Viswa is standing in an empty patch within the Circle 1 Forest.
He didn't find any traces of humans or beasts nearby. It is a relatively secluded area, but at the same time not that deep.
Mr. Guide is floating in front of him,
[You started cultivating. Good. Now, let's start with your combat training.
Back on earth, you guys depend a lot on the hot weapons that you created. Here, it wouldn't be possible With enough cultivation level, all kinds of weapons could be bypassed. Of course, you could make some guns or explosives with the resources available here.
But you are not such a well-rounded genius like another guy I know. So, I don't want you to waste your time on it.
We will be focusing on your strengths.
You have a decent foundation on hand-to-hand combat. We will build on it. Your fists, palms, fingers, kicks, knees, head, and then your grappling and most important of all, your movement, we will train every aspect of your hand-to-hand combat.
As you can see right now, in your skills you have hand-to-hand combat as a single skill. It is like that because, you are not that great in any of these skills, but you have some foundation in every one of them and they bundled together to form it.
We will train individually until every single skill will be unbundled and then become proficient in them.]
Viswa nodded and started stretching.
"So, what are we going to train in now?"
[Hold your horses numbskull. I am not done yet. Before we dive deep into training, you need to know all things that you need to train in. I only said about hand to hand combat now.
This will give you a decent foundation to attack people within your arm's reach. That is a very close space though.
As I said, you need a strength that overpowers everyone else and you need to be prepared to face all kinds of enemies and you should be able to kill in all kinds of situations.
So, apart from hand-to-hand combat, the next thing you are going to learn is knife combat. This is one skill you are decent at. It is an instant kill method within your arm's reach.
Then, you are going to learn a bladed weapon like a sword or a saber, you can pick one. Then, we will move on to a staff weapon. That gives you a decent range around you. You can pick a staff weapon you like and we can train with it. Spear, Bo Staff, halberd, trident, whatever you like.
Finally, you are going to move on to long-range weapons. Throwing knives, darts or stars, even needles are fine. You pick. And of course, you need to learn archery as well.]
Mr. Guide said in a single breath. He was sure that Viswa is going to interfere with his stupid mouth, so he decided to just unload everything.
Meanwhile, Viswa's jaw almost hit the floor.
[What the hell? You are looking stupider than before. Close your bloody mouth.]
Viswa came back to his senses and hurriedly closed his mouth.
"Mr. Guide. Are you sure I can learn all these things? They are very delicate art forms that need impeccable discipline and time. How can I learn so many things?"
[Stop being so dramatic. I know you have gotten an empty drum for a brain. But you are not the first human to be well-rounded. And I don't want you to be the best in everything, but you should be capable of taking out the best of the best in every possible scenario.
So, you have to train and it starts now.]
Mr Guide snapped his fingers and with a bright light, he grew into a fifteen-year-old boy that has a build similar to Viswa. He still had his suit on.
He loosened his tie a bit and snapped once again.
A square that double the size of a boxing ring appeared.
"First of all, let's train your movement technique. Your agility is your worst attribute right now. So, this training will help you improve your agility and also teach you how to use your agility to maximum. Of course, every training will help your endurance.]
Viswa looked at the square in puzzlement.
Mr. Guide smiled and said.
[Now, we are going to play a game of tag. Within this square, you can move as you like and I will try to catch you. For thirty minutes, you have to keep on dodging me and if I don't catch you, you pass.
But if I catch you, then you fail the round and we have to start the thirty minutes from the start.
Once you pass this round, we will go to the next, in which you are going to try to catch me, while I dodge and evade.
Same rules. Thirty minutes, pass. Fail, start again.
If you catch me in those thirty minutes, we will move to the third round. We will change the size of the playing field a bit and continue.
Understood?]
"Yes, Sir."
Viswa got ready.
[I am using a body that has the exact same attributes as yours. So, don't complain.]
As soon as those words left his mouth. Mr Guide made his move.
His body leaned forward and Viswa stepped to his right, but before he knew, Mr. Guide is actually standing right in front of his new position and he was caught.
Viswa was dumbfounded.
[Don't just look at where my head is. My head leaned forward and my arms were extended, but I didn't move my feet. Only leaped when I am sure of your move.
Don't move prematurely. Only move when you are necessary. For all you know, I am not even trying to touch you.
Let's go again.]
Just like that a very frustrating training has started.
While Viswa and the guide are playing tag, somewhere deep in the cosmos, there is a movie theatre where the god is watching all of this on his screen.
He is munching some popcorn and he even has some company.
A woman sat beside him and she is also wearing some modern attire while sipping on some coke through a straw.
"I still don't understand why picked that guy.
He is so vanilla in the words of earthlings. All his life, he only worked based on the restrains placed on him by the rules. He never committed any crimes and he never rebelled against anything. What drew your attention?
For your mission in the Asura World, you should definitely have a rebellious figure.
See, even after so many days in this new world, he barely did anything. He almost died in the hands of such a talentless guy too."
God just smiled at her and said.
"He is working on his own pace.
