Meeting Pierce's playful gaze, Kymon's face flushed a deep crimson.

  Just moments ago, he had been clamoring to make Pierce suffer, but in the blink of an eye, he had been beaten into this wretched state by the very person he mocked.

  The more confident his words were before, the harder the slap to his face now.

  "We yield too!"

  "You win, just let us go!"

  With Kymon defeated, his two companions naturally had no intention of holding out any longer.

  Besides, they couldn't hold on much longer anyway.

  These crows were incredibly tricky—not only did each possess the ability to mist-form, but their strength was comparable to that of a Senior Knight.

  More importantly, their numbers were staggering.

  They struggled to kill one with a spell, but compared to the flock of hundreds, it was utterly futile.

  If not for the defensive magic items they carried, they would have been defeated long ago.

  Even so, once the Mist-Crows dispersed, the two were left looking disheveled and pathetic.

  "W-what do you want?" Kymon asked through gritted teeth.

  The excruciating pain from his right arm made him sweat profusely; he just wanted to leave and treat his wound.

  For a Wizard, a severed arm was not an incurable injury. Upon returning, finding a Wizard specializing in biological mutation would make reattaching the arm a trivial matter.

  The other two apprentices also looked at Pierce eagerly, fearing he wouldn't let them off.

  Pierce said indifferently, "Hand over all your points."

  Hearing this, the cheeks of Kymon and the other two twitched simultaneously.

  However, they had mentally prepared for this, so after only a few seconds of hesitation, they handed over their points with pained expressions.

  With the leaderboard in existence, Pierce wasn't afraid of them hiding any points.

  All three were Rank 2 Wizard Apprentices, each carrying over a thousand points.

  After the transfer, Pierce's crystal bracelet suddenly gained over four thousand points.

  His total points soared to over 6500, surpassing the dozen or so people ahead of him and instantly taking the number one spot.

  Moreover, he opened a gap of over 3000 points between himself and the trailing trio of Gwendolyn, Ingram, and Silas.

  Watching the changes on the leaderboard, Kymon and his companions wanted to cry but had no tears.

  They had truly failed to steal the chicken and lost the rice instead.

  Not only did they fail to grab the Myriad Flower Fey, but they also helped Pierce reach the top.

  Closing the leaderboard, Pierce's gaze swept over the magic robes and rings on the three, secretly feeling it was a pity.

  If the trial didn't forbid robbing other apprentices of their belongings, he wouldn't have left them even a pair of underwear.

  As for the people... Pierce sneered inwardly.

  He suddenly took a few steps forward and, before the three could react, reached out with lightning speed and shoved each of them.

  "Don't appear in front of me again."

  "Scram!"

  Kymon and the others were stunned, somewhat unable to believe it.

  Although they were certain Pierce wouldn't dare break the rules and kill them directly, they thought they would at least get a beating. Who would have thought Pierce would let them go so easily?

  Recovering from their shock, Kymon and the others were overjoyed. While secretly cursing Pierce for being a fool, they scrambled away, fearing Pierce might change his mind.

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  Watching the three figures disappear into the distance, a cold light flashed in Pierce's eyes.

  Hee hee.

  Suddenly, a laugh interrupted Pierce's thoughts. The Myriad Flower Fey crawled out from the brim of his hat, dancing and shouting excitedly, seemingly celebrating the victory.

  Looking at her, one might think she had defeated the enemy alongside Pierce.

  Pierce rolled his eyes and flicked her forehead.

  Although this guy was small, her skin was unusually thick.

  Woo woo...

  The Myriad Flower Fey covered her head, puffing out her cheeks in anger, but didn't dare challenge the Great Demon King. She muttered a few words and flew off to play by herself.

  After spending the night together, Pierce had already untied the rope on the Myriad Flower Fey, no longer restricting her freedom.

  He just had Mistfeather watch her, both for protection and surveillance.

  Of course, just in case, Pierce also left an Arcane Mark on her.

  The mark lasted for a full month, so even if the Myriad Flower Fey escaped, Pierce could quickly catch her.

  Ignoring the Myriad Flower Fey, Pierce turned to look behind him.

  Valeria happened to walk out of the forest, a look of deep shock still lingering on her face.

  She hadn't actually gone far just now but had hidden in the distance to watch the battle.

  She thought Pierce would likely lose, or at least face a tough fight. Who would have thought Kymon and his group were no match for Pierce at all, collapsing like rotten wood?

  Looking at the speed and power of Pierce's spellcasting just now, even if he hadn't advanced to a Rank 3 Wizard Apprentice, he probably wasn't far off.

