Chapter 48: Above the Forest
"Hmph?... What method do you have?"
Ronan looked at them and answered while scratching his cheek.
"Well, rather than explaining it with words, should I show you instead?"
Alden nodded without hesitation, his eyes fixed on Ronan.
Ronan straightened his back as he looked at all three of them. Then, he leaned down and pressed his palm flat against the ground.
[Nature’s Magic: Earth Cleave!]
[Nature’s Magic: Anti-Gravity!]
Suddenly, the loud sound of the ground breaking could be heard beneath them. The earth trembled violently. The large chunk of ground where they stood separated from the forest floor and started to float in the air. It moved upward steadily, as if no gravity was restricting its movement.
Alden tried to balance himself, almost stumbling backward. Both Alicia and Syrene held themselves firmly, maintaining their footing with ease.
The floating expanse of earth finally stopped at a certain height. They now stood high above the tree canopies, which made it easier to see the overall layout of the vast forest below.
"Now we don’t have to worry about getting trapped or facing any magical beasts on the ground. We just have to go faster."
He said this while still bowing down on the floating earth. Sweat clung to his body due to the heavy mental stress of maintaining two simultaneous spells.
Alden stepped forward toward him and knelt down beside him.
"Don’t worry, I will take control from here."
Ronan looked at him, surprised by his sudden offer of help.
"No, it is okay. Maintaining this spell is not easy. It takes a heavy toll, and you also need a strong affinity for—wait, what?!"
He looked forward with a shocked expression. Alden channeled a similar spell, identical to his own. Though Alden’s spell lacked complex structure and was noticeably at a basic stage, it was still genuine Nature Magic. It was Ronan’s first time seeing someone other than himself using this rare magic. He felt genuinely surprised, especially after hearing the academy rumors about Alden being the weakest student.
’Wait—was he hiding his true power all this time? No... That is not possible. His own family cast him out because of his weakness. No one is dumb enough not to find out that he had been hiding such power. Well, I cannot come to a final conclusion just by seeing him use a basic spell. He might have just recently awakened it.’
Alden sat beside him, focusing on maintaining the spell. His eyes caught Ronan, who was analyzing him as if he had found something interesting.
{Hmph... Why are you not using the spell properly? I can see from your memories that you have already analyzed the exact detail of his spell...}
’Well, it is for safety reasons, I know my unpredictable luck is going to gain me unwanted attention, so I had to forcefully suppress the spell’s output. I know it is just a useless trick... But no good will come from showing him that I learned his unique spell in just a few minutes.’
{Hehe... He will definitely be shocked or maybe even have a heart attack if he finds out that his years of hard work were learned by you just by seeing it once or twice... What a pity. I really wanted to see that expression on his face.}
’...’
Alden ignored the inner voice and focused on the spell as he maintained the floating earth.
[Nature’s Magic: Wind Pressure!]
He used his Nature Magic to summon mana from the surrounding environment and cast a wind spell. As a strong wind coiled below the large piece of floating earth, the platform started to move forward, ignoring gravity entirely.
The heavy pressure on Ronan’s shoulders lessened. He finally sighed in relief. Now, he just had to focus on maintaining the Anti-Gravity spell.
As the land piece started to move, their hair blew back from the passing wind. Looking down at the forest below, they could see other students falling into traps, some groups fighting with each other’s teams, and others just running frantically to retrieve the flags.
As they flew across the distance, their gaze finally fell on the third designated spot. Thankfully, no one had reached that place yet, though many students were already running toward it on the ground.
Alden didn’t wait. He increased the wind pressure and boosted the speed to dive straight toward the location.
...
Edwin’s POV:
Just a few minutes ago, before Team 296 reached the second spot.
After getting their flag from the second spot, Edwin was preparing to lead his team—which included Sion, Leon, and Lusa—toward the next location.
Suddenly, the loud sound of footsteps neared the spot where they were currently standing.
Edwin looked back. Just as he expected, it was none other than Kaelian’s team entering the clearing.
"Oh, Edwin, it has been a while, dude."
A boy with bright violet hair and matching violet eyes entered along with his team, acting completely unaffected by the danger lurking in the forest. Behind him stood his team, including Sarah, Elara, and Lucas.
The golden-haired girl, Sarah, waved her hand from behind, holding a bright, excited smile.
Edwin waved back awkwardly.
