...…

There was a 'huge' commotion at the school plaza of the Magical Ace Academy and students who were present at the scene couldn't help but crowd on it since the 'preparators' who caused this ruckus were quite famous in the school these last few days.

Jean, Thomas, and Simone – those names were currently on a hot topic at the Magical Ace Academy since the school entrance exam.

Not only have they created a lot of ruckus since the start of the school year, but they also made their names quite famous inside the school vicinity after defeating a lot of senior groups in the 'outer school'. And due to those feats, they even piqued the interests of the students studying in the 'inner school'.

Because of this, the students of the school were not even surprised when they saw that the three started yet another commotion.

But the thing that actually surprised them, was the fact that these three 'school celebrities' picked a fight with three 'unknown' young men of the same age.

Moreover, these newcomers seemingly had no intention of backing down despite facing the so-called 'Three Kings' of the East. So, the students present in the plaza couldn't help but become curious about their strengths.

…

"Wow~! Those three sure have guts. Didn't they know who they were up to? Are they some newcomers?" said a bystander to his 'journalist' friend.

But his friend seemed to ignore him and just started at the scene in front of them with a blank expression on his face. "Those three, why are they here?"

Naturally, his friend was able to notice that, which was why he couldn't help but turned his head to his side and looked at his 'journalist' friend with a confused look on his face. "You know those newcomers, Kevin? Who are they?"

Hearing that, his friend who he called Kevin, finally reacted and immediately replied. "You may not know them since you come from the countryside of the Main Region, but those three are quite famous in the central parts of our region-…"

He trailed his words a little when he reached that point before adding to his words. "No-! It is not even an overestimation if I said that they are a legend in those places."

"Huh!? Now, I am quite curious about their identities. Who are they really?" asked his friend since he really hadn't heard of them before.

Hearing that, Kevin turned silent for a moment before replying to him. "Those three are graduates of Astral Middle School, one of the top middle-grade schools of the Main Region.

"Three Kings of the East, you say? Then those three are the 'Monster Trio' of the West." He added with a sneering tone after taking a brief moment of pause.

"In terms of reputation, I dare to say to you that they will not lose to the 'Three Kings' over there. In fact, they even achieved some crazier things."

He took another pause to point at Leonard before saying. "See that guy with red hair and crimson eyes. He is Leonard Fireheart, but he is more known as the 'Crimson Devil' of the street. He is a famous street fighter who is feared even by some adult gangs. There is even a rumor that he took down a huge gang all by himself."

After that, he turned his attention to Arthur before continuing. "Did you see that guy with blonde hair?"

"He is Arthur Springfield, the young master of the Springfield Family, an Ancient Martial-Art Family which is also a part of the Military Circle. His family background alone is more than enough to warn anyone to never mess with him. Especially that the family assets on his mother's side is also not a laughing matter."

"But even if you don't provoke him, it is still not sure that you are 'safe' around him. After all, that guy is also a troublemaker himself who is always inviting trouble whenever he goes. He is also not backing down even if he provokes a very strong opponent. For him, the stronger his opponent, the better it is."

"Because of social status, talent, and battle prowess, most of the people were calling him the 'Golden Boy' of the Springfield Family.

His friend, on the other hand, kept on nodding his head as listened to those words. The previous two that were mentioned were quite intriguing and seemed to be a pair of strong contenders for the duo of Simone and Thomas.

Because of that, he couldn't help but become even more curious at the background of the third newcomer who was sitting casually right beside Jean. He actually didn't notice the presence of that young man – in fact, none of the regular students in the plaza were able to notice his presence.

"Then what about that grey-haired young man?" asked by Kevin's friend without taking away his eyes from Shin, afraid that he would lose sight of him.

Meanwhile, Kevin thought for a few moments before giving his reply. "Shin Kinghad? Actually-… I am also not sure about that guy's real strength. Aside from his name, there was nothing noticeable about him on the surface."

"His academics are pretty much average. And there is also nothing special on his physical fitness tests either. So, in a sense, he is actually an average student if you judge him in terms of his school records."

Hearing that, his friend couldn't help but frowned his eyebrows while asking. "Then what's special about him?"

When Kevin heard that, he suddenly started chuckling. "That is actually what is special about him. He is 'too average' to be noticed by other people in school. But if he really is that average, then how come that the so-called 'Crimson Devil' of the street and the 'Golden Boy' of the Springfield Family, were following him?"

His friend beside him suddenly knitted his eyebrows when he heard that remark. So, he looked at Shin with an even weirder look on his face.

Seeing that, Kevin started chucking even further before continuing. "Quite odd, isn't it? That is why I exhausted all of my family connections to have a thorough research about him before. And guess what, I found quite a few things that really surprised me during that time."

"He is actually a top-notch student during their elementary days. But after an incident where he beat some of his classmates, he started acting lie low. And the same thing happened when they were in the early days of their middle school."

