"Challenger: eight! Challenged: zero!"

When those words rang out, everybody finally registered what was happening. The little kid in front of them was either level thirty or above level thirty. When that thought reached their minds, they shuddered in fear.

The kid in front of them probably hadn't reached twelve! What kind of talent does that kid need to have such a frightening amount of power at such a young age, they knew he was strong, but they didn't know he was THAT strong.

When judged by his strength to defeat Mad Bull, he should've been level twenty at the least but they didn't think he was a whole ten levels above that. Most of the people their age were in the levels ten to thirteen, prodigies were undoubtedly fifteen and above. Even the one with the highest talent in the Blue Waters, Ishikawa Kyoko, the head of the Seven Prodigies, is level thirty-five, her age has already reached eighteen, three years due for marriage.

She was their most talented prodigy, being followed by her younger sister who had a leveling pace even better than her sister but skill that could not match any of the seven.

So when a kid who was even younger than Kanako yet had a level that was infinitely closer to Kyoko appeared, everyone freaked out. The Seven Prodigies, one of them would be replaced in the coming competition, everyone was looking at Mad Bull who laid unconscious on the floor, all thinking the same thing. He's gonna get replaced.

Of the Seven Prodigies of the Blue Waters, Mad Bull had the lowest talent being level fifteen at age sixteen. Only slightly higher than any other regular member, but he had superior fighting skill which landed him that spot.

This isn't enough.. Kai thought to himself.

"You know what, all of you can come at me at once."

The crowd was silent; before, they would have looked at him with disdain, but with his level and power, he just might actually succeed.

Other than the fact that he was well-versed in hand to hand combat, his magic power was even more terrifying.

"Is he aspiring to be one of those.. Magic Knights?"

Everyone was surprised at that whisper.

"Magic Knight? Also rumoured to be the hardest class using both magic and hand to hand combat resulting in double- no, triple the effort of other classes?"

"Yeah.. But that class, only people whose names were renowned achieved that, the only person who achieved that in our guild is the founder."

"I heard that the royal capital has a squad of Magic Knights. Numbering only in the tens, all very well-known people!"

These whispers lasted awhile leading Kai to yawn a bit.

When everyone heard Kai's yawn, they remembered the reason they were there.

Just when many people were stepping up, Kai yelled.

"Stop!"

He waved his hands.

"This stage is too small, can we expand it?"

He turned to look at the person overseeing the booth.

"Ah, right!"

He placed one of his hands in front of his face and formed signs with his hand.

"Release!"

The stage rumbled, the height increased and the sides began to expand, the fifty meter arena soon became two hundred meters. Just the right space for a full on battle. Though it was a little tight.

This type of stage was used for competitions, yet right now it was being used for a battle with a small child.

The one overseeing the booth smiled wryly. He had the authority to use it, but for such a battle, he felt like it was far too unnecessary. Even if the one challenging them is a level thirty. He, who was also a level thirty had no confidence in taking on half of the crowd, not to mention all of them.

 Everyone backed out when the arena was being expanded and only went close afterwards.

All of them stepped up leaving the arean a bit crowded.

"Then come at me!"

""""HAAAAAAAH!""""

A roar rang out as the crowd charged forward.

Kai grinned and adopted a battle position covering all his blind spots.

"This'll be fun!"

....

A few minutes after the commotion

Kyoko's room

"KYOKO!!"

An urgent voice rang out as someone entered her room.

"What is it?!"

Kyoko, thinking it was something dangerous immediately questioned Kane.

"T-t-t-the arena!"

"Arena?"

Kyoko tilted her head in confusion.

Just then another set of footsteps were speeding towards them.

"Onee-san!"

Kanako came running with disheveled hair.

"t-t-t-the arena!"

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She stuttered more.. Kyoko sighed.

"What about the arena?"

""Kai!""

Both of them shouted at the same time.

"Kai?"

