CHAPTER 76 — AIDEN VS THE WYVERN.
The giant beast roared loudly, and the sound was so strong that it pushed Ashley and Bryan backward. The pressure felt like a strong wind trying to throw them off their feet.
But Aiden stood there calmly. He didn't move at all. He didn't even blink. He faced the roar straight on like it was nothing.
People sitting in the crowd gasped in shock when they saw this. Many started whispering to each other in disbelief.
"Is that kid insane?"
"I think he wants to die young!"
"Hey, isn't that the kid my son talked about?"
"Yeah, my son told me he's the strongest student in this academy."
"So what? Even if he is the strongest student here, he can't defeat a wyvern! Even with its powers sealed, it's still as strong as a stage 2 mana cultivator. That kid is asking to die!"
Everyone whispered nervously, watching Aiden stand in front of the monster as if he wasn't scared at all. The wyvern's huge wings spread wide, and its sharp eyes glowed with anger.
Aiden stared straight into the wyvern's eyes. Then he slowly turned his head and looked at Ashley and Bryan.
"I will fight it head-on," he said calmly. "Both of you support me from far away. Try to keep a safe distance."
Ashley heard this, and she immediately objected. "How are you going to fight that thing alone? It's too dangerous, even for you!"
Aiden turned and stared at her with cold, emotionless eyes. The moment Ashley saw his stare, her body shook. She felt the seriousness in his gaze. She closed her mouth and stepped back obediently without saying another word.
Bryan also backed away. He already knew he had no say in this. Aiden had made up his mind. No one could stop him after he had made up his mind.
When both of them reached a safe distance, Aiden slowly rose into the air. His body floated upward until he was at the wyvern's eye level. The giant creature growled in anger as it watched the boy floating calmly in front of it.
Aiden conjured a fire blade in one hand and a fiery whip in the other. Heat spread around him as he prepared himself for battle.
The wyvern roared again and opened its mouth to launch another fire blast. But before the flames could appear…
Aiden vanished.
He reappeared beside the wyvern's neck and thrust his fire blade at it. But the blade wasn't strong enough. It couldn't pierce the wyvern's thick, scaled skin. The moment the blade touched it, the flame shattered into sparks and disappeared.
The wyvern roared in anger and swung its massive head toward Aiden. It opened its mouth wide and launched a huge fire blast.
Aiden vanished again the instant the attack came.
He reappeared behind the wyvern, and this time, a fire axe appeared in his hand. The axe looked heavier and denser than the blade before, glowing bright orange. Aiden swung it down with all his strength toward the wyvern's back.
The attack landed… but it only left a shallow scratch.
Aiden vanished again, appearing near the wyvern's legs. He swung the axe once more. Another scratch formed, but still no serious injury.
Aiden was only using stage 1 spells because thousands of people were watching. He couldn't reveal his true strength. Because of that, he wasn't able to cause much damage.
He vanished again and appeared several meters away, landing lightly on the ground. He narrowed his eyes and studied every part of the wyvern's body, searching for any weak spot.
But before he could analyze properly, the wyvern suddenly went into a frenzy. It slammed its claws toward Aiden with terrifying speed.
Aiden vanished again just in time.
He had to use Burst again and again to dodge the wyvern's attacks. Speed was the only advantage Aiden had over the monster, so he used that speed as much as possible.
He dodged left, right, and above, always staying one step ahead of the wyvern's attacks.
While dodging, he carefully observed the wyvern's movements, attack patterns, and possible weaknesses.
Meanwhile, the wyvern became completely enraged. It started smashing everything around it. Trees fell, rocks broke, and the ground cracked from the force of its stomps.
Ashley and Bryan stayed far away, constantly creating water walls to block the flying debris. They kept trembling as they watched Aiden move around the wyvern with unbelievable speed.
To them, it looked like Aiden was dancing around the wyvern.
Even the crowd was shocked. They had never seen a stage 1 mana cultivator fight freely against a creature as strong as a stage 2 mana cultivator.
Up in the top balcony, William watched with a serious expression. He was worried for Aiden.
But on another balcony beside him, an old man wearing a robe that covered his face sat silently. He was one of the stage 5 elders of the Draconia family—Edward Draconia. He had come to watch this year's student competition.
Edward watched Aiden fight as he spoke to the man standing behind him, who wore a black suit as he said.
"Is he the adopted son William chose? The one Joshua mentioned to us?"
"Yes, my lord," the man said respectfully. "He is the one the young master talked about."
Edward narrowed his old eyes as he then said. "That kid is a problem. If we let him grow to his full potential, he will become a threat to us. And since he stands on William's side, he becomes even more dangerous. We must kill him before he matures."
The man hesitated and then said. "But my lord, we cannot touch him right now. This academy is William's territory. He will never allow anything to happen to his adopted son."
Edward stayed silent for a moment.
