Long Xiaolan was taken aback when Louie responded to her silent question. Was he able to read her mind? Or read the movement of her lips just like what she did now? Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was just hungry. There was no possibility that a human could have powers beyond the power of avatars on Earth. She thought that the gods represented by the avatars was the peak of the power in the universe. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Then she calmed down and stared at Louie for a few seconds and went away afterward.

After Louie saw that she left, he continued what he was doing. He wanted to complement the chef of this cafeteria. The food was really good. The difference between the food in his school cafeteria back when he was still high school compared to the one at here Beijing Universal Academy was like heaven and earth, with here being heaven.

After their breakfast, the group of friends went their separate ways as they have different courses taken.

But Louie was now facing a problem.

When he went to the class he was supposed to attend, his name was not on the list.

He went to the school registrar to confirm about his enrollment. Then he found out that he was not enrolled in the Business Major of the regular classes. Instead, he was enrolled in the battle class.

Now it seemed that having his enrollment process done so fast was a bane not a boon.

He went to look for the dean of college but found out that there was no such position in the college department. Instead, it was called the Headmaster. No wonder they still call the school Academy. They had a different organizational structure.

Once he was in Headmasters office, he saw an amicable old man with long gray hair and beard. Is he cosplaying from that classic wizard movie Hairy Botter? He looked exactly like the headmaster in that movie, Bumbledork.

"Good morning headmaster" Louie performed a greeting bow he often saw in Chinese movies.

"Ah you're here student Xiaoqi." the headmaster said as he smiled. "Sit down sit down."

"Thank you, sir."

"Have you found Beijing Universal Academy to your liking?"

"Yes sir, the school has a good ambience for learning."

"I see I see. Thats good. How about the food in the cafeteria? Have you found it to your liking?"

"Yes sir. The food taste great."

"Ah good... good...now, what can I do for you student Xiaoqi?"

"Sir, I'm here to ask about my enrollment. I certainly applied for a Business Major in the regular class. But this morning I found out that I was enrolled in the battle class."

"A yes. In regard to that, I have to ask you something." the headmaster asked.

"Yes sir?"

"The school recommendation you had; did you receive it from an old man that always laughed so loudly?"

"Yes sir. Though I do not know who he was, he introduced himself as a recruiter for the school and showed his Identification. My parents believed him so I was given the recommendation letter." Louie explained.

"Ah I guess that old man didn't explain clearly. So, I shall explain to you student Xiaoqi." the headmaster smiled.

"Ah... okay."

"That old man's name is Sun Haoshan. He is the avatar of the minor deity, the Monkey King. Although we call it a minor deity, but the Monkey King is a bit special. Sun Haoshan is his only avatar."

"Oh?" Louie remembered a mischievous monkey from his past. He taught the little monkey a roguish skill called "Crack-the-Nut", if ever some people attack it. But that monkey preferred to call it "Monkey Steals Peach".

The headmaster continued to explain. The Old man named Sun Haoshan was a battle class recruiter for Beijing Universal Academy. He has an ability called Physique Check, that gauges the potential of an individual to excell in the battle class. He can recruit a lot of people but will only give one recommendation letter. The others can only do with the normal enrollment process, but with his recommendation letter, everything will be different. His recommendation is limited to one individual per country. And this recommendation is only given to the person with the highest potential for the battle class.

Sun Haoshan roamed around Philippines to look for a potential candidate. He did find lot of people that he recruited for the battle class but none fit his criteria for the recommendation so far.

He got hungry and went to eat at a famous local snack bar in the area. It was famous for it's flavored fried chicken. So he went in to try the food.

Indeed it was good. Although it was not as exquisite as something prepared by Gordon Hamsey, it was still very good for a snack bar food.

Then suddenly, he saw one of the waiters. A teenage boy who greeted everyone with a smile. The local customers knew him. They seem to praise him for getting the highest honors in high school.

Sun Haoshan then found out that he was the snack bar owners' son. But what shocked, surprised and bothered him was not that fact that he was a highly intellectual student in class or was the son of the snack bar owner. But rather, what he saw in his Physique Check.

What his ability was doing right now, was warning him.

[High level entity detected.]

[Battle results against fighting the entity]

[Results...]

[Your death: 101%]

[Physique Check temporarily shutting down until you escape the area]

[........]

"............." Sun Haoshan was lost for words.

"Hahahahahahahahhahaha" Sun Haoshan suddenly laughed so loud like a crazy old man.