"Ahem! So, it is nice to meet you. Now that we are in the middle of a test, let’s talk later. We have the next spot to find."
Kaelian’s eyes flicked toward Sion for a moment. Sion was wearing his academy suit, along with a double-layered shirt, a jacket, and a thick sweater all together. But he was still shivering violently. His face was pale white, as if he was standing in the middle of a blizzard instead of a warm forest.
"What happened to him? Why is he looking like that?" Kaelian asked.
Edwin slumped his shoulders in defeat while looking at Sion, who quickly turned his head away.
"Well, we don’t know. He has been like this since we departed from Thalvor City. It seems he might have caught a bad fever."
Kaelian narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but then nodded while stepping closer.
"By the way, where is Alicia? I haven’t seen her around anywhere."
Edwin looked at him, feeling surprised by the sudden, direct question.
"Well... I think they were behind everyone else."
Kaelian snorted while straightening his shoulders.
"It is all because of that guy. If he were not on her team, she would have been at the second spot for sure."
"Hmph? But I am also here..." Edwin muttered.
Kaelian smirked.
"Haha... Don’t worry, I am just saying."
His eyes then turned toward the back of the forest. His gaze narrowed with cold intent.
"Edwin, can you tell me what the deal is with this Alden guy?"
Edwin looked embarrassed by the sudden interrogation.
"Kaelian, we can talk about that later. We are in the middle of an exam, you know."
Kaelian’s eyes flicked toward him, meeting his gaze with heavy intent.
"I don’t care about this trial. Tell me what the deal is with that guy. I will not let you move if you don’t say anything."
Sarah’s eyes turned sharp at his forceful words. She stepped forward and interjected.
"Kaelian, you don’t have to discuss this stuff here. We have a test to complete too."
He ignored her words, stood right before Edwin, and asked again, trying to intimidate him.
"Are you going to answer?"
Edwin sighed, shaking his head. He replied while turning toward his team and waving his hand to signal them to move.
"We can talk later. Best of luck to your team."
Kaelian stared as Edwin tried to move back and started leading his team away, dismissing the question.
A cold smile tugged on Kaelian’s lips.
’So, it seems my suspicions were correct. That is why you wouldn’t answer whenever I pressed you.’
He looked at the tables where hundreds of flags were lying around the tall trees.
"Lucas, burn every other flag here."
"What?... Are you sure?" Lucas asked, hesitating.
Sarah’s eyes widened at his command.
"Wait, don’t do that. What about the other teams?"
Kaelian dismissed Sarah’s interjection completely and ordered him again.
"I said burn it!"
Without waiting any longer, Lucas conjured a fireball and shot it straight toward the wooden tables.
*BOOOM!*
As the fireball hit the tables, the fire started to spread rapidly to the other tables. The flags rested there started to burn away, leaving only black ashes.
Edwin looked back, sensing the sudden spell. His expression turned shocked.
"Wait—what are you doing, Kaelian?!"
Before he could continue, a dark shadow started to coat Kaelian’s hands and feet. Without waiting, he dashed toward Edwin. Within a second, he passed through a distance of several meters and punched forward, ready to land a heavy blow on Edwin’s stomach.
*BOOOOOM!*
A large blast echoed through the surroundings as debris flew away. Edwin’s team backed away due to the immense pressure, and thick dust filled the area.
Sarah stared at the dust-covered field. Her expression was calm, rather than worried.
Just as the dust cleared, what appeared behind it made both teams’ jaws drop.
Edwin stood there calmly. He blocked the punch with his bare hand. A blue light of telekinesis coated his arm, blocking Kaelian’s sudden attack as if it were nothing but the weak punch of a child.
Kaelian narrowed his eyes and stepped back as he pulled his hand away.
"Damn. It seems you have become stronger than you were before."
Edwin held his gaze unflinchingly and replied.
"Kaelian, you should know that I will treat you kindly as long as I consider you my friend. But if you cross the line again, I will not hesitate to stop holding myself back."
He spoke flatly as he turned around and walked toward his teammates. They started to leave the spot, departing to reach the next location.
Kaelian stood there for a few seconds, gritting his teeth. He spoke coldly.
"Let’s go. We are also leaving!"
He started to lead his team toward the next spot with fast steps, glancing one last time at the back of the forest.
’I will definitely make you pay the price, you ungrateful asshole!’