<h4>Chapter 96 - Fierce Battle: Gathering</h4>


    Countless arrows made of ice fell from the sky. This spell has a slow effect and every arrow was filled with mana that’s why this spell was dangerous.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Souta raised Bonny’s body and used him as a shield. He turned his head and looked at Lynn in the eyes.


    Lynn suppressed herself to not move her eyes. She met Souta’s gaze with her own even though she was embarrassed. She wanted him to believe in her.


    Lynn’s senses were unusually sharp the moment she was born. Especially, her awareness over energy like mana. She was very confident in this ability of hers. She wanted to make herself useful to Souta even once.


    ’Believe in me, Souta! Please!’ Lynn prayed in her mind. She saw Souta looked at the direction that she said. She was nervous, wondering if Souta would believe her.


    Souta released Bonny from his grasp as he decided that if Bonny took any more damage then his condition would worsen just like May. He turned his head and looked at Gyron who was protecting Sena and May. Then, at Mark who was defending against the arrows from the sky.


    "Thanks for protecting me!" He gripped Bonny and threw him towards Mark. "Here’s your friend! If he wakes upter tell me thanks for protecting me!"


    "You!!" Mark looked at him with clear anger painted on his face. Souta was treating everyone here like a disposable tool that he could get rid of any time he wanted.


    Souta then turned his head to the direction that Lynn pointed. He charged towards it without hesitation. He wouldn’t doubt her for something like this. Ever since he started to gather the gs of other sses, Lynn didn’t say anything. She just watched him quietly from the sidelines. But now, she said something to him. It only means that she wanted to make use of herself to him.


    He bent his knees andunched himself towards that direction. He moved his body from side to side to avoid the arrows, but there were too many arrows he couldn’t dodge them all.


    Some of them even pierced his body. Since this was the case, Souta used [Dash] and ran in a straight line. He ignored the arrows that were falling on his body.


    When he was closer to the caster of the tier 2 spell, Souta jumped in the air. He saw the caster was a slender man with long blonde hair. The man had pointed ears and soft skin. He was no doubt an elf. This man was none other than the top 2 ranker, Irlin Woodnyte.


    Souta was about to cast a spell towards Irlin when two figures appeared beside him.


    Swoosh!! Swoosh!!


    Souta was caught off guard and the two figures threw a powerful punch on his stomach.


    Bang!!


    Souta was thrown on the ground and it slightly shook the ground. His body was deeply embedded in the hard rock.


    Gyron and the others looked over. They saw Souta crashed on the ground.


    "Hmm... The others are here." Gyron muttered and he looked at the direction where Souta came from. He saw three people.


    The man in the center was the top 2 ranker who once defeated him, Irlin Woodnyte. The other two were the top 4 ranker and the top 5 ranker.


    The top 4 ranker was a man with arge build. Although his build was like those of a brawler ss, this man was a full fledged mage. His short ck hair and sharp ck eyes were gleaming with intent to fight. He was Grunge Hyun, of the Hyun n from the royal capital of the Hebrei Kingdom.


    The top 5 ranker was a woman with a voluptuous body. Her long ck silky hair fluttered as the wind blew. Her brown eyes were staring at the ce where Souta crashed. She was holding a long silver staff in her right hand. She was Ailene Carnain.


    These three people were from the Mage ss 1-A. The true force of the Mage ss. The people who attacked Souta’s ss were just another group of the red g collector just like Bryan’s group to his ss.


    Ailene opened her mouth and said, "That man, he’s really something. Even though we surprised him he managed to counter us in that instant."


    "Yeah, I saw in the ranking battles how he beat some of our ssmates." Grunge nodded at her words.


    His right hand and Ailene’s left hand were bleeding. When they appeared beside Souta, Souta quickly pulled the [Vajra Sword Saya] that was hanging on his waist. The moment they threw a punch towards him, Souta knew that he couldn’t avoid it as he just used [Air Walk] so he shed his sword on their hand to reduce the force of their punch.


    Ailene tapped her staff on the ground and casted [Heal] on herself and Grunge. This spell was the advanced version of [Light Heal], so their wounds immediately stopped bleeding.


    Grunge looked at his right hand. He opened and closed his palm before he stretched it. He then said, "It’s good, I can use this hand in a fight."


    "His strength is stronger than his rank..." Ailene said in a low voice while gazing at the ce which was covered in smoke and dust.


    Irlin stopped his spell as it was draining too much of his mana. He nced at the ce where Ailene was looking and shook his head.


    He looked at Gyron and said, "To think that man would trouble you this much, Gyron. I guess you haven’t improved since thest time that we fought."


    "Hmm... You wouldn’t understand it if you haven’t fought him. I already acknowledge his strength and you will experience it too since you are here." Gyron said to Irlin. He acknowledged how powerful and tricky Souta is.


    He wondered if he will lose all of his gs in this situation. May and Bonny were down. They couldn’t help him. He could only count on Sena and Mark.


    Gyron sighed and he closed his eyes. He then heard several footsteps. Opening his eyes, he saw a lot of peopleing to this ce.


    "It seems that we have other visitors."


    All the powerful fighters of the first year arrived in this ce. They came from different ss and they all have one goal in this ce. And that was to gather all the red gs that other sses gathered.


    Irlin looked around and smirked. "It seems that it’s going to be a battle of the ss. We will see who’s going to win in the end." He was also surprised to see the other sses arrived in this ce. But this wouldn’t stop him from achieving his goals.


    Ailene removed her gaze from the ce where Souta crashed and she looked at the newly arrived people. She opened her mouth and said, "It’s going to get a little chaotic."


    "Hehe, that’s fine for me. I wanted to fight them all." Grungeughed lightly.


    "Mark, Sena, prepare for battle. No, just focus on protecting yourself. I will go all out." Gyron said to his tworades.


    The top 1 up to top 30 was here in this ce except for a few people. Most of the people that arrived here were powerful on their own. They could handle themselves in the uing fight.


    Since the people here were from different sses, they were also surprised to see everyone that arrived here in this ce.


    Irlin looked at everyone and said, "Too bad, Yuriko is not here. If she’s here then it would be nice as the top 1 and top 2 are present in this ce."


    He didn’t know that the top 3 ranker Yuriko got defeated by Randolf when she was attacking the Mage ss 1-B. He would be shocked if he heard this in the future. An unranked person defeated the only top 3 ranker of the first year.


    Lynn hid herself carefully. She didn’t dare to utter any kind of sound. She was afraid that these people would take the gs that she was holding. Nevertheless, she was stunned when she saw the powerful first years arrived in this ce one by one.


    But she never focused her attention on them. She looked at the ce where Souta crashed with a worried look. She wanted to go there herself but she managed to hold back. She knew it, that once she revealed herself those people would target her because of the amount of red gs that she was holding.


    She remembered what Souta said to her before. No matter what happens don’t let go of the gs and he will think about how to deal with the opponents.


    ’Souta left these gs in my protection and he trusted me. So I know that he will do something about them.’ Lynn thought.


    Souta was still lying down on the small crater while resting on his hand. He lifted up the [Vajra Sword Saya] and muttered, "Is it okay for me to use this?"


    He was hesitating whether he should use this sword or not. It’s true that if he used this sword he could handle most of the students in this ce but there’s a risk. What if the sword tried to take over his mind once again?


    "Well, I hope you don’t attack me, Saya."