Chapter 63: Scarlett's Constant Pressure

Quickly, Fang began to focus the energy in his feet, and in what seemed like a blink, appeared in front of Mart. It should be at least a 30% increase in speed, he thought.

On the other side, Mart looked on in disbelief—even magicians attuned to the wind couldn’t move as fast as his opponent just did. A small bit of doubt rose up, only to be discarded as he hastily backed up, conjuring a wall of rock, studded with spikes, in front of him.

Fang’s advance didn’t stop, though, and energy covered his shoulders as he rushed viciously at Mart.

The bystanders couldn’t see through the thick cloud of dust, and some of the students called out in alarm, yet Mii wasn’t one of them. After all, it was only two months ago that Fang defeated William in an unexpected victory; she had complete trust that he’d come out unscathed.

Mart sneered at the dashing figure, watching arrogantly as the glowing figure grew closer and closer. There wasn’t a chance that a person could break through a wall of stone like his.

Bang!

One person skidded across the uneven ground while the other stood proudly. But that person wasn’t Mart—it was Fang!

Shock filled the surrounding crowd as they couldn’t believe their eyes. How strong would a person have to be to break through a wall, and a magical one at that?

Coughing, the crawling figure struggled to get up from the ground when suddenly, gravel flew into his mouth. In front of him, a boot met his eyes as Fang stared down at him.

“I’ve said that there’s nothing between me and Scarlett, but do you still think so?”

Mart’s face instantly paled; clearly, the opponent absolutely wasn’t weak. It was like some sick joke—two moves and he was utterly defeated.

This was the first time Tracy had seen Fang display his strength, and it left her almost speechless. “Fang, you’re so strong—I didn’t expect you could take down one of the top students in our class.”

A small sweat broke out as she realized how powerful he was.

Fang smiled lightly. “He was a bit negligent, that’s all.”

She looked at him strangely, wondering why he chose to attend that institute with his current strength.

As she turned her attention to the present, determined to ask some questions, Fang had already grabbed Mii’s hand and left the entrance quite swiftly.

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Regarding the result of the match, Fang was satisfied. Although he knew that the Meteor techniques were extremely strong, they were a single risky hit for success. However, since all his abilities were enhanced now, he felt a lot more confident in his strength; he should be able to contend against those who had infused their energy with elements.

If he were to fight William again, Fang was sure that without using Meteor Shower, he could solidly defeat him!

---

Scarlett’s words had left a constant pressure on Fang, who sighed. To avoid fights like the one with Mart, he waited much farther out from the institute for Mii before heading off to the city, and stayed discreet during the following weeks. As the days passed by, the interest mostly died down.

With this, the semester came to a close.

---

After the morning classes had ended, a familiar figure entered the room.

“Students, this weekend’s break has been canceled.”

Cancelled?

Loud voices filled the room in an uproar! Although the students were diligent in their practice, they still looked forward to the few days they could relax and forget about the difficult studies at the college. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Hershal waved his hand to stop the clamoring and smiled slightly. “I believe everyone wouldn’t have any complaints though; the institute has come across quite a stroke of fortune. The federation has agreed to let the students from the institute into the energy fields for the next two months, and to save time, we’ll be taking the weekend to travel to the destination!”

As his voice fell, the class grew very excited.

Throughout the land, there were natural energy-rich places that the towers constructed tried to mimic with rare materials. However, it couldn’t compare to the constant, dense air that spread through the vast area—it was like being bathed in energy medicine continually. Of course, because of these properties, the areas were highly valued by the country.

These fields were usually protected, and trespassing into one regardless of status was deemed a serious crime. Since the country had claimed the known areas, they were occupied by the military, and the average person would never set foot in the fields.

Once again, the teacher waved his hand for silence. “We will not be heading to the fields alone though; we’ll also be coming with the magic academy near the city. I hope everyone can treat them courteously and get along.”

The magic academy?

Surprise fluttered across the faces in the class, as the two famous institutes around Minuet City were indeed Garden College and the magic academy. However, the relationship between the two wasn’t good at all. The students from the magic academy had always looked down on the students from Garden College, and the hostility had grown to the point where the students struggled to carry out a courteous conversation.

There was bound to be tension!

---

From Garden College, the distance to the energy fields was about three hundred kilometers through a winding set of roads. It was remote, yet not far enough to warrant an escort of wind masters for the students. As dew rolled off vibrant leaves in the chilly morning, a cleared area was slowly growing in size as students arrived in groups.

Shortly after the area seemed to have settled down, an elderly man walked up a platform and faced the crowd. “We will be heading towards the fields by foot as a group. However, if you feel confident in your strength, you can go ahead and race towards the fields. Those who manage to arrive within the first fifty will receive a scholarship as a reward.”

Scholarship?

Fang’s eyes shone brightly.

Hearing that there was a sum of money offered, he immediately grew excited. Although he currently had Valeria’s support behind him to afford the costs of precious, rare medicines, he didn’t want to rely too heavily on her—it just didn’t feel right to him.

With the last set of words, some members of the crowd eagerly started to rush off.

