Niki felt Julian gather his mana behind him. He nced back and saw him crouching, ready to bounce on Niki. Seeing this, Niki dashed forward and shot three bullets toward the three nsmen.


    “I won’t allow you!” Gou shouted and constructed his shield of wind. The wall rose high and deflected the bullets, but that was Niki’s intention. He turned around and gave his back to the wall.


    “Come on, little Julian.” Niki gestured with his index finger, provoking Julian further until his eyes couldn’t see anything but rage. Julian roared and jumped upward, throwing a powerful punch toward Niki.


    Niki used mana and dodged to the side. Julian’s punchnded on the wall of wind. It broke it apart before going directly toward Gou, striking him in the abdomen.


    “Cough!” Gou coughed up blood as he slid several meters backward before being supported by Veron and Kara.


    “Gou!” Veron shouted with worry as he hurried to help his friend. After seeing his blood, Gou’s eyes turned white, and he fainted. Veron ced him on the ground before turning at Julian with fierce eyes.


    ‘That’s the second weakness teams have, subjectivity.’ Niki sighed in his mind. Veron lost the ability to be objective the moment he teamed up with his nsmen.


    “Take this!” Kara shouted and shot three whirlwinds toward Julian. Before Veron could stop her, the mighty wind was already tearing through Julian’s clothes and body.


    Niki retreated as the three continued with their fight. Enraged further, Julian started fighting the Wind nsmen as things escted.


    Niki ran back into the forest before changing direction and going toward the other monolith the Wind ss had. The sounds of battle rang in his ears until they began to fade.


    ‘Like removing a hair from a dough,’ Niki sighed inwardly. ‘At some point, I’ll run out of tricks and I won’t fool these kids anymore.’


    Niki knew that the only method that can never fail is to be stronger than others. This way, he won’t have to think about how to do stuff but do them.


    He arrived at a hill that was a short distance away from the monolith. He surveyed the surrounding, and his eyes spotted someone on a different hill, also looking around.


    Niki squinted as the other person met his eyes. The two looked at each other with confusion. After a short while, Niki realized who this person was.


    ‘She’s the archer of the Water ss,’ Niki remembered, seeing her giant blue bow. ‘She must be here to reim the monolith while the Wind ss is busy.’


    They had nothing but half an hour left in their time limit. Assuming things remained the same or the Water ss reimed the monolith. In that case, the academy will extend the time by another hour.


    ‘My ss is barely holding on.’ Niki thought. ‘If the time is extended by another hour, we’ll be falling apart.’ Thinking of this, Niki dashed toward the monolith.


    At the same time, the archer sprinted down the hill as well. She was faster than Niki, but he navigated better through the forest. As a result, they were both advancing at an equal rate.


    Niki heard the whistle of an arrow as the wind changed, making him roll forward. An arrownded in his earlier position, proving his hunch was correct. He took out his gun and shot two bullets.


    The archer pulled on her bow’s string and released it, shooting an empty shot. However, the mana that she infused into the bow exploded to divert the directions of the bullets.


    The two looked at each other, knowing that they were only wasting more time. At the same time, both Niki and the archer began running toward the monolith again.


    “Two enemies areing!” One of the remaining Wind ss’s students shouted as they gathered. There were only five of them. The archer nocked her arrow as Niki aimed his gun. While running, the two took their aim.


    The screams of the students came one after the other as the bullets and arrows knocked them out. In the end, Niki got three out of the five while the archer got only two.


    ‘Pulling the trigger is always easier and quicker.’ Niki smiled even though he knew that archers had it easier than shooters in the long run. After being infused with elemental mana, arrows will be far more powerful than bullets.


    The archer red at him, but neither of the two stopped running. They reached different sides of the monolith at the same time. Both began climbing using the rough texture of the stone monolith.


    “Lost Art of Azure Wind,”


    Niki heard the wind whispers in his ears as he nced back. He saw Veron standing on top of a hill far away,manding the wind into his bidding. The elemental mana surrounding him as he chanted, making the wind in the area listen to his words.


