Alex retrieved the short staff from his back once he got close enough to be noticed by the students. He activated its long staff mode and leapt across the river, quickly making it to the other side. His actions caught the attention of the students fighting amongst themselves.
"Someone's approaching, and fast!" One student exclaimed once he saw Alex leap over the river. While the river's width was not very wide, it wasn't short either. It was 112 metres across, and Alex made that jump with no problem. He made no effort to hide his presence either, catching the attention of everyone.
His speed was more than anyone there could bargain for, and due to his constant shifting around, it was difficult to spot the individual. As if by agreement, they stopped fighting among themselves and prepared to face the new intruder, who seemed to be faster and stronger than they were.
Alex saw their preparations against him and flashed a small grin, 'Let's quickly clean up and move on to the next.' He did not put the actions of these students in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, no one was a match for him. Unless they took him by surprise, like how he was nearly taken out earlier, they almost had no hope of eliminating him.
The archers among the fighters drew their bows and took aim. Once he was in range, they let loose. However, it wasn't going to be that easy, and they knew that. What they wanted to achieve was to slow him down, long enough to see who it was and follow up with the release of their abilities.
The arrows, in the tens, zoomed in, aiming at various points on his body. Alex swung his staff in a simple but swift manner and deflected all the incoming arrows, neither of them being able to touch him.
"What?!" The archers bellowed in surprise. Even if he was able to deflect their arrows, at least, one or two should have connected. But today was not their day as they had been put in the same cage with an apex predator.
One student was able to catch a glimpse of the fast-moving student and exclaimed, fear already engraving on his face, "It's Alexander Gray!"
The cry momentarily froze some of the students, the details of who this person was flashing across their minds. They might be in the same academy and year, but they were in two completely different worlds. Some students had only seen an image of Alex since his fame and were only seeing him for real today.
The feats of The Miracle Boy got most of them scared and some already attempted running away, forgetting a very important lesson; never turning their backs to their foe. But it was already too late. No one could escape.
As if suddenly his speed increased, he instantly appeared before four of the students and made short work of them. Wasting no time, he zoomed to the next group. But unlike the ones he took by surprise, this group of students had prepared their abilities to unleash on him the moment he got close.
They wasted no time and released their skills in a shower of flames, lightning, water and gale. The rain of abilities swiftly reached him in a massive explosion that briefly shook the ground with resounding booms and crackles of lightning, resulting in the creation of a huge crater. A little bit of clarity returned after a few seconds.
However, …
"Behind you!" A female voice shouted, instantly making the students look behind them. Facing them with a wide grin was Alex, his staff nowhere to be found, wielding two sharp daggers cross-armed. Before they knew what hit them, they were already turning into light particles, eliminated.
Before the abilities contacted him and his surroundings, he explosively increased his speed once again and escaped the range of the fallout When one focuses on a particular thing, they leave themselves blind to other happenings. Alex didn't immediately deal with them, instead, he went after the students who were making a run for it while the commotion was ongoing.
He activated the spear mode of his staff and threw it, eliminating the farthest student. This promptly brought those attempting to escape to a pause, frozen in fear of being the next target. When they turned their attention to see where their attacker was, they noticed he was taking out the group that unleashed their abilities.
They swallowed nervously when he turned his gaze on them after dealing with that bunch.
His imposing form, coupled with the smoke and dust that slightly obscured his form made him appear like some kind of grim reaper out to harvest their life force. A moment of silence washed over the valley. They all understood that they stood no chance against him, especially with his speed they couldn't even follow.
Alex stretched his right hand in their direction, and they instantly shrank back, thinking he was about to unleash his abilities on them. Instead, they caught a glimpse of something that moved past them and landed in his hand; his spear had returned to him, and he placed it on his shoulders, smiling broadly.
Not even a minute had passed and already 9 students were eliminated by him. It was not an exaggeration that they were frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Some even gritted their teeth in anger, but they also knew they were no match for him. The bitterness they felt about his presence here penetrated deep into their body and soul.
They had so many complaints that the instructors would be having a hard time quelling their anger.
Alex had intentionally stopped moving. He wanted to see if they'd take the opportunity to attack him, but it seemed his display of strength kept them from moving. They knew who the top dog was and had already given up. Seeing this, Alex shook his head in disappointment.
'No wonder we're not all given the same opportunities.' If it only took a brief display of strength to render them useless in a fight, no one would want to spend resources on them. Yes, the empire needed the hunters, but nothing came for free. It seemed their low stats after awakening had dulled their desire to become strong.
Couple that with the resources they had, it was no surprise their will to continue had degraded.
'Let's clean up and move on,' he thought and was about to make his move when he suddenly shifted his body to the left.