Chapter 346: Pressure My Ass

The next day.

Head Instructor Ryan stepped forward. "Today, it will be a challenge set by Dermania. This challenge is simple. All you need to do is walk forward for a hundred meters."

Head Instructor Ryan really made it sound simple, but almost everyone knew that the challenge would be anything but simple.

Head Instructor Ryan continued, "There will be a few instructors with me who will use their energy to apply pressure on you. In other words, you have to walk under that pressure. I’m sure you have used the gravity room or run with weights. This is a test of willpower and endurance.

"All you need to do is walk to the finish line, and your test will be over. You are allowed to use your energy, but you’re not allowed to use a battle technique. Understood?"

Auric’s expression turned solemn, while Lindwurm frowned, looking at Head Instructor Ryan’s expression. Lindwurm thought, ’This one... doesn’t look good... it’s much worse than what Auric expected.’

"Let’s begin with the training. We will begin with the Rank 1 students and move all the way to Rank 4 students."

Auric and the other students stepped aside, watching all Rank 1 students from all five countries gather.

Lindwurm abruptly warned him. "Auric, you might want to be extra careful with this. I’m afraid that this is going to be dangerous for your life."

’What do you mean?’

"It does look like the other party is intending to cripple you. Even if he doesn’t, he might want to break some of your bones by using this method. Injuries or other things. I am not exactly sure, but you’re going to suffer greatly."

’So, what can I do? I can’t do anything. Besides, I still intend to provoke him. This way, the people from the organization might end up using Head Instructor Ryan as their borrowed blade.’

"At least inform the others about how dangerous it is going to be."

’I will tell my teacher, at least.’ Auric accepted Lindwurm’s warning. Maya could tell the other instructors after that.

When Maya heard the warning, she thought for a moment and said, "What do you want to do? Continue?"

"Yeah. I intend to continue. This way, even if he does something, there’s a layer of protection."

"Well, it looks like they’re worried about that instructor. I’m sure that Supervisor Jacob intends to severely injure that guy if there’s an opportunity. Since that guy might become an extension of that organization, it’s good to do it like that."

"Yes. That’s fine as well." Auric nodded. "For now, let’s proceed with that in mind."

"Okay. Be careful, okay?"

Auric smiled before walking back. He could see that the field was surrounded by intense pressure. The energy from a few instructors had stacked up on top of each other, making it feel like they were walking under intense weight.

"You may begin!" Head Instructor Ryan raised his hand.

As soon as they stepped onto the field, they had to stabilize their form immediately as they almost fell to the ground.

Their faces were distorted as though they had just eaten something bad. Others fell to their knees immediately.

"!!!" The spectators were surprised. They could barely sense the amount of energy in here, but the evolution masters realized how great the pressure the students were currently facing was.

Supervisor Jacob glanced to the left as another instructor informed him, "The farther you go, the higher the pressure. It won’t be easy. In fact, looking at this scenario, not many students might make it."

"Really? How hard is it?"

"I think 70% of the students will fall halfway. Only less than 5% will succeed."

"I see." Supervisor Jacob narrowed his eyes.

However, it looked like what Auric had done previously was actually helping the team.

After all, the students from Esfrata walked forward with solemn faces as though they felt nothing.

They were simply putting a strong facade, so people thought they were the toughest warriors.

[Pfft. Hahahahaha!]

[Look at our students. They’re fucking nailed it.]

[Go, go, go! We’re finishing it with style!]

"..." Head Instructor Ryan clenched his fists after seeing how many people were actually passing halfway.

It was true that the students from Esfrata were struggling. Their bodies were shaking, but their faces remained the same as though they wanted to show him what it meant to be model students.

However, Auric was probably the only one to notice something weird.

The energy around Dermania’s students was actually lower than that around the other students. It was as if someone was specifically manipulating the energy so that Dermania’s students could win.

It was true that there was an energy field formed by other instructors, but there was one person who was supposed to add their energy to the field, but actually chose to specifically target people with his energy.

In other words, that person was actually using the energy field to hinder their opponents.

Of course, he doubted anyone was able to tell the difference. The difference wasn’t significant enough for evolution masters could easily tell, especially when the energy was being covered by the energy field.

If Auric didn’t have his eyes, he wouldn’t even notice it.

Auric couldn’t help but ask, ’Lindwurm, did you notice the foul play?’

"Hmm?" Lindwurm tilted his head in confusion.

It seemed that the trick managed to fool even Lindwurm.

’Ah, shit.’ Auric hurriedly walked toward Maya and whispered, "Teacher, this test is rigged. Someone is applying about 15% more pressure to the students from the other four countries. It’s not enough for anyone to notice, but it’s enough to wear down the competitors."

Maya frowned. "Do you have any way to prove it?"

"Nope. It’s just my words against theirs." Auric shook his head. At the moment, he really had no way of proving this. He couldn’t share his vision with the others after all.

"We can’t use that. We need proof."

"Yeah. I’m just telling you that this competition is rigged, and it might be even worse for me."

"Got it. I will get ready." Maya nodded.

"I did it!" Suddenly, one student cheered. Everyone saw this student cross the finish line. More importantly, this student came from Dermania.

People wouldn’t think much about it because Dermania’s students should have trained for this kind of competition. Just like how Esfrata won last time, the test should have been tailored to their students.

