Lucian stepped forward and placed his palm firmly against the orb.

An overwhelmingly blinding light flashed through the chamber... and a moment later, the glowing text materialized, floating high above the orb.

[Stage 3: Force]

[Combat Power: 5,550]

The entire class was left utterly speechless.

While a combat power of 5,550 was considered just above average for the rest of students, it was his mana stage that completely shattered their reality — Force stage. Even for talented newbies, it usually took at least three grueling years just to break through from the first Stage Path to the second Stage Edge.

Yet, up until this exact moment, the whole class — no, the entire academy — had firmly believed that Lucian couldn’t even output enough mana to keep a simple torch lit for a few minutes. Seeing that of his results now left everyone paralyzed with shock.

How on earth did he gain so much power in such a ridiculously short amount of time?

However, there was no cockiness or arrogance on Lucian’s face this time. Having just witnessed the monstrous, overpowered stats of the true prodigies, he honestly wasn’t feeling all that great about his own numbers.

Watching from the front, Cassian was genuinely stunned. The corners of his lips twitched and curved upward into a strange smile before he forcefully suppressed it.

As Lucian calmly walked back down to his spot, the room erupted into fierce, heated murmurs.

"Did you see Valemont...?"

"Yeah... I knew it! from the very beginning! Valemont has just been playing the fool, pretending to be weak this whole time!"

"Right! That completely makes sense now... That has to be the real reason why the Ice Princess was so impressed by him!"

"Aww... Lucian looks so charming with those tired eyes..."

"Yeah, it looks like he isn’t very happy with his performance..."

"Hey—damn, since when did he start giving off such a cool vibe?"

Suddenly, cutting through the whispering class, two students stomped forward, their heavy footsteps radiating pure aggression.

"Oi, Valemont! Just what kind of pathetic trick do you think you’re playing?!" one of them barked.

"Exactly! There’s no way a weakling like you actually possesses that much mana—you damn well cheated to fake those stats, didn’t you?! Spit it out, what the hell did you really do up there?!"

Lucian recognized them with a single, tired glance. Marcus’s cronies.

Professor Mirelle immediately stepped forward.

"Boys, settle down—" But the two thugs completely ignored her, and the murmurs in the classroom only grew louder, fueling the tense atmosphere.

From behind, Elira stepped forward. A terrifying, suffocating bloodlust began to leak from her body. Her eyes were dead cold; she looked fully prepared to turn both of those boys into a bloody pulp right then and there. But just before she could move, Lucian raised two fingers, giving her a subtle, silent signal to stand down.

In the back, Seraphina watched the entire scene unfold, overly double confused by the mana and now this. She thought of moving.... However, witnessing the chillingly calm way Lucian stood his ground against those insolent cronies, she felt a sudden, sharp realization that her interference might be entirely redundant.

Standing off to the side, Cassian and Aria were silently watching as well. But Aria couldn’t just stand by. Giving Cassian a firm little push and urged him,

"Go, Cassian! Go help Lucian!"

Cassian frowned slightly. "But... didn’t you witness his stage? his glaring is obvious now — he’s more than capable of handling this situation on his own —"

"No, just go!" she insisted.

Forced by Aria’s pleading, Cassian finally clicked his tongue — Tsk — and stepped right between Lucian and the cronies.

"Hey, you two. Back off," Cassian warned, his tone sharp.

"If you’re so eager for a fight, how about I step in? Pick on someone your own size."

The two boys looked visibly annoyed at the golden-haired hero’s interference.

"Oi, Hero, don’t you dare get in the middle of this! We’re finally getting our revenge for Marcus today, and we’re taking every damn bit of it out on this bastard!"

Hearing this, Cassian’s eyes narrowed in irritation. He placed his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw the blade.

But suddenly, Lucian raised a hand toward Cassian.

No words. Just a single, cold, silent gesture to stop him.

Before Cassian could utter a single word, Lucian had already stepped past him.

In this academy Lucian never carried a sword. He always claimed he just preferred to remain ’weightless,’ but that was nothing more than a convenient excuse.

Actually the truth was simple, that his sword arts were absolute garbage, so carrying a heavy blade around was basically just a drain on his mental energy.

Stepping completely bare-handed into the center of the room, he casually lifted a hand and gestured toward the two thugs.

"So... you guys wanted a duel with me?"

Sensing the tension, the entire class immediately backed away, forming a large, wide circle around them to watch the impending 2-on-1 fight.

Every single pair of eyes was fixed to Lucian. The atmosphere was incredibly heavy. It felt as though this was the final, defining event — the grand finale that would finally put an end to his dark days as the academy’s favorite punching bag.

