Suddenly, the woman dropped to her knees and began to shiver uncontrollably.
A primal fear awoke in her heart, one that people of her tribe have felt before and had described in immense length. It was the fear that overcame a being when they stood before a creature so high above them in the food chain that the only thing they could do was drop to their knees and shiver in fear.
Some of her tribe’s people said that they felt it when they were young and met a significantly strong beast, while the older ones spoke of mythical and legendary creatures that flew above them for short instances, or happened to pass by.
And right now, she was feeling that very fear from a human of all people.
Suddenly, a swift kick struck her on the abdomen, causing her to immediately disappear from where she was kneeling.
In the next instant, the four individuals looked to the side as the sound of something crashing against a hard object sounded.
A dust cloud flew into the air before slowly dissipating. When it did, the only thing left behind was the convulsing figure of the beast woman, lying on the ground and spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
Her arms and legs looked mangled, and her chest was caved in like a cannonball had hit him.
Silas’ leg snapped back to the ground as he threw the large sword to the side and looked at the young girl behind him.
“Are you okay?” Silas asked slightly worriedly while scanning Nymira from head to toe. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her except for the few cuts she got earlier in the battle.
“…”
“Nym?” Silas asked while casting a healing spell.
The judges of the test’s eyes snapped back immediately when they saw Silas not utter a word and creating a spell. They could all sense mana to a certain extent, while all their clothes, trinkets, and armor allowed them to hear what was being said.
However, when they didn’t see a magic circle, they didn’t see anything…
No, they didn’t see anything at first, but it quickly became clear to them what was happening.
“A rune?” The old man in a young boy’s body asked with a perplexed expression.
“My god, he’s creating spells out of a single rune!” The man in the middle, who had previously looked frail and weak in Silas’ eyes, stood up with a vigor that did not suit his stature or his age.
Sweat trickled down his forehead while a smile filled with ecstasy shone upon his face.
Faldro also looked shocked, yet fear quickly dwarfed that shock.
If there were a mind reader in the room, the only thing they would hear from Faldro would have been the word ‘shit’ repeated repeatedly against in a fearful tone.
The elf with silver-like diamond irises looked even more shocked. He was a mage himself, yet, since he was an elf, his magic was cast through hymns and songs, not chants like humans did.
Humans were considered the weakest race by all the other races. Well, at least that was the case individually.
Humans had low life expectancies than elves, and even their; elves had a stronger connection to magic than humans could ever dream of having.
At the same time, while beastkin lived for short amounts of time if they just used toki, those who awakened their cores had the privilege of extending their lives beyond the 25 years they would normally live.
That was due to how much mana naturally circulated through their bodies. They got stronger with age as they tempered their bodies with the element that had been ‘blessed’ with. While not being nearly as physically strong as a beast at the same core grade as them, if they had a pristine amethyst core, they would easily have the ability to fight off a beast with a pristine topaz core or lower without using magic.
Their bodies were naturally connected to mana, just like the ancestors they have evolved from were.
It was one of the reasons they didn’t have to use magic circles to create spells. Instead, they use hand signs; each hand sign essentially being a rune.
This change made them much more favored in the eyes of other races than humans.
A spectator would ask why humans were so dominant then, and the answer to that was simple.
Humanity’s survival instinct was above that of any race. They might not have a proper bloodline, but when in dangered, they fight back with everything on the line.
Yet, despite all that, they were looked down on by almost all races. Even the beastkin who remained in their tribes had a certain hatred and disgust toward humans.
So powerful, yet so weak, they said.
‘How can this be…’ The elf man’s silverish eyes glowed momentarily, before fear struck him.
‘Have the humans already advanced beyond us?’ He asked himself before shaking his head at a realization.
If they had evolved to such a degree, wouldn’t he know? He worked in an academy filled with them, after all. Sure, not all of them were human, but at least half of them were.
At the same time, a cold glint flashed within Silas’ eyes as he helped Nymira up.
In a way, she looked devastated, yet, he understood what she was going through. Sure, he hadn’t gone through the same thing before, but you didn’t need to go through something to understand the pain of another.
“You did well. I’m proud of you.” Silas muttered before patting her on the head, yet her expression didn’t change one bit.
She still looked at the ground, her eyes almost listless.
There was a certain air of shame around her, but Silas knew that in their current predicament, the only thing he could do was be there for her.
Letting out a low sigh, his eyes moved toward the countless eyes that were looking at him with varying emotions.
“M-Mr. Evergreen. You have shown quite the prowess.” The man in the middle spoke with a twitching smile.
A treasure trove had come straight to his doorstep, and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste.
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