“Is that… him? What’s he doing here all of a sudden?” A passing student noticed everyone all around him start making way.

“It’s better to keep away. Who knows what he’s planning this time around?” Another student commented as he intentionally took a detour just to avoid Arin.

“Didn’t he lose to Fiona? He doesn’t seem that strong, I can deal with him.” A cocky male student scoffed as he sized Arin up and down. Based on their statures, he was bigger.

“Go ahead, it's your funeral. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” A girl crossed her arms. She took a step back to ensure that Arin wouldn’t mistake her position in this.

“Watch this.” The cocky student marched up with such confidence that made even some of the spectators pity him. He didn’t know what he was going to be facing against.

He walked off from the sidelines, directly blocking Arin’s path forward. He was intentionally using this opportunity to make a name for himself. This would force some of the Syndicate’s eyes to lay on him, letting him have an easy school life in the future.

“Arin, right? It’s about time for you to learn your place. Everyone’s been so afraid of you that they don’t even bother thinking about fighting back! But not me! I know that I’ll win this battle!” He spoke with such arrogance that some of the students even believed him.

Facing the challenger, Arin didn’t even bother placing him in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, the only people who were any decent were the ones in his class and those Faction leaders.

With an appetizer for the main course, Arin gladly welcomed the challenger.

“My name’s Fabio Erion! The only person who has greater strength than me is Barlot! Hahaha! Exactly, that monster. I’ve heard that the only thing you have going for you is your battle sense and brutality. Too bad I’m more than equipped to deal with it!” Fabio viciously grinned, he had scouted this battle well ahead of time. Victory was essentially fixed.

Only second to Barlot? Let’s test it out.

Arin raised his hand, aiming against Fabio, and taunted him. He was welcoming Fabio to attack first.

“Don’t mind if I do! Take this!” Fabio didn’t use any special Combat Technique or special power behind it, it only used his pure brute power. He had ensured that the momentum from his legs up to his waist until his fists were conserved. The power generated behind this was no laughing matter.

If this strike were to land on a normal person then they would burst into a flesh puddle. Such explosive power was enough to cement just how inhumane this person really was.

Fabio had expected for Arin to dodge which led him to think of which follow-up attack he should do. As he carefully monitored Arin’s actions, he tried to pinpoint any tell that would show what his next action would be.

Oddly enough, he couldn’t see anything move as he pushed through with his attack. The only thing Arin did was raise his hand, intent on blocking his attack. The window for dodging was slowly elapsing until it came to the point that Fabio understood that Arin was willingly blocking this.

“Hahaha! You won’t be standing after this!” Fabio roared out as he achieved victory easier than he thought.

Arin didn’t underestimate this person at all, using both of his hands to block against his attack. As he was struck, the force behind the attack actually sent him flying back. This much power was genuinely something that was unbelievably terrifying.

The crowd gasped in shock at how Arin was so easily dispatched. They had never thought that they were afraid of such a weakling. All of a sudden, everyone’s opinion of Arin lowered to the point that he was seen as the lowest of the four faction leaders.

The walls of the academy were much sturdier than they seemed. Arin only bounced off the walls, showing no signs of any injuries. As for this result, everyone had already expected Arin to win. Yet to be sent flying like that didn’t do him well.

Initially, Arin would’ve tried to manipulate everyone thinking that he wanted them but at this point, far too many things had changed. Their opinions didn’t matter to him anymore. He only had one reason why he came here, to test the limits of his pure strength against the peak talents.

So what if looked like a fool? At the end of the day, if could grow stronger even a little bit, he would gladly welcome every single criticism that came his way.

“Not bad. Though not as oppressive as Barlot’s grip.” Arin accurately determined just how far the gap between Fabio and Barlot truly was. In a duel, Fabio would be able to hold his own but would ultimately lose after a decently long time.

Fabio saw Arin come out unscathed as not even his arms showed any signs of bruising. He perfectly knew just how much power he poured into that attack to the point that if Arin’s arms burst apart, it would be within his calculations.

Arin walked over to Fabio, mimicking how Fabio threw his punch. If not for Arin’s unbelievable amount of battle experience, he would have already seen how people try to maximize the amount of damage they deal. By far, the people who showcased this the most were Fiona and Barlot.

By using one’s entire body to strike out, the generated force would be deceptively terrifying. Although Arin couldn’t copy their advanced ways of using their bodies, Fabio’s technique was a degraded version of their perfected movements.

It was leagues easier than perfectly replicating Fiona or Barlot’s technique. Fabio saw Arin wind up the same attack he had thrown earlier and instinctively felt that the incoming attack wasn’t something his body would be able to handle.

With everyone’s gazes on him, Fabio gritted his teeth and stood his ground. His pride had won over against his sense of self-preservation.

