"You guys look familiar.", Arthur said as he looked at the young men surrounding him. They were of his age.
'According to their body language, they think I am an easy target. I do not see any weapons on but I believe those will be in their storage rings. I can't be complacent either.', he observed calmly.
"Aren't you guys from Class D?", he asked.
One of them, probably the leader, stepped forward and smiled, "Why yes. We are indeed from Class D. My name is Ren Valis and these are my friends.", he gestured to the others.
"Valis? So you're a noble.", Arthur said, "What do you want?", he asked.
Ren smiled, "To create an example."
"A what?"
"You misfits from Special Class A are getting bolder nowadays. You may have befriended Class S and Class A but that doesn't change the fact that you are trash.", Ren cracked his knuckles, "So Somebody has to take out the trash."
Arthur just chuckled, "Doesn't that make you a garbage collector? That would be pretty unflattering of a noble."
"At first I thought you came to confront me because your crush somehow managed to fall for me. I just learned that I am one of the top five hottest guys in the academy."
Ren was taken aback by this, "What? No. Of course, you're a pretty boy. It's a shame I have to ruin that nice face. But that's not why I came here.", a twisted smile formed on his lips, "I know who you are."
Arthur narrowed his eyes, "Do you?"
Ren smiled, "Yes. You are the only one in the academy without an attribute. In this world, not having an attribute is unheard of. But you managed to do just that!", he laughed and the others joined in.
Arthur sighed, "That would make me weak in your eyes. So I am the first target in your crusade of subjugating Special Class A?"
"You are smart. I give you that. Yes, you are the first one.", Ren spread his arms, "Trash like you should know their places."
Ren suddenly heard a chuckle and soon Arthur started laughing.
"What is so funny!", he demanded angrily. Arthur held to his sides as he laughed.
"Oh, my goodness. I am amused by the fact that there are idiots like you out there. The world is indeed a big place.", he chuckled.
"I knew that Special class A was not exactly popular. You're not the first one to call us misfits. But you are the first to declare a crusade on us.", he continued to laugh.
Ren's lackeys looked at him with concern. This guy doesn't know what happens when Ren becomes enraged.
Ren was livid, "Shut up! I was hoping to give you some broken bones but you have gone too far. Oh I am going to kill you.", he gritted his teeth.
Arthur stopped laughing and looked at Ren, "Kill me?", he asked in a serious and cold voice.
Ren was taken aback by this shift in demeanor. But he swiftly recovered and smiled viciously, "Yes, you heard right. The Lost Woods is huge. A long time will pass before your body will be found. I'll arrange it in such a way that it would look like you were attacked by beasts."
"We would just go for your other friends to make an example. Besides, no one would ask about your death because you are a nobody.", he taunted. Ren was confident again.
It happened fast.
Ren noticed his lackeys looking at him with expressions of horror. "What are you guys looking at?"
One of them pointed a shaking finger at him, "Ren. Look."
Confused, Ren looked down at his body and his eyes widened. Three black knives were sticking out of him. Two pierced his knees and one was deep into his shoulder.
Then the pain came. It was overwhelming. He felt the knives entering deep into his body. This was a pain he never felt and it was agonizing.
But before he could scream, a hand covered his mouth from behind and he felt cold metal touch his throat.
"Shhhh. Don't move or I might accidentally kill you.", Arthur whispered. His voice sent shivers down Ren's spine.
He felt a cold presence and couldn't move. An inescapable fear crept into his heart. He felt icy fingers wrap around his warm beating heart. Even the pain due to the knives faded under this feeling.
Even the others felt it. One started shaking with fear.
"You should know that when you threaten to kill someone, you must have the will to do it.", Arthur said in a cold voice as he pressed the knife into Ren's throat. A single drop of blood trickled down from the blade.
"If this was a battlefield, you would already be dead if you kept on running that mouth of yours.", Arthur said as he released Ren who fell to the ground, breathing hard. The pain came back to him.
"You will pay for this.", the latter said with pain.
"Ho? You are still having the energy to talk back?.", Arthur asked him. One of Ren's lackeys shook himself out of the trance and rushed at Arthur, taking a sword out of his storage ring.
"You bastard!", he yelled and attacked the misfit.
Arthur flipped his knife and blocked the strike. He then smacked the guy's ear with his other hand, knocking him out cold.
He felt a shift in the air and jumped back just as a powerful gust of wind passed by and made a huge gash on a tree.
'An Air Code.', he noted as he scooped some dirt from the ground and threw it at a big guy who came at him with a dagger. His opponent flinched and swatted away the dirt, but not before Arthur had stabbed him in the foot with his knife.
He dropped his weapon and cried out in pain. Arthur dealt a swift punch and brought the big guy down.
"Three down. Three more to go."
Arthur observed his opponents as they surrounded him. Two of them were holding swords while one was holding a club.
The one with the club bellowed and came at him, enveloping his club with flames. Arthur feigned a backward jump. This made the big guy attack fiercely from the side.
