"I have a bad feeling about this..."

As Ishtar walked towards Asura with a smirk on her face, an uneasy feeling crept within Asura's heart. He was suspecting that Ishtar was planning to 'make use' of him. He had watched far too much dramas and novels in his past life to know what was going to happen.

"Uh oh, I'm outta here," Asura decided not to risk wasting his time standing around before he got dragged into the drama. However, it was too late. Due to the commotion caused by the boys who had surrounded Ishtar earlier, dozens of orphans arrived to investigate, blocking the only exit of the Dining Hall.

"Well, fuck."

Wrapping her slender arms around Asura's waist, Ishtar leaned her head on Asura's shoulder and said, "Davins, you should stop pestering me, otherwise my boyfriend will get angry!"

Ishtar's declaration caused the onlooking orphans to ooh, as well as earning Asura several cold stares from some of the guys who admired Ishtar. Some of them were even planning to teach Asura a lesson.

"This is what you get for laughing at another's misfortune, now you don't have a choice but to play along." Ishtar whispered softly into Asura's ears. However, the onlookers mistook it as an act of affection, causing the boy called Davins to almost cough out blood from the anger and jealousy.

"Y-you fucking whor-" Asura was whispering back, and had almost finished his sentence when a furious shout came from Davins.

"Have you no shame?" Davins roared, stamping on the stone floor, causing some of the chairs and tables to shake ever so slightly from the tremor.

"A 3rd Level Warrior?" Asura frowned. Even back at the White Serenity School, the number of disciples who could become a 3rd Level Warrior by the age of 14 or 15 could only be counted with one hand. First, there was Khara. Now, Davins. Something felt fishy about the orphanage, but Asura couldn't be sure of it. After all, it was probably just a coincidence.

"I'm sorry, did someone just speak to me?" Asura asked, looking around as if searching for something. "I hear a voice, but I don't see anyone. Oh, that's right. My vision automatically filters out idiots. It's a defense mechanism, you see. I would lose my mind if I had to gaze upon brawn-for-brains imbeciles all day."

Thirty orphans pointed and laughed at Davins. In a battle of words, someone like Davins who did not have a proper education had little chance of defeating Asura, who had been a university student in his past life.

"Is this guy just fearless, or actually extremely stupid?" Ishtar stared wide-eyed at the plain looking boy. She had expected him to cower before the intimidating Davins, but he had actually added oil to the fire!

Rage formed lines on Davins' pit-bullish face.

"Do you have a death wish, punk?" Davins said. He flexed his muscles, accentuating them to impress the crowd.

"In hindsight, I may have just made a big mistake." Asura thought. He was starting to feel uncomfortable as he was standing in the spotlight, being stared at by over thirty children and teens. Looking towards Khara, he could see that his friend was leisurely sipping on a cup of tea, before giving a thumbs-up towards Asura.

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In a sadistic sort of way, it amused Khara to watch his friend's involvement in the drama.

"Things looks like they're getting bad, I'm going to get Nanny Lan." Sehn got up from his seat, glancing at Asura before he walked out of the Dining Hall.

"What are you looking at?" Davins asked. He peeked at the crowd each time he spoke. Asura knew his type. Davins needed to ensure his actions were met with approval.

What an idiot.

Ishtar roused as if coming out of a trance, and straightened her back. "What's your problem with my boyfriend, Davins?"

Davins sneered at Asura. "I just don't like him. A brat who reeks of his mama's milk should know his place."

Asura sighed. "Well, I can assure you that I don't like you either, which is why the simplest solution would be to just leave us alone. Think of just how much of this nonsense we could avoid."

Asura could not understand why Davins bothered with him. If Davins didn't like him as much as he claimed, why not just ignore each other completely? It was a part of human nature that Asura couldn't comprehend.

"Do something about it then, I'm right here," Davins said, missing Asura's point entirely. He spread his muscular arms wide in an inviting gesture, once again looking towards the crowd. They were growing hungry for action. Walking up towards Asura, Davins gave him a preemptive shove that sent him staggering backwards, prompting the spectating orphans to go wild.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" they roared. It's human nature to desire carnage. Violence. Aggression.

Unbeknownst to everyone present at the Dining Hall, Ishtar had already faded into the crowd, smirking as the boys fought over her.

Asura regained his footing in an instant. At this point, a fight was unavoidable. The problem was, if Asura beat down Davins, the fact that he was stronger than a 3rd Level Warrior would be revealed. There was no doubt that it would then spread like wildfire, and there was a possibility of alerting Ho'Vah and Nilfim. But at the same time, if he lost, he would forever be treated as a slave of Davins'. He had learnt this first hand during his high school days in his past life.

"Fine, if you want a fight, then I'll give you a fight," Asura said to Davins' surprise. "What are you waiting for? I'm right here."

And that was all Davins needed. Rushing towards Asura, he was drawing back his right fist, ready to punch a new hole into Asura.

"Die!"

Chapter 34: Punishment