Everyone looked at him, including Louie.

"Hello, boy. How you?" Sun Haoshan tried to speak in his broken English.

"Hello sir. It's ok. I can speak Chinese. Only Mandarin though." Louie replied.

"Oh, really now? Are Philippine schools finally teaching the Chinese language?" Sun Haoshan asked curiously.

"Not really. It's one of the language electives. You can choose from Chinese, Korean and Japanese language to learn. It's only for conversation though. I chose Chinese since I like reading Chinese novels." Louie explained.

After their little chat, Sun Haoshan went to see his parents and convinced them to send him to Beijing Universal Academy while giving them his recommendation letter.

After that he went away laughing in good mood.

Thats what led to the current situation Louie was facing now.

"So that's how it is. Besides, that old Haoshan never gets wrong in recruiting people. After graduating from the battle class, you will also recieve one college diploma of any degree from the regular class you want. Thats the privilege of the battle class. It's a win-win scenario for you." the headmaster explained.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I see." Louie nodded. Accepting the fact that it was his mistake in the first place. When his "Eye of the Beholder" scanned Sun Haoshan, he saw that he was indeed recruiting for Beijing Universal Academy. But he didn't ask if it was for battle class or the regular class. Also, his eye told him that the headmaster was also telling the truth since the headmaster's thoughts were read by his eye.

Louie thanked the headmaster and went his way.

He searched for the freshman battle class but found out that there were three groups.

The Close combat class, the Ranged combat class, and the Support combat class.

The close combat class and the ranged combat class was self-explanatory. Meanwhile, the support combat class included the medics, the magic casters and the logistics.

He considered going to the support combat class since with his "Eye of the Deceiver", he was the master of illusions. But then, he didn't want anyone to find out about his ability. He also thought that going to the ranged combat class was not good since he cannot utilize the best of his abilities if he fights from afar. He prefers to get close to his enemies, annoy them with his words, then go for the kill.

So, the best choice he could go to, was the close combat class.

After a long search, he finally found the room for the close combat class for freshmen.

Once he entered, he saw that it was just like a small coliseum.

He smiled as he remembered that in the past, it was his and his siblings' past-time entertainment when they were not raiding any planets. They gambled a lot and he won every time.

He noticed that the teacher in the middle of a platform was discussing something to the students. So he silently entered and looked for a vacant sit.

No one noticed him even the teacher, except for one student.

Long Xiaolan.

When he entered, Long Xiaolan felt his presence. She could never forget that eerie and dreadful aura. So, she was distracted from the lecturer and looked at Louie who was silently looking for a vacant sit.

With Long Xiaolan's presence being eye catching, the teacher noticed that she was looking somewhere. Then the teacher traced her gaze and noticed that there was new student who entered.

What disturbed him was that he didn't notice his presence when he entered.

Being a teacher in the battle class, he wanted to strive for perfect military discipline.

He was angered when he saw the late student, who was sneaking like a thief, and didn't greet him, the great combat class instructor.

And what was worse was that he didn't notice him enter. This hurt his pride.

He planned to teach this brat a lesson as an example to others that military discipline is the proper etiquette in the battle class.

"Hey! You late comer." the instructors voice boomed as he shouted at Louie.

Now, everyone in class looked at where the instructor was pointing. They want to know who made the instructor so angry that one of his veins was popping out of his head.

Then they saw Louie who was still sneaking on the sides, looking for a vacant seat.

"Oi! You brat." the instructor shouted again.

Louie finally noticed that he was the one being addressed by the instructor as he saw everyone was looking at him.

He pointed to himself and asked innocently.

"Who? Me?"

The whole class was about to laugh but held on to their laughter. They saw that the instructor was fuming now. They don't want to get involved and be punished instead by the so-called military discipline.

"Yes you! YOU are the only late comer here! Come to the front!" the instructor ordered.

"Oh no!" Long Xiaolan realized her mistake. She noticed that earlier, the instructor saw her when she was looking at Louie. Then she thought that it was her fault that he was going to be reprimanded. But then again, it was his fault for being late. Hmph. He was late and he deserved it.

Louie went to the platform as instructed.

When he was near the instructor, he could clearly see his features.

The instructor's body was bulked with muscles. He had a dark skin, bald head, and was wearing military fatigues. He was addressing the students in English and had a distinct American accent that Louie always heard from in soldier movies. He had scars on his face and an eyepatch on his eye. What now? Is he pretending to be Odin? Or that guy Mick Flurry from that superhero movie, Revengers?

