Faced with such blatant provocation, they were all obviously tempted to prove Arin wrong. The only problem was that… it was clear that they wouldn’t be a match. The only difference between a normal person and a Bind Solver other than the experience is their ability to use Malum.
Without Malum, they wouldn’t be able to unleash the full potential of their Combat Techniques. This was the very source of their power, without it, it was essentially clipping the wings of a bird. It was safe to say that Arin would be quite the terrifying threat once he managed to gain his Fragment.
Emilia walked ahead of the pack, speaking up on behalf of everyone else.
“We wouldn’t be a match for you. If you want to so desperately hear it then let me be the one to tell you. Without Malum, you are unrivaled! Consuming Essence on its own without suffering any massive drawback isn’t something even Seal Solvers could do.”
“I can say with confidence that you’re wrong. The most obvious person that would be at the bare minimum at my level would be Fiona. Among others.” Arin still vividly remembered that group that he had met before during his first trip back.
Arin continued on, “Is your position really so low that you haven’t seen someone that talented?”
“We’re already the youngest Bind Solvers there are! We’re considered quite talented in the eye of the public.” Emilia answered back. Although the purpose of why they were trained was for a different reason, as far as she knew, they were still the cream of the crop.
“I’m wasting my time with you. That old hag really did send a bunch of meatshields…” Arin somewhat held hope that Marlet sent some decent people but they really were trash.
“That’s… that’s so rude!” A girl shouted out. She didn’t believe that they were really as weak as they seemed. Back then, they were usually praised for doing well.
“Really? Then how old are you?” Arin looked down on her. One could never guess the age of a person based on their looks, he wanted concrete information instead of randomly guessing.
“25 this year.” She seemed quite proud of her achievements, even puffing out her chest in the expectation that Arin would take back his words.
“Old. That’s so old. You’re just a bunch of pawns thrown out to fulfill a quota. Never mind, return tomorrow when we’ll tackle the other Maze-level Trials.” Arin shooed them away, he wouldn’t be able to properly test his strength with these weaklings.
Unlike these meatshields, Arin recalled a particular group that he had grown wariness of. A group that rivaled his strength at the time and even had a slight possibility of surpassing him. Such a group explored enemy territory and wasn’t immediately dispatched off.
“I may be willing to listen to you but that doesn’t mean I’ll just back down if you’re wrong! Show me a Bind Solver who’s younger than me!”
Without Arin even speaking up Rion weakly stood up and raised his hand.
“I’m 17 right now, turning 18 in a few weeks.” Rion was still reeling in from the aftereffects. He felt extremely nauseous but could still make sense of the situation before him.
“You?” She was extremely confused, all this entire time, she hadn’t felt anything off from Rion at all. It was as if he blended along with the natural environment, there wasn’t anything that she sensed that would’ve given her the impression that he was a Bind Solver.
This piece of information also shocked the rest of the girls.
“I have a headache, right now. I’ll just cut to the chase.” Rion massaged his head and lightly tapped the ground with his feet. All of a sudden, the very ground started roaring in anger. “Combat Technique, Culled Future: Fauna.”
Vines of immense proportions grew from the very ground, aiming to directly take each of their lives. This wasn’t a testing move nor was it a fake one, this attack directly aimed to strike their vitals.
At the very least, they weren’t lying about being skilled in fighting. Each and every single one of them appropriately dealt with the unforeseen attack based on their own methods. Some were forced to use their Combat Technique while others like Emilia, blocked or dodged as they needed.
Within one moment, the skill difference between each one of them could be seen. The person that Arin had fought earlier simply dodged to the side as soon as she instinctively felt the attack coming. She was one of the better ones.
Such a large-scale attack ruined the previously gorgeous decorated forest, leaving behind cracked soil and ruined stone. The vines that sprouted from below grew up to the height of a normal person.
They could see that although the power behind each vine wasn’t that inherently terrifying, the sheer range of it was. This move would be able to erase an entire army from the face of the world.
“Saw it for yourselves? Leave.” Arin had decided to test out his strength in another way, Seal Academy. It would be a good baseline of how well everyone else was adjusting and how much he needed to ‘motivate’ the students.
“Let’s go.” Emilia could feel the atmosphere around them turned a bit gloomier. She wanted them to change the scenery before tackling how to deal with the sudden revelation that they weren’t as special as they thought they were.
Seeing them off, one of the porters guided them back. They were a little lost but he gave them a suggestion of checking out the Trial Halls, a place where they could hone their skills and earn money while doing so.
“Where’s Daine?”
“She’s still showing the city off. That still doesn’t excuse her lack of presence does it?” Rion was curious about Daine’s position. On one hand, he was grateful to her for setting up all these plants he could make use of. On the other, she didn’t seem to be that likable with her lacking current capability.
He knew that Daine was an important chess piece but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she needed to be cared for. If Daine was locked up in a cell then it would achieve the same result.
If Daine stays around for a bit longer, I wouldn’t mind. Rion reached out his hand, patting one of the vines beside him.
