One day later.

Lance and Yoru walked over the grass field, the glistering light of the sun basking on their figures with humidity.

As they walked, they kept their attention forward. On their entire journey, they were silent and barely conversed with each other.

After the loss from Elias, Lance seemed to have toned down. However, he had not completely changed. It would take more time and losses to defeat his spirit.

Lance still had his impassive, cold exterior but the golden arrogance he usually exuded had toned down slightly.

Yoru noticed this keen detail but didn't dare speak about it. He was afraid that it would be a sensitive spot for Lance and he would suffer from talking about it.

Of course, he was right about his thoughts.

At that moment, Lance stopped and raised his brows. Yoru also stopped beside him, looking forward.

From a distance, they could see several outlines of different people, standing around with slight bewilderment on their faces.

Similarly, the other participants also saw them from a distance and stared at them with curiosity, interest, and a hint of wariness.

The participants who managed to come to the inner circle were the elites of their own batch — those who had sufficient strength and talent at the same time.

Of course, there was still a long way for them to be called a prodigy. 

Lance and Yoru glanced at each other, nodding slowly.

After a day of traveling, they finally arrived back at the borders of the dimension. Unlike the first time, they were not clueless and had a big advantage.

They were here for a different objective: to recruit allies and form a team.

It was simply not possible to clear this test with two people in a short amount of time.

There were barely any 'two handprint checkmarks' and most of them contained the same, useless fragments.

If they wanted to pass this faster and with more efficiency, they needed to find more allies and start taking the other checkmarks.

Lance agreed with this plan. He wanted to quickly reach the academy.

"Let's go."

Lance nodded quietly, turning his gaze to the other participants. He ran towards them with Yoru following behind.

Whoosh!

Sooner or later, they finally arrived in front of the participants.

Lance stopped while staring at the participants in front of him. Behind him, Yoru appeared under a stretched shadow.

Seeing both of them, the participants descended into confused and grave whispers, murmuring to each other.

"Who are these people? They came from deeper dimensions… did they arrive before us?"

"Wait, huh? That's possible! To do that they had to have killed the beast emperor in their chosen route, is that even possible?!"

"For ordinary people like us? Absolutely not. Even if beast emperors are not truly rank C strength… they're still impossible to deal with alone by rank d rankers, unless of course…"

"Wait… hm!? Golden hair, golden eyes… could it be?! A member of the Six Great Noble Families, the Schultz family?"

The participants finally had a proper look at the duo. Hearing the noble families mentioned, they gasped audibly.

The Schultz Family.

One of the Six Great Noble Families. 

The Six Families stood above everyone in the world, having the common world and ranker world under their hands.

They were influential and extremely powerful!

At this moment, any airs or pride they had were immediately extinguished. They looked at Lance with slight pause and solemness.

However, some of the other participants had their eyes flickering into a bright gleam. Their expressions immediately turned into fawning and slightly warm looks.

This was a chance. If they can latch on a noble's leg, they wouldn't need to worry about anything in the academy!

Noble's were the epitome of status!

Riches, influence, and support… they could have it all just by being linked with a noble. Who wouldn't be enticed? It's especially more true to those who hailed simply from normal ranker families.

The resources, time, and consumption to constantly get stronger as a ranker was astounding. It would normally not be a problem in lower ranks but in higher ranks, it would be a nightmare to deal with.

That was also one of the most prevalent reasons why most Rank D or C rankers would join guild companies or organizations, they were simply too poor to get stronger on their own.

As children from common Ranker families, they were already instilled in childhood by the importance of resources and hardships of rankers.

Now that they were Rank D rankers, the resources and time they needed to spend to reach Rank C multiplied by folds.

Unless they had greater talent and growth, then they would certainly need to rely on organizations and resources to get stronger.

Resources were very important.

It was the single most important thing in a ranker's development besides their talent and growth. It could decide the ranker's future.

Seeing the rabble grow into a commotion, Lance frowned in distaste.

But before he could say anything, one of the participants suddenly opened their mouth and spoke in realization.

"Huh, wait a minute… A Schultz member in the academy examination, are you perhaps Lance Schultz, brother of the great Aurelius Schultz!?"

Hearing that, Lance suddenly froze. Then, a flicker of anger flashed through his eyes. Yoru noticed this and didn't do anything.

Lance took a deep breath, calming himself down. It was hard — but over the bigger picture, he calmed himself.

There would be a time, he added to himself quietly.

The mere notion of being mingled together, and related to that person filled him with anger. Fortunately, he knew how to understand the bigger picture.

Lance tightly clenched his hand. He looked at the person who spoke and internally remembered their appearance.

At that moment, Yoru stepped forward. He clapped his hands and emitted a shadowy oppressive aura on the other participants.

That silenced all of them quickly. Lance nodded at Yoru with a slight acknowledgment. 

Yoru sneered coldly. He raised his head arrogantly.

"It's your lucky day, bunch of talkative clowns. My leader, Lance Schultz, needs teammates at the moment. However, he'll only pick two people from your incompetent bunch who are worthy to be beneath him."

"Since the leader and I will handle most of everything, including combat, commands, and plans, he doesn't need anyone who disobeys his order. If you have no intention to follow his words, get away from our sight immediately."

"He has little to no expectations of you incompetent bunch, but do well to prove to him your worth and you will be part of his team,"

That caused an uproar in everyone's mind. Then, everyone's eyes glinted — this was a rare opportunity.

They didn't care about the demeaning, and insulting words spouted at them. It was insignificant. Most nobles were like that.

Looking at each other, the participants understood what they had to do.

One person stepped forward.

"My name is Alex, I'm a sorcerer from the Gorodan family..."

"No,"

Yoru suddenly stopper him. He glanced at the other participants indifferently before his lips curled into a cruel, sadistic smile.

"Fight for the position. If you wish to prove your worth, then prove it by defeating everyone here and remain as the last one standing,"

The participants suddenly fell silent. Fighting was already second nature to most of them, but there were people among them who had hesitant expressions.

Alex was about to continue but before he could finish speaking, someone suddenly dashed to him and attacked him. 

Alex, the sorcerer, was in disbelief as he tried to block with his staff.

Everyone was stunned until they realized that the battle royale itself had started. Knowing this, they were grateful that some of the strong ones that arrived the same day as them had left already.

Not before long, a chaotic scene surfaced on the battlefield with Yoru smiling in hidden glee.

"Now, show us what you're worth."

Beside him, Lance glanced at him with a slightly strange gaze. 

'Odd. I never saw him as a crazy bastard. Regardless, as long as he follows me. After this... I'll focus on gathering the fragments as fast I can.'

By his estimation, perhaps he could go the core circle by tomorrow itself. That would be for the best.

Thinking of something, Lance pondered about his future plans. He ignored the commotion in front of him.

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