    “Hear my call and let the wind guide me, First Move!”


    Veron shouted and shed downward. The wind gathered on his sword, and he unleashed it in the monolith’s direction. With every meter the wind de traveled, it gathered more wind and momentum.


    When it reached the monolith, it was a vortex of a windstorm. The wind was powerful enough to make scratches on the monolith, and they began ripping away Niki’s clothes.


    ‘Dammit, this guy is too powerful for a mere 17-years old.’ Niki gritted his teeth as his veins bulged. He used the technique taught to him by the Elves, limit-break.


    Using his strength after straining his body, Niki jumped away from the vortex and started climbing forward. As if they knew, the wind des chased after him and the archer.


    “Agh!” The archer grunted as a wind de tore through her shoulder, but she didn’t stop climbing. Niki admired her strong will and relentless pursuit, but he wouldn’t back down either.


    As the wind chased after them, the two climbed further. Niki was the first to reach the edge and pulled himself up. The key glowed bright blue in the light of day.


    The archer managed to reach the edge right after him. Niki didn’t bother obstructing her and ran toward the key. He knew that a more dangerous foe was after him.


    “I shan’t allow it!” A shout came as Veron descended on the monolith after being carried by the wind. He sprinted toward Niki with his sword in hand, aimed at Niki.


    ‘That’s cheating!’ Niki wanted to cry out after seeing how easy this guy climbed the monolith,


    With a powerful stomp on the ground, Veron sprinted in his direction. In front of Niki was the key and on his left was Veron’s sword.


    If he wanted to grab the key, he would risk Veron’s sword stabbing him. If he dodged and went after the key, the archer would be the one to have it. The moment she grabbed it, the monolith would buff her, and she would be able to hold them back until her teammates arrive.


    ‘If I can’t have it, then no one else can.’ Niki grabbed his gun and used thest of his meager mana and thest of his bullet.


    Seeing his actions, the archer and Veron grew wary. The one that Niki would shoot at will be the one losing the advantage. However, their eyes showed disbelief when Niki shot at none of them.


    His bullets zoomed through the air and struck the key, sending it flying away. Niki threw bent his knees forward and slid on them, making the sword only scratch his left cheek.


    After crossing the two, Niki jumped after the key. The key fell off the monolith and to the ground. Niki reached to it midair and grabbed hold of it, allowing the announcement to shake the hearts of everyone.


    [The Earth ss has conquered three monoliths!]


    The monolith turned yellow, granting strength to Niki’s body. The buff would help him survive the impact of falling, but Niki knew he couldn’t avoid a few fractures.


    “Skyward Falcon, is that enough?!” Niki shouted to the sky as the Falcon’s winds arrived to help him. The wind carried him safely to the ground before disappearing and making him roll in the dirt.


    “Brat,” The Falcon’s voice arrived. “I never thought you would be so determined. This favor isn’t a part of our contract, but out of respect. The next time that you visit me, I hope you would be stronger.”


    The Falcon’s voice traveled from a distance as Niki spit out the dirt in his mouth. He looked up with a smile as the giant monster disappeared into the clouds.


    There were less than ten minutes before the end, and he needed to survive the pursuit of the Wind and Water sses. He saw Veron and the archer prepare to jump down as someone arrived behind him.


    “You knew I was here, but didn’t trust me to protect you.” Marcus said as he walked over. “You could’ve ended this earlier if you didn’t shoot the key.”


    Niki gave him a knowing smile but didn’t answer his question. He felt the presence of Marcus and spotted him earlier but didn’t want to rely on him for this.


    “Well, I did my part.” Niki stood up. “Now, it’s time for you to step up.” He gestured toward Veron and the Leader of the Water ss. With a sigh, Marcus crossed his arms. A yellow shield appeared in front of them, protecting them.


    Veron’s and the archer’s attacks arrived but did little to break the shield Marcus has constructed. After a while, Sira also came and pushed them back.


    Niki sat down, ying with the key as the countdown reached zero. When the announcement arrived, he stood up and threw the Key to Marcus.


    [The Earth ss wins the ss Battle!]