"Don’t hold back, Logan."
Felix shouted calmly from among the students watching the test.
His voice carried across the training ground, but there was no fear in it. Instead, there was a hint of excitement in his eyes as he watched the two students standing opposite each other.
"Quiet, Ashenlocke! I already don’t plan on holding back!"
Logan shouted back, clearly annoyed by Felix’s words.
He took a slow breath afterward and looked toward Maxwell.
The smugness that had been on his face earlier had faded into something more serious.
Maxwell stood several meters away.
He wasn’t even in a proper fighting stance.
His arms hung naturally at his sides, and his body looked completely relaxed despite the pressure coming from Logan.
Logan’s eyes narrowed.
Prince Tristin already told me that this trash commoner is the disciple of some amazing old Alchemist who created his own type of Alchemy Path.
His gaze shifted toward Fatima.
She sat among the students with a serious expression, quietly watching the two of them.
Logan remembered the information they had received after Fatima questioned one of the Darkens about Maxwell’ master, when he told her about the information Prince Tristin gave him.
Since the Darkens are the main powerhouses of the Drakes House.
Only the strongest Earth Alchemists could become a Darkens, which meant their total number was extremely small.
There were only six of them.
And at the very top of that group stood the Duke of Drakes himself.
The person they had asked to confirm the information had reacted with obvious shock.
In fact, she had become so excited after hearing about Maxwell that she had wanted to see him herself.
But before the conversation ended, that person had made one comment that Logan had been unable to forget.
’If the Lord Duke knew about this, as well as those guys in the Royal Alchemist Branch...
That boy’s life will be in so much trouble.’
"Tsk."
Logan clicked his tongue as the thought returned to him.
He forced himself back into the present.
Cognis began flowing through his body.
His Cognis moved through his veins, starting slowly before increasing in strength with every passing second.
The pressure around him grew heavier.
A faint brown light began spreading across his body.
Logan stared directly at Maxwell.
How can a commoner spark so much interest from her?
His eyes briefly moved toward Fatima again.
She never showed any interest in my growth, so why would the Duke?
And yet...
His fingers slowly curled into fists.
A no-name Scholar forsaken commoner who just happened to become the disciple of one amazing Alchemist, means so much to them?
How can his presence cause such turmoil on the Royal side and even among the Dukes?
It makes no sense.
The amount of Cognis leaving Logan’s body continued increasing.
The air around him began to move.
A faint wind pressure spread across the ground, pushing loose sand away from his feet.
His brown Cognis became more visible.
"I’m going to show everyone just how much of a fraud you are."
Clap!
Logan brought his hands together with force.
The sound echoed across the training ground.
At the same time, the flow of Cognis around his body increased again.
Maxwell remained completely unbothered.
He watched Logan quietly.
He still hadn’t taken a proper stance.
He didn’t even seem to care about the pressure surrounding his opponent.
Logan’s expression became darker.
Then an Earth Alchemy Circle appeared between his palms.
The brown formation spun slowly as the lines of the circle connected with one another.
The moment it stabilized, Logan slammed both palms against the ground.
Boom!
The earth beneath him shook.
Sand and soil immediately rose from the training ground.
Small pieces of stone were pulled upward together with the dirt as the Earth Alchemy Circle continued rotating beneath Logan.
The gathered material began moving faster.
Then, like a vortex, the sand and soil started compressing together.
The loose material became denser.
The shape continued changing.
It stretched.
It hardened.
And it narrowed.
Within seconds, a large, clean stone spear had formed above the ground.
The spear hovered for a brief moment before settling into position.
Logan’s eyes remained fixed on Maxwell.
"Hmmm..."
Professor Kent smiled faintly as he watched the Earth Alchemy attack.
His arms remained relaxed as he sat in his folded chair.
"He’s using Adept-rank Alchemy."
He said plainly.
Karla’s expression immediately changed.
"Isn’t that too much?!"
She looked toward Professor Kent in panic.
