkmarks at the center of the inner circle.

He was on his way there now.

Lance returned the stone tablet in his pocket. He turned around and looked at the people following behind him.

Aside from Yoru, there were two other participants that he accepted as subordinates. They were Andrea and Juris.

Andrea was a beautiful, green-haired sorcerer. She had a calm, yet attractive smile coupled with her curvy, sultry body.

Juris was a stern-looking, bald hunter. He had a slightly intimidating look, whilst two short swords hung behind his back.

Andrea and Juris were the ones who proved their worth to him back when he was recruiting allies at the borders yesterday.

They were the ones who managed to beat everyone and remain the last ones standing.

Although their strength was merely so-so in front of Lance's eyes, they were good enough for him. He had no expectations of them anyway.

For him, their only purpose was to follow his orders and serve as extra hands to open the checkmarks. As for other matters, he would handle it on his own.

Aside from himself, there was no other person worth relying and trusting on. Other people were deceitful, unreliable, and served nothing but annoyance.

This was also the main reason why he didn't want to form a team with Rain or Sumi, even if he acknowledged their strength.

They were strong, and thus would likely not listen to him. If he needed people by his side, they had to be subordinates who would follow his words and orders without a single complaint.

This was almost impossible to happen if his teammates were to be people of near equal strength to him.

Lance was arrogant. But he was not delusional. He knew only one thing — he was the only thing worth relying on in this world.

While he was silent, Yoru stepped forward and asked politely.

"Are we going to the center now, leader?"

"Yes."

Lance nodded. He gazed at Yoru while his eyes flickered with a strange gleam.

Yoru smiled slightly.

Lance didn't say anything more. He didn't bother to acknowledge Andrea and Juris as he turned around and continued forward.

He needed to be fast. Out of pride. It would be disgraceful if he ended up last or mediocre in this race to the academy.

Over a day of traveling, there were already a lot of participants in the inner circle. He had received a lot of information from them.

Supposedly, there were some strong teams that had formed and already gone to the core circle, such as the group led by Soulsblade Aram.

Surprisingly, however, there were some rumors of a lucky bastard who was in a team of four beautiful prodigious women.

Those women even included the likes of the heiress of Aethereal, the grand pupil of the Secret Magus, and the princess of the Truensoest empire itself.

There was even a description of the lucky bastard who managed to get into the team, his name was apparently Rain Violetstar.

That took Lance by slight surprise. He knew who the princess of Truensoest was, and they could be considered old acquaintances.

Aside from that, what surprised him even more was that there was no news or sighting of Elias and his terrifying gang.

In a split second, Rain arrived in front of that person and thrust his sword forward with deathly cold 09:45

eyes.

Lance figured they probably arrived at the academy already, considering the headstart advantage they had.

'It doesn't matter. My real goal isn't any of them...'

***

It didn't take long before they reached the center of the inner circle. They could even sight some participants, who turned away from their group in cautiousness.

There were a lot of checkmarks guarded by the golems at the center of the Inner Circle they tried their chances on.

Unfortunately, the missing last fragment continued to elude Lance and his group. It made him question his luck.

His doubt about his shitty luck only continued to rise when they suddenly encountered an unwelcome surprise.

While Lance and his team just finished unlocking a checkmark and getting another useless fragment they already had, a group walked up to them.

Normally, he could care less but he knew those people. It was a purple-haired man, along with four beautiful girls.

Rain Violetstar, Sumi Aethereal, Roshia Edeletchy, Elizabeth Truensoest, and one woman he didn't know.

Lance already felt his headache.

Behind him, Andrea couldn't help but click her tongue the moment she saw the group of beautiful women.

Juris, on the other hand, had a dirty, repugnant smile on his face as he looked at the women in the group.

Yoru seemed surprised, but nonetheless calm. It was what Lance appreciated about him, compared to the other two.

Then, the purple-haired man—Rain Violetstar—also met eyes with them. It was such a simple act, but it brought about a sudden cold akin to winter itself.

It was unknown what caused such a reaction, but Rain's eyes suddenly turned cold. He gripped his sword and immediately dashed towards them.

Multiple shouts echoed from the women in the group.

"Rain..?!"

"Violetstar?!"

Lance was shocked. He was about to take his spear but realized that he was not the target. It was the person beside him.

In a split second, Rain arrived in front of that person and thrust his sword forward with deathly cold eyes.

Yoru was dumbfounded, unable to react, and could only raise his hand to block the attack. Why was he attacked?