"Inspect.'
Alden used his skill on Finn.
The moment his eyes landed on Finn's status window, his eyes widened.
[Name: Finn]
[Realm: 2-star warrior realm]
[Beast Pet: Earth Armadillo]
Alden's body shook as fear instantly enveloped his heart.
'Stand up!' He clenched his hands in fists and hit his tights. 'Stand up, stupid legs! You are no longer that weakling from before. We three may stand a chance at winning against him! But Neo can not win alone!' Alden screamed internally.
'No, if I act now, the military will discover me.' He was conflicted. 'If I become too strong and refuse to be under their control, they will kill me.'
Alden's eyes widened for a second, and his expression turned grim. A great, risky plan emerged at the back of his mind.
'On second thought, this might be a great opportunity. I can benefit from a fight. I do not have to reveal my strength.
I just need to provoke Finn, and when the fight starts, I need to inflict serious injury upon myself.' Alden worked out the plan internally. 'If I am seriously injured and then run off from the class in panic, they would need to find me and call teacher Linda as well.
In the short interval when a run-off from the classroom, I could feed the beast egg a liter of blood. Then teacher Linda would come and heal my injury.'
It was a risky plan, but If Alden provoked Finn, there was a high chance many things would go according to his plan. And this was a good opportunity to feed the beast egg blood and receive healing. He would have excuses for how he suffered his injury when Linda asked.
"You have guts!" Finn spoke after he and Neo stared at each other's eyes for a minute.
This brought Alden out of his thoughts.
"It's just that you are overestimating yourself," Finn's face suddenly twitched in anger. "You, a mere first-year weakling, dare to speak with me like that?! I will dest..."
As he spoke, Finn stopped midsentence. "I-I will d-destroy you..." He tried to continue speaking, but his words stuttered. His eyes fell on Chloe.
While the attention of everyone in the class was on Finn and Neo, Chloe did not pay them any attention. She sat at the desk in the first row, the desk in front of the teacher's desk. She sat with her back straight and her head high up, looking forward. She was seemingly immersed in her own world.
"Who would have thought there would be such a beautiful bitch here." Finn licked his mouth. He ignored Neo and walked toward Chloe.
"Come here." He extended his arm to grab Chloe.
Slap!
As the slap echoed through the classroom, everyone turned silent for a few seconds. Carol had slapped Finn's hand away, protecting Chloe.
"Fu.ck off!" Carol said angrily, but the arrogance was clear in his voice. "Keep your dirty hands off her."
This was a shock to everyone in class. As for Chloe, she just sat behind him on her seat, once again, unbothered.
A vein bulged on Finn's forehead. "You fu.cking first years!" He roared angrily. "You are mere ants. Who do you think you are to act so arrogantly?!"
"I will crush you! Come forth, earth armadillo!" As he said this, an brown portal opened beside his right leg, and out of it came an armadillo.
The armadillo was large. Its body was almost 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length, and from the feet to the head, the armadillo was at least half a meter (1.6 feet) tall.
Its claws were razor sharp, and there were a few earth spikes on the armor on its back.
"Kyaaaa!"
"Aaaaa!"
Upon seeing the beast, screams erupted from the students. They all had traumas of the beasts since they saw Owen's little sparrow.
Carol's body shook in terror as he remembered how yesterday Owen's little sparrow almost put a hole in his chest. However, he did not back down.
"Hmph! You call us mere ants, but what are you?" Carol spoke, his voice full of arrogance. "Do you think you are strong? Yes, here at the academy you are a second-year, more powerful than me, but you are just a commoner."
Hearing this, Finn's blood boiled as more veins bulged on his head. But he did not act.
"What? Hit a nerve?" Carol provoked further. "I am Carol Martin. As a second year, you should know the weight of my family name. The richest family of the second city of humanity."
Finn's body shook. "W-what do you want to say?!"