Arin took a step forward, twisting his legs, torso, and upper body, creating a force that would not be normally possible with any casual punch. Fabio crossed his arms, trying to bear the attack head-on.

As Arin’s fist was about to strike Fabio’s arms, he felt something innately restrictive preventing most of his power. Fiona’s Malum was acting one more time. It had deemed that Fabio would be on the verge of death if not dead after this attack landed.

This sudden stopping momentum caused the veins within Arin’s hands to rupture. Even still, his attack pushed through, slamming against Fabio’s arms, sending him flying even further than Arin was. A few unfortunate souls were inconvenienced by his flying figure.

At the end of his flight, he recoiled in shock as his arms were numb. He couldn’t even lift them up even if he wanted to. The pain couldn’t overcome his confusion onhow Arin could have so much power behind that punch.

“Where did that come from?!” Fabio raged, this wasn’t part of the script at all! He was supposed to achieve victory against an already calculated enemy. He quickly rushed back at Arin, seeing that his hand had been severely injured.

“Ah, I get it,” Fabio smirked, now it had made sense. Arin was actively sacrificing his hand to unleash greater power than what he should be able to. “You had me scared for a second there but it looks like you’ll only be able to use that attack one more time!”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Arin shook his hand which looked like it had been crushed under an anvil. It looked like it had been mushed by a force beyond what he could control. Everyone agreed with Fabio’s assessment, that was the only plausible reason why Arin could unleash such a powerful attack.

Little did they know that Fabio wasn’t even a factor in it at all. It was an internal conflict between how much power he unleashed and Fiona’s Malum, forcibly limiting the force he could exert through any means possible. At this point, Arin had actively broken his own hand.

Arin saw Fabio suddenly gaining much more undeserved momentum from this fight. He couldn’t be bothered with such a weakling that a single punch from him would kill him. Fabio needed to be saved by his enemy, it was a shameful scenario.

As Fabio came rushing in, Arin couldn’t unleash anything too lethal since it would cause a backlash. Choosing the most straightforward way, Arin grabbed ahold of Fabio’s attack in his hand. This made Fabio feel that something wasn’t right at all.

With a sudden twist, Fabio’s wrist was broken. A pained grunt came from Fabio as he bore the pain. He wasn’t willing to back down at this point, he threw his other numb arm forward, hoping that he would be able to land another attack.

Unfortunately for him, Arin had deemed him unnecessary for testing now. Arin applied the same concept as earlier, using the momentum his entire body could generate into his kick. It was safe to say that Arin had learned his lesson and he held back massively. It was to the point that Fabio would get inflicted with the greatest amount of damage whilst skirting just below Fiona’s Malum’s conditional point.

Ignoring the gazes of the other students, Arin went to the cafeteria. The place where most of the people would show up. The hierarchical system should’ve been solidified by this point.

The crowd that had been built up over the course of the battle had decided to follow him to see what would happen. Although conflicts were prevalent, when people of a higher caliber decided to fight then it would always be a sight to see.

Opening the entrance towards the cafeteria didn’t initially catch anyone’s attention but the overwhelming amount of people following entering finally caused some glances to come their way. When they saw Arin appear here then the thought of something that would come entered their minds.

As always, the outer rims were filled with the weakest bunch. Everyone’s status, reputation, and strength, all increase as they arrive at the center. Seeing that no one was actively disrupting the system, everyone seemed to have arrived at their proper places.

From within the very center, a very grand area with an exotically decorated seat with grand meals only befitting nobility appeared. Not a single person was sitting there for no one had dared to. There were around ten tables surrounding that area, for the time being, only two groups were occupying those slots.

Alexander and his closest friends occupied one table while Marina and her odd followers occupied another. Another group was supposed to be here but due to Elliot and Barlot’s absence, they didn’t have the right to sit here.

At the same time, a follower from each respective faction ran up and informed them that Arin had appeared.

“He’s here again?” Alexander took this seriously. The last time he faced Arin, he was furious at how self-destructive Arin’s moves were. Although Alexander had been training, there was a limit to what he could achieve without learning a Combat Technique. “I just hope he won’t stir anything up before we receive our Combat Techniques.”

On the other table, Marina sighed and waved her hand, oddly enough this sigh seemed to be of relief. “Bring it.” Her veiled appearance still caused those students to be wary of her true appearance yet no one dared to even try to do something so suicidal. Her very loyal followers even caused Alexander to be wary of her. No one would be so willing to be used like that of their own free will.

The follower bowed his head and ran off. From the looks of his sheer speed, he was quite skilled. Everything about Marina was unnerving to the point that he felt that if he faced her, he would regret that interaction.

Arin easily ignored everyone who didn’t stand in his way, purely aiming to tackle those he deemed to be strong enough to test out his new strength. Soon enough, he was about to reach the center when a group came up and blocked his path. Alexander immediately called them off, preventing any needless injuries.

