The campus was buzzing the day after my breakthrough. After all, the 'Broken Hero' had become stronger than the real heroes. Not that I'd been referred to by that nickname at all recently, but it was still a known fact that I had a Level Cap. But I still needed more, and to do that I needed another situation like what had happened in the library. But it's not a common occurrence, so I would have to create that situation myself.
I heard a clamor of footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Jasmine, Aliya, and Elizabeth running towards me. Jasmine's face flickered with many different emotions, each one appearing for just a moment before being pushed out by another. When they finally caught up to me, Jasmine didn't stop, instead she plowed into me grasping me close in a hug. The flickers of relief and happiness on her face were quickly replaced by tears that streamed down her cheeks as she burrowed her face into my chest.
I wrapped one arm around her waist and used the other to pat her on the head. Her behavior reminded me of her feelings towards me. I wasn't one hundred percent sure that she liked me in that way, but she definitely was more than a friend. Sorry Gordon, but I'm going to be stealing your girl. I apologized mentally to my friend back on Earth. But this was something necessary, so I had no guilt.
I moved my hand from her head down to her cheek, caressing her lightly, before wiping the tears off her face. "Jasmine," I whispered into her ear, my hot breath on her neck. I felt her stiffen, and her breathing became slightly erratic. I smirked at her reaction. "Thank you, for everything." She lowered her bright red face, trying to hide her embarrassed expression behind her hair, but she didn't pull away from me.
"Ahem." Thomas cleared his throat, breaking Jasmine out of her embarrassed trance. She quickly let go of me before steeling herself and looking up at me. She met my eyes with a smile, beaming, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"You've worked hard." She said, still maintaining eye contact. "Good work, Caesar." I nodded, smiling back at her, before reaching over and ruffling her hair. Thomas rolled his eyes as he looked on at us, before finally interrupting us once more.
"Yeah, yeah, enough flirting. It's almost time for class, let's not be late." He spoke with a bored expression and tone, but the slight smile on his face betrayed his thoughts. I chuckled and began to follow him towards the classroom. Jasmine, on the other hand, was bright red once more, stuttering something under her breath. It looked like her brain had short circuited when Thomas mentioned flirting.
How cute.
Aliya and Elizabeth both comforted her while pulling her along to the classroom. Despite Thomas's worries, we arrived at the classroom ten minutes early. I think he was just trying to force us to stop making a scene in the middle of a hallway. Or maybe he was jealous, either way it didn't matter to me. We walked through the doors and were met with hushed whispers and fleeting stares. Well, the stares were mostly focused on me, with a few drifting towards Jasmine. Gossip traveled faster than our feet did apparently.
Still, I didn't mind these stares. They were different from the ones that had stemmed from Alex's nickname. Instead of pity, there was respect, so I stood tall with my chest puffed outwards. For the first time since entering this Academy, I felt like an actual student.
Of course, there's no way I'd be able to bask in my glory for long. A group of six people walked up to me, headed by Cameron and Alex. It was, of course, the six other heroes. I sighed preemptively, I knew this was going to happen but I still didn't want to deal with it.
"Yo, dipshit, how are you feeling, you were pretty beat up after our spar yesterday." He spoke with a taunting smirk, his words sounded as if he was worried about me, but everyone knew the true meaning behind his statement. I was about to jab him back with my words before an idea occurred to me.
I bowed towards Cameron. "Yes, I am okay. In fact, let me thank you for that, it helped me break my Level Cap, and, as you can see, I have no more injuries." I straightened as I spoke, motioned towards my fully healed body. I realized that this was a good opportunity to cause a misunderstanding that would work in my favor. If they believed that I broke the Level Cap thanks to a spar, they wouldn't be suspicious of me for awakening under mysterious circumstances. "I would love to have another spar in the near future to pay you back for this favor, maybe during swordsmanship class?"
I spoke with a friendly smile, my eyes twinkling innocently. It really did seem like I wanted to thank him, and whispers about my thoughtfulness started to float around the room. The overall atmosphere of the classroom had made it very difficult for him to refuse my request. He bit his lip, I could tell what he was thinking. He didn't want to fight me yet, because he had no idea what my level or stats were, so he wanted to observe me first. But I wasn't going to let him do that, I wanted to crush him as soon as possible.
I had spent the entirety of last night accustoming myself to my new stats, training to be able to control my newfound strength and speed. Of course, one night was not enough to fully accustom myself to it, I was still somewhat awkward at my highest speeds, but even my awkward movements would be enough to overpower him. After all, the gap in our stats had swapped in my favor. The very same stat advantage he had before now belonged to me.
