Dormitories' Rivalry

Heian Ciemnosc was already waking up, feeling the movements around the place and the sunlight coming through the back windows, which was right to the left of his bed. There were some noises, and at last, some seemed to recognize him among the 20 other Sub Students in this individual dormitory. They went over to Heian Ciemnosc and tried to wake him up lightly.

“Hey, monster Heian Ciemnosc…!” - “Bro, leader!” - “Can you wake up now? Hellooo?”

Heian Ciemnosc slowly opened his eyes with some flickering of his eyelashes, only to observe as 3 dumb idiots looked at him from above. He then sat up on his bed. Checking around, his shirt and jacket were still damaged, and only his new clothes, such as his sets of uniform, were usable for the moment.

“What is it?” Looking back at the 3 dumb faces, still looking at him as if cluelessly, Heian Ciemnosc asked them and began to take a set of his several uniforms out his sack. The one at the left, on Heian Ciemnosc’s right, said with excitement and worry simultaneously. “There is our neighboring dormitory, saying they are challenging us to determine which is better and best!”

“How?” Heian Ciemnosc asked, taking his shirt off, no homo, and started putting his new uniform shirt on. It wasn’t too decent or elegant, just ordinary looking but showed signs of being special as long as one infused Power Energy into them. Heian Ciemnosc figured out everyone would have to change uniforms when breaking through another Step, more or less.

“It happens every new year, and it is also a costume that all Sub Students’ dormitories section have. Slowly but surely, the best dormitory among the Sub Students will be chosen to represent the entire western section, then we fight against the other sections. The dormitories and sections, who are the winners, will receive tremendous gifts!”

“Yeah, one can get from many valuable resources for cultivation until the Second Step, or even all Craftsmaking professions’ progress! Anyone can choose what they want from the list, including other things. Like free time and access to the library, private lessons with Teachers, marriage-seeking with powerful forces in the Blackotia Kingdom or its Universe, and so on.”

The Sub Students waking Heian Ciemnosc up gave him a quick and simple explanation of this whole ordeal. It wasn’t just for reputation, but if they won, they would even receive so many good and excellent things? He was interested and showed it by asking them with a face full of eagerness.

“What kind of access and time in the library?!” As soon as Heian Ciemnosc asked, the other 3 looked at each other silently. One of them finally said amidst the not so awkward silence. “Depending. If it’s from the best dormitory in a section, a week or 2 in the library with access to what Leading Students have. And if we are victors of all sections, it can go up to several months. Oh, and its access is up to Sub Teachers.”

‘That good?’ Heian Ciemnosc was amazed as he finished wearing his uniform’s jacket, the left emblem of the Wrath Nihility Academy as simple as a lapis lazuli blue castle and a blue flame. Then he stared at the 3 dumb idiots before saying in a cold, bothered voice. “Leave.”

“Ah, right!” - “We’ll be going first, then. The fighting will only start when the dormitories’ leaders say so!” - “Please be there, leader. We will be waiting for you!” The Sub Students said, seemingly afraid Heian Ciemnosc wouldn’t be there, but he just wanted them to go away so he could have his donger well dressed. It was not as comfortable to dangle it around when males were so close to him.

Rustle, rustle… tap.

After they left, leaving Heian Ciemnosc alone in the individual dormitory, Heian Ciemnosc dressed up slowly and at his own pace, still enjoying the sleep he had had tonight and the little dreams he felt through. Ah, he was in a good mood.

Coming out of his bed and walking through the individual dormitory to exit, Heian Ciemnosc faced a much different sight than when he first entered it. To the left, the gates to leave the dormitory were still empty, and the machine was working as intended. But the streets leading to the leisure grounds as the leisure grounds were packed with thousands of Sub Students.

“Let’s go! They started! The leaders are fighting! Come on!” - “Who the fuck are they? Do they think they can just do whatever they want? Let’s fuck 'em up!” Heian Ciemnosc heard some shouting and incensed Sub Students as they rushed to the leisure grounds, a flat piece of land with sand and grass. The perimeter was made of grass, while the center was all sand and some dirt.