“Doesn’t matter, I can find my way back on my own.” Arin took a fresh set of clothes from the medical tent and went off. It was another set of his uniform. He set forth to the outside world once more.
Taking the train towards Seal Academy, nothing of note happened. The same old silent atmosphere with everyone keeping to themselves.
Arin just had made it perfectly in time for lunch. With only one goal in mind, Arin had the best place to test out his new strength.
~~~
“Eriel, first things first, how did you get this?” Fiona was meeting up with the leader of the Narsh Syndicate. Eriel wore the same uniform as her yet for some reason she looked even more appealing than Fiona.
“I traded for it. The records are clean, see here.” Eriel took out a document showing that it was a transaction between the Flower Syndicate and the Narsh Syndicate. “I bought him fair and square. I might’ve taken advantage of his lack of information but it’s real!”
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Fiona carefully read the records to ensure that nothing off showed itself. After doing so, she gave the document to her right-hand man, Elliot. Eriel giggled to herself as she saw this.
“My! You don’t believe me? I mean previously other people would’ve taken advantage of you but ever since tearing that poor boy apart everyone’s had just a little bit more respect for you. Me included.” Eriel smiled off any sense of wariness she should have.
“Everything looks to be in order.” Elliot nodded in approval. Everything was properly processed, if this was a fake then they would only bite it.
“It’s just that I didn’t think the oh-so-righteous president would be so willing to do something this underhanded this easily. Luckily for me, you changed your mind so easily.” Eriel could already feel the wealth brushing against her.
“I’m willing… to be more open-minded to a degree. I still despise your way of doing things but Arin’s threat is greater than you.” Fiona vividly recalled the aftermath of the fight. She felt the cold fangs of death bite down on her.
“Hahahahaha!” Eriel laughed so hard that a tear even formed in her eye. “You’re so funny, you know that? He’ll have around two weeks left before he faces the consequences of his actions. I’ll be more surprised if he keeps his head.”
Fiona didn’t argue with her. She also knew just how drastically everything would change after everyone gets their Combat Technique. Even then, she firmly believed the monster that would grow the greatest during this time of turmoil would be without a doubt Arin.
She even started practicing her Combat Technique after so long. This was how much pressure Arin put on her. The willingness to fight against a power well beyond him without a care for the consequences was beyond madness.
“Let’s move on. The current negotiation price we will acc-” Fiona was about to agree when Elliot intervened.
“The asking price is too high. Lower it by half.” Elliot came forward with an accurate price threshold.
“Half? Hahaha! Mister Vice President, that is not how negotiations work at all. You can’t just-”
“A single Maze-level Trial. Oh, now you look like you’re taking this seriously.” Elliot took a step forward and was now the focus of the room. “See, the records do show that you traded Arin’s position with the Flower Syndicate but it’s odd that the price wasn’t explicitly stated.”
“Hmm?” Eriel narrowed her eyes. She didn’t expect Elliot to suddenly bring out something she so desperately tried to hide. If she wanted to wring as much as possible then letting them know the actual value she spent would diminish the returns.
“Don’t bother playing dumb. Here’s the documents.” Elliot took out another set of papers that showed what contract they had created. It had every single detail within it.
“Elliot, what is this?” Fiona was also taken by surprise that Elliot would have something like this out of nowhere. It only took him a few hours to get this much information.
“My family runs a pretty successful business so I know a few things about how it goes. I’ll handle the parts that deal with conniving rats. With me here, we will never get cheated.” Elliot had used information he had gained from his siblings to prevent things like this from happening.
“Just my luck. Tch.” Even though Eriel looked pissed off, she still looked extremely beautiful. Alluring the gazes of any man towards her, including Elliot’s eyes. Yet with his determination for his beliefs, he strayed away.
“Alright, I got him for cheap but that doesn’t diminish his value at all. I’d say he’s at least worth 70% of my asking price.”
“40%. Take it or leave it.” Elliot smiled, not caring about how drastically overbearing it was.
“What? There’s no way you think that! That’s not how you negotiate at all! Who did you even learn this from? If this was how your family bargained then they should’ve been bankrupted years ago!” Eriel was furious at how nonsensical this was going.
“30%.” Elliot didn’t seem to have listened to Eriel’s words at all.
“Elliot! What are you doing?” Fiona grabbed Elliot’s sleeves to catch his attention. This wasn’t the direction she was expecting this either.
“Even Fiona’s questioning you. Do you think I’ll sell it for that cheap?” Eriel’s pride was getting torn apart by such a weakling.
“You’re right.” Elliot finally nodded. Seeing this, Eriel rolled her eyes as the childish jokes were finally done. Elliot said in a plain voice, “15%. Last offer, take it or leave it.”
“That’s it! You have no respect for me at all! I’m leaving!” Eriel jumped off and reached out for the door.
“Eriel, wait! Elliot didn’t mean that!” Fiona turned back to Elliot. “Tell her you didn’t mean it!”
