Zen quickly looked at someone else in the class. He didn't notice but his right eye which he kept covered suddenly released a menacing glow.
A few seconds later, Clyde was about to take his seat when a random student suddenly whispered, although it couldn't even be called a whisper since everyone in the class heard it.
"Isn't that the guy who got his dick cut off in the dungeon?"
Most of the class burst into laughter but Zen almost frowned.
This was inadequate.
Not only did it take too long to activate, the time required for him to influence someone's thoughts to the point where they actually act on it was too long.
However Zen felt that for now it was enough simply due to his current situation.
He was surrounded by teenagers.
Impulse,rash, and full of hubris and oversight, and most important of all,much more susceptible to their emotions and thoughts.
Although it had taken a relatively long time to Zen,it hadn't taken more than five seconds for him to manipulate that random student into speaking, and that was simply because he already had a seed in his mind which Zen simply forced to grow.
What form of manipulation could possibly be better and easier than that.
Zen had already decided to dedicate the entire class to either increase Clyde's rage towards him,or increase his infamy among the students. The best part was that this all was probably going to happen anyway, Zen was simply speeding it up and using it for his advantage.
Once again reviewing his plan in his mind, Zen admitted it was a little bit convoluted and would take some time but his chances of success weren't Zero.
Aurora suddenly raised her hand to signal for them to be silent.
"Alright, Zen, Zaria, you two follow me. Gemma, you take the rest of the class"
As soon as She finished speaking, Gemma appeared in front of her .
"Aye aye ma'am"
Zen and Zaria stood up to follow Aurora out of the class, already knowing what this was all about.
"This is bullshit" Xavier grumbled as he watched Zen walk out.
"Don't underestimate him"
"You think he can win?"
Maximilian nodded before shaking his head.
"What's that supposed to mean "
***************
Zen and Zaria followed Aurora to an empty room with ample space and a stage.
"Well don't just stand there, get on already"
Zen and Zaria both got onto opposite sides of the mat and stood facing each other.
"Last chance to surrender" Zaria said
"True" was Zen's stoic reply
[Detected that host has entered combat]
[Preparing soul slot and soul deck]
[Error! Host doesn't have access to this function]
"Fight!"
Before Zen had a chance to contemplate what he had seen, Aurora started the match abruptly as Zaria's fist entered his line of sight from the right .
Unlike the previous fight, Zen planned to dodge and block as much as possible to see if he could outlast her, but from this punch alone, he could tell that would be impossible.
Zen could tell her strength had already surpassed his, and this was without her transformation, assuming she had her family's ability.
There were no rules against using abilities in this fight, and Zen knew one strike from her would be able to cause massive damage. He had to finish this, and fast before she thought to use her ability,or he might as well have already lost.
So much for his plan to wait it out. It appears she had been holding back in their previous fight.
Zen quickly swung his head back and watched as Zaria's hand barely missed his head. He quickly took a few steps back to gain distance between them but she didn't follow and just stood still.
[-2HP]
Zen touched his cheek and noticed blood.
"Hmmm"
Zen could already tell that this fight wouldn't last more than a minute.
"It's now or never. Looks like i have to use those "
Zen suddenly clenched his fist and the symbol at the back of his hand started glowing brightly.
"Dash"
In a sudden burst of speed, Zen suddenly appeared in front of Zaria.
[Used skill: Dash]
[SP: -... error]
Zen hadn't even heard this as he was too involved in the fight, another thing he didn't notice was that when the system was about to subtract points, his symbol had glowed even brighter.
Zaria's eyes widened slightly but she didn't panic and met his punch with one of her own.
"Counter". Zen whispered too low for anyone to hear.
Zaria's eyes widened in panic as she saw her fist being pushed back like there was no force behind it at all.
[Counter]
[SP: -... error]
[-5HP]
Panic began to set in as Zen landed a hit on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. This had literally never happened before.
How could she have forgotten who he was? WHAT he was! How could she have forgotten that Zen wasn't a normal opponent but one of the most horrible and vicious people in the universe!
But.....was he really vicious though?.
Even now as he was attacking her, she could look in his clear black eyes and be completely sure that he held no ill will, no hate,no malice, nothing negative against her, this was just something he was forced to do, something she forced him to do.
Zen was wrong when he had suspected why she kept his secret. Even then when she saw him, even when she realized who he was and how he was related to the death and devastation of billions, she just couldn't bring herself to actually hate him. She looked in his eyes and felt like she could understand him like no one else for some reason,and when she did, the first thing she could feel was pure unadulterated PAIN.
Zen suddenly noticed that Zaria looked distracted. He didn't have time to consider whether she was actually slipping or if this was a trap, he had to take advantage of this.