"We should..."
"Leave it, Karla."
Professor Kent interrupted her before she could finish.
His voice remained calm.
"Both of them have something to prove."
He leaned back slightly in his chair.
There was now a clear trace of interest in his eyes.
Professor Kent had already noticed something important about the commoner.
Maxwell’s actual Alchemist rank was above the rank of the Alchemy attack Logan was currently using.
Which meant, the attack couldn’t really harm Maxwell, but that wasn’t the most important part, however.
The real question was the level of Law of Inversion Maxwell had reached.
That was what Kent wanted to see.
Seeing it now will determine whether my long-lost leader chose the right pupil to train in his Alchemy Path.
His eyes remained on Maxwell.
And if Maxwell is truly worthy of my protection against the people who are already planning on getting their hands on him.
Professor Kent’s fingers rested against the arm of his chair.
Now show me.
His eyes sharpened behind the black shades covering them.
The students sitting around the training ground watched with growing anticipation.
A few who had begun to acknowledge him wanted to see him succeed.
Others were still hoping Logan would humiliate the commoner who had spoken against him.
Cherry wanted to cheer for Maxwell.
She opened her mouth slightly, but no words came out.
Her nervousness refused to let her shout in front of everyone.
Instead, she placed both hands together in front of her chest and silently wished him the best.
"Please..."
She whispered so quietly that almost nobody could hear her.
Ezra remained seated among the students.
His eyes stayed on Maxwell.
He wasn’t particularly worried.
Instead, he was interested.
He wanted to know exactly how strong Andraver’s disciple was.
The same curiosity could be seen in Ravenor, Fatima, and several other students who already knew about Maxwell’s master.
They had all heard the name Andraver, and they all knew that having such a person as a master wasn’t something ordinary.
"Die, commoner!"
Logan shouted.
He pushed more Cognis into his Alchemy attack.
The large Earth Spear suddenly shot forward.
Boom!
The ground beneath it cracked slightly from the force of its launch as the spear accelerated toward Maxwell.
The wind was pushed aside violently.
Dust scattered across the ground.
The spear flew directly toward Maxwell’s face.
Maxwell finally moved.
He drew his right leg backward.
At the same time, he pulled his right hand back.
His body lowered slightly.
For the first time since the test began, he took a proper stance.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Well..."
He said calmly.
"Might as well give everyone a show."
Spppark!
Cognis instantly flowed across his right hand.
Golden light wrapped around his fingers and spread across his palm.
The Cognis moved around his hand like streams of golden lightning.
Many students widened their eyes when they saw the faint golden glow.
It wasn’t the amount of Cognis that shocked them.
It was the control.
Maxwell’s energy was concentrated almost entirely around his right hand instead of spreading wildly through his body.
The Earth Spear continued closing the distance.
It was already in front of him.
Maxwell’s eyes followed the spear.
The moment it reached him, he moved his hand.
Clank!
His palm collided with the Earth Spear.
The sound echoed across the training ground.
The impact forced the soil and sand beneath Maxwell’s feet to scatter violently.
Dust rushed outward in a circle.
Several students instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces from the flying dirt.
But Maxwell didn’t move.
He stood in the same place.
His right hand remained against the Earth Spear.
And then the real spectacle began.
The golden Cognis from Maxwell’s hand penetrated into the Earth Spear.
It didn’t simply destroy the weapon.
It entered the Alchemy itself.
The formulas that had created the Earth Spear began breaking apart one after another.
The students who understood Alchemy immediately noticed what was happening.
Maxwell wasn’t overpowering Logan’s attack.
He was de-formularizing it.
One formula disappeared.
Then another.
Then another.
The Earth Spear’s structure began changing as Maxwell’s Cognis moved through it like a stream of golden light.
The original formulas were destroyed before being reconstructed into different properties.
The stone began changing.
Its color shifted.
Its texture changed.
Its surface became harder and smoother.
The entire Earth Spear continued transforming while Maxwell stood there with one hand against it.
