Remus looked back. At this point, he had already gotten to the 5th Step so he had slowed down his speed a lot. The 5th Step had always been his limit and he had never been able to traverse more than a few steps. But he knew there was no way that a first-year could ever hope to reach him, even if he was an Aura Knight.
When he looked back, however, he saw Leo just finish talking with Lyra and then start walking toward him. He turned back in annoyance. His opponent wasn't taking the entire ordeal seriously at all.
He took four steps forward and stopped. This was his limit. He turned around, sat down and waited. He was waiting for Leo to fail so that he could win the bet.
Leo smiled when he saw Remus sit down. He kept walking forward without showing any signs of being under pressure. As he was walking slowly, he got to the end of the 4th level in a minute. He was only a step away from the 5th Step.
He took the step and suddenly felt what everyone else had been feeling. He felt a real pressure on his body. It was very bearable, but it was a lot more than the 4th level.
When he got all the way to the 5th Step, Remus was starting to worry. He thought that Leo was just faking his calm expression and it would all go away when he tried to get onto the 5th Step. He thought the fiasco would end when Leo failed to move up. But Leo had done it and was keeping on going.
Everyone seeing them was watching with boggles minds. Lyra and Marcus didn't think that Leo could surpass them this much. They had struggled so much to get to where they were while he had gotten to the 5th step without any effort.
As for the mage at the counter, he was completely blown away. Somehow a 1st Year was able to reach the 5th Step. It had never happened in his 7 years at the Academy. Even among the 2nd Years, only the strongest 200 people would be able to do that.
Remus got up, praying in his mind that Leo would not be able to reach him. However, his prayers weren't answered as Leo crossed him.
Leo looked back at Remus just as he crossed him and smirked. He didn't stop and kept going. He walked all the way to the end of the 5th step and stopped right before the 6th step. At this point, he had left Remus in the dust, with 7 meters between them.
He turned around to face Remus and then sat down on the elevated 6th Step. He leaned back and tauntingly looked at his opponent.
Remus clenched his fist. At this point, Leo was just mocking him, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to take another step forward, but he fell to the ground. He looked up and saw Leo looked relaxed while he was sitting.
He wanted to do something but decided not to. He took out a pill box from his dimensional ring and put it on the ground. He then slowly got up. It took him a while to do it but he was able to without any help. He then walked back to the start of the Gravity Steps.
As he was walking there, he stopped where Lyra was sitting. At this point, Marcus and Lyra had moved down to the 3rd Step so that it would be easier for them to hold on while looking at Leo and Remus.
"Don't be so happy that your friend there was able to beat me. If he even thinks that he has a shot at coming close to me, then I dare him to challenge me. He will realize the difference between us," he said.
Marcus immediately retorted. "Tough words from someone who lost," he said.
Remus looked at Marcus with a look of disdain. He looked back at Lyra. "And teach them the difference between them and us. Well, me. You clearly already joined them." he said and walked down the steps.
Leo heard everything that Remus had said. He thought about it for a while and decided what he wanted to do.
"Hey, Remus!" He shouted.
Remus looked back when he heard Leo's shout.
"I'll do it! I'll beat you at your own game! I'll challenge you!" he shouted again.
Remus frowned. He didn't think that Leo could hear him from that far and that he would actually agree to fight him. Since when did 1st years have that much fearlessness?
But he wasn't completely sure things would go his way either. He thought that he would definitely win against Leo in the Gravity Steps, but that didn't happen as he thought. So even if he had complete confidence when he could beat him in a fight, things might go differently.
He gritted his teeth in frustration as he walked out of the area.
Leo got up from his spot and walked to where Lyra and Marcus were. As he was walking to them, he picked up the pill box on the ground. They both were looking at him with shock. He got to where they were and then smiled.
"I did good, right?" He asked.
Lyra sighed. "You should learn not to pick fights. This is the second time you will be fighting a noble. Do you not have any concerns?" She asked him.
Leo's smile faded. "A noble's power is only a deterrent for someone who has something to lose. It's time they learn that there are people even they shouldn't provoke," he said.
"Do you think you are a big shot? Now how do you plan to beat him? He is a Middle-Stage 2nd Circle Mage! What about you? Forget you, even we can't beat him as Middle-Stage 2nd Circle Aura Knights. The difference in experience between us is huge!" Lyra said angrily.
"And what about it? Is he invincible if he is a mage?" He asked her.
"You are impossible. You will learn exactly what I am talking about when you face him off yourself," she said and got up. She was also getting ready to leave.
Marcus quickly tried to cool down the heated atmosphere.
"Why are we trying to fight? It's a good thing that Leo beat the arrogant prick, right?" He asked Lyra.
"Yes, but why did he have to pick a fight with a noble?" She asked Marcus. "At least you have to tell him that it is not smart to-"
"Why?" Marcus asked. "Why is it wrong for a commoner to face off against a noble?"
He had tried to stop the argument but now he decided to side with Leo. He particularly hated nobles a lot more than Leo because of his history with them. He only tolerated Lyra because she didn't seem like the nobles he had encountered, but now he was seeing some resemblance.
"You can't possibly agree with him here, Marcus," Lyra said to him.
"But I am going to. What is wrong with him picking a fight with someone who wanted it? Is there some rule that commoners can't fight nobles?" Marcus asked.
