Sunlight gently streamed into the Zeris Academy student council room. On that bright morning, the student council members and the disciplinary committee held their first meeting of the new school year.
A handsome man with black hair presided over the brief meeting. "Next, let's discuss the duel requests submitted by the students."
"Yes, President. So far, there have been a total of 55 duels submitted by students, ranging from first-year to fourth-year students," replied a girl who was the student council vice president.
"More than last year," remarked one of the disciplinary committee members, the rest of them also sighed in resignation. Frederick smiled amusedly upon hearing that, "Now, now. I know it sounds like a hassle, but it's our job to ensure that the students who duel continue to follow the Academy's rules."
"Who's scheduled to duel in the near future?" asked the president of the disciplinary committee, a male beastkin with a burly build. The vice president of the student council shook her head after glancing at the duel applicant.
"Freshmen, five of them. Three boys, two girls. And...huh?"
Frederick chuckled at that. "As usual, the freshmen are always full of energy every year. Who will be their opponent?"
The vice president glanced briefly at Silvia, who was sitting in the second row, and then turned to Alex, who was sitting behind Frederick. She lightly pursed her lips and hesitantly said the name.
"Their opponent... Eric Ostheno."
Everyone was surprised to hear that name, especially Silvia and Alex. They both widened their eyes in disbelief, Alex stopped writing his report while Silvia slowly clenched her fist.
Frederick's brows twitched in surprise, but he cleverly masked his expression. "Huhuhu, Eric Ostheno? Hmm… since there are five opponents, surely he's brought his teammates along too, right? One of the duel rules is that the challenged party can bring their partner if there are more than two challengers."
"Uh...it says here that he'll be the one to step forward for the duel, President."
This time, Frederick couldn't hide his surprise and furrowed his brow. "That's absurd. Give me that." Frederick took the clipboard from the vice president and read the duel report carefully.
And sure enough, it said that Eric would be facing all five of them alone. The president of the disciplinary committee scoffed in annoyance, "Hmph, that weakling must be up to something insane this time. Who the hell challenges the freshmen, especially in the first week of the new school year?"
Frederick handed the clipboard back to the girl and sighed. "As for Eric, he's going it alone. Huhuhu, what a peculiar fellow." The rest of the participants there shook their heads, and some of them even looked dazed and groaned.
"When is the duel between Eric and those five first-years taking place?" asked one of the student council members. The vice president answered steadily, "Today, after classes. The location is in the east courtyard, behind the main library."
This time, the sounds of complaints and groans were clearly audible.
"Today? What a joke!"
"What's he up to this time..."
"That coward...!"
Frederick clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the entire room. "Calm down, everyone. Even so, they are all still students at this Academy, so it's our duty to ensure the duel follows the rules. No favoritism—do you all understand?"
"As usual, the duel will be observed by the upperclassmen, especially the third and fourth years. Don't forget to bring first-aid supplies just in case."
"Yes, President!"
After agreeing to Frederick's orders, the meeting resumed as before. However, Silvia and Alex still felt uneasy about the news, especially Silvia. For some reason, she still felt that anything involving Eric would endanger people, even though she no longer had any connection to him.
***
Noon, after class. Behind the main library was a fairly large courtyard. A crowd of students from various years gathered there, eager to watch something. The members of the disciplinary committee hadn't even expected the duel between Eric and the first-year students who had challenged him to draw such a large crowd.
Eric himself had arrived early and was currently standing in the middle of the courtyard. He clicked his tongue upon seeing the large crowd watching his duel.
"This isn't some goddamn circus show, you know? Did you guys even do your job properly?" he scolded one of the male members of the disciplinary committee standing not far from him.
"Pardon us, we didn't expect there to be this many people either…" the committee member was visibly surprised after Eric called him out. "Anyway, the challenger was supposed to arrive at the scheduled time. But—oh, there they are."
Eric turned forward and saw the first-year students, with fierce expressions, stepping onto the field. Three boys, two girls. Each was wearing their gear and carrying their weapons.
"I'm surprised you didn't run away, Senior!"
"Uh huh, so the rumor that you're a spineless coward isn't true after all!"
"Hahaha!"
They taunted Eric at will and laughed among themselves. Eric crossed his arms and exhaled loudly. Just as he was about to call the referee from the disciplinary committee, his eyes widened at the crowd.
Leon and his harem, Elsie, Cornelius and his gang—including Silvia and Alex—along with Eric's younger siblings, Connor, and even Frederick and what appeared to be his entourage were watching the duel.
He glared at them, which only made him even more annoyed by this stupid fight, which was being watched as if it were mere entertainment. "Though they aren't wrong, because essentially, duels at the Academy are a show of strength for the students..."
Even as he muttered this, Eric was still annoyed and tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths.
