Kael Veyron stood nearly 1.86 meters tall.
Combined with the height of the abandoned bus beneath his feet, his sudden appearance immediately attracted the attention of every Blade-Armed Tiger in the fitness square.
The Blade-Armed Tiger King remained lazily beside the half-eaten Horned Rhino carcass.
But the other nine beasts reacted at almost the same time.
They rose from the ground.
Their massive bodies stretched as they stood.
Nine pairs of amber eyes locked onto Kael.
A terrifying bloodlust filled the square.
The Blade-Armed Tigers slowly began moving toward the bus.
They weren’t moving particularly quickly.
They didn’t need to.
Nine enormous beasts, each nearly the size of a car, advancing together created an overwhelming sense of pressure.
This was precisely why Ferocious Beast packs were so dangerous.
A group of beasts working together could display combat power far beyond that of a single creature.
Even a High-Tier One Ferocious Beast wouldn’t casually provoke nine Blade-Armed Tigers working as a coordinated group.
Yet Kael wasn’t frightened.
Not even slightly.
He looked down at the beasts.
Then….
He jumped.
Bang!
His combat boots struck the pavement.
Kael landed firmly on the ground.
“Roar!”
A low roar came from the approaching beasts.
Then something unexpected happened.
The nine Blade-Armed Tigers suddenly split apart.
They moved almost like trained soldiers.
Some moved left.
Others moved right.
A few spread behind him.
Within seconds, they had surrounded Kael from multiple directions.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“As expected of a pack with a leader.”
He reached backward.
His hand closed around the Obsidian Spear.
Clang!
The black spear was pulled free.
The abandoned bus was less than thirty meters from the center of the fitness square.
For Low-Tier One Ferocious Beasts, thirty meters was practically nothing.
The nine Blade-Armed Tigers accelerated.
In the blink of an eye, they were less than five meters away.
But they didn’t attack simultaneously.
Five of them suddenly leaped forward.
Their enormous bodies soared through the air.
Five pairs of claws.
Five sets of bone blades.
Five enormous mouths.
The beasts came from slightly different angles, blocking almost every possible escape route.
Behind Kael was the abandoned bus.
He had nowhere to retreat.
To an ordinary candidate, this was essentially a death trap.
But Kael’s expression remained completely calm.
His grip tightened around the Obsidian Spear.
Then he swung.
Whoosh!
The 2.1-meter spear spun violently through the air.
It became a black blur.
The weapon moved like a gigantic rotating wheel, creating a powerful defensive barrier around Kael.
The five Blade-Armed Tigers realized something was wrong.
But it was already too late.
CRACK!
The first beast collided with the spinning spear.
Then another.
And another.
The Obsidian Spear slammed into the five beasts with tremendous force.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sharp spearhead tore across their heads.
Blood sprayed.
The five enormous beasts were knocked from the air and crashed heavily onto the ground.
Boom!
Dust rose around them.
For a moment, the fitness square became silent.
The five Blade-Armed Tigers were badly injured.
Their skulls had suffered heavy blows.
But they weren’t dead.
Kael glanced at them.
Then he shook his head.
“My physical strength still isn’t enough to finish them with that move.”
The spinning attack had been performed purely through his physical strength.
It wasn’t a formal Combat Technique.
If he had combined it with Purple Sky Thunder, the result would have been completely different.
Those five beasts would have been killed instantly.
“But that’s fine.”
Kael lowered the spear.
“I’ll just finish them properly.”
He charged forward.
The remaining four Blade-Armed Tigers immediately moved to intercept him.
Kael’s footwork changed.
One step.
Two steps.
A slight shift of his body.
He slipped between two beasts.
A claw passed beside his shoulder.
Kael spun.
The Obsidian Spear flashed.
Puff!
One beast collapsed.
Kael moved again.
Puff!
Another.
His movements were smooth and precise.
The injured beasts couldn’t react quickly enough.
One by one, they fell beneath his spear.
The five severely wounded Blade-Armed Tigers that had been knocked down moments earlier were finished almost immediately.
Kael didn’t waste a single movement.
Then…
“ROAR!”
A thunderous roar shook the fitness square.
Kael looked up.
The Blade-Armed Tiger King had finally moved.
The massive beast rose from beside the Horned Rhino carcass.
Its enormous body was clearly larger than the others.
