Kill

William, the Duke's son and Barren Island's most outstanding genius of the south, was filled with a deep sense of helplessness. Everything that had happened since he set foot on the path of apprenticeship had left wound after wound in his heart. Today, his pride had finally shattered completely. He looked at Adam sorrowfully and said, "Why? Don't you feel even a little sad? You're from Barren Island too..."

Adam cut him off. He found this sort of argument terribly boring. "Why should I be sad? And who told you that the path of a mage requires unity? Or have you ever heard of any Formal Mage advancing with someone else's help?"

William stared at him in astonishment, at a complete loss. "Randy was our companion too. We're still so weak. If we don't unite, how could we possibly..."

Adam interrupted him again. "Have you gotten something wrong?"

"What did you say?"

"The weak ones are you, not me. The Weakling Alliance has no meaning. Nor is there any rule in this world that the minority must obey the majority. The will and dignity of the weak are worth less than a penny. If you aren't strong enough and get yourselves killed, who can you blame?"

Ophelia could not hold back any longer. Adam's words were exceptionally grating, stabbing at the sensitive nerves in her heart. "But you're from Barren Island too. To outsiders, we're one whole. If we're excluded, doesn't that mean you're being excluded too? Sooner or later, they'll come after you!"

Adam was truly losing patience. "Why do you still not understand? Weakness is the original sin. You are excluded because you are weak, and because you are weak, you take this exclusion from idiots to heart. I have always been here. I don't like having too much to do with idiots, but if anyone wants to lay a hand on me, let them come. I'll show them their own stupidity."

Adam's words were like a heavy hammer, brutally smashing through their fragile self-esteem and tearing away their last fig leaf. William staggered back several steps. Ophelia's face flushed red. Krystal let out a sorrowful sigh. She realized that the gap between them and Adam was simply too vast.

Only Quentin lost his reason in his rage. Without a care for anything else, he hurled a fireball at Adam, just as he had on the ship back then.

Elliot had been listening to the conversation, which he found amusing, but his brows furrowed at the sight. Duels were permitted at Mordo Mage Academy, but sneak attacks were taboo. Sneak attackers were no longer protected by academy rules. He wanted to step in and teach Quentin a lesson.

The remaining three from Barren Island all went pale at once. They had thought of what had happened before as well. "Stop! Please, don't kill him!"

But Adam's magic was faster than their voices. The fireball was neutralized by a fleeting Water Screen. Before the vapor had even dispersed, it condensed into a Water Arrow that tore through the air at high speed and pierced Quentin's skull, leaving only pale brain matter splattered across their trouser cuffs.

A gleam flashed through Elliot's eyes. Only a few months had passed, yet Adam's mastery of magic had reached such a level. In that instant, Adam had used Water Screen and Water Arrow, accurately striking and killing his target with his back turned to the enemy. After Quentin died, the Water Arrow immediately shattered. Not a trace of excess magic leaked out, not the slightest bit was wasted. Even some Senior Apprentices could not achieve this.

Ophelia and William stared blankly at Quentin's corpse. A moment later, Ophelia exploded. "You monster! Don't you have even a shred of honor or mercy in your heart? How could you? How dare you kill a companion again!"

Krystal pursed her lips and grabbed Ophelia, speaking in a tone that sounded utterly unfamiliar to Ophelia. "Enough, Ophelia. Enough."

Ophelia looked at Krystal in disbelief. "You...?"

Krystal looked at her solemnly. "Adam is right. The path of a mage is not a game. The weak must understand how the weak survive." After saying that, she released Ophelia, gave Adam a deep look, and left without turning back.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, Elliot sidled up to Adam again and said with a lecherous grin, "Tsk tsk tsk, how heartless. You really broke that little girl's heart."

Adam glanced at him. "Boring."

"Don't be such a killjoy. I already told you, constructing a Meditation Method isn't that simple. And you don't need to be sad about James. Every year—no, every moment in the Mage Plane—countless apprentices like that leave in desolation. It is destiny. It isn't worth grieving over."

Adam said seriously, "I'm not sad. And I'm about to succeed."

Elliot shrugged. "All right, all right. You're about to succeed." As soon as he finished speaking, that lecherous grin appeared again. "Eh, you've got trouble again. I never would have guessed it. Are you really that annoying?"

Adam indeed had trouble again. Sean, Howard, and their group had blocked his path.

A momentary victory had made Sean swell with arrogance. He stopped Adam with his head held high and spoke in a condescending tone. "You're Adam?"

