His frame was tall and strong, full of explosive power, and there was a sharp look between his brows.
Low voices sounded from the audience.
“That’s Karl, right? The young master’s luck is a bit rotten.”
“I heard that in the academy’s practical mission last month, he killed a level 2 magical beast all by himself.”
“That’s not all. I heard that not long ago, Karl passed the evaluation of the Royal Warrior Corps. He has already entered the official warrior rank.”
“I hope Karl goes easy on him. He should be mindful. Although the Wayne family’s young master skips class a lot, he isn’t a bad person. He’s much better than some other noble sons and daughters.”
At this time, the proctoring teacher was emphasizing the rules, but Lin Hong wasn’t really listening.
His attention was entirely on the boy opposite him.
Karl Stone.
This name held some impression in young Evan’s memories.
He was a relatively famous commoner student in the academy.
However, he wasn’t a cultist.
There was no aura of the Evil Race.
Lin Hong frowned.
That mysterious panel had clearly mentioned that cultists would appear in the practical assessment.
Therefore, he naturally assumed his opponent would be one.
But from the boy before him, Lin Hong did not sense any abnormal aura.
His aura was pure, and his gaze was clear.
He was a hot-blooded young warrior.
‘Was it because he used a disguise, and I can’t sense it since I can’t use much of my mental cultivation right now?’
‘Or is it someone else?’
” — Begin!”
The instructor gave the order, and Lin Hong snapped back to reality.
At the same time, a pale blue magical barrier lit up around the arena, isolating the inside from the outside.
The boy opposite him, Karl, moved. But he didn’t draw his sword immediately.
Instead, he raised his right hand, made a polite gesture, and spoke: “Wayne, please advise — “
Young Karl froze.
Three magical gadgets had flown in front of his face at some unknown time!
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted in the center of the arena.
Piercing firelight instantly swallowed Karl’s figure as a scorching airwave spread.
The entire venue fell silent.
Lin Hong: ?
‘Didn’t they say it started?’
‘Damn.’
Lin Hong felt a bit guilty, feeling that he had wronged the boy.
This was because he had habitually treated him like those bastards among his comrades back in his home universe during their daily sparring sessions — the ones who either didn’t say a word or had smiles on their faces before immediately unleashing a lethal wave of sword light.
This was a bit awkward.
The guy probably just wanted to exchange some pleasantries.
After a brief, dead silence, the spectator stands erupted into a noisy chatter filled with laughter.
“Pfft — ! The young master doesn’t have much martial virtue! Why start with an explosion?”
“You can’t say that. The instructor clearly shouted for us to begin.”
“Hahaha, Karl is probably stunned!”
The discussions buzzed.
Because the students’ daily schoolwork was heavy and stressful, this theatrical scene was a nice change of pace.
“Silence!”
The instructor responsible for this assessment, a middle-aged man with a short beard, shouted in a deep voice, though his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
He turned and quickly exchanged words with the two other instructors acting as referees: “Does this count as a foul?”
A younger instructor said hesitantly, “Usually, when students take the stage, they greet each other…”
“There is no rule stating they must exchange greetings,” the short-bearded instructor said, rubbing his brow as he felt a headache coming on.
“I shouted for them to begin, and he made his move after I finished.”
“But this is just too…”
The younger instructor was caught between laughter and tears.
“It is a bit unrefined.”
Another older female instructor shook her head, finding it quite amusing.
“But no rules were broken. Furthermore, this is a practical combat assessment. In a real fight, who would give you a chance to be polite?”
The short-bearded instructor sighed, straightened his back, and his voice spread through the amplification magic again: “The assessment continues!”
At this moment, on the stage, the fire and smoke gradually dissipated, and Karl Stone’s figure slowly emerged.
The academy-issue combat uniform on his body showed obvious scorch marks and damage, revealing some skin.
His hair was messy from the airwave, and his cheeks were stained with black soot.
But that was all. It could be seen that his reactions were very fast; at the last moment, he had erupted with combat aura to withstand the shock of the explosion.
His gaze met mine, looking a bit speechless and frustrated.
“Evan Wayne…” he said gloomily.
“My apologies!”
Lin Hong didn’t wait for him to finish and bowed decisively.
“I was too nervous just now. I am very sorry, Karl Stone.”
Karl was stunned for a moment.
He clearly hadn’t expected the son of a Duke to so frankly admit his mistake to a commoner student.
He grinned.
“It’s fine. In a real battlefield, the enemy won’t wait for me to bow. Shall we go again? Please advise.”
He had learned his lesson this time.
The moment his voice fell, his body was already leaning forward slightly, assuming a standard combat stance.
“Please advise,” Lin Hong replied with a nod.
He was quite interested; putting aside those gods and demons he had a grudge against, this was his first time clashing with a cultivator of this realm.
The next instant.
Whoosh!