Fang turned to Blue in a somewhat apologetic manner. “Blue, I want to achieve the scholarship, so…”

Before he could finish, Blue stared at him, ill-humoredly. “So you want to head off first without me, right? You shouldn’t be arrogant; don’t think I’m so weak I can’t catch up to you! I’m also interested in the scholarship; let’s see who can get one first!”

A few seconds later, Blue had already set off, twenty meters ahead.

Fang sighed. He seemed to have provoked his roommate once again, and shrugging in helplessness, he started to run after him.

---

This competition was all about endurance rather than speed, and the difference in how much energy people had was clearly shown after a couple of moments.

From behind was Fang’s class—though they had the effort, they were placed in that class for having the lowest strengths in the year. The main point was to keep a steady pace and consume just enough energy to reach the destination in time; otherwise, a sudden loss of energy would leave them stranded far behind.

In front of that class were the regular classes in the first year from Garden College. Their levels of energy were better but not outstanding.

Then, leading second were the top class in Garden College, closely followed by the students from the magic academy. The use of magic was definitely different from how the energy was used by the other students, putting them ahead. However, in first were the few excellent students from each institute.

The peace was quickly disturbed by two distant figures that closed the distance frighteningly fast.

“I haven’t seen those two before; are they from Garden College?”

“Look at their emblems; they’re from the lowest class.”

“Those people are really stupid, spending all their energy now. They’ll have no chance to even arrive at the finish at that rate!”

Although most voices were unfriendly and filled with jeers, not everyone viewed them with disdain.

Seeing Fang, some realized that it wasn’t an accident but an actual threat to the race!

William was one of the few who knew it wasn’t a fluke. The memories of that fated competition came up to mind, where he had been defeated by the high amounts of energy Fang had in store even at a lower rank.

However, once he looked again, he was puzzled. Who was the figure next to him? He shuddered to think there could be someone else as strong as Fang in that class…

“Fang!”

An intimate, bright voice rang out as a slender girl separated from the crowd and came towards him.

“Mii?” Startled, Fang faced her.

Although magicians were strong, they were generally not very strong physically, so he didn’t expect to see Mii so far in the front.

Instantly, he realized that she was probably pushing herself for the scholarship, and worriedly asked, “Are you sure you’ll be fine at this pace, Mii?”

She returned the question with a smile. “Yes, I’m pretty confident I can maintain this speed for the entire journey.”

Still, his doubts weren’t fully cleared, but before he could speak, Blue interrupted. “Fang, you’re worried about nothing. Take a look under her feet.”

Fang turned to look, and surprise spread across his face as every step seemed to bounce right off the ground, leaving behind no dust as she moved forward.

Blue curiously said, “Mii, you’re using the Alleviate magic? Not many people study this.”

“You’re

right,” Mii replied in astonishment. Both sides of magic and non-magic users didn’t pay attention to each other’s techniques, so she was quite shocked to hear Blue identify what she was using.

Alleviate magic was a category of magic that could reduce the weight of anything and didn’t use a lot of power. It wasn’t easy to grasp, and its applications were considered limited, since wind magic could accomplish the same type of acceleration with less effort.

However, there was a deeper application that most people weren’t aware of that classified it as far from useless. It could be superimposed upon other magic, and its consumption was low. Once mastered with other speed magic, it was unparalleled.

“At the current rate that I’m casting the magic, I’ll reach the fields just in time before it depletes.”

The group started to head forward again as Fang looked peculiarly at Blue. Even though he had thoroughly studied the laws of energy present throughout the world, he knew little about the actual magic that magicians could employ.

Blue noticed the stare and was quite pleased.

As they started to pull ahead, someone swiftly figured out who the figures were.

“That guy definitely isn’t from our school, but how come he’s with Mii?”

“Isn’t that guy the same one who meets her every week in front of the academy?”

“His name is… Fang? The person Scarlett liked?”

“Really? There must be a mistake; there’s no way he could be related to Scarlett and Mii at the same time.”

“No, I’m absolutely sure. It’s the same guy from Tracy’s birthday party!”

Hostility filled the air, but the students didn’t make a move as everyone continued to trek through the roads. After all, there’s no chance he could keep up his speed for even a hundred kilometers; he’d be completely exhausted by then!

However, Fang wasn’t there to show off—his only goal was to place in the top fifty and get that scholarship.

Subtly, the energy around quietly changed. As each foot hit the ground, the ground seemed to shake mysteriously around Fang.

Other people didn’t notice the minor change, but Blue quickly discovered the odd steps that Fang took.

It was too strange. Each step seemed to be the same distance, accurate within a centimeter. No matter if the ground was filled with gravel or grass, uphill or downhill, straight or curved, the distance was the same! His breathing was also perfectly synchronized with the steps he took. His legs were also synchronized, and the height that his feet came up was exactly the same too.

Though everyone had their movement patterns, there’d be a definite change in how they’d step across varying terrain, consuming more energy than what was exactly needed. Even if it was a single step, there would be countless steps across two hundred kilometers!

She remembered the exact words her father had said: a stable rhythm was a signal of mastery over energy, as it’d allow the maximum use of one’s endurance.

Staring at Fang, she realized that this extremely abnormal rhythm persisted for each footstep, each inhale, each exhale, and the relaxation and tensing of his muscles were all unified.

This fellow actually knew the principles of the invariable road? Where did he learn all these things from?!