[Derreck Lawson]

[Avatar of Hercules]

[Is very angry right now that he is not thinking straight]

"Oh... another strength type I see... typical." Louie thought to himself.

"Is there anything you need sir?" He asked the instructor.

Another vein popped out of the instructor's head. His anger multiplied due to Louie's nonchalant and indifferent attitude.

"You see here class?!" the instructor addressed the whole class. "This is why military discipline and military courtesy is important. Undisciplined people like this brat here are an example of problematic behavior once you're in the front lines. While fighting to defend earth against the invaders from other worlds, being undisciplined like this late brat can cause his life, and the life of others in the battlefield." he sermoned as he continued to berate Louie.

"But be thankful that you are still students. So, this kind of problematic behavior can still be corrected in time. Let me set this undisciplined brat here as an example. You will see that in the end, corporal punishment is the key to maintain discipline. Beating one up is the only way for others to realize their mistakes and not repeat the same mistake again!" the instructed said as he prepared to punish Louie with corporal punishment by beating him up.

Corporal Punishment, especially direct assault, is prohibited and banned in schools. But this wasn't just any school. It was a school to prepare people for defending earth in the front lines. And this class was not the regular class, it was the battle class. Getting beaten up, as long as you don't die, was part of training.

A symbol of a man wearing a lion's head appeared on the forehead of the instructor. It was a sign that him being an Avatar of Hercules was activated.

The instructor threw a punch at Louie.

Using the superhuman strength of Hercules will surely send the student into the hospital for a month. This was enough lesson to not mess with a battle class instructor's pride.

But then something unexplainable happened.

His punch was caught by something.

The instructor realized that the brat caught his punch using his small hands.

Though it was not really small, considering Louie as an average built teenager, his hands were pretty normal considering his race and his age.

But then again, comparing it to the instructors American sized fist of a fully grown adult, it was pretty small.

But those 'small' hands caught the instructor's punch.

He was shocked.

He was confused.

He was bewildered.

"Kneel."

The instructor heard a command that his body cannot disobey.

He kneeled. He 'Bent the knee'.

It was a sign of surrender.

He didn't want to do it. But his body and instincts said otherwise.

"Sir. You are correct. I agree that corporal punishment and beating people up, is the best way to instill discipline, especially among the young, since they are wild and reckless." Louie said in a calm but cold manner.

"But it depends on who you are going to apply it to..." Louie continued as his face showed a very evil smile.

This sent shivers to the instructor.

"Mistakes do happen... but then people learn from their mistakes... through pain."

Still with a smile on his face, Louie twisted the hand he just caught.

But what shocked the instructor the most was that half of this arm got torn away from his body due to the sudden twist.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" the instructor painfully cried as blood gushed out of this torn arm.

"I hope lesson was learned today?" Louie asked as he tilted his head, trying to confirm if the instructor was still listening to him.

The instructor nodded his head in despair.

"Then let this short instance be our little secret..." Louie said as he performed a slashing motion with his hand.

Then instructors head separated from his body.

The instructors mind became blank. The slashing motion... cut his head off...

In that quick confrontation... he was suddenly dead...

But then he realized, he was now standing. His torn arm was still there. His head was still part of his body. There were no injuries and he was still alive. Apart from him sweating in buckets... everything was still normal.

He looked at the smiling teenager in front of him. Extreme fear and confusion gripped his heart.

The students that were looking at this commotion were also confused.

After the instructors sermon about discipline and punishement, in the end, he was just there standing and doing nothing. Is the instructor just strict on the outside but soft on the inside?

However, there was one student who was shaking in fear. It was Long Xiaolan.

She saw everything with her special eyes. She saw how the instructor punched Louie, how Louie caught the instructor's hands, how Louie tore it off with a twist, and how the instructors head flew away with just a slashing motion from Louie.

She, Long Xiaolan, the Avatar of the Zodiac Dragon, saw it all.

But then again, after what she saw, it was as if it never happened.

The instructor was still there, alive and standing, while in front of him was Louie who was still giving off his usual friendly smile.

Was everything just an illusion? But it felt so real.

"Is there anything more, sir?" Louie asked.

With fear in his heart, the instructor lost his focus. He asked.

"W-w-who... are... Y-y-you?"

To which Louie replied with a smile,

"I am Loki"