The sound of carriages moving on the dirt road was heard, and a wide sinister grin appeared on Harry\'s face. "Look at that, Linguini." He said with an urgent tone as he grabbed Linguini by the shoulders and turned him around, and pointed at the group of carriages that were slowly moving in their direction. "The disciples inside those carriages… they probably have never even heard of Claude Rayforth and his victory over his seniors. These junior disciples, they\'ve not learned to stand up for themselves. They\'re weak-minded. Ready to be ruled over by us, the seniors."

Harry slapped Linguini on his shoulders, and said, "You don\'t want them making fun of your name now, do you?" "No!" Linguini replied almost immediately with a cold voice. "Good," Harry nodded his head. "Well then, as seniors, I guess we\'ve got ourselves a job to do."

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Although the Royal Academy of Argria was buzzing with activity and filled with the disciples who had come out of their residences early in the morning in order to welcome the Silver Moon Academy disciples, Claude Rayforth, however, was standing on top of one of the hills within the Grevanny forest, looking at the entire campus from the summit.

He had climbed up the hill in order to cultivate, as he felt that a change in location would help him keep his mind at peace, especially since all the events concerning the intruders took place. Peace and quietness aside, Claude had picked this place because the surrounding air was filled with different kinds of spiritual energy, which would help enrich his soul and help him concentrate.

He had made his previous servants - the ones who were tragically killed by Ian\'s lackeys - create a large platform made out of strong rocks, wood and mud, which would give Claude a straight and balanced plain instead of the irregular terrain of the forest. He was currently in seclusion so he could properly train with the new technique that he had received from the Headmaster as a reward for his victory in the sparring contest.

"It is called the Lionheart Technique!" The Headmaster had a delightful expression on his face when he gave Claude the secret technique.

"Forgive me if I am being rude, Headmaster. But what is the Lionheart Technique? I have never heard of this technique before.." Claude voiced his confusion, and Elder Kenneth let out a chuckle in response.

"Why of course you haven\'t heard of it, young lad!" The Headmaster said with a smile on his face as he lightly slapped Claude on his shoulder. "That\'s because it\'s a secret technique that has been passed down from Elder Kenneth\'s family!" The Headmaster pointed at the Elder as he spoke, and Claude looked in his direction, his eyes widened with surprise.

"It\'s true, young man.." Elder Kenneth nodded his head. He walked towards Claude Rayforth, standing right in front of him as he continued, "My ancestors were knights, an old profession back in the early days of Argria. It is said that this was a technique created by the very first knight who had the golden opportunity to serve directly under the king."

Whoosh!

Elder Kenneth waved his hands and a silver sword appeared in his hands, and he held it up above his head with one hand as he closed his eyes, and a bright golden light began to envelope both the Elder and the sword.

Claude looked at the Elder with confusion in his eyes, until he realised that his vision was slowly weakening. He had lost his peripheral vision, and all he could see on the sides were pitch blackness.

"What the hell…" He whispered under his breath, and all of a sudden, he realized that he couldn\'t move his body either. It was as though he had been caught in a void.

"Release.." A soft voice was heard, and right after that, Claude could feel his vision slowly returning back to normal and he clenched his fists. He could move his muscles as well.

"Interesting, isn\'t it?" Elder Kenneth said with a smile as he waved his hands once again, and the sword disappeared from his hand within an instant. "And that was simply just a fraction of its power."

He then pointed at the scroll in Claude\'s hands and continued, "The Lionheart Technique is similar to what most predator beasts do when they face an opponent. It\'s an intimidation tactic, yes, but it also reduces the strength of your opponent by quite a lot. And unlike a lot of techniques, the Lionheart Technique is highly effective. Only the timing of the effect would change according to the opponent."

"An intimidation technique huh…" Claude mumbled to himself as he stood on the platform.

Some people wouldn\'t consider that a very useful technique, but Claude knew how valuable the technique would be in combat.

In a battle between cultivators, every second counts. A single fraction of a second could be the difference between life and death, and it is crucial for the cultivator to remain vigilant and cautious at every single moment and not lose concentration.

In such an intense and fierce situation, an intimidation technique such as the Lionheart Technique would be of great benefit to the cultivator, for it will render the opponent incapable of defending himself, be it for a second or even a millisecond.

When he had merged with the Heart of the Earth, the Martial God\'s mind power had been shattered, so refining it completely would be no easy matter.

Whoosh!

He closed his eyes and slowly moved his leg on the sand covered platform, creating an arc shape on the ground below as he swung his sword sideways, and a bright golden glow began to appear on the sides of the blade.

All of a sudden, a quick gust of wind began to flow around him, as he slowly moved across the platform.

\'I can feel it…\' Claude thought to himself as he took one step after another, as though he has been practicing this technique for years.

"Master Claude." But before he could complete his training, he was interrupted by a voice, which made Claude open his eyes and charge forward through the jungle, appearing before a young man who was standing still and grabbing him by the throat, lifting him up in the air.

"You interrupted my training," Claude growled in anger. "What do you want, Brenden?"

Brenden, who was struggling to breathe under the right grip of Claude tried to speak. "The… Headmaster.. wanted ev-every.. disciple to be present in front of the academy.. to welcome the.. the students of the Silver Moon Academy."

Claude let go of his grip in an instant, and Brenden fell down onto the ground, looking relieved as he started gasping for air.

Brenden, along with the rest of the lackeys, had reluctantly arrived in front of Claude\'s temporary residence yesterday as part of their deal. And starting from today, they were going to do all the duties that Claude\'s previous servants used to do.

Of course, they weren\'t too keen on doing it, but if they wanted to avoid making an enemy out of Claude Rayforth, then they had to suck it up and do whatever he told them to do.

Brenden, who had been given the title of the head servant under Claude, was already regretting his new job, as he continued gasping for air.

Claude ignored the gasping Brenden and walked over him, his gaze still on the academy campus. "The Silver Moon Academy students…"

A wide grin appeared on his face. "They\'re finally here, huh.."

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Step, step, step…

The carriages had stopped right in front of the entrance of the Royal Academy of Argria, and the doors opened all at once, and hundreds of students wearing white coloured robes stepped out of the vehicles, looking around with intrigue and excitement in their eyes.

"Wow! So this is the Golden Avarice Academy, huh! It\'s so huge!"

"Meh, it\'s alright! Nothing too special. Just another normal academy with a forest as their backyard. That\'s all!"

"Oh sure, I believe you. After all, every academy has their very own personal forest as their backyard, am I right? Totally normal thing to have."

"Well, let\'s all try and keep a calm head, alright? The size of an academy is not what makes their worth. It is the amount of talent that they make bloom that defines whether or not an academy is successful."

As the Silver Moon Academy students began to whisper amongst themselves right before entering the campus, Linguini and Harry were watching them from beside the gates, observing them like a predator.

"Look for someone who can be our prey, Linguini," Harry said as he scanned the students one by one. "We\'ll need to know who\'s the most powerful and who\'s the weakest."

Linguini nodded his head and then turned to look at the Silver Moon Academy students who were entering their campus, and then, suddenly, he pulled Harry\'s shoulders and pointed at one of the students. "Harry, look! I found one."

Harry turned to look at who he was pointing at, and a smile appeared on his face.

It was an overweight young man who was walking along with his gaze stuck on a book in his hands, mumbling to himself as he moved.

Bingo! Their first target!