Ricard took the lead and cast a Haste spell on hismelf, followed by a Water spell hovering around him to slice any incoming rocks.

To his left was Alfred, blasting the falling debris to pieces and to his right was Max, covering for the both of them as the only Knight and the fastest member present.

The three people helped each other and scaled the mountain quickly.

It might have seemed like teamwork on the outside, but the truth was Ricard was doing most of the work with his powerful Water spells.

That is not to say the other two were useless, they made the journey much easier, but to say Ricard would've been fine on himself thanks to the disparity in power between them.

Eric came next, reactivating his Haste buff and heading for the mountain top, dodging the bigger rocks and slashing the smaller ones away with his spear.

The climb was wrought with danger, what with the steep ground, falling rocks and the lack of cover, it was as harsh as you could imagine.

Anyone who passed this stage would certainly be doing so through skill, there was no getting lucky.

"Look at our bold competitors! Ricard and his team blasting their way through and storming towards the top.

Followed closely by Eric with his ever agile movement speed and swift spearmanship.

It looks like making it to the next stage will only be a matter of time for them. But will they get past stage five and become eligible to compete for the Bone Tempering Elixir? Only time will tell!"

The venue was as heated as it could get, with everyone sitting on the edge of their seat and following the match closely as the competitors entered the final stages.

Osric's yell earlier silenced the spectators only for a short while.

They were now up and cheering again as if nothing happened.

The remaining competitors reached the foot of the mountain soon after Eric.

Just like last time, some chose to go alone and some chose to team up.

Fire element magicians had the easiest time in this stage, followed by Air element thanks to the speed boost it granted.

Seeing as how physical the task is, you'd think that Knights would have a major advantage over Mages.

But that wasn't necessarily the case.

Knights we're only better at dodging. Their augmented bodies didn't provide them with nearly enough strength to withstand a boulder if one were to hit them.

On the other hand, Mages had an easier time with blocking larger rocks with their powerful magic, but found themselves in a pinch when there were too many targets and they had to dodge.

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Emil, who was running towards the mountain from afar, witnessed as a flurry of Knights and Mages were hit by rocks and fell down the mountain.

If the hit was heavy enough, they'd be teleported back to the Academy and disqualified on the spot.

But if it wasn't too heavy, they'd still get away with some Health Points remaining and attempt to climb up again.

At last, after a long and tiring run, Emil made it to the foot of the mountain.

At this point, the final climbers remaining were either passing the fourth stage, or failing it.

"AUUUGGGH."

Emil watched as one female student who was almost at the top got hit by a rock and started falling down.

Instinctively, hr tried catching and savimg her, forgetting that they were in a competition and no one would get hurt.

Unbeknownst to him, the student was already chanting a water spell midair to shield her fall.

But upon seeing Emil stretching his hands to catch her, she had to cancel her spell in fear of both of them getting hurt.

*Crash*

Emil caught the girl, his arms almost snapping off in the process.

He lost some HP, but he wasn't physically hurt, nor was the pain anything major to him.

But the girl in his arms looked fuming mad.

"Who the hell told you to help me huh? Did i ask for help?"

Emil watched her dainty lips move quickly, with her large blue eyes shaking in anger and her long rosy hair which was sprawled on her shoulders fluttering everytime she moved.

He was in a stupor.

He'd just saved her, why was he getting yelled at?

"You almost got us bot-"

Before receiving an answer, a boulder rolled down the mountain and ran over the girl, teleporting her straight back to the academy before Emil's eyes.

He retreated immediately after, watching the falling rocks in apprehension.

If he did something wrong, he could apologize for it later.

Right now passing the stage was more important.

With just a glance, Emil could tell he had no chance of surviving the journey to the fifth stage.

He wasn't fast enough to dodge the rocks, nor strong enough to block them.

He began thinking of strategies he could use to pass through.

To his frustration, there was no way he could physically complete the task.

This was the end for him. He, not in any alternative universe saw himself passing this stage successfully, he'd reached his limits.

As he was watching the rocks in frustration though, he noticed something.

One specific line on the mountain was always bombarded with three large rocks and a giant boulder, as well as two smaller stones which all followed the exact same path everytime.

There was a pattern to the rocks' movements, and within that pattern was a blind spot!

Emil began observing the mountain path carefully, and after a few minutes, found five such patterns, all connecting to one large path leading up to the mountain's mid-section.

With Emerald Reflection in hand, he started scaling the mountain through the path, sometimes stopping, rolling over, going slower and going faster at specific intervals.

He got hit by a few large stones a couple times which decreased his Health Points and almost screwed him over, but he made it to the top at the end.

"Emil Ashdown, the madman is going against the odds and passing through yet another impossible challenge!

He seems to know exactly where and when the rocks are going to fall, could he have discovered a pattern?"

Pewterschmidt seemed even more excited than before, with his eyes glued to the screen and his voice shaking with emotion.

Eve he didn't expect Emil, the alleged worst talent in the academy and the weakest participant of this competition to make it this far.

"The little guy is doing great."

Annora Grimald, Emil's Combat Theory teacher showed a slight smile and said to Piers.

"Emil is a brilliant child, I knew he'd make it."

Piers responded, a similar smile palstered on his face.

"Hmph, what brilliance eh? He's just been lucky! Watch how he fails in the next stage. Making it through that challenge requires strength, which that kid doesn't have."

Osric raised his voice in protest.

Gerold Nesta, the inscriptions teacher was quiet, gazing at the screens with his ever deadpan expression.

Eydis Olbrecht, Emil's most hated and feared teacher, even more than Osric, had nothing to say either.

She only looked on with her hand supporting her chin, interest in her eyes and a grin invisible to everyone on her lips.