I rushed forwards as soon as the fight began, copying Cameron's signature style of blitzing his opponent. Cameron had also done the same, but was surprised when I rushed as well. His surprise stiffened his reaction time, and he was only barely able to raise his sword in time to meet mine. The clash was a repeat of our previous spar, only with the sides being swapped. He was sent sliding backwards thanks to the weight of my blow. The shock on his face was evident, after all he was far stronger than me just a day ago. He had expected my strength to be about the same as his, not far higher. An involuntary smile rose on my face, I was enjoying his reactions.
I rushed forwards again, not allowing him to recover, and swung upwards. He met my swing again, this time more ready for it. But it didn't make a difference, he was sent flying into the air. I didn't allow him to land, using the momentum from my upwards swing, and the fact that he was currently airborne, to grab his arm and swing him over my head before slamming him into the ground.
It was a typical judo throw, one that I had seen many times on television, that Oephilia had taught me. The force of the impact into the ground caused the air to be forced out of Cameron's lungs with a gasp. He wasn't the only one who gasped. The people surrounding us also gasped, not expecting such a move. Cameron's eyes clouded in pain and that pain clearly rattled his brain as he didn't even think to try to get away from me. Not that he would be able to anyway, as I still had a firm grasp of his arm. I stomped my foot into his chest, partially to keep him on the ground, and partially to inflict more pain. But I wasn't too petty, this amount of pain and embarrassment was enough. I swiftly brought my sword forwards and aimed its point at his neck.
Oephilia shouted out. "Stop! Spar's over! Winner: Caesar!" The students around me looked shocked, none more so than Alex. She had a flabbergasted look on her face as she stared at Cameron lying on the ground. I smirked towards her as she finally peeled her eyes away from the defeated Cameron and looked up at me. Her eyes flickered in fear before she quickly looked downwards, avoiding my eye contact.
She was scared of me. It was a good start to her punishment, but I wasn't going to let her off with just that, her lesson was just beginning. I turned my gaze towards Jasmine, she was looking on in amazement. Out of all the students, she was the only one who seemed to expect me to win, so she wasn't shocked at my victory. She was only amazed at how easily I had won. I smiled and winked at her, causing a blush to break out on her face. Finally I looked towards Oephilia. She didn't look shocked, nor was she amazed. She simply had a satisfied smile on her face as she shot me a thumbs up with a wink of her own.
She was happy with my performance, which was good because I had learned the throw from her. She taught me many things I had seen before on television but didn't know how to do myself. It seemed that martial arts were the same no matter what world you were in.
Finally, the shock of the others started to wear off. They quickly moved forward, surging towards me like a wave, full of excitement and praise. Cameron was not popular with others, considering he was brutal in a spar even when he held himself back. But people were scared of his strength and his status as a Hero, and some girls seemed to enjoy his wild and dangerous nature.
I, on the other hand, was not disliked by others. I was on friendly terms with most of them, but they looked down on me because of my Level Cap. But now that the Level Cap was broken, and I easily overwhelmed Cameron, their opinions were rapidly shifting. It annoyed me a little that it took me breaking the Level Cap to stop them looking down on me, but it wasn't to the point that I needed to take revenge on any of them. The only ones that deserved that were Cameron, Alex, and their posse. And now that I had beaten Cameron down I knew who my next target would be.
"Silence!" Oephilia called out angrily. She hated disorders in her classes. "Enough with the celebrations, it's time for the lesson to continue. All of you, ten laps around the arena, then one hundred swings before the end of class. Once you're done, you are dismissed. Cameron, you're excluded, let's get you to the healers and then you can rest for what's left of today." The students all responded with words of acknowledgement before running off to start their laps. I followed the pack, completing the assigned exercises at a leisurely pace. After I finished, I waited at the exit for someone specific to come. She was always one of the last to finish anything physical related, so I had to wait a while for her to show up.
Finally she walked through the door, sweat dripping off her forehead. "Jezabel." I called out to her, the very girl who had helped me break through my Level Cap. She flinched in surprise, obviously not expecting me to be here.
"W-What do you want?" She spoke nervously, not looking into my eyes. I smiled, a predatory, malicious smile.
"Oh it's nothing big, I just need you to come with me for a bit. We need to talk, in private." She shuddered at my words. "How about we use the library sideroom?" Her shuddering stopped, replaced by her entire body stiffening.
