I, the heir of the great Eastern nation

"The trial competition has officially begun. All participating students, please collect your mission scrolls immediately."

As the school teachers' voices rang out, the new students lined up, picked up their own mission scrolls, and entered the forest from different entrances.

Liu Zhao was no exception.

I opened the mission scroll immediately after receiving it.

[Mission Objective: Head to Red Fruit Village and eliminate the wolves harassing the villagers]

The scroll depicts a map of Black Stone Mountain, with the location of Red Fruit Village marked in the southwest.

A very routine cleanup task.

Liu Zhao nodded.

For these noble magic apprentices, who had mastered at least one or two basic spells, the small number of wolves was not difficult to deal with.

Furthermore, the school does not restrict students from forming teams, so even if someone is weaker, as long as they have some patience, they will definitely be able to complete the task successfully.

"So, if I want to achieve good results in this competition, the real enemy I need to be wary of is actually..."

Liu Zhao turned his head and looked at the small group of three people who had followed him in from not far away, and shouted loudly.

"Hey, you three, you've been talking about me behind my back the whole time, what are you trying to do?"

"What, do you want to be my enemy?"

Faced with someone who was likely a potential threat, Liu Zhao, who was confident in his own strength, simply chose to confront them head-on.

Upon hearing this, the three people, knowing there was no point in continuing to pretend, immediately turned around.

Immediately, Liu Zhao was drawn to the other person's distinctive hair color and hairstyle.

One has red curly hair, one has blue hair with a natural-looking head, and one has blond hair with a spiky head.

The vibrant red, yellow, and blue colors stand out strikingly in the sunlight.

"Hmph, I didn't expect you to see through our carefully crafted disguise. There's no need for us to hide it anymore."

With his blond, spiky hair and arms crossed, a smirk played on his lips as he looked at Liu Zhao with arrogance in his eyes.

"Hey, you black-haired out-of-towner, since you've figured it out, I'm not going to waste my breath on you. In short, the three of us really don't like you. Kid, you're in big trouble!"

The red-haired curly-haired man also loudly echoed the sentiment.

"That's right, you're just an unknown kid from a remote country, yet you've been so arrogant at school lately, you're completely disregarding us local nobles. We have to teach you a lesson."

The blue-haired woman who had just given birth clenched her fingers and stepped forward as well.

"That clueless out-of-towner, he just got lucky and awakened a rare blessing. He saw me on the street and didn't even bother to say hello. Humph, I've had my eye on you for ages!"

The three men talked and smiled mockingly as they surrounded Liu Zhao from three different directions.

Liu Zhao's first reaction to this was...

"this one?"

Seeing the red, yellow, and blue trio slowly approaching, Liu Zhao not only showed no fear, but couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This reaction instantly stunned the three of them.

"Damn it! What are you laughing at?"

The blond, spiky-haired man glared fiercely at Liu Zhao.

Liu Zhao smiled and waved at him.

"I'm sorry, but I really didn't expect that."

Liu Zhao slowly stopped laughing and continued speaking.

"When I saw that you were targeting me, I thought of several possibilities. I wondered if you had your eye on something good about me, or if you saw me as a competitor, which is why you came to me."

"What I didn't expect was that your motives were so simple. You three local thugs just wanted to bully and harass me because I'm from out of town."

At this point, Liu Zhao couldn't help but laugh out loud again.

"To be honest, such a simple, unpretentious, and innocent reason really caught me off guard."

What Liu Zhao said was truly his honest opinion.

But then I thought about it again. Although they were from noble families, these freshmen from the academy, just like me, were actually only sixteen or seventeen years old.

In an instant, he felt completely relieved.

His words were overheard by the trio opposite him, causing them to exchange a subconscious glance.

Was he mocking us?

"That damn out-of-towner, he's indirectly calling us childish and ridiculous!"

"Damn it! How dare he look down on us! Everyone, attack him! Beat him up!"

The three men instantly turned red with rage and immediately raised their right hands at Liu Zhao, making a gesture as if to cast a spell.

"Go to hell, you black-haired out-of-towner!"

The blond-haired curly-haired man was the fastest, and in the blink of an eye, he had summoned a fireball the size of a fist.

"Fireball!"

With a loud shout, a raging fireball hurtled fiercely towards Liu Zhao's location.

Then, Liu Zhao easily dodged it with a backflip.

Boom!

The fireball exploded upon hitting the ground, but it did not harm Liu Zhao in the slightest.

This scene made the blond-haired man's eyes widen in disbelief.

"You dodged it? How is that possible!"

Immediately afterwards, the attacks from the other two arrived.

"Wind Blade Technique!"

"Fireball!"

