“Back off!” The girl roared out to her classmates. “Get close and you’ll pay for it!”
Robert didn’t expect her to make it this much easier for him. Whether it was because she was too prideful to handle a two-on-one situation or she was afraid that her classmates would get hurt, it still made it that much easier on Robert.
Gripping the metal rod in her hand tightly she ran up to outside the room, aiming to batter Robert into paste. Robert, as expected, nimbly dodged all her attacks that were coming straight at him.
Robert threw a few jabs to her side, trying to inflict some damage on her. Although he wouldn’t be able to overpower her that easily, the accumulation of all his attacks would soon wear her down.
After striking her joints a few times, there was one thing that he didn’t understand.
Why isn’t she getting affected at all?
Robert continued striking her to the best of his abilities yet there didn’t seem to be any kind of influence on her at all. It was as if her skin was far too thick to feel anything from his attacks.
Changing his approach, he had decided to strike the very same area that Arin had hit her. With only a singular attack, this girl managed to show some kind of emotion.
Understanding Robert’s tactic, she immediately moved according to her instincts. She knew was too slow to be able to catch Robert’s clothes and he could slowly pile on damage, straining her body until she wouldn’t be able to move anymore. This caused her to do something that people would usually consider as idiotic.
“Stop running, coward!” She threw her metal rod in anger, catching Robert off guard. The force behind this projectile was more than enough to pierce through his body and escape on the other side with ease. Seeing that he wouldn’t be able to completely dodge it, he had no other choice but to put on a desperate move.
As the metal rod was aiming directly at the center of Robert’s stomach, he gritted his teeth and tried to catch it with both hands. As it pierced through the air, creating a slight shockwave, Robert had already started enclosing on the spot that she aimed for, accurately determining the trajectory of the projectile.
As expected, the metal rod accurately followed its predetermined trajectory and Robert managed to catch onto it. Now, there was a new problem. He had managed to catch it, only letting it pierce through the skin, not injuring anything vital. Now what? He couldn’t redirect the trajectory at all, nor did he have the strength to stop it in its place. There was only one answer, he could only fly along with it.
Her gamble paid off in an odd way. She managed to hit Robert yet also caused him to fly along the hallway. “Damn it!” Seeing her foe fly away, she had no other choice but to run to him. An aching pain surged from her stomach, the very same area that Arin had struck her.
As Robert was flying through the hallway, he considered some of the options at hand and quickly decided to choose to try and use some of the metal rod’s momentum to try and get him out of this position. Time was running out, if he didn’t do anything then a wall could suddenly pop up, forcing this metal rod to pierce his stomach, gravely injuring him.
He maneuvered his body around, trying to change his position as he flew. The force behind this projectile made it relatively hard to grab onto, if Robert weakened his grip at any moment then it could very well pierce him in an instant. As his senses were starting to adapt to his current situation, with one swift motion, he shifted his entire body weight to the side and let go. The metal rod that the girl threw kept on going in a straight line, even leaving Robert’s visible line of sight.
From behind him, he could hear footsteps running directly to where he was. Robert reoriented himself and ran out to her, facing her in an even more favorable position than before. Now that he was no longer weakened, he could bring out his greatest strength, speed.
The girl hastily threw a punch without much momentum behind it yet her unforeseen strength caused the air to whir around her punch slightly. This made Robert still wary of her, he didn’t understand how her body could produce such menacing attacks so easily. Even so, he positioned himself to her side, kicking her leg was in an unbalanced position, causing her to fall down.
She tumbled forward, seemingly not realizing how to properly utilize the strength she had as she kept on rolling. Robert didn’t let his flurry of attacks stop, even as she just recovered, Robert continued hitting her weak points, the joints, neck, and jaw. Purely focusing on these points to slowly whittle her down.
Even from beginning to end, each of her punches hit nothing but air, her kicks, although powerful, weren’t accurate and her desperate movements made it easy for Robert to find imbalances in her position, exploiting them to further his own advantage. With one last attack, she finally got knocked unconscious. The entire fight had been in Robert’s favor except for that one moment when she threw her own weapon.
