The moment the words left her mouth, a huge mana circuit formed around Victoria, and using her as the epicentre... numerous bullets of water mana were launched in every direction out there.

The projectiles of water clashed with Noah’s sword and were destroyed in return, but more projectiles took their place as they headed towards their desired target.

"Your moves have grown old."

Noah had already disappeared from his place, though his words echoed in Victoria’s ears like a whisper of dread.

Tanking all the water bullets fired at him, Noah had closed the distance with Victoria, and despite the wounds that had accumulated across his body... the guy didn’t stop.

If Victoria couldn’t be defeated in a battle of blades, then Noah had to get a little wild with his attacks.

And what could be a better option than—

Close combat.

Still recovering from the sudden depletion of her mana due to executing such a big spell, Victoria was momentarily dazed, and that was the moment the tide of the battle changed.

Noah’s lightning-fast punch was directly aimed at Victoria’s abdomen, and due to the latter suffering from the aftermath of using her spell, the protagonist succeeded with ease.

BAM!

Air was knocked out of Victoria’s lungs, making the girl fall to her knees.

Noah didn’t stop there, as his right leg had already picked up its motion, aiming to kick the side of Victoria’s head—

Spurt!

But there was one thing that Noah hadn’t accounted for in the chaos of the battle, and that was Victoria’s sword, which pierced through the shin of his leg before diving deeper and slicing through the bone.

"Aarghh!"

Noah involuntarily let out a loud groan, as his balance destabilized before he landed on the ground below.

Victoria had succeeded in her attack, but it came at the cost of her abdomen roaring with pain unlike anything that Victoria had experienced before.

Even when Kael had cut off her arm... the strike had been swift and done with chilling precision.

The pain took some time to register, but it had still been manageable for Victoria’s will.

But at the moment, Noah’s punch, which was packed with his inhumane strength and further strengthened by the first year’s mana, had completely shaken every organ out there in the region around Victoria’s abdomen.

If she had not been quick enough to cover the area around her abdomen with mana... her organs might very well have been reduced to a pulp.

It was clear that Noah hadn’t held back... but knowing Victoria’s battle awareness, the former had no interest in risking his victory due to a half-hearted strike, which was why Noah had gone all out.

But that had left him blind to the razor-sharp edge of Victoria’s sword, which was now embedded in the bone of his leg—

"Aaaarghh!"

Well... not for long, as Victoria somehow picked herself up before gripping her sword by its hilt and forcing it out from Noah’s bone.

The pain was too intense for Noah, and his brain turned blank for a moment before another wave of pain assaulted him.

"Cough... cough... give up, student Noah. You can’t possibly defeat me—"

The rest of the words remained stuck in Victoria’s throat, as she felt the mana around her raging like its very being had been wounded.

Before Victoria could understand what was happening around her, she had to shield her eyes, as Noah’s body began to shine unnaturally.

But that wasn’t the end, as the mana particles in the air began to vibrate with an intensity that resulted in sparks flying across the area.

Still, somehow Victoria managed to adjust her eyes to the extreme light before her, and then took a proper look at Noah—

Victoria’s eyes widened in shock as the realization hit her.

Noah... he was evolving.

From her knowledge, Noah should have been at Silver 2 some days ago, and it was only recently that he had advanced to the third tier of the rank, reaching the peak of the Silver core.

But now... something unimaginable was happening before her eyes.

The shock wasn’t just from the speed at which Noah was evolving, but due to the very fact that he had just been in an intense battle, with his leg being severely injured in the process.

What type of monster would one have to be to evolve at such a time?

Victoria took a step back... not from fear but from caution.

She didn’t know what Noah was trying to achieve, but from the way the mana around her was entering his body... the only thing Victoria could deduce was that the first year before her was evolving his core to the Gold rank.

The first step was followed by the second, and soon Victoria distanced herself from Noah, not wanting to be caught in anything beyond her understanding.

Victoria had wanted to discipline Noah, not kill him.

Seeing the turn of events, she couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

Evolving one’s core was something that had to be done when the person’s body and mind were at their peak state.

The fight between them was never meant to kill each other, so Victoria couldn’t understand why Noah would go to such an extreme and try to evolve his core mid-battle.

Or was he doing something else?

Victoria didn’t know, and even her assumption that Noah was trying to evolve his core... was just an assumption.

She had no proof of what was happening at the moment, and so the only practical thing that she could do at the moment was call the instructors—

"Interesting."

Victoria’s thoughts were interrupted as a group of students stood a little distance away from her, observing Noah curiously.

And the one at the front of the group was none other than... Kael.

"Do you have some idea about what he is trying to do?"

Ashlyn, being the head of the disciplinary committee, was naturally the one leading the group. It was just that this time... Kael too felt as if he was the leader of the group.

"What’s there to think about? It’s clear as day... the guy is trying to evolve."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Though what Kael stated should have been a fact, the students around him couldn’t help but be shocked by hearing his words.

No one had ever witnessed such a type of advancement in their core’s rank, so it was natural for them to be surprised—shocked would have been the right word to describe their current state.