“I meant what I said. Just so you know, if you go out that door right now then we won’t keep that living manifestation of a bomb for you anymore. What’s with that furious face? Got seen through? That’s right, I know.” Elliot looked down on Eriel.
Eriel gnashed her teeth in fury, this was going in the direct opposite direction of what she wanted. It was initially an easy trade to make quite a fortune but Elliot’s interference made this much more difficult than it needed to.
“Know what?” Nothing was going according to her plan.
“I know that no one looks down on him, unlike as you say. The truth is you’re all as afraid for what happens next. What do you think Arin will do if he finds out that someone else can force him to do something he doesn’t want to do? I’m sure a head on a pike would be a merciful ending.”
Fiona wasn’t liking how this was turning out. It turned from a normal negotiation to blatant threats. “Elliot, that’s far too much.”
“I’m not forcing her to do anything. I’m just reminding her of the consequences of her actions.” Elliot couldn’t be soft here, if he bent his knee then everything would revert to how it was back then. “Eriel actively chose to risk her life to make a fortune. She’s just dealing with the aftermath of her actions.”
“Still…” Fiona didn’t like how this turned out at all. Even so, she could still see how this didn’t conflict with her beliefs. Taking Arin from her hands was still doing a good deed.
“You’re just making things up! Me? Afraid of him? In what world would that ever happen?” Eriel was trying to reclaim some ground with her words.
“Apparently, this world.” Elliot snapped his fingers. The door opened up as Alclair brought a few students inside. They all had odd looks on their faces as if they were dazed. “These are Eriel’s close friends. Close enough to share her secrets with.”
Eriel’s eyes opened wide open. Within the span of a few hours, Elliot had managed to take hold of her close retainers. People that she deeply trusted in secrecy. She had no idea how he could do this so quickly.
“This seems a little too far!” Fiona saw that this was getting that much more complicated. She was already satisfied with this opportunity but this was turning needlessly violent.
“They all agreed to come here of their own volition. I simply explained to them what would happen if Arin joined their Syndicate.”
“Fine! 15% I lost this time around. I’ll take it.” Eriel calculated it and she would’ve still gotten quite a decent amount of resources for this.
“Did I say 15%? I meant 5%, I seem to have misplaced a 1 there.” Elliot pushed it even deeper, twisting the trap he had set up even further than before. “Now then again, it feels as if this doesn’t seem favorable for you so I think that you shouldn’t take it.”
“You’re making an enemy out of someone you don’t want to mess with! Elliot, I’m willing to go down to 15% and be passive around your organization. Don’t take it too far.” Eriel mentally placed a target on Elliot’s back.
“And you wanted to mess with Arin. Your words don’t hold any weight.” Elliot had his hands behind his back, taking the flow of the conversation.
“5%, your Narsh Syndicate will be subservient to the Student Body Committee, and you’ll agree to help deal with troublemakers. I think we’ll take Arin off your hands if you agree to these conditions.” Elliot pushed the deal to the utmost limits, this was essentially asking Eriel to be enslaved by the Student Body Committee.
“Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you’re even saying to my face? No one in their right mind would ever agree to those conditions! That’s it, I don’t care anymore! No deal! I’ll deal with the consequences on my own!” Eriel raged.
Elliot nodded at Alclair who let them go. Eriel’s people ran right behind her, afraid of what would happen next.
“Why did you do that? We could’ve saved so much time and manpower if we took this deal!” Fiona genuinely asked Elliot. She knew that he must’ve had some kind of reason for such a thing like this.
“I’ve calculated the pros and cons of every outcome. Then taking into consideration the whole academy, it looks like the greatest problem we have is our reputation. I forced Eriel to back off with unreasonable demands to show that we aren’t pushovers anymore.” Elliot calmly explained.
“Besides, I believe we’ll win the bet. Even if we get Arin’s allegiance this way, it’ll only lead worse consequences..” Elliot had been looking far, further than Fiona had been looking at.
“That…” Fiona removed her emotions from the situation and thought of things rationally. As much as it contradicted what she wanted to do, she couldn’t help but agree with Elliot’s assessment.
If the Student Body Committee becomes more notable, even if it was half as great as it’s previous iteration, King’s Valley, then they would be able to garner more support than ever. With Fiona’s already publically accepted sovereignty over strength, all they needed to show off was the right attitude that came with it. This was what Elliot was trying to remedy.
“Then Eriel being afraid of Arin… what does that have to do with anything?” Fiona subconsciously knew why but she still had to ask.
“It’s the truth. As much as his defeat increased your reputation, it also showed that he managed to survive you at your full strength. This gave people the impression that soon enough, there would be another terrifying figure and he wouldn’t be as nice as the last. The thought of a person that’s even a fraction of your strength with such a sadistic personality…” Elliot started to feel fear from such a thought.
As for when everyone learns a Combat Technique? They all knew that nothing would change at all. That was just how great the disparity was.
Fiona clenched her fists, increasing her will to finish the bet and win. Far too much was riding on this for her to fail.