Chapter 59 - 58: Arcane Training Tower

Chapter 59: Chapter 58: Arcane Training Tower

Every single student in the hall had working eyes.

No matter how grandly Julian dressed up his excuse, the truth was plain for all to see: after watching Aegon shatter three layers of granite armor with a single barehanded slap, the great Julian Von Draken had lost his nerve!

?Beside the stage, Aria covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her shoulders trembling slightly as she suppressed a laugh.

?Up on the basalt ring, Aegon looked down at Julian’s rigid posture and shook his head with a faint, pitying sigh.

?"I see," Aegon said mockingly. "When Derrick had 100 credits and I had 100, it was a ’two-minute beating.’ Now that I have 200 and you have one 100, it is suddenly beneath your family’s honor."

?Julian’s ears burned bright crimson, his fingernails digging into his palms behind his back.

"Watch your tongue, country bumpkin! I simply don’t waste my mana on uncivilized brutes outside of official ranking trials!"

?"Call it whatever helps you sleep tonight," Aegon replied indifferently.

?Turning his gaze away from Julian as if the proud noble heir no longer existed, Aegon swept his dark eyes across the remaining twenty-seven freshmen standing around the ring.

?"Since Young Master Von Draken is saving his secret spells for next month, is there anyone else among his friends who would like to try taking my two hundred Academic Credits today?" Aegon asked mildly.

"You don’t even need to wager one hundred. Fifty credits will do."

?The moment Aegon’s gaze brushed past them, the noble youths who had been mocking him five minutes ago hurriedly took two steps backward.

Some stared intensely at the vaulted ceiling, while others suddenly found the tips of their own leather boots fascinating.

?Not a single person dared to meet his eyes!

?Derrick Vane was ranked ninth in the entire freshman class and specialized in heavy earth defense, yet two medical golems were currently carrying him off the floor on a stretcher with half his teeth missing.

Most of the other noble followers were ranked between 11th and 25th.

Stepping onto that stage right now wasn’t a duel, it was paying 50 hard-earned credits to get their jaws broken!

?Seeing the entire noble faction go as silent as winter cicadas after a frost, Instructor Bella couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

?"Five seconds, and not a single challenger dares to take the stage?" Bella tapped her silver wand against the basalt floor, her bright eyes curving into crescents as she looked up at Aegon.

"Well, since no one has the courage to challenge Student Aegon, you may step down and keep your 200 credits. Next pair, step forward!"

?Aegon gave a slight nod to Instructor Bella and walked calmly down the stone steps, returning to his spot beside Aria at the edge of the arena.

?As soon as he stopped beside her, Aria turned her head, her bright eyes examining him up and down with undisguised curiosity.

?"Alright, confess already. Yesterday in the forest, your physical strength was only on par with a peak First-Circle Knight. Just now, you shattered a triple-layered granite barrier with the back of your bare hand without even using mana. Did that dusty fossil you bought for 50 credits this morning actually have something hidden inside it?"

?Aegon glanced at her sharp expression and smiled faintly.

"It was just an ancient medicinal pill that hadn’t lost its efficacy yet. The outer stone shell kept the aura sealed until I cracked it open in my dorm room."

?Aria’s eyes widened slightly. An ancient pill preserved inside petrified stone that could permanently boost a person’s raw physical strength by such a terrifying margin in a single afternoon?

If Julian and the others found out that the "worthless pebble" they had laughed at was actually a priceless body-tempering treasure, they would probably vomit blood on the spot!

?"No wonder you didn’t want me asking Instructor Bella for a refund. Remind me never to bet against you."

?Over the next hour, the remaining freshmen took turns stepping onto the basalt dueling stage.

?Wanting to wash away the humiliation of his earlier retreat, Julian Von Draken challenged a 15th-ranked commoner student and ruthlessly overwhelmed him with a barrage of Crimson Wyvern flames, winning fifty credits.

Yet no matter how fiercely Julian posed on the stage afterward, the whispers from the surrounding students only made his expression darker.

?After all, beating a 15th-ranked student with full-power A-Rank magic after running away from Aegon’s bare hands didn’t look heroic at all.

it just looked like bullying the weak because he feared the strong.

?Aria also fought a single match against the 8th-ranked noble girl, effortlessly freezing her opponent’s Grimoire shut with a dazzling display of First-Circle Ice Magic to bring her own badge total up to two hundred credits.

?Clang!

?When the afternoon bell finally tolled across the Academy grounds, Instructor Bella clapped her hands together to dismiss the class.

?"Alright, that concludes today’s practical combat evaluation. Remember, the Academy’s Arcane Training Tower and the Spirit Library are now open to all first-year students. One hour inside the Training Tower’s gravity and mana chambers costs twenty Academic Credits, so spend your points wisely. Class dismissed!"

?As the students began filing out of the colosseum doors, Aegon looked down at the glowing [ 200 ] on his Golden Griffin Badge, his eyes glinting with anticipation.

?He can finally buy that item from the Arcane Training Tower. Before Veera gets his hand on it, he must seize it.

That item was very important for the development for the MC, and it will be his.

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Leaving the colosseum, Aegon ignored the lingering gazes of the surrounding students and walked purposefully down the grand cobblestone path toward the southern wing of the Academy.

?His destination was the Arcane Training Tower, a towering monolithic structure forged from black basalt and reinforced with ancient rune-inscribed steel bands.

As the primary cultivation facility for first-year students, the tower hummed constantly with a low, heavy vibration that could be felt through the soles of one’s boots, powered by a massive subterranean mana vein.

?Stepping through the towering double doors of the lobby, Aegon approached the central reception desk. Behind the polished counter sat an elderly proctor wearing silver-rimmed spectacles, half-asleep over an open ledger.

?"Show me your student ID, boy," the proctor muttered without looking up, his pen hovering lazily over the parchment.