“If she knew how to fight then it might’ve not been as easy. Let’s finish this up.” Robert mercilessly dragged her by her hair, letting her unconscious body graze on the hallway floor. He went back to show off how the fight ended, making it for the rest of the students to give up any forms of retaliation and follow Robert’s demands.
By the time Robert finished his fight, Arin had already gone through two other classes. The first class was easily handled by Patrick, who used his overwhelming strength to suppress everyone with brute strength. Unfortunately, he still took a little too long as Arin had already gone and found another class.
Arin went to see the students still standing around in their room, casually speaking with each other. When they saw Arin, most of them brushed him off but one student immediately realized who Arin was which made the extortion that much easier. Even one of their reputable classmates suddenly acted extremely subservient to Arin which made this class even more susceptible to Arin’s whims. Especially when they heard that he was only taking 100 Federation coins, a sum that they wouldn’t have even noticed missing from their wallet.
This was an eerily weird experience that even made Arin question if they were even right in the head. It was such an odd experience that Arin felt out of place. For an entire class to have the same kind of mindset further solidified Arin’s guess, that they were all grouped based on a certain metric. Even if he didn’t gain much from this such as knowing what kind of metric the academy had, he at least confirmed his suspicions.
Fortunately for Arin’s mentality, the following class was an extremely different viewpoint from the previous one. There was only one guy above numerous bodies, he happily looked around to see his classmates down on the ground. When he looked at Arin suddenly intruding on his territory, he immediately went up to fight him. It was sufficient to say that the outcome was one-sided.
With how much time they had spent, it was finally time for morning classes to end. It was now lunchtime. As the students of Seal Academy, they were all given free meals to consume due to how well they knew just how much chaos there would be. Extortion and violence were a daily occurrence in Seal Academy as such, they gave out the bare minimum for the students to eat. On the other hand, there were a lot of meals that cost a hefty amount of money, as well as some that even increased your physical strength. It was obvious what the academy was trying to incite here.
You could come from a wealthy background and buy up all the resources here which would let you get ahead of the curve, advancing faster than anyone else. At the same time, a poor strong student could take advantage of a rich student’s weak physique and steal their money, letting them siphon the wealth of people who they wouldn’t have had a chance against before. As for the rich student’s point of view, they could pay for the services of someone stronger to protect them. In the end, it was all about how a student conducts themselves in this kind of environment. If you don’t do anything yourself, you will just fall behind, unable to catch up at all.
Although it wasn’t mandatory to go to the massive cafeteria in the middle of the 1st-year area since this was the first day they could all collectively decide to come and size up the other classes around. There were roughly 30,000 students in the first year an immensely large amount of people, the cafeteria was large enough to accommodate everyone.
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There were numerous areas where people could get their share, littering the entire field with countless chefs and cooks showing off their own skills. An interesting detail about this was that the deeper you went inside this large area, the more luxurious and expensive the meals became as if showing off the status of everyone who could dine there. To top it off, even the seats changed, from the common plastic and metal materials to even industrial-grade fabric and refined lumber.
Arin was followed by the duo, with their cash in hand. From their spoils, they accumulated a total of 50,000 Federation coins, a massive amount. Arin didn’t extort his own class, so he only stole from Robert and Patrick’s class, the girl with humongous strength’s room, the class that Patrick suppressed, those spineless rich folk, and the one where a predator stood overlooking his own territory. A total of 50,000 Federation coins was, without mistaking it, a grand amount. Arin suppressed a fiftieth of the total 1st-years with a whole lot remaining, there was much more work than he anticipated.
What other venue would be as great as this assembly he was in right now to assert his control against everyone? Arin couldn’t help but feel his blood boil, it was going to be such a sight seeing countless students fighting against each other, blood spilling blood, fists striking flesh, and claws scratching skin. As he entered the gigantic venue, as expected, tensions were already high.
