Hawrin smirked like the devil before clenching his fist. He aimed straight for the young man's gut, planning his entire strength behind that punch.
Grasp~
Hawrin's full-powered punch was about to land on the young man's gut. Just before the punch could land, a hand came from nowhere, grabbing the wrist of Hawrin.
"Huh?" Hawrin raised his gaze, observing the silver-haired man who dared stop him.
"Who the hell are you? Are you also looking to die? You dare stop me?!"
Gabriel wanted to just shatter the wrist of Hawrin right this instant before giving him the most gruesome death in front of everyone else, but he understood it wasn't the time yet. He controlled himself, despite it being hard when such a hateful face was before his eyes.
"No one looks for death, yet death finds them. Death is the only thing which is inevitable in this world," Gabriel calmly stated. "Who knows when death might find you as well. One should really be careful."
"Y-you! Are you threatening me?" Hawrin pulled his hand back, roaring in rage.
"I'm not threatening anyone. I'm just saying that everyone has a limited lifespan. Why waste it on violence." He glanced at the blonde man. "I'm not sure what this person behind me has done, but I'm sure he has already been punished enough."
"Who are you?" the blonde man asked, frowning. "You're not from the city. Do you think you can interfere in our matters?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. I'm not from this city, you're right. I'm here to take part in the academy exams, and I'm sure the person behind me is here for the same reason," Gabriel responded. He had already noticed a similar badge on the chest of the man behind him.
"Do you really want to save him? Despite having no idea about who I am, you really want to play the hero, don't you?" The blonde man asked. "If you really want to save him, I'll give you an opportunity. Take that man's place and become our punching bag. We'll let you go."
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"I'm afraid I'll have to insist." Yann brought out his Staff of Element of Flame.
Gabriel frowned. This man was really looking for a battle.
Fortunately, Lira had expected a situation like this as well. She had expected there to be a situation where Gabriel might need to use his strength to fight. Just for that, in the City of Abadon, she had bought him a Mid Tier Staff of Light and a Book of Spells of Light to be used with his other elements, so he didn't have to use his Necromancy in public.
Along the journey, Gabriel studied up on the basic spells of light, even gaining a decent amount of mastery on them since he was already a Talent Prodigy of Light.
Even though the basic spells of Light were nowhere close to the strength of his basic spells of Necromancy, with high efficiency, even those spells weren't weak.
Even though he was before a second-year academy student, he still had faith in himself. Last time on the cliff, he didn't have any spells of light, so he couldn't protect himself, but now things were different.
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline again." Gabriel raised his left hand, casting a spell above him. A formation appeared, which was storing his mid-tier staff of light.
The staff came out from the formation, landing on Gabriel's hands.
"A Mid-tier Staff of Light?" Hawrin glared at the staff in jealousy.
There were six tiers of Staff: Novice Tier, beginner tier, mid-tier, high tier, peak tier, and the strongest... The Ancestral Staff. Even he himself only had a beginner tier staff for now since Mid-tier Staff was so expensive.
Seeing something like that in another person's hand, his jealousy knew no bounds.
"Young Master Yann, this kid is too arrogant. We need to teach him a lesson. Since he's flaunting his expensive staff, how about we take it from him after breaking his bones?" Hawrin suggested.
Since he was the only light mage in the group, he was sure that the staff was going to be given to him if they took it from Gabriel. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the staff.
Gabriel knew that if Lira were to find out that he got into conflict within hours of entering the city, she was going to be so stunned, especially since she told him to avoid unnecessary conflicts, yet he couldn't help himself.
Now that he was already in this situation, he was prepared to go all out, even if it was against Yann. Moreover, this conflict also gave him an opportunity to openly attack Hawrin here without arousing too much suspicion about his real motives.
"Hmm! He's certainly from a wealthy family, but today he'll learn how easily his wealth can be taken. We truly need to shatter this kid's arrogance, so he knows how to be within his limits from next time." Yann agreed.
"And who have you the right to teach people their limits?" A calm voice came from behind the group.
Everyone looked back, including Yann. Even Gabriel was surprised who it was.
For a moment, everything went silent.
The silence was only broken by a burst of hearty laughter. It was none other than Yann who burst into laughter.
"That crest on your chest... You're from that Traitor Ashton Family? Hahaha, you dare take a step in this city once again?" Yann asked, pointing at the brown-haired man in the distance.
"You know it as well as I do which family was the real traitor." The young man answered. Even though his beautiful blue eyes appeared to be calm, there was a rage hiding behind them, being called a traitor.
He had to face that word all his life. No matter where his family went, they were called traitors to the crown and the Holy Church of Light! All because of the Raini Family!
"My family got the blame for it. My father and everyone else were killed, all based on the accusations by your family. You think you told the right to call me a traitor while your family was the traitor all along?"
"Nonsense. Such blatant accusations! No one will believe them. By the way, are you here for revenge because my family told the truth?" Yann asked, amused. "Look around, kid! There is no Ashton Family left anymore! Your family was kicked out of the city, whatever remained of it anyway. Your noble title was taken away by the King himself!"
"Ashton Family might've had some influence in the city once upon a time, but not anymore. You don't hold any influence here. I can beat you to death this instant, and nothing will happen to me. On the other hand, try leaving a single scratch on me and see your fate!"
"I'm not here to fight you, but if you do attack me, I do bear a right of self-defense, no matter who you are." The young boy from the Ashton Family smiled.
For some reason, that smile seemed really scary, as if it was the smile of the Devil who really wanted them to attack so he could have an excuse to fight back.
"It seems I also have many witnesses here to know I attacked second. So why don't you go ahead, Yann?"
Yann bit his lips in rage, noticing the Mark of Light on the back of the young man's hand.
"If that's what you want, I'll oblige."
He glanced at the other youngsters who were in his group. "You take care of the kid in the back. I'll be right back after taking care of this Traitor!"