"U-um, I t-think I'm a-actually b-busy right n-now…" She said as she started to back away from me, clearly trying to get out of this situation. If this had been before my Level Cap was broken, she wouldn't have been so scared, and instead she would have been the one doing the threatening. But, just like with Cameron, the roles were now swapped.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her back before quickly pinning her between me and the wall. I slammed my hand into the wall next to her head. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not as important as your talk with me, right?" I spoke while bringing my face even closer to hers. Our noses were practically touching as I stared into her trembling eyes.
"Y-yes," She managed to squeak out. I pulled away, not letting go of her arm, and began walking. She stumbled along with me, being pulled along by the arm that was in my grasp.
"Good." I spoke once we entered the library's side room, locking the door behind us. Neither me nor her had spoken during our walk to the library, she had simply followed me sullenly as we walked. The library was empty, as usual, and we were entirely alone.
She hugged herself closely as she stood in the middle of the room. I leaned my back against the door, trapping it shut. "S-so, what did you w-want to talk about?" She spoke after a few deep breaths to calm herself.
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You know what I want to talk about. In fact, we're in the same room that it happened in." I gestured to the room around me. It was the truth, I picked the same sideroom that she was in last night for us to talk in.
"R-right. That." She brought her hand to her mouth and bit on her fingernail. "U-um, can I ask for you to please keep it a secret. I a-already have people stare at me suspiciously because I don't talk t-to anyone."
"Hmm." I hummed, tilting my head and inspecting her face. She quickly shifted her gaze to her feet. I smiled, "But why should I? After all, your group of friends have been the ones bullying me all this time. So why should I not tell anyone?"
She froze up. "U-um, that's true b-but… Well…" She lost herself in thought. I let her think, I was interested in how she thought she would get out of this. "...I never said anything." She finally said, after a brief period of silence.
"Yes, but you never stopped them either."
"Neither did any of the other students in class!"
"But they weren't a part of the group like you!"
"B-but…"
She tried going back and forth with me, but it was of no use. She bit her fingernails harder, tearing off chunks and making the ends jagged. "Fine, you know what," She seemed to have steeled her resolve. She dropped her hand and spoke straight to me, maintaining eye contact. "Even if you tell everyone, they won't believe you. After all, you have no proof." She walked up and tried to push past me and go through the door.
I had been waiting for her to make that argument. I withstood her attempts to leave, continuing to lean against the door. "Are you sure?" I whispered into her ear. She froze at the sudden voice next to her, before recoiling slightly, backing away from both me and the door.
"What do you mean?" She spoke defiantly. She really did believe that even if I told everyone they wouldn't believe her.
"Think about it. Right now, I am the most famous student in the Freshman class. Anything I say, true or not, will be spread around campus instantly. It doesn't matter if they believe it to be true or not, or if I have evidence. It will still spread like fire, going from person to person until everyone, man or woman, would have heard at least one version of the story." Her face, once defiant, fell. She lowered her gaze once more. "You could try to deny it, and maybe you could convince a few people, but it wouldn't matter. That rumor would never die."
I spit the final nail in her coffin. She kept her gaze on the floor. "What do you want?" I smiled, a vicious, victorious smile. One that spread from ear to ear, gleaming white from my teeth.
I reached forwards, caressing her cheek with my hand. She flinched but didn't stop me. "First, get on your knees and kiss my feet in apology for your past actions." She shuddered but showed no signs of moving. I grabbed her chin forcefully with the hand that was just caressing her. "Now." I spoke while pulling down on her chin, forcing her to start kneeling.
She dropped to her knees after I released her chin, bowing low enough to kiss my shoes. "Both of them." I spoke as she began to raise her head again after kissing one of my feet. She shook for a moment before lowering herself again and kissing my other foot. "Good. Now, how about we repeat yesterday's encounter." She looked up at me in shock.
"U-um, what do you mean by that?" She spoke with a fearful expression, looking up from where she kneeled below me. I smiled kindly, patting her on the head.
"You know what I mean." I grabbed her by the hair, pulling her up from where she was on her knees. My kind smile and demeanor disappeared, replaced by a devilish smile and a dangerous glint in my eyes. "Strip."