Mill’s words had utterly shattered Mark’s self-esteem. As a well-known figure in Black Dragon Number One High, he would never allow anyone to speak to him that way, especially girls.

“Watch this!” Mark thundered and swung straight for Mill.

Mark used 90% of his strength, but his punch was sudden. His punch force was so strong that it would send chills down one’s spine.

Mill did not expect Mark to attack her. She became flustered for a moment but immediately calmed down in the face of a critical moment. Mill used her fireball skill to attack Mark while using her fire element to propel her backward jump. Still, she was not fast enough.

“Stop!”

A voice echoed from beside Mill. She darted her eyes around and saw it was Bass. He kicked at Mark’s fist and threw two stones simultaneously.

Bass was a crossbow master and not as good in close combat as a great swordsman, but he did not hesitate to help Mill when she was in danger. He jumped forward to take on Mark.

Bass always had a good impression of Mill and decided to follow her when she entered the four-star realm. He wanted to watch Mill from a distance, but he saw what happened just now and revealed himself. He saw his sweetheart in danger, so how could he stand there and do nothing?

“Who are you? How dare you interfere!” Mark cursed angrily.

Despite that, Mark was aware of a crossbow master’s secret weapon, so he withdrew 20% of his strength and jumped sideways to dodge. He would rather risk getting hit by a stone than make the crossbow master suffer.

Still, a great swordsman was mighty, and Mark was a ruthless person. While dodging, he endured the minor pain from the rocks and changed his direction to punch Bass’s calf.

“Ah!” Bass shouted. After falling to the ground, he dared not exert any force on his left leg. Still, Bass had no intentions to retreat. He used his other leg to support himself and threw a few more stones at Mark.

Bass’s actions touched Mill’s heart. She also approached Mark to launch an attack.

“You dare challenge me?!” Mark sneered as he quickly dodged the stones to attack Mill.

Mill saw Mark coming at her, so she dodged to the side. However, Mark was feigning. He kicked Bass aside and then went for Mill, with all his strength, this time. He wanted Mill to suffer so she would know the consequences of humiliating him.

Mill knew Mark’s punch was more robust than the previous one from the wind his fist created. She could only use her fireballs to defend herself.

However, Mark wanted to make Mill suffer, so he used a more relentless fighting style. He decided to tackle Mill’s fireballs head-on to defeat her.

‘Oh no!’ Mill exclaimed inwardly. She had never encountered such a relentless fighting style before. There was nothing she could do to protect herself at that moment, and she could only instinctively defend herself.

“Holy Light Shield!”

Mark was about to hit Mill when a translucent shield appeared between his fist and Mill’s face. Mark was surprised, and then a swift first hit him square in the jaw.

It was Moss. He had heard the commotion behind him, so he turned back. However, he did not expect to see his teammates.

Bass’s injury triggered Moss’s will to protect, and when Mill was in a critical moment, it activated his potential. Moss’s speed and agility rapidly increased, and before he hit Mark, he summoned a shield to protect Mill.

Moss’s movements were fluid, just like a steady-flowing river, but Mark did not expect such a sudden change. He saw Moss’s fist approaching and had no choice but to swing back to meet with Moss’s punch.

Boom!

The impact of the two fists colliding sent Mark flying. He stumbled backward several steps before barely coming to a stop. The entire right side of Mark’s body went numb.

‘What insane power! If it weren’t for such a sudden turn of events, I wouldn’t have ended up like this,’ Mark felt he had suffered a minor loss.

He glared at Moss and thundered, “You ambushed me, and now you’ve outnumbered me. Just you wait. I’ll make you suffer next time!” After that, Mark turned around and left.

Moss did not chase after him. Instead, he hurriedly went to check on Bass’s injuries. “It’s all right. It’s just a minor injury,” Moss heaved a sigh of relief and helped Bass up.

“Thanks, Moss!” Mill and Bass said, almost in unison.

“It’s nothing. We’re teammates, after all,” Moss glanced at Mill smilingly and continued, “I’ll bring Bass to the infirmary while you tell Alan to send some medicine over.” Moss brought Bass out of the realm immediately after.

Mill did know what to say. She only frantically nodded as she looked at Moss’s receding figure before she also exited the realm. At that moment, other than feeling anxious, she was excited and adored Moss even more.

‘Moss was so breathtaking just now. I-I felt… so happy!’ Messy thoughts flooded Mill’s mind.

…

Bass lay flat in the training camp’s emergency room bed shortly after. Beside him was an employee wearing a camouflage uniform with a medic symbol on his arm sleeve. The employee had just completed his diagnosis of Bass’s injury.

The Guardians filled the emergency room as they listened to the diagnosis.

“His injuries aren’t severe. You should be able to participate in tomorrow’s assessment, but you shouldn’t move around too much before then. Get a lot of rest!” The medic said earnestly.

“Okay, thank you, sir!”

Alan sneered when the medic exited the emergency room, “It was Mark again! What’s up with him, d*mn it!”

“We’ll talk about that in detail later. Alan, get some medicine so Bass can make a speedy recovery,” Moss urged, and then continued, “I suggest everyone stop their training until the assessment begins.

“The assessment is crucial, and it’ll be troublesome if more of us get injured now. We’ll discuss Mark after that.”

Everyone nodded.

…

After sending Bass back to the dorm, Moss rushed toward the Ancient Knight Mystic Realms. Moss realized he needed to get stronger after what happened to protect his teammates and his loved ones better.

However, as soon as he arrived at the training ground’s southeast corner, he noticed three shadows behind him before entering the Mystic Realm. Moss simply turned around and said, “Show yourselves. If you’re looking for trouble, let’s settle it face to face!”

“Hahaha, all right. You do have a spine, kid. Okay, let’s settle this face to face.” Mark and the two people behind him walked out of the shadows.

Moss understood the situation when he saw Mark. “Then stop the bullsh*t, and let’s go!”

Moss knew Mark’s current level through their entanglement just a while ago. He was confident he could beat Mark even if two other people were with him.

Without further adieu, Mark shouted, “Get him!” The trio formed a triangle and attacked Moss.

Mark enlisted help from his two teammates to fight Moss because he thought it was an excellent opportunity to get his revenge. He only wanted to injure Moss and make it harder for him to attend the assessment.

He knew Moss’s current level and thought it would be difficult for him to survive the first top 50%, especially if he got injured. That way, Mark would not get punished, and he would get rid of Moss, who was a thorn in his side.

Mark had also considered an excuse to explain himself if Moss complained to an instructor. It was inevitable to get injured in a spar, after all.

“Holy Light Shield!”

Moss dared not approach the trio recklessly, so he summoned three shields to protect three angles.

Suddenly, a bell-like voice sounded, “Stop!” It was Kevin.

He was in charge of patrols that day and saw four students fighting when he arrived at the southeast corner. He quickly approached the students and thundered, “Is there nowhere else for you to use your strengths? The assessment is tomorrow!

“Are your heads straight?! If you don’t stop fighting now, I’ll make you do a 50-kilometer weighted-ankles run, 1,000 push-ups, and stand in the field till tomorrow morning!”

Mark knew he had no chance to explain himself, so he simply smiled at Kevin and said, “We were just playing around, Instructor Kevin.” Then he saluted Kevin and turned to leave.

As he walked past Moss, he whispered, “You got lucky, kid. But it’s not over until I say so.”

‘You’re the one who’s lucky.’ Moss found the situation amusing, but he remained silent. Then he bowed to Kevin and turned around to enter one of the Ancient Knight Mystic Realms.

Kevin was stunned but could not help but nod in relief.