One of my hands grabbed his wrist, while the other one went for his throat. My calves contracted, exercising strength against the floor and sending us flying towards the other end of the class, near the entrance.

Once we hit the wall, the flames disappeared, along with his malevolent smile, leaving only a horrified look plastered on his face. He tried to scream, but his attempt was blocked by my hand squeezing his neck.

“You bastard, you are dead!” shouted the girl, with her hair waving wildly in the air, moved by an invisible force.

Before she could come up with another unwanted surprise, I swung the boy and launched him against her. The girl cried in surprise and collapsed under the weight of the improvised projectile.

I quickly checked my shoulder: fortunately there was only a mild burn, but the uniform was ruined. In my peripheral view, I saw the two trying to get up. Before they could stand up, I hurled myself in their direction and, grabbing them by their nape, pressed them against the ground.

“Stand down” I muttered in a low threatening voice.

The two immediately froze. I could partially see their expression, a mix of surprise, anger, but mostly fear. They probably expected to frighten me with little effort and were surprised by me subduing them this easily.

I was surprised myself by what had happened. At first glance, they had appeared to be quite confident in their strength, but they had given up incredibly quickly. Quite confused by everything that had just happened, I turned to Mrs. Poole.

“Excuse me, could you please call Marnie? I don’t know what to do with these two” I said, lifting my two aggressors, who didn’t dare to move a single muscle with my hands squeezing their vertebrae.

Mrs. Poole needed a minute to fully grasp what had happened.

“Oh… yeah, sure… I’ll go get Miss Bridges…” she mumbled, slowly walking out of the room.

Once she had left, I let go of the two attackers. The girl quickly distanced herself from me, curling into a corner of the room, while the boy stood still for a while, before regaining his bearings and turning toward me with a vicious look.

“You bast…!”

Before he could finish his sentence I imprinted my five fingers in his left cheek.

“How dare…!”

This time, it was the turn of my knuckles to get imprinted in his right cheek.

“You…!”

The procedure was repeated four times before he decided to simply stop talking.

“Good choice. Now sit down”

He obediently followed my instructions and quietly sat on the ground with his legs crossed.

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Not long after, I heard a rumbling sound coming from the hallway. Marnie and her dishevelled hair appeared immediately at the door.

“Is someone hurt?” she cried with urgency.

Only after a quick scan of the state of the classroom she composed herself.

“... Everything seems fine. Oh, hello John. May you be so kind to explain what happened?”

She had finally noticed me. Before I could open my mouth, the boy I slapped repeatedly yelled.

“Miss Bridges, this idi…”

“I’ve asked John, Mr. Ruiz”

Her low tone was incredibly menacing. The boy immediately shut up. I answered Marnie.

“I have absolutely no idea. These two suddenly approached me and this one started simmering me, so I simply defended myself. By the way, how did he do that? Is that normal? Fire from the hands?”

Marnie was appalled

“You two attacked him?!” she cried, disregarding my questions.

“But, Miss Bridges…”

Marnie grabbed him by the collar and lifted him at her eye level.

“You and your sister are coming with me!” she loudly yelled.

Marnie grabbed the girl in the corner by her arm and started dragging the two across the floor.

“Wait, Miss Bridges, what about him?” the boy complained while pointing at me.

Marnie stopped for a moment and turned towards him. She sighed.

“What about him? Do you understand what you have done?”

“Huh?” the boy showed a confused expression.

“What is wrong with you?! We have briefed you all about the situation, with an in-depth explanation. And yet, not even half a day passes and I come back to this?! What about him? Do you understand you two are lucky to be alive?!”

Marnie’s cry reverberated through the hallways. Soon, chattering noises became audible just outside the classroom. The incident was becoming more and more serious.

“... Marnie, am I in trouble?” I asked, slightly concerned. After all, I was still in my probationary period and getting expelled would put a wrench in my plans.

Marnie looked at me with wide eyes. Immediately after, they turned gentle and she showed me a kind smile.

“Oh, sweety, absolutely not. You did great. I’ll come back shortly to pick you up. Relax for now”

With these final words, she left the classroom, taking the two attackers with her. I looked around me: the room was in complete disarray, with overturned desks and scattered books. I had done more damage than I intended but, after all, I had reacted out of pure instincts. I brought my hand to the burn on my shoulder. It hurt. Moreover, it didn’t show any sign of healing.

The chattering had become stronger. Moved by curiosity, I neared the door. Outside the room, a crowd had gathered. As soon as I stepped outside, all their eyes turned towards me. Their ages ranged from middle school to undergraduates. A good portion of the school had come to see the commotion. From what I had seen, Marnie was something akin to a celebrity, so it was understandable how her cries had attracted all this attention.

From the crowd, a young black-haired girl not older than thirteen emerged. She looked at me with big eyes, containing a mix of fear and admiration.

“... Are you our new king?” she asked timidly.

I blinked twice in a row. I didn’t quite understand the question.

“The what?”

“The king of the academy. It’s the title given to the strongest student” answered someone from the crowd.

“... Is this something official? What is it, it’s like a representative of some sort?”

I was more and more confused.

“No, it’s… just something that came into being” spoke another voice.

I looked around me: I was surrounded by apprehensive expressions, waiting for me to speak.

“So, basically, the strongest bastard tyrannises over the rest of the institute?” I asked for clarification.

The young girl weakly nodded at me. I loudly sighed.

“What a waste of time. Don’t worry, I have no interest in such things. Now, go back, there is nothing to see here”

The young girl tugged at the hem of my shirt.

“Please, be our king. We really don’t want those two…”

I stared at the girl.

“I don’t want to be anyone’s king”

A dejected expression covered every member of the crowd.

“... but I’ll make sure to have a peaceful school life” I added.

While the crowd dispersed, the young girl remained for longer. A big smile was plastered on her face. Unfortunately for me, she seemed to be quite smart.