"Right, yeah, sure. Let's do that." Cameron spoke nervously, earning him a glare from Alex who was standing next to him. She kicked his shin in annoyance before turning towards me, sneering.
"Just because you've gained a few levels, doesn't mean you'll be able to fight us on even ground. You are and always will be a 'Broken Hero' that's beneath us." Her words, no matter how barbed, couldn't get to me anymore. But that didn't mean I enjoyed hearing her contempt.
I'll have to teach her a lesson too.
I smiled, hiding my inner thoughts. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." My smile didn't falter as I spoke those ominous words, before turning and walking away towards my seat, whistling a carefree tune. Today was going to be fun, I couldn't wait.
My classes passed by quickly, my excitement and happiness towards today was rubbing off on others. Every class I was in was a joyous one, with laughter and congratulations all over. Until, finally, it was time for my swordsmanship class. I made sure to rush over as soon as I could, arriving several minutes early, in order to speak with Oephilia. I practically busted down the door to the arena, beelining towards Oephilia who was standing in the shade preparing for today's class. She looked at me in surprise before smiling.
"Hey brat, I heard some interesting rumors today. Is it true?" She spoke first as I approached, noticing the bright smile on my face. She scoffed and smirked slightly in amusement at my apparent happiness.
"Yes, I broke through yesterday. But I'll explain later. First, I need a favor." I didn't want to brush her off, but we didn't have enough time to talk about things right now. I needed her approval for the spar between me and Cameron, and it wasn't something I could ask during class as I wouldn't want to disrupt her teaching. "Can you allow me and Cameron to spar together?"
Oephilia raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You and Cameron, eh? Are you sure you can win? You just broke through the Cap, you might not be able to use your stats to their fullest." She looked slightly concerned as she spoke, watching my expression fully.
"Yes, I will win. It's true that I'm still awkward, but I've become accustomed enough to be able to fight. And we both know that Cameron lacks in swordsmanship." Oephilia nodded. It was true, Cameron wasn't talented in swordsmanship, not even in the slightest. He was dead average in terms of talent, but he put in too little effort to even be average. He instead relied on leveling up and overpowering his opponent with stats.
Considering he was one of the highest levels in the class, the strategy worked pretty well, but now that I was higher than him in stats and level it would work against him. My sword was the opposite of his, while he had focused on stats and brute force, I had trained to make the most of what little I had. Learning techniques and strategies to make up for my small stats. Where he had trained to dominate the weak, I trained to challenge the strong. I was by no means a master swordsman, but I was far better than him.
"Okay, permission granted. I'll use this as a learning experience for the others and have them spectate. It'll be fun." She put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "We'll have to talk later, we can do it before we do our individual training later." I nodded and she walked off. Class was going to begin soon, so I scurried over to follow her. I licked my lips as I watched everyone enter. These were the same students that had watched me get my ass beat over and over again in spars, some of them had even been the ones to do it.
Now these students were going to be the witnesses towards my newfound strength. I smiled, a simple, menacing smile, as I walked towards them, joining the group as class started. They all seemed wary of me, aside from Jasmine, her friends, and Thomas. My request to spar had caused a stir amongst everyone in the class. They knew my history with Cameron, he was always the one who gave me the worst beating. Even though he was holding back in front of the women, he still went further than anyone else did when it came to sparring with me. They whispered amongst themselves, I only heard snippets.
"...He just passed his Level Cap. Does he really think he can win?..."
"...Cameron is ruthless, I feel he got too cocky after finally leveling…"
"...Nah, he's so dead. Cameron's not gonna hold back…"
They were underestimating me. That's fine, it didn't matter. In fact, it might work in my favor. The shock value of the match might just increase because of this. I smiled, content with the events happening around me.
"Ahem!" A loud voice cut through the whispers. Oephilia stood before us with a frown on her face. The voices quickly went quiet, leaving only silence before her. Those who had rebelled against her at the beginning were thoroughly punished, so no one dared to act against her now. "Alright! Today's an easy day for most of you, since two students have graciously volunteered to be sparring opponents today. Caesar, Cameron, both of you come forward."
I walked forward, the students in front of me moving out of the way quickly. My smile never left my face, in fact it was growing at every moment. "Alright, the rest of you stand back and analyze the fight. Think about what you would have done and how you would react to their moves. No slacking!" The students quickly backed away, making a makeshift circle around me and Cameron with their bodies. I smiled, this would make sure neither of us could escape the fight.
"Now, Cameron, Caesar, take a few steps away from each other. Remember, this is a spar. We have healers on standby, but no killing blows, understood?" She looked at each of us intently, waiting for our response. We both nodded under her gaze, Cameron nervously, me, confidently. "Good, then… Begin!"