In his past life, Nyx was considered to be the deadliest villain and not the strongest villain. There were villains back then who were countless times stronger than him because they'd access to abilities and an army of pawns to do their bidding.
It was the reason Torrin Blackstar defeated Nightmare in their showdown, and it was the reason he was watching the five elite clan scions closely, not underestimating them one bit.
A hundred years had passed already, and the red-haired boy knew that during that period most of his enemies must've strengthened themselves and their army while he was sleeping in the underworld.
Considering what Ikor had done to him twice, it wouldn't surprise Nyx if these elite scions were stronger than him; after all, this body was far from his robust original.
Besides, they also have enough resources from their clans to nourish them into frightening beings.
"Okay everyone, line up and come take the test. All you have to do is punch on the pad, give it your best short. It has nothing to do with your abilities or talents. With that said, let's proceed," Mr. Danny concluded as students started to come up to the punching machine.
The first was a girl, and with a battle roar, she unleashed a strike on the punching pad.
Bam!
It showed five.
"Ugh, so low!" That girl, not expecting to score so low, grumbled as she went back into the crowd.
Other students tried punching the machine too, and some scored higher than ten while some scored much lower, making the first girl feel good about herself.
Soon, Apollo stepped forward to take the strength test as well. Not many people paid attention to him, though, because he wasn't that popular in class. The only reason most people knew about his existence was due to Violet sitting close to him.
"Here goes nothing!" Apollo breathed in and out, then unleashed a punch that far surpassed all what the others had thrown. The punch appeared a bit faster, but in the eyes of the likes of Ikor, Violet, the elite clan scion, and Nyx, it was slow.
But the result he got was impressive and was the highest anyone had achieved, leaving Apollo inwardly pleased in his mind.
[17]
'Was I this strong since, or was it the training I went through with Nyx? Did his constant hitting make me stronger?' Apollo thought as he walked back to stand beside Nyx.
The next person to step forward was Ikor; he seemed uninterested in this whole stuff, and Nyx, who had even more knowledge about the latter's behavior, couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that Ikor must be feeling sore for losing his cloak to a no-name villain.
Arriving before the machine, without any exaggerated footwork or stance, the boy with the ponytail threw out a mighty punch that contained all his pent-up frustration, and the machine started to read until it came to a stop at [22].
After Ikor, Violet also took the test, scoring [20], which was very impressive and expected of the two.
The next person was Nyx. Immediately he walked out of the crowd, all heads turned towards his direction; not because of his godly looks but because he was the current most popular student in the academy.
Even the elite scions were interested in him.
For those students who were in the yellow house, they already had a general idea of how strong Nyx was because they'd watched him thrust his hands through someone's chest before. Most of them even felt that he was physically stronger than them.
What they didn't know was that even with the ability, Nyx was still countless more powerful than them thanks to his past knowledge.
'Let's check if this cloak would give me additional strength,' Nyx thought as he readied to throw out a punch. Knowing that this was a practical class, he'd put on the [Enchanted Cloak] to boost his overall performance so that the academy would have a good impression and invest in him despite being a dud.
After all, his goal here was to be sheltered by the Academy to avoid the reader of powerful existence. Without the academy, his journey ahead to freeing his sister and becoming someone great again would be very hectic.
"Phew!" Nyx let out a breath as he went to throw a punch.
Bang!
Following Nyx's punch, a loud sound bounced throughout the field as his fist slammed into the pad, and some students were forced to close their ears. The sound even alerted the five Elite clan members, and they also stared at the red-haired boy with curiosity. Even Ikor Daze, whom they respected little because of his father, didn't make such a sound like this, so who exactly was this kid who was far younger than everybody here?
Even Ikor was stunned, staring at the machine with wide eyes. If he had expected anyone to surpass him here, it was the elites, not this dud.
[34!]
The number appeared on the machine, and everyone was shocked, collectively holding their breath because the supposedly dud had shattered all expectations with one single Punch.
"So does this mean Nyx is stronger than Ikor in terms of physical strength?"
The students' eyes flickered between the display and Nyx, searching for any sign of deception or trickery. But there was none. His physical strength was too impressive.
How could someone like Nyx, who was rumored to be the weakest in the academy, possess such formidable strength?
"So bad he doesn't have any ability," one student said in pity. "If he had an ability with this strength and looks, he'll go places."
Even Mr. Danny, the instructor, was also equally taken aback. His look that suggested that nothing excited him was gone. He had seen his fair share of students, but Nyx's display was beyond anything he had expected from a 13-year-old.
'The vice-principal must know about this,' he noted.
As Nyx walked back, there was a light smile on his face because just as he had thought, his strength was the visual representation of the attack power in his status which was 22 but the additional stats of the [Enchanted Cloak] had brought his Attack Power to 34.
Thus the result in the strength calculating machine.
After the shock subsided, the next people to take the test were the students from the elite clan, and everyone was curious to see if they could outperform the red-haired boy.