Raine Showed Off in Front of Everyone!

At ten in the morning.

Sunlight poured across Kamar-Taj's broad courtyard.

On the training ground, more than a hundred gray-robed apprentices stood straight.

Their shouts rang out in unison as they worked up a sweat practicing basic combat.

Among them were a few promising apprentices.

As they waved their hands, they could just barely produce a few faint red sparks.

It meant they had begun to sense Cosmic Energy.

Normally, Carter would have stroked her beard and nodded in satisfaction at their progress.

But not today.

The old Sorcerers stood at the front of the group. Though she watched the apprentices, her mind was elsewhere.

She was busy figuring out how to use Ancient Sanskrit to stump that freak who could level up just by sleeping.

Just then.

A languid figure sauntered in through the courtyard gate.

Raine had just woken up. He stretched at length.

While every other apprentice trained their heart out, his lackadaisical manner stood out like a sore thumb.

Over a hundred pairs of eyes turned toward him at once.

Some looked contemptuous, some disgusted, and some indifferent.

Clearly.

They took Raine for a slacker who had gotten in through connections.

Raine ignored the stares and wandered over to the back of the group.

When Carter saw him, her stern old face instantly broke into a kindly smile.

To the other apprentices, that smile was harder to believe than a ghost sighting.

Carter was famously strict when she taught.

Anyone whose form was off got a thorough dressing-down.

Yet now.

Here was someone blatantly late and utterly casual about it, and she wasn't scolding him.

Master Carter had actually greeted him with a smile?

Why should he get special treatment?

Jealousy and resentment took root in more than a few hearts.

"Master Carter!"

A tall, blond young man at the front of the group suddenly called out.

"What is it, Mike?"

Carter frowned.

The interruption annoyed her.

But when she saw it was Mike, her expression softened a little.

Mike was the most talented of this batch of newcomers.

After only a few days of practice, he could reliably produce sparks. He was promising.

"Master, he's late!"

Mike whipped around and pointed at Raine at the back.

"Everyone else is training hard. Not only did he show up late without a reason, he also took up a lot of your time for private instruction yesterday."

"That's unfair to all of us!"

Mike held his head high and refused to back down.

It wasn't Raine's lateness that bothered him. He envied the extra attention Carter gave Raine.

A teacher only had so much time. The more one person got, the less was left for everyone else.

As the best of the newcomers, Mike felt he should be the one receiving special treatment.

Carter heard him out and nodded instead of getting angry.

She swept her gaze over the group and asked calmly, "Do the rest of you feel the same way?"

Most of the apprentices said nothing, but their eyes made the answer clear.

"First, private tutoring after class isn't my duty. Who I choose to teach is up to me."

Carter did not speak loudly, but her voice carried across the entire training ground.

"Second, I see nothing wrong with giving Raine extra instruction."

The crowd immediately erupted.

She was admitting her favoritism that openly?

"Why? I want to know the reason!"

Mike held his ground, his gaze stubborn.

"Good. A Sorcerers should have that competitive spirit."

Carter smiled with approval.

Kamar-Taj trained warriors to fight otherworldly Demon God, not flowers to be kept in a greenhouse.

Healthy competition had always been encouraged.

"Since you want to know, I'll show you the answer."

Carter beckoned toward the back. "Raine, step forward."

Raine shrugged and walked to the front of the group.

"Show them the magic you've mastered."

Carter gave the order without further explanation.

"Yes."

Raine turned to face over a hundred pairs of doubtful, envious eyes.

He wasted no words.

Slowly, he raised his right hand and casually drew a semicircle in the air.

Hum!

A piercing hum burst through the air.

Countless dazzling golden sparks exploded into being, streaming and weaving around Raine's fingertips.

In less than a second.

A thick, solid golden Magic Shield covered in intricate, mysterious runes.

Had taken shape before them!

At level two, the Magic Shield's sheen and structure gave off an imposing sense of indestructibility.

A sharp intake of breath swept the crowd.

The training ground fell silent.

Every apprentice stood frozen, eyes wide.

Mike, who had been loudly demanding fairness only a moment ago, felt his legs give way and nearly collapsed.

"How... How is that possible..."

He looked at the feeble sparks he had struggled so hard to produce, then at the magnificent, formidable energy shield before Raine.

His confidence shattered.

Mike had worked himself to the bone just to reach the threshold.

Yet this slacker, who could barely be bothered to wake up, had casually produced something like top-tier gear?

How the hell was anyone supposed to compete with that?

The training ground remained silent.

Carter looked around in satisfaction, taking in every shocked and horrified face.

"Now, does anyone still think I'm being unfair?"

The old Sorcerers' voice was quiet, but her words struck everyone like a hammer.

No one said a word.

Mike, who had demanded an explanation earlier, lowered his head.

In a world where strength did the talking, jealousy was an emotion for the weak.

When someone was only a little stronger than you, you could still feel frustrated.

But when a vast ocean separated your abilities, you no longer had the right to be jealous.

"It's natural to feel dissatisfied."

Carter's voice turned cold. "But first, you need the ability to challenge him!"

"Show me the same talent and ability as Raine, and I promise I'll teach you everything I know!"

"Enough. Put those foolish thoughts aside and get back to training!"

With that.

Carter turned and beckoned to Raine.

"Raine, come with me."

Hands behind her back, the old Sorcerers strode off the training ground.

Raine dismissed his Magic Shield and followed at an easy pace.

The hundred-odd apprentices were left standing there in a daze.

"My god. A Magic Shield like that after three days of practice? Is he even human?"

"Where did a monster like him come from? Why haven't we heard of him before?"

"Looks like our class has a terrifying prodigy on its hands..."

The apprentices whispered among themselves, their minds nowhere near their training.

But.

Raine could no longer hear them. Even if he could, he would not have cared.

He followed Carter to the old Sorcerers' private meditation room.

As soon as they entered.

Carter motioned for Raine to sit, then poured him a cup of hot tea herself and pushed it toward him.