Yan Jin's Proposal

Everyone present was an elite of Northland Academy. Although they had been a beat slow to react at first, once Yu Xinxue announced the result, they understood what had happened.

Amon had used some bizarre ability to make Roy concede on his own!

The way they looked at Amon now held a few more traces of curiosity and scrutiny.

A thirty-fourth-level Soul Elder, bizarre mental abilities... coupled with the strength Yan Jin and Lei Yin had displayed earlier.

They suddenly realized that Vidal's team had already gained considerable strength and was a formidable competitor to Brady.

Roy walked over to Brady, scratching his head as he said, "Sorry, boss. I messed up."

Brady did not blame him. He reassured him, "It isn't your fault. The first time anyone encounters an ability like that, being caught off guard means suffering a huge loss. You at least probed the limits of that ability. You did well enough."

Yu Xinxue ignored the reactions of the Class One students and said to Amon and the others with a smile:

"Congratulations. You have passed the promotion assessment. From now on, you are members of Class One.

"You just enrolled, right? Take care of your own matters today. Starting tomorrow, come attend class."

Amon replied with a smile, "Understood."

Yan Jin's expression was not very pleasant. She disliked every class other than practical combat.

If it were not for the Soul Master Tournament, she truly would not have wanted to come to school.

Lei Yin, on the other hand, appeared very calm. Back at Icewind Primary Soul Master Academy, he had ranked among the best in both theory and practical combat. He was an exemplary student.

"That will be all. Class is over... Study on your own afterward."

Yu Xinxue tossed those words to the Class One students before leaving on her own.

Brady walked over and said to Amon:

"Are you interested in joining me? Whatever Vidal can give you, I can give you as well."

Amon lightly stroked his glasses, his expression unchanged as he said:

"He has already given me what he promised me, and it was a coincidence. I do not need a second one."

"That is truly regrettable. I fear our relationship will not be very friendly for quite some time to come." Brady shook his head with slight disappointment.

Since Vidal's team had begun to pose a threat to him, he had to take action.

"Let's go." Brady gave Vidal a provocative glance before leaving with his followers.

Vidal shrugged casually. If this had been before, with him acting as captain and forming a team himself, he would have felt enormous pressure facing Brady, who was stronger than him.

But now, he was not the leader of the team, so naturally he did not need to worry about such matters.

He looked at Amon and asked, "Amon, what do we do next? Brady will definitely target us from all sorts of angles.

"That includes, but is not limited to, verbal provocation, exclusion and isolation, challenging us during practical combat class, spreading rumors to slander us... If he goes further, he might even find people from outside the school to teach us a lesson."

Isn't that just campus bullying... I thought it would be more intense.

With that thought in mind, Amon adjusted his Monocle but did not respond.

Lei Yin suddenly asked, "That's all? Will they kill people?"

Vidal froze slightly, looking at Lei Yin with a stunned expression, as if saying, "How could you have such a terrifying thought?"

He shook his head. "Not that far, not that far. Your thinking is a little too extreme.

"The academy places great importance on student safety. If anyone dies, it would be an extremely serious incident and would be dealt with severely.

"The students' competition is restricted within certain limits. If those limits are exceeded, they will be disqualified from the tournament.

"Moreover, the captains of the various teams share a certain understanding. When a team decides to withdraw from the selection trials, everything that happened before is forgiven.

"The oppressors will not keep pursuing them, and those who were oppressed naturally cannot retaliate because of it.

"The Soul Master Tournament is important, certainly, but not important enough to make a whole heap of mortal enemies over it.

"Even if a team is suppressed and forced to disband under pressure, few people continue to hold hostile attitudes. If your skills are inferior, then a loss is a loss."

Northland Advanced Soul Master Academy was a Soul Master academy primarily made up of noble descendants. Among commoner Soul Masters, only a small number of the most outstanding could enter.

Therefore, many of the academy's rules carried a strong aristocratic flavor and leaned more toward the interests of the nobility.

The academy tacitly accepted that the selection of teams did not take place solely on the battlefield. Competition in connections and resources outside the arena was also part of the selection.

For the nobles, this kind of competition with their peers outside the arena was also a test and a form of tempering, perhaps even more important than contests in the arena.

Amon neither agreed nor disagreed. This method of letting the students compete among themselves was, in truth, a way to confine the struggles between noble families within a certain framework.

It could reveal each family's strength to a certain extent without leaving them badly crippled after a loss.

But there were always exceptions. If certain other things became entangled in the matter, the conflict could easily escalate.

"In short, if we beat up every member of the other teams, and if once isn't enough, then twice—beat them until they no longer dare call themselves a 'team'—then we would automatically win the selection trials, right?" Yan Jin's way of looking at problems was as simple and brutal as ever.

Hearing her idea, Amon tugged at the corner of his mouth into a smile and said softly:

"In a sense, that truly is the method best suited to us. We would not need to scheme against one another or compete in connections and resources..."

Vidal's temple twitched. In a less than resolute tone, he tactfully voiced his opposition:

"To the noble factions behind the academy, shining brightly in the Soul Master Tournament is an honor belonging to their younger generation. They may be able to accept the occasional commoner Soul Master barging in and sharing that honor, but they will absolutely not sit by and watch someone monopolize it..."

Amon smiled and shook his head. "I never said we would monopolize it. Aren't you the representative of some of their interests? ...We still have three main team slots and one substitute slot.

"First, we follow Yan Jin's suggestion and break up the other teams. Then, what about sharing the remaining slots with influential people in those factions through an exchange of interests?"

Vidal scratched his chin. It was indeed feasible, but would doing this really be okay? He would probably have to stay alert on the way home from school in case someone knocked him unconscious with a club...

"Doing this will make the other teams unite against us. Are you sure we can stand against them?"

"Of course we can!" Yan Jin said with certainty.

Lei Yin glanced at her. He knew she had not thought it through at all and was merely echoing Amon.

Yet that confident appearance of hers was indeed reassuring to Vidal, who did not know the truth.

Amon adjusted his Monocle and said softly:

"It is still a little too early to talk about this. We can proceed once Yan Jin and Lei Yin have grown stronger."