There seemed to have been three factions that formed, quite a peculiar scene for everyone there. From the expected 30,000 students, there was only a fraction of that amount here.
“I knew it.” Arin scoffed, expectantly awaiting what would soon come. “Only the promising students of each batch showed up. This is going to be fun.” An ever-so-familiar grin showed on his face, one that was filled with bloodlust.
The middle area where everything elegant and expensive was prepared was already being equally preoccupied by these three factions. These three factions seemed to have already formed their own groups despite being this early on. These three groups already had their own respective leaders which made organizing these few bunchs quite easy.
Arin casually walked up to the middle before someone from one of these factions warned him, “You want to join us? Good choice, instead of those Student Body Committee cowards and those cultists, we’re the only smart choice.”
Arin didn’t even bother responding to that guy, just casually walking up to the middle area without a care in the world. Seeing that Arin wasn’t listening, he grabbed Arin’s arm, trying to prevent him from moving forward, “Hey, hey, you can’t just go in-”
Grabbing the man back, Arin threw him to the side, causing a bit of commotion as a table and a few chairs were knocked over. The weak materials feebly broke apart from the man’s body.
The atmosphere was already tense, simmering in its silence when Arin suddenly caused an audible crash by the side. The leader of the faction where he was intruding suddenly gestured to one of his men to teach him a lesson.
Weirdly enough, the man who came up to deal with Arin wasn’t the expectedly large brute monster that usually handled problems like this. It was, instead, a rather lean man with barely any muscle, similar to Robert’s build.
Arin didn’t even bother looking at the man who was sent to deal with him when he ordered, “Patrick, deal with him. Robert, come with me.”
“Me?” Patrick awkwardly pointed at himself. “Why me? Isn’t Robert better suited to deal with him?”
“So, you don’t want to do it?” Arin looked back for once, his expression was a calm curiosity. However, Patrick felt differently, he took this gaze from Arin as one looking at a traitor. The fear of how badly beaten he was resurfaced in his mind and forced him to comply.
“I’ll do it. I just wanted to know why.”
“You have to get used to dealing with these types, right?” Arin mysteriously smiled. “A little hint, don’t let them hit your vitals, curl up. After they get exhausted, you know what to do.” After saying his piece, he kept on moving forward.
Patrick showed a questionable look, he didn’t expect Arin to actually speak his mind in this way. His motives for doing this were also something he wanted to know. He was suddenly beaten up and forced to follow this psychopath and now Arin was making him go through tasks that he never would’ve even thought of doing.
Is he… advising me?
He didn’t feel right after coming to this conclusion, the Arin he knew was bloodthirsty and sadistic. For Arin to suddenly give him a few words of advice actually made him even more wary of what this monster had in mind.
Patrick shook his head, throwing away all the useless thoughts in his head, and came forward to face the lean man in front of him. His hulking body ran over as he initiated the first attack, trying to knock the lean man in one hit.
Robert looked at Patrick behind him who was dealing with someone who was supposed to be stronger than him. “What are you looking at? He’ll be fine.” Arin’s words brought Robert’s attention back to him. “Besides, he should win if he listens to my advice. Oh look, there’s your stage.”
Arin pointed at numerous students slowly walking up to them. There were around thirty students here, forming a barricade that prevented them from going any further without a fight. From their builds and aura, they seemed to be on a whole other level than the normal canon fodder. Although they weren’t as individually strong as the lean man that Patrick was holding down, they were still formidable.
“Thirty of them? How am I going to deal with them?” Robert questionably looked at Arin. As far as Robert’s thoughts trailed, he arrived at the same conclusion as Patrick that Arin was training them.
As expected, Arin did offer a few words of advice, “You’re faster, right? Claw out their eyes, kick their groins, pierce their necks. You’re all bark no bite.”
When Robert heard this, he clenched his fists, “What if I don’t want to?” He knew that this was a place where cruelty was rewarded but he still believed that there should still be a limit to how much cruelty he should inflict.