"I don't want to say anything." Carol smiled, his smile sinister. "I don't care what happens to that guy Neo or his friends. But if you dare touch Chloe, I don't need to mention the consequences, right?"
Ringggg!
The bell rang.
Finn gritted his teeth in anger, but he was helpless. He knew that Carol's threats were not empty. So he had no choice but to summon back his beast and back away from Chloe.
"This is not the end of this." He threatened Neo and left the classroom, followed by Liam and his two friends.
"Hmph!" Neo smirked. "I am waiting for you."
He returned to his seat.
Alden, on the other hand, had the status window of the armadillo before his eyes. Before Finn summoned back the armadillo, he used Inspect.
[Name: None]
[Species: Earth Armadillo]
[Growth Stage: Early Juvenile]
[Realm: 2-star warrior]
[Element: Earth]
'Strong.' Alden thought. But he did not get discouraged. 'If it's just him, we three should be able to handle him.' But Immediately, he shook his head. 'Who am I kidding? I don't have any experience fighting. I would be useless.'
"Man, it turned out he was just talk. All bark but no bite." Neo said, bringing Alden out of his thoughts.
"N-Neo, w-what was that about?" Owen asked.
Neo froze. He has forgotten to hide this from Owen. "I...ammm!" He did not know what to say.
"Owen, Neo provoked and hurt some first-year students, and the bald student that came just now was their second-year cousin. He came for revenge." Alden revealed.
"W-what?" Owen gasped in shock. "N-Neo, is it t-true?" He asked, his words stuttering.
Neo rolled his eyes. "Alden, you are overreacting." He said casually as he leaned back on the chair.
"N-Neo, you should not go a-around hurting others," Owen advised quietly.
"Then do I just sit as they act all high and mighty?" There was clear irritation in Neo's voice.
"Neo, he is second year. He is stronger than you." Alden argued. "If you can just put up a little with them, this would not have happened. Now he is going to target you."
"So? What was I supposed to do?" Neo glared at Alden angrily. "Just let them enjoy their superiority complex? Or should I just sit and put up with it like you? You did not even try to stand beside me when he came and threatened me.
I stand for myself. If I don't like how they act toward me, I will beat them. If someone can beat me, then is welcome. But if he beats me, someday I will beat him back." He turned his head away from Alden.
The tension in the air was clear. What was supposed to be just Alden pointing out the obvious resulted in a small argument.
"I am sorry." Alden lowered his head. He knew Neo was right. His trembling legs were no excuse for him to not stand beside Neo when he was facing a crisis.
Hearing the apology, Neo softened a bit. "No, it's my fault. I forgot you broke through just yesterday." Deep down, Neo did not blame Alden. "I should not expect you to fight a beast tamer, whom you just yesterday regarded as a supernatural being. You have yet to realize your new power.
But Alden, you are too passive. Do not let others trample over you."
"I know..."
Swoosh!
The door slid open once again, and the teacher entered the class.
The students, who gossiped about Finn and Neo, straightened their backs and stopped talking.
The teacher who entered had all the students gasp in shock. He wore the same black uniform as the other teachers, and unlike Terof, this teacher's uniform was whole.
However, his black uniform had stains all over it. His long brown hair reaching down the shoulders was oily like he had not taken a bath in weeks.
And on his sunken face, under his eyes were enormous dark circles.
The teacher walked and stood behind the teacher's desk.
"Cough!" He cleared his throat. "I am Elttil Black. Your teacher for the Technology class.
I will not waste time with useless introductions, as I do not care about any of you." Elttil spoke without a bit of energy in his voice. He was indifferent and did not beat around the bush or try to make a fake facade in front of the students.
This naturally offended a lot of students.
"Teacher, don't you think you are being rude?" A student complained.
"Yes."
"Right!"
Many of the other students agreed.
Elttil scratched his oily hair in annoyance. "Can you shut up? You are being noisy and annoying. I do not care about your opinion." He walked to the door and slid it open. "Follow me now. It's time to start the class."