'After becoming an Early-stage Earth level, the book in my head gave me full access to the knowledge of new techniques. It only happened at the Late-stage of the Human level before... I wonder how powerful the moves of the last existent levels will be... But for now, I should focus on the situation I'm in,' Arslan thought as he looked at Troy, who was still holding him above the ground,
'Damn, my view is becoming blurry... my right eye is covered in blood. I can't allow myself to pass out at this moment.' He was having a hard time breathing due to Troy's hand choking him. He felt as if time slowed down. His eyes were half-closed and Troy was watching him with his uneasy smile,
'Tsk, he is so confident. Does he think he is so strong?' Arslan looked around him and saw 3 other disciples. He couldn't notice Elder Song, who was positioned behind Troy, whose robust body was like a mountain obstructing his sight,
'Should I use it?'
"Come on trash, fight a bit more. I want to see how strong your techniques are!" Troy said in complete confidence that Arslan's strength could have never rivaled him.
'...I can't stand it anymore.'
"What is it? Are you scared I would break you if-...?" Troy stopped talking as his body shivered for a moment due to Arslan suddenly looking straight into his eyes, 'Why... am I...?' He was confused by that sudden feeling.
'Darkness' domain.'
"YOU TWO, STOP!" Elder Song decided that it was the right moment to stop them as things were getting out of hand.
'Elder Song...?' Arslan thought as he heard his voice and saw him getting closer, 'Was he there the whole time?' He wondered as he noticed him coming out from behind Troy's back, 'For once he intervened at the right time... what was I thinking to do? Damn, I almost lost control.' The strong wind calmed down and the heat disappeared.
"Disciple Troy, release disciple Arslan Crimson immediately. You are taking it too far!" Elder Song said with his usual domineering tone of voice.
"Elder Song, in respect for your position I won't say anything, but this is a personal matter of the River family. If you were to meddle into our affairs, I would be obliged to send a complaint to the headmaster of the Academy." Troy said with a truce glare pointed at Elder Song.
"Till you are in this Academy, the family background doesn't count. You can't have a lawless fight with another disciple. If you want to fight him, go to the Reception Hall and challenge him in an official fight." Elder Song answered harshly. He couldn't tolerate another disciple not respecting his authority. The pressure he was exerting at that moment was suffocating for both Arslan and Troy.
Troy had to let Arslan's throat go as his strength dampened due to him not being able to breathe properly. Arslan fell to the ground and tried to stand up again, which was quite difficult considering Elder Song's aura,
'Again with this pressure. Tsk, he just likes to show off his power.' Arslan thought as he watched Elder Song.
After that brief moment, the pressure was lifted, and Troy was able to speak again,
"I will remember this Elder Song!" He said as he walked away angered, with his fists clenched and decisive steps.
Elder Song just looked at him going away and then looked back at Arslan. His body and disciple's light blue uniform were all dirty and his right arm got stained by the blood flowing out from his forehead,
"Can you get up by yourself?" He said smiling at him.
'Look at how satisfied he is for having put Troy in his place.' Arslan thought as he stood up on his feet. Before speaking, he swept away some of the dust on his clothes.
Elder Song felt as if he had to be wary about what Arslan would have said. It was the first time a disciple gave him that feeling. Indeed, Arslan's personality was that of a straight person, who didn't think too much about how to speak to someone else, except for difficult situations, usually regarding his sister. One thing was sure though, his respect had to be gained and not imposed.
"I'm surprised you intervened this time Elder Song... Last time you didn't do so."
"How dare you speak to an elder with such arrogance?! Cindy said in anger as she heard those preposterous words.
Arslan turned to his left and looked at her with a piercing gaze. He had never talked to her before, so it was quite strange for him to hear her lecturing him out of nothing. As he scanned her through his eyes from the head to the feet, he could notice she was a black-haired girl with a slender body. Her legs were long, but not enough for her to be as tall as Arslan himself.
"How I speak to Elder Song is not your problem. I have my reasons for that." Arslan answered without thinking twice.
"Hey! Don't you know who she is?" Jacob stepped in, as he couldn't tolerate Arslan's fearless attitude any longer. He was a bald guy, whose body was quite skinny despite his place in the ranking and he had a quite big nose surrounded by pimples, due to the puberty phase he was in. He wasn't handsome at all.
"Even Jacob decided to intervene?!" A disciple from the crowd said.
"Should I?" Arslan answered with a cold glare.
"Of course, you should. She is the first daughter of the house Karman, a tributary family of the Cloud family, one of the 4 Great families. But I'm not surprised by your ignorance. You are an orphan, after all, thus, it is obvious that you haven't been taught how to show respect to those of higher status than you," Jacob said as a grin appeared on his face.
Arslan's face became gloomy every time he was reminded of his parents' death, 'Why do they always have to bring this up?!'
Jacob walked in front of Cindy as if to protect her from him,
"It seems Troy's lesson wasn't enough. Maybe I should be the one to finish what he started," He continued with confidence that he could have beaten him easily. As he finished talking, he turned his head back to look at Cindy and winked at her,
"Don't worry Cindy, I will take care of him for you!"
"Thank you, Jacob, with your strength he will be subdued in a matter of seconds, hahaha." Both of them laughed as they thought that crushing him would have been as easy as killing a fly.
"Then it is true that Jacob is pursuing Cindy!" A voice from the crowd spoke.
"Yeah, he has been doing it for quite some time. Probably it is to create a union between his West family and the Karman one. Both of them are similarly strong and are both under the same Great family!" Another one replied.
In the meantime, more than half of the disciples that were in the Library, before the huge commotion, came outside to watch the fights. John didn't dare to intervene, as courage wasn't one of his best abilities. He couldn't stop being worried for Arslan because he knew better than anyone else how fierce Jacob would have become during a fight against someone weaker than him.
'He is just trying to hit on her while pushing me around. I don't want another fight. I just want to practice the new moves I unlocked. I just had the possibility to test the Darkness' domain once this night and still couldn't try the Steps Of Silence.' Arslan thought as he directed his attention to Elder Song who was a few meters from him to his right,
"Elder Song..."