Slowly walking there as well, Heian Ciemnosc silently felt up his uniform, his pale gray colored outfit, and he liked the touch of it very much. He even felt up his little butt and front to see if they looked as comfortable as they looked. It was all alright. When he walked for the 10th minute, he finally arrived at the center, where Sub Students from his dormitory opened up for him to walk in shock, not realizing he was in their dormitory.

Pum pum- placka. Whoosh, thud- krrr.

In the exact middle, with a circular ring made by both dormitories, 2 persons were fighting it out with all they had. They seemed to want to conserve their Power Energy as they used their bodies and merely passively enhanced them with Power Energy without performing any technique or skill as they were both in the Ashes Apperception realm.

Suddenly, a guy with short hair and a reddened face was overwhelmed by the opponent, lost his footing, and the opponent took this chance to cover up his right fist before descending it onto the short haired guy’s chest. The opponent was tough-looking, 2.3 meters tall, bare chest, a sleeveless jacket, and a punk haircut. When his Power Energy covered his fist, it formed the shape of a bear’s paw, but not its claws, seemingly incapable of that.

The short-haired guy was pushed into the air before falling onto the ground, and its body was dragged through it by inertia. He had a pained face, more so because of having been bested, not because of pain, which was also there as his collarbone almost broke in several pieces. Yet, just as he was going to stand up and go back to face off the opponent, he sensed a leg and foot to his right and opened his eyes to look at it.

“Ah, Heian Ciemnosc?!” He looked up, immediately seeing the mighty handsome pale teenager looking ahead casually at the other dormitory’s leader. He stood up quicker than possible, this time not to fight but out of respecting the pale teenager before him. Saluted somewhat silly, with Heian Ciemnosc saying, “I thought only leaders decided when to fight? And they fought the first round themselves?”

Finished saying that, Heian Ciemnosc looked to his left and faced the ex-leader of the dormitory, who in exchange became ashamed and could only answer with his head slightly low but still respectfully setting his eyes on Heian Ciemnosc’s face. “I didn’t- we didn’t know or had any idea you were in our dormitory! We only checked before going to sleep.”

“Ah, shit.” From the other side, the rivaling dormitory’s leader exclaimed, also recognizing Heian Ciemnosc as it seemed this was a new Sub Student competition. But that was when Heian Ciemnosc nodded at the short haired guy and then faced the rival dormitory’s leader. “Hey you, that’s cheating. Now fight me. But only if you are still willing to start a competition with my dormitory.”

Heian Ciemnosc spoke nonchalantly but still seemed domineering as he said these few words while the one supposed to be the leader fell back with a hunched back. It worked well to let everyone watching know his presence, face, and stance. Both dormitories had contrasting facial expressions. Even as the rivaling dormitory was surprised, it was only so for a few seconds before having awry faces.

Heian Ciemnosc’s dormitory, on the other hand, seemed surprised and beaming as they became super excited. Their faces already showed the moral advantage they held over the rivals. Thus, the rivaling dormitory’s leader seemed unwilling. Heian Ciemnosc’s words only made him want to walk back, conceding defeat in this competition.

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“Before you think of conceding,” Heian Ciemnosc added, his voice calm and somewhat soft. “If I read correctly, the set rules between Sub Students’ dormitories and our regulations. Only the neighboring dormitories can face each other off to determine the best dormitory, from the dormitory next to us to the dormitories 10 dormitories away from us. That would be counted as the neighboring dormitories. Just as there are 21 beds for every individual dormitory within a dormitory, there will be one sole victor with 10 dormitories to the left and 10 to the right.”

“Only after such initiating was over would we fight farther dormitories.” Heian Ciemnosc spoke without anybody seemingly able or capable, with enough balls, to interrupt him. Heian Ciemnosc continued, his voice as calm and soft as before, “Yet, you are not from the near dormitories and still came here to compete with another dormitory. Was it because one of us sold you information about our dormitories? How many times did you do that?”

