A few hours after the Practical Test began...
"Leon, so what are we going to do next?" Kennard asked with the same arrogant tone, but it was somehow softer than usual.
After all, Kennard really respected Leon and they were pretty close friends, it was also by Leon that he met the "love of his life"...
Currently, they had already taken the flag from the 12th team, but Leon as the leader, didn't seem to attack other teams anymore.
"Normally, we would go and attack the other teams, but now there's a variable on this test." Leon finally spoke.
"Matthew, he's simply too strong." He admitted.
"I'm not sure that even if we all attack as team, we can defeat him. Especially with his monstrous speed."
Hearing his words, the group frowned, but then Stacy stepped up.
"Then, how about we go attack the 9th group? We have their coordinated and even if Matthew appears, we can form a truce with them."
"And since, most of the people on the 9th group hate Matthew, it doesn't seem like they would team up with him to defeat us." She explained.
"T...that's a great idea, Stacy!" Leon cheerfully smiled at her idea.
Stacy simply smiled at his words and nodded her head.
"Then, we'll take off now." Leon announced.
After Leon spoke, nobody dared to say anything. After all, they all believed on their group leader.
Leon grabbed his sword from the ground and slowly, the group started walking towards the 9th group.
Meanwhile...
'I wonder where there are going next?' Matthew wondered as he looked at Leon's group.
Yup, he's been silently following them. Matthew is not a saint, so even if he needs to win doing despicable things, he'll easily do them.
His plan was simple; grab the flags that Leon's group conquered along with their own flag.
'Tsk... I shouldn't have used [Desperation] to press Kennard against the ground...' He sighed inwardly.
'However... One thing I know is that this new power that entered my Mana Circle, is certainly very strong...'
'Although the name isn't revealed, it should be something related... to something evil.'
'This energy is simply too destructive.'
As Matthew followed them, he finally noticed a faint smoke escaping to the sky.
'Huh? Who is so dumb to make a campfire? Is it a trap?'
"They're there!" Leon suddenly warned his group.
The group members immediately changed into a fighting stance as they moved along the bushes.
However, as one of the Leon's group members slowly crawled on the dirt, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw something terrifying.
BOOM!
His body slammed against a huge tree, coincidentally next to the tree Matthew was on.
'Phew... Smart, they used some kind trap magic. It should be something similar to a landmine considering the explosion.'
Under Matthew's eyes, the student's body that slammed against the tree slowly dissipated...
'That should be... safety magic? Our uniforms must have some kind of sensor that warns if we are extremely injured and if we are they should teleport us back.'
'Thinking about it... I remember the Principal mentioning that our uniforms seem to have a very good protective device that would save us from a very strong attack...'
'Technically, it should put the student that suffered the damage at 1 hp or something like that.'
"Fuck. They know we are here, prepare to fight!" Leon warned, bringing his sword out.
A faint blue aura enveloped his body as he directly dashed towards one of the 9th group's members.
His sword cut through the air directly slicing the student's neck, however, as the sword cut through his neck, the student simply dissipated into wisps.
'Oh? That's interesting...' Matthew remarked.
He was very interested in all kinds of magic, and just by gaining the trait [Mana Genius] that interest only increased even more.
Slowly, under Matthew's eyes, Leon's group easily subsided the 9th group and eventually got their flag.
However, Leon and Kennard who practically did everything were gasping from time to time.
They were very weak and tired.
'Heh... I'll steal your flags now.' Matthew smiled inwardly.
He got up from the tree and just to make sure that they would hear him, he enveloped his sword with mana and swung it at a tree.
The tree got split in half and slowly fell into the ground.
BAM!
"Shit." Leon cursed as his eyes landed on the tree.
Slowly, a figure silently walked with his sword pointed at the ground.
That same "figure" had a faint smirk on his face, and a silent blood-red aura seemed to be leaking out from his body.
"Oh?" The "figure" raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"Is this what I'm seeing? The Little Prince and that arrogant noble are both tired?"
"Hmn... I assume you guys fought the 9th team..." He spoke, as his eyes landed on the flag with the number 9.
He shook his head and sighed in disappointment.
"I thought I would have some fun fighting you all, but it seems that your group is quite weak."
"You can get this tired after fighting a weak team like the 9th team? There wasn't even one of the top 100 rankers in the first year."
"I know that this practical test only includes 240 students, so some people that have a lower ranker than the 100th aren't here...
"But, getting this tired to a team that doesn't even have a top 100th ranked?" Matthew repeated his words, just to mock their group.
"You're weaker than I thought." Matthew coldly remarked.
The pressure emanating from his body increased and slowly the students seemed to have lost the oxygen on their body.
Matthew's face only seemed more disappointed and he immediately deactivated his mana.
"Ugh... you guys really are weak. Give me the flag and I won't eliminate your group, Little Princey~" He mocked him with a teasing smile.
Both Leon and Kennard gritted their teeth after hearing his words, but before they could do any dumb scene, Stacy got up and directly approached Matthew.
She had that same confident aura with a faint golden light emanating from her body.
"Classmate Matthew." She spoke.
"?"
"How about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" Matthew crossed his arms, putting his blade on the ground.
"Don't eliminate our group."
"And what do I get in return? If I eliminate your group now, the rest of the practical test is easy peasy."
"I heard that you've been born with a mana circle. if you let us pass, I'll give you the artifact - Moonlight Ring."
As soon as her words reached his ears, a small smile formed on Matthew's lips.
He looked at Stacy for a moment, and sensing the burning gazes from both Kennard and Leon, an idea struck his mind.
He took a step closer to Stacy, gently grabbing her shoulders.
And under the confused gazes of everyone, he leaned his head closer.
"!!!"