It seemed that the lesson had fruited since it didn’t take long for the closest practitioners to make their first wave of attacks. 

Both sides were, though, unarmed and despite not being told the opposite, hardly anyone other than Rai had any idea of how mana was used, let alone conjured up. This would surely make for a difficult situation for Rai, who had thousands of enemies to defeat with only his skills and some cheap tricks, but it would be no easier for any of his opponents, who had no knowledge of fighting, especially in a group setting.

A bulky, hefty man, measuring no less than two heads taller than Rai, was the first to make a move, using his colossal body to try and grab the boy who remained in the exact same stance as before, patiently waiting for his chance to counter. 

It didn’t take long for them to make contact, but it wouldn’t be Rai who would leave the exchange damaged. 

As soon the man’s arm crossed Rai’s own,  the boy grabbed him by the wrist, using nothing but his right hand to make that move. Then, with a sudden twist of his hips, shoulders, and legs, he lifted the big oaf in the air and with now two hands on him, threw him against the other incoming students who were instantaneously knocked out, causing a wave of dust to spread in all directions.

“Don’t make it that easy on me, guys. We still have the whole day to go.”, Rai said while once again getting into the same stance as before, as if to say that all attacks made by them would end up in a similar fashion.

“Don’t attack him one by one!” Ms. Wang shouted from afar, her face stern unlike before. “You might not be able to defeat him by doing that, but you won’t even damage him otherwise!”

The students looked at Ms. Wang regardfully, appreciative of the small words that would make this combat easier. Once more, they wasted no time in starting the next wave of attacks. Some of them looked noticeably afraid, not wanting to suffer the same fate as their peers from before, but they went in either way, having in mind that all this was for the sake of passing the evaluation.

This time, following a nod of agreement between the eventually knocked outs, more than ten practitioners made their way towards Rai, exactly as told by Ms. Wang.

Rai propelled forward in the direction of the girl who stood in front of him, grabbing her small face with his right hand and smashing the girl’s head into the ground, knocking her out. Wasting no time between attacks, he elbowed the boy who was right next to that girl in the liver, making him hunch in pain while he clutched his sides. This time, though, Rai did not knock him out immediately, and instead decided to grab the boy by his thin arms and jump, leaving the pupils below all looking at him while grouped up. As soon as they realized their blunder, they all tried to move away from each other, but to no avail, since Rai threw the boy, whose body had become nothing more than a hollow shell, in their direction, knocking both them and other practitioners who were also close out.

“Won’t he get tired using such flashy moves?”, Liena asked, showing a degree of worry over the boy.

Ms. Wang, who looked attentively at the boy, thought of staying in silence and simply appreciating the show but decided it would be better to enlighten her student and properly explain things to her.

“Flashy is not only important but also essential, Ms. Liena.”, she said with her eyes still glued to the fight. “They might be expending a lot of his energy, but there is no better way of winning this fight than by quickly breaking the new students’ wills, would you not agree? The moment he shows weakness is the moment he loses, after all.”

Liena silently turned her gaze towards Rai following the reply and observed as her childhood friend fought with the thousands that still remained.

“I just hope he doesn’t go overboard,” she added.