historical

Somewhere in the gigantic library, a green haired student restlessly ran throughout the place.

The student occasionally stopped as he ran, shoving the wooden shelves near him as it formed a small blockade for the bolts of lighning chasing behind.

Crackle—!

Xiao panted, beads of sweat pouring down on his face while his body highlighted darkened spots on some areas.

Behind him, several bolts of lightning chased after him aggressively.

Feeling the bolts of lightning closing into him, Xiao rolled over to one of the shelves near him, using it as a blockade to cover his body from the bolts of lightning. After that, he quickly stood up from the ground and pushed his body to run.

Crackle—! Bam—!

The bolt of lightning exploded upon contact, destroying the wooden shelves on the area. The nearest few were completely destroyed by the explosion, while the far ones had managed to sustain the damage. From the explosion, smoke erupted and covered the whole area.

This kind of scene was happening at four places, at the same time in the library.

'...It was a mistake to seperate the group.'

Xiao thought, remembering what happened earlier.

'If only I had realized that sooner..'

A few hours ago, before this sorry situation of theirs—they had just arrived at this library, exhausted from a long walk. Oddly enough, the entrance path they took was unusually a long, and arduous one.

It took them an hour just to arrive in the library, and when they did arrive in the library... the situation turned chaotic quickly. They met some other student—proclaiming himself as a text examiner for the third phase of the exam..

The stared at man blankly. It was all too sudden, and before they could even process the student examiner's words—the person attacked, launching a wide area offensive skill that forced all of them to separate each other.

However, that was a mistake. They didn't realize it back then... but it was obvious that it was the student's objective.

They only realized once they all tried to hide themselves. It was impossible. In all of the areas in the library, not a single one of them was safe from the student's eyes.

Whether it was at the back of the shelf, at the bottom of a table, the most corner side of the library... a bolt of lightning seemed to always find them head on .

He didn't know how the others faired, but with him being a mere Sorcerer and lacking any athleticism or body training at all... It was safe to say, he suffered a lot.

Crackle—! Boom—!

Xiao raised his head, looking above. On the air, flying bolts of lightning continued to fly through different directions, most likely chasing after his other three teammates...

On his view, he could see three to five bolts of lightning speeding up to him to strike him head on.

Xiao sighed, shaking his head. If only he had some time to concentrate... then he could easily get out of this ugly situation.

One thing to note, while Sorcerers were more destructive than Martial Artist... they were less practical and tend to take more time than the latter.

Sorcerers were more heavily reliant on the mind than any other professions. Because most, if not all, the skills they use are about controlling nature... concentration and focus was needed.

Unfortunately, the homing bolts of lightning after him wouldn't give him a chance to concentrate and use any skill.

"Tsk."

Xiao clicked his tounge, annoyed. If only he had company to help him here...

Woosh—!

At that momeny, while he was thinking of his teammates—a long drawn flash of a blade materialized, blocking the bolts of lightning from blasting towards him.

Xiao widened his eyes, stopping his body. He turned to look behind him.

Speak of the devil...

"Yo." Kojiro said with a smile. He waved his hand nonchalantly, greeting Xiao. "For a moment there we thought you were already fried. But knowing you...."

"Wait." Xiao stopped, bewildered. "We...?"

Kojiro blinked, chuckling. He raised his hand, poiting towards his back. "...Yeah, we."

On his back, two figures were seen standing beside him, hiding themselves as their eyes warily darted around. Venice had a pained, tired expression... while Fallio looked ugly, with a messy appearance and traumatized eyes.

"...What happened to them?" Xiao asked, staring at both with apprehension. "They look like they been forced into eating shit."

"Hahahahaha! Hear this, Xiao!" Kojiro laughed. "Apparently, that student gigolo were targeting both of them specifically, by their words!"

"It's true!" Fallio snapped, turning towards Kojiro. "It really is... I kept hiding, running, walking, sleeping... or anything! That damn lightning was always there to hit me!"