“What do you want Arin? There’s nothing to gain here right now.” Alexander took him seriously, this was the type of insane person who would do anything for the sake of getting stronger.

“If you want the status of being on top then be my guest. Take it.” Alexander didn’t want to incite conflict without any plan or improvement on his end. Other than growing and solidifying his forces, he hadn’t done any self-improvement.

“Where is she?” Arin shook his injured hand, from the looks of it, he wouldn’t be able to use it for the time being.

“Who are you talking about? You can’t just assume I know who it is.” Alexander crossed his arms, still wary of Arin’s movements.

“Rachel, that girl that helped you out last time we fought. Small frame, packs a punch.” Arin looked around, trying to find the girl that interrupted him back then. She was his next target. He would deal with her to test out his brute strength then after that, he would face Barlot.

“She’s not here. Went off to follow Elliot’s camp and as you can see they aren’t there.” Alexander pointed at an empty table. There were signs that it was pretty crowded before.

“If they aren’t here then I just need to make them come. Clench your teeth.” Arin ran in using his full capabilities. He wasn’t holding back his speed or reflexes in this attack since he wanted to finish this as fast as possible.

Alexander barely reacted in time as he jumped off, blocking Arin’s attack. If he had been a second late then he would’ve taken the full force hit. He tried to keep his ground but failed, there was just far too much power behind that one hit that he couldn’t handle it at all.

Marks on the floor were scratched out as he slid backward. That punch caused his arms to feel numb, it felt like he was hit by a truck. The difference between now and before was just far too drastic.

If Alexander didn’t do anything to change the situation then he could only be treated like a stationary target. “Wait! If you want them then I can call them for you!”

“You’re that close with them? There didn’t seem as much competition as I thought there would be. Hurry up.” Arin backed off, letting Alexander catch his breath from that one impact. Never would Alexander have thought that Arin’s raw strength would’ve risen this much in such a short amount of time.

“We aren’t, this is a special case.” Alexander didn’t speak any further to Arin. He called someone over to relay this information to the key person that they were told to contact.

While they were waiting, Marina’s followers came up to Arin, presenting him with a large sum of wealth. From the looks of it, this would be the amount Arin would’ve received if everyone had kept paying their fees. Thick bags of money were methodologically placed in a neat manner before him.

“Marina hopes that you won’t target her faction.” He then took out a card. “If that’s too troublesome then this card also has the same value as everything here. If you would like, you can take them all. All we ask is that you won’t maliciously attack us.”

Arin looked in the distance, seeing Marina still firmly watching from afar. Her mannerisms and actions are more deliberate than someone of her age would’ve acted. She actively chose to silently form her group, straying away from conflicts, and being submissive to the point that she was getting taken advantage of. Even so, the way she handled everything made it seem as if this was still in her favor.

It was to the point that not a single follower came near Arin. They all chose to keep away from him.

“What happens if I don’t want to? If I decide to tear apart your faction apart?” Arin wanted to test the water, there was nothing known about Marina at all except for how creepy she ran everything. All of her followers were tight-lipped, no one said anything at all.

“Then we could only disband. We wouldn’t be able to handle it at all. Unlike the other factions, we don’t have anyone strong on our end.” He offered the card to Arin, he even bowed down to express his subservience. “Please take it.”

Wanting to see what she was up to, Arin reached out for the card.

From the distance, Marina was quietly waiting for Arin to grab ahold of it. Once he does so, she would be able to steal the most powerful man’s mind. She had been expressively using her Combat Technique to seal everyone’s will.

She was initially unafraid of what would happen since she had all the time in the world to do so. When she managed to see just how much Arin had improved in merely a few weeks, she grew terrified, wanting to expedite the process even further yet having no opportunity to do so.

At this moment, she found a window where she would be able to finally take over the academy. From her calculations, other than Fiona, her status would be unrivaled.

As soon as Arin touched the card, a wave of power surged through his mind, wanting to entrap with against his will. This mystical power wasn’t Malum, it was a derivative of her Combat Technique, a way to hypnotize people to subtly follow her commands.

“I’ve done it.” For the first time, everyone finally heard Marina’s voice. The mystery was finally unveiled to reveal the unexpected result, it was dreamy. As she was gloating at her success, Arin looked at her.

“Done what?” He felt something try and control him, this irked him so. He started walking towards Marina’s direction, intending to get an answer from her.

Arin appeared before everyone, directly in another part of the room.

“It… it didn’t work? Why? It should’ve-” Arin grabbed ahold of Marina’s head, raising her up to the sky. He couldn’t inflict anything too serious but he could still injure her to a degree. He slowly exerted pressure, clamping his hands down on her head.

“Protect her! Everyone go!” Everyone immediately reacted to Arin’s actions. They needed to save her from this tyrant.