The man then continued, "But once he graduates and leaves this academy, he will no longer have William's protection. That is when we will hunt him down. At that time, he will only be a stage 2 mana cultivator, so killing him will be easy."
Edward nodded slowly, acknowledging this plan as he said. "You're right. We will wait until he leaves this academy. Then we will kill him."
As they discussed Aiden's future death, Aiden continued analyzing the wyvern.
Then suddenly—
Aiden vanished and appeared far away.
He finally found all the wyvern's weak spots.
A fire blade appeared in his hand again. He vanished once more and reappeared right beside the wyvern's foot. But this time, instead of hitting the whole foot, he targeted the tiny gaps between the wyvern's toes.
The attack pierced through the gap, stabbing into soft skin.
Blood began to spill out from where the attack landed.
It was the first time Aiden managed to draw blood from any of his attacks on the Wyvern.
Aiden didn't stop. He left the blade stuck there and vanished again. This time, he appeared under the wyvern's left wing. A fire axe formed in his hand.
He swung it with all his power.
The axe slammed into the joint between the wyvern's wing and shoulder.
Crack!
The joint snapped. The wyvern's wing broke completely.
The wyvern roared in pain as it crashed to the ground. A loud BOOM shook the whole forest. Dust shot up into the air, covering everything in sight.
From inside the dust cloud came another furious roar. The wyvern started launching fire blasts wildly in every direction.
Aiden dodged every single one and appeared in front of the wyvern again.
But suddenly—
Aiden felt danger.
His instincts suddenly flared.
A giant palm swung toward him from the side. The wyvern had pretended to be helpless. It was tricking him. It used itself as bait to lure Aiden close. So it can land this strike.
Aiden quickly conjured water walls between himself and the wyvern's palm, hoping to block the hit. But the walls shattered instantly. The attack slowed only a little before the palm slammed into Aiden's body.
BOOM!
Aiden was sent flying like a broken arrow.
Ashley saw this as she screamed, "Julian!!", but before she could do anything.
Aiden crashed into the far-off trees. The trees snapped and uprooted as his body flew through them. Dust exploded everywhere, blocking everyone's vision.
Ashley and Bryan panicked and immediately teleported to where Aiden had crashed.
Ashley looked around frantically as she shouted. "Julian! Are you okay?!"
It was a stupid question. No one should be okay after taking that kind of hit.
But when the dust settled…
A figure stood there.
It was Aiden.
His left arm was hanging uselessly. He had used it to block the attack, and now it was completely shattered. Broken in several places. His ribs were also broken.
Ashley gasped. "Julian! Your arm!"
Aiden looked down at his destroyed arm and sighed softly.
Then a fire blade appeared in his right hand.
Ashley panicked. She realized Aiden was planning to fight again as she tried to stop him.
"Julian, stop! You don't have to keep fighting! Its wing is already broken, it can't catch us anymore! Let's run away!"
But Aiden didn't even look at her.
He vanished.
Ashley saw him vanish as she screamed after him, her voice breaking. "Why are you doing this?! Why are you risking your life like this?! What is driving you to take such risks?!"
But no answer came.
Aiden reappeared right in front of the wyvern's face with only one working arm. The wyvern saw him as it furiously swung another palm attack towards Aiden, but this time, Aiden was angry.
He vanished again and appeared inches away from the wyvern's eye.
A fire blade was already formed in his hand.
He thrust it forward with full force.
The blade pierced through the wyvern's eye.
Blood burst out like a fountain, drenching Aiden completely.
The wyvern screamed in agony.
Aiden let go of the blade and formed a giant fireball in his hand. He slammed it into the wounded eye, burning it completely. The Wyvern screamed again as its eye was completely burned.
Then he vanished again and reappeared under the wyvern's other wing. Another fire axe appeared in his hand, and Aiden swung it down, fracturing the second wing.
He vanished and appeared at the wyvern's knee joint. He attacked with all his might.
Crack!
The joint snapped.
Aiden vanished again and attacked the other knee. That joint also broke.
The wyvern collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain, struggling helplessly.
It tried one last time to survive. It gathered its remaining strength to form a final weak fire blast in its mouth.
But Aiden raised his hand calmly.
Multiple water streams shot forward, entering the wyvern's mouth, neutralizing the fire instantly.
The wyvern's jaw dropped as its last strength disappeared.
Aiden had defeated a wyvern alone. He stood there with an axe in his hand while he was drenched in blood. He looked like a grim reaper that had come straight out of hell.
The crowd gasped loudly. Everyone stared at the screen with shocked and disbelieving expressions.
They couldn't believe what they had just seen.
A single student…A stage 1 mana cultivator…
Had defeated a wyvern all by himself.
And the entire academy fell silent.
Author's Note: Aiden defeated a Wyvern, as everyone who saw this was completely surprised by this, but this was only the start, as another battle will start very soon.