The Hydra Typhoon collided with the Phoenix in a burst of elemental fury.
BOOOOOOM!!
Three roaring water heads slammed into the burning bird. The impact rocked the trees and sent a pillar of steam erupting skyward.
The Phoenix screeched as its feathers sizzled, some steam scalding its wings. It wasn't heavily wounded but it was staggered.
The forest trembled. Trees burned. Mist swallowed everything.
From within the steam cloud, Mark leapt.
"Now!"
He moved like lightning, weaving through the haze toward Lora Valentine's unconscious body. Her armor was charred, her breath ragged.
Mark conjured a glowing glyph mid-air a portal to the D rank zone.
Without hesitation, he tossed her through it.
She vanished into the safety of weaker territory.
"You're lucky," he muttered under his breath, cracking his knuckles. "I used the hydra for a smoke screen. I can't let the priests find out I've learned space magic…"
The glowing portal vanished behind him.
Mark turned back toward the Phoenix, still obscured by the fog. He pressed his palms together.
"Let's change the atmosphere."
With a surge of mana, Mark activated his secondary spell:
Vacuum Shift.
The moisture in the air surged. The oxygen levels dipped. Flames around them began to fizzle out. The oppressive heat dropped.
The Phoenix faltered mid-air, feeling the unnatural shift.
Its wings flared, trying to maintain altitude as it flew above the fog and rained fireballs blindly below, searching for its hidden prey.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions rocked the mist covered terrain.
But Mark had already fortified his position. A rock shield, shaped like a turtle's shell, formed around him.
Flames smashed against it.
CRACK! CRACK!
But it held.
"Good," Mark whispered from beneath the cover. "If I hadn't weakened its flames, this shield would've crumbled."
The smoke began to clear.
The battlefield came into view. Steam drifted, revealing Mark's rocky shell charred, but intact.
The Phoenix flapped its colossal wings, glaring down at him with molten eyes.
It saw its target now.
It shrieked and dove, a meteor of fire and fury, aiming to end the fight in one final charge.
But Mark stood calmly.
A condensed orb of water swirled between his hands, spinning violently like a storm trapped in glass.
"If it wasn't a Phoenix, this fight would've been over already," Mark muttered, eyes narrowed. "Fire and wind are my best elements… but against you, they'd only feed your flames."
The orb crackled.
This wasn't just water magic it was pressurized ocean force, compacted into a bomb.
Mark inhaled sharply. His eyes glinted with calculated resolve.
"Time to extinguish the sun."
He leapt forward.
Mark raised the orb of compressed water high over his head.
"Now burst!"
With a thrust of both hands, he launched the spinning orb straight at the Phoenix's chest.
The moment it struck
BOOOOOOM!
The orb detonated into a cataclysmic blast of water, spraying like a broken dam. The explosion flattened trees in a wide radius, sending a shockwave of wind and mist howling through the forest. Leaves scattered. The ground trembled.
The Phoenix screeched, its majestic form collapsing as steam hissed off its charred body. Its wings were ruined. Feathers scattered like embers on the wind.
It crashed to the earth, unmoving.
From above, a glowing blue screen materialized before Mark.
[Beast heavily damaged. Would you like to claim it?]
Mark, breathing heavily but still sharp-eyed, raised a single hand.
"Yes."
A pillar of golden light enveloped the Phoenix's body, sealing the contract between them.
In the viewing chamber, the crowd erupted.
The Head Priest jumped from his seat, eyes wild, roaring like a boy half his age. "He did it! By the gods, he actually did it!"
Rose grabbed a chair, shaking it in excitement like a lunatic. "THAT'S MY MASTERPIECE! THAT'S MY BOY!"
Lira, more composed, smiled gently and clapped. "I knew he'd make it back…"
But in the headmaster's office, the reaction was different.
The old man had been lounging on his desk until now. He stood up slowly, a grin creeping across his face. His eyes, however, gleamed with dangerous clarity.
"A prodigy… No, more than that," he whispered. "A weapon forged by miracle."
Back in the forest, Mark stood tall beside the downed Phoenix, the wind tousling his hair.
A moment later, light surrounded him, and in a flash
He was teleported to the judging arena.
A wide coliseum like space, where the captured beasts were tethered behind each student, awaited him.
Mark took his seat calmly. He crossed his arms, waiting.
Time passed.
More students appeared one by one most with C or B rank beasts, battered and barely alive. All stared wide eyed at Mark.
Eventually, Lora Valentine was teleported in, dragging behind her a wounded B rank lightning jaguar.
She looked haggard, bruised from her earlier encounter. But the moment her eyes landed on Mark and his SS rank Phoenix, her jaw dropped.
She stormed over, red faced.
"Y...You must have CHEATED!" she shouted, pointing at the majestic Phoenix behind him. "There's no way someone like you could tame a beast like that! You used some trick or bought a scroll you're a fraud!"
Mark didn't even look at her.
He leaned back in his seat and sighed, waving her off like she was a buzzing fly.
"Don't bother me. You already wasted enough of my time."
Just as Valentine's rage reached boiling point
A blue-haired girl stepped forward from among the crowd. Her hair, still tied in a messy bun, was singed and bloodied but her eyes shone with defiance.
