“Alright! Let's start from the first row on the left.”

Eliana's amplified voice reached us and a heavy silence floated in the air. A lot of the students were startled but everyone watched her with sparkling eyes.

‘Just how talented is she’ is what they seemed to be thinking.

I for one wasn’t all that impressed, what she had just used was a simple Special skill, meaning you could purchase it for a hefty price on the market…

The first student dragged his feet and stood face to face with Eliana, but because the distance between the stage and the audience was a bit too big, the students couldn’t hear anything from the two and they anxiously waited for the fight to begin.

Still, the fact that Eliana smiled through the whole process meant that the conversation wasn’t too pressing.

A few seconds passed and their expressions suddenly changed to more serious ones, everyone knew, that in the next moment; the fight would begin.

As if to prove us right, the boy’s mana flared as a yellow hue of light surrounded his body. It seemed he had chosen the best solution — to put everything into a single attack and showcase his power, though from the mana he emitted, I could tell his magic stat wasn’t that high.

He concentrated hard and in the next moment, two huge balls of fire hovered above his hands. They were roughly the size of an adult human head and seemed to glow like a raging flame. The moment Eliana saw this, she didn’t use her authority, instead she decided to show off.

She copied the same pose as the boy and two fireballs appeared in both her hands, though they were much smaller than the boy’s balls(fire), hers seemed to have an orange glow to them as if mimicking the sun itself.

This was probably another special skill she bought, yet she brandished it as if it were her own authority.

People with high mana capacity like to be wasteful.

Boom~!

In the next moment, the boy threw the two fireballs toward Eliana and she did the same a few seconds later. As if calculated, the two forces collided right in the middle as torrents of warm winds blew across the audience.

The students watched in awe as the fight ended.

Eliana smiled and said a few more words to the boy before handing her a red piece of paper. The student left and went back to his seat.

Red meant he was placed in the middle class.

Black was the lower class.

Then white was the high class.

The previous interaction continued for hours as more and more students went up to the stage and were given one of the colors, it went without saying that only a few of them had received the white paper but that wasn’t much of a surprise.

Instead, what seemed to frustrate everyone more was the fact that the Scarlet Arsenal had yet to use her authority, not even once. She just overpowered everyone with pure magic power and special skills, but even after battling each student for the past 2 hours, she didn’t seem fatigued at all.

How is this even fair?

A few more students went through till a familiar student made an appearance. Even with full knowledge of what would happen, I couldn't help but get excited as I saw him walking toward the stage.

Roran.

A boy with short hair and piercing red eyes reached the center stage. Eliana still smiled and engaged him in conversation before signaling to start.

A lot of the students here didn't use a sword, although it was considered the most effective in battle, a person with a good enough authority didn't really need to use it.

This was evident as only one of the four S-rankers actually used any weapons, to put it bluntly; they were very reliant on their authority.

Roran reached for the sword at his hip and pulled it out slowly. With the reassurance that Eliana wouldn't attack him first, he had all the time in the world to formulate a plan of action. His calm face studied Eliana’s every movement.

A few students in the coliseum had felt the sudden change in the atmosphere and were intently staring in anticipation.

Though it wasn’t notable, Roran moved his feet slowly forward while analyzing Eliana’s reactions. This wasn’t the demeanor of someone demonstrating his authority — he was going for the kill!

Swoosh~!

Roran completely disappeared from our sight as the sound of air getting sliced reverberated throughout the whole coliseum. The scene unfolding in front of us had everyone captivated.

The blade he had drawn just moments ago was coldly placed just an inch away from Eliana’s neck, but the Scarlet Arsenal wasn’t your regular customer. Around Roran, four swords that seemed to have materialized from thin air were menacingly pointing toward him as they excluded a red threatening aura.

The first one pointed to the top of his head, the second to his throat, the third to the back of his neck, and the final blade, as if the three weren’t enough was pointed to his heart.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. Not even the current Eliana should have been able to follow his speed, but because of her absurd gift, an automatic defense mechanism was triggered. If Roran’s attack had contained even the slightest bloodlust, he would be dead by now.

“H-he… he almost won!?”

“He’s quick! Did you see what happened!?”

“Who’s that guy?”

The students finally voiced their thoughts as they cheered for Roran who was the first to push Eliana to this point. For the first time since the exam started, she had finally used her authority, not even to attack but to defend herself from death — it was an incredible display of power that would become the talk of the school for a very long time.

The two in question looked at each other for a while but Roran was the first to give in as he withdrew his sword and placed it back into its sheath. It was only then did Eliana let out a smile and handed a white paper to Roran who swiftly walked away right afterward.