"A close female friend of theirs was abducted by a group of young masters from some wealthy families. And because of that incident, that guy over there suddenly lost his cool and became completely enraged."

"What happened next, strike fear to everyone who knew that incident. The young masters who abducted that girl were beaten half-dead and were sent directly to the hospital to recover for half a year at the very least. And if not because of Leonard and Arthur arriving in time to stop him, he is most probably going to kill off these young masters."

"There was even a rumor that even the bodyguards of those young masters couldn't do anything to stop him either."

Kevin paused for a moment when he reached this point before shrugging his shoulders while adding to his previous words. "Well, there was no way to confirm those rumors now since the families of those young masters were too ashamed to let that news be out in the public, so they did everything they could to suppress everything about that incident."

"But to those people who were aware of that incident, were now too scared to provoke that 'Grey-haired Demon' over there."

"To them, it is better to pick a fight with the 'Crimson Devil' or provoke the 'Golden Boy', than inciting the 'sleeping demon' within that guy."

Hearing all of those, Kevin's friend finally realized how strong these newcomers were. In fact, he was even starting to doubt who was stronger between the two.

Regardless, this fight was going to be even more interesting since each side had their own reputations and respective achievements.

In fact, the faculty members of the school even went to his place to personally watch such a rare event.

...…

Meanwhile, the atmosphere surrounding the three was starting to become heavy as a sign of the impending storm.

And both Shin and Jean were not showing any intention of stopping the fight, the other four became even more eager to start this battle. It was even more true for Leonard and Arthur who just came back from their special training; the two of them were quite excited to test some of the things that they learned from their respective training.

But before the current situation could even reach its climax, both Shin and Jean suddenly noticed some presence hiding in the crowd of students.

And when they checked the owners of those unique auras, the two of them immediately made their moves and suddenly disappeared from their respective spots before simultaneously reappearing right in the middle of the four with their backs facing each other.

"I guess we need to postpone this 'party' and rescheduled it to some other time."

"That should be enough for the two of you."

Said by the two with the same intention but with a different tone.

Shin was currently wearing a huge smile with his lips but he was also releasing an invisible pressure that shocked both Arthur and Leonard for a moment.

Meanwhile, Jean was currently starting at the two with a sharp look on his face while saying those words with a commanding tone.

But the other four seemed to be not willing to back down at this point in time since their battle senses were already reaching their peaks. So, they really didn't want to withdraw at this moment.

Seeing the unwillingness of the other four, both Shin and Jean had no choice but to take this matter a little seriously. There were quite a few young talents who were comparable to them, hiding in the crowd.

The special exams were already around the corner, so they didn't want these four to show their cards yet since they were only going to get advantaged off if that really happened.

It was still acceptable earlier since there were only a few of them. But it was a different case right now since their numbers increased a lot.

Given the gravity of their current situation, both Shin and Jean decided to use a little force to warn their respective brothers.

Shin was still wearing his smile but he took off the very thin bag hanging on his back before taking out a pair of sheathed katanas from it. It was a pair of black and white katanas which were given to him by his Masters since his old sword was totally broken after his last mission.

He didn't unsheathe the swords and just hugged them as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. At the same time, he was sending some eye signals at the two which was saying that if they wanted to continue, then they needed to ask him to step aside first.

At the same time, Jean was also doing something similar. He didn't take out a weapon since he was not carrying his own. But he glared at the two instead as a sharp killing intent suddenly flashed from his eyes, warning the two from taking another step forward.

Seeing the seriousness of the two, the other four didn't have any other choice but drop the matter and back down a little.

"Alright, you win! But you owe me a match later," said Arthur while releasing a helpless sigh.

Immediately after he said those words, Leonard also nodded his head before saying. "The same for me. But instead of a sparring match, I prefer if you treat me to dinner later. And of course, it is specially prepared by you."

Together with that, the other side seemed to also agree since both Thomas and Simone were already walking away.

Meanwhile, Jean turned his head at Shin before saying. "Let's settle this matter some other time then."

At the same time, Shin also looked at him and extended his right while replying. "Then until the next time we meet."

Accenting to shake Shin's hand, Jean nodded his head before chasing after his friends.

On the other hand, Arthur couldn't help but sneer at Shin a little when he saw that the latter was acting friendly with their opponents. "Are you guys friends? You two seem close."

Hearing that, Shin suddenly turned his head at Arthur and replied. "I see that you guys haven't done your homework. Those guys are on the list of our rivals in the upcoming special exam. Do you guys really haven't read it yet?"

Meanwhile, the other two were looking at Shin with a weird expression on their face as if they were saying. – "Why do we need to do our homework when we have you?" –

Naturally, Shin was able to read what was running inside their heads. So, he could only shake his head helplessly as he remembered what kind of students these two were.

...…