The “brawl” on the field had already lasted for nearly ten minutes.
The Arcane Golem was incredibly tenacious.
But that was all it had going for it.
Its once smooth and sturdy metallic shell was now riddled with dents and craters, as if a hundred blacksmiths had taken turns pounding it with hammers.
The left arm guard had been forcibly torn off, and there was a huge dent in the joint of its right leg, causing its entire body to tilt awkwardly to one side, making its movements look utterly ridiculous.
As for the three Earth Elementals, though they had lost plenty of stones from their bodies, they remained full of vigor, swinging their fists with wild, untamed power.
One fell?
No problem—Leo snapped his fingers, and a new one would immediately climb out from the ground.
And it would be at full strength.
How do you even fight that?
You simply can’t.
This wasn’t a test anymore.
It was one-sided abuse.
The students in the stands had already gone from their initial shock to complete numbness.
Now, when they looked at those three Earth Elementals industriously dismantling the golem, there was even a hint of sympathy in their eyes.
Sympathy for the golem.
Too pitiful.
Truly too pitiful.
To run into such an unreasonable Summoner—talk about bad luck!
“Bang!”
Yet another heavy rock fist landed precisely on the already deformed knee of the Arcane Golem.
“Crack!”
A sickening sound of twisting metal rang out.
The golem’s already crooked right leg could no longer bear the weight, finally bending inward at a grotesque angle.
The massive steel body lost its last support and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Roar!”
Seeing this, the three Earth Elementals excitedly pounded their own chests, then surged forward to deliver an even more merciless beating to the fallen golem.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The dull thuds came down in a torrential barrage, even making the arena floor tremble, leaving a series of shallow pits behind.
On the main podium, the Instructor presiding over the test couldn’t stop the twitching at the corners of his mouth.
His heart was bleeding.
That was a Level 3 Arcane Golem! Renting just one from the Alchemist Association, not to mention the maintenance fees, cost a fortune!
And the arena itself—the floor was made from Obsidian Slabs mixed with Magic Crystal Powder.
The price to repair it would be sky-high!
If these “demolition crew” guys kept pounding away, he could kiss his bonus for the month goodbye!
“Enough! Enough!”
The Test Proctor finally couldn’t take it anymore.
He shot to his feet, amplifying his voice with a sound-enhancing spell as he shouted hoarsely into the arena, “The test is over! Stop! Quickly, stop!”
There was a trace of sobbing in his voice.
Leo, bored, dug at his ear and waved at the Earth Elementals who were still enthusiastically pounding away.
“Alright, alright, time to clock out.”
The three Earth Elementals reluctantly ceased their assault, transforming into streaks of yellow light before disappearing on the spot.
Only a hunk of metal, now completely unrecognizable and curled up on the ground, remained.
The entire arena was dead silent.
Every gaze slowly shifted from that heap of scrap metal to the man who, from start to finish, had his hands in his pockets and had barely moved an inch.
Now, the question was—
How should he be graded?
Say he cheated?
Summoning magic was legitimate magic; his summons were a part of his strength.
Say he was powerful?
But from start to finish, he hadn’t so much as lifted a finger.
This was unprecedented in the academy’s history.
While the crowd whispered and murmured among themselves, at the very center of the main podium, the Vice Dean—who had seemed indifferent to everything, eyes closed in repose—finally opened his eyes.
He stood up.
Instantly, the entire arena fell silent, everyone holding their breath, waiting for this supreme authority of the academy to deliver the final verdict.
The Vice Dean swept his gaze across the entire hall, finally settling on Leo.
His eyes held a complex and unfathomable light.
He cleared his throat, and his sonorous, clear voice—amplified by magic—reverberated through every corner of the arena.
“Leo.”
“Comprehensive Evaluation—”
He deliberately paused for dramatic effect, leaving everyone on edge.
“Outstanding!”
“Boom—!”
Those two words exploded among the crowd like a bomb!
The arena erupted!
“What? Outstanding?!”
“Are you kidding? That’s a whole grade higher than Miss Kristin and Junior Irina’s ‘Excellent’!”
“Why?! He just stood there and didn’t even move!”
