......

While Shin and the others were trapped inside the Academy Gymnasium, Shiella and her fellow prodigies of the same generation were currently gathered in an open field somewhere inside the academy.

Each of the seven continents had their respective term to call their brightest stars; 'Junior Monsters' of the Soaring Continent, 'Young Ghost' of the Lost Soul Continent, 'Supernovas' of the Sun-Moon Continent, 'Bright Feathers' of the Silver Wing Continent, 'Decastars' of the Clear Sky Continent, 'Marines' of the Deep Blue Continent, and 'Umbras' of the Dark Continent.

These young geniuses were regarded as equals since they never met each other before neither fought one another to test their strengths. But at this point in time, some of them were gathered together which made the atmosphere surrounding the place quite heavy.

Aside from the Soaring Continent, the other continents sent their respective stars to other countries to train under the most prestigious schools of the world.

In this regard, the Soaring Continent was at a disadvantage since they had the least number of prodigies compared to the other continents. And since Shiella killed the traitor of the Leon Tribe not long ago, they became even more shorthanded.

Right now, they only had two geniuses to contend against the other prodigies from the other continents, putting them in an awkward position and a great disadvantage compared to the other countries.

"Hehe! To think that these Junior Monsters are going to fight with each other and kill one of them on top of that, if it is not completely idiocy then I don't know what it is," said by one of the Supernovas in a mocking tone.

"Don't be rude, Jake. We are currently in their territory," said another Supernova beside him. His words were meant to rebuke his colleague, but given the skeptical tone that he had, it was pretty clear that he was also mocking Shiella and Mariel.

Meanwhile, there was another pair of individuals standing not far from them and were currently looking at the two girls with lustful eyes.

"Well, at least both of them are complete beauties. I guess my time here is not going to be a waste," said an Umbra while licking his lips and not caring whether Shiella and Mariel could hear him or not.

On the other hand, his partner was currently rubbing his palms with each other while also wearing a huge grin at the same time. "I guess choosing this continent is the right pick after all."

Despite having those disgusting eyes being directed at them, Shiella and Mariel were completely ignoring those two as if they never existed in the first place. These two beautiful ladies were already used to these kinds of looks that they were getting, so they already gained some immunity to ignore them.

As usual, Shiella was browsing the reports that were sent to her and currently reviewing them one by one. Meanwhile, Mariel was meditating, ignoring everything around her.

"Tsk! Idiots!" muttered Vincent, one of the Young Ghost of the Lost Soul Continent, when he saw the two Umbras sending lustful looks at the two ladies.

At the same time, his partner and cousin, Jerimiah was currently looking at the two Umbras with a deadly glare. "These lowlifes! How about I teach them a lesson?"

In the meantime, the two Decastars of the Clear Sky Continent were minding their own business and currently reading the information about their rivals.

Meanwhile, the respective representatives of the Deep Blue and Silver Wing Continents were already at edge with each other since they were already mortal enemies before they even arrived in this place; their countries already hated each other after all.

Not long after, David suddenly arrived at the meeting place and immediately said to the two Umbras threateningly. "Hey, you two trash from the Dark Continent! Pay attention to your eyes before I gauge them out."

Hearing his words, everyone immediately turned their heads towards him, especially the two Umbras who were wearing a sharp glare.

"Who dares to-…?"

But they immediately swallowed back the words that they wanted to say when they saw who the guy was talking to them.

"David Solomon," muttered heavily by one of the Umbras while gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

Seeing that look on the Umbra's face, David raised his chin a little to look down at the Umbra with squinted eyes before asking. "What? You want to give it a go, Liebert?"

Being provoked, the Umbra named Liebert immediately took a step forward, planning to attack David. But before he could even make a move, the other Umbra immediately blocked his path before saying. "Calm down Liebert, you should know why we are here."

"Get out of the way, Gendo! Let me teach this arrogant b*st*rd a lesson!" said Liebert with a hoarse voice while pushing the arm blocking his way.

Seeing that, David suddenly smirked before talking out his hands from his pocket. "Teach me a lesson? Let's see who is going to teach whom."

Unfortunately, someone suddenly appeared between the two opposing sides while laughing. "Hahaha! I see that you guys are quite eager to test each other's strengths. So, how about we already start your own entrance exam?"

This person was a middle-aged man in his early fifties with a lean yet muscular physique. He was grinning from ear to ear while sweeping his gaze at the young prodigies around him. And after assessing their respective strengths, he immediately added. "Well, I can't call it an entrance exam since all of you are already qualified to enter the academy."

He then trailed his words for a moment to shift his gaze between David and the two Umbras before continuing. "In a sense, it is just a way for us to see how we are going to categorize you for the special study program."

In the meantime, Shiella and the others were trying to hold their breaths as they were enduring the powerful pressure pressing at them. Especially for David and the two Umbras who had a greater pressure that was crushing on their bodies.

A moment later, the middle-aged man suddenly snapped with his fingers and increased the pressure that he was releasing.

"Ugh!"

The group immediately felt the increase of the pressure crushing at them and almost made them fall on their knees. Fortunately, they were fast enough to protect themselves by summoning their respective Internal Qi and Mental Energy.

"Oh~! As expected from the brightest stars of their generation. So, how about we step up a bit?" said the middle-aged man before increasing the pressure even more.

Bang!

"Ugh!"

Seeing that, Shiella immediately released her 'Natural Force' to protect herself and fought back the crushing pressure. And as the multicolored flame surrounded her body, she was able to stand straight on her feet.

At the same time, the others also did the same as they simultaneously summoned their respective 'Natural Force' and 'Spiritual Force' to ward off the pressure that was trying to crush them.

(Natural Force = Personal and higher form of Internal Qi. Spiritual Force = Personal and higher form of Mental Energy)

The middle-aged man maintained the pressure that he was releasing before waving his hand to remove it. "Alright! Since all of you are already warmed up, how about we proceed to the main event?"

Meanwhile, the group around him still refused to retrieve their respective 'Natural Force' and 'Spiritual Force', afraid that they might get ambushed by the crushing pressure once again.

And seeing that they remained quiet, the middle-aged man clapped his hand and continued. "Then I'll take your silence as you agreeing with me."

He then trailed his words for a moment to clear his throat before continuing. "First of all, I need you to create some space from each other since I don't want you to fight each other before I even give you the signal."

"Of course, it is better if you guys pair with your partners from the same country," he added after a moment before turning his gaze at David before saying. "And since our friend over here is a lone traveler with no partner, we invited one of our brightest students to join this little activity."

Right after he said those words, a young man suddenly appeared beside David which made the others raise their eyebrows due to his sudden appearance.

'This guy is quite strong,' thought David to himself after observing the young man beside him. Especially when he saw the long sword hanging on the latter's back. 'A Sword Practitioner? Interesting!'

In the meantime, Shiella and Mariel seemed to be quite familiar with the young man standing beside David given the deep frown that they had.

"I thought this guy is training overseas under the vice principal's supervision? He is already back?" whispered Mariel while pursing her lips a little.

Hearing that, Shiella could only shrug her shoulders before replying nonchalantly. "Well, he is already here, so it can only mean that he already completed the training."

"I wonder how strong he is now," muttered Mariel without removing her eyes from the young man.

On the other hand, Shiella suddenly giggled when she heard Mariel's mumbles. "Don't worry too much. Since he is sent over here by the academy, then that means he has the qualification to join us."

......