Lucius was now annoyed by Magnus, as he immediately raised his hand to stop him. "Enough, Magnus. Stop this pathetic display."

    Lucius then began to mock him and also left him no room for argument. "Don''t tell me you''re chickening out. Are you actually scared of some... Evolist?"

    Magnus was frozen after hearing his words. He immediately replied, "It''s not about fear, but it is about strategy. Kaelix is the Rank 1 Evolist of the Golden Class. He''s influential around here. If we provoke him, it could..."

    Lucius immediately became angry and shouted at him; that made Magnus step back a bit. "Stop your whining, Magnus and let me make something very clear here."

    Lucius then took a step forward and began to pressure Magnus, "I don''t care about his influence. I don''t care about his rank. And I certainly don''t care about what he thinks he''s entitled to."

    Magnus opened his mouth as he tried to speak but it was immediately stopped by Lucius as he continued to mock Kaelix.

    "Kaelix Kryndal is a nuisance. He is a bug that I''ll squash the moment he crosses me again. And if you''re too afraid to stand up to him, then perhaps you''re the one who doesn''t deserve your rank."

    Magnus clenched his fist as the insult hit him harder than he expected. "It''s not that, Lucius. It''s just that Kaelix has connections, and he''s been here longer. You can''t just..."

    Lucius immediately raised his voice and stopped Magnus. "I can, Magnus. And I will. But more importantly, you can."

    Magnus was immediately confused about what Lucius was talking about and Lucius began to explain it more to him.

    "Magnus... you are the young master of the Volcaria family, one of the strongest families in the world. You have a body built like a war beast, an aura fierce enough to intimidate half the academy, and yet..."

    Lucius looked disappointed as he began to talk with disdain, "And yet... you are acting like a timid little child."

    Magnus frowned as he began to talk back, "I''m not..." but Lucius immediately stopped him again as he took another step forward.

    Magnus then clenched his fist and raised it. "You''ve already proven yourself to be in a higher position than me. I''ll make sure I''m not a disappointment to the family."

    Lucius only smirked after hearing it. "No need to apologize, Magnus. You''re the face of the Volcaria family, so remember that you need to show them what it means to challenge our family."

    Magnus nodded and without another world, he turned and ran toward the arena. Lucius also smirked upon seeing the new Magnus.

    Lucius also turned to the system and made a new hack: "System, hack him to grant him a boost in confidence and bravery if he wins and a minor increase in both if he loses, enough to fuel his persistence for 24 hours."

    ---

    [Hack Initiation: Temporary Confidence and Bravery Enhancement]

    [Resources Required: 100,000 Hack Points.]

    ---

    Lucius only chuckled after seeing the hack and looked toward Magnus, who had been gone from his sight. "Let this be my gift to you."

    Luna, who already looked at the full scene, asked Lucius as she was curious, "Master, what did you just do?"

    Lucius turned to her and smirked, "Nothing too troublesome, Luna. I just give him a little push so he can learn how to stand on his own two feet a little bit easier."

    Luna, who heard it, smiled and said, "I see, Master. As expected of master, you can even help stupid young master like him."

    Lucius only smiled after hearing Luna''s praises and soon both of them began to enter the market to find some beasts.