Iris’s breathing was growing heavily erratic, her fingernails digging painfully into the back of his hand.

He could literally smell the strange heat radiating off her skin.

Wait... this scent...

However before his mind could fully process the realization, his mana senses snapped his attention away.

Crunch. Crunch.

Heavy footsteps on the sand. Almost ten to twelve hostile students had silently emerged from the jungle’s edge, their weapons drawn as they completely surrounded the two of them on the isolated shore.

The second Lucian noticed the movement, he forcefully shoved all the unsettling thoughts about Iris to the back of his mind.

Grabbing her by the wrist he pulled her behind him.

"Stay behind me."

Iris didn’t argue. She simply stood there in absolute fascination, biting her lower lip as a deeply twisted, euphoric grin stretched across her flushed face.

Lucian cast a quick, sideways glance up at the hovering camera familiar.

If I just snatch all their flags right now, I’ll only have to jump around through portals with Iris until I finally corner Cassian.

He narrowed his eyes.

System, do you have any specific rewards if I take a different approach than what I’m thinking?

[Yeah. The more mental and physical energy you burn, the bigger the payout.]

A few seconds passed in heavy silence.

From the very beginning, Lucian absolutely hated showing off his power. Whenever he saw other students performing even slightly above average just to flex, he always thought the exact same thing: Is it really worth painting a massive target on your back just for a little bit of cheap attention?

He had a highly strategic, calculating mind. For eight long years, all he did was play the fool — mocking people while doing exactly what they expected him to do. Although after his memories returned, the truth became crystal clear: If you appear weak, people eventually stop viewing you as a serious threat. But the moment you display more ability than necessary, their jealousy, ego, and insecurities will actively start digging ditches in your path.

Despite the profound philosophy running through his head, a much darker, immediate thought was brewing underneath it all.

He stared dead at the armed students surrounding him. Slowly, he rolled his shoulders, then tilted his head until his neck gave a sharp crack.

Okay then, let’s do this... I’ve actually been wanting to try my hand at raw close-quarters combat to figure out these martial arts techniques. This is the perfect time for a live test.

"Should I hold back a little...?" he muttered under his breath.

As the words left his lips, a genuinely manic, bloodthirsty grin slowly stretched across his face.

"Attack!" a beefy student roared while breaking formation. He charged like a madman, closing the gap between him and the shoreline.

Lucian took a long breath

Not even going to try talking. Fine.

The exact moment the charging student crossed the five-meter mark, a tiny spatial rift snapped open directly beneath his feet, swallowing him whole in the blink of an eye. The rest of the attackers froze dead in their tracks. Everyone’s gaze instantly snapped upward toward a fading scream echoing from the sky.

Far behind Lucian, right in the middle of the deep ocean, the beefy guy plummeted from the clouds.

SPLASH! A massive geyser of seawater erupted, and sheer horror washed over the faces of the remaining students on the shore.

[ You have gained 80 FP]

"Don’t stop! he is just playing some cheap tricks!" someone yelled from the back, trying to rally the wavering group.

A faint, mocking smirk touched Lucian’s lips.

"Pfft... spot on. Come on, don’t hold back. Do exactly what your petty leader just said."

Hearing that, five students growled and lunged from the sides, while four charged straight from the front, leaving him no room to dodge.

With zero effort, Lucian opened a portal behind the guys rushing from the flank, instantly stepping through it and delivering a devastating sweeping strike to their legs.

CRACK!

Before their screams could even leave their throats, he grabbed them by their collars and hurled them like absolute trash into the other side-attackers. The entire group tangled together and crashed to the sand in a painful heap.

Lucian glanced forward. The remaining front-liners were diving straight for Iris. He thrust his hand out, opening a small portal right beside her waist, and yanked her backward in one smooth motion, pulling her flush against his chest.

Pressed against Lucian once again, Iris couldn’t stop the manic grin from stretching across her face.

"Bastard!"

This time, all of them lunged forward together.

While maintaining his composure, he only offered a cold smile.

"I guess, maybe I should go a little hard on you all..."

He opened another portal right behind Iris. Without even warning her, he gave her a gentle push on the stomach. She fell backward through the rift, instantly reappearing safely by the distant treeline, landing gracefully in a kneeling position, immediately cupping both of her heated cheeks in her hands as she slipped into her euphoric daydream again.

Aww... my love touched me... here, here, and here... Now I have no other choice left. I have to marry him. As soon as this is all over, I am going to marry him!

Back on the shore, Lucian was already exhausted. Not physically, or mentally — he was just completely drained by the utter annoyance of wasting his time.

He didn’t even bother moving from his spot, facing the rest of the charging swarm head-on.

A quick glance to his right — a lightning-fast triple high punch straight into their stomachs. Three guys gagged and spat saliva, dropping instantly.

Four rushed in from the side — a single, heavy side-kick was enough to smash all four of their skulls together in one go, leaving them completely unconscious.

For the one coming straight from the front, Lucian casually grabbed his ear and drove his knee straight into the poor guy’s mouth. The crunch of breaking teeth echoed clearly.

Seeing this, the last two guys couldn’t control their shaking.

"What, you’re giving up... now? I didn’t even use any kind of magic."

"M-Monster... what kind of monster are you...?"

"Come on, don’t say that to me when you guys were the ones ganging up on a single guy," he replied while waving his hand casually.

Seeing Lucian seemingly off-guard while talking, one of the trembling guys suddenly burst forward, thrusting his sword straight at him.

Lucian simply dodged sideways and caught the guy’s wrist in his grip.

"Come now. Didn’t you see I was talking to him?"

The guy, now hunched over, slowly looked up at him in terror. "I-I am s-sor—"

Without missing a beat, Lucian snapped his wrist.

"Aaaaaargh!"

The guy collapsed to the ground, writhing and groaning in agony.

Watching all this unfold, the last guy completely lost it, turned around, and simply ran for his life.