Then...
The weapon dropped.
Thud.
The large stone struck the ground.
But it was no longer an Earth Spear.
A large diamond-like stone rested in front of Maxwell.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The entire training ground had fallen silent.
The students stared at the transformed object.
Logan’s eyes were wide.
His mouth opened slightly.
"You’ve got..."
His voice trembled.
"To..."
He swallowed.
"Be..."
His face had lost its earlier confidence.
"Kidding me."
His knees finally gave out.
Thud.
Logan fell onto the ground.
His body had become weak from the amount of Cognis he had used to perform an Alchemy technique above his normal rank.
He lowered his head while breathing heavily.
A student finally broke the silence.
"He altered it into a diamond."
The student stared at the large stone in disbelief.
"He actually changed the earth spear to a diamond rock."
Another student whispered.
"He actually changed the properties of the Earth Spear."
The students continued staring.
Vera looked toward the large diamond-like stone lying on the ground in front of Maxwell.
Her expression remained plain.
Her dull black eyes moved from the stone to Maxwell.
Impressive.
That was all she thought.
She didn’t clap immediately.
She simply watched him for another moment, as though storing the result inside her mind.
Maxwell turned around.
He looked toward the crowd of his classmates.
"Does that satisfy all your curiosity?"
His voice remained calm.
For a moment, nobody answered.
Then...
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
Princess Stella began clapping.
Prince Charles joined her.
Then Willow.
Selena.
Starke.
Fatima.
More students began clapping as the sound spread across the training ground.
The students who had doubted Maxwell earlier were now looking at him differently.
Even those who didn’t like him couldn’t deny what they had just witnessed.
Vera finally raised her hands and clapped lightly.
Cyrus joined in as well.
Then Ezra.
He clapped lightly while continuing to observe Maxwell.
His eyes remained focused on the golden Cognis that had disappeared from Maxwell’s hand.
Ezra’s expression was thoughtful.
So, this is the level of his Law of Inversion.
He continued watching Maxwell.
The applause continued for a few more moments.
Then a member of the Academy medical staff approached Logan.
"Come with us."
The medic reached out to help him stand.
Logan tried to resist.
He clearly didn’t want to leave in front of everyone after suffering such a humiliating defeat.
But his body was too weak.
He had pushed his Cognis beyond what he normally used, and there was little strength left for him to resist the medic.
The medic helped him away from the training ground.
Tristin and his group watched in silence.
Their expressions were filled with annoyance.
Basil looked particularly unhappy.
Felix remained quiet.
Gareth stared at Maxwell.
Desmond’s eyes also remained on him with a faint excitement.
They had all witnessed the same thing.
Maxwell had taken Logan’s Adept-rank Earth Spear and altered it into a completely different material.
There was nothing they could do about it.
The result was already there for everyone to see.
"Alright."
Professor Kent finally stood.
A calm smile appeared on his face.
"Now we know all the students who passed this test."
He turned toward Maxwell, who was still standing in front of the class.
His gaze then moved across the students who had successfully completed the test.
"All of you should get out so I can teach the others the Law."
Kent said plainly.
The students who had passed began gathering their things.
Some narrowed their eyes on the professor before they left, but Kent didn’t seem to care.
The attention that had been focused on Maxwell slowly faded as everyone returned to their places and prepared to continue with the normal class.
The excitement of the test gradually settled.
Some students continued whispering about what Maxwell had done.
Others were still staring at the diamond-like stone that remained on the training ground.
A few looked toward Logan’s direction after he had been taken away.
The atmosphere around the class had changed.
The students had entered the training ground expecting to see a test.
Instead, they had witnessed Maxwell demonstrate his Law of Inversion in a way that none of them had expected.
And for Ezra, one thing had become clear.
Maxwell wasn’t simply a commoner who had somehow managed to become Andraver’s disciple.
There was more to the reason someone like Andraver had chosen him.
The main class resumed.
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