“Even though the Academy emphasizes that one’s background better be forgotten, you’ve used riches for these petty attempts at winning some competition. Are you even worthy of the Academy?” Heian Ciemnosc ended with an expressionless face that showed no care for either honor or the Academy’s ideals but simply laid out the truth without mercy.

“You know what?” The rival dormitory leader seemed about to snap, stomping forth as Heian Ciemnosc stepped forth in response to his movements. “You wanna fight? You’ll get your fight! Come fight me! You are just one person. You can’t win all rounds on your own!!”

It was the truth. Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes expressionlessly flashed as he stepped forth. Their battle among dormitory leaders had just begun. And despite Heian Ciemnosc never asking for it, he had become yet another leading figure for ‘the people’ before he knew it, almost as if he was destined like a moth is to burn in the flames. Unless a dormitory was much weaker than another in a competition, all 21 rounds would be of losing or winning once, only one fight before proceeding to the next round. And there could not be the same person fighting on more than 1 round.

Step- stomp, step- stomp, step- stomp, step- stomp… whoosh- swasssh, po-pam~.

The dormitory leaders walked and stomped against one another. The smaller one seemed to leisurely walk forwards, his back straight, and his chin was even slightly upwards, appearing to not treat this any heavy as it looked but lightly instead. The taller, robust one stomped hard, making some sand jump up. But nothing more, and as his body gained more and more momentum, that made all who watched nervously to see the outcome of their clash.

Yet, just as the tall, robust dormitory leader lunged against Heian Ciemnosc, his left folded arm spearheaded through the air with all his weight put behind. Heian Ciemnosc stepped lightly and strangely with his right foot, as it looked like he almost fell, trying to make a sudden step with his right leg stretched far to the right. His body suddenly became a blurred trail, faster and sharper than the robust, tall guy!

When they met, the robust guy with larger arms struck first! But Heian Ciemnosc’s back of his right hand and the back of his fingers swatted the rival dormitory’s leader's elbow like a piece of paper flying towards him. Only a few could see this movement, as even Heian Ciemnosc had to lower his actions’ speed a little to not completely destroy this dormitory leader and still more fear and amazement to the other dormitories.

After his right hand swatted the rival dormitory’s leader's attempt to strike him, Heian Ciemnosc sent his left palm to the leader rival’s right shoulder. A sound of bones cracking went out, but only they could hear it as the sound of Heian Ciemnosc’s palm connecting to the guy was much louder. A pity that only the impact was heard, when the effect it had was much more ruthless.

Swoosh, thud, crack- crack~~...

Heian Ciemnosc didn’t let go just then. His body seemingly halted in midair, his floating capabilities at maximum work as he grabbed the rival dormitory leader’s neck from behind with his right hand, forced him to suspend, pulled him, and flung him into the air, arching towards the opposite direction with its belly facing the ground.

After being hit so harshly like that, the rival dormitory leader didn’t have time to even breathe as Heian Ciemnosc lifted him, put him on his knees by dragging his upper body back, and then pushed his feet onto the rival dormitory leader’s sheens while twisting his left arm backwards. The sounds of his sheen breaking reached everywhere, and Heian Ciemnosc suddenly saw the guy’s face terrorized as he looked back at him.

He had shown too much bloodthirstiness, and Alyona didn’t let him have any fresh, raw meat for a meal when she could make breakfast for him instead.

“Heh,” Heian Ciemnosc grinned slightly, but that eased his bloodthirst as the guy finally calmed down, albeit still ‘touched’ with his body losing all strength. With a struggle and more calm now, the rivaling dormitory’s leader said with a pained face. “I- I surrender!”

Flop. Thud. Heian Ciemnosc let go of the guy’s body, took a few steps back, and looked up to see the other dormitory’s Sub Students look at him in silence. Then, Heian Ciemnosc looked at his dormitory and saw their gloating eyes and the brightness of their eyes. He breathed out his lungs a heavily and slowly before facing the other dormitory’s Sub Students once. He raised his arms, lasting for a second as his voice reached them without utilizing any Power Energy.

