As they cautiously looked at him from the other side of their sewn grass carpet, Lyrian scanned through the various trinkets laying around. The trinkets consisted of smaller items from beasts that had simple abilities like healing and mana regen, and also some potions and magical items.
Lyrian noted the potions but knew that magical items were pretty much just for show since they didn't work on the school grounds or the exam, as stated by Julius before the exam began.
As the sun neared the middle of the sky, Lyrian finally finished his shopping. The plan was to head back to camp before noon and begin the hunt afterward, but as Lyrian regrouped with the others near the middle of the shopping area, they all decided that it was too late for that.
It wasn't like the people hosting the hunt were going to simply wait for them, so they didn't have any other choice but to go now.
As they walked to the stage where the hosts picked the hunters joining them in the hunt, Rylan decided to explain the hierarchy a bit more in the center.
"There are the four groups in the center right now that reign over everyone else pretty much. The weak ones are the White Knights and the Dark Horses, at least, according to my information."
He continued to speak as everyone else listened somewhat intently.
"The other two are the Deck Group and the Yaltan Wind Group."
As he said this, the other's seemed to lean in a bit more, intrigued by the winner between the two groups.
"Out of these two, I have no clue who's stronger."
The other's leaned back in disappointment.
"Well, one side has Spade Agustus, someone you all of course know."
Everyone else nodded in agreement as they heard, this, while Lyrian thought to himself, 'Huh? Is he that popular? I guess I was right in thinking that he was a noble with a big backing...'
"Not only does the bear the name of Agustus and is extremely powerful, but his group of oddballs and their unique abilities make him a lot stronger, especially in this exam. On the other hand, there is..."
Lyrian wanted to hear who was the strongest on the other team, as that would confirm one of his earlier suspicions.
"Silvus Yaltan, someone, again, who you all should know. I mean he's the imperial prince after all." Rylan glanced at Lyrian, "Someone who you, the Black Sheep, defeated." He grinned, an excited feeling swelling up within him.
"Anyways, so yea. He's apparently much stronger than he was before now."
As Rylan said this, Leon and Alten were slightly taken aback, not expecting to hear this. Lyrian was most surprised, "Stronger? How so? He couldn't have done it through cultivation could he?"
Rylan was quick to answer, "That's the thing, he isn't stronger because of actual power. That's not the reason, the reason is you, Lyrian." He looked at Lyrian again as he spoke.
Lyrian put on a confused expression, "Me?"
"Yes... in the preliminary duels, you defeated him, but it was clear to see that he was more powerful than you in terms of magic. You only defeated him because you outplayed his spell, and the only way you were able to do that was because he severely underestimated your abilities, or rather, overestimated his. That gave you an opportunity to land your attack."
Lyrian nodded, agreeing that this was probably true to a certain extent.
"But now, Silvus takes things seriously. He uses precise amounts of power to exact defeat on another opponent. His power was already immense from before, with all the mana-increasing pills and elixirs he must have been taking, but now, that power is much more controlled."
As he said this, they arrived at the area where the hunt was being hosted. A crowd of kids had already gathered around, jumping up and down in order to be noticed and picked.
Rylan had always found it odd why kids didn't just go to the front but didn't complain about it either. All it did was give him an easier chance at getting picked.
As he quickly slithered through the crowd and arrived at the front, Lyrian and the others had to push and shove a bit more. The reason why Rylan had found it easy his entire life without thinking that there was anything else to it was because he was so small that his experience of getting through crowds was incomparable to the normal-sized human's.
On the stone platform in front of the kids were some kids that wore different-looking clothing, which was a surprise.
Lyrian and the others were pretty shocked to see Kedward on the stage to the left. To the right was the black kid from the White Knight's group. Finally in the middle was an unfamiliar face, a boy who quickly spoke up.
"This host will be big, hosted by the Dark Horses, Deck Group, and the Yaltan Wind!" He shouted as everyone cheered in amazement.
More hosts meant more power, which also meant more cores to be shared amongst the people.
'So he's from Silvus' group huh?' Lyrian noted his features; A white robe with light green lining, a crest of the Yaltas kingdom on the side of his chest with the light pattern of flowing wind on his robe. He had black hair, a pair of brown eyes, and a wand attached to his waist.
"We will start picking the hunters in a few minutes! 30 in total!"
The boy shouted.
"That's Ray Heesal. He's the third in command in the Yaltan Wind." Rylan said, looking at the boy in the middle.
Lyrian could feel an angry stare directed toward him. He knew where it was coming from. Kedward. Gazing towards him, the boy was looking back with vengeful eyes of fury.
Before, Lyrian didn't know the exact situation and restricted himself from going all out, but now, he wasn't going to play any games. If he was to be attacked, the attacker would not exist in the exam any longer.
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