Its limbs were thick.
Its muscles bulged beneath its fur.
The bone blades extending from its forearms were terrifyingly long.
It walked toward the remaining four Blade-Armed Tigers.
Kael looked at it.
“Finally.”
He pulled the Obsidian Spear from the corpse of one of the beasts.
The weapon came free with a sharp metallic sound.
Kael turned toward the five remaining opponents.
The Tiger King.
Four Blade-Armed Tigers.
Five against one.
Kael’s expression became cold.
“Let’s finish this together.”
The Blade-Armed Tiger King roared.
Perhaps it had finally realized how many of its companions had been killed.
Perhaps Kael’s calm, defiant gaze had provoked its instincts.
Whatever the reason…
It attacked.
“ROAR!”
The Tiger King charged forward.
The four other Blade-Armed Tigers followed.
Five massive beasts attacked simultaneously.
Kael didn’t retreat.
He charged straight toward them.
The battle exploded.
Blade-Armed Tigers were intelligent compared with ordinary animals.
They knew how to cooperate.
And this particular group had clearly fought together countless times.
They had hunted powerful Ferocious Beasts as a pack.
Their attacks complemented one another.
One beast attacked from the front.
Another attempted to flank.
A third tried to cut off Kael’s escape route.
The Tiger King remained at the center, coordinating the attack.
If these five beasts had entered a human city, they would have been capable of annihilating a heavily armed squad of ordinary soldiers.
But against Kael–
It wasn’t enough.
His body became a black blur.
He moved between the beasts.
A claw passed behind him.
A bone blade swept past his chest.
Kael twisted his body.
The Obsidian Spear shot forward.
Puff!
A spearhead pierced the throat of a Blade-Armed Tiger.
Kael immediately pulled it free.
He turned.
Puff!
Another strike.
The spear pierced directly through the beast’s eye.
The Tiger collapsed.
Kael moved again.
His footwork was incredibly precise.
His spear seemed to have eyes of its own.
Every thrust targeted a vital point.
The Blade-Armed Tigers were unable to touch him.
One after another, they fell.
The battle lasted less than two minutes.
The last beast standing was the Tiger King.
It charged desperately.
Kael stepped sideways.
The massive creature’s claws tore through empty air.
Kael’s spear flashed.
Puff!
The Obsidian Spear pierced straight through its skull.
The Tiger King froze.
Then its enormous body collapsed.
Boom!
Dust spread across the square.
Silence returned.
Kael stood among the corpses.
His combat suit remained largely intact.
He looked down at the dead Tiger King.
“A Mid-Tier One Ferocious Beast…”
He shook his head.
“Not much of a challenge.”
His original plan had been to use this battle to determine how far his physical strength had improved.
He had even been prepared to activate Purple Sky Thunder if necessary.
But the entire pack hadn’t been strong enough to force him to use his ability.
Kael looked at his system.
The result appeared immediately.
[Ferocious Beast pack eliminated.]
[Ability Points +106.]
Kael’s eyes lit up.
“That’s a huge harvest.”
One battle had given him more than one hundred Ability Points.
His smile widened.
If he maintained this efficiency until the end of the examination…
The number of Ability Points he could accumulate would be enormous.
Kael didn’t allow himself to get distracted.
He cleaned the blood from his spear.
Then he secured it across his back.
“Enough thinking.”
He looked toward the deeper ruins.
“Time to find the next group.”
He immediately set off.
Rivergate Second High School
The day of the Combat Examination was a special event for every high school in the city.
Students from the first and second years were gathered together to watch the live broadcast.
There were two reasons for this.
First, the school wanted younger students to understand the danger and brutality of the Combat Examination.
Second, watching experienced candidates fight Ferocious Beasts allowed younger students to familiarize themselves with their behavior before eventually entering the battlefield themselves.
At Rivergate Second High School, the entire student body had gathered around the school’s playground.
A massive virtual projection floated above the field.
The image was identical to the broadcast being shown at the military examination center.
Students filled the surrounding stands.
Normally, the students paid the most attention to candidates from Rivergate First High School.
After all, Rivergate First had dominated the city’s rankings for years.
But this year was different.
Their own school had finally produced a candidate who had entered the top ten.
Kael Veyron.
The moment Kael appeared on the large projection screen in ninth place…
The entire school erupted.