Wind blades and fireballs came crashing down.

Then, Liu Zhao easily dodged it again.

In the blink of an eye, the three men had finished their first round of attacks, but Liu Zhao was still standing there perfectly fine, without a scratch.

This result was hard for the Red, Yellow, and Blue trio to accept.

"Damn it! Our attacks all missed!"

"Damn it, I missed!"

"How can he be so fast!"

"Out-of-towner! Don't hide if you've got the guts! Use magic to fight us head-on!"

Seeing that Liu Zhao had easily thwarted the first round of attacks, the three of them were all a little exasperated and started cursing.

Liu Zhao's response to this was...

"Okay, I'll grant your request!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhao grinned at the trio.

Then, bend slightly forward, assuming a posture suitable for running.

"Amplification Magic: Acceleration"

A gust of wind swept across his face, raising dust as the spiky, blond-haired man, his teeth clenched, suddenly saw Liu Zhao appear before him.

Then, he threw a punch.

"Amplification Magic: Might"

With a loud thud, the blond, spiky-haired boy, who had no time to react, was punched in the stomach by Liu Zhao. He was sent flying two meters away and lay on the ground, unable to get up.

This scene immediately shocked the blue-haired and red-haired men standing nearby, their eyes widening in disbelief.

"What?!"

"How is that possible!"

Their gasps of surprise didn't last long.

Because the same attack landed on them the next second.

A powerful and heavy flying kick.

A lightning-fast elbow strike to the face.

Liu Zhao easily knocked down the red-haired and blue-haired men, and threw them onto the yellow-haired man who was lying there like trash.

In less than three seconds, the opponent had completely lost the ability to fight.

"Time's up, all done."

After finishing the battle, Liu Zhao stopped moving. Apart from his slightly flushed face, he didn't even pant heavily.

I couldn't help but feel a little happy.

This fighting style, which mainly relies on amplification magic to enhance the body for melee attacks, is a tactic he developed for this competition based on his two special buff abilities, "Elemental Balance" and "Elemental Affinity," specifically to target these fragile, short-legged mages.

After a brief practice session with Beryl, they went straight to the competition.

So far, the results have been remarkable!

At this moment, a male teacher dressed in a black magic robe slowly walked out from behind the big tree next to the red, yellow, and blue trio.

"Candidates Arthur, Jenny, and Red have fallen into a coma and are completely incapacitated. They are hereby eliminated."

After announcing the elimination of the three students, the teacher casually used a spell to lift their unconscious bodies and prepare to leave.

At this moment, Liu Zhao suddenly spoke.

"Teacher, I'd like to ask, since all three of them have been eliminated, can I complete all their original tasks as well? Will the points be counted towards my score?"

The teacher paused for a moment, looked at Liu Zhao carefully, and then nodded.

"Okay, but I have to remind you that you'll only get one-third of the reward points for doing these tasks that weren't originally yours."

After saying that, he casually tossed the three men's mission scrolls to Liu Zhao, and then quickly carried the three men off the field.

Looking at the four scrolls he already had, Liu Zhao couldn't help but show his delight.

"Hehe, I knew it! Since it's a quest to gain reputation, the more the merrier!"

After saying that, thinking about what he was going to do next, Liu Zhao couldn't help but show excitement as he strode quickly toward the depths of Black Stone Mountain.

At the same time, Liu Zhao's battle with the trio was recorded from beginning to end by the monitoring magic inherent in the magic barrier and played synchronously on the magic projection outside the arena.

For a time, countless people were shocked by Liu Zhao's performance.

This naturally included Cecilia and the other teachers who were proctoring the exam, as well as Vice Principal Hills.

"Tsk tsk, this Liu Zhao is quite good. If I'm not mistaken, he just used the level two amplification magic, Strength and Acceleration."

The white-bearded old man, Hills, looked on with admiration.

"He's just a magic apprentice who's only been on the job for a few days, yet he managed to use two level-two amplification spells so easily against three opponents, and it doesn't seem like he's expending too much magic power at all. That's quite remarkable."

The teacher next to them also laughed out loud.

"Easily winning against three opponents at once, it seems that Liu Zhao not only has a very powerful awakened protective ability, but his battle intelligence is also outstanding. Cecilia, you've really struck gold this time."

Upon hearing this, Cecilia, who was standing next to her, nodded slightly. Her seemingly calm eyes revealed a hint of satisfaction when she looked at Liu Zhao in the picture.

Meanwhile, Liu Zhao, who was gradually approaching his mission location, encountered other contestants along the way.

Then, to his great surprise, most of these new students, who were clearly from local noble families in the capital, were actually the same type as the red, yellow, and blue trio from before.