Between individuals in a realm of their own, no advice could be given to either side.

Ten years into the future, Roran would become the fastest in the world, during battle, his speed alone would transcend even above S-rank due to his broken-like authority.

The match ended, but all the matches after such a sight were nothing but pointless entertainment. As the last few students were about done, it was finally my turn to fight.

The long hours watching Eliana fight had given me some time to think about my future.

To become stronger, I would inadvertently need to compete with the higher-ranked students, but at the same time, showing off the extent of my powers would put me in the spotlight of very dangerous individuals worldwide.

But — I am Lily’s big brother.

I could use my privilege as her blood family to gain some indirect protection through the Dragnok family. With that, I would be able to work in the shadows to direct the world to a better tomorrow.

As I went down the stairs, the students around were still occupied with what had just happened with Roran and were still talking among themselves. Ignoring this, I swiftly walked to the stage and faced Eliana.

The moment I saw her, a painful memory surfaced to mind as the sight of the Scarlet Arsenal being beheaded by the Evil God reached my mind. I closed my eyes and cleared the thought as I approached her.

“Hey, you must be the last one. Ian, right?”

She gave a cheerful smile as she asked me. To someone who didn’t know her, they might have thought she was faking it, but this person here really enjoyed guiding every single student and was really passionate about it. As she called out my name, I acted surprised as I asked,

“You know me?”

“Ah, that’s right, the word hasn’t spread much huh? You are Lily’s big brother right?”

She gave a wink as if it was safe for me to admit it, but I simply shrugged and nodded my head. Instead, I was more concerned about the 5 swords floating above her head as if they had a mind of their own.

After the ‘incident’ with Roran, she had kept 5 swords hovering above her just in case something unexpected happened. I was glad she was actively learning from her mistakes even in an environment where she was meant to be the teacher.

From time to time, she would also be the one to initiate attacks to test the student’s battle senses. When she did this to me in the last iteration, I almost got brutally injured because she was so bad at holding back when using her authority.

“Now, show me what you got. Ian.”

She edged as she took up her usual natural stance. As a long-range fighter, she didn’t need a fancy stance to begin a fight. Just a comfortable stance that gave her a natural feel of the mana around her was enough to prepare for battle.

She was unlike me, who reached to the sword on my hip and unsheathed it. Though my authority had nothing to do with swords, it would be impossible to fight without one.

What was important in my case was multi-casting.

First, I activated [Time perception] in my mind and the world around me started to slow down. Since I had adjusted it to suit my mana reserves, it wasn’t as slowed down as one might have thought.

With that, I kicked the ground and marched forward in a straight and predictable path toward Eliana.

At the same time, I activated [Future Sight] and focused on the swords hovering above her. As I got closer, an afterimage suddenly appeared and one of the swords stopped a few inches away from my throat.

So far so good, but will my body be able to keep up?

I prepared to stop as I simultaneously deactivated [Time perception] and [Future sight] while activating [Recall] right afterward.

A clear image of the sword’s path was memorized in my head. With this, I finally took my gamble and activated [Object perception] on my hand and directed it forward with the right timing.

Kwang~!

The sound of steel against steel reverberated as a shockwave was produced on impact with Eliana’s sword stabbing my own and pushing me a step back, but I stood firm and glanced toward Eliana. Her eyes and mouth widened in surprise.

It was funny because I had taken advantage of the fact she would try and stop it at my throat and countered it when the momentum had dropped significantly.

The result was the illusion of me blocking her surprise attack.

I didn’t wait for a reaction and quickly cast [Object perception] on her flying sword — making it almost freeze in mid-air. I then kicked the ground and rushed toward her once more while activating [Time perception] to slow the world down.

In this state, I quickly reached a new conclusion.

This won’t do.

I switched tactics right afterward and instead of continuing forward, I channeled a large amount of mana into my body and sword then jumped and twisted mid-air. I then used the momentum to throw the sword toward Eliana, using [Object Perception] to accelerate it as fast as my mana could go.

Kwang~!

The plan worked a little too well.

The 4 swords above her head moved quickly and blocked the sword, but as if nothing was there, my sword went right through them and pierced through her shoulder.

Funnily enough, it wasn’t what I was aiming for.

In my book, Eliana was an absolute monster, which was why the attack I threw was aimed directly at her heart, but this monster actually avoided it.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not like I am trying to kill her or anything.

Using [Time perception], I was able to catch what happened right before impact.

A small shield had materialized just next to her chest, with the goal not of blocking but deflecting the sword away from any vitals. It was too calculated to be called a reaction from Eliana but likely the work of one of her unique skills.