Kanako tilted her head for a moment then immediately came to a conclusion.

"Did he get beat up!?"

They both shook their heads.

"Was he injured?"

They shook their heads yet again.

"Did he cause trouble?"

The two of them looked at each other as one of them shook their head and the other nodded.

"JUST TELL ME ALREADY!"

"Yes!"

Kane answered and straightened his body.

"He took everyone single handedly, not only that but it was a complete victory! There wasn't a single scratch on his body! All the elders reported to me that someone went in the arena and defeated everyone as a one man army!"

"Did they say that it was Kai?"

Kane and Kanako shook their heads.

"But they said it was a kid that looked even younger than me!"

Kanako followed.

"When I heard, that I immediately ran towards the arena and saw Kai yawning in the middle of the arena. He was laying down without a care in the world with everyone piled up on the sides. It was a horrific sight.."

"So where is Kai now..?"

Kyoko asked after a small pause.

"He's sleeping in his room." 

Kane answered.

"And the Seven Prodigies have been called for a meeting, onee-san."

"Meeting? It's probably about the placements. But.."

Kanako furrowed her brows.

"Even if he did defeat all of the regular members in the arena, wouldn't the placements change during the competition? Unless.."

Kanako nodded.

"He defeated a member of the Seven Prodigies, Mad Bull."

"So, the new head of the Seven Prodigies will be Kai, and we all move down a rank, correct?"

Kane didn't deny nor confirm what she said.

"That's what we're expecting, but this meeting may also have some other reason, as we all know, the Seven Prodigies vote on what to do. The head counts for two votes so we currently have only three votes of you and Kanako."

Kane, although always in the Blue Waters, he isn't part of it. He's part of the Knights Association which branches all the way to the capital. Of course, a person with such a background would be allowed here without restrictions other than things that require permission from high ranks. Of course, that part was settled by Kyoko, head of the Seven Prodigies.

"Kai's already waiting there."

"I see."

Kyoko nodded at Kanako and Kane as they proceeded towards the meeting room.

.....

Meeting Room

Kai was sitting down on a chair in the middle of seven pedestals with chairs behind them. They all had a symbol of the Blue Waters guild imprinted on the center.

The room was dim but wasn't dark enough to cover the people sitting behind the pedestals.

The pedestals were about half the size of a person enabling the person in the middle to see everyone. The only light in the room were the dimly lit candles surrounding the room and Kai.

"..."

THIS IS SO SHADY! Kai inwardly thought as he glanced around the room.

It's like some sort of cult practicing a ritual, mostly because they used candles instead of lanterns, maybe that's for intimidation?

The door behind Kai opened as three figures walked in, they were Kyoko, Kanako, and Kane respectively.

Kane headed towards the corner of the room as Kyoko and Kanako sat on the chairs nearest to the door.

Kyoko glanced at the other figures around the room save for one near the opposite of hers. It was obviously empty seeing as the person who should've sat there is currently injured in bed.

 "Alright, let's start."

Kyoko glanced at the person to her left.

The man to her left nodded. This man was named Simon and was ranked third of the Seven Prodigies in terms of talent.

"He defeated everyone in the arena area alone and more than that, he fought them all at once. But the real reason.."

The man named Simon glanced at Kai in the center.

"..Is that he defeated a member of the Seven Prodigies. Even if it was the seventh rank Mad Bull, his fighting skill is more than enough to fight our sixth rank, Garou. Though his strength isn't enough to defeat him, Garou would need a bit of time to defeat him, don't you agree, Garou?"

Simon glanced at the pedestal next to the empty one.

A man with a bulky build was there as he nodded. He had his arms crossed and looked more like an adult instead of a teen in his early twenties.

"Although his level can't compare to me, with his fighting skill, if we were the same level I'd need to exert my full power to defeat him. Though his fighting skill is lower than mine."

Garou said with a calm voice like he was strictly analyzing the facts.

