Chapter 97

Even someone like Iris Thorne, the proud and composed heiress of the number one family in New Veridia, couldn't help but show a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of avarice in her eyes. It was a fleeting, quickly suppressed emotion, but it was there. This alone showed just how incredibly precious and desirable the Aura Gathering Pill truly was.

Mr. Gordon took in all the students' greedy, excited expressions, a grim satisfaction in his own eyes. He then took out a datapad with a list of their names. “First, let me explain the rules for this practical trial. Then, those whose names I call will come up to the line to attack.” The students quickly perked up their ears, their earlier fear now mixed with an intense, competitive focus.

“The rules are simple,” he began. “Since you are all—well, most of you—fighting a real monster for the very first time, for this class, you only need to successfully release your psionic ability and have it hit the creature once. That will be considered a pass. I will then score you based on your performance—your courage, your form, and the power you exhibit.” He offered a thin smile. “Don’t worry, as long as your ability can actually hit it, you will basically pass.”

A student in the front raised his hand. “Then teacher, won’t those of us with close-combat abilities be at a massive disadvantage? Those elemental types can attack from a safe distance. For us to get close… isn't that too unfair?”

Mr. Gordon’s smile vanished. “Firstly, this world itself is unfair. The ability you awakened has destined your future combat style. You must learn to adapt or die. However, you are all still young. You will come into contact with these unfair, life-or-death situations again in the future.”

He then pointed to a bright red line painted on the training hall floor. “See that red line? The chain shackling the Direwolf is fifty meters long, and that red line is twenty meters away from its cage. A healthy Rank One, Level One Direwolf only needs one second to run twenty meters. Considering the crouching, hunting posture it adopts, we can extend that to two seconds.” He let that sink in. “I know that for you, two seconds is still far too short. Don’t worry,” he said, a cruel glint in his eye, “its four limbs have been broken by me beforehand and then crudely set. Its speed is greatly reduced. Running twenty meters will now take it about five seconds. You have a full six seconds to prepare and release your ability. How about it? That should be enough for you, right?”

A collective, horrified chill went through the students. Everyone fell silent.

“The students assigned to close quarters don't have to feel at a disadvantage either,” he continued. “I have already drugged that Direwolf with a special, high-grade tranquilizer. Its reaction speed is sluggish. And you are all at least Rank One, Level Six now, with bodies passively fortified by your Aura. It's estimated that even if this weakened Direwolf really bites you, it probably won't even be able to break your skin.”

After Mr. Gordon said this, the students began to whisper excitedly among themselves. “Really? Then this should be easy!” “I thought it would be very difficult. I didn’t expect the teacher to lower the difficulty so much for us.” “This is good. We can’t be given too difficult a challenge right from the start.”

Hearing their discussion, Mr. Gordon smiled grimly. “Don't relax either. Although this Direwolf has been drugged and crippled, it is still dangerous. When you are fighting it, you must pay attention to protecting yourselves and must not, for a second, be careless.” His words made the students fall into silence again.

“Alright,” Mr. Gordon said, holding up the datapad. “Next, the students whose names I call will come up to fight.”

“Leo Hardy!”

A boy walked out from the crowd and answered loudly, “Present!” He was known for being lazy in class, but his wood-type combat ability was strong enough to get him into Class One.

After Mr. Gordon released the lock on the cage, the Direwolf scrambled to its feet and charged. Leo Hardy, who had been boasting that he would put on a big show, took one look at the pouncing, snarling beast and was so scared that his legs went completely soft. He sat down on the ground with a plop, all thoughts of psionic abilities and combat forgotten. In the end, Mr. Gordon had to yank the iron chain, stopping the Direwolf just before its slobbering jaws could reach the terrified boy.

A wave of whispers and snickers went through the students. “That’s it? I thought he was so amazing.” “He’s usually so lazy he’s even forgotten how to release his own psionic ability.”

Hearing his classmates’ words, Leo Hardy's face turned a deep, shameful red, and he could only stumble to the back with his head down. Mr. Gordon shook his head in disappointment and keyed a “40” next to his name on the datapad.

“Ethan Atherton!”

“Present!” Ethan walked forward excitedly. Looking at the fierce Direwolf, he extended his left hand in a casual, beckoning gesture.

“Grrr!” Hearing Ethan’s calm voice, the Direwolf’s eyes glazed over for a moment. Deep in the darkness of its primal mind, it felt as if something ancient, something from the depths of its bloodline, was calling to it. It shook its massive head, enraged that it had been mesmerized by a mere human. It let out a furious roar and charged, a blur of grey fur and yellowed fangs.

However, just as the Direwolf was about to pounce, Ethan quickly raised his right leg and kicked out forcefully.

There was a sickening, wet crack.

The powerful, explosive force directly shattered the Direwolf's skull. Fresh, hot blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. The beast’s charge stopped instantly, its body collapsing heavily to the ground and skidding to a halt right at Ethan’s feet, a lifeless heap. The warm blood splattered all over Ethan's shirt and pants, catching him somewhat off guard.

Ethan looked down at his now-ruined clothes. “……”

“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath.

The surrounding students stared, their eyes wide, unable to believe what was happening. At first, they were just surprised that Ethan could face the beast without any fear. But when they saw the explosive, gory kill, many of their faces turned deathly pale. The coppery smell of blood filled the air, and some of the students with weaker psychological tolerance even started to vomit on the spot, the sound of their retching filling the now-silent training hall.

Ethan looked at his blood-soaked shirt with a helpless expression. “Teacher, I request a leave of absence to go home and change my clothes.”

Mr. Gordon nodded, a flicker of deep admiration in his eyes. He immediately approved the request. Ethan didn’t dawdle. He transformed into XLR8 and vanished in a blur, running home at the fastest speed possible.

It should be mentioned that Ethan had now, after his recent intensive training, broken through to Rank Two, Level Five. According to his own calculations, he now had six powerful alien forms that he had exposed to his inner circle: Heatblast, XLR8, Four Arms, Diamondhead, Blitzwolfer, and the colossal Way Big.