154: Competition

Competition

"Thanks for telling us that," Marcus said quickly and turned to Leo. "Can we start now?"1

Leo chuckled. "Fine. What's the hurry?" He said as he handed the man behind the counter his card. Everyone else did that while they were talking.

"Nothing. Me and Lyra thought we could make it a competition again and see who can go the farthest," Marcus replied. As he said that, they got their cards back.

Madison immediately knew that she was not part of this competition. She remembered that she could only get to the first step and not even cross 5 meters. Her goal was only to get to the 2nd step, not compete with her monstrous friends.

"A competition? Why?" Leo asked while he started walking to the bottom of the gravity steps.

"Let's just start. It will become a competition anyway," Lyra said.

He sighed and went to the start of the Gravity Steps. Everyone else joined his side and waited.

"You can just go," Marcus said. "We can start whenever. We already gave our cards and paid the points."

"Oh," Leo said and took the first step. He felt the same sensation he felt the first time. It felt a little easier to walk forward compared to the first time he tried it. 

The minute he took the first step, the others joined him. Marcus and Lyra immediately zoomed past everyone and rushed to be the first ones to hit the furthest distance that they could. As for him and Madison, they were stuck at the start.

Madison immediately felt the pressure attack her and took deep breaths to keep herself in control. After a dozen seconds, she got used to the pressure. She started taking steps forward. She started to increase her speed until she finally got to the first step. She stopped right before she took the step.

"What are you waiting for?" A voice asked her.

She turned to the side and saw Leo beside her. Unlike her who was slightly red from the pressure, Leo was standing like it was completely normal. She wasn't surprised that he was not feeling any pressure.

The reason she was red was not because the gravity steps were too hard. It would only get to that level once she got onto the first step. But her anxiousness was what increased the stress in her. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to get past what she got to the first time, which would mean she didn't have any real progress at the academy.

Leo saw her struggle to come up with an answer. He took a step forward and turned back to face her. He was now on the first step, so he was looking at her with an elevation.

"You are thinking too much. I don't know what you are thinking about, but it's definitely not helping you. The trick is to pick a person and just aim to follow the person until you cross him," he said.

Madison shook her head. "Who do I pick? All of you can smoke me in seconds," she said.

Leo shrugged. "Do you remember how many applicants you beat to get into the academy? You don't hear them complaining that you are too strong. They will continue their life without being pushed down by their feelings of inferiority," he said. 

He took another step back. "Your problem is that you are comparing yourself with other people too much. Do you see us do that? No. We only want to go stronger than ourselves."

"But you said to walk behind a person till I cross him," she retorted.

"When I said pick a person to chase, that's not a comparison. That's a goal. Pick who you want to reach and surpass. That's in your hands. But if you stay there without making any moves, you are essentially wasting your own time." Leo said this and turned around.

This conversation left him completely in the dust. Marcus and Lyra had already gotten the fourth step and were slowly taking steps forward. They had slowed down considerably once they got to that step.

Leo expected them to do a lot better compared to the previous time. Marcus was only a Late-Stage 1st Circle Aura Knight while Lyra had only broken through to the 2nd Circle. But this time they were a lot stronger.

He stretched a little while he walked forward. He was now closing the distance between them like last time. 

Marcus was at the forefront of the race this time. He looked back and saw Lyra 2 meters behind him. He looked to the back and saw that Leo had stopped talking to Madison and was walking toward them. He gestured to Lyra to look back.

She looked back and saw Leo leisurely walk toward them. By this time, he had already gotten to the 2nd Step and was closing into the third. She turned back and forcefully took another step. She was now 5 meters into the 4th step. However, the pressure forced her to take a small break.

Marcus reciprocated her step with another, keeping him 2 meters ahead of her. The recoil of this step was more than what Lyra was facing. Marcus took a few deep breaths as he circulated aura around his body to help it stay up without falling down.

As they were struggling to walk forward, Leo was admiring how helpful the steps actually were. He didn't notice it the first time, but it was helping his body out just a little. It might be useful if he went to a higher level.

He was walking forward at a normal pace and went up a step into the 3rd level. As he was walking forward, he sensed something odd. He could sense a 2nd Circle Mage in the vicinity.

He looked in that direction and saw a young man dressed in a lavish blue robe. He was talking with the man behind the counter casually. 

Leo was curious about who the mage was because of the words of the man. If the only mages that came to the gravity steps were on the rankings, then the mage that he was looking at could also be in the ranking. His strength seemed apt as well. The boy was a Middle-Stage 2nd Circle Mage.

As he was thinking that the boy was done paying for the steps and started climbing. He wasn't wasting his time like Leo and walked forward with great speed. His walk seemed graceful too, but Leo knew why it was like that. He was using movement magic to help him walk faster.

Leo was curious about how far the boy would go as a mage. Since he was at the same power level as Lyra and Marcus, he wanted to see if he would match them or even cross them. Leo didn't speed up since he wanted to remain behind and observe them.

The boy quickly got to where Leo was and shot him a look of contempt before walking forward. He seemed to intently look at a single person. Leo also realized this.

The boy was looking at Lyra ever since he had gotten onto the Gravity Steps. 

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