"Hmm, judging by the speed, the flying card must be of platinum grade, quite rich, eh. And they seemed like they were going to pass this place."
At first, he thought they might be the Arcana Masters who were also looking for the flower and didn't place much attention and shifted it towards the wild beasts that are nearby the shores of the lake. They looked something similar to that of a deer but smaller in size and their curved horns were as short as an average adult man's index finger.
Despite sensing a human's presence, they were peacefully drinking water. It explains that not all wild beasts are against humans, at least at level-1 region. Maybe, this is why this lower region is often filled with civilian tourists.
"Okay, let's try to locate that Ruby-Blossom. Since it constantly absorbs the natural energy, maybe, I can try it by slowly eliminating the other trees."
Little by little, as he was trying to locate the flower through aura sensing, all of a sudden, he sensed those powerful human auras stopped, right above him.
He stopped the aura sensing and opened his eyes and raised his head.
There was a translucent flying card floating in the sky, a couple of hundred meters above. Three Arcana masters are looking at him. Azzy's eyes met them, or rather, the girl standing on the right. She appeared familiar to him, especially her purple eyes. "I saw her somewhere. Where?" He wondered as the flying card is descending.
"It's that kid, you met last year. The princess of the Magnolis family. You even battled her little sister at Champions League finals." The Reaper reminded him.
Azzy finally remembered her. "Yeah, that griffin girl, what's her name? Hmm… That's right, Sapphire Magnolis, isn't it?"
As they landed on the ground, the purple-eyed beauty let out a smile, "It's been a while, Azrael."
"Yeah, it has been, Ms. Magnolis," Azzy replied calmly.
"You know each other, Saph?" The young man on the right asked her. He was thin, a bit short, and has the look of a teenager. At a glance, even Azzy thought for a second that he's his age. But, seeing how he was addressing Sapphire who was 19 years old, Azzy thought that either they were very close with each other or this person is a lot older than he appeared to be.
Sapphire nodded and introduced each other, "This is Azrael from Aclein Academy. I believe it is now called Eternal Institutions. And Azrael, these are my friends from Dragon Academy. Like me, they pursue advanced studies."
"Aclein Academy? Azrael?" The person standing in the middle opened his mouth and clenched his fist. He's as pale as milk and a bit too fat, doesn't seem like he works out. Azzy can't even see his eyes properly because they were too small. When standing beside a beauty like Sapphire, it wasn't pleasing for anyone to see him.
But, for now, this guy looked like he's angry for some reason.
"You are the one that humiliated our juniors?" He tightened his fist with his
As soon as Sapphire mentioned that they were from Dragon Academy, Azzy realized that they were going to be trouble as he had bad blood with it. They came to the Aclein as the favorite for the Champions League but in the finals, one was dead, the second one turned into a civilian with his soul orb completely destroyed, the remaining three had their soul orbs broken and is in rehabilitation, becoming a laughing stock in front of other studies.
So, he was calm even inside, and replied, "It's the result of their actions. One can't escape his/her karma."
Naturally, his tone and expression were devoid of any emotions and is completely plain. It's as if he was stating the obvious fact. And this brought a frown on the teenager-looking guy as well as the fatty.
"You… I will roast you…" Powerful red-colored soul energy erupted from the fatty. It was very dense.
Sapphire patted the fatty's shoulder and spoke, "we are in level-1 region. Calm down."
She knew how strong Azzy was. To make sure her friend won't suffer painful defeat or worse, death, she tried to remind him. But, the fatty wasn't convinced. If his strength is suppressed and so, was Azzy's. Moreover, he's a high-rank-6 expert. In his view, he was naturally stronger than a teenager.
The commotion brought the three girls to come out of the tent. Claire looked at the three of them and she deeply frowned, thinking that it's an enemy.
"Rael, what's going on?" She asked him.
The three of them turned towards the source and found the three girls standing at the entrance of the tent. Glenn stood behind Claire, panicking a little bit. She fought beasts and people before but never fought a real battle with another Arcana master in the wild. In the academy, there are rules but here, there are no rules. So, this fifth grader worried a little bit. Meanwhile, Flora fearlessly stood alongside Claire and even summoned her soul card.
However, what they expected didn't happen. The fatty suddenly retracted his soul energy and dashed towards them. His speed is as fast as Azzy, something none of them expect.
Just as Azzy was about to make his move, he saw the fatty didn't attack them but instead caught Claire's hand, not only taking everyone by surprise but even making Azzy angry as he said, "wow, you looked beautiful. Want to be my girlfriend?"
"Stay away," Claire shrieked in surprise and tried to free her arms but found his grip was really too strong.
It was the first time Azzy saw someone hit on his girlfriend and he doesn't like it.
In the next second, a pitch-black giant needle made pierced the fatty's right elbow, followed by a voice filled with coldness, "Put your filthy hand away from her."
Azzy surely liked her but during their past three months of the relationship, he rarely displayed his affection. Putting aside his age for a second, he just wasn't the romantic type. All he does is encourage her, stand by her, support her, and shield her from harm. But, now, for the first time, he attacked someone because of her.
"Argh…" The fatty screamed in pain and retracted his arms before he forcefully expelled it with energy eruption. Unknowingly to him, fire attribute was added to the soul energy erupting, releasing powerful flames.
"Gyl, no." Sapphire tried to warn him in advance but it was too late.
It was then Azzy turned into a blur and dashed towards the three girls and shielded them with his body from the flames. Unfortunately, the tent and all the things in it were burned to ash.
Almost all the school uniforms of Arcana academies were usually resistant to the attribute effects. So, Azzy's uniform was intact but as the uniforms don't absorb the attack, his back felt the heat and slightly burned.
Sapphire and the other guy managed to dodge the flames and were completely fine.
"Are you alright?" Claire asked Azzy worriedly.
Azzy nodded in response and after finding that she's completely fine, he turned towards the fatty.
"You dare to ambush me?" The fatty didn't even apologize for his actions that can result in heavy injuries or worse, the death of Flora and Glenn. Instead, he barked at Azzy for being preposterous. He raised the hand, conjuring a fist-sized fireball.
"Claire, take the girls and move back," Azzy said to her.