The rocks were aimed at all three of them.
Even his duo.
Damn!
Even Raven was surprised, and he wasn't the type of guy to talk about morals at all.
The firepower was intense, and the opponent mage immediately stopped the spell conjuring process.
All three of them decided to flee, but the speed of the spells was intense.
Some people squinted their eyes, fearing the worst, but some of them remained focused.
Maybe because they knew.
Boom!
The rock cones hit something invisible mid-air and turned into dust.
It was a shield, conjured by Cardinal Mark.
"I clearly mentioned not to use fatal attacks, didn't I?" His voice was low and threatening.
The dual-natured mana guy's face lost its colors and he started shivering.
No matter how pretentious and egotistical one was, they were nothing but mere ants in front of a Cardinal.
They can probably kill anyone without much dire consequences.
Even if the person in front was a Prince.
They held one of the highest positions in unquestionably the most powerful organization on the planet.
Cardinal Mark wasn't even flaring his mana or doing anything.
But his low tone was all it took to make him shiver uncontrollably.
"You can leave," He ordered the four of them in his normal voice, who complied without any hesitation.
Eve came forward and announced the winner to be his team, Team 18.
After that, multiple other candidates were called, and thankfully, those went on without many incidents.
There were some really flashy duels, and one even involved mind games.
In that fight, the mage whispered something in his opponent warrior's ears, and he forfeited the moment the fight started.
It left the mage alone to fend for himself, and he was lost in no time because there was no warrior to cover for him.
Raven wondered what he possibly said to that warrior for him to forfeit like this.
Maybe he bribed him?
Threatened him?
Maybe he could ask Eve, but he doubted she would even meet him for a while.
He could technically lose this entire thing, but that would be an easy pass for obvious reasons.
And there was also Pevon, who depended on him.
Or maybe not.
After a sweet 20 minutes of waiting, Eve finally announced, "Team 25 versus Team 31."
Raven and Pevon cracked their necks and stepped forward.
Eve looked at him, and her thumb swished across the middle of her index fingers.
Many people didn't even notice this gesture.
And the ones who did had no idea who it was for, or what it meant.
But Raven and Pevon understood the meaning of this.
"Crush them!"
Both of them curled up their lips nervously.
'I don't think Cardinal Mark would let that slide easily,' And both of them had the same thought.
Maybe she meant a crushing defeat, who knew?
Raven had already conjured up his spell, and Pevon was also fully ready.
The opponents looked confident, and both sides gave Cardinal Mark the heads-up that they were ready.
"Start!" Cardinal Mark announced loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Pevon immediately darted forward, and so did a simple crystal stick from behind.
"Match over!" Cardinal Mark announced, "The winner is Team 25."
The facility was dead silent.
Every single person present there had their eyes widened in utter shock.
They couldn't believe their eyes.
Some of them still didn't register what just transpired.
The match ended before it even started.
Even Pevon was shocked to an extent.
The opponents sweated bullets, their eyes popping out of their sockets.
The crystal stick that travelled with insane speed fragmented into nothingness mere centimeters away from the mage's abdomen.
And the warrior had a sword, stopping at point-blank range to his throat.
This situation and event made them realize something.
They never stood a chance to begin with.
It etched a simple message in the back of their minds.
There were levels to this shit.
"You can leave," Cardinal Mark announced, but Raven and Pevon's eyes were on Eve.
They were waiting for a reaction, and they got one.
A thumb flick lasting mere seconds, that one would definitely miss if they weren't expecting that.
A huge success in her books.
All the eyes were on the duo, though.
Some were wary of their prowess.
Some doubtful.
Some shocked.
Some surprised.
Some curious.
And some, fearful.
The attention, which was overbearing before, felt unbearable now.
Overwhelming was the word.
"You were shocked at me after my performance?" Pevon said, trying to ignore the attention, "But what in tarnation was that?"
And the corner of Raven's mouth curled up in a knowing grin, "My father's money, I guess."
Sweet revenge, at last.
"Come on! I beg you." Pevon was genuinely curious now.
He has never seen mages conjure a spell that fast.
And since he was a mere Baron's scion, he had never seen a high-level mage in action either.
It was simply unprecedented for him.
"Trust me," Raven said, "You wouldn't be able to understand even if I were to reveal that."
He would literally not hear a single word.
Sigh!
"Fine, keep it a secret, I guess," He was bummed out.
No matter what, this was really pressing him hard.
The curiosity.
"Sister didn't understand that either." He dropped a nuke on Pevon.
Something he didn't think he would get to hear.
"I…" He was at a loss for words, "I see."
From then on, it was a silent journey back to the living quarters for them.
Raven also wondered why Cardinal Mark, being a mage himself, didn't bother asking him anything.
But he guessed Eve handled that already.
He didn't need to worry much for now.
Tests for today were done.
The final phase of the test will be held tomorrow.
And their performance was decent enough for them to lie back for a while.
"Pevon," He called him out, "What now?"
He looked at him, both of their eyes hinting to do their favorite thing to do that they actually enjoyed.
"What else?"
"Let's sleep."