"A little bit more, we're almost there!" yelled Albert while running.
The crowd kept its youthful energy all the way to a certain hill without losing any in the process.
They were ready for battle.
"There! I see him! He is sitting on the grass! But I don't see the crystal." A student pointed with his finger at the top of the hill.
Sure enough, Cyril was sitting there in a lotus position, looking at them with a calm face.
"He is not going to keep that arrogant mug for long! Let's go!" Albert excitedly went forward.
"Surround him. Don't leave even the tiniest opening!" He motioned for the students around him.
So the group all slowly formed a circle around the still-sitting Cyril.
"Cyrill Felling, it's time you pay for your pride!" Albert smiled provocatively.
He stood closer, eager to talk before doing anything else.
At this moment Cyril calmly stood up and dusted himself off.
"What got you so upset?" He couldn't help but ask.
What was happening now was precisely what Cyril needed, but he didn't expect them to be wearing such faces.
It was like he was their sworn enemy. Surely he didn't do anything too cruel to them in this exam?
"You dare ask that question? Your head is raised too high to notice our struggles. We are just ants to you, right!?" Albert replied with a confident demeanor.
The students around all started agreeing with energy. All kinds of words, complaints, and insults followed.
Cyril wasn't even sure how to reply to his words. He was never the best with this sort of thing.
"Let me try. Just repeat after me, with emotion." Rhamn rolled up her sleeves with anticipation.
From the student's perspective, Cyril went silent for a second, and suddenly his expression became much more condescending.
"So, in short, you are mad at your own weakness. It's no surprise, I suppose. Someone as pathetic as you can only seek comfort in the company of other losers." Cyril's voice lost its usual calm.
Now he spoke with a thick layer of mockery and contempt, a mean sneer on his face.
"You bastard!" Albert screamed with anger.
The other students erupted with rage as well, but Cyril continued, his voice silencing them.
"Please don't blame me for your failures. If I were gone, you'd just find another excuse for your pathetic mediocrity." Cyril spread his hands in a shrug.
"No, I think you understand this as well. The one you are truly mad at is yourself." He tilted his head with a cruel glint in his eyes.
He looked over the students around him like a predator sizing up prey.
"You," Cyril said suddenly, pointing to a broad-shouldered boy gripping a straight sword.
"Lucas. How many times were you told to change your weapon of choice, that the sword doesn't suit you? And yet you still cling to that toy, swinging it like a child throwing a tantrum." He narrowed his eyes.
"Don't worry about disappointing your sword instructor father. That already happened a long time ago."
Lucas froze, his face draining of color. The sword trembled in his hand.
Before the young man could retort, Cyril moved his finger to a girl standing not too far away.
"Lira. The 'genius alchemist' who nearly blew up the lab during potion making. How many peers must you injure before finally taking a hint? Your whole class hates you by now, even your best friend is sick of your clumsiness"
Lira's face quickly lost all it's anger, leaving only shame and fear. "That's not—!"
But Cyril already moved on without waiting for an answer.
This way, he quickly went from person to person, breaking down their spirits.
His momentum and reputation stunned the students. But at the same time, a sort of morbid curiosity kept them from acting.
They wanted to know what troubles the others were facing.
Finally Cyril locked eyes with Albert, who stood rigid at the front. "And Albert, how does it feel that no matter how much you struggle, you can't seem to succeed at anything you do? But at least you are not alone in this, right?"
Cyril pressed on, his voice cutting like a blade. "You're all the same. Clinging to excuses because the truth is too bitter to swallow: you're ordinary. No, you are worse than that—you are incapable losers with no future. You'll waste your lives achieving nothing of importance."
He stepped forward, the circle instinctively moving away. "All your misery drove you to me, just so you could vent your frustrations. Well, go ahead and try it. But deep down, you know what happens next. You'll fail. Like you always do."
A heavy silence fell. The hilltop breeze suddenly felt colder.
Then, a whimper broke the stillness. A girl near the back clutched her chest, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"H-how does he know all that?" A young man dropped his sword with an empty expression.
Another student backed away, muttering something under her breath.
Isn't it going a bit overboard? Thought Cyril, observing the sad state of his classmates.
How did you even know these things?
Cyril wasn't even aware of their names, but Rhamn here was targeting their personal weaknesses out of nowhere.
"I am just trying to get a needed advantage for our fight. It's not our fault there are so many of them." Rhamn shrugged, the corners of her mouth raised.
"As for how I know... Don't forget I have a good memory! It's just gossip from the academy. I—oh, hold on."
At this moment, Albert, with clenched fists, stepped forward. "Enough! You're just trying to get out of this fight by lowering our morale! That will—"
Cyril sharply interrupted his words. "You would want that, wouldn't you? I am sorry to say, but not one of you will escape this unscathed. I will battle you regardless of your intentions. I just wanted to clear the air."
After saying this, Cyril started calmly walking towards Albert.
The students around all took a step back. In their eyes, Cyril seemed much bigger all of a sudden.
Soon Cyril walked in front of Albert, who was still frozen, with sweat going down his forehead.
Before he could even open his mouth, Cyril, in a fast motion, hit him in the stomach.
Albert fell on the ground, too stunned to reply in any way.
This threw the place into chaos.
Some students suddenly started attacking him, some running away, but it was all disorderly and full of noise.
Cyril immediately sprang into action, reaching the next student in a blink of an eye.
In order to win, he needed to be efficient.
At this moment, Morpho flew in from her hiding spot, aiming at the students casting spells from a distance.
In this way, they began working as a team, with Cyril taking down fighters in close quarters and Morpho protecting him against ranged attacks.
Battling the crowd proved easy under these conditions. The students didn't have any spirit to fight back.
All of their attacks lacked proper strength behind them.
During this, Cyril was grazed a few times by a lucky spell, but the barrier held on until the end.
...
A student with tears in his eyes was thrown on the ground with a kick.
Cyril looked around, but no one else was ready to fight.
He observed the backs of those running away while stopping Morpho from pursuing.
"We've done enough." Cyril said in a calm tone.
There were mixed feelings in him right now.
On one hand he won without too much trouble, but on the other, he felt a bit guilty before his classmates.
He could only hope this will not end up affecting them in the future.
"Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe they needed this experience! This way they will transform and become more motivated!" Rhamn argued with a joyful smile.
From the looks of it, she really enjoyed messing with their heads earlier.
Just then a noise attracted Cyril's attention.
He turned his head behind him and noticed a survivor.
Once the bodies of whining students started disappearing, Albert remained on the ground, his barrier still intact.
His face was pale, his eyes constricted as he looked at Cyril in fear.
"You are a demon!" Albert whispered while slowly crawling backwards.
You really overdid it...
"You were also in the moment, weren't you?" She defensively replied.
Cyril walked up to Albert, which only further scared the student, and crouched down to look him in the eyes.
"Listen, just don't give up, alright? Eventually you'll succeed," Cyril said as comfortingly as he could.
Albert's expression turned to confusion at this change in treatment.
But before he could think about it more, Cyril suddenly struck him with a palm, the barrier breaking this time.
Soon Cyril was the only one left on top of the hill.
He went to retrieve the disc he had hidden beforehand.
"Now we are not going to be pursued, and we have plenty of points. What next?"
Let's try to find Myra or Cedric.
He was curious how his two teammates were doing.
Cyril started walking in no particular direction, a beautiful red butterfly following after him.