Alden stood beside the unconscious body of Darius.

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The bastard was still here, not being disqualified. But his condition was anything but fine, as Alden had taken extra care to inflict pain without fatally injuring him. Every strike had been precise, every ounce of pain deliberate.

He exhaled softly, feeling his mind calm down a little. This was the first time in this life he had been this ruthless, but it wasn’t without reason.

He remembered every beating, every pain Cedric and Darius had inflicted on him—all of it.

’The old Alden was soft…..too damn soft.’

But Damien? He wasn’t like that…. He held grudges, and he always thought about how to take his revenge.

He might’ve been a shut-in when he died, but before becoming a shut-in, he was a totally different person. He wasn’t a cruel guy who would torture anyone for fun, but he wasn’t forgiving to those that had wronged him.

He looked down at Darius’s unconscious body, gripping his sword. He’d gotten his revenge. Now, it was time to finish it.

With a single slash, he struck Darius, triggering the disqualification. A bright light enveloped him, teleporting him away.

The academy’s healers would take care of his physical injuries.

But they could at most heal physical pain and not the mental pain he had inflicted.

He soon picked up the bracelets of Darius and his two lackeys as they vanished, merging with his own.

[Points 350+]

"It looks like they collected a lot of points." Alden smirked as he opened his ranking to see his current rank as the screen showing his points and rank soon popped up in front of him.

[Points - 500]

[Current Rank - 8]

He opened the leaderboard as he saw the names of top-ranking students…

[Leaderboard]

1) NYX RAVENSCAR - 900

2) AMYRA CELESTRIAN - 840

3) LUCIEN CELESTRIAN—800

4) ZEPHYR DRAGEON—770

5) SELES DRAVEN—680

6)…

7)….

8) ALDEN DRAVEN—500

…

…

…..

In the time he spent dealing with Darius, others had already advanced further, but Alden was still satisfied with his current rank.

But the more he looked at the ranking, the more his curiosity about ’Nyx’ increased. Not only was she not mentioned in the novel, but according to the ranking, she was stronger than all the main cast of the novel.

’I will see her in the academy anyways.’ He soon shrugged his shoulders as he turned around to leave.

But before he could leave, he heard a rustling sound, which interrupted his thoughts.

His instincts kicked in as he looked towards the source of the noise only to find a lone boy with black hair and golden eyes walking towards him casually.

Alden’s mind raced as he recognised the person before him... how could he not? He was one of the members of the main cast after all…

’Zephyr Drageon’

Heir of one of the five main families. Just like how the Draven family was a master of shadow magic, the Drageon family excelled in martial arts. There were even rumours that they had inherited the blood of dragons.

All of the members of that family had golden eyes. That was how Alden had recognised Zephyr.

But this wasn’t just any Drageon.

Zephyr was a once-in-a-millennium genius. Even within his legendary clan, he stood above all, and he was expected to take their clan to unprecedented heights.

Drageons and Dravens never got along. Nobody knows since when their rivalry started, but they had always competed with each other for many years. Some say this has been ongoing ever since the families had been founded.

Just like how Alden had recognised Zephyr. He had also recognised Alden, as there was only one family with such crimson eyes within the empire.

"So you are from the Draven family, huh?" Zephyr said, his golden eyes sharp, trying to analyse Alden.

"I didn’t want to do this, you know. But I’m in a bit of a rush, you see." Zephyr’s voice was confident yet tinged with arrogance, as if he could defeat Alden easily. "There’s only few minutes left in the test, and I’m still a bit short on points."

"But knowing you are from the Draven family eases my guilt a bit." Zephyr spoke this time, his golden eyes shining with cold light.

Before Alden could react, Zephyr vanished, appearing straight in front of Alden, with his fists pulled back, ready to strike Alden.

Alden had already activated his [Spirit Domain] and [Eyes of Supreme] as soon as he had seen Zephyr, knowing his physique was no match for Zephyr.

His Spirit Domain had already been formed as he could perceive everything within it with clarity, but he hadn’t activated the mana-draining effect as it would be noticeable to Zephyr immediately.

Alden didn’t even try to activate predatory gaze as he knew it wouldn’t work on Zephyr as he was in Beginner Initiate Level.

Zephyr’s martial arts Heavenly Dragon’s Descent was one of a kind. It was an ancient martial art that excelled both in speed and strength. Moreover, he also had a special ability that enhanced it even further.

All of them together made him one heck of a broken character. If the protagonist didn’t have a system, Zephyr would have undoubtedly been the strongest character.

Unlike the protagonist, he didn’t even have any cheats, and still he rose to power on his own.

Alden’s mind was thinking many things, but in reality, not even a second had passed as [Spirit domain] also increased his mental power by quite a bit.

Alden saw Zephyr’s fist close in on him, but even after using his skills, it was still too fast. Knowing was different from reacting after all. Alden twisted his body barely evading it at the very last moment.

The air split apart as Zephyr’s fist shot past Alden, missing him by inches. But just the shockwave released from the punch sent him flying backward as he crashed into a nearby tree.

’F*ck I am dead if even one of his punches hits me.’ Alden thought as he quickly got up.

Although he had crashed into the tree, he wasn’t hurt much, as he had managed to react at the very last moment using his shadow manipulation; he used his shadow to cushion the impact.

"Don’t disappoint me too much, Draven." Zephyr cracked his knuckles as he looked at Alden, his face filled with a smirk.

Alden exhaled slowly, calming his mind, gripping his sword; he felt excited to test his strength against one of the strongest characters at the beginning of the story.

He didn’t expect to win... well at least not without revealing his abilities. But that was not his goal anyways. He was just going to stall for the next few minutes until the exam was over.