Viswa looked at his opponent cautiously.
Right now, there are only ten people that could officially enter the Circle 1 Second half. At least that is the status before he left for the forest. And he is confident that it wouldn't change that easily.
So, there are ten possible suspects.
But he didn't have any encounters with them before. He didn't have any enmity with them. So, they could only be attacking him for some extra benefits from someone else. Of course, it is the case assuming that the other party belongs to Circle 1.
If it is a senior that came….
Viswa stuck that thought as soon as it came.
Circle 2 People are way too powerful. Viswa didn't manage to sense this guy until he reached that close to him, if he was really circle 2, he is sure he wouldn't have been able to dodge at all.
"What do you want from me?"
Viswa asked coldly. But there is no response from the other party.
He just lunged forward as he thrust the rapier towards Viswa's eyes.
Viswa dodged to the side and tried to dash forward. But of course, the other party wouldn't be that stupid as to let Viswa close in the distance that easily.
He pulled his rapier back and attacked Viswa, forcing him to dodge. The opponent strictly maintained the distance, he didn't let go of his advantage.
Viswa could only use his dodging ability to move around the sharp blade so that he won't get hurt. But this is making it impossible for him to reach the opponent.
After some thought, he looked around and looked at a tree nearby.
He smiled and started moving around. Soon, his back is against the tree trunk.
When the opponent stabbed his rapier forward, it went straight into the tree trunk with Viswa crouching down to the extreme.
He jumped up like a gazelle and closed the distance in. The opponent tried to pull the sword back, but to his surprise, it didn't come out.
Viswa closed it and threw his left hand.
Jabs.
One after another.
In one second four punches landed on the opponent. Two on his nose and two on the throat.
His grip on the rapier was loosened.
Viswa didn't let this chance go. His jabs went on again and again. In a rapid motion and this time they are mixed with spiritual energy.
The opponent let go of the sword. Blood started seeping out through the cloth that covered his mouth.
He looked at Viswa angrily with shock and surprise in the mix.
He took out a dagger and ran at Viswa.
This time, Viswa didn't need to be as careful as before. The other party's technique is clumsy and weak. He just casually dodged the attack, before he threw the jabs.
When the opponent swung the dagger, he crouched down and threw the jabs at the opponent's chest. All landed on the same spot with spiritual energy. The heart seemed to have stopped for a second as the opponent tried to take deep breaths.
Viswa was getting frustrated.
The other party is trying to kill him and his jabs are not exactly working like he wanted them to. He couldn't generate enough power to incapacitate the opponent and can only accumulate damage bit by bit.
After some thought, he made a decision. He constantly shifted his stance. One moment he is in an orthodox boxing stance throwing jabs with his left all of them are aimed at the opponent's left shoulder and collar bone.
When the opponent made large movements Viswa turned to his back and landed hits on the back of the shoulder blade making it crack.
In the same way, he switched to a southpaw stance and threw jabs and this time aiming at the right shoulder.
Front and back.
Once both the rapier and dagger were rendered useless, the other party was like a sitting duck.
He has barely any proficiency in Sea Snake Step and this made things easier for Viswa who slowly outboxed him. Soon it looked like a fight between a proficient boxer and a drunk guy in a bar. Viswa won the fight soon and the other party collapsed on the ground.
Viswa sighed.
He is glad that he managed to win with just jabs.
He pulled the cloth off of the other guy's face and he is surprised, to say the least.
The other party is the current fifth-ranked in the Circle 1.
He is indeed someone that could officially enter the Circle 1 Second Half of the forest. And he is still breathing.
Viswa thought for a moment. He is contemplating whether he should keep him alive or not. But that thought only lasted for half a second before a cold glint appeared in his eyes.
He brought the guy up and tied him off to a tree trunk and once again took a fight stance.
He aimed his fist at his heart and started throwing jabs repeatedly.
Since he cannot use any other technique, this is the only way he could finish this off. Even though he is using spiritual energy, the other party has been in the later stages of Circle 1 for a long time and has a decently strong body.
Just from this exchange, Viswa is sure that the other party has a body just as strong as him if not stronger and just a jab with spiritual energy is definitely not enough to kill him easily.
As Viswa pounded on the opponent, he sensed a threat and dodged.
An arrow brushed past him from the side. And at this moment another arrow landed on the rope that tied his opponent.
Before long, three people ran out of the forest. Two of them grabbed the fifth ranked while the remaining one held a knife and looked at Viswa cautiously.
Viswa didn't hesitate and pulled a knife too.
But he didn't make a move. He just watched as the three of them retreated along with their companion.
"Fuck. I should have killed him off with a knife."
He muttered and went on to collect his things before he walked to the exit.
On his way to his dorm, every student was surprised to see Viswa. It is not an exaggeration to say that many people already gave a death sentence to Viswa. They are very sure that he wouldn't come out of the forest and if he ever made it, it would be in a completely tattered state with his tail between his legs.
But Viswa now looked like a menace.
He had a huge bag of products like leather and pelts. There is some meat as well. It almost looked like he went for a personal hunt.
He went straight to the resource exchange point while taking in all the surprised looks.
The instructor in charge of resource exchange is surprised by Viswa's appearance.
Viswa submitted one thing after another. Of course, he kept some leathers for himself. One of them is the back leader of the hedgehog.
"So, what can I exchange for the resources I submitted?"
"Around 500 Merits. It is a decent amount."
"Alright, I would like to withdraw all the resources that I should have gotten in the past week."