“Exactly! This is unfair! He exploited a loophole!”
Voices of doubt rose in waves.
Outstanding—this was, in theory, the highest possible rating in the academy’s system, but it hadn’t been awarded in years.
It didn’t just represent exceptional combat skill or powerful magic, but a potential that went beyond the scope of a mere “student”—a potential of true strategic value!
And for a prince who’d been dethroned—why him?
Faced with a tidal wave of protests, the Vice Dean simply raised his hand, and miraculously, the commotion died down.
His expression was calm as ever. In a steady voice, he continued:
“There are three reasons.”
“First: Summoner. That title alone speaks volumes. He is the only Summoner to appear publicly in our Empire in the past twenty years. His strategic value needs no further explanation.”
“Second, he is able to simultaneously and precisely control three elemental creatures in coordinated battle. This proves he possesses unparalleled mental strength and multi-threaded control skills. Among everyone present, who dares claim they could cast and control three different spells at once—and make them work together flawlessly?”
The Vice Dean’s words silenced many of the students who had been clamoring before.
It’s already extremely difficult to multitask between two spells at once, let alone three—controlling three independent combat entities.
The sheer difficulty of it, when you really think about it, is enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
“As for the third point, and the most important—”
The Vice Dean’s voice suddenly rose, his gaze blazing as it locked onto Leo.
“Over a high-intensity battle that lasted ten minutes, he summoned Earth Elementals four times, possibly more. Yet even now, his breathing is steady and his magic reserves show no sign of depletion. There is only one explanation—his magic purity and total capacity far surpass anyone else present of his age group, and may even… surpass certain Instructors!”
These words struck everyone like a bolt of lightning.
The arena fell silent once more.
But this time, it was not because of confusion, but because of overwhelming shock.
So that’s how it is…
That ridiculous “gang beating” wasn’t exploiting a loophole at all.
It was a blatant, unrestrained show-off!
He was using the most direct, brute-force method to show everyone the depthless well of his magical power!
“That’s it? You all were exhausted after fighting for so long, and my mana bar didn’t even twitch.”
Now that they understood, everyone looked at Leo with entirely different eyes.
Contempt, pity, schadenfreude—all those emotions vanished.
In their place: awe, fear, and sudden enlightenment.
He wasn’t fighting—he was flexing!
In the crowd, Miss Kristin’s golden eyes shimmered with a brilliance never seen before.
She was now a hundred percent sure—this man was no useless waste.
He was a dragon lurking in the abyss!
A genius worth her, and even the entire Raphael Family behind her, going to any lengths to recruit!
Even more crucially, he was now a “lone wolf,” cast out by the royal family!
That meant bringing him in wouldn’t get them entangled with those annoying royals at all!
The perfect investment!
Kristin’s mind raced.
Also, this Leo seemed to have a close relationship with Irina.
If she could bring him in, maybe she could bundle Irina along as well?
Two birds with one stone!
Absolutely brilliant!
Only… why did Irina always reject her goodwill?
Was her sincerity not enough?
Or did Irina just not realize how rich her family really was?
Next tea party—she’d have to order even more expensive snacks.
As the Vice Dean’s praise grew ever higher, Leo stood in the center of the field, silently grumbling in his heart.
“Old man, please don’t jinx me, I’m begging you.”
He ranted internally.
“I really just want to be a salted fish and go home to be a landlord!”
Outstanding?
Great. Now he was famous throughout the academy.
From now on, there’d be countless eyes on him, making it impossible to catch a nap in class.
What a blunder.
A huge blunder.
If he’d known, he’d have just summoned a couple of Shadow Wolves, let them bite a few times, and settled for a ‘Medium’ or ‘Good’ rating.
Now, he’d made way too big a splash.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the stands, the students from noble families had all sorts of colorful expressions on their faces.
A few of them quietly retreated to the back of the crowd, pulling out their expensive Magic Communication Crystals.
A shocking message was about to be sent, via magical pulses, racing back to the mansions of the capital’s noble families.
——That fourth prince, once considered a laughingstock and exiled to a barren frontier,
He had returned.
And in a way no one could have ever imagined—with an opening hand like a royal flush.