"Yes! There is. Nobles don't like having duels with commoners because they don't like being compared to them on the same stage as equals," she said with a raised voice.
"Oh. So does that apply to us as well? Would you ever actually fight us, then?" He asked Lyra.
"That's not what I meant. I wasn't talking about us. I was talking about him and-" Lyra was about to explain herself but Marcus stopped her.
"You talked enough, Lyra. And here I thought that you were different," he said. "I think I need to go back." Marcus walked down the steps to leave the area.
Lyra turned to Leo with an apologetic face.
"You know that that wasn't what I meant," she said.
Leo shook his head. "This was bound to happen eventually. With the differences we had, the group we had was not going to work. I am surprised it even lasted," he said.
"What are you trying to say?" She asked him.
"You are a noble. And as you said, we can't share the same stage." He said.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," she answered back.
"It might not be what you meant, but it is reality. For me and Marcus in particular, we will always maintain some bias against nobles. And Marcus will always hate nobles more than me. Today's argument wasn't the problem. Give him some space, and then apologize," he said.
"Why would he hate-" Lyra was about to ask but Leo cut her off.
"I don't know what you were taught as a noble, but your lot isn't very righteous. They do very infuriating things to us that we have to bear. So our hate is justified. I have to go too, so leave it for today," Leo said and walked away.
Lyra tried to chase after him but stopped after she thought about it. She didn't really have the right to stop them after berating them for trying to be on the same level as a noble.
As Leo was walking, he saw Madison. She had seen everything but had no clue of what was going on since she couldn't hear it. All she saw was them arguing and the scene with Remus before that.
"Do you know what-"
"Ask Lyra," Leo said while walking back. He didn't stop for her and was leaving the area.
As he was leaving, he heard a voice.
"Stop, boy. I want to talk with you," the voice said. There wasn't anyone behind him, but he knew who the voice belonged to. Leo looked at the counter where the mage was sitting.
"Yes?" He asked as he walked toward the counter.
"I couldn't help but notice what happened. I am truly surprised at how talented you are. How were you able to go all the way to the 6th Step as just an Early-Stage 2nd Circle Aura Knight?" He asked.
Leo shrugged. "It just happened. Also, I never actually got to the 6th Step. I just sat on it," he said.
"Actually, as long as you touch it, it counts as you reaching it. And since you did, you have successfully broken a record," he said.
"Record?" Leo asked.
"We have a running record of the furthest students have gone from each year. For the 1st Year students, the record was set 17 years ago. A girl reached 5 meters in the 5th Step. You successfully crossed that. So you will be receiving a reward," he said.
"A reward for this? What is it?" Leo asked.
"Well, it is just a point reward, but it is worth it. You will receive 100000 points for breaking this record," he said.
"Thanks. Do I need to give my card for that?" He asked. He showed a very apathetic expression in the discussion that surprised the man.
"Well, not really. I am curious as to why you are not happy about this," he asked. "If it's about your fight with Remus, then you don't have to worry. Nothing will happen even if you lose," he said.
"No, it's just a few troubles I have with my friends. It's nothing. Thanks for telling me about the record. I need to go now," he said and left for his dorm.
As he was walking, he thought about what was going to happen to the group. With the argument, it was pointless trying to meet together for at least a week. Marcus would need at least that long to cool down.
He also thought about the fight. He knew that it would be very hard for him to defeat Remus in his current state. But there was something he could do to change that. And that was to break through to the next stage.
It would be incredibly easy for him to do that since he could just shove a bunch of pills inside his mouth and call it a day. The only hard part was to buy the pills. But he had 20 million Starcoins he saved just for this purpose.
Each Aura Essence Pill was going to be around a million Starcoins. And he would need enough of them to match 300 Aura Gathering Pills.
After thinking about it, he decided to go to buy as many Aura Essence Pills as he could. Each pill would have 10 times as much aura as an Aura Gathering Pill, so as long as they were less than 10 times as expensive, he would buy them. Otherwise, the Aura Gathering Pills were a better idea for him.
He remembered that Maria said it was 20 times as expensive, but he hoped his memory was failing him. He walked directly out of the academy without even going to his dorm. He would take the pills and then go to his dorm.
After contemplating his decision, Leo stepped out of the academy grounds and onto the bustling streets of the city. The sun bathed the surroundings in warm rays, casting a golden glow on the vibrant buildings and bustling crowds. He made his way toward the Thousand Treasure Tower.
He stepped into the tower and navigated through it to find himself where the pills were. He looked around, looking for the Aura Essence Pill. He found the Aura Gathering Pill at its standard price of 45000 Starcoins and the pill he was looking for right beside it.
[Aura Essence Pill]
[A pill that can greatly improve the training efforts of an Aura Knight.]
[800,000 Starcoins]
He sighed in disappointment. He was hoping that it would be better value than an Aura Gathering Pill, but that was not the case. Now he would have to take the Aura Gathering Pills instead since that was the only way he would get enough aura to be able to break through.
He went to one of the purchasing counters.
"Excuse me," Leo spoke, catching the attention of the woman behind the desk. "I'm interested in buying some Aura Gathering Pills."
The woman looked up and saw Leo. "Of course. How many are you thinking of buying today?" She asked him.
He took a second to consider how much money had and how much he could afford.
"400," he said.
