Beast Taming? Nah, Dragon Herding is Way Better!

"End of the competition between us, Lucas" as Diluc utter those words, the spell he cast materializes out of the magic circle, a beautiful arc of violently burning crimson flame shooting towards the proud young noble's position at a speed faster than what the eyes could see.

And watching on the receiving end of such a surprising, terrifyingly fast and dangerous attack, the proud young noble couldn't help but flinch and snap out of the previously prideful state of his mind now changing into one that prioritizes his survival more than anything else, as he thought to himself that should he sustain even just as much as simple scratch from that spell, he would certainly end up in a precarious situation beyond just superficial wounds.

'I need to get out of here…' are the last thoughts that came to mind as the emperor-like young man's attack refuses to give him even just a little bit of leeway to defend himself, making him think that it is truly the end of the line for him in this competition, watching in helplessness as only now did he truly realizes the gap between him and that young man he thought was merely a worm that he can easily step on his path towards the top of the academy.

With just a moment granted to him in order to attempt escape from such an attack, the proud young noble, perhaps as an act of pride and unyieldingness, a nature synonymous to the heart of true geniuses, decided to face the attack, raising both his arms up as he thought that he can still use them to reduce the impact of such an attack on him.

And as everyone would expect, the arc of crimson flame hits its intended target without any problem, crossing through and piercing the air just to hit somewhere that no one would ever expect, the terrifying power emanating from the spell piercing through the spire just right underneath the location where the proud young noble, Lucas, is currently standing, making him wonder just how could someone miss such an easy shot.

To his credit of being a genius though, he doesn't let his usually inflated head to get in the way of deciding that what is happening right now is still clearly dangerous beyond compare, no longer attributing everything happening to either this emperor-like young man being too weak or whatever forces higher than them just doesn't want him dead yet.

Seeing the now wary expression on the proud young noble's face, Diluc then smiles a little as the magic circle for the spell he just used collapsed and dispersed into the surrounding air only now, revealing to the more observant and smarter ones the fact that he is still controlling his spell even after it left his vicinity, same to how he previously controls the fireball in such precision that makes even the instructors of the academy, all of them famed for being highly experienced and elite mages and martial artists, stunned from such control alone.

Now that he dispersed the control of the previous spell, the crimson flame traveling in an arch disappears as if it is not even there in the first place, the only testament to its existence being the thumb sized hole that it left as it pierces the spire the proud young noble is standing on, from its front to back, as well as the glowing hot surface of said hole, the glow growing bigger and brighter by the second.

"Is that… is that it?"

"All that threat and missing the right target… is that kid sick in the head maybe?"

"Or a simpler explanation, Lucas is a son of an earl after all…"

"So that means he's scared even after saying all that? Trash is trash after all"

"Who knows? But man, really, what a pussy that guy is"

Watching the event unfold as their faces changes from an excited, clearly anticipative expressions to one of understanding and to some degree even mocking, the older students talks among themselves thinking that in the end, all those words from the emperor-like young man only makes him appear like a fool, declaring something and doing a completely different thing after that, causing some of them to laugh.

"Look at those brats…"

"Tsk… years in the academy and still thinking like that… is this sort of thing even possible to fix…"

"In the end, wouldn't that mean that we're just educating arrogant brutes? Looks like we have to improve their minds as well"

While the young ones, the students, are entertaining and playing among themselves, it is true that even the adults, the instructors, are taking time for themselves, enjoying the competition significantly more than the previous ones before this, not only because the challenges become increasingly more fun as time goes by, but also due to the fact that quite a number of young people in this group of new students are talented enough to pique their interests.

Particularly the emperor-like young man who is currently being mocked by the audience right now, audiences that are supposed to be seniors and guides for said young man, Diluc, as well as all the other freshmen aside from him, but appears to be more of obstacles that will hinder these new potentials' growth.

"Those older student's pride needs to be quelled quite a bit, principal…" nodding to the words of the instructors as well, even the usually silent and taciturn Aeonia shares her opinion as well, a frown appearing on her face as she just couldn't believe that there will still be that kind of student after all the things that the principal had done in the past few years to curb, if not eliminate, such behavior at all.

"Forget about the pride, they're geniuses after all so they deserve to flaunt themselves a little, but for their arrogance to blind them of the intricacy of the spell that kid did…" seeing that even this close friend of hers places her input in this matter, the white-haired beauty couldn't help but reveal an approving smile upon her face as she scans the surrounding, looking at every single instructor in the room and locking gazes with them for a while before she moves onto the other ones, her eyes making every single instructor feel like they are being scanned by an apex predator in the wild.

After this, Aria decided to focus on the battle more as it reaches another turning point, an event that will make all of the previously mocking older students eat their words about to happen as the spire finally reaches a point where it can no longer bear the heat of the attack that pierces through it previously.

Still attentively observing every minute changes that happens in the platform that he is standing on, Lucas realizes after just another moment, that his assumption that there is still something coming is not a single bit wrong, his body screaming in hurried panic as he leaps away from the spire and decides to find a safer one even if it is far lower than his previous location.

'You just saved yourself from incapacitation for at least a week' watching the proud young noble falling from his previously high spot, the emperor-like young man thought to himself before he looks at the now empty spire glowing a complete hot white seemingly about to explode any moment from the slightest of triggers.

"I'll make sure to get back at you for this, Leonhart!!!" still filled with anger and hatred in his heart as he watches the figure of his opponent getting farther and farther away from him, Lucas shouted in proclamation his mind bringing him to believe that whatever that attack was, it probably drains a lot from the young man, an obvious fact given he's not even moving from his current position.

Opting not to take anymore risks though, he decided to fall back after his declaration, not even deciding to divert his anger towards the group of three that he saw in the distance, said group of three the exact same one that is friends with the young man who just humiliated him.

"I told you right? Don't expect to come out of it unscathed" unfortunately for him though, Diluc doesn't have a single thought of dismissing the things he previously said, one of his hands moving in front of him again, making the proud young noble move his arms in front of his body once again in an attempt to intercept his attack.

Contrary to his expectations though, there's nothing, no spell, no mana gathering towards Diluc at all, instead, all there is to his gesture is the sound propagating from his fingers, a single snap escaping away from them.

From that point, not even a moment passed when the glowing peak of the spire Lucas is previously standing on starts forming cracks on its surface, said cracks releasing a bit of steam and smoke from the inside, before the entire glowing part of the structure collapses and explodes into hundreds of different pieces, most of them moving towards the proud young noble at an astonishing speed.