“That’s Senior Kael!”
“He made the top ten!”
“That’s incredible!”
Students were especially excited by the earlier footage of Kael killing a Ferocious Beast with a single spear thrust.
“Did you see that spear strike?”
“That was insane!”
“Senior Kael is officially my idol now!”
“He’s so cool!”
The students didn’t share the same concerns as the principals and Education Department officials.
They weren’t thinking about Kael’s E-rank ability.
They weren’t calculating his future potential.
They were simply excited to see someone from their own school fighting at the highest level of the city’s examination.
To many of them, Kael had already become a role model.
Unfortunately, Kael’s next half hour wasn’t particularly exciting.
He spent most of the time traveling toward the Core Region.
He didn’t encounter many Ferocious Beasts.
As a result, his ranking gradually dropped.
Eventually….
He fell to tenth place.
The students began getting anxious.
“Sigh…”
“Did Senior Kael run out of stamina?”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Our school finally got someone into the top ten, but now his ranking is falling.”
“Maybe he really can’t keep up.”
Some students reluctantly returned their attention to the other famous candidates.
After all, expectations were dangerous.
The moment Kael entered the top ten, everyone hoped he would continue climbing.
So when his ranking began dropping, disappointment naturally followed.
Then…
Someone suddenly shouted.
“Wait!”
“Look!”
“Senior Kael found something!”
Every student immediately turned back toward the main screen.
The image showed Kael standing on top of an abandoned bus.
Below him…
Were enormous Blade-Armed Tigers.
A large group of them.
The students froze.
“What is that?”
“That’s a whole pack!”
“Blade-Armed Tigers!”
“Senior Kael needs to run!”
“Why isn’t he leaving?”
“He’ll be surrounded!”
“Activate the Safety Sphere!”
“Senior, get out of there!”
The students became increasingly nervous.
The Blade-Armed Tigers began surrounding Kael.
There were too many.
Even the students who had admired Kael moments earlier began worrying that he had made a terrible mistake.
When five Blade-Armed Tigers suddenly leaped toward him—
Several students gasped.
Some girls even covered their eyes.
They couldn’t bear to watch what they thought would be a brutal death.
But the scene they expected never happened.
Instead….
Kael swung the Obsidian Spear.
BOOM!
The five enormous beasts were knocked out of the air.
The entire spectator stand went silent.
Then…
“WHAT?!”
“He blocked them!”
“A spear can actually be used like that?”
“That strength is ridiculous!”
The students erupted again.
Someone shouted,
“If an ordinary person tried that, the spear wouldn’t even stop the beasts!”
“Exactly!
They’d get crushed!”
“Senior Kael must have an incredible Physique!”
“He’s way too strong!”
The doubts from earlier disappeared instantly.
Nobody cared that his ranking had dropped anymore.
Nobody complained about his lack of progress.
They were completely focused on the battle.
Kael became a black streak on the projection screen.
He moved between the Blade-Armed Tigers with astonishing speed.
The Obsidian Spear flashed repeatedly.
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
Every strike landed on a vital point.
One beast fell.
Then another.
Then another.
Soon, the black spear was completely stained with blood.
Yet the scene didn’t make the students uncomfortable.
Quite the opposite.
The atmosphere in the stands became increasingly excited.
“That’s incredible!”
“Look at his movement!”
“Every spear strike lands!”
“That’s not just strength.
His Spearmanship is amazing!”
“This is so satisfying!”
Kael’s movements were violent.
But they were also precise.
There was no wasted motion.
No unnecessary brutality.
Every attack had a purpose.
Every step was calculated.
Every thrust ended a life.
It created a strange contrast.
The battle was fierce and deadly, yet Kael’s movements were almost beautiful.
There was an unmistakable sense of violent elegance in his Spearmanship.
The teenagers watching from the stands were completely captivated.
The image of Kael moving through the pack of Ferocious Beasts was burned into their minds.
“That spear technique…”
“One day, I want to fight like that.”
“Senior Kael is amazing!”
The cheers continued to rise.
And as the last Blade-Armed Tiger fell beneath Kael’s spear…
The students of Rivergate Second High School realized something.
Their mysterious senior wasn’t merely lucky.
He wasn’t simply a student who had stumbled into the top ten.
He was a genuine powerhouse.
And this battle had only revealed another layer of his strength.