That was why it was only natural to congratulate them, not realizing that the test had been rigged.

"..." Auric just watched everything quietly as he really couldn’t do anything.

The top three spots were actually given to Dermania’s students. Some students from Esfrata managed to pass, but they looked ugly.

Other countries also managed to secure some people, but most people fell halfway. In the end, Dermania had 40% of their students pass. On the other hand, only 12% of the students from other countries managed to pass.

The result itself was greater than the original prediction, but it was still extremely bad.

"Congratulations to all the students who have passed the finish line. You will achieve great things in the future." Head Instructor Ryan was congratulating them. "Now, all Rank 2 students. Please take your positions!"

Auric frowned.

"Although I don’t entirely like you, you are the only one who can bring glory to our country. Stand in front so you can finish first, Auric Elfe." The students from Esfrata surrounded him, giving him the chance to cross the finish line before anyone else.

Auric took a deep breath. The extra pressure wasn’t much of a problem for Auric, so he believed he could finish first.

But that confidence vanished when he noticed the additional pressure in the field. In three spots, there was so much pressure that it felt like there were obstacles in a race.

"Hmm?" Auric frowned. This extra energy would be burdensome, but he should be able to manage. Besides, Dermania might be cheating, but they couldn’t do it openly. In other words, the maximum additional energy they could put on the students was 20%.

So, Auric, who was prepared to take on that 20%, had confidence he could win.

Head Instructor Ryan didn’t make any eye contact with Auric, but he was for sure observing his movements.

Head Instructor Ryan raised his hand. "Start!"

Auric and the rest of the students immediately stepped forward.

Auric could feel the pressure on him. If he just looked at the students from Dermania, he knew that the energy around them was less than the pressure above him.

To everyone’s surprise, Auric simply took a deep breath and circulated his energy. He used his energy much more efficiently than the others. Besides, his energy was much more abundant, so he negated all that pressure and walked as if there was nothing weighing on him.

"!!!" Head Instructor Ryan widened his eyes. He didn’t know how Auric was able to ignore all that pressure.

It was clear that Auric had to be kept in check.

Head Instructor Ryan gritted his teeth. There was only one thing he could do.

Auric walked toward the first obstacle. He knew that this pressure wouldn’t be easy, but it was definitely something he could handle.

However, the moment he stepped into that pressure, the energy suddenly increased sharply.

"!!!" Auric widened his eyes in shock because the pressure hit much harder than he had seen.

Auric glanced at Head Instructor Ryan and realized he was the one who applied this pressure. He finally found the culprit who was manipulating the pressure.

"Huuu..." Auric took a deep breath. All of a sudden, he unleashed much more energy from his body.

People couldn’t believe that a Rank 2 student could unleash this much energy at once. It surely made people even more curious about him, especially the people from Granda, Lech-Aistia, and the UK.

Fortunately, this energy was more than enough for him to cross the barrier.

Auric hurriedly turned around and said, "Whoa. To think that you would put so much pressure on me and then remove it."

The others were startled. Head Instructor Ryan turned cold. "Please refrain from making such an accusation, Student Auric Elfe. Please provide proof if you intend to make an accusation.

"You may have been able to say anything you want because of your talent or freedom of speech, but please be aware that this is not Esfrata!"

"Ah! I am getting you now. I apologize, sir instructor. I am still young, so I don’t know any better. Please forgive me, Head Instructor Ryan." Auric smiled.

It truly didn’t sound apologetic. Head Instructor Ryan clenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do. "It’s fine. I hope you remember this incident and are careful in the future."

[Fuck this Auric. Who does he think he is?]

[He’s so arrogant that he’s throwing accusations so easily.]

The people on the internet were angry, but Auric simply said inwardly, ’Lindwurm, please watch the movements of the guy behind me. Yeah, the one from Dermania.’

"I don’t know what you want to do, but be careful."

’I know.’ Auric took a deep breath. "I guess this is hard, so I will have to go all-out."

Auric smiled and released even more energy. At the beginning, he only used the energy from one element. When he wanted to cross the wall, he added two more. Since two out of his nine elements had reached Rank 3, he couldn’t use them.

However, he still had four more elements he could use.

This time, he released the energy from five elements. That energy just became so dense that there was basically no pressure weighing on him.

"!!!" Head Instructor Ryan was startled. He had to move his energy so that he could apply even more energy on Auric. He didn’t plan to let Auric win.

Auric walked toward the second wall. Before crossing, he took one step back and positioned himself as though he were about to sprint.

’Is he going to use speed to pass it? No, I’m not going to let you.’ Head Instructor Ryan changed the way he applied the energy so that Auric couldn’t escape the pressure by using his speed.

What he didn’t know was that Auric was merely making him think he wanted to run.

Instead, when the top Rank 2 student from Dermania caught up with him, Auric suddenly grabbed the student’s leg and threw him toward the wall. "Sorry!"

"!!!" Head Instructor Ryan widened his eyes. He was prepared to take down Auric while letting the other students pass, but because he changed the way he applied the pressure, he couldn’t retract that pressure in time.

In other words, all that pressure ended up hitting the student from his country.

All the pressure prepared for Auric came crashing down on him.

The student immediately slammed into the ground with such force that the ground cracked and a small crater formed.

The student spat a mouthful of blood and passed out.