Upon seeing Liu Zhao, these people couldn't help but seek trouble.

"You smelly out-of-towner with black hair, I've had my eye on you for a long time!"

"The royal descendants of a mere, remote little country are not as valuable as a single baron from the capital!"

"How can we, the nobles of the capital, let some lowly outsider ride roughshod over us? Let's all attack and beat him up!"

"..."

While Liu Zhao found these people's arrogant behavior difficult to understand, he was also pleasantly surprised.

Facing these freshmen whose average strength was not much different from that of the Red, Yellow, and Blue trio, Liu Zhao, who was skilled in using amplification magic, dealt with them with ease.

The opponent's magic couldn't hit him, but his own big fists dealt massive damage to them, causing him great pain!

Along the way, even some contestants who had learned breathing techniques and whose physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary mages could not withstand Liu Zhao's punches. Often, in less than five punches, the opponent would be completely incapacitated and lying on the ground.

Four hours passed, and when Liu Zhao finally arrived at the entrance of Hongguo Village after navigating the mountains according to the map, he had a total of nine mission scrolls in his hand.

The tasks are largely the same, all involving clearing out small monsters and wild beasts in various locations.

The mission locations are all concentrated in the only two villages on Blackrock Mountain.

Hongguo Village and Heishi Village.

At this very moment, standing at the entrance of Hongguo Village, Liu Zhaogang had just entered the village when he saw three contestants dressed in white mage robes punching and kicking a villager.

"Damn it, all I wanted to do was use one of your chickens as a trap to lure those wolves out of their den. How dare a mere commoner like you refuse me? Are you tired of living?"

"That's right, how dare you maliciously refuse a nobleman's request for help? Do you want to face legal punishment?"

"..."

The three unruly teenagers cursed and swore as they repeatedly punched and kicked the thin villager.

The villagers cried out in pain as they were beaten.

"My lords, three distinguished noblemen, please stop fighting!"

"It's not that I don't want to help you, but this is the only chicken in my family. Without it, my whole family can't survive. Please, please, spare me this time."

Upon hearing this, one of the noble youths immediately let out a cold laugh.

"You don't want to give us chickens? Fine, then you'll be the bait!"

Upon hearing this, the other two burst into laughter.

"That's a great idea! Chickens are no match for humans. Tie them up and throw them outside the wolf den. I don't believe those wolf cubs won't fall for it! Let's do it!"

After saying that, the three men ignored the villagers' terrified cries and began to push and shove him to tie him up.

Upon seeing this, Liu Zhao was immediately enraged and shouted out loud.

"What are you doing?"

The three people opposite them all turned around at the same time.

One of the effeminate boys with a long brown ponytail laughed.

"I thought it was someone else, but it's you, you black-haired outsider. What are we doing? Can't you see? This kind villager is about to sacrifice himself to help us lure the wolves, and I'm doing his bidding."

Another green-haired, buzz-cut boy glanced at Liu Zhao with disdain.

"Hey out-of-towner, I'm warning you, don't meddle in other people's business, or you'll regret it."

He paid no attention to Liu Zhao's presence and took the rope, ready to tie up the villagers.

Their attitude made Liu Zhao feel his anger rising rapidly, and he couldn't suppress it no matter what he did.

"Stop! You'll kill him! He's not your slave, he's a living, breathing human being!"

Upon hearing this, the other blond-haired man burst into laughter.

"So what? Ordinary people can have their fortunes told? You outsider, are you kidding me?"

"If you want to save this lowly commoner, you can do it by coming over and beating me. Come on~ If you've got the guts, then come on, hahahahaha."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhao, who had already reached his limit of restraint, immediately lost all restraint.

"Amplification Magic: Acceleration"

"Amplification Magic: Might"

A strong wind swept across our faces, and dirt flew everywhere.

Five seconds later, the trio of nobles had fallen to the ground, lying neatly in a row.

Standing in front of the blond-haired man who was spewing sour saliva, Liu Zhao squatted down and slapped him across the face again under the man's incredulous gaze.

"So what if I hit you, you stupid idiot!"

Then, just as Huang Mao wanted to move but couldn't, filled with fear and anger but had no strength to vent, a familiar voice rang out behind Liu Zhao.

"Liu...Zhao? You're all classmates, your tasks don't conflict, why did you beat them up like this?"

Christine stood not far away, her aloof and elegant class monitor Christine looking at Liu Zhao with dissatisfaction.

In response, Liu Zhao, who was already fuming with anger at these useless nobles, retorted without any politeness.

"Why? To get first place, of course!"

"Instead of patiently completing tasks to accumulate points and improve ratings, wouldn't it be better to simply eliminate all competitors?"