You are right, he did live with rules. That is because he wanted to be a soldier and he took his role seriously. Now he is going to live through the rules of this academy because, he is a student there. But he wouldn't be like that for long.
He would just be a guy who is on a mission in Asura world.
And in Asura World, there is only one rule at the moment. The rule of strength. His restraints will be gone.
You also know that these people in Asura world are all cocky, abrasive and so full of themselves because of this rule of strength. When this guy is placed in such a situation, there would be one specific quality that would be highlighted.
Trust me, that quality is entertaining as hell.
In fact, if my guess is right, you would see a sample of it very very soon. You will understand what I am saying."
"I hope so. Because there are worlds out there for me to destroy. And you promised this would be entertaining."
"Of course, of course. This character might have started mellow, but he would soon reveal his true colors. You must have already noticed it during the ceremony."
"Alright, don't do a hard sell."
Back in Black Sand Academy.
Viswa kept on training for hours. Until sun went down and it is almost time for dinner. He kept on playing tag until all of his energy was consumed and he also got a hang of using spiritual energy a bit more as he saw Mr. Guide using it.
In the breaks, he kept on cultivating which increased his recovery speed by a very large margin.
After a whole day of training is over, he went back to the dormitory.
While he is only his way, at his room Erin, Jiva and the other two orphanage members are all gathered.
They are looking a pile of envelopes that are in front of them and every one of them had a number on them.
"All of these came in just a few hours?" Jiva asked as he looked at them. He gulped nervously.
Erin looked at them with a smug face.
"Serves him right."
The remaining three looked at him with a frown as soon as he said those words.
"Erin, what do you mean by those words? He might not be close to you, but we were all on the same boat until yesterday. We are from the same place, we need to stick together. You might not like him, but you shouldn't bash him with words like that."
Jiva said in a stern voice.
Erin blushed a bit in embarrassment, but it turned to anger as he remembered Viswa's indifference towards him.
"It is not enough for us to treat him like that. He should treat us like equals as well. He is way too arrogant and since he became a rank 1 or whatever, he didn't put us in his eyes."
*knock* *knock*
At this moment, there is a knock on the door. Everyone turned only to see Viswa standing there. He is soaked in sweat and covered in dirt. They could actually smell the sweat from there. He looked beyond fatigued.
Viswa's gaze got locked onto Erin.
He stepped into the room and said.
"I will let this go, this one time. If you want to say something about me, make sure that I don't hear about it."
His words were calm, but there is a weird glint in his eyes that made everyone understand that he is not joking the least.
"Viswa, he didn't mean…" Jiva was about to cover for Erin.
But Viswa's gaze stopped him.
"Jiva, you are a good guy, a friendly person. So, I will give you some friendly advice. Don't always try to cover for others. Once you got a habit of it, one day you will have to take responsibility for your actions.
A person's tolerance is unpredictable after all, and who knows when someone runs out of it and makes people hold accountable for their words."
As he spoke, he entered the room and squatted down to take a look at the envelopes.
They are all addressed to him.
He opened the one with the number 1 on it.
It is a dual notice. A guy who is ranked 10th in the freshman test is challenging him to a duel.
He opened another one, and it is also a duel notice. There are 45 Duel notices in total. And only three of them are top ten and five of them are in top twenty.
The rest of them are all ranked beyond twenty. But none of them are ranked lower than 80.
Viswa collected all the envelopes and placed them in his cupboard.
As if nothing happened, he went for a shower and came back. Jiva immediately spoke up.
"Viswa, you need to reject those letters immediately. When the student union member came here, he said that there is a clause in a notice that if you didn't explicitly reject it, you have to fight.
It seems like everyone added that clause.
He even said that the student union is active throughout the night. Let's go and reject them. These are all deliberate actions of these shameless instructors. They all want to use you as a stepping stone."
Viswa stretched lazily. His whole body is sour and he still didn't manage to even clear one round in this movement training.
He is very frustrated.
"Stepping Stone? Me?"
Viswa shook his head and said.
"I need to eat first. Then I will go and take care of these things. I am starving."
With that, he just went to the cafeteria.
There is a surprising element in this cafeteria too. There are special meals for the top ten ranked people of the circle.
Of course, Viswa is still currently ranked 11. So, he cannot have that meal yet. But he saw the top ten ranked enjoying the meal blissfully.
Another surprising thing is these top ten guys are not actually cocky.
It is not that hard to understand. The only reason they are top ten currently is because they joined a year ago and their talent is very low. They are the only ten that still stayed in Circle 1. Sooner or later the freshmen will just overtake them.
Viswa just sat in one corner and ate. The food here is much more delicious compared to the Orphanage and he could feel the spiritual energy from it. The food is definitely made from half-evolved spiritual beasts.
He ate with gusto and went for a second bowl gleefully and then for the third and finally, when he went for the fourth bowl and was walking back to the table, he sensed something and took a step back.
A bowl of soup flew over and fell in the spot a foot away from him.
