Chapter 289 The Hooded Boy...

The kid in a green-colored hood from before stepped out of the crowd, walking toward Lyrian.

"I mean, don't get me wrong... it's undoubtedly powerful. But guys... spiritual energy isn't everything, ya' know." The kid seemed to be smirking under his hood, but his face was hidden, so Lyrian couldn't see anything.

'Now that I think about it... his voice sounds slightly familiar.' Lyrian mused, as others in the crowd also pondered who the kid could be.

However, they were too scared to really think much right now, still under Lyrian's ruthless pressure.

He had been quiet and almost invisible the entire time. No one knew that he was even in the hunting practice.

'Wait a second... I didn't see him in either of the teams from the bushes at the start of the practice either. Just where was he? When did he show up?' Lyrian began to get slightly confused.

"Wondering where I was, huh?" The green hooded kid predicted, catching Lyrian off guard as he released his spiritual energy.

The kid behind the green hooded boy quickly backed off, finally able to breathe calmly again.

They all surmised that the chance of them fighting Lyrian, even if they had some slim chance to win, was zero.

Lyrian didn't answer back to the hooded kid's inquiry, allowing him to continue.

"You must have thought that you were the first one to hide himself... but I was already in the bushes quite a while before you."

Lyrian raised a brow as he heard this. He was sure that no one else had seen him go into the bushes, so he knew the kid wasn't lying.

"I even saw you prepare your little outfit there..."

At that moment, Lyrian thought back to the time when he heard a rustle in the bushes while hiding.

He shrugged it off at that time as nothing, but thinking on it now, there was no way that a small creature could get past him without being noticed.

It would have had to have been something, or someone, that could hide their presence...

Lyrian tsked, disappointed that he didn't notice such a thing. At this point, he had pretty much figured out who this hooded kid was.

From the green hood to the excited voice...

'This is...'

"Me? Well, I didn't want to expose myself since it would be annoying to deal with the useless yapping from these lot," He turned to look at the students.

"But fine..." He began to remove his hood.

'Godfrey.'

"I'm Drake." He fully removed it, showing his emerald eyes to Lyrian with a grin on his face. "Godfrey Drake."

"HUH!?" Jiller exclaimed. His eyes popped out of his sockets.

The entire crowd freaked out on seeing the young prince. Many of those who were from the kingdom of Veridrake hastily got on one knee and bowed.

"Your grace!" They all began to exclaim.

"Your grace!"

"Your grace!"

"I apologize for not recognizing you, Lord Godfrey."

Others nodded, agreeing with this statement.

"It's alright, you all are forgiven," Drake said, turning to Lyrian.

"Huh... Alright then, that's not too big of a problem." Lyrian said, pointing his blade toward the prince.

Drake continued to smile as he looked down at the obsidian blade's edge.

He walked closer, his hands and body still hidden in his large hooded robe.

'Drake... I won't be able to defeat him alone. If worse comes to worse, then I will use Tao.' Lyrian mused, understanding the prince's level of power.

When he fought off against Linus, Lyrian saw that his power was by no means laughable. Quite the contrary, in fact.

"A very fine blade," Drake said, stopping about 8 feet away from Lyrian.

"Are you sure, Your Grace? That is an obsidian blade." Kaith, who was kneeling, exclaimed, "It would not befit you to compliment such a low-grade sword."

"Kaith, you don't have a keen eye for blades still, I see." Drake turned past his shoulder to say.

Kaith accidentally gasped for breath. He was horrified to hear that he didn't understand his master's words.

'How... that blade is obsidian! How could I be wrong about that!' He was frustrated with himself.

"This blade is sharp." His grin widened. "It's good for killing. That's all it needs to be a good blade."

"I-I see!" Kaith shouted, 'So... it's just that it's sharpened huh?' He mused as Drake continued.

"It's also made with the finest of techniques. I regret to say that not even my own imperial weapon compares to its finesse." He looked up from the blade and at Lyrian.

"Where did you get it?" His expression was eager.

Lyrian turned his blade to the side. He did it so fast that its shining echoed through the silent room quietly.

"Enough bull shit. Do you want to fight me, or not." Lyrian blankly stated.

Drake looked at the blade, and then back at Lyrian. He then took a step back and turned around.

"I'm still deciding on that. I'll let you know when you tell me who made that blade." He said, walking back into the crowd.

"Do you want to collect materials in this practice?" Lyrian shouted this question at him as he walked farther away.

"Maybe... maybe not. First, tell me who was the creator of that blade."

Lyrian sheathed the blade, as everyone took a heavy sigh of relief.

"Damn... I actually wanted to see you fight him, you know?" Jiller exclaimed, coming next to Lyrian.

Lyrian looked at him with an irritated expression as he exclaimed, "MVP versus MVP... that would have been sick!"

Lyrian walked away from the boy, ignoring him.

"Everyone! Pretend you didn't see me. If you come to talk to me for a stupid reason, I'll cut your tongue off." Drake indifferently shouted to the crowd as he neared the gates to the next room.

"Get up!" Kaith exclaimed, standing up and nearing the gates as well. Most students followed him and the blue-robed kid as they made their way to the doors.

"This next room... is the final one." He said to the students, who nodded with understanding, as Kaith's eyes darted to Lyrian.

"Let's try our best to collect as many materials as possible..." Kaith said slowly, a hint of disdain in his tone.

"Heave!" The blue-robed kid shouted, as every student lined up against the walls, and readied themselves.

"HO!"historical