Chapter 1353: 111. Top Student

Today was another clear day.

Sunlight shone down beneath a cloudless sky. Under the effects of the Origin Tower's weather-control hub formation, the entire city seemed to have been purified, clean and crystal clear.

Normally, weather like this should have felt warm and comfortable. Especially the sunlight—now that late spring had just passed, it already carried a trace of dry heat that could make people break into a light sweat.

But at this moment, around the square, the spectators who had gathered and were craning their necks to watch the show felt no heat whatsoever. Instead, they sensed threads of cold drifting through the air.

The chill that came before a storm was certain to arrive...

"He's here!"

Someone cried out.

The instant those words fell, a deafening roar tore through heaven and earth.

The entire city dimmed for a moment as a blazing tail like that of a meteor suddenly rose from somewhere within the ancient tower. It climbed past the tower's peak, nearly reaching the curtain projected by the weather-control hub, before abruptly changing direction and, beneath countless shocked gazes, streaking arrogantly across a corner of the sky.

The azure heavens were split apart by violently burning magic.

Everyone's attention was drawn toward that radiance.

The meteor circled the entire city several times. Along the way, many flying mages were nearly overturned by the violent air currents it created...

Those mages had initially been furious at such an outrageously rude display, but the moment they sensed who that magical presence belonged to, the anger on their faces rapidly vanished, leaving behind only lingering fear.

"It's him!"

"It's that guy!"

"After three months, he's finally shown himself!"

"Damn it, he looks furious. Who provoked him this time?"

"Something big is about to happen..."

The meteor continued circling as though searching for something. Only when it reached the air above the square did its light suddenly condense, and then, like a meteorite crashing into the earth, it plummeted down with a thunderous impact.

Dust erupted across the square, only to be quickly dispersed by a breeze that came from nowhere, revealing the sharp figure within.

It was a cold-faced man.

He wore the most ordinary mage robes, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about his appearance. Yet his eyes, his expression, and the way he stood perfectly straight all made him resemble a drawn sword, so piercing that people could barely keep their eyes open.

Adno Gulaist.

Every spectator present instinctively recited his name in their heart.

He and Habakaya, who was currently hanging from the statue, had once been known together as the twin elites of Jerome's classroom. He was one of the tiny handful of students standing at the very top of the entire Elemental School.

But everyone knew that calling them twin elites was only because both stood far above everyone else in their classroom.

Between the two of them...

There was another equally enormous gap.

He was the most talented student under Master Jerome, the one with the brightest future, and at the same time...

The most terrifying one.

And more importantly...

"He broke through!"

Someone suddenly exclaimed.

Although Adno's magic was restrained within his body, those with particularly sharp senses had already noticed that the degree of refinement in his magic had far surpassed what it had been before.

A mage's advancement was never simply a matter of magical power. It also required knowledge and accumulation. But after that person's reminder, almost everyone noticed that the air Adno carried now was completely different from the man he had been three months ago.

And the reason he had suddenly disappeared three months earlier, according to the rumors, was precisely because he had gone into seclusion to challenge that seemingly insurmountable barrier.

Now that he had appeared again, the dense magical presence surrounding him made the entire square seem covered beneath a terrifying low-pressure field. Some weaker mages even found it difficult to breathe, and among the suddenly silent crowd, faint, suppressed sobs of fear could even be heard.

This made everyone realize...

No.

It made them firmly believe that Adno had already crossed that barrier and entered the same realm as the masters of the Origin Tower!

All he lacked now was experience and seniority. With only a period of tempering to perfect his own magical path, he would be able to become a new master without any real obstacle.

"I heard he's only forty..."

"To be this young... what a despair-inducing talent."

"In that case, before the sun sets, this farce started by that new Enhancement School master, Enmu, should finally come to an end."

Everyone involuntarily shifted their gaze away from Adno and toward the famous Gerald statue.

Of the eight people hanging upside down from it in humiliating and miserable poses, seven seemed to have already given up struggling. Only the famous Habakaya was still desperately writhing, and after seeing Adno appear, his struggles became even more violent.

"Useless!"

Adno's gaze first landed on the eight dangling figures. The Elemental School and Jerome classroom insignias on his chest reflected their wretched appearance, while the violent rise and fall of his chest revealed just how furious he was.

"To let yourselves be bullied into this state is a disgrace to Jerome's classroom!"

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

"Enough. There's no need to explain. Whatever reasons you may have had, this result is unacceptable! Later, I'll speak with Teacher and have all of you sent to the Fallenwater Forest for some proper tempering."

Adno snorted coldly.

After announcing their fate, his icy gaze finally shifted toward the two completely ordinary-looking figures standing beneath the enormous Enhancement School recruitment banner and the Enhancement School emblem so bright it could practically blind a dog.

An ordinary old man.

An ordinary young girl.

Of course, anyone capable of defeating Habakaya and the other seven couldn't truly be simple, but...

"I don't care what despicable methods you used. Since you've brought such humiliation upon Jerome's classroom, I will personally make you swallow the consequences."

Adno raised a hand, and a staff embedded with an expensive top-grade magic stone appeared in his grasp.

He had yet to construct a spell, but the mere aftershocks produced by his surging magic were already whipping up fierce winds around him.

Although the fundamental cause of this entire incident had been Habakaya abusing his strength to bully the weak and trying to take advantage of others in a moment of crisis, in Adno's eyes, even if Habakaya had made a mistake, it was something their own side should deal with.

What did the Enhancement School think it was?

Nothing more than a worthless school on the verge of being abolished!

The weak had no right to judge the strong!

"Hm?"

At that moment, Adno saw the two people opposite him exchange a few words. Then the literally ordinary-looking girl rolled her wrists and slowly began walking toward him.

"So that so-called Master Enmu isn't coming himself, but is instead sending this flat-chested little girl?"

Adno sneered. "Does he think I'll go easy on you because of that? As expected, the Enhancement School's master is ultimately nothing but an embroidered pillow. Perhaps he knows a few underhanded tricks, but before absolute strength, every scheme is useless."

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

On the statue, Habakaya was still struggling violently, his eyes bulging as though desperately trying to say something. Unfortunately, with his mouth completely sealed, all he could produce were muffled sounds that scattered into the wind.

"Come."

Adno had already raised himself to peak condition. Wrapped in an aura of invincibility, his presence was sharp as a sword and cold as ice. With a single step forward, an unimaginably vast amount of magic gathered into a powerful spell formation through an advanced technique that required no incantation whatsoever.

"Trash of the Enhancement School, I will reclaim the honor of Jerome's classroom right here. Therefore, no matter who you send against me, no matter how cute they may look, unless you kneel down and beg for mercy right now, then in the name of Jerome, I will—"

...

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

Several minutes later.

Amid the absolute silence of the entire square, Adno, his face swollen and bruised, knelt on the ground and cried as he begged for mercy with extraordinary sincerity.

"I was wrong... I was really wrong... Jerome's classroom is trash, the Elemental School is trash, and the Enhancement School is the strongest and most outstanding school in the entire world...I was wrong... You can do whatever you want to me... just please stop hitting me!"