"The Restricted Area?!" a Year 2 student shouted, panic lacing his voice.
"Those are Level 3 — Level 5 beast territories."
"The last student who went there died, even with supervision."
"Without preparation time?" a Year 3 girl added, her face turning pale.
Even Lynx raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised by the sudden, intense escalation. A week in a monster infested forest? That brings back memories.
A slow, dark smirk began to form at the corner of his mouth. That’s literally just a free APS point farm.
While the students continued to protest and murmur, Professor Henry stepped forward, his face twisted in utter disgust.
He hated weaklings. He hated whiners.
To him, the Academy was offering these privileged children a golden opportunity to push past their limits, and they were standing here crying about danger like spoiled infants.
"Silence, you pathetic excuses for Blessed!" Henry roared.
Instantly, Professor Henry unleashed his full, unrestricted Year 4 Professor Aura.
CRACK!
The air in the Main Hall literally shattered.
A brutal, suffocating pressure, infused with dense, crushing heavy earth intent, slammed down upon the fifty students like a falling skyscraper.
The floor tiles cracked beneath the sheer weight of his mana.
"AARGH!"
Over thirty students fell instantly to their knees, slamming hard onto the stone floor.
Blood sprayed from the noses of several Year 1 and Year 2 representatives as their lungs were violently compressed.
Even the Year 3 students collapsed to two hands and knees, gasping frantically for air as the dark pressure pounded their bodies.
Ava, Kira, and Lira were forced down onto their knees, their teeth gritted tightly as they fought against the crushing weight, sweat dripping down their pale faces.
At the front of the hall, the elite ten were hit the hardest.
Julian Frostborne gasped loudly, his knees shaking violently as he dropped onto one knee, his ice blue eyes bulging as he slammed a fist onto the cracking tile to keep his face off the floor.
His three escorts were completely flattened, groaning in pain.
Eleanor’s escorts dropped to their knees, while Eleanor herself was forced into a deep, strained squat, her pale arms trembling as she channeled every drop of her mana to resist bowing entirely.
Then, there was Lynx.
While the entire hall was grovelling in their own blood and sweat under a Year 4 Professor’s full, oppressive wrath, Lynx simply stood there.
He didn’t bend. He didn’t shake. He didn’t even shift his weight.
His massive baseline Defense and Physical Stamina rendered Professor Henry’s aura completely trivial.
To Lynx, it felt like standing under a somewhat heavy shower.
He stood perfectly upright at the head of the ten elites, his hands still casually resting in his trousers pockets, his heterochromatic eyes completely clear, dark, and utterly unbothered.
The sight was horrific in its absurdity.
Julian, struggling with every fiber of his being just to keep his knee off the ground, lifted his bloodshot eyes and saw Lynx standing right in front of him.
Completely relaxed, taking clean, steady breaths, looking at Professor Henry like the man was an entertaining street performer.
Eleanor raised her head through her heavy bangs, her purple eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated shock.
A faint, breathless smile touched her lips as she realized the true, terrifying depth of the young man standing before her.
From behind, Ava, Kira, and Lira looked up through their strained vision, seeing Lynx’s solid, unyielding back standing like an unbreakable mountain in a sea of kneeling prodigies.
Lira’s green eyes shone with pure, absolute worship.
Ava’s heart pounded violently against her ribs, her soul swelling with immense pride that this absolute god of a man was the one who had claimed her body so thoroughly just hours prior.
The Year 3s and Year 4s who managed to tilt their heads up were completely frozen.
He’s a Year 2 student... how is he not on his knees?! How is his nose not bleeding?! Is he even human?!
Peter Musk was trembling on the floor, his face pressed against the cracked tile, his blood dripping onto the stone.
He stared at Lynx’s heels with a violent, sickening envy that threatened to burn his brain to ash.
Professor Henry’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
He intensified his aura, aiming a concentrated blast of pure pressure directly at Lynx’s skull, intending to force the arrogant Year 2 down.
The air around Lynx hummed, but Lynx didn’t even blink.
He just stared straight into Henry’s eyes, his expression completely devoid of fear, utterly calm, and subtly condescending.
