Chapter 11 - A crushing defeat (1/2)

”No way! I can't believe he pushed Clyde to this state!”

”Even though he's been gone for two years, he may be even stronger than Clyde somehow!”

”No wonder they call him the Imperial Freak. Clyde is two years older than him and a genius on top of that, and yet he somehow possess the same strength.”

The students were in an uproar around the arena. It was difficult for them to accept that Clyde, the top junior mage of this generation, was being pushed back by someone that had been gone for two years.

He only studied for three years in the academy before he suddenly left, saying that he had already learned everything that a junior mage should learn. All the students thought he was insane, yet he has returned and surprised everyone by fighting on par with Clyde.

Among the crowd, the other top talents of this generation looked at Clyde with different expressions. Kylie was biting her teeth, praying that her older cousin would beat the Fourth Prince in order to boost the prestige of their family.

Wilsin simply stared, thinking that it was a good thing Shad did not care about the throne. He couldn't believe how far Shad had come in just a few years.

When he left the academy, he was only an initial second class mage, but the strength he'd shown so far in this battle meant he was at the very least a peak 3rd class mage.

The difference between a peak mage and an initial mage of the same rank was extremely large. For example, Kylie was an initial 3rd class mage, and she had been effortlessly defeated by Wilsin, who was a late 3rd class mage.

By the same token, Wilsin had been easily overpowered by Clyde, who was a peak 3rd class mage.

Since no magical items or artifacts were allowed in these advancement exams, these differences in strength were normally the deciding factor between victory and defeat. Not only that, but it could take a long time to advance through these minor ranks within a tier.

A year and a half had passed since Clyde had broken through the third class mage, and yet he had only risen four minor ranks. Despite this seemingly slow speed, he was actually far ahead of his peers. Compared to most others, the speed that Clyde was able to advance was heaven defying.

Both the Dean and the Vice Dean were extremely surprised as well. They never expected Shad to become this strong. Based on his previous speed of cultivation, they knew that it was possible he had already broken through to a 3rd class mage, but they never expected him to catch up to Clyde.

'Not yet, not yet! I have to win this fight no matter what!' Clyde thought to himself ferociously.

Shad's attitude was maddening. Throughout the entire fight, Shad showed no emotion. It was as if he wasn't concerned about the battle at all. 'If my father and brother knew that I was driven to this state in a magic battle, they would never forgive me. Even worse, it's a core member of the Imperial family. I can't lose!'

His father, Grand Duke Gomez, was very famous throughout the Empire. Due to their status as one of the four strongest Imperial Noble families of the Djage Empire, his family was more hierarchical than most of the other families. If he lost this fight against Shad, not only would it lower his family's prestige, but he would also be punished despite having a gold level talent.

”Fourth Prince, it appears your ego has inflated after evading and blocking my 3rd tier magic spells,” said Clyde coldly.

Previously he had called Shad Little Prince, but after their initial exchange of spells he changed his form of address. It's hard to blame him though, if Shad was little and managed to drive him to that state, then he would have been a shrimp.

”Then I formally invite your noble self to come deflate it,” answered Shad with a slight smile.

After hearing these words, Clyde was enraged even further. This was a complete slap in the face for him. He stopped talking and stared at Shad, his face becoming angrier by the second.

”Grandfather, Clyde should be able to beat the Fourth Prince, right?” Kylie asked the Vice Dean as she bit her lips. Contained within her voice was a slight trace of worry.

The Vice Dean didn't immediately reply, unsure of how to respond. Deep down, he already knew the answer after witnessing Shad's last magic spell.

The magic that was emanating from his body was not something that even a peak 3rd class mage should have.