The result was the scene in front of me.

A bloody Eliana stared at me with widened eyes, as if her brain couldn’t understand what was happening. I got goosebumps when our eyes met and a very bad feeling came over me. It was then that I started to hear the voices around me.

“He… he won!?”

“What the hell was that!?”

The crowd was also in a daze as surprised shouts resounded from the audience. My heart started to beat faster.

Maybe this was a bad idea?

Such thoughts started to reach my mind as I subconsciously started to take a few steps back.

Why you ask?

A countless number of weapons materialized in the air above Eliana’s head.

A dangerous red hue surrounded each of them as they all pointed in one direction.

Spears, swords, knives, any and every weapon with a sharp point hovered above her head as they all pointed toward me.

A scary expression replaced her shocked face as veins popped on her head.

Shit!? This bitch!!

Without my own input, a sudden image of the next 0.5 seconds entered my eyes. Multiple weapons went right through me. My head, chest, legs, hands, and every other part of my body would be impaled in the next second.

My mind went blank as one curse escaped my mouth.

“Fuck!”

I tripped over my legs and fell on my butt as I looked at the ensuing onslaught.

Boom~!

The cracking sound of multiple objects breaking the sound barrier reverberated as my mind went blank and my vision blurred while my body shut down completely.

---

A few seconds ago.

Kwang~!

The students turned their heads in surprise as a lone student stood face to face with one of the professors, the Scarlet Arsenal no less.

However, what unfolded in front of them questioned their whole beliefs. All of the students had already fought her, so they were well aware of how strong she was, which was why the scene they were looking at was incomprehensible.

Blood dripped to the ground from the sword that had impaled the professor’s shoulder, and on the other side, the ordinary-looking student with short black hair and green eyes looked toward the professor with a frown.

Some of the stronger students sensed it earlier, but the ordinary students who were unfamiliar with the strange chills they were feeling, started to look at each other with confused gazes.

“Haah… Haah.”

”S-shit!”

As for the more skilled students, a chilling bloodlust grabbed onto their hearts and as if the air in the atmosphere had suddenly disappeared, they began to pant heavily as adrenalin pumped into their bodies.

Even with all that, they still couldn’t move.

Everyone sat in their seats as they watched the unfolding scene in a daze.

One second, hundreds of menacing weapons appeared above the Scarlet Arsenal’s head and in the next second, a deafening sound of air cracking followed by a huge boom reverberated throughout the whole coliseum.

BOOM~!

A cloud of dust emerged from where the boy was standing and debris from the floor flew in all directions. Thankfully, the students were far enough for the debris to even reach them, but at that moment, a sudden realization hit them.

‘That guy is dead.’

They swallowed hard as they waited for the smoke dust to clear and began to think of the brutal state the student’s body would be in.

However, a more confusing scene reached their eyes. As the smoke cleared, bits and pieces of the weapons could be seen to have penetrated deep into the earth and the area around was mostly destroyed, but when the smoke dust finally cleared, another figure was standing there.

Not the student from before, but a man with light blue hair and blue eyes that complemented it.

However, upon closer inspection, the student from earlier could be seen patched on the man’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

The man wasn’t one of the Eight professors they had seen just a few hours ago, but a completely different man who also wore a similar fit — a blue suit and a blue overcoat.

Despite this, everyone in the coliseum knew exactly who he was.

“Headmaster!?”

“It’s headmaster Lloyd!”

As if the air from earlier completely disappeared, the students suddenly felt lax and started to shout in joy that the rampaging had stopped. It took them a moment to also realize the amazing scene unfolding next to the headmaster.

A few hundred weapons that hadn’t touched the ground, no — that hadn’t been allowed to touch the ground hovered in the air as if they had hit invisible barriers.

Even from a single glance, it didn’t feel like a single barrier was stopping them as some of them were stopped much closer while others stopped a few meters away.

Even the Scarlet Arsenal was now staring at the scene in absolute shock, it didn’t take long for the shock to turn to fear the moment the man’s blue eyes landed on her. Her body trembled violently as a tiny voice escaped her mouth,

“I-it.. was j-just.. a p-prank?”

The headmaster sighed at her incredible answer and shook his head in disapproval.

Unbeknownst to anyone present, a devious voice escaped the headmaster’s mouth right afterward as he looked at the brat passed out on his shoulders.

“Mmh. Who’s this little monster…”

The sleeping Ian hadn’t heard the man’s comment, but because of what he had just done, the future he had sought to change was already changing at this very moment.

The ripple of his actions would be felt throughout the whole world for a few years to come.