The soup spilled and fell all over his shoes. Everyone snickered.
Viswa looked at the direction the soup came from. A guy fell on the ground with his face first. He hurriedly stood up and looked at Viswa.
"I.. I am Sorry."
But Viswa didn't care about it, he looked at the person sitting on the table beside the guy who fell.
Everyone at that table, including this guy are all laughing, and looking at Viswa's gaze, he stood up and walked towards him.
"What the fuck are you looking at? Do you want to do something? If you do, accept the duel request I sent you. You fucking bastard."
Viswa just looked at him coldly.
This guy is the first person on the list.
He just walked past him and went to his table. Ate his food and went back to his dorm.
"This fucking freeloader, he ate four bowls."
"Of course, what do you expect from a low life? I am still disgusted by the fact that I have to stay in the academy with him for over three years."
"You are right. Maybe we should find a way to kick that fucker out."
"Well, I heard a lot of people sent duel requests and he only has this night to reject them. I am sure those people will show him his place."
Viswa just heard all these jeers at him and acted like nothing happened. He is unfazed and unbothered.
After he went to his dorm, he removed his shoes and placed them under his bed without cleaning them. He even told Erin to make sure that they are not disturbed.
Then he collected all the duel notices before he walked to the Student Union Building.
There are not many people by the time he went there.
Only five people sitting in a large room.
One of them is standing and arguing with the president and he knows that person.
"President, I want permission to look into this deeply. Or I won't leave the union room and I wouldn't let anyone go as well."
It is none other than Teja.
"Teja, it might have just been a glitch. Why are you going to be so far that freeloader? He already acted cocky in front of the headmaster. All instructors gave out a word to their students that they should teach this guy a lesson.
He won't even survive for long here.
Even if it is not a glitch, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Let him be."
A woman who sat on the side said loudly.
*knock* *knock*
Everyone turned to look at Viswa, who is holding a stack of envelopes.
His gaze is locked on that woman before he turned to look at Teja.
"It seems like there is not much progress on the issue that I raised. I wonder, is there any use to raise complaints to the student union then?"
Everyone's gaze turned cold. Except for the president who just looked at him calmly.
That guy has a bald head and he is built huge. He is a third-circle student and he had this calm aura around him.
"You know how to piss off people really well. You have a talent there."
He said calmly and then turned to look at the letters.
"Seems like you are here to deal with the envelopes. You picked the fight you want?"
"Yes."
"Good, which one."
"All of them."
There is a pin-drop silence in the room.
Viswa walked forward and placed them on the table.
"I hope the student union can help arrange the matches in the order of the notices issued, in the following week. It doesn't matter how many fights there are in a day, I would be taking those fights.
And there are two clauses that I would like to add for every one of these fights."
The president is the first to recover. He asked in a solemn tone.
"What would that be?"
"There is no surrender in the middle of a match. Unless one of us in unconscious or one of us is out of bounds, the match shall go on.
Another clause is that they have to stake all of their resources in this. After all, if I lose I would be giving up my rank and in turn, they will get more resources, but if I win, there is no real incentive apart from keeping my rank as it is.
So, I want one-third of their resources at stake. If they are okay with this, I will accept the fight."
The president looked into Viswa's eyes. He noticed a weird glint. The glint was not there when Viswa entered the room.
"You better think about what the consequences be. You have 45 applications. You have to fight 6-7 fights a day to go through all of them in the next week.
Even if some people withdrew from the fights because of your clauses, you will have at least five fights a day for seven days straight.
Are you sure, you want to do this?"
"Yes, I am a hundred percent sure.
Please let me know of the fight schedule. From dawn to dusk, as long as there are no public combat classes going on, I am available for a fight.
And please make the guy who ranked tenth be the first match tomorrow."
With those words, he left the student union.
That night, the president called the rest of the Circle 2 members of the union and sent acceptance notices to all the people who issued the challenges. The news spread like wildfire and every student understood, there is going to be some great excitement waiting for them the next day.
They couldn't get any sleep.
But Viswa just cultivated until midnight and went to have a great sleep.
The next morning, he woke up before dawn and finished his morning round of workout and cultivation. He came back to his dorm right after sunrise.
Teja is waiting for him there.
"38 people accepted your terms and your first match in half an hour with the guy who ranked tenth among freshmen.
The matches will all take place in the training area of the Circle 1 dormitories. You should be there by the match time."
Teja turned around to leave, but he stopped and said.
"I looked into the goat situation. There are indeed some tamperings with the barrier. I will make sure you give you an explanation regarding this."
"Are you sure? It seems like the unspoken rules take precedent to the actual rules here."
"No, anybody that is part of the Black Sand Academy should follow the Black Sand Academy rules. Those rules are placed for a certain purpose and I will make sure they are followed."
With that, he left.
Viswa rested a bit as he looked at the schedule given by Teja.
It is a very detailed plan. It looked like a calendar of a very busy entrepreneur.
He nailed the plan to his cupboard and then took the shoes with the soup on them. He wore them and went to the dormitory training area.