Somewhere in the second-year residence area of the academy, John Connar and his cronies had just finished threatening Sam, basking in the moment of looking cool in front of two gorgeous women.
They were about to leave when their phones rang simultaneously.
"What the hell?" one of his cronies muttered, glancing at his phone and seeing the message Sam had sent, along with a challenge announcement.
"Oh my God," another crony exclaimed, staring at his phone in shock, his mouth agape. "John, you have to see this."
Noticing their reactions, John frowned and quickly checked his phone.
His expression grew darker and more twisted with every passing second, veins starting to bulge on his forehead as his face turned an alarming shade of red.
"That bastard," John Connar growled, smashing his phone into pieces in a fit of rage.
He never could have imagined a junior daring to oppose him, let alone publicly humiliating him.
"This fucker," John seethed, punching a wall and leaving a sizable crack.
"I will make him suffer. I want him to feel such excruciating pain that he'll crawl under my feet and beg for mercy."
Just then, two more individuals entered the room. They surveyed the scene, noting John's furious destruction.
"Looks like you've found yourself a challenge," one of the newcomers remarked.
"Don't forget the added humiliation; that's the highlight," another man said with a chuckle.
"What the fuck do you want?" John snapped, glaring at the two men who had just appeared.
"We sent you to recruit those girls, but instead, you provoked that guy into challenging you," the first man, Nolan, said, crossing his arms. "Nicely done, John."
"And don't forget about the humiliation," added Kaze, the man standing beside Nolan, grinning.
"Thanks to you, the embarrassment is spreading throughout the entire faction."
"This is a minor issue," John snarled.
"This isn't humiliation; it's just him digging his own grave. I'll make him regret ever challenging me. As for the so-called humiliation, I'll make him suffer so profoundly that everyone will forget the arrogant message he sent."
"Can you defeat him?" Kaze asked.
"Is that a joke?" John retorted, clenching his fists.
"He's a first-year. There's no way in hell he even has a chance of winning against me."
After some time, Sam sent a message stating that he wanted to finish the battle right away and headed straight to the arena, followed closely by Yuki and Isabelle.
When he arrived, the place was already packed with first and second-year students and trainers.
Sam noticed Lucy sitting with a group of people who were looking at him as if he were an alien.
Sam was already standing on the battleground when Trainer Austin arrived, gazing at him.
"Didn't you just finish battling every student in your year?" Austin asked.
Sam smiled comically. "Am I bothering you too much?"
"No, I love watching people try to kill each other with everything they've got. It helps me sleep better," Austin said, giving a thumbs-up to Sam.
"Happy to help... I guess," Sam replied, returning the thumbs-up.
Just then, the audience began to murmur even more noisily.
Sam raised an eyebrow as John walked to the battleground, a very ugly look on his face.
Seeing him made Sam feel a bit petty and kind of bad, like he was about to beat up an innocent, poor, sick, rabid dog.
'Well, sometimes even dogs require someone to put them out of their misery,' Sam thought, smiling evilly at the thought of putting this dog in its place.
'Maybe I should break all his bones, pluck all his hair, and feed it to him, or make him eat my shoe after the battle right here in the academy.'
"You both know the rules, so state your bets," Austin said, looking back and forth between them.
"When I win, I want him to be my slave for the next two years, and I want him to break all his bones in front of everyone," John Connors stated without pause, an ugly grin on his face.
Sam could see the rage emanating from him in the form of veins bulging on his forehead.
If Sam didn't win, he would become John's slave for two whole years.
Only John knew the pain he was going to make Sam feel for the humiliation caused by that message.
He was never going to let Sam live in peace after this; he would make Sam feel like he was living in hell.
"What about you, Sam?" Austin asked.
"I won't go that far. If I win, the Reapers stay the fuck out of my way, and John admits he is gay in front of everyone here. That's all," Sam shrugged, smiling slightly.
Austin looked at Sam for a whole minute. "You do understand that he is at least ten to fifteen cultivation levels higher than you, right?"
"Yes," Sam nodded.
"Well then," Austin said, looking at John.
"You already know this, but I'll say it again: the fight will start once the line of fire is extinguished."
With that, he vanished, and a line of fire ignited at the center, separating Sam and John.
"Accept the rewards," Sam muttered.
Suddenly, a massive amount of mana began to rush toward him, spiraling downward onto him.
"Um, what's happening?" Lina, who was sitting beside Lucy, exclaimed, sensing the sudden surge of mana converging on Sam.
"I guess he's doing it... Is he breaking through to another level?" Leon speculated, narrowing his eyes.
"Shut up and watch," Lucy said, not taking her eyes off Sam, who was standing at the center of the mana convergence.
John narrowed his eyes as he felt the mana in the surroundings being drawn towards Sam.
Sam ignored him and focused on the line of fire at the center.
As soon as the fire extinguished, he would charge.
[Your Mana Increased: +30]
[Your Heroic Energy is Synchronizing with Your Mana Core]
[Your Heroic Energy Increased: +30]
[You Have Awakened the Rare Power: Holy Power]
[Rare Power: Holy Power]
[Description: A type of energy born from the positive side of the universe. It is the counterpart of Dark Power, originating from the same positive source. It is said that only angels, holy gods, and mortals blessed by the holy gods possess this power.]
[Effects: Ability to produce holy flames, accelerated healing, positive emotion influence, dark power resistance, immunity to venoms and poisons.]
[You Have Awakened the Innate Ability: Rune Pulse]
[Innate Ability: Rune Pulse]
[Description: One of the rarest and most powerful abilities born from nature, it grants the user the ability to communicate with elements through the creation of runes. Whoever possesses this ability can manipulate the elements of nature to their will.]
"Holy Power and Rune Pulse, huh?" Sam murmured.
He felt a strange sensation coursing through his body and became acutely aware of his surroundings.
He could see countless, differently colored dots floating and gathering in random groups.
Elsewhere in the arena, among the hundreds of students gathered, Yami felt a chill run down his spine, followed by a familiar sense of fear.
It was not the fear of a superior as before; this time, it was the fear of being in the presence of an eternal enemy.
"What has he done now?" Yami couldn't help but feel even more terrified of Sam.
Ever since being defeated by Sam two weeks ago, he had developed a trauma.
Sam hadn't made things any easier for him, either.
Over the past two weeks, Sam had been making Yami wash his clothes, clean his house, tend his garden, act as his training partner, and, most disturbingly, absorb his dark energy, somehow gaining Yami's abilities for his own use.
.
.
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[A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much! - Arigato! 🙏]