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Clang! Clang! Clang!

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Metal sparks were kept flying in the air as Arthur's spear and Thomas' daggers clashed against each other.

This battle lasted longer than previous duels as both contenders refused to give even the smallest opening that would lead to them losing this battle.

But during the entire battle, some of the sharpest individuals among the spectators were able to notice that Arthur was somewhat holding his real strength back, seemingly waiting for his opponent to also showcase his real abilities.

But even after a long time, Thomas was still not showing any signs of revealing his real strength, which also made Arthur somewhat disappointed.

"It looks like you really don't have a plan to show us your real strength. Then I guess it is time to end all of this," said Arthur as he created some space between him and his opponent.

Then he pointed his spear forward and slightly lowered its head as he placed his left-hand palm above it. And not long after, the head of the spear was suddenly set ablaze with a multicolored flame as it sucked the Internal Qi surrounding Arthur.

Meanwhile, Thomas immediately held both of his daggers in front of him and infused them with his 'Death Qi'. He was actually planning to unleash his real power but he kept getting a signal from Jean not to use them.

"Tsk! You are telling me to endure this humiliation just because of that so-called mission," cursed Thomas while glaring at Jean who was looking at him sharply.

Given that, Thomas limited his powers to an acceptable level and channeled them on his daggers once again. And quickly after that, he suddenly transformed into a streak of purple light that charged towards Arthur who was still in the middle of channeling his Internal Qi to his spear.

Arthur stared at the incoming streak of light before making his move when it was about to reach his attack range.

He pulled the spear a little before thrusting it forward, releasing all of the accumulated Internal Qi from the tip of his spear. And not long after that energy was released, it transformed into a huge serpent dragon that was charging towards Thomas. It opened its mouth quite widely, seemingly planning to devour Arthur's opponent alive.

'True Nine Dragon Arts: Devouring Heaven'

But instead of avoiding it, Thomas jumped on the dragon's mouth while moving forward continuously. And during his advance, he surrounded himself with a much denser Death Qi to protect himself from the energy wave that was accompanying the golden dragon.

'Demon Slaying Method: Dark Path'

His defense was quite strong but it was still not enough to fully protect himself from the heat within the dragon's body.

Not long after, all of the energy from Arthur's attack was fully exhausted and Thomas came out from the tip of its tail.

But after he passed through it, he immediately came to a sudden halt and stood in front of Arthur where a spearhead was pointing right in front of his face.

With this, it was already clear who was the winner of the match. But instead of showing some enthusiasm about the result, Arthur was currently wearing a disappointed look on his face.

He stared at Thomas for a few moments before muttering with a soft voice. "Soldiers have honor, Knights follow codes, and Assassins stick to their creed – as for you, you are a disgrace of your creed."

After that, he retrieved his spear back and transformed it into a small cylindrical object once again before turning around, walking away.

Meanwhile, Thomas tightly clenched his hands, tightly gripping on his daggers while glaring at Arthur's back viciously. There was even a thought in his mind to talk down this arrogant young master right now. But right after that thought flashed inside his head, he immediately sensed Jean's piercing gaze coming from a distance and the sharp look that Professor Michael was giving him.

With that, he couldn't only accept the result unwillingly before walking back towards the place where he previously sat. And when he came back to his spot, he directly sat under the tree while staring at the ground.

Seeing that, Simone couldn't help but knit his brow before looking at Jean while asking. "Are you sure that he is going to be fine? He is not going to kill someone when we are not looking at him, isn't he?"

"Just leave him be, he will be fine," answered Jean in a nonchalant manner.

He then took a brief pause to give Thomas a sidelong glance before quite adding. "But I'm actually quite concerned that he will make some trouble later, so keep an eye on him for me."

"Tsk! Tsk! I don't want to babysit this guy, but I guess there is no other choice," complained Simone but still decided to comply with Jean's words.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Arthur also sat under a tree where his group was staying. He lazily leaned his back on the tree and placed both of his hands at the back of his head.

Seeing that, Shin who was sitting beside him suddenly smirked and said. "Disappointed for not having your fill? You should exchange blows with Leo later then."

