There were a lot of students who were interested in quickly rising through the ranks, however, not all of them were so eager to push beyond their limits to achieve their desires. Madison had just headed back to her dorm room after the magical weapons class had ended for the day.
She had a rank of 12.1, and although it wasn't that bad, she still wished that she could improve on it. So, that night, she decided to do something she never thought she would ever do the day that she had first entered the academy.
"I challenge you for your rank!" she yelled at one of her roommates. Since everyone else seemed to be challenging other students for their ranks, she decided why not do the same thing as well. She was interested in how she would be treated if she ends up becoming one of the five titans.
But, for now, she would have to start small, challenging her roommate who was just a little above her in rank. Madison had seen the girl used her ability during the abilities class, so she knew that her roommate had a razor class ability. Her ability wasn't the typical variant that a lot of students had.
Despite all these things, she still decided on doing what she had done. Her roommate looked her up and down. Her eyes briefly fell on the latter's watch. Seeing the number displayed, she rolled her eyes back in frustration.
"You dare to challenge me? Okay, no problem. Let's make this quick," she said, as her eyes began to glow yellow. Madison began to feel a sense of dread overcome her. Just by looking at this girl, she could feel a pressure forcing her to step back. This girl's name was Hilda, and she looked far from scared by this student threatening to take her rank.
Quickly, Madison activated her ability, as her pupils began to narrow. She dashed forward, her hands forming a greenish substance as she went to throw them out. Seeing this, Hilda raised her hands up, and suddenly, the attacks had stopped. They seemed to have hit an invisible wall, before sliding down and touching the floor. A sizzling sound couldn't heard as this happened, but the flooring remained undamaged by this.
"Hmm, is that all you can do? And here I was thinking you were being serious about challenging me," Hilda taunted with a wicked smile on her face. Not waiting for her opponent to prepare another attack, she ran forward, pushing her hands forward.
As he body got closer to Madison, she could feel the same invisible force pushing her back. The force was stronger than what she could handle, and she ended up pinned with her back against the wall. Madison tried her best to push back against the attack, but her strength paled in comparison to that of her roommate.
Still, all these things that were happening didn't quite make sense. Wasn't this girl nearly at the same level as her? How was she able to deal with her so easily, even going s far as embarrassing her in the fight? It was like the number being displayed on her watch wasn't an accurate estimation of her power.
Madison tried to use her acid power against the invisible wall, but it proved that it could withstand whatever it was that she could produce. She could feel that her Mana was running low, and with the force being applied increasing, it wouldn't be long until she was sqashed like a pancake.
"Although I could simply let you go, that would be far too easy. Let's say you foolishly decide to challenge me again, I would have to beat you up over and over again. I don't have the patience to go through with that repeatedly with you, so I'll make sure you learn your lesson once and for all.
"Never ever challenge me in your life." Hilda continued to add the pressure, and it wasn't long until Madison could hear and feel some of her bones cracking. The pressure had forced her skin to tear open, and she was bleeding profusely.
Hilda had stopped just after the latter had passed out. She then grabbed both her hands before dragging her unconscious body and allowing it to lay on the wall in the hallway outside her dorm room. Hopefully, some kindhearted fellow would pick her up and drop her off at the infermary to receive medical treatment. In the meantime, whatever bit of Mana she had left would keep her from dying out.
In all of this, Hilda was upset because she was challenged by someone who was below her in rank. Being someone who was of a higher rank, having to defend it against lower rankers was frustrating because you wouldn't gain anything additional from having to fight against them. They were the ones who would gain from it if they managed to defeat you.
"At least, that's over and I can finally get to bed," she said, releasing a yawn before laying flat on her bed to sleep for the night. Fortunately, it wasn't long until that kind-hearted fellow had passed by, seeing the severe condition the student was in, he picked her up and took her over to the infermary so that the nurse would treat her injuries.
The next day, the group noticed that Madison wasn't with them and immediately, they started searching for her amongst the crowd. It wasn't normal for her to be on her own during this time of the day. Normally, they would all be seated together enjoying their breakfast before heading over to the next class got the day.
It wasn't long until they discovered that she was at the infermary. Panicked, they quickly went to check up on how she was doing. By then, most of her injuries had been healed and she was just resting peacefully on the bed.
"She must've been attacked last night," Blake said. "I wonder who it was. Man, if I ever find the idiot that did this, I'll make sure they receive the beating of a lifetime!" he yelled, smashing his fist into his palm.
"Woah, there! Have you forgotten that Madison is stronger than you? Whoever did this is obviously someone that's way out of our league," Zain said.
"He's right. For now, there's nothing we can do. All we can do is hope that we don't end up in here as much as we need to. I hope you guys know what I mean.
"We shouldn't go around looking for trouble even when someone provokes us. We should simply mind our business and hope others do the same as well," Carter added.
Although everyone seemed to agree on this, someone in particular wasn't okay with everything that was happening. Kayden's fist was shaking violently as he stared down at Madison's body laying on the hospital bed. Something within him couldn't allow him to see things the way he should.
He wanted to avenge her situation by finding out and punishing who it was that did this. The same was for the people who had beaten up Carter and Blake back then at the Arena.
Breakfast time was over, and it was finally time for the next classes for the day. So far, it seemed like a lot of students had either ascended or descended in a matter of less than a week. There was a new Titan five, and everyone still seemed to be talking about when or who would finally dethrone Kayden.
However, the instructors quickly put an end to all the gossip, not wanting anything to disrupt the classes. Kayden and the others were already good at the art of Ikkyo, they couldn't wait for the teacher to start teaching them a different technique.
So far, none of Kayden's friends were willing to talk to him. To them, it was like he was dead to them. They just couldn't accept the fact that he wouldn't share what was going on with himself with them. Why were they friends if he wasn't even ready to let them share in his burdens.
Moreover, the system hadn't given him another quest. Amongst other things, he was interested in the fact that this system allowed him the opportunity to unlock up to ten different beasts in total. Never in his life had he heard of an ability akin to this one.
While everyone was interested in ascending rank, a group of students had their eyes on Kayden and his friends. Just like everyone else, they were just interested in raising their ranks. They were waiting for the right time to strike, wanting to kill five birds with one stone.
Today, once all his classes were over for the day, Kayden headed into the magical weapons class to finally try out the skill of the Intermediate Grade Ring he had chosen on the first day of the class.
He picked up the ring from where it was kept and placed it around his index finger. Then, almost effortlessly, he activated the ring's skill, and it began to glow purple.
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