"How many times were you hit?" Xiao frowned.

"Every. Single. Time! With no exceptions! I don't know how that dude managed to find me everytime..." Fallio gritted his teeth. "I tell you, even if I was not breathing... I was always found!"

"That's odd, did you not see the birds?" Xiao asked, puzzled.

"..Huh?" Fallio blinked, confused. "What birds? There are birds...?"

Xiao stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say. Kojiro laughed loudly, holding his stomach.

"Alright, can we please stop this?!" Venice suddenly shouted, veins pulsing on her head. "We're going to get all the lightning exploded onto us with all your yappering...!!"

"..Yeah, you're right." Kojiro nodded, acknowledging the situation. "Anyways, so... what's the plan for today, Xiao?"

Xiao turned to look at Kojiro, returning the stare as he nodded understandingly. He gestured the whole group to come together.

"Okay, so here's the plan..."

—

In the middle of the library, a curly black haired student narrowed his eyes in interest.

"Interesting..."

Cassius muttered, his lips curling into a smirk.

"I can't see anything.."

If some other student would hear their words, they would be extremely shocked. Cassius the all-seeing was unable to see? It was one thing if his opponent were the top 10, but if it was mere First Years...

"Very interesting, something interfered with the bird. An anomaly. Is it even anomaly..?"

The figure groaned in pain, the lightning catching him off guard.

"It seems you didn't learn much." Cassius chuckled, his head shaking. "A bird has greater vision than a human, even if you think you're too far... the vision of the bird says otherwise."

Cassius Almond, Volund Ranking — Rank 11.

In the academy, he was known as Cassius the All-seeing. He had gotten the title from the other students because of his monstrous ability at overseeing the battle with his high rated battle awareness and transcendent battle iq.

The fluorescent birds flying around the library were spawned by his own signature skill. A skill that allowed him to create magical birds and let him see, and feel through their bodies, making him a guised silent predator under his handsome appearance.

Not only that, he was also known for his notable great talent over Sorcerery. With a focused intelligent mind, he was able to cast skills over distances with accuracy and precision like that of an archer or sniper.

"What time is it right now?" Cassius off-handedly asked.

The smartwatch attached on his wrist suddenly beeped, displaying a hologram of the time.

"Ah, a pity. It's already ending soon." Cassius smiled. "I wished I could have enjoyed it more, but alas..."

Cassius stared at the vast library of shelves, his eyes closing.

"I guess, I have to finish this off now."

After a while, his eyes opened and flickered, he tapped the staff to the ground, eliciting a loud click on the silent library.

"[Thousands Lightning]."

At that moment, numerous amount of bolts of lightning materialized on top of the staff. Cassius smirked, holding the staff tightly. He muttered. "Go."

In that instant, all the lighnting blasted one after another, spreading throughout the whole library and precisely aimed at several different spots like a missile.

On one of the spots, Kojiro suddenly appeared.

Woosh—!

Kojiro widened his eyes in surprise, staring at homing boltsb coming after him. Instinctually, he took the katana out from his waist and swung it in an arc.

Woosh—!

However, instead of erasing the lightning — the lightning strongly overpowered him and exploded under his face, pushing his body back as he fell to the ground.

Thud—!

Before he could even recover, several lightning suddenly appeared near him and aimed at his body. Kojiro pursed his lips, grasping the handle of the katana tightly.

He pushed his body up, standing on the floor. He closed his eyes and focused. Using the magical energy in his body, he swung the katana in an arc.

Woosh—!

A bright flash surfaced. In that instant, all the lightning coming after him were simultaneously erased by a long drawn strike of his katana.

"Haa..." Kojiro sighed in relief, his eyes opening. He looked at his body, checking his magical energy reserves. His face scrunched up into a frown. "This is bad... I'm close to losing most of my magical energy."

They needed to win this fast...