But Arthur quickly leaned forward and ducked the attack. He felt the heat of the flames above his head and struck the big guy in the gut with the pommel of Ghost.
The big guy winced as Arthur jumped to the side and pulled back the fingers on his free hand. Suddenly the knives that struck Ren were pulled out from his body with a cry of pain.
Arthur had connected the knives with extremely thin strings of magia. He learned this trick from Vesta after she became a Shadow. The only difference was that Vesta used strings of condensed fire instead of magia.
But Arthur's control of magia was so precise that he was able to manifest invisible strings of magia which he can connect to his knives and control like a puppet master. So far he had only managed to use the strings on small weapons and it required a lot of focus to maintain them.
Good thing he can multitask efficiently. His Mindscape is very stable. He's planning on using liquid magia as an alternative after mastering it.
Sure it requires a lot of focus but it would become easy when he masters it. That's what Seventeen told him.
Arthur dodged another Air Code. He flicked his fingers and the three knives, coated with magia, pierced the shoulders of his three opponents.
He ran to the big guy who was on his knees and trying to remove the knife from his shoulder. Arthur jumped on the guy, kicked him on the head, and launched himself into the air.
Arthur took out Ghost from his belt. He accumulated magia into the sword. Soon it was glowing a bright blue and he twisted in midair. He pointed Ghost at the ground and aimed between his enemies.
"Night style fourth form: Blackout"
He plunged the sword into the ground and released the accumulated magia in a powerful shockwave. It shook the ground and blew away the three lackeys, instantly knocking them out. A few trees were almost flattened by the force.
It was over. Six guys lay on the ground, either unconscious or groaning in pain.
"Six down.", Arthur said as he sat down. The thrill of battle faded and exhaustion came over him. He winced and looked at his hand, the poison had spread a lot because he exerted himself.
"Damn. You were really holding back huh?", a familiar voice said from above him. Arthur looked and saw Ray and Rhea sitting among the branches overhead.
"I told you he's strong.", Ray said with a proud expression. "How long were you guys up there?", Arthur asked.
Both of them landed in front of him, "You didn't show yourself after luring those ember newts. Also, I heard a cry of pain around this area. By the time we came you were already wiping the floor with these guys.", Rhea said.
"But who are they?", she asked Arthur. He shrugged, "They're from Class D and tried to make trouble for me."
"How?", He heard a pained voice behind him. It was Ren.
"I don't get it. You don't have an attribute. Yet you beat all of us. Just how?"
Arthur turned to look at him, "You underestimated me. Being a student of Special class A doesn't mean one is weak. That is why we are getting along with classes S and A because they know. Special class A is unpredictable. You just don't know when we will lose control."
"My father will hear about this. He is the head of the Valis noble family. You will not get away with this.", Ren threatened as he lay on the forest floor in pain, his knees and shoulder bleeding.
"I don't care.", Arthur said and tapped one of Ren's lackeys, "Oi. Get up and heal the others. I know you're a healer since you tried to close your wound the moment my knife hit you."
"Alright then. I hope you won't give us more trouble.", he pulled out his knives from the fallen guys and waved cheerfully. "Goodbye.", he said and left with Ruth and Ray.
The walk back to Cardinal Town took a bit longer since they had to go around the crater with the ember newts. Arthur had enough fiery beasts for the day.
As they made their way through the Lost Woods, Vesta appeared beside Arthur. It was so sudden that the three of them almost jumped in surprise.
"Jeez, Vesta! Please don't scare me like that!"
Vesta just grinned, "That was a good smackdown. Too bad I wasn't able to join the fight."
"That was a good thing. Otherwise, your presence would've given away the fact that I am from an Arken Family.", Arthur replied.
Vesta pouted, "Bah. You are no fun."
"So this is the Firedancer. I am Rhea Sylran. Pleased to meet you.", Rhea introduced herself with a smile.
The Shadow nodded, "Vesta Freydis. Nice to meet you. I know who you are."
Rhea chuckled, "As expected of a Shadow. You are well informed."
"Speaking of information.", Ray intervened, "Isn't the Valis family good at collecting intel?"
Arthur nodded, "Yep. Though they are not as good as the Sylrans, they still do a pretty good job."
"That Valis kid said something about telling his father.", Rhea recalled, "Do you think lord Valis would gather information about you?"
Arthur smiled mischievously, "I guess. But I believe he's in for a shock."
Vesta looked at him, "Should I go and give a warning to the head of the Valis family?", she asked. Arthur thought about it, "I guess you could. Is that what a Shadow is supposed to do in this situation?"
Vesta nodded, "It's been specified."
"Sure then. Give lord Valis a warning on behalf of the Night Family."
"Understood.", Vesta said and disappeared into the shadows. Ray watched as the end of her red scarf disappeared into blackness.
"Looks like that Valis guy is in for a nasty surprise."