Chapter 15: Chapter 15 – Courage

It had been a short while between the first participant passing and Silver making up his mind to act. Three youngsters who had joined Isabella in passing the first trial now also stood beside Lucas. However, much to the Academy teachers' disappointment, known of them were particularly spectacular as they had just about managed to pass.

It was evident that the crowd of participants was beginning to lose motivation. The mental strain caused by the beast was too much for most of them, and soon they all found that courage alone would not be able to get them passed this trial. All they could manage was to stand in the same spot as sweat began to cover their backs.

At this point, they saw two youngsters start walking, shoulder to shoulder, through the crowd. Their pace was neither hurried nor slow, and it seemed as though they were not affected by the beast in the least.

"Oh, it's finally beginning," Isaac said as he looked up in excitement.

"Hmm, I wonder how far he'll go," Lucas added as he watched the pair of youngsters who seemed to be going for a casual stroll. With the sun slowly rising behind them, it was as though the world was encouraging the two to go on.

"Who's that? How can they still manage to walk?" a curious youngster asked.

"One of them looks kind of familiar," another added.

"Hey! Wait. Isn't that Eustass Reid's son?" the first asked.

"Oh crap, you're right. That's Zachary Reid," the second replied, now realizing where the sense of familiarity came from.

Zac and Silver both heard their conversation but continued on as though they were deaf, completely unaffected.

300 meters.

250 meters.

200 meters.

They didn't seem to slow their pace as they grew closer to the finish line.

150 meters.

100 meters!

The crowd was speechless as they watched the two youngsters still moving forward. Could there be a new record? They wondered. As of now, only the first girl who passed managed to go past 100 meters and reached an impressive 60 meters.

90 meters.

80 meters.

The two still continued on their path without slowing at all. Zac had no idea how he had reached this far. It was only by sheer will and the fact that he didn't want to lose out to Silver that he managed to do so. But now, he was beginning to feel the strain on his mentality.

70 meters.

"Ahh, this is as far as I can manage. You will have to go on without me," Zac said as he held on to his knees and began to sweat. Silver nodded back at him and continued his way forward.

"Hey, look. That Reid kid reached his limit. He couldn't even beat that unknown girl," someone pointed out.

To be able to beat house Reid's heir, the crowd now wondered just who that girl was. But more importantly, who was that youth that left Zachary behind, and just how far would he go?

60 meters.

"Just one more step!" someone encouraged.

50 meters.

"Keep going!" shouted another.

[ Shit, am I going to lose? ]

Lucas was beginning to doubt himself as he saw the look of determination in the youth's eyes. Had he made the original bet he wanted to make, he would have lost already, so a thought came to him in a state of panic.

"Let's see how you overcome this," Lucas sneered as he gave a slight pat to his Zafan.

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A loud roar sounded out across the entire city. Every single person who came to participate or spectate, other than those who had already passed, knelt on the ground as they felt a wave of panic overcome them.

This was absolute terror. A nightmare.

Zac was shocked to witness this scene and was glad for whatever immunity he was given for passing the test.

To see 10 thousand people go from standing to kneeling in just a matter of seconds was a terrifying affair. He could barely control his heartbeat, so he wondered how the crowd was faring. And yet, as he looked around to judge for himself, he noticed there was one anomaly.

About 50 meters from the beast stood a youngster who had stopped only briefly after the terrifying roar but was now beginning to step forward.

The ranking system for magic beasts was made by a great scholar and magician known as Garendale. He, a magic lord at his peak, theorized that any beast who could harm a magic lord was at the pinnacle of magic beasts. He, therefore, decided to bestow the A rank title to those beasts.

This meant that a beast that could harm a master-level mage would be known as a B-class beast. Continuing this trend, the rank of a beast with power corresponding to a beginner-level mage would be given the lowest rank, known as F-rank.

However, many other scholars criticized his theories as they felt that the ranking of magic beasts was not such an easy affair. They believed that within each rank Garendale proposed, a wide range of beasts with varying power fit that rank. Additionally, An A-ranked beast couldn't possibly harm a magic lord. That was just ludicrous.

Garendale responded to these critiques by giving them a famous analogy known as the 'sneaky baby' display. He gathered them all to a feast, where he grabbed his 1-year-old grandson and placed him on his lap.

"Does anyone here think my cute grandson could beat me in a fight?" he asked as he addressed the crowd. To which they responded with disdainful scoffs and haughty laughs. A baby beating a magic lord? He was simply making fun of them.

"Hahaha, I also agree. However, what if I was to let my guard down and he was to poke me in my eye?" Garendale added as he scanned the crowd. Many began to scratch their chins as they contemplated his words.

"What I mean to say is that, although my grandson cannot best me in a fight, given a chance, he can harm me. Similarly, an A-class beast can also harm a magic lord, and an F-class beast can harm a beginner mage" Garendale pulled on the chubby cheeks of his grandson as he gave his speech.

The crowd could only agree and began to have doubts about their own theories.

"Additionally, although different magic beasts indeed have different strengths, making it hard to group them into one class. There is still an undeniable fact that they have the same amount of mana capacity in their magic cores," Garendale concluded.

The crowd began to waver as they realized it was hard to argue with the magic lord's reasoning.

It really was the case that the highest level of beast known was only capable of harming a magic lord if their guard was down. Likewise, the lowest level, such as chickens and rabbits, could only harm a beginner mage if given a chance. Also, why hadn't they thought of magic capacity before? They could only laugh at themselves for doubting a great mage.

And so, following this feast, Gardendale became a legendary figure across the Blue-Sky continent as his theory of beast rankings was widely accepted.

Lucas's Zafan was considered as a low-level B-class beast. This meant that an arch-mage with the right equipment and spells could defeat it, and higher-level mages had no need to worry.

However, even its roar should be able to intimidate anyone below the level of arch-mage. It was a known fact, which is why Lucas was so puzzled at this point. In front of him stood someone who challenged this fact.

Stood was the wrong word, as the youth was currently walking towards him.

40 meters.

30 meters.

[ Who the hell is this kid? How could he possibly be unaffected by Enzo's roar? Has he perhaps reached the level of arch-mage? That's impossible. ]

Lucas was racking his brain as he fought for some sort of explanation that could justify what he was witnessing right now.

20 meters.

10 meters.

However, time was not on his side as his nightmare drew ever closer. The 10 million gold bet he had just lost was the last thing on his mind.

1 meter.