"Now!...huh?"
Zen tried to strike forward but suddenly realized he couldn't, his hand froze.
"A trap?" Zen thought, realizing this was his instincts telling him not to strike.
"Even when she looks so absentminded she still poses enough of a threat that i can't attack her head on without feeling threatened" Zen thought, his evaluation of her rising.
"Dash"
Zen immediately appeared behind her and aimed straight for her head.
Zaria was still stuck in her thoughts as she contemplated why she was even doing this,it was wrong.
She thought of the embodiment of evil that was the arcade and couldn't even begin to associate Zen with them.
"I caused this,i forced him into this...am i....in the wrong?"
She suddenly felt the attack aimed towards her head and became horrified as her heart suddenly started beating rapidly
"No, not now!"
But it was too late as her draconic blood swirling from her beastial instincts being triggered. Her silver eyes suddenly glowed as a smile appeared on her face despite her greatest efforts to stop all this.
[-84HP]
[Host's ribs are broken!]
[Host has internal bleeding!]
[Hp will continue to reduce until main issues are addressed]
Zen found himself on the ground as he groaned in pain.
Zaria just stood there shocked as she looked at Zen who was now quite a distance from her.
"What did I just do?"
She wanted to hurriedly apologize but she realized that with the smug smile on her face that she was still struggling to dispel, it would only make things worse.
The worse thing was that even now she felt the urge to pounce on Zen,wrestle him on the ground and just throw him around. What sickened her the most about this was that she didn't even have an excuse for it as she had already won, she simply wanted to do it for the pure enjoyment and satisfaction it would make her feel.
Zen was still on the ground when suddenly
[Host's ribs have been correctly set and are slowly healing]
[Host's internal bleeding has been patched]
[Host will no longer lose HP]
Zen was confused about what was happening. He suddenly looked at his wrist and noticed his watch was gone.
Inside Zen's body,a mass of black and thin slimy tendrils and slime had wrapped around all of Zen's broken bones and arranged all of them correctly together before wrapping themselves around the broken areas. What was really shocking was that the bones actually seemed to be healing, although it was slow and would probably take a few hours they were definitely healing.
With Black's assistance, Zen was able to get up from the ground albeit slowly.
Aurora sighed a bit disappointed and threw Zen's box to Zaria who still looked dumbfounded before walking over to Zen.
Zaria just held the box that fell in here arms, not even registering that it was strangely heavy as she just stared, still at a loss as to what to do.
"Come on Kid, I'll take you to the infirmary"
Zen suddenly took a step back.
"No need,i know my way"
"Are you..?"
"Yes" Zen answered, cutting her off abruptly.
Aurora was confused but didn't force it.
"Alright then, you have the day off from class"
Turning to Zaria she said
"And that applies to you too "
She had done the same for Zaria after noticing how shaken she was.
"Alright, show's over, everyone leave"
Zen looked behind her to notice their entire class watching, with most of them having looks of contempt.
Zen suddenly stretched out his hand to catch something before suddenly wincing from the pain.
He suddenly received Black's intent and could tell it was annoyed that Zen was making its job harder.
Zen ignored it before looking at what he'd caught.
It was the ring he gave Jade.
Looking in the crowd he noticed she was looking at him and looked like she was fighting back tears. Zen noticed she was mouthing something
"I hope it helps"
Zaria noticed the interaction and felt like her heart had been shattered like glass and the pieces were getting stomped on. She never wanted this!
Zen suddenly noticed one look from the crowd that confused him. It was from Gary, and instead of anger or contempt,it was something different.
It almost looked like.... respect?
Aurora walked back to the crowd while shooing away the students. Noticing Zen's roommates and Jade's complicated gazes she said
"Don't worry, he's pretty tough. If it was any of you four, you'd be dead.
After that strange word of.... encouragement from Aurora, the students all eventually left.
Zen sighed and started walking towards the infirmary at a strangely steady pace,it seemed even these injuries weren't enough to phase him,. Except from the faint traces of blood,it would be almost impossible to notice he was hurt.
Outside of the room, he suddenly heard Zaria's voice behind him.
"Wait! Will you talk to me?"
Zen turned around and face her
"What is it?" He asked
Zaria clenched her fists as she looked at him.
Even now he wasn't angry or hostile towards her. His tone wasn't harsh or rough,his speaking wasn't rushed, there was nothing about him that even remotely seemed angry.
"Please.... can.... can we just talk?"
"Okay" Zen replied
"I... wait, you said yes?"
"What do you have to say?"
"Ummmm.... Come with me"
Zen simply nodded and followed her.