"He'd most likely defeat our second rank, Kanako who has the lowest fighting skill."

Garou said as he glanced at Kanako.

Kai furrowed his brows at this. So Kanako was being looked down upon when here skill was actually superb. It may have had something to do with the curse Kai had removed.

Kanako didn't reply much to Kai's displeasure. He wanted to see her prove him wrong, guess he has to fix that soon.

"Garou, you'd be surprised at her skill now. If you fought her, no doubt you'd lose instantly."

Garou furrowed his brows at this. Kyoko gave Kai a glance as Kai nodded at her. Looks like she noticed that Kai had furrowed his brows from that comment.

"Can we cut to the point?"

Another man to the right of Kanako spoke up. This was the fourth rank, Wilt.

Wilt pointed his comment at Simon, who started the debate.

Simon snorted coldly as he began to talk again.

"Alright."

Simon adjusted his position to lean on the pedestal in front of him and covering the view of his mouth with intertwined hands.

 "The Guildmaster is still out so we have full authority on this decision. The elders recommended Kai to be part of the Seven Prodigies because of his skill, and talent that surpasses even the second."

Simon got to the point as he told them all the purpose of this meeting.

"But still, it's an honor to grace us with your presence, fifth rank Aoi."

"Shut up and get to the meeting."

The girl named Aoi answered coldly.

Kai's eye twitched as he heard that voice.

It was the girl who he first met, the one who held the [Redirection Arts], the one in closed-door training. Though Kai doubts that she really was in closed-door training.

Probably training herself by battling people. Kai thought as he remembered her challenging people when they first met.

"You guys are too serious."

Simon commented.

"So, what do we do with him?"

The atmosphere turned serious.

"Will we add him to the Seven Prodigies, and allow him to be the head since the Seven Prodigies are decided by talent and not by time, or.."

Simon dragged out his words.

"..remove him?"

As that sentence faded, Kai didn't move an inch. The others think he was scared but the three- no, four people know that he isn't scared even a bit.

"But frankly, right now we can't decide that. As you all know, for a decision to apply we need to either have an odd number of members or a complete set. This is why there are seven of us."

Simon glanced at Kane in a corner.

"I would invite you but seeing as you'd be biased towards him we can't allow that."

Simon glanced at Kyoko and Kanako.

"Though since the head counts as two votes, we can still decide on this. I'd just like to hear everyone's consent."

Simon glanced at everyone of the prodigies.

"Let's vote, everyone who wants to add him to the Seven Prodigies and remove Mad Bull, also replacing the head: Kyoko from her position to add Kai, raise your hand."

Kyoko and Kanako raised their hands immediately.

"As we all know, when a decision is made, the rest of the seven have five minutes to think about it. Kyoko and Kanako vote for Kai to become a member and the new head of the Seven Prodigies, that counts as three votes."

Kai glanced at the girl named Aoi and saw her expression. Looks like she was contemplating on voting for him.

"I suggest you vote for me, because if those others try to 'remove' me, I can assure you, I'll leave nothing of them."

This transmission shocked Aoi as she stared at Kai's expresionless visage.

"Since you don't know how to respond to me, I'll just let you contemplate, use these five minutes wisely."

But Kai didn't know that the reason she was staring so intently at her was that his attitude was completely different from how they first met, when they first met she was met with a kid who couldn't be called threatening even if he tried.

But now, his aura is basically saying comply or die.

 "Oh and let me clear this up, I have nothing to do with who you're in trouble with. I just used that for a chance of being trained in hand to hand combat. In case, that's why you're hesitating."

Aoi's eyes widened but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Four minutes pass

"There's only a minute left. In case any of you plan to change your minds, now would be a good time to do it."

Aoi's hand raised up at the last few seconds much to the surprise of the others.

"Since it's a majority decision, he will join the Seven Prodigies. But.."

Simon looked at Kai with disdain.

"..I don't think he's fit for the position of head."