“Then you won’t win.” Arin calmly walked forward, not caring about how Robert reacted. “But that’s just my guess. I don’t care what you do, I don’t care how you do it, just get it done. Can you do that?” Arin looked back at Robert with a sadistic grin on his face. “Even if you fail I don’t mind. You can still learn.”
Robert felt a chill sent straight down his spine, uncomfortable memories of pure savagery and suppression echoed within his mind. The feeling of despair filled his thoughts when he recalled what happened. He never wanted to do Arin’s bidding but now that he’s being forced to, he might as well do his best.
“I’ll… win.” The determination in Robert’s eyes filled up, slowly removing the trembling from his hands. “But I’ll do it my way.”
Arin looked forward one more time, feeling satisfied with Robert’s answer. “I don’t care how you do it. Just do it.”
One of the thirty students came forward, testing out the waters. He took his stance and came closer to Arin who was still casually walking forward. Other than the few times he looked back, Arin had kept his calm and collected pace.
The sacrificial lamb ran in at Arin, testing him out by throwing out a simple right hook aimed at his face. Arin didn’t even bother glancing at the lamb’s fist and grabbed a hold of his arm. After grabbing tightly, with one hand he forced his entire to fly up and slam down on the cafeteria floor. With how sturdy the floor was, the only change there was that it was now stained with blood.
Arin didn’t let go, he still kept moving forward at a steady pace, dragging the person he got right behind him. A trail of blood marked the floor, making it quite the scene. The man tried to escape but when Arin felt the slightest bit of movement, he rose him up by the air and mercilessly slammed him down one more time. His bones were broken and the blood he oozed out now flowed like a river. Gasps for air could be heard from the man as well as a few whimpers for help.
One of the twenty-nine remaining students came forward, trying to help out one of his comrades when the exact same scene occurred. Arin grabbed ahold of him and slammed him on the ground once more, making a grotesque noise as flesh hit metal. Arin used even more force this time, making this student feel what the previous sacrifice felt, complete hopelessness.
“Let him pass.” The leader of this faction finally spoke amidst the silence. The twenty-eight students gave way as Arin calmly walked forward, still dragging the body he was holding as if it was a trophy to be proud of. “What’s your name?”
The leader of this particular faction looked refined, elegant even. With his golden hair and blue eyes, one could mistake him for a hero, one that would his army to a certain victory. He wore the same uniform as everyone else yet for some reason, when he wore it, he seemed like royalty.
“Arin.” Arin threw the body he was dragging right at this blonde man.
“Arin… Arin… Arin Theo, yes? Well, I’m Alexander Hopsbach, the leader of this little faction. Pleased to meet you.” Alexander grabbed ahold of the man and caused his momentum to stop in a way to prevented the man that Arin threw from feeling any further pain. “So, what are you planning on doing here, exactly?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Arin lightly stretched his limbs, he was itching for a fight himself. Everyone he had met so far in the academy was weak, so weak that he could just toy with them however he wished except for Barlot.
The man in front of him, however, was in a completely different league than everyone else. Alexander was something that could pose a realistic threat to Arin, a feeling that Arin relished.
Not even the fun he had last night was enough to satiate his desire for combat.
“I just don’t understand Arin. Why do this? You could just easily form your own group and we wouldn’t have had minded at all. In fact, if you go back right now, I’ll even support you, advocate for you in joining a large syndicate in the future.” Even as Alexander said this, he prepared himself for combat. He knew that Arin was a problem child who only listened to violence.
“If you’re asking me why then my answer is simple.” Arin propped his entire body like an arrow, releasing himself in Alexander’s direction, even ever-so-slightly denting the cafeteria floor. The pure speed he unleashed was the kind he used when he slaughtered those traitors. Alexander’s polite expression turned grim as he moved forward as well, fist clashing fist, flesh meeting flesh.
A minor shockwave forced both of them back, equally knocking each other the same distance. “I felt like it.” Arin’s expression was vibrantly red with an insidious smile slowly creeping up on it.
“Lunatic!” Alexander shook his hands as he felt that they were a little numb from that impact.