Chapter 102 Clashing Wills

On hearing this the crowd of students went silent. They were scared to speak out at all against the three robed kids who held status right now.

All of them knew who they were, popular prodigies from the northern side of the nation.

The staff wielder, Hashus. The rod wielder, Kang. Sword wielder, Zoldith.

On top of that, they also yearned to see the kid who bashed them get eliminated or bow down to a high-status noble to feed their egos.

Seeing this, Lyrian honestly couldn't care less. 'I wonder what this shrine is all about.' He thought to himself, looking at the large, enclosed metal object beside him.

At that moment, he saw Arthur tense up his body language and clench his fist. Glancing at his face for a split second, he caught a glimpse of worry etched all over it.

Silas, who had warned Cedric before, was slightly shaking. 'Cedric is a powerful role in our group… If he gets eliminated, will we make it?' He thought to himself nervously. On top of that, the two had also made a sort of bond together, albeit toxic.

After going through hardships, the bond between people strengthened, no matter how difficult they are to handle.

'Damn it, man! How could he get himself in this situation.' Han thought, also questioning what to do. He knew that no one in the group would be able to do anything if Kang, the boy threatening him Cedric were to actually try and eliminate him from the exam.

Hugo also wasn't happy either, 'Cedric… you fool.'

"So! What will it be?" Kang shouted. He had a slightly malicious smile on his face.

Cedric hadn't anticipated actually being eliminated from the exam. He wanted to fight the bastard right here but also sensed how his group was feeling behind him. Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

He put his head down for a moment to think, causing some nobles in the crowd to laugh slightly in a mocking way.

Lyrian sensed this tension amongst Arthur's crew, 'They don't want one of their group members to go huh…' He thought to himself, also thinking of what thoughts could come to a person's mind when their friend was in danger. Would logic win out? Or simply the thought of saving their friend?

For now, he decided to stay back from the situation. At the very least, all he wanted was to have as many people as possible for this final fight, which seemed to be a group fight when looking at the pathways leading to one place.

Cedric thought to himself about what to do for a while. He finally lifted his head and said, "Fin--" He cut himself off, glancing back to his tense teammates for only a moment before turning his head back to face Kang, "Fuck you!"

On saying this, Kang grabbed his rod from the ground and swung it at Cedric. This happened in under one second, like some sort of jump scare. Cedric didn't anticipate it, but to Kang, the consequences of such a decision were already written in stone.

The rod neared mere inches from slamming into Cedric's face and breaking all of the bones in his skull when suddenly all four of his teammates appeared in front of him.

Silas and Arthur blocked the rod with their wands while Han and Hugo went in for the kill, Han thrusting his blade forward toward the boy's neck as Hugo swung his axe toward his abdomen.

Seeing this happen in a split second, Kang's malicious smile widened as he dashed backward to avoid the attacks.

'Shit... this is what I didn't want to happen.' Lyrian thought to himself as he saw what was unfolding.

After dashing away, Kang was right next to his teammates. At once, they all dashed forward with their weapons in hand.

Their speed was so quick that Arthur's team couldn't react. Just as the robed examinees neared a few feet away, Lyrian and Leon suddenly appeared between both groups.

"Stop this now!" Lyrian said, blocking both Kang, the rod-wielding boy, and Hashus, the boy wielding the staff -- with his new blade.

Leon didn't speak, simply blocking Zoldith's sword, his eyes glowing brightly. He whispered under his breath, "Iron Maiden."

Just before his attack could land, Zoldith felt a dangerous aura and quickly backed off. "Che!" He exclaimed in irritation.

Being blocked by Lyrian, Hashus also backed off, not seeing a reason to try and go through him. However, Kang, his smile still prevalent, decided to push further.

"This peasant... hahaha! You don't know who I am!" He laughed whole heartily, finding joy in the situation as he pushed his rod forward in one swoop.

Lyrian's face adopted a serious expression, feeling the force of Kang's push. Using Enhance more to further boost the strength in his arm, he also pushed his blade forward -- throwing Kang suddenly off balance as he stumbled backward, the smile on his face becoming a confused frown.

Many gasps tore through the crowd as they saw this. "What the!? Did that kid just overpower Kang!?"

"Kang's the powerhouse of the three-robed ones! That kid, did he just get lucky?!" Another shouted in shock.

The three examinees prepared to launch another attack, a new obstacle in their way, but Lyrian yelled before they could lunge in, "I don't want to fight you, but if you are going to try and eliminate over 5 kids from this exam, I have to stop you." He said, swinging his sword to the side and Leon stood beside him.

"What?" Zoldith said, surprised at the tone this peasant was talking to him after what just happened.

"This upcoming exam challenge, It's a group challenge, right? Isn't that why you wanted to be the leader in the first place?" Lyrian said, thinking of no other logical possibility.

"Yes, and so what of it!?" Zoldith retorted.

"Then, we need as much manpower as possible. If you don't think so..." Lyrian paused as the people around got shocked at the tone he was talking in.

This tone was only normal for Lyrian since he couldn't care less about nobility. Leon and Alten were already used to it, but others were utterly shocked at the gall of the kid.

"Then I don't give a shit! I still won't let you take away 5 examinees from this challenge."