"Since Eric Ostheno has no partner, this duel will be held one-on-one. No problem, right?" said the disciplinary committee member acting as referee, addressing the challengers—the first-years.
"We don't mind—"
"Hell no. It's a waste of time, you'd all be better off coming up here at once." Eric cut in, gesturing with his finger. Everyone present—even the crowd—was taken aback by Eric's statement.
"Don't act tough, you coward!"
"You're just going to embarrass yourself, buddy!"
Several students from the crowd openly hurled insults at Eric, but he paid them no mind. The referee was then confused and about to call his senior, but his eyes met Frederick's. The handsome prince nodded and signaled his agreement with Eric's request, and he also guaranteed he would take responsibility for everything that happened.
The male referee swallowed hard and told the fighters to take their positions. "V-very well, granted. Everyone, take your positions..."
A magical dome formed, covering the entire arena, designed to protect the crowd from the spells that would soon be cast. The dome was created by the members of the disciplinary committee standing at the edge of the arena.
The students were confused but happy after realizing their position was advantageous, while Eric rotated his arm and then made small jumps in place.
The referee slowly raised his hand, and the crowd of students gathered around stood frozen, waiting for the match to begin.
"Begin!"
From the challengers' side, a woman chanted a spell rapidly, hurling several water spears. Two men dashed forward, brandishing their own weapons—a sword and a dagger.
The last man was an Earth mage, he also hurled sharp stones at Eric. The last woman was a Wind mage, she enveloped her two companions—the Earth mage and the Water mage—with a wind barrier spell.
Seeing the swordsman and the assassin—the nicknames he had given them—closing in on him, Eric didn't wait around. He channeled Mana into his hands, a surge of heat built up in his palms, and soon a massive fireball formed.
He hurled the massive fireball several steps in front of him. A small explosion occurred, sending up thick dust and smoke that obscured the first-year students' view. Mana coursed through his body, Eric darted sideways and appeared next to the assassin.
The magic spells fired earlier hit the magical dome harmlessly and dispersed.
The assassin was startled by Eric's sudden appearance, he grabbed the hand holding the dagger and violently yanked the assassin toward him. Eric then drove his punch, coated with Mana, into the assassin's stomach.
"Guhrrkk!?"
A loud bang echoed through the area, the challengers were startled as one of their members suddenly collapsed and was flung backward. The swordsman gripped his sword tightly and shouted with all his might.
"Yo-you!! Huaagghh!!"
From Eric's perspective, he could clearly see the trajectory of the slash and easily dodged it with a sidestep. He delivered a quick punch to the swordsman's left cheek, managing to knock him to the ground. But of course, that brief attack wasn't enough to knock out the assassin and the swordsman, though it was enough to stagger them briefly.
His senses were on high alert, and he immediately dodged spells flying at him from left and right. Eric could see the panicked faces of the three mages, who couldn't believe that their two members had been overpowered by him.
Eric began sprinting toward the mages, and from the start his intention was to disable the ranged attackers first. "Let's take care of that Earth brat."
The Earth mage visibly felt a chill after locking eyes with Eric, and he hurriedly deployed a giant dirt stone wall to shield himself. "Earthen Wall!" Eric snorted, and flames flared fiercely on his left fist.
Before he could punch the wall, wind and water spells in the form of orbs flew toward him. He managed to dodge them, but it disrupted the rhythm of his attack.
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue and formed a pistol gesture at his attackers. "Fire Bullet"—a small barrage of flames shot toward the mages, but they remained somewhat calm thanks to the wind wall they had previously summoned.
Their expectations were shattered when the fire bullets pierced through their wind defense and struck their bodies.
"Kyyahh!?"
"Ahhkk!!"
This time, Eric coated both his fists with fire and rapidly unleashed his fiery punches one after another.
"Stone Lan-" before the Earth mage could finish casting his spell, his stone wall and the wind barrier protecting him collapsed. In slow motion, he could see the bright, blazing object approaching him.
"Fire Punch!"
A loud bang echoed across the field, Eric's fire punch was so powerful it knocked the Earth mage unconscious and sent him flying backward multiple times, nearly crashing into the magical dome.
Everyone watching Eric knock out one of his challengers in the duel was shocked and stunned by what he had just done.
"Wait, wait! Is that loser really this strong!?"
"Th-there's no way! You all still remember his duel with that Alex, right!?"
The crowd of students speculated among themselves about Eric. Even Silvia, Alex, Leon and his harem, and Cornelius were utterly shocked. Among everyone there, only a few weren't surprised but instead made casual comments.
"He's getting faster, isn't he?" Connor asked, propping his chin up. Lucas and Laurene nodded in unison, "Yeah. The last time I sparred with him, he wasn't this fast."
"..." Dianne silently watched Eric with a sharp gaze, while Elsie and Frederick looked impressed. "Hmmm… interesting," said the handsome prince with a small smile.
