"So what if we are outsiders? Look, we're currently on equal footing," Harry retorted.
"Haha, you think we're on equal footing, you filthy scum?" With that, the opponent launched a punch at Harry.
Before it could land, Harry dodged and kicked the assailant's leg. Liam, Blake, and Tyler joined in, pummeling their attackers.
"Where did you come from? We thought you were newcomers," some of them pleaded as they started fleeing.
Liam and Blake were at the peak of the foundation-building realm. This was uncommon for new students, but they achieved it with the help of their brothers.
"So, I didn't get a Quest because they were too weak," Harry murmured.
He continued what he was doing, and when he subdued his enemy, he had an idea. Grabbing the person who had punched him, he instructed the system, "Forced soul contract."
[Forced soul contract has been unsuccessful. Would you like to use a soul contract?]
Harry expected this since the person was still sane and had intact willpower. "Yes, proceed with a normal soul contract."
[Define terms and conditions]
Harry smiled as he decided on the terms.
"Hey, what's your name?" Harry asked, kicking the person.
"Jo... John," he stammered, crying in pain.
"Terms: John will obey Harry's every command wholeheartedly." That was it. Harry chose to include just this single term.
Seeing John waving his hands in the air, Harry grabbed one leg and started twisting. "You see that? Click yes if you don't want your leg broken," Harry said.
John, half-conscious but in excruciating pain, touched yes on the screen hovering in front of him. There were terms and cautions, but he was in no condition to read them