Howard frowned. He vaguely knew some things about Adam and knew he was not someone to provoke, but after hesitating for a moment, he did not stop Sean. Nothing too serious would happen, Howard thought.

At this point, he did not know that Adam had just killed someone. If he had known, he would not have thought that way.

Adam was rarely as irritated as he was now. It was like a supercomputer carrying out calculations at high speed while viruses and Trojan horses from the Outside World constantly tried to invade. The feeling displeased him greatly. Since he was displeased, he neither answered nor stopped.

Normal people truly found it difficult to understand the thoughts of idiots. After winning his duel, Sean's status within his little clique had risen considerably. Seeing Adam's rudeness, two lackeys immediately stepped in front of him and said arrogantly, "Stop. We're talking to you. Didn't you hear us?"

Sean watched the scene smugly. In that instant, he felt like he had become an important figure.

Adam stopped and turned to Elliot. "If I kill them, will there be any trouble?"

Elliot froze for a moment, then answered strangely, "Trouble? Nothing else, really. It's just that they belong to the academy's property now. If you kill them, you'll have to compensate the academy for its losses. Five hundred Energy Stones per head." Elliot found this strange because he could tell that Adam truly wanted to kill them, and with such a calm attitude at that.

Adam considered it. Over the past two months, he had obtained two thousand units of Energy Stones from James's laboratory, and he would soon receive another thousand. If the Meditation Method was successfully constructed, the reward would not be small. In other words, killing them would not put any financial pressure on Adam.

After thinking it through, Adam turned back to them and said very seriously, "Move aside now, or die." Unless necessary, Adam did not want to kill people. Energy Stones were still precious.

Sean's group, having heard the conversation between Adam and Elliot, froze. At this point, they thought Adam was an idiot. He actually wanted to make a move against all five of them at once. "You want to duel us? Five people?"

Adam's eyes lit up. A duel? He looked at Elliot again.

Elliot nodded sympathetically. "Then there's no problem. This is a duel, but..."

Before he could finish what came after "but," Adam attacked.

Without any warning, violent wind pressure blew them all away. Adam swept his hand through the air, and Wind Blades instantly formed, slashing at the two lackeys at a speed far beyond that of ordinary apprentices. Then Adam pointed toward the sky. Falling Fire filled the air from nowhere. His finger pressed down, and the Falling Fire rained down like meteors upon them.

One against five, he attacked without hesitation.

Elliot jumped in fright and cast magic to dodge, grumbling unhappily, "Damn it, were you trying to kill me too?"

Fire rode the wind's might, and wind fed the fire's blaze. By using wind and fire Elemental Magic at the same time, Adam had, to a certain extent, fulfilled the conditions for composite magic. Its power was far greater than using either alone.

The five people facing Adam's magic head-on were scared out of their wits. They were still in shock, unable to believe Adam had attacked so decisively. Shouldn't they have agreed on a time first?

Magic did not wait for them. The Five People could already smell death. They hurriedly used every method at their disposal, but their clumsy magic looked like a joke in Adam's eyes. The two lackeys blocking the way were cut in half at the waist by Wind Blades. Before their blood could flow, it was vaporized by the flames. Sean and the other lackey held out with magic for one second, then became ashes without even leaving behind last words.

Only Howard remained.

He was the leader of the group, possessing talent and resources far beyond the others. Facing Adam's magic, he activated four Defensive Magic spells in succession in a single instant. Adam crooked a finger, and the Falling Fire condensed before shooting toward Howard.

The four spells shattered one after another. Howard's face turned deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down him. While using every spell he knew to defend himself, he begged incoherently, "Spare me! Don't kill me! I'm willing to get lost. I'll never appear before you again!"

His heart was filled with regret and hatred for Sean. Why had they provoked such a monster? Magic like this was simply cheating, wasn't it?!

Adam did not hesitate even for an instant. No Formal Mage was going to step out and save Howard's life now. The Falling Fire effortlessly roasted Howard into jerky, then pulverized Howard's corpse along with a wide stretch of ground.

Only after killing the Five People did Adam turn to Elliot and ask, "But what?"

A bead of cold sweat ran down Elliot's forehead. You just killed six people. You used Advanced Magic and composite magic. How can you be this calm?

"But... you'd better go to the Duel Arena. Damage caused by fighting here requires compensation." Elliot looked at the multiple magical items Adam had picked up with his Mental Power and sighed. "Forget it. It doesn't matter. They aren't worth many Energy Stones anyway."