A few weeks had gone by since Kai and the girl became friends, and soon after, lovers. It surprised them that Kai even became the girl's lover. They knew Kai didn't like nobles but he said she was different.
By the time they were lovers, Lycaon decided to reveal an important piece of information to everyone. The girl that Kai was dating was from a clan called "Shadowflare". They were a strong powerhouse in the Werewolf Empire and part of the reason why the vampires were struggling to push back the werewolves. Their signature magic was mainly fire and always were white flames and above.
Once everyone heard about her clan, they all started to treat her differently. Even if they were on par or more powerful than her.
It didn't go unnoticed by Kai but he chose to ignore it. He couldn't care who she was or what people were after her. All he knew was that she was someone special to him and he would kill for her, even if it was the Emperor.
At the beginning of their relationship, people would approach Kai and try to defeat him to ask for Serenity's hand in marriage. At first, Kai was angered by these duels but overtime, he started to have fun battling them. He got to face powerful opponents and learn about many different magical powers.
He wasn't becoming like Sebastian but he was just excited to see what abilities they had. He kept a journal of everyone's abilities and noted everything down to the slightest detail.
"Alright class! I'm sure some of you already know what's gonna happen but I'll have to say it again since we got new students. We'll be going with the 2nd years on their hunt for today. This is required for students to get a grasp on their future." Leo said.
Fifty students came walking into the combat hall and introduced themselves one by one. Some students came walking toward Serenity and kept asking her to cancel her marriage proposal between her and Kai.
Leo noticed this and approached the nobles that were antagonizing Serenity. As they saw him approaching them, they blocked his path. They didn't like that a human was commanding them around but they couldn't do anything to him.
The least they could do was disrupt his class and use their family name as a way to get out most of the trouble. But those thoughts of theirs were short lived as Leo didn't take lightly to disruptors.
Smack!
In an instant, each boy fell to the ground while holding the top of their head and abdomen.
"Are you alright, Miss Shadowflare?" Leo asked with respect.
"I am, Sir Leo."
"As for you troublemakers, you'll be cleaning every inch of this training hall and the weapons."
The boys groaned while everyone was giggling at them. Another reason why everyone was laughing was because those exact boys were the underlings of Serenity's betrothal.
A portal opened up and a strong magic pressure came through. It didn't surprise them that they were going to a high ranking area for the 2nd years but it did cause everyone to become nervous.
"You lower grades will be under my protection during this observation since I'm confident that these 2nd years are capable of defeating their opponents."
Everyone stepped through the portal and felt multiple gazes from different beasts. The moment Leo stepped through, the gazes disappeared and ruffling could be heard.
'Just how powerful is this human?' Lycaon began to question Leo's existence. 'He must be A-Rank or S-Rank to be able to scare off beasts. Hell, he's even stronger than our instructor before he went over to the human territory.'
Everyone got into groups while Leo stood from afar. He was able to conceal his presence and stalk. It made Lycaon wonder who exactly Leo was further.
After the groups were made, everyone walked in different directions, which made Lycaon think how Leo would be able to protect them, if the 2nd years encountered a beast stronger than them.
Lycaon also thought Leo said they would be under his protection and not the 2nd years but he decided to ignore it. He figured Leo was extremely fast to the point that he would be able to make it to them in time.
Roar!
Looking ahead, they saw a weird eagle-like beast with horns fly toward them. While it was charging, a student had already made his move as they lunged forward to engage in CQC(Close-Quarters-Combat).
Bang!
In terms of raw strength, the student won and slammed the beast into the ground while covering the beast with metal. They then began to bludgeon the beast until it could no longer breathe.
Another beast came forward and struck the student in the shoulder. The lower grade student thought they had gotten hurt and looked toward the 2nd years but they just stood there.
'Are they stupid? Obviously they have beast gear on, otherwise, he would've been dead right now.'
Bang!
Before the beast could take off to the sky with the student, a spear was thrown and pierced through the beast's head.
This time, a beast came from behind and targeted the lower grades students. As the beast was about to reach them, a boy spoke. "Kill it, Miranda."
Swoosh!
In front of their eyes, Miranda appeared with a bloodied spear and impaled the incoming beast. The speed surprised everyone as they hadn't seen someone move that fast. Of course, Lycaon and his friends weren't surprised by the speed as they saw faster.
"Don't worry, I'll ensure your safety." Miranda said.
She walked toward Gareth, who was frozen in fear, and patted his head. Feeling her touch and looking at her, Gareth's face lit up red as a tomato.
Her voice was melodic and soothing to Gareth. Her eyes were sapphire-blue and her chestnut curls framing her delicate features. Gareth couldn't help but admire her beauty. A hand touched his shoulder and gave him a slight tug.
"Now's not the time to admire her." Lycaon said, interrupting Gareth's thoughts.
Turning quickly, Lycaon released his purple flames as a claw in a random direction. As if she knew what he was attacking, Miranda lunged forward and thrusted her spear forward, killing a hidden beast.
