Seeing Ronald stop his attack, Azrael sighed in relief inwardly, glad that he wasn't late this time.
As Ronald stopped the attack, Luo Bingqing also came back to his senses. Recalling the dreadful feeling Azrael's last attack had given him, he took a deep breath to calm his still rapidly beating heart and turned to look at Azrael.
'Strong… Even if I had enough cosmic energy, I might not have been able to stop that last attack…' Reaching this conclusion, Luo Bingqing couldn't help but frown, feeling slightly irritated.
"Both of you performed very well," Ronald's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "You two can go down now."
Luo Bingqing nodded at Ronald's words and after casting one last look at Azrael, he stepped down from the ring.
"Both of them are really strong. Honestly, I don't have any confidence in defeating either of them at my current level. Not to mention that monster Azrael—the ice guy's control over cosmic energy is also superb. The way he used his ice power was brilliant," A Level 13 student muttered in a low voice.
His companion, a Level 8 student who was still only a warrior apprentice couldn't help but twitch his mouth uncontrollably as he recalled the terrifying tornado. Even though it hadn't been aimed at him, the suction had almost pulled him in.
'Damn… I'm also a wind power user, but I can't even control more than three wind blades at once. Yet this guy…' The apprentice warrior looked at Azrael, who, like him, had only completed his Eonrift Trial a few days ago, and began to seriously doubt his life.
The other students were similarly stunned. Some wore solemn expressions after witnessing the strength of the first- and third-ranked students, while others looked helpless, realizing how difficult it would be to catch up to them in such a short time.
'They both only used their basic powers, yet that alone was enough to overwhelm most class-level warriors of the same level…' Elyara thought to herself, narrowing her eyes.
In her observation, neither Luo Bingqing nor Azrael had used their class skills, rune powers, normal skills, or even their attributes.
They had simply fought with their most basic powers.
Elyara understood that the reason was simple—it was just a sparring match. Revealing their trump cards now would have been foolish, especially when they could conceal them until the examination three months later and use them to catch their opponents by surprise.
Still, she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of regret that she hadn't been able to witness their true power.
'Well, there will be more opportunities in the future,' She thought to herself and set the matter aside.
Meanwhile, Azrael did not leave the ring immediately after Ronald's words. Instead, he walked directly over to him.
"Professor, there's something I need your advice on."
Ronald was momentarily surprised when he heard Azrael speak. Honestly, after watching his performance earlier, Ronald himself felt there was little he could currently teach him.
Most of Azrael's basics were already perfected, and to learn higher-level techniques, he needed to increase his level further, as his current powers were insufficient to grasp them.
Thus, hearing Azrael ask for his advice made Ronald unexpectedly delighted so he immediately nodded.
"What do you want to ask?"
Azrael showed him a low-level training ground card and the skill card he had received as a reward in the Tower of Trials.
"About these two things," He said. "If I'm not mistaken, this skill card can be used to redeem a low-level skill for free, right?"
Ronald glanced at the cards in his hand and nodded.
"Yes. You just need to go to the Skill Library and you'll be able to use it." He paused, then pointed to the training ground card. "As for this card, you can use it to train in any academy training ground for three days."
"Three days?" Azrael was surprised to hear that a low-level card could be used for more than one day.
He nodded, put the cards away, and then asked the main question that had brought him over.
"Professor, I want to get a skill that allows me to see in different environments—such as darkness, underwater, fog, and other unnatural conditions. Do you have any suggestions for which skill I should redeem from the Skill Library?"
"A vision-enhancement skill, hmm…" Ronald pondered for a moment before pulling out a card that looked somewhat similar to Azrael's student ID.
A few seconds later, Azrael felt his own student ID card vibrate.
"I've sent you a list of good low-level skills that meet your requirements. Look through them and see which ones suit you." He paused, then added, "I've also transferred 40 academic credits—the monthly stipend you're supposed to receive from me. And regarding the two free skills—one as a reward for being ranked first, and another as compensation for my earlier mistake, you can also choose them from the Skill Library."
Azrael briefly checked the list of skill names Ronald had sent him and confirmed that he had also received the 40 credits. Satisfied, he nodded.
"Thank you for your help, Professor. I'll be heading back now."
Ronald raised an eyebrow, surprised, and asked, "You don't want to watch the performances of the other students?"
"Not really…" Azrael replied bluntly. Then, as though remembering something, he looked at Ronald again.
"By the way, I said earlier that if you gave me 40 credits each month, I'd make sure they worked like pigs trying to surpass me, right?"
Ronald recalled Azrael's earlier words and nodded slowly.
"Then let me fulfill my end of the deal."
As Azrael spoke, he turned his gaze toward the students who were either whispering about the earlier match or looking at him and Ronald, trying to guess what they were discussing.
"I know all of you want to defeat me and take the rank one position in this class…" Azrael suddenly spoke loudly, his voice ringing across the gymnasium and instantly silencing the crowd.
"But honestly, you're all far too weak to even dream of taking my spot. Instead of fantasizing about becoming rank one, I advise you to aim for second place. Because…"
His sharp gaze swept across the dumbfounded students, and a sneer appeared on his face.
"You have no hope of becoming rank one as long as I'm here."
Once he finished speaking, Azrael ignored their stunned expressions and casually walked off the ring, heading straight for the exit.
It wasn't only the students who were left speechless, even Ronald was stunned by Azrael's words.
'So this is what he meant by making them work like pigs to surpass him… But isn't he just attracting public hatred ?'