She placed herself between Lora and Mark.
"He didn't cheat," she said. "I saw it with my own eyes."
Everyone turned.
"He saved me from a B rank beast. He burned it to ash. He didn't even hesitate," she said proudly, her cheeks flushing. "Then I watched him fight the Phoenix. It was real. Every spell. Every move. That wasn't trickery. That was power."
Gasps rippled through the other students.
Mark raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, but didn't speak.
Lora clenched her fists, trembling.
"You… You're all just blind! He's nothing but "
"Silence."
A booming voice echoed across the arena.
It was the Headmaster, now standing in the judge's booth.
"All beasts have been submitted. All ranks have been confirmed. The student Mark has officially bonded with an SS rank Phoenix. The highest result of the year. The test is over."
His words hit the arena like thunder.
The students fell quiet. All eyes were now on Mark.
Some looked at him with awe.
Others, like Lora, with envy.
But all knew one thing:
A new monster had joined the Knights Academy.
A glowing screen hovered in front of the gathered students, listing the results of the entrance test.
Gasps and murmurs spread like wildfire.
Mark didn't just pass he had the highest score.
Valentine screamed from the back, her face twisted in disbelief.
"That should've been my spot!"
Meanwhile, the blue haired girl from earlier approached Mark, her cheeks tinged with a soft pink blush.
"Hey there. Thanks for saving me earlier."
Mark shrugged, casually.
"No problem. I mean… leaving you to die would've just been rude at that point."
She smiled. "Say, what's your name? And what rank are you?"
Mark hesitated. Deep down, he knew the moment she found out, everything could change. Nobles often looked down on commoners. But there was no hiding it especially after what Valentine yelled during the test.
"My name's Markus Rosefield," he said with a light sigh. "But you can just call me Mark. I'm a "
"He's a filthy commoner!" Valentine's voice sliced through the crowd like a blade, interrupting him with venom.
Melody, however, didn't even flinch. She rolled her eyes and completely ignored Valentine.
"Is that true?" she asked, genuinely curious.
Mark nodded slowly.
Then, without hesitation, she extended her hand with a warm smile.
"I'm Melody Opal. Of the Opal family. Pleased to meet you."
Mark's eyes widened. The Opal family one of the top ten noble families in the entire kingdom. Yet… there was no disgust in her voice. No judgment in her expression. Nothing fake in her eyes.
He reached out and shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you too."
From a distance, Valentine stormed away, fuming. She couldn't stand either of them now Mark, the commoner who humiliated her, and Melody, the noble who dared to be kind to him.
The Headmaster's voice boomed from the audio crystal embedded above the glowing scoreboard.
"All students who passed, step through the portal to your left. Your journey at the Knights Academy of Moonvale begins now."
A radiant blue portal shimmered open. Mark and the other successful candidates stepped through, one by one.
As they emerged on the other side, their clothing shimmered transforming into pristine white cloaks, trimmed with white wolf fur at the collar. It was the official uniform of Moonvale's elite Knight Academy.
"Welcome, students," the Headmaster's voice echoed again. "You are now officially enrolled. Proceed to your dormitories. Any personal belongings will be teleported to your assigned rooms shortly."
Suddenly, Mark's right hand began to glow.
A sigil formed etched in light on the back of his hand. A blooming rose, elegant yet thorned.
"The symbol on your hand is your key," the Headmaster continued. "Follow the map displayed before you to locate your room."
A holographic map appeared in the air before Mark. He glanced at it, then looked over his shoulder.
"Later," he said to Melody, giving her a casual wave before turning down the marble corridor.
She smiled and waved back, "Don't snore too loud!"
Mark followed the winding path, passing other dorm doors marked with various glowing symbols. The air inside the academy was thick with mana and prestige. This place wasn't like anywhere he'd ever been.
Finally, he reached his assigned room: E-17.
He took a deep breath, placed his palm against the glowing rose shaped sigil on the door, and it slid open with a hiss of enchanted air.
The room was larger than he expected. Polished wood floors, floating lamps, two beds, and a mana-shielded window overlooking the eastern courtyard.
Mark stepped inside.
"I just hope my roommate's not a pain in the ass…"
He dropped his bag on one bed and flopped down, staring up at the ceiling.
But just as he began to relax
the door creaked open.
Heavy boots thudded against the floor.
Mark looked up.
A tall figure stepped in, He tossed his duffel bag on the opposite bed without a word.
Mark blinked. "…ah so your my roommate?"
A dark-skinned boy with striking red hair sat casually on the other bed, arms behind his head as if he owned the room.
He glanced up as Mark entered, his sharp amber eyes scanning him with curiosity.
"So, you're the commoner everyone's been talking about," he said with a half smirk. "Name's Zara… Zara Gin."
Mark narrowed his eyes slightly. "Markus Rosefield."
Zara leaned forward, a teasing grin on his face. "Didn't expect them to throw me in with the academy's rising star. Don't worry I don't bite."
Marks smiled nervously . "Let's just get along."
Zara chuckled. "Fair enough. But just a heads up… I don't plan on being second place."