"Clank!"

"Clank!"

" Ouch! F*ck! Don't touch Kevin it hurts.", Axel screamed like a slaughtered pig as Kevin touched the blue-black bump on his forehead.

" It really hurts that much? ", Kevin asked in confusion.

" F*ck! Don't look at me like that. You are the monster here. How thick is your skin? I was in the wrong jumping in to save you.", Axel cursed as he saw Kevin without a scratch on his body. And the thing which was more infuriating was the smile on this fatty's face.

An hour earlier the competition had started. Each and every team entered the area from different locations. The area for the competition was huge enough to accommodate such planning.

Wilson became the Squad captain without any problem and Axle was finally able to breathe out a sigh of relief.

' Thank God, Norek didn't want to be the Squad captain.'

Axel was glad that things ended up nicely. He obviously didn't want Kevin or himself to be the squad captain for one reason.

They were weak.

Even though they could be considered to be at the peak of their own class, but still they weren't from the mage department. Even if it wasn't made public, he had once worked on stealing data. He knew that many students in the Arcane Academy weren't from Arcane. They came from all over the continent. He still had no idea about why this bunch were attracted towards a backward place like Arcane where an Advance level mage could be called peak existence. As for those expert tier mages from guild union and Mage Association, they were all only recent additions. It was only recently known that there were even two Master level experts here.

So, what was attracting these people?

Axel could deduce that the thing was definitely important for those strong people. That's the reason they send the heirs of their family. And in order to protect them, the expert tier mages appeared in association and guild. These people and their Young lords would definitely act like the world owed them everything. So, the two Master level experts, The Headmaster, William Kingsman and the 7★ Murcas Daigo made their existence known to let them know who was the king here.

But still they knew that they couldn't act too strictly as these kids had strong backgrounds. Hence the situation led to the current Arcane. Calm on the surface, but too much going on in darkness. That's the reason, his brother did not get any justice...

" Slap! "

Kevin slapped Axel's shoulder before asking, " What are you thinking with that deep frown on your face?"

" Damn it! Control your strength! You could have dislocated my shoulder.", Axel grimaced in pain.

Before falling once again into his thoughts. So basically, they weren't strong enough.

Their power level could be considered to be at the medium or a bit more than that in the Mage department.

So, Max wanted Wilson to be the Captain because if Norek became the Squad captain, Wilson would definitely not be willing.

But when he was being happy, he didn't see one thing coming. After they entered the Competition region. They travelled for a bit planning to find a good location for their base. In their journey, they encountered a few low level Ferocious beasts. But with the two in front, Axel felt relieved. The beast ended up becoming food and resources for them.

Soon they came across a waterfall with a cave near it. It was an obvious location for a base.

So, the Squad Captain gave out orders. But there was a person who didn't give him enough face.

" You guys can carry on..I am going to take a stroll.", Norek said casually.

And….a fight erupted.

What could be worse than fighting among oneself and giving your location to your enemy? So, Axel asked Fatty to stop them, as this wasn't his dorm.

Just to remind you, after August removed the formations. Axel once again placed it and became the lord of the dorm.

But when he saw Fatty getting electrocuted and foaming out with his eyes turning white, he immediately jumped in with his AR-15 semi automatic rifle.

After all this time, Axel had developed an interest towards weapons and had started to work on a fighting style for formation masters. He even felt the barrier to the Mid level was crumbling. So, he thought that even if he wasn't their opponent, at least he could get fatty out.

Only..to be proven….wrong!

He ended up being beaten in blue and black. What was even more infuriating was that no one else beside him had got a single scratch on their body.

Now, he was helping Kevin in constructing a working bench for him and also to make a stand to grill the meat of the beast they had acquired.

As for the other two, Norek was out there somewhere taking a stroll and Wilson had gone out to scout...most likely to pick trouble.

…..

At another place in the competition area, James and his group had already raised their camp.

They were not his usual lackeys. But a bunch of unfamiliar faces. But the way they talked, clearly depicted the amount of admiration and reverence they held for James.

They didn't let go of any opportunity to flatter him. It was an usual occurrence of the weak trying to suck up to the strong.

" Haha..you flatter me. But don't you think it's enough. "

Suddenly, James talked with a slight smile on his face.

The people in front of him appeared to be confused and looked at each other.

" Do you really think, I have no idea about your real identity. You guys might not be direct in line to inherit your family. But you all still belong to the 12 Noble Houses."

The moment he said those words, their expression changed and their backs became consecutive. The aura around them naturally changed

James laughed before continuing.

" I bet you have approached me with one or another kind of motive. But I don't really care. You know very well that you will never be able to get the true power in your family. The same will happen to your children. You are doomed to this fate. But...I can change it for you. You just need to say ' Yes'.", James calmly said as the expression of the five in front of him changed and the aura around the vicinity started to become gloomy.

" Bang! "

The guy with a strong build slammed his fist on the earth table directly turning it into dust as the aura of Mid level mage was released. And it was at the peak of Mid level. Only one step away from High Tier Mage.

The guy stood up and spoke in a grave tone, " You better watch your words, James. Do you even know what you just said? The House of Zen will definitely give you a befitting reply. I hope that the House of Oven would be able to afford it."

Then he turned to leave. Seeing him leave, the light in the other four people's eyes became dim and they too started to lift themselves up from the crude rock chair which seemed to be made without much effort.

" When did I say you can leave? ", James suddenly said as a malicious aura started to rise out of his body.

If Max was here, he would have definitely received a notification the moment this aura came into contact with him.

On the other hand, the guy immediately halted his steps before turning around and taking a defensive posture. The mana around his body started to surge as the rock and the earth started to protrude out of the ground bit by bit. He looked at James before giving a warning.

" You should know the consequ-"

" Shnk! "

" Splash! "

And the smell of blood rose in the surrounding.

It had all started.

11 hour before the Beast Horde...