Karl’s figure blurred. His speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, he had already reached Lin Hong.
He held a battle-axe in each hand, his right arm muscles bulging as he brought one down in a fierce cleave!
Clang!
The sharp sound of clashing metal erupted, and sparks flew in all directions!
The weapon Lin Hong had chosen was a short blade.
His reaction was fast, and he raised the blade to block the axe.
He immediately felt a massive force surge toward him, numbing both his arms.
The short blade almost flew out of his hand.
One could only say the difference in strength was too great.
It wasn’t a confrontation on the same level at all.
Swoosh!
Borrowing the force of the rebound, Lin Hong tapped his toes and retreated rapidly.
He dodged another slash by turning his body, then turned around and ran!
Wind Walk.
This was one of the few low-level martial techniques that young Evan had actually studied and mastered.
It involved circulating the combat aura energy one cultivated into the legs to gain a speed boost.
However, Lin Hong modified it slightly.
He used mental energy to draw in free-floating combat aura energy from the outside to bolster his legs, rather than consuming his own.
After all, how much combat aura could young Evan possibly have in reserve?
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Lin Hong’s speed skyrocketed.
He didn’t fight head-on at all, instead choosing to run at full speed around the edge of the arena.
*Whiz, whiz, whiz — *
At the same time, several magical gadgets were thrown out by him in succession.
Karl’s eyes narrowed.
His pursuit, which had just begun, came to an abrupt halt as he circulated his combat aura to protect himself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chase began!
Lin Hong jumped and dodged, absolutely refusing to engage Karl directly.
Once the distance closed, he immediately threw out various gadgets without hesitation.
Boom, boom, boom, boom — !!!
The sound of explosions was continuous, accompanied by various intense lights, smoke, and shockwaves.
For a while, the arena was incredibly lively with huge commotions.
The scene was quite chaotic for a time.
In the audience, the atmosphere was instantly ignited.
“My god, the young master was hiding his strength. He actually dodged Karl’s combo! If it were me, I would have been lying down after that first hit.”
“Wind Walk! To think it could be maintained for so long! How come I couldn’t do that when I practiced?”
“Incredible! I used to think the young master couldn’t do anything except skip class.”
At the instructors’ table, several instructors grew serious, putting down the pens they intended to use to record the results.
“Should I say he truly is the descendant of that Duke? His combat intuition is extraordinary,” one instructor remarked.
“Setting aside that Wind Walk, which was used almost without any time spent condensing combat aura, that throwing technique alone is remarkable. His choice of timing and landing points is perfectly grasped.”
“The young master has put in hard work. Doesn’t he rarely come to class? Could he have found another expert within the capital to teach him without our knowledge?”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Currently, on the arena, I used a slide to dodge a sharp air blade thrown by Karl.
Then, I turned my hand and threw several flash and smoke gadgets.
White light and smoke exploded, forcing young Karl to stop his footsteps again.
He crossed his axes, and his combat aura surged to resist the impact of the explosion.
“Cough, cough… Evan Wayne, you have too many of these items!”
Young Karl’s somewhat frustrated coughing sounded from within the smoke.
“Sorry about that. It’s a last resort since my foundation is too weak,” Lin Hong replied without blushing.
“You’ve been sprinting for so long; I can’t tell where your foundation is weak,” young Karl complained.
That was true.
Although young Evan was lazy, his body really wasn’t weak.
His bones were strong, and his blood energy was abundant.
This was thanks to the excellent conditions of the Wayne Duke’s residence.
He had been nourished by all kinds of ingredients since he was a child.
Furthermore, young Evan had stayed relatively self-disciplined, never indulging in wine or lust to empty his body.
Additionally, during Lin Hong’s more than ten years of residence in the spiritual sea, some mental energy had leaked out and passively nourished the body.
Although it was only a small portion, the accumulation of over ten years was not weak.
At this moment, Lin Hong was contemplating forfeiting.
He had already confirmed that this boy named Karl Stone didn’t have even a trace of the Evil Race’s aura.
He was just a hardworking and motivated young student, reaching his current level through his own sweat and talent.
Right now, the gap between this body and the other’s was clear.
Aside from stalling for time, he couldn’t win a frontal battle even if he gave it his all.
Continuing like this was meaningless and a waste of everyone’s time.
It was time to forfeit. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have the stamina to deal with any Evil Race members that might appear.
Of course, if there were actually no Evil Race members and that mysterious panel was giving a false report, then Lin Hong also knew a few choice words from his hometown.
He planned to give the mysterious panel in his mind a little taste of Zuan.
But that probably wouldn’t be necessary.
The moment Lin Hong stopped his footsteps and prepared to forfeit, a surge of killing intent suddenly appeared, locking onto him.
It didn’t come from young Karl behind him, nor did it come from the surrounding audience.
The killing intent came from — under the arena!