The instructor nodded and took out a large bag of pills and medicines. Viswa took them and then said.
"I heard that we can place commissions for certain things."
"Yes, you can. If it is within the academy's capabilities and you can pay the appropriate price, you can place any commission you like."
"Okay, I would like to have an armed guard made out of this."
Viswa placed the hedgehog leather on the countertop.
The instructor examined and nodded.
"It could be made. But we don't know the exact price. Since you provided the raw material, it wouldn't be too pricey. The maximum price would be around fifty merits."
"Thank you. Also, what is the most potent medicine for absorbing spiritual energy for a Circle 1 student?"
"The most potent for absorbing spiritual energy? It is the Elementary level 1 breakthrough pill. As the name suggests, it is used by Elementary Level cultivators to break through between the stages. There are many levels to it based on potency.
For circle 1 students level 1 is plenty.
But as I said, it would be best used when you are breaking through."
"How much is it?"
"Hundred and Fifty Merit points. It is expensive."
Viswa felt a slight pinch.
But he took a deep breath and bought one of them.
He needs abundant spiritual energy to increase his cultivation speed. He cannot hold back at the moment.
After the shopping was done. He took all of his medicine and pills to the dorm. To his surprise, Erin is sitting on his bed in a lotus position when Viswa went in.
Erin opened his eyes and looked at Viswa with a hostile gaze. There is no trace of the previous fear and cowardice. He looked like a completely new person for some reason.
Viswa ignored him and changed his clothes before he went to the student union office.
He met with the president who is alone in there.
"Why are you always here? Don't you have classes to attend?"
"Once you are in Circle 3, the classes are few and far between. You don't have many public classes and you can only learn from your instructors. My instructor is a bit eccentric.
Anyway, I am glad you are alive. I thought you would be dead in that forest. I heard there is even a betting pool saying when you would die in the forest."
"If I had known, I would have been in on it. I could use some extra resources."
"Okay, what can I do for you?"
"I am here to issue some challenges for duels."
President frowned and asked.
"Are you sure? You just came back from the forest. No matter how confident you might be because of this, it is better to not just go and challenge anyone directly.
On top of that, you have no one else other than the repeaters in Circle 1 to challenge. It would be almost impossible for you to defeat them now."
"I am fine. The rankers in Circle 1 attacked me in the forest and I managed to defeat one of them. I am pretty confident in my strength."
President's expression changed as he stood up abruptly.
"What did you just say?"
"The rankers tried to kill me in the forest.
One of them used a rapier to sneak an attack on me. he is the current fifth ranker. I defeated him there, but the remaining people came in and took him away before I could finish him off."
"Wait here. I will be back in two minutes."
President immediately ran out of the room and he came back after five minutes.
His expression is gloomy as he looked at Viswa and asked.
"Are you sure you want to go through with these challenges?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then. Who do you want to challenge?"
"All of them. Except for the fifth ranker."
President stopped in his tracks. He looked at Viswa deeply but didn't ask any questions. He just proceeded to take the forms out. He let Viswa fill them up and stamped them with approval.
"The conditions are the same as before. You will get one-third of their resources for the next month and a duel ends only when one of you is unconscious or out of the arena.
Anything else you want to add?"
"No. This much is fine."
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to challenge them all of a sudden? Is it because of the attack?"
"I would have challenged at least one of them even if there is no attack. But now that they went as far as trying to kill me, there is no way, I could let them off. I need some answers."
Viswa said in a calm tone. He paused for a moment and said.
"Please finish the procedure as soon as possible. I would really appreciate it if all of them can accept the duels and they are scheduled immediately."
President looked at him with a smirk.
"Don't worry. All of them are going to accept this duel. In fact, we can start the duels tomorrow. If you can defeat them all, you can finish the ten fights tomorrow itself."
Viswa was surprised by such assurance. But he just nodded and left the room.
He went back to his dorm to rest for a bit.
Meanwhile, the president called for a meeting.
All the student union members have gathered.
"I distinctly remember that every application to enter the Circle 1 forest should be processed through me. But five people entered the forest without my knowledge. I would like an answer to it. Who approved the application process?"
Everyone was dumbfounded. The president looked at their faces as their expressions changed from shock to anxiety.
They knew how stubborn their president is, so if he doesn't get an answer, they could expect what is awaiting them.
"President, maybe they sneaked into the forest without our knowledge?"
"No, I checked the entry records, they went through the proper procedures. The guard can testify for the authenticity of the approval stamp."
This made everyone frown. There are only two places that can give out that stamp of approval. One is the student union and the other one is the headmaster's office.
They would have really loved to throw the blame to the headmaster's office. But the headmaster just flamed the student union for letting Viswa go. They really doubted he would be the one giving approval to these rankers.
That means only one of their own could have given that approval.
"Since I am not getting an answer. I will personally look into it. I will find out who gave the stamp of approval no matter what. And once I do that, expect the maximum punishment.
Also, find out who made them do this. I need answers now. Finally, go ahead and make them accept the duels. They are going to happen tomorrow. Tell them, no matter who supported them, that support wouldn't be lost if that person knew I am against them."
After sending them away, the president personally took on another task. He publicized the duels.
Everyone in Circle 1 now not only knew of Viswa's return, they also knew of his challenge against the top ten rankers. They are all hyped.
By night, Viswa got the news that his duels have been accepted.
They start at dawn the next day and will go on as long as Viswa kept winning.
Viswa took proper rest that night and got ready to fight his duels. Only the problem is Mr. Guide put a twist on the situation the next morning.