Back to the fight, Eric could hear thunderous footsteps behind him. Finally, the assassin and the swordsman were about to catch up to him. Their faces were filled with fury, the assassin was the first to arrive.
He silently dodged the slashes from the dagger but unexpectedly one of the slashes grazed his shoulder, he winced in pain but the attack was not lethal enough to knock him down.
Seconds later, out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the swordsman was already quite close.
"Let's try that," Eric muttered, slowly backing away while dodging the assassin's attacks. He quickly kicked off his shoes, catching both attackers off guard with his antics.
The swordsman launched a deadly sweeping attack and the assassin resumed his relentless attacks. Eric thought calmly. "Looks like for now, I still can't fully fight against close-range fighters… oh well, can't be helped."
Mana surged around his feet, and he kicked the ground violently. Fire erupted around him, propelling him forward to break the deadlock. His two attackers were startled as Eric moved as swiftly as a deadly arrow, they instinctively raised their guards.
On Eric's side, he passed them harmlessly and felt slightly annoyed by his own attempt. "Like Sukuna's Fuga—a cheap imitation will always be a cheap imitation…"
Eric tried to imitate a move belonging to a third-generation Fire Soldier from a certain series, but failed because he lacked control, power, precision—but more importantly, the real power itself.
All the students gathered there were shocked by what Eric had just done, but they didn't have time to comment because Eric was now taking a stance as if about to run, lowering his body with his palm touching the ground.
Flames burned violently around his feet and he took off with a powerful shockwave that scattered a large amount of dust. The two close-range attackers prepared to launch their deadly strikes, but at the last second Eric changed his direction and passed right between them.
"D-don't tell me—"
Eric huffed in annoyance, "Too late." From the start, his goal had been to take out the long-range fighters—the mages. The Water mage and Wind mage trembled as they saw Eric charging toward them, they hurriedly raised their magical defenses again.
"Wind Wall! Wind Wall!"
"W-Water Barrier!"
At high speed, Eric shifted his position and delivered a super-fast, fire-coated kick to the Wind mage.
"Fire Kick!"
Wind met fire. The explosion was massive, amplified by the wind scattering the fire fragments and slamming it into the top of the magical dome. Unfortunately, the Wind Mage hadn't anticipated the explosion, and she was engulfed in flames, struck by Eric's fire attack and sent flying backward.
The Water Mage watched in horror as Eric's attack scorched most of the Wind Mage's clothing, though she was still alive. Eric didn't stop and darted toward the girl.
"Wa-Water Ball! Water B-Ball! W-Water Ball!"
She desperately hurled all her spells at him, but Eric quickly and calmly dodged the water attacks. He coated his fists in flames and punched through her barrier.
Without pausing, he cast his fire spell, "Fire Ball." The spell struck the Water Mage girl's hand, and she screamed in pain.
"Kyaahh!? H-hot! Hoott! Huh-"
The girl was startled because when she looked ahead, Eric had already vanished. But she felt someone hugging her tightly from behind, then shuddered when she realized who was holding her.
"Clench your teeth, little girl."
"W-wait, what are you doing-!?"
Eric squeezed her and lifted her up, then slammed the poor girl backward, delivering a powerful German suplex so hard that the impact of her body echoed loudly and created a small fissure in the ground.
Everyone who saw Eric treat the girl like a worthless sack was shocked and stunned, while the two remaining challengers could only stand frozen as they watched their three teammates get wiped out by him.
"Let's finish this." Eric silently kneaded a thick flame in his hands. He repeatedly opened and closed his hands with the fire, then assumed a shooting stance like an archer.
The mana he released was potent enough to be felt by many of the students watching, especially the two challengers still standing.
"Fuga"
A massive blast of fire roared toward the standing challengers. Before they could dodge, they were engulfed by the explosion. Smoke and dust billowed high into the air, and everyone watching could feel the slight tremor caused by the blast.
Once the smoke and dust began to clear, the results of the attack became visible. The assassin's eyes rolled back, unconscious on the ground. Meanwhile, the swordsman had somehow managed to survive using his sword technique, though his entire body was covered in soot, and he knelt, wheezing profusely.
Eric whistled in admiration, seeing that the brat had survived his attack. "I'm impressed, but you sure you want to continue this?"
Flames began to ignite from his feet. Seeing this, the swordsman's eyes widened. He felt he could no longer hold on and dropped his sword. "I-I-I surrender…"
The swordsman fell flat on the ground, and the courtyard was enveloped in silence. Eric shouted at the referee, who stood there dumbfounded.
"Dumbass, you blind or what?"
"O-o-oh! Th-the winner! Eric Ostheno!"
The referee announced the winner, but there were no cheers or applause—only dead silence. The students who had watched the fight were jolted out of their delusion: the Eric they saw now was no longer the weak loser, he had sharpened his fangs.