Chapter 45: Shameless Thief
Draco’s expression remained completely neutral as he regarded the angry students. Their complaints were irrelevant to him.
The examination rules were clear about how cores could be claimed, and he had followed those rules perfectly.
"The cores belonged to whoever killed the beasts," he stated simply. "I killed the beasts."
His calm, matter-of-fact response only seemed to inflame their anger further.
His calm, matter-of-fact response only seemed to inflame their anger further, but before they could voice their protests or make any demands for compensation, Draco made a decision that would escalate the situation far beyond a simple disagreement over hunting rights.
Time to start taking cores from other students. I’ve been too passive.
The examination rules were crystal clear: students were permitted to claim cores and materials from their fellow competitors through non-lethal means. Draco had been focusing primarily on hunting beasts rather than exploiting this aspect of the competition, he had done this to allow the students go gain more cores for him to finally take later
They’ve clearly been working as a team for hours. Their combined core collection should be substantial.
"Hand over your examination storage rings," Draco stated with the same tone he had used moments before. "All of them."
The demand hit the D-Class students like a blow to the guts. The team leader, Marcus, actually took a step backward in shock before his expression shifted to outraged disbelief.
"Are you insane?" Marcus sputtered, his hand instinctively moving to protect his storage ring. "We’re not giving you anything! You already stole our kills and now you want our storage rings! I’ve never seen a more shameless thief!"
Sarah’s wind magic flared more intensely around her hands as her anger reached a boiling point. "You think you can just waltz in here and rob us? We’ve been working together all night and morning!"
The third team member, a stocky boy named Derek with earth manipulation abilities, moved to flank Draco’s position. "There are three of us and only one of you. Maybe you should reconsider who’s making demands here."
Their fourth teammate, a girl named Lisa with a minor healing talent, remained in the background but was clearly preparing to support her friends in whatever confrontation was about to unfold.
[Master, they don’t seem willing to cooperate! Should I get ready for another fight?]
"They’ve made their choice, Zephyr. Let’s demonstrate why that was a poor decision."
Draco’s perception immediately analyzed the tactical situation. Four D-Class students with a year of training and coordination versus him and Zephyr. Under normal circumstances, the numbers advantage would be significant. However, these were far from normal circumstances.
The power disparity is substantial. They have no idea what they’re actually facing.
Without warning, Draco activated both of his shared skills simultaneously. The familiar surge of enhanced speed and perception flooded through his system as Hyper-Sonic doubled his agility and Nano-Vision revealed every weakness in his opponents’ positioning.
Marcus attempted to coordinate their response. "Spread out! Don’t let him—"
His instruction was cut short as Draco moved with explosive speed that made his earlier demonstration against the bears look restrained.
The D-Class students had been expecting a challenging but manageable fight. What they got instead was a masterclass in the difference between theoretical training and real combat experience.
Draco closed the distance to Marcus before the team leader could finish his sentence. A precise strike to the solar plexus dropped the boy to his knees, gasping for air and completely incapacitated.
Sarah tried to respond with her wind magic, sending gusts of air that should have knocked Draco off balance or disrupted his movement. However, his enhanced agility allowed him to flow around her attacks like water, making her ranged abilities utterly ineffective.
Derek attempted to use his earth manipulation to create barriers and obstacles that would limit Draco’s mobility. Spikes of stone erupted from the ground where Draco had been standing, while walls of earth tried to block his approach routes.
Unfortunately for Derek, Nano-Vision allowed Draco to spot each attack. He was already moving away from danger zones before the attacks even manifested, making the earth manipulator’s efforts appear clumsy and predictable.
Draco’s counter-attack was swift and decisive. A carefully placed strike to Derek’s wrist forced him to drop his focus, while a follow-up blow to his temple sent him sprawling unconscious onto the rocky shore.
Lisa, realizing that her healing abilities were useless in direct combat, attempted to flee toward the tree line. However, Draco’s enhanced speed made escape impossible. He caught up to her within seconds, though he was careful to use only enough force to subdue rather than seriously injure.
Sarah, seeing her teammates defeated, made one desperate attempt to turn the tide. She channelled all her remaining mana into a massive wind blast designed to knock Draco into the lake.
The attack was her most powerful technique, and under normal circumstances, it would have been devastating. However, Draco’s reflexes allowed him to brace himself properly while his increased strength let him maintain his footing against the magical wind.
When the attack dissipated, Sarah found herself drained of mana and facing an opponent who appeared entirely unaffected by her best effort.
"Impossible," she whispered, her legs giving out as exhaustion and shock overwhelmed her.
"How are you this strong? You’re supposed to be a newly awakened beastmaster! You are not even using your beast!" She muttered in a hopeless tone, an expression of horror plastered on her face.
Draco ignored her ranting and continued.
Within less than two minutes, all four D-Class students were either unconscious or too exhausted to continue fighting. The engagement had been so one-sided that it barely qualified as actual combat.
Draco collected their examination storage rings, taking care to avoid causing any permanent injury during the process. The defeated students were breathing normally and would recover completely within a few minutes.
As he examined the contents of their rings, Draco was pleased to discover that his assessment had been correct. The team had been quite successful in their coordinated hunting efforts.
Twenty-three additional cores. Plus whatever herbs they managed to collect. This was definitely worth the effort.
Marcus began stirring as his consciousness returned, his eyes focusing on Draco with a mixture of fear and disbelief. "You... you can’t be this powerful. It’s not possible."
Sarah, still struggling to recover from her mana exhaustion, looked up at him with growing horror. "The academy will hear about this! You can’t just rob students and expect no consequences!"
"The examination rules explicitly permit claiming cores from other students through non-lethal means," Draco stated. "I followed those rules precisely. Your injuries are minor and temporary."
Derek, who was slowly regaining consciousness, attempted to sit up while holding his aching head. "This isn’t how the examination is supposed to work! Students are supposed to cooperate, not prey on each other!"
"That’s your interpretation. Mine is that this is a competition designed to identify the most capable students. I’m simply being more thorough in my approach."
Draco once again made them use their devices and exterminated them from the competition. Within moments an instructor will arrive to find another group eliminated.
As Draco prepared to continue his examination of the lake area, the defeated D-Class students watched his departure with expressions ranging from fear to hate.
Forty cores total now, not bad.
The approach was proving far more efficient than conservative hunting strategies.
[Master, you’re so much stronger than them! It almost wasn’t fair!]
"Fair isn’t the point, Zephyr. Let’s see what other opportunities this lake has to offer."
Draco began exploring the shoreline for additional targets...both beast and human.