Another beast came lunging from the trees as it was targeting Miranda's blind spot. Pulling his hand up, Gareth spoke. "Cyclone"
A cyclone of wind appeared around his arm and shot toward the beast. Upon impact, Gareth thought he had stopped the beast but it went through his attack, unfazed and undamaged.
A boy suddenly appeared above the beast with a longsword in hand. His blade was already in motion as it cut threw the beast like it was butter.
Once he landed on the ground, everyone got a look at him. Raven-black hair and sapphire-blue eyes.
"Are you alright, Miranda?" He asked, concerned.
"Yes, I'm alright." She replied.
"Thank you for your attempt, Gareth. You alerted me in time to save my cousin."
To Gareth, he thought they were a thing already but the boy's words proved him wrong. He didn't know what this feeling was but his heart was beating fast when he saw Miranda.
"Reynard, good save!" The leader of the group said.
Once they got to the area they wanted, he instructed everyone to go into groups of three. Although he knew the lower grade students were with them, he was confident enough that they would be safe. He himself was capable of going on his own but he still took a few students with.
"Blake, how's my younger sister doing with your friend? I managed to cancel her betrothal and it seems like my family is supporting her decision."
Surprised, Lycaon didn't think the Shadowflare clan would approve of their relationship since Kai was a commoner.
"They're doing great! If you exclude the suitors asking for her hand and requesting to fight Kai." Lycaon replied.
"I thought that might happen. We're approaching a couple of beasts so you guys watch from afar so in future, you'll know how to face multiple at the same time."
Using the ground as a pushing point, his speed increased and he was already above the beast he spoke of. With a touch of his hand, the beast lit up in black flames as it tried to drop and roll on the ground.
'It's useless to do that. Black flames are inextinguishable.'
A beast quickly lunged toward the leader and bared its teeth towards him. Moving his body slightly, he dodged the beast and threw a quick yet powerful kick to its ribs. Cracking could be heard as the beast went flying through the air.
Soon, five beasts appeared in front of the leader and stood there while growling at him. These beasts had wolf-like features and dragon-like features.
One of them lunged forward while the rest circled around him, waiting for him to dodge or attack their brethren. It wasn't unusual for a beast to have some intelligence such as these creatures but they were rare to run into.
Using his hand, he pushed the wolf to the side and saw another one lunge. Using its momentum, the leader pulled a short sword out and slid underneath the beast, splitting its stomach open.
A claw came toward him and struck him across the chest. Reacting almost immediately, he grabbed the beast's claw and released his black flames. Now only three beasts remained but this time, he could tell they were nervous to attack him.
"Fine. If you're not coming to me, then I'll come to you."
Pushing off the ground, he was in front of them and putting his hand together, he released a blast of flames like a flamethrower. One lunged forward and the leader reacted by spinning around the beast and doing an axe kick.
Bang!
"Now that leaves one." He stared at the last remaining one.
As he was approaching the beast, he felt a strong presence coming his way. Coming out from the bushes, a lizard-like beast with horns appeared. Its claws were as sharp as daggers and his mouth was like that of a dog.
Roar!
A shockwave from the roar paralyzed the last remaining beast as the new beast bisected the beast in half. After seeing its power, the leader took a defensive stance and waited for the beast to make a move.
The beast was quicker than he had thought as it appeared in front him and swung its claws for his head. Taking a step back, he pulled out a shield and was ready for a counterattack.
Thrusting its claws forward, the beast thought its claws were gonna break the shield but its claws were stuck in it. Using this moment, the leader lunged from the right of the shield and thrust his blade forward.
He managed to pierce the beast but it was still fast. With a swing, the beast had struck the leader and sent him flying a few meters away. The attack was powerful as his beast gear had cracks in it and blood was seeping through his mouth.
'This beast is at most half a rank or a whole rank ahead of me.' The leader.
"The rest of you run away and alert the others. I'll help Magnus." Lycaon instructed
Running forth, Lycaon pulled out his gauntlets and got into a defensive position.
"What are you doing? This beast is way out of your league!" Magnus shouted.
"I don't have time to explain but my name isn't Blake but Lycaon. I had my identity changed since I didn't want special treatment." Lycaon revealed.
"Your Highness, you must go! This lowly servant will rather die than let you die."
The beast lunged forward and thrusted its claws forward. Spinning to the side, Lycaon thought he had dodged the attack but a tail came swinging at him.
"Your family's stubbornness never ceases to amaze me"
Just as the tail was about to hit Lycaon, it slowed down a few inches from his body. The beast, surprised, focused its attention on Lycaon.
"You shouldn't look away from your opponent."
Behind the beast, Magnus pulled out a sword that was covered in black flames. Swinging it, it started to cut into the beast's tail.
Roar!
In retaliation, the beast swung its claws toward his head. Like last time, its claws seemed to have slowed down.
"Repulsive Red!"
A small red orb shot out of Lycaon's hand and slammed into the beast. The power behind it surprised Magnus as it went flying through a couple of trees.
"Let's get out of here!" Magnus shouted.