“No way! I can’t believe he pushed Clyde to this state!”

“Even though he’s been gone for two years, he may be even stronger than Clyde somehow!”

“No wonder they call him the Imperial Freak. Clyde is two years older than him and a genius on top of that, and yet he somehow possess the same strength.”

The students were in an uproar around the arena. It was difficult for them to accept that Clyde, the top junior mage of this generation, was being pushed back by someone that had been gone for two years.

He only studied for three years in the academy before he suddenly left, saying that he had already learned everything that a junior mage should learn. All the students thought he was insane, yet he has returned and surprised everyone by fighting on par with Clyde.

Among the crowd, the other top talents of this generation looked at Clyde with different expressions. Kylie was biting her teeth, praying that her older cousin would beat the Fourth Prince in order to boost the prestige of their family.

Wilsin simply stared, thinking that it was a good thing Shad did not care about the throne. He couldn’t believe how far Shad had come in just a few years.

When he left the academy, he was only an initial second class mage, but the strength he’d shown so far in this battle meant he was at the very least a peak 3rd class mage.

The difference between a peak mage and an initial mage of the same rank was extremely large. For example, Kylie was an initial 3rd class mage, and she had been effortlessly defeated by Wilsin, who was a late 3rd class mage.

By the same token, Wilsin had been easily overpowered by Clyde, who was a peak 3rd class mage.

Since no magical items or artifacts were allowed in these advancement exams, these differences in strength were normally the deciding factor between victory and defeat. Not only that, but it could take a long time to advance through these minor ranks within a tier.

A year and a half had passed since Clyde had broken through the third class mage, and yet he had only risen four minor ranks. Despite this seemingly slow speed, he was actually far ahead of his peers. Compared to most others, the speed that Clyde was able to advance was heaven defying.

Both the Dean and the Vice Dean were extremely surprised as well. They never expected Shad to become this strong. Based on his previous speed of cultivation, they knew that it was possible he had already broken through to a 3rd class mage, but they never expected him to catch up to Clyde.

‘Not yet, not yet! I have to win this fight no matter what!’ Clyde thought to himself ferociously.

Shad’s attitude was maddening. Throughout the entire fight, Shad showed no emotion. It was as if he wasn’t concerned about the battle at all. ‘If my father and brother knew that I was driven to this state in a magic battle, they would never forgive me. Even worse, it’s a core member of the Imperial family. I can’t lose!’

His father, Grand Duke Gomez, was very famous throughout the Empire. Due to their status as one of the four strongest Imperial Noble families of the Djage Empire, his family was more hierarchical than most of the other families. If he lost this fight against Shad, not only would it lower his family’s prestige, but he would also be punished despite having a gold level talent.

“Fourth Prince, it appears your ego has inflated after evading and blocking my 3rd tier magic spells,” said Clyde coldly.

Previously he had called Shad Little Prince, but after their initial exchange of spells he changed his form of address. It’s hard to blame him though, if Shad was little and managed to drive him to that state, then he would have been a shrimp.

“Then I formally invite your noble self to come deflate it,” answered Shad with a slight smile.

After hearing these words, Clyde was enraged even further. This was a complete slap in the face for him. He stopped talking and stared at Shad, his face becoming angrier by the second.

“Grandfather, Clyde should be able to beat the Fourth Prince, right?” Kylie asked the Vice Dean as she bit her lips. Contained within her voice was a slight trace of worry.

The Vice Dean didn’t immediately reply, unsure of how to respond. Deep down, he already knew the answer after witnessing Shad’s last magic spell.

The magic that was emanating from his body was not something that even a peak 3rd class mage should have.

On the surface, Shad and Clyde seemed to be evenly matched, but the Vice Dean knew that this wasn’t actually the case.

He quickly glanced at the Dean, who sat in the seat of honor. The old man looked back at him with a sly smile on his face as if he knew what the Vice Dean was thinking.

“This kid is a ferocious beast wearing a human skin,” murmured the Vice Dean as he returned his gaze to the arena. He spared a brief look of pity for Clyde before snapping his attention back onto Shad, anxious to see what would happen next.

Kylie clenched her fists, her fingers turning red from the pressure. Even though the Vice Dean did not answer the question directly, she could guess what his comment meant.

“This is the last one! If you can block this spell, then I will admit defeat, Shad Djage!” shouted Clyde wildly. Without giving Shad a chance to reply, he immediately began casting his next spell.

The Vice Dean could only helplessly shake his head as he watched the foolish boy beginning his final spell. He desperately wanted to stop the fight, but he could not without a valid reason.

While Clyde was chanting his spell, Shad simply stood there, as if he did not plan on casting anything. His sharp eyes carefully studied the magic power that Clyde was building up as his spell continued.

‘The amount of magic power in his body has drastically increased. Does he plan on using every ounce of his mana to cast that spell?’ thought Shad as he watched Clyde.

While everyone was focused on Clyde’s chanting, Shad quickly channeled a slight current of electricity throughout his body.

“Too much pride can really blind a bright individual,” whispered Shad before suddenly disappearing from where he stood. He reappeared directly in front of Clyde, who looked horrified, and grabbed him by the neck.

‘Too fast!’ thought Clyde wildly.

“Are you trying to cast a 4th tier magic spell while still being a 3rd class mage? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? Even if you survive the backlash, the mana deficiency would be enough to cripple you for life,” said Shad before he effortlessly threw Clyde out of the arena.

The entire audience, including the staff, watched the scene in utter disbelief.

Clyde was a peak 3rd class mage, and the top junior mage of the academy, yet he met the same fate as the previous two combatants who had fought against Shad.

Not only that, but Shad’s speed had somehow doubled in the last few minutes. Was he casting some spell they did not know about?

The title of Imperial Freak was not just for show, and the entire crowd watched him with both respect and fear.

Many of them did not respect Shad at all after his return from training, and were frightened of the future consequences. No one wanted a mage this powerful as an enemy.

“Truly unbelievable…” mumbled the Dean to himself as he witnessed the fight.

The Vice Dean gave Shad a grateful look for preventing Clyde from throwing away his future. Had he completed the 4th tier magic spell, then it would have completely ruined his mana pool, forcing him to live life as a cripple.

In the worst case scenario, then the backlash could even kill the mage. It was a huge taboo to cast spells from a tier above your own.

On the ground, Clyde’s tears left a bitter taste in his mouth. He could not believe that he let his anger get the best of him and tried to do something so foolish.

He didn’t feel shame for losing, since he knew none of his peers could stand their ground in the presence of such a foe, but he was deeply ashamed of the manner in which he had lost, as well as what he tried to do.

“I’ve lost,” Clyde lamented to the sky while laying on the ground. However, the sky did not provide any comfort for the young man’s tears.

edited by Eljako98.