  And that crow familiar!

  Valeria had thought yesterday that Pierce contracting a crow familiar was unwise, but now it seemed she had misjudged.

  This crow familiar was surprisingly strong!

  With both mist-form and summoning abilities, its combat power was more than enough to confront a Rank 3 Wizard Apprentice head-on!

  It now seemed that Pierce was the most powerful Wizard Apprentice in the entire first year.

  Silas, Gwendolyn... none could compare to him.

  If not for Pierce being too low-key and hiding too deeply, there would be no talk of the "Three Great Geniuses" of the year.

  Valeria looked at Pierce with a complex expression and sighed, "You really kept your light under a bushel; you fooled us all."

  Pierce smiled faintly and said, "I can't show off every time I meet you guys."

  Valeria was stunned, then chuckled and nodded, "True."

  Compared to Kymon, who put on airs and stuck his nose in the air at the slightest hint of strength, Pierce's demeanor and mindset were undoubtedly more in line with a Wizard's code of conduct.

  Wizards were domineering and self-centered, yet also introverted and steady.

  Arrogant and insolent Wizards often didn't live long.

  Not staying too long, Valeria soon said her goodbyes and left.

  After witnessing Pierce's true strength, she had great confidence that he could keep the Myriad Flower Fey.

  However, since they had already agreed to split up, she had no right to ask to team up with Pierce again.

  Watching Valeria walk away, Pierce also left the camp.

  This area would likely soon become a paradise for beasts, so it was better to leave quickly.

  In the woods.

  Kymon sat on the ground leaning against a tree, his face pale and teeth clenched.

  Beside him, the red-haired apprentice carefully applied hemostatic paste to the wound on his right shoulder.

  As the medicine took effect, the bleeding stopped quickly. Kymon let out a breath of relief, his whole body going limp and drenched in sweat.

  "We don't have enough materials on hand, so we can only treat the wound simply. The arm will have to wait until we get back to be reattached," the red-haired apprentice said.

  Kymon panted, shook his head, and said, "It doesn't matter. A missing arm won't affect my spellcasting."

  The red-haired apprentice sighed, "Our points are gone. We'll have to step up hunting barbarians now."

  Kymon nodded with a gloomy face.

  There were six days left in the trial. With their strength, it wouldn't be hard to get enough points to pass.

  But this way, he had completely lost the chance to sprint for the top thirty.

  Originally, he had been ambitious, wanting to get a good ranking and amaze everyone, but now that was obviously down the drain.

  Thinking of this, Kymon felt a surge of hatred.

  "This won't end here!" Kymon gritted his teeth. "Sooner or later, I'll make Pierce pay!"

  At this moment, another apprentice suddenly looked around in confusion and frowned, "Did you hear something?"

  "Something?"

  The red-haired apprentice looked up in confusion, listened for a moment, and hesitated, "Sounds like the roar of a beast."

  Kymon waved his hand impatiently, "Just a few beasts. Kill them quickly; the noise is annoying."

  The red-haired apprentice nodded and stood up to kill the beasts.

  But in the next second, the beast roars suddenly became loud, coming from all directions.

  Boom!

  Trees snapped at the waist as if hit by a heavy hammer, the upper halves flying far away.

  A three-story-tall ape walked out from behind a tree, glaring at Kymon and the others with blood-red eyes.

  "Frenzy Ape!"

  The red-haired apprentice gasped. This was a powerful beast at the Peak Knight level.

  But before his shock subsided, more beasts appeared from all around.

  Frost-Claw Leopards, Blood-Eye Wolves, Manticore Beasts, Flame-Armor Boars, Black-Spot Pythons... over eighty percent were Knight-level beasts.

  He even saw a Steel-Rending Bear at the Grand Knight level!

  Looking at the dense crowd of no fewer than a hundred powerful beasts around them, Kymon and the others all turned pale, their legs trembling.

  "What is going on?"

  Kymon screamed in horror.

  So many beasts gathering here suddenly—anyone could tell something was wrong.

  Moreover, the state of these surrounding beasts looked off.

  But no one answered his question.

  The other two apprentices were also blank and terrified.

  Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Kymon glimpsed a flash of darkness. Turning his head, he saw a crow standing on a branch more than ten meters away, staring at him coldly.

  In that moment, Kymon understood why Pierce had been kind enough to let them go.

  Intense anger and fear instantly drowned his chest.

  "Pierce—"

  The cry of grief and despair had just left his mouth when it was cut off by fierce beast roars.

  In the desperate gazes of the three, countless beasts surged toward them like a tide.