Their gazes fixed on Kaiden as they laughed and continued on, but they didn't see him.

They were oblivious to the fact that another person was nearby because Kaiden kept himself hidden. As soon as he heard the others, he swiftly moved towards a junction, seeking safety, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance against three others, especially when he didn't know their abilities.

He didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.

Yet, he also knew that he needed another person's name tag soon, or he wouldn't be allowed into the academy.

So, he decided to simply follow the trio from the shadows and wait for the right moment. But as he trailed them, several problems surfaced.

What would his plan look like? How would he tackle them, and how could he pull it off?

His mind raced through various ideas, but none felt quite right.

One option was to attack them from behind and hope for the best, but this was almost guaranteed to fail.

Another was to wait until one of them separated briefly, then overpower them. This was more logical and better, but still not foolproof since he couldn't anticipate the abilities of the other two.

A third was to manipulate the oxygen out of their bodies, rendering them unconscious and ensuring safety, but there was a significant problem.

He didn't know how long he could control the oxygen, only seconds or maybe a minute?

To incapacitate other awakened individuals, he'd need at least three to five minutes, and he wasn't willing to take such a risk.

As he continued to search for solutions, the three suddenly stopped and seemed frozen in place. They took up defensive positions, indicating that they had spotted another person ahead.

The foremost of them seemed pleased, bursting into laughter once more.

"Guys, this one of the three is mine, you understand,"

While he abruptly wiped away a laugh, pretending to clear his nose as if he were wiping away snot.

With a more serious expression, he launched himself forward with powerful leaps.

However, something was peculiar.

Instead of charging directly at the person across from him, he seemed to leap around in mid-air. Sometimes sideways, sometimes straight ahead, it appeared his ability had something to do with gravity.

He moved back and forth at a superhuman speed, almost so fast that only a blur of his body was discernible.

Kaiden, who was observing the battle from a distance, couldn't believe his eyes. How on earth were their powers so potent?

The guy who seemed to control gravity was moving incredibly fast, but what was even more fascinating was that the girl, who had revealed herself, effortlessly evaded his sudden attacks.

It was clear they had years of combat experience. Everything happened so quickly that Kaiden could hardly make out anything, only a mere glimpse.

The apparent leader of the trio seemed defeated, and all It took was a few strikes from the girl.

Kaiden, tensed up, reached out to the crystals for support, but he quickly realized his mistake.

The liquid was about to fall, and it would have made a loud noise, but Kaiden had learned from before and caught it with a quick reflex.

Turning his gaze back up towards the fight, he saw the silver-haired girl pick up the name tag of the other boy and step over him.

She looked towards the other two boys with an emotionless expression, scratching the back of her head slightly before walking away.

Alex, who was panicking, decided to run as fast as he could, leaving his companion behind, who cursed and yelled that they should never have let him in, and they should have torn him apart right away.

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Kaiden, noticing this, hid even further behind the wall, hoping that Alex would run in the opposite direction from him in his panic.

The other boy, however, also wanted to escape but in vain. The girl was already in front of him, and she struck towards the crystals.

The blow hit his chest, followed by two more rapid strikes to his stomach, making him spit out liquid. He collided with the crystals, causing them to become fluid and surround him like a cage.

He struggled to breathe heavily within, desperately gasping for air.

While the silver-haired girl was going after the other boy's name tag, Kaiden saw this as a chance to follow Alex.

However, the girl in white and black attire seemed to notice this as she watched his shoes disappear out of the corner of her eye.

But first, she had to take care of the name tag.

She touched the colorful crystals again, turning them into a liquid substance, and then removed the tag from the boy who had stepped away.

Kaiden, who had already moved far away and continued to chase Alex, waited for the right moment for Alex to stop so he could administer the cyanide.

However, after dozens of turns and twists, Alex didn't stop.

Eventually, though, he turned his head for a brief moment and finally saw Kaiden.

With this motion, he couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Kaiden, it's just you. I thought that crazy girl was still after me."

With his head slightly lowered and a malicious, soft laugh, he continued,

"I might still get into the academy now."

Alex moved a few steps away from Kaiden to maintain a certain distance, waving his hands around after running them along the walls.

He transformed a vast amount of crystals into liquid, letting them float in the air and then fired them around Kaiden.

He trapped him to some extent, just like the girl had done earlier, even if not for long.

Alex, his grin growing wider after Kaiden's words, burst into laughter again.

He came up with the condition that if Kaiden gave him his name tag, he would let him go.

"If you don't, I'm afraid to hurt or kill you."

In a rather frightened tone and with tears in his eyes, Kaiden pretended to be afraid, trying to buy as much time as possible.

"Please don't kill me, please, I will do it."

Again, Alex laughed, replying,

"Only if you give me your name tag, I'll let you go, as I said…"

but then he suddenly winced in pain and felt dizzy, his voice breaking into a loud

"Aghh."

"What is this feeling?"

he asked with heavy breathing.

It was painful, and his body became scorching hot while his sweat turned ice-cold.

"What have you done to me? DAMN!"

He shouted with a coarse and loud voice.

He clutched his chest with one hand and extended the other towards Kaiden, but lost his balance and fell towards the crystal prison.

He gasped and struggled to breathe, having no strength to draw in oxygen.

With a weakening voice, he said,

"What is this?

How?

You're just a Normie…"

The crystals dissolved, letting Kaiden out, and then surrounded Alex.

Kaiden chuckled softly at the irony.

Soon, the hologram appeared again.

[You have eliminated an opponent; you gain 20 XP and -1 Karma points.]

[30/100 XP]

[-1 Karma points]

Shortly after, when this information disappeared again, Kaiden quickly collected Alex's name tag and continued on his way, fearing that the girl might be after him soon.