Flain passed through the doors until he reached door number 54, just like in attempt 13. The only difference was that he repelled the resistance of the blonde girl much more easily.

He looked into her hateful blue eyes and walked away with another 55 mana crystals in his pocket. Altogether, he now had 110.

A few hours later, he left the house and, surprisingly, ran into Cru on the way. Cru's body was already half-transformed into that of a werewolf.

"You are Eran Girflodor, right?" he asked.

His body began to fully transform into a werewolf as his group caught up behind him. Cru's muscles started to grow and reshape, long white fur spread across his entire body, and a tail sprouted from the end of his back. His head elongated and ears emerged. The pupils of his completely red eyes narrowed into slits, which locked directly onto Flain.

"You only got the number of your room by luck. Your strength is average. And yet you think you can stand against someone like me and plunder my territory," he roared, his red eyes glowing.

The students nearby stepped back and began watching them tensely. Many of them hated Flain and were jealous of him, thinking he had obtained such a good room purely by luck.

Cru's eyes trembled with rage. He lunged at Flain.

Flain easily dodged to the side and leapt onto his back. Cru's back began to heat up, and the air around him distorted. Flain immediately jumped to the other side, and a moment later, a massive burst of fire exploded out of Cru.

Cru spun around and picked up speed. His claws extended as he pounced at Flain. Their weapons clashed with a crash.

Flain struck with a series of rapid slashes. He used short rotations of his shoulders, spinning the blades into sharp circles. Cru blocked with claws and swords, but Flain's rotations carved into his arms. Fire ricocheted off their weapons.

The students around them held their breath. Everyone knew Cru was an elite. Very few could keep pace with his speed. But when Flain landed clean hits and withstood Cru's blasts, their view of him shifted. Suddenly, he looked like someone who perhaps hadn't gained his room just by luck.

The battle raged on. Both poured everything into their attacks without destroying the surroundings. Arms, blades, and claws crossed in lightning-fast strikes. Cru looked like a wild force, while Flain was like a precise machine.

Cru suddenly thrust his hand forward. The force in his fist sent Flain flying through the air. But Flain twisted midair and dove back at Cru. He coiled his tail around Cru's head and stabbed the tip toward his neck.

Cru clenched his teeth, grabbed the tail, and yanked so hard that it tore off. He hurled Flain to the ground. Flain rose immediately, but Cru grabbed the sword in his hand.

Flain didn't hesitate—he ripped Cru's sword from his hand and unleashed a lightning-fast series of slashes. Cru parried the first, but the second broke his stance. Their blades pressed together so hard that sparks rained onto the grass, and it looked like the grass was about to burst into flames…

Cru threw off his lightness from behind and unleashed raw power into the attack.

He tensed his fist and landed a critical hit on Flain.

[-400 HP]

Then he stepped forward. Flain retreated one pace, then turned and struck Cru's forearm with a claw. Cru squealed, but did not back down.

He aimed his fist at Flain, but Flain blocked it with his swords. They pushed against each other with such force that their feet sank into the ground. Cru eased his strength.

"Fuck, you're way too strong. I don't want to lose 50 Mana Crystals so let's end this here," he mumbled.

"I agree," said Flain.

"You can keep those rooms you occupied; anyway, they're inhabited by weaklings who don't have many Mana Crystals, while I won't challenge you in an official duel. Either way, you won't touch my territory again. Deal?" Cru asked, looking like he was fighting an internal urge not to lunge at Flain again.

"Alright," said Flain. It played out exactly as in attempt 13 — perfect.

The two of them parted and went their separate ways.

Many students were surprised today; they hadn't expected that someone who is a baron's son would be so strong. Many angrily clenched their fists, but many who came from lower noble families felt mixed emotions.

On one hand, this man had robbed them of mana crystals; on the other, he demonstrated that someone from the lesser noble houses could be that powerful.

A day later he stood with a map in front of the forest he had flown over in the previous attempt. This time he definitely wouldn't risk going straight through it; he would go around the forest, even if it took longer. He wasn't stupid and didn't want to die again.

So he picked up speed and followed the marked road on the map.

In this attempt he did not challenge Nafu because he had no reason to. Flain owned room 5; to advance higher he would need to challenge Cru, who was currently unavailable because in a few days he had a duel with Rey.

He could challenge him for Mana Crystals, but that would only waste time. From the mission he was about to undertake he would very likely gain a lot of mana crystals. And if he wanted to obtain mana crystals without going on missions, he could collect taxes from his territory — which he planned to do.

He would probably make an enemy of Rey Zveroi very quickly, because Rey was the archetypal hero. That was actually good, since someone like Nafu would surely have many mana crystals on him.

So if Flain beat him in an official duel for all his mana crystals, he'd be set. An official duel with Rey was definitely worth his time.

Already in room 5 Flain earned EXP 1,100 per hour, and in just one week he had gained 92,400. So he had to use the Academy as efficiently as possible and get room 1.

After two hours Flain saw a large hill from which the sounds of battle were coming — his intuition had been correct. Since Flain had sped up since attempt 13, instead of five hours he reached it in four.

He stepped onto the hill, and Ivy and Aran appeared behind him. He felt it was going to be fun...