"Oi, don’t act so damn arrogant!" one of the boys spat venomously. "We all know exactly what you are — a top-tier plotter and a dirty cheater! You only got this far by using other people to do your dirty work!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Yeah!" the second one snarled, gripping his weapon tightly. "Let’s see how you weasel your way out of this one, bitch! We’re gonna humiliate you so badly in front of the whole class that you’ll pack your bags and leave this academy yourself!"

Lucian let out a long, exhausted sigh. Lazily gesturing them forward with his fingers, he mumbled, "Come on then... let’s just get this over with quickly."

Both boys turned beetroot red with absolute fury. Snarling like rabid dogs, they drew their blades and lunged at him simultaneously, aiming to crush him in a single strike.

But what happened next defied all logic.

[Zero Domain...]

[Time Pause...]

Every single movement in the room ground to an absolute halt. A perfect ten-second pause, exclusively for Lucian.

He casually walked forward, speaking aloud openly in the frozen silence. No more holding back. No more acting like a weakling in front of the class.

Lucian let out a long, weary sigh, his heavy footsteps echoing as he paced slowly around them.

"Honestly... I really don’t know why brainless idiots like you always seem to cross paths with me," he muttered, his voice laced with pure exhaustion.

"You guys just see someone acting a little weak, and you automatically assume you’re guaranteed an easy win, huh?"

He stopped behind them.

"Though, I guess in a way, this is a good thing. Ever since I enrolled in this damn academy, I’ve been working my ass off just trying to grow stronger. I haven’t actually tested my hands on a real student yet. And besides, you guys—"

He stared at their frozen, angry faces with exhausted eyes for two seconds, before lazily slumping his shoulders.

"Ah, whatever. What’s the point? This is a total waste of time."

Without another word, Whack! Whack! He delivered two lightning-fast, incredibly precise chops directly to the nape of their necks.

[Time Resume...]

The entire class was left paralyzed in disbelief.

One second, Lucian was standing in front of them. The very next second, he was standing completely calm behind the two boys. The thugs didn’t even have time to register the pain. Their eyes rolled back into their heads, turning completely white, before their bodies collapsed heavily to the floor in what felt like slow motion. Thud. Thud.

Nobody saw a thing. Nobody knew what had just happened. The entire room was left utterly dumbfounded.

Standing off to the side, Elira had no questions. Instead, a genuine, immensely prideful smile bloomed on her face. Lucian had worked such a profound magic on her that the old, cold ’Ice Princess’ Elira had completely vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, Cassian, Aria, Sera, and even the new lazy prodigy, Zeri Liora, all stared with wide eyes, sharing the exact same burning question in their minds:

’What the hell just happened here?!’

Suddenly, a rapid cascade of chimes rang in Lucian’s head.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Aria Lighthollow: 40 → 55

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Seraphina Ashenblade: 97 → 108

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Elira Frostveil: 94 → 105

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Zeri Liora: 0 → 10

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Lyra Windell: 40 → 47

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Selene Virel: 15 → 22

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Mireya Thorne: 25 → 35

[AFFECTION INCREASED] Elowen Faye: 70 → 75

Already bombarded by the relentless Ding! Ding! of affection increases echoing in his head, Lucian’s mind was reeling. But before he could even process the notifications, almost every girl in the class swarmed him. Forming a tight circle around him, they eagerly fired off questions one after another.

"Lucian!! What was that cool move?! I didn’t see a single thing! You were standing right there, and the next second, they were both on the floor!"

"OMG, Lucian, since when are you so fast?! That speed was completely unreal! Please tell us, is it some kind of secret technique?"

"Seriously, you shut them up completely! You looked so dashing, standing right behind them without even drawing a sword!"

"Hehe, that was so satisfying to watch! Lucian, will you teach me how to do that? It was so elegant and mysterious!"

"Wow, Lucian... those tired eyes paired with those insane moves... you’re seriously the biggest surprise of this entire class!"

The compliments just wouldn’t stop. Completely unused to this kind of sudden, suffocating popularity, Lucian instinctively raised both his hands in surrender, leaning back to create some distance.

"Come on, girls... personal space, please..."

Suddenly, a suffocating, freezing wave of bloodlust washed over the crowd, instantly silencing the girls and forcing stiff, wry smiles onto their faces.

The crowd immediately parted as Elira stepped forward. Without uttering a single word, she pridefully slipped her arm through Lucian’s, clinging tightly to his side.

She flashed a joyful, radiant smile at the surrounding girls, but the dark, silent message hidden behind that smile was crystal clear:

’Don’t forget to keep your distance, or I will bury you all alive.’

Swallowing hard, the girls hurriedly took several steps back, giving the pair a very wide berth.

Meanwhile, standing far in the back of the room, Seraphina watched the scene unfold. Wearing a completely unreadable expression, she quietly turned around and slipped out the classroom door.

No one noticed her leaving... and no one noticed either the thin, glassy layer of tears silently welling up in her eyes.