Asher’s Scheme

"Retreat, now." The cloaked man ordered Lawrence and his teammates before dashing towards the depth of the cavern.

A hundred metres away was the location of the stone altar, and to a third-stage Guardian mage, this wasn't a distance worth worrying about. However, just when the man made his move, a bunch of shadow beasts sprung out of nowhere and lunged at him. Unlike the last batch, there were even two mid-rank third-stage Guardian shadow beasts.

"Damn it." The man cursed as he was forced to come to a stop.

There were still over seventy metres left but the man could see that more shadow beasts were appearing just behind the others.

The other three recon members arrived by his side and paused. Unlike the cloaked man, their faces weren't hidden behind anything and they were both fourth-stage Guardian mages. However, the reason they stopped wasn't that they were afraid of the monsters gathered but because they sensed a terrifying presence up ahead.

"A fourth-stage beast." One of them said as his expression twisted.

Having watched the students in their battles with the shadow-beasts, the recon members knew that these monsters could challenge opponents one rank higher. The cloaked man was a peak rank third-stage Guardian mage while one of the two, the man who protected Wendel's group, was an early rank fourth-stage Guardian mage. As for the last two, including the one who protected Asher's team from the shadows, they were both peak rank third-stage Guardian mages like the first.

"Can you handle it?" The cloaked man said.

"I can only hold it back but without the other guy, I can't beat it." The fourth-stage Guardian mage said.

There were two fourth-stage Guardian mages sent on this recon mission, both in the early rank of the stage; after all, fourth-stage Guardian mages qualified for the title of Knight and were talented individuals so they weren't as common and numerous as third-stage Guardian mages.

One of them oversaw Wendel's team which had two very important individuals; the precious daughter of the second most powerful and influential duke, and the son of the king from a maiden. As for the other mage, he was charged with protecting Aurora's team which had the two princesses as well as Ethan, the son of a popular Marquis who was only below the five great dukes.

The 'other guy' the fourth-stage Guardian mage spoke of was the man who protected Aurora's team.

The aura of the shadow-beast he sensed was at the early rank of the fourth-stage but a lot stronger than regular monsters at that level. Following their conjecture from watching the past battles, it was easy to guess that the beast possessed the fighting capabilities of a mid-rank fourth-stage Guardian mage.

Trying to take on such a creature alone was risky, whereas defeating it was a pipe dream.

"We still can't give up now. The item is before us." The cloaked man said.

"We can't wait for the others and we have already alerted the monsters. I will take on the leader while the rest of you hold the monsters off and try to get it." The fourth-stage mage said before charging upfront. Any shadow beast that stood in his path exploded into gore as he cleared a road toward the centre.

As the mage did so, the aura of the fourth-stage beast rose up and crashed on him. At the same time, two auras from different directions exploded. Peak-rank third-stage Guardian shadow beasts were also present.

"Shit." The cloaked man cursed.

"We will both handle them. Defeating them is impossible, but holding them back for fifteen minutes or so shouldn't be a problem." The recon member who came from Asher's tunnel said.

"But if you do, then who will get the treasure?" The man asked.

Excluding the two peak rank third-stage and the fourth-stage Guardian shadow beasts, just a bit above thirty shadow beasts had appeared at the moment, most of which were either peak rank first-stage or in the second-stage of the Guardian realm. Only fifteen or so were at the third-stage but none above the mid-rank. While the cloaked man might be of the peak rank of the third-stage Guardian realm, it was impossible for him to defeat such a massive force all on his own.

At this point, Asher was already charging toward the altar. Even with his knowledge and hide strength, getting through this horde alone was impossible. Nonetheless, it was never his intention to do so with his strength alone.

"Seniors! Hold off the monsters while I try to retrieve the item." Asher screamed.

"Kid," The mage who oversaw Asher's team tried to call him back.

"Just do what he says." The cloaked man said.

"We don't have any choice. Without the others, we can only rely on the students."

The mage who tried to call Asher back gritted his teeth, but in the end, he had to prioritize the main objective.

"If you can't do it, just retreat." The mage said before moving towards one of the peak rank third-stage Guardian shadow beasts.

The other mage also went for the last monster whereas the cloaked man exploded his aura to draw the attention of the horde of monsters.

"Students, listen to me! Help me hold off this horde of monsters and assist your classmate in retrieving the hand on the altar. If we succeed, I swear that we mages would recommend to the two deans that you gain extra marks and automatically qualify for the top 30 of the official rankings. Also, the academy would reward you with precious items and materials as a reward."

When they heard this, the students were stunned for a second but their minds began to turn the next. For people like Wendel and Emma, forget the top 30, they were more or less guaranteed a spot in the top 10 with their abilities. However, for the others, a spot in the top 30 or even 20 was very precious.

It should be known that their current rankings were unofficial, and depending on the result of this practice as well as the second phase of the test, they would be assigned official rankings. This meant that it was quite possible for someone in the top 20 of the unofficial ranking to end up with a rank below that in the official ranking. Some of them even ranked below the top 30 in the unofficial rankings so achieving the top 30 in the official was somewhat unlikely.

However, with an opportunity like this before them, albeit with some risk, it was a lie to say that they weren't tempted. To the students, all they had to do was hold off against a bunch of shadow beasts which was in some way easier than the real tests, albeit with a much higher risk of death. But with the recon members handling the tougher shadow beasts, that risk was limited. Hence, no matter how one looked at it, this was a boon for them.

Wendel realized this and he knew that it would be difficult from preventing his teammates from acting. If he forcefully stopped them, it could incur their ire, and while not serious, might affect their relationship in the long run. Apart from that, the fact that the mage mentioned that they would receive rewards from the academy was enticing. Common sense dictated that the reward would by no means be an object of little value.

Despite coming from the royal family, even Wendel was captivated by this prospect, after all, being a royal didn't mean that you would gain automatic access to all the precious materials. Nonetheless, there was one other reason why Wendel decided to cooperate.

'What is he onto?' Wendel narrowed his eyes and stared at Asher.

"Young lord."

"Attack." Wendel gave the command.

. . .

Wendel's team wasn't the only one who went on the offensive. Needless to say, Asher's team had also tagged along especially since their leader was already ahead.

As for the last team, they didn't hesitate to come to the same decision. Even Lawrence and his teammates rejoined the battle.

'Hehe. Why take on all of these monsters myself when I could get some free hands to do so?' Asher smirked as he saw his plot come to fruition.

The strength of each team was roughly on par with an early rank third-stage Guardian mage and the teams like Asher's and Wendel's could handle a peak rank third-stage Guardian. Although in terms of shadow beasts, the ranks would be dropped by one, this was still not much of a problem. The combined force of the twenty-two students along with the peak rank third-stage Guardian mage was just enough to hold back the horde of shadow beasts, and this was what Asher hoped for.

Asher charged through the horde, shoving away the shadow beasts that stood in his path.

'I might not be able to keep the hand to myself but I must get that.'