Chapter 294: Unleashing the Beasts
Few Days Later
The reinforced iron gates of the Grand Colosseum slammed shut, locking the S-Class inside the massive, sand-filled arena.
High above them, sitting behind thick, multi-layered magical barriers, were the observers. Dozens of high-ranking officials from the Magic Towers, Royal Knights, and Ministry delegates stared down at the students like hawks evaluating livestock. Their recording crystals were already glowing.
Down on the blood-stained sand, Instructor Samantha Hall paced slowly before the Vanguard squads.
"Today is your first official day of the new curriculum," Samantha’s voice carried effortlessly across the vast arena, echoing with military authority. "We are skipping the basics. Today’s focus is Familiar Integration."
She pointed toward the massive, heavily chained steel doors at the far end of the colosseum. Deep, guttural roars vibrated through the ground, making several students pale.
"A mage or knight is only as strong as the weapons they command," Samantha continued. "A familiar is not a pet. It is an extension of your mana, your will, and your lethality. Today, you will be facing live B-rank monsters. You will not fight them directly. You will use your familiars to survive."
A collective swallow echoed through the ranks.
B-rank monsters were supposed to require a coordinated squad of fully graduated knights to take down safely. Throwing first-years at them—even S-Class prodigies—was borderline suicidal.
"Squad Two," Samantha barked, her red eyes landing on Arthur’s group. "Alicia Raven. Step up."
Alicia didn’t hesitate. The First Wife stepped out of the formation, her platinum hair catching the harsh sunlight. She walked with the impeccable grace of high nobility, utterly unfazed by the terrifying roars echoing from the cages.
"Release it," Samantha signaled the guards.
The heavy steel doors cranked open. A B-rank Ironhide Ape burst from the darkness. It was massive—fifteen feet of pure, corded muscle and armor-plated fur. It pounded its chest, letting out a deafening, blood-curdling roar as its red eyes locked onto Alicia.
Up in the stands, the observers leaned forward, ready to intervene.
Alicia merely sighed. She didn’t even drop into a combat stance.
"Whiskers," she murmured.
From the shadow cast by Alicia’s own boots, a pool of pure, inky darkness bubbled upward. A small, seemingly harmless black cat stepped out.
Some of the observers frowned. A standard shadow beast? Against an Ironhide Ape?
The ape charged, the ground shaking with every step.
Whiskers yawned. Then, the nether cat simply vanished.
It didn’t move fast; it completely bypassed the physical laws of space. In a fraction of a second, the shadow stretched, leaping directly into the ape’s blind spot. The small cat’s claws suddenly elongated into massive, scythe-like blades of concentrated nether-magic.
Schwing!
A sickening tearing sound echoed across the arena.
The Ironhide Ape froze mid-charge. A second later, its massive head slid cleanly off its shoulders, hitting the sand with a heavy thud. Its armor-plated skin had been cut through like wet paper.
Whiskers landed gracefully on the corpse, licking its paw before dissolving back into Alicia’s shadow.
Silence gripped the colosseum.
Alicia turned and walked casually back to Arthur’s side. "It got blood on the sand. How messy."
Up in the VIP boxes, the Archmages frantically began scribbling notes. A nether beast capable of bypassing B-rank physical defenses instantly? The Raven family heir was a monster in her own right.
Samantha nodded approvingly. "Excellent efficiency. Next. Arthur Ludwig."
The atmosphere in the arena instantly changed.
The whispers among the students died completely. Every single eye—from the terrified first-years to the calculating archmages high above—locked onto the tall, dark-haired boy standing at the back of the squad.
Arthur lazily pulled his hands out of his pockets and stepped onto the sand.
Samantha looked at him, a dangerous, thrilling smirk playing on her lips. She didn’t forget the way he had completely broken her down and claimed her just days prior. She knew exactly what he was capable of.
"Guards," Samantha called out, her voice ringing clearly. "Open gates three, four, and five."
The observers gasped.
Three gates? For a first-year?
The heavy chains rattled violently. Not one, but three B-rank monsters charged into the sunlight. A Venomous Manticore, a twin-headed Basilisk, and a towering Earth Golem. The sheer concentrated killing intent radiating from the three beasts was enough to make some students step back in sheer terror.
"Are they trying to kill him?!" Cedric yelled, stepping forward before Kaela pulled him back.
Arthur stood completely still in the center of the arena. He didn’t draw the Abyssal Fang. He didn’t even summon his mana aura. He just looked at the charging horde of death with utter, overwhelming boredom.
"Ignis. Zephyra," Arthur commanded softly. "Clear the trash."
A blinding flash of golden-red fire erupted from his right shoulder. Simultaneously, a deafening crack of blue lightning shattered the air on his left.
Two small birds materialized in the sky.
Ignis looked like a glowing, fiery sparrow. Zephyra resembled a sleek, sparking blue falcon.
Up in the stands, a Ministry official scoffed loudly. "Avian familiars? He’s trying to fight a Manticore with birds?"
The official didn’t even get to finish his sentence.
Zephyra moved.
There was no visual blur. There was only the thunderclap. The air pressure in the arena violently dropped as the Thunderbird broke the sound barrier instantly. A massive, blinding pillar of pure, condensed lightning struck the Earth Golem from above.
BOOOOOOM!
The shockwave knocked the front row of students off their feet. The heavily enchanted stone floor of the arena shattered. When the blinding light faded, the towering B-rank Golem wasn’t just destroyed—it was completely vaporized. Nothing remained but a crater of molten, glowing glass.
The observers froze, their eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated horror.
The Manticore and the Basilisk instinctively halted their charge, their animalistic instincts screaming at them to run.
Ignis fluttered lazily above them. The primordial phoenix chick let out a cute, high-pitched chirp.
It opened its tiny beak and spat a single, marble-sized ember.
The ember fell slowly, lazily drifting toward the sand between the two remaining beasts.
The moment it touched the ground, the world turned white.
A terrifying vortex of primordial flame erupted upward, expanding with the force of a volcanic eruption. The heat was so absolute, so conceptually devastating, that the air itself seemed to catch fire. The Manticore and the Basilisk didn’t even have time to scream. Their flesh, bones, and mana cores were incinerated into fine white ash in a fraction of a second.
The shockwave of heat slammed into the arena’s magical barriers. The thick, multi-layered shields—designed to withstand A-rank spells—shuddered violently. Searing cracks spider-webbed across the protective glass as the mages in the stands scrambled backward in sheer panic, shielding their faces from the blistering heat.
For ten agonizing seconds, the pillar of primordial fire roared.
Then, it simply vanished, sucked back into Ignis’s tiny beak as the bird swallowed it with a satisfied chirp.
The arena was completely unrecognizable. The sand had been turned to a sea of glowing, liquid glass. The three B-rank monsters were simply... gone. Erased from existence.
Zephyra fluttered down, landing smoothly on Arthur’s right shoulder, sparking lightly. Ignis landed on his left, nuzzling affectionately against his cheek.
Arthur patted the phoenix’s head, his expression completely unchanged. He didn’t even look out of breath.
He glanced up at the VIP boxes, locking eyes with the terrified, pale-faced Archmages and Ministry delegates. The message was clear, delivered without a single word.
I am not a student. I am a calamity.
The silence in the Colosseum was absolute. No one cheered. No one spoke. The sheer, overwhelming destructive capability of his familiars had completely short-circuited their understanding of magic and logic.
He was an uncontrollable anomaly.
Arthur turned his back on the molten crater and casually walked back to his squad.
"Well," Arthur drawled, sliding his hands back into his pockets as he stopped beside a deeply flushed, mesmerized Alicia. "I think they pass the integration test."
