Souta was in the mid-air with Lynn when he saw a palm-size rock flying towards him.
The rock was so fast that it tore through the air.
Souta stepped in the air and descended down on the ground with a speed greater than the rock.
Boom!!
Souta crashed on the ground creating a small crater. Thick smoke and dust covered the small crater.
"Cough... Cough..." Lynn coughed from all the smoke and dust in the area around her. She gripped the flags in her hand tightly.
Souta placed her on the ground and said, "Hold the flags tightly. Don't let them go no matter what happens."
"Okay, I will do my best." Lynn nodded at him. She lifted up her head and looked at his figure.
"I'm going to beat them and get their flags." Souta stood up and he patted his clothes. He walked out of the smoke and saw a team of five people waiting for him.
At the center of the team, he saw a man. He was familiar with this man. That man has shoulder-length dark purple hair and gleaming dark purple pupils. There were six looking orbs that were attached on his forehead. It was his eyes. His nails were as sharp as a sword and there's fur that covered his hand up to his wrist.
This man was the top 1 ranker of the first year, Gyron Dwein. The one who stood at the top in the ranking battles of the first year. He was called as the strongest first year.
The four people behind him were the top 14, top 23, top 24, and top 32.
A woman with long black hair and black pupils was the top 14. She has cat ears and tail sticking out behind her. She's May, a demi-human, the top 14 ranker.
Mark was a man with a huge build. He had sharp features and brown hair that was comb upwards. He was the top 23 ranker of the first year.
A man with a short height and slender figure yet masculine at the same time was the top 24. He had gray color hair matching the color of his pupils. He was Bonny and he was a demi-human. To be precise, it's a werewolf.
Sena was a tall woman with long blonde hair. She had an hourglass figure and she looks more mature than her actual age. Her sharp eyes were looking straight at Souta. She was the top 32 ranker of the first year.
This team was the strongest team of the whole first year. They were all top rankers and had a power that could fight anyone.
The Brawler Class 1-A was called the strongest class in all first year. It was because almost all the higher rankers were in that class. Their class was consist of powerful fighters of the first year.
Bonny looked at Souta and observed him from top to bottom. He opened his mouth and said, "Souta Ieshi, a student of the Mage Class 1-B. Also, he is the top 20 ranker."
Gyron looked at Bonny and asked, "Is that really him?"
"Yes, he's that Souta," Bonny nodded while looking at Souta.
"So that's him." Gyron nodded and he also observed Souta with his eyes.
Who doesn't know Souta among the first year? Souta was famous across the whole institute. Even the higher year knew his name. Even though some of the students didn't know what's his appearance, at the very least they still heard his name.
His name was heard when he became the champion of the mini-tournament. Despite the odds that he couldn't use his mana and spell, he still won and defeated the students from the Shield Class 1-A.
"So he's the friend of that noisy Bryan?" May asked as she narrowed her eyes. She was the top 14 ranker, so she naturally knew who's Bryan. Bryan once challenged her to a duel in the ranking battles but she got defeated.
"They are classmates after all," Bonny replied to her.
"He's stronger than him. Bryan challenged him again and again but he never won against Souta." Mark added.
They naturally knew who's Bryan and Souta. Bryan and Souta were higher than them in ranking, so they fought them. Mark, Bonny, and Sena fought Souta before and the result was... they suffered an utter defeat.
Souta was the student who didn't experience a single defeat in the ranking battles of the first year and he still managed to reach the top 20. When Souta was still active in the ranking battles, he challenged those who were higher than him left and right. He only stopped until he reached the top 20 for unknown reasons.
Even the top 1 ranker suffered a defeat once from the top 2 ranker. Gyron, the top 1 ranker, fought the top 2 ranker five times and he won four out of five matches. It means that there's a defeat in his record, unlike Souta who hasn't suffered a defeat in the ranking battle.
Souta didn't say anything. He just observed the group and saw the top 23 ranker was holding a bunch of red flags in her arms.
"Seven flags..." He muttered in a low voice. Since it comes to this, then he will fight and steal those flags.
"Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and he slowly circulated his mana around his body.
"What? Want to fight us?" Mark said in a loud voice when he felt Souta's mana. He looked around him and felt confident. They outnumbered him.
"Where is the other one? If I'm not wrong she's still behind you." Gyron said as he looked at the smoke behind Souta.
"Don't worry about her. You should be worried about yourself." Souta said as he grinned widely. He felt his blood boiling.
This is what he wanted. To test his power against strong people. He just wanted to test how could he fare against the top students of the first year with his current strength.
"Mark give that flags to Sena. May, Bonny, fight him. After that, fight him too, Mark." Gyron gave orders to his comrades.
"Okay." Mark nodded and gave the seven flags that he was holding to Sena.
Sena received the red flags from Mark. She was the lowest rank in their group and they were about to fight Souta who once defeated her before.
"[Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat's Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening]." Souta casted his buff spells and combat arts.
He knew that this battle wasn't going to be an easy one like the previous battles. If he fought these people at the same time, then the chances that he could win this fight was less than fifty percent.
He grinned widely as he felt the increase in his power. Souta lifted up his hand and casted [Shadow Bind] spell.
Swoosh!!
Gyron frowned before he looked down and saw his shadows moving.
"Jump!" He quickly jumped away and the shadows tried to capture him.
Swoosh!!
Swoosh!!
Swoosh!!
Sena, May, Mark, and Bonny followed his command and they jumped in the air. They saw their shadows moved towards them at a fast speed.
May and Mark managed to avoid the shadows but Sena and Bonny weren't fast enough. The shadows bound their limbs tightly so that they couldn't move it even an inch.
"Hmph!" Gyron snorted as he waved his hand towards the shadows that were binding his comrades.
[Power Chop]!!
His combat arts was powerful that it sliced the shadows into tiny pieces.
Sena and Boney fell on the ground and both of them thanked Gyron for helping them.
""Thank you, Gyron (Dwein).""
"Don't mention it." Gyron shook his head and said, "You can help Mark and May if you want."
Mark and May attacked Souta from either side. Souta moved his hands quickly as he parried their attacks.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
May and Mark were students of the Brawler Class and both of them were high ranking ranker. They were confident in their close combat arts but against Souta, they were acting cautiously like a different person.
Of course, they will. After all, Souta defeated them one-sidedly in the ranking battles.
Among the five of them, only Gyron and May were the people that Souta hadn't fought before.
Soon, Bonny joined the battle and they were able to match Souta well.
"Really good."
Souta once again casted [Shadow Bind] and he followed it up by casting [Shadow Ball] spell.
May, Mark, and Bonny dispersed. They tried to surround Souta in all directions.
But...
"[Shadow Spike]!!"
...
In the teacher's campsite...
Almost all the teachers were now watching the fight between Souta and the strongest team of the Brawler Class 1-A. But some of them were still closely watching their students.
They were all waiting for the good intense battle to start and right now it happened.
Souta versus the strongest team of the first year. Who's going to win? The two groups managed to collect seven flags and the group who won this battle will get the other group's red flags.