Hearing that, Arthur gave Shin a sidelong glance before asking with a provoking tone. "How about we give it a go then? You still owe me quite a few matches, remember?"

Shin smiled at him and shook his head when he saw Arthur's bad mood. Unfortunately, he couldn't accept the challenge right now. "Even though I love to accept your offer, you and I know that it is impossible right now."

"I still have my own match later," he added as he turned his head towards Diel Hendrickson who was sitting in the distance.

After that, the other matches proceeded as planned. And just like the previous round of matches yesterday, there were a lot of draws among these battles. But at the same time, there was also a fair share of victories and defeats.

What was amazing in this was the battle where Jillian, Cloe, and Alice had participated. Not only did they win each of their matches, but they also did it dominantly. And now that they were not fighting with a group, their real battle capabilities were finally shown to everyone.

Jillian won one-sidedly; she didn't even use her family signature techniques since her opponent was not worthy enough. It was the same for Alice who wrecked her opponent brutally. It was unclear if she was venting her frustration on her opponent, but one thing was sure, she indeed won without showing much effort in the match.

From Shin's perspective, he sensed the idol seemed to be upset about something. And he suspected that it was because she didn't get paired with Cloe. This thought came to his mind since he noticed Alice glancing at Cloe before and after her match.

It might be a coincidence but his instincts were telling him that it wasn't the case. He was not sure if it was because of competition or something else.

His suspicions became even stronger when he compared Cloe's match that just took place right before Alice's.

At first glance, there was nothing special in that match but it was also the reason why Shin took notice of that particular duel; it was so ordinary that it didn't attract any attention from the others.

But compared to all of the matches, this duel between Cloe and her opponent was the fastest to come to an end. And what surprised Shin even more was when he saw Cloe defeat her opponent in a leisure fashion.

Too normal and too ordinary; no flashy moves nor any eye-catching skills. But even if that was the case, Shin felt that there was something hidden in that duel that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Hmm-… What is it?" muttered Shin as he looked at Cloe who was now merrily chatting with Lorraine.

"I also can't sense any special powers from her. There are no Bloodline Powers nor any signs of Special Physique – is it because of her Martial-Arts then? I wonder what method she is practicing," he mumbled without removing his gaze from her.

Sensing his gaze, Cloe suddenly turned her head at him before giving him a smile. Seeing that, he quickly smiled back at her in return.

Not long after, most of the schedules were done. There were only 2 matches left and they were the matches between the top 4 students in the point ranking list.

Shin Kinghad against Diel Hendrickson and Jean Camus against Dylan White – these matches were the most anticipated by everyone. Even the professors were putting a lot of attention on these matchups.

Shin didn't know whether it was on purpose that their matches were left or not, but he was sure that the academy really wanted to put a lot of importance on these particular matches. It was because he could sense a lot of strong presence hiding in the dark to watch them.

Some of them were the other professors of the academy while the others were their guests. Moreover, Shin was also sure that there were some even stronger experts that he couldn't sense.

Not long after, Professor Michael stood at the center of the battle arena after some discussion with the other professors who were overseeing this part of the exam alongside the principal.

Shin didn't know what they were discussing earlier, but after seeing the ugly expression that Professor Valor was making, he was pretty sure that it was something important and concerning.

Professor Michael swept his gaze at everyone for a moment before summoning Shin and the other three top rankers at the center of the open field.

The four were naturally confused about why they were summoned, but they didn't ask any questions and patiently waited for the professor to explain what was happening.

First, they saw Professor Michael breathing deeply before asking. "Due to some unexpected circumstances, we are planning to make some changes to the rules on your matches. But if all of you are against it, then we will respect your opinions and proceed on how we are planning to do it."

Hearing that, the four stayed silent for a moment as they were trying to guess what changes that the academy wanted to make. And not long after, each of them threw a quick glance at their rivals before falling into deep thought.

A few moments later, Diel finally raised his head and asked. "Can we ask what are the changes that you want first, Sir?"

Professor Michael hesitated for a moment before finally answering. "The Elders want the four of you to have a free-for-all battle."

...