"You are all weak!" Henry shouted, his voice echoing off the walls as he addressed the groveling hall, though his eyes never left Lynx.
"You complain about a simple hunt?!
You are supposed to be the pride of AETHER Empire, yet a single wave of intent leaves you bleeding on the floor!
You have no right to complain! You have no right to bargain!"
Before Henry could push his mana further and permanently injure the students, Rose stepped forward, placing a firm hand onto Henry’s shoulder.
"That’s enough, Henry," Rose said quietly. "You’ve made your point."
Henry felt the heat of Rose’s hand, took a deep breath, and abruptly snapped his aura back into his body.
The crushing pressure vanished instantly. A collective, ragged gasp erupted across the Main Hall.
Dozens of students collapsed completely onto their stomachs, coughing wildly, wiping blood from their faces, and desperately sucking air back into their bruised lungs.
Lynx remained standing in the exact same spot, casually rolling his shoulders as if nothing had happened.
His eyes locked onto Henry with a faint, cold glint that made the seasoned Year 4 instructor feel an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
Rose stepped to the front of the podium, entirely ignoring the groaning students on the floor.
"You have three hours to rest. You will not return to your standard dormitories for the remainder of the week.
Instead, you will report at the Camp near the Academy Forest by 1:00 PM. Anyone who is late will be stripped of their tournament slot instantly."
Without another word, Rose turned and walked off the stage.
Professor Henry shot one final, intensely suspicious look at Lynx before following close behind her, his mind plagued with questions about the young monster’s true limits.
As the heavy pressure dissipated, the hall slowly began to recover. Lynx turned around, stepping gracefully past the recovering elites.
He walked straight up to Eleanor, who was slowly pushing herself up from her kneeling squat, her purple hair slightly disheveled from the effort.
Without saying a word, Lynx extended his bare right hand down to her.
Eleanor looked at his broad, warm hand, then raised her silver eyes to meet his calm gaze. For a split second, the undisputed Queen of Aether Academy hesitated.
Then, with quiet grace, she placed her small, elegant hand into his, allowing him to pull her smoothly to her feet.
"Thank you, Lynx," Eleanor murmured softly, her voice smooth and refined.
"Don’t mention it, Queen," Lynx drawled with a lazy wink.
He then stepped past her and helped her primary female escorts up as well, offering them effortless charming smiles that left the senior girls blushing... well only Iris and maybe Rhea. Nadia and Layla almost didn’t took his hand.
Then, Lynx turned his back completely on Julian Frostborne and his male escorts, who were still struggling to haul themselves off the cracking floor.
Lynx didn’t offer Julian a hand. He didn’t even glance at him.
He literally walked right past the King of the Academy as if Julian were nothing more than a piece of discarded furniture.
The entire hall went dead silent again as students watched the supreme, casual disrespect.
Julian’s face flushed a dark, furious crimson.
He pushed himself up, his white knuckles trembling, his ice blue eyes burning with a murderous glare aimed squarely at Lynx’s back.
Lynx completely ignored the burning gaze behind him, walking straight toward his girls.
He knelt down gracefully, gently taking Kira and Lira by their hands and pulling them up to their feet, before reaching out and wrapping an arm around Ava’s waist to lift her effortlessly.
"You okay, beautiful?" Lynx asked Ava softly, wiping a tiny speck of dust from her cheek.
"I... I’m fine now," Ava breathed, leaning her head against his shoulder, completely unconcerned that her brother was watching her every move from ten feet away.
"You were incredible, Lynx." Lira squeaked softly, clutching her hands against her chest as her green eyes sparkled. "You didn’t even move, you took it all."
"He’s a complete freak," Kira grumbled, though she was clinging tightly to Lynx’s arm, her face red with pride. "A handsome, terrifying freak."
Lynx chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around them as they prepared to turn and head toward the hall exit.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
A violent, enraged roar echoed from the side of the hall, cutting through the murmurs of the recovering students like a jagged blade.
Lynx paused, his broad lips slowly curving upward into a dark, entertained grin as he turned his head to see who was finally breaking down.
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