“Your leader didn’t go according to the rules, and that’s disrespectful to all Sub Students.” Heian Ciemnosc’s words had the other Sub Students worried. Of course, they all knew what they were doing. Going against the Sub Students’ regulations like this was no small matter, even bribing the nearby dormitory along some intimidation. It was an impending trouble for them.

“So, I give you a chance to choose.” Heian Ciemnosc walked towards them until he was at the extremes of both sides’ halves, carrying the rival dormitory leader’s body over his left shoulder with only his left hand holding onto the body. “You can choose to submit to me, and I’ll accept you as my subordinate vassal. Then you will receive the punishment for your brass.”

Thud. The rival dormitory leader’s body fell on the ground, making a grunt as more pain befell his senses before quieting down and letting what was his dormitory decide the outcome of his actions. Heian Ciemnosc patted the ground and tapped it strongly before nudging upwards with his nose and chin to the other Sub Students. “Or fight it out with my dormitory under this leader’s commands. Only then will I accept you accordingly… before going to the dormitory that also betrayed the Sub Students’ regulations.”

“!!” - “For real…?” - “We have a chance to win!” - “No, idiot! To prove ourselves, ourselves!”

More words were not needed, and Heian Ciemnosc could see that. He didn’t need to add about keeping his word to protect them, taking responsibility, and take care of them. As properly as it could ever be. They weren’t rats from some household that believed themselves to be gods after learning cultivation and starting on such a path. It wasn’t like in the Sinvonnia Kingdom, whose only ‘good seeds’ were those from the Rocaloi Academy.

Step step step step…

One fella from the other dormitory came with hurried steps and glanced at Heian Ciemnosc, who nodded at him before taking the guy’s fragile and powerless body back to where it began. Despite such a failure, they didn’t seem to resent him overly and were still loyal to him as their dormitory’s leader. When that Sub Student brought their leader back, they began discussing who would be the participants for the remaining 20 rounds.

Heian Ciemnosc turned around and moved to his dormitory. When he arrived before them, the other dormitory seemed about to finish their discussion, their dormitory leader being the final factor. Giving his dormitory’s Sub Students a look, Heian Ciemnosc calmly spoke at a low volume. But the Sub Students began moving right away and lined up accordingly. “The best of the Obsidiafying realm, Ashes Apperception Realm, and Spirit Birth realm form in front of me.”

Unlike the other dormitory, Heian Ciemnosc’s dormitory was seemingly made out of soldiers and warriors, quickly forming before him in 3 lines. The moment they finished, and waited in silence. They felt their bodies and insides scanned over by an ever so slippery and invasive Spirit Sense. Yet, it did not feel any harmful or devious. It was a smooth-like Spirit Sense with no trouble reading every part of their bodies and cultivation. Even when they felt their forming soul squirm for a little was visited. Their blood seemed to suddenly be known since ages ago by this Spirit Sense.

“You, you, you, you…” Heian Ciemnosc began pointing with his index fingers here and there, out of nowhere, surprising the Sub Students. Some weren’t really the strongest, or at least didn’t think so themselves. But they heeded the leader’s words and stepped forth to meet him, making a line to differentiate each other’s realms.

But then, Heian Ciemnosc began selecting those who didn’t even present themselves previously. Some were even in the middle stages of their cultivation realm. But there were even a few in the early stages of their cultivation realm! Heian Ciemnosc’s selection of the participants of the competition left them baffled. Yet, remembering all the shit he did in the test, they obeyed and felt the pressure even more now.

“All those I’ve chosen are for a reason.” Heian Ciemnosc spoke calmly, not lacking confidence anywhere, and silencing the already silent thoughts in everyone’s minds. “You may or not fight in the end, but if you do, give it your all. I’m not really good at realms above my cultivation base, but as soon as I get a good hang of it, I promise I will help everyone find a way to train to their extreme best when out of class or free of tasks.”

“In the future, I will bring everyone to fight for supremacy in the contest for this western section of Sub Students’ dormitories! And later, to strife for the entire Academy’s Sub Student dormitory prize!” Heian Ciemnosc raised his fist a little, up in the air, but that was enough to excite his dormitory while their first obstacle watched on with seriousness and pensive expressions on their faces.

…