Many students couldn’t handle it and were blown away by the sheer pressure of mana, which was like a strong gust of wind, those who held were few, but they were strong: like the Rodrich brothers, Ian, Rivious and others like Jeff, Desos and Fray who held their ground by cooperating with each other, Jeff shielded Desos and fray with his tank like body, Jim created a wall with his earth magic and shielded Ren and himself, Yota activated his fire suit and held on, and most of them used magic to protect themselves, except for a few: like Ric, Ian, and Albert Rodrich.

  These individuals stood there, enduring the pressure with sheer physical might, though their physical builds may be different, all of them had one thing in common, a smile across their face, rich with excitement… where many were troubled, they smiled in the face of pressure, and enjoyed the tension. As the few others who were able to ground themselves with magic, halberd couldn’t do a thing, being unable to use magic, he couldn’t defend himself.

  He couldn’t look Rasmond in the eyes due to fear, and was unable to lift his head up, even after Rasmond released his hair, he felt pain as if his body was being torn from the inside, his veins bulging and panic engulfed him as his thoughts ran.

  “W-What the heck is this?! It feels like my insides will burs-“ He coughed up blood, his veins bulged, his fists clenched to the ground, grabbing the dirt beneath, “T-This is… too much! Someone… help…” He gasped for air, it was getting difficult to breath. “I… can’t handle… something lik-“ unable to withstand the pressure, he fainted.

  Seeing this, Rasmond calmed down, and withdrew his mana, the pressure faded and the tension disappeared as if nothing happened. Rasmond signaled the student council students as he went back up on the stage, the council members carried Halberd from there. Rasmond stood in front of the transponder and exclaimed

  “If you doubt the assessment, you need a reason and proof for that, and your ego is not a valid reason.”

  Silence swept through the air, and everyone just listened without saying anything, even though there was no pressure emanating from him, except for a few, all the students were heavily intimidated. They didn’t dare to ask anything, those who had doubts and those who just wanted to stir trouble, everyone just kept quiet, seeing there are no responses, Rasmond continued

  “For those who were able to withstood the pressure, extra points will be awarded, go to the right side and claim your rewards, and for everyone, the rankings are displayed on the left side, you can check them at your discretion… with that you’re dismissed!”

  After saying that he walked down from the stage, and stood beside the other council members, the rest of the students who weren’t rewarded, rushed to check their rankings, specially the nobles: disregarding their nobility, they rushed in like savage beasts, punching and kicking their way through the crowd, Seeing this a thought appeared to Ric “Nobles… are they that afraid of being lower than their servant? I expected it but this is kinda crazy, they are like wild dogs who haven’t eaten in days”

  Seeing this commotion, Yota was also surprised and asked

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Hey Ric, are these the so-called high and mighty nobles?”

  To which Ric replied

  “Yup, these are the N.O.B.L.E.S you hear so much about.”

  Yota was puzzled and questioned

  “Why are they rushing like that to check the rankings? I also want to know my rank but not that much!“

  Ric sighed and exclaimed

  “Its their pride, the fact that 2 commoners are in the top 5 was a big hit to them, as it didn’t happen till now…”

  Yota’s doubts were somewhat cleared but he still insisted on questioning

  “Still… isn’t that too much?”

  Ric then kept his hand on Yota’s shoulder and said

  “Just imagine yourself as a noble, you’re showered with high level potions since birth, cared and sheltered for all your life, receiving only praises and cheers, you get arrogant, cocky, prideful, and start looking down on others as if there is no one better than you. But then your delusion of being the best is shattered by some two no-name peasants, what would you do?”

  Yota’s eyes widened as he understood what Ric was trying to say

  “Ah… I get it… so they are frustrated.”

  Ric then turned around and started walking as he continued with Yota following him

  “Not just that, they are also desperate to not lose support of their families, being lower than the top Five is not bad, but if they are not even worth their servants… it would be a massive blow to them and they would probably lose their standings in the family.”

  Yota was still puzzled, he tilted his head in confusion and asked

  “hmm… I still don’t get it…”

  Ric stopped walking and replied

  “What do you not understand? I think I was quite clear with it.”

  Yota then explained

  “Look, even if they make their families upset and stop receiving support for a while, they’re still a family and love each other so…”

  Ric’s eyes widened in surprise, “Pfft!” he burst out laughing, as if teasing Yota for his statements, to which Yota angrily replied

  “Hey! Why are you laughing?! i just said what’s right! What’s there to laugh about?!”

  Ric stopped himself and exclaimed

  “Haha… its not like that Yota, it’s just that you’re unbelievably na?ve, that’s why I tell you to read books.”

  Yota became angrier and mocked

  “Hmph! I can’t be a nerd like someone and shut myself in the library all day.”

  Ric also taunted back

  “That nerding is the reason I am S rank and you’re not.”

  Yota bursted in anger, and yelled out

  “Just because you’re higher ranked don’t get cocky! I will get that spot from you soon!”

  Ric scoffed and exclaimed

  “Yeah sure buddy, anyways… to answer your question, the families aren’t exactly families.”

  Yota became even more confused, and said

  “What?”

  To which Ric continued on

  “Yeah, they are more like an organization, where parents don’t care about their children, and the children don’t care about their siblings, in fact its quite the opposite, the children fight amongst themselves to inherit the position of the successor, to the point of even killing each other.”

  Yota was quite shocked, he raised an eyebrow and asked

  “Isn’t that messed up? Why doesn’t the empire do anything?”

  To which Ric nonchalantly replied

  “What can they do? After everything is done, there is almost no proof for them to do anything, everyone and everything is either silenced or removed, even if they want to, they can’t do anything without justification.”

  Yota was a little sad, “That’s…” he felt pity “kind of sad… are all the noble families like that?”

  Ric glanced behind him “Who knows… maybe you should ask the one listening to us.

  “What?”

  Yota turned back and saw a guy following them, he silently came forward as if appearing from the shadows, his glasses shined as he slightly nudged them, his clothes that of a noble, and sharp focused eyes staring at them and observing with no intent, with an air of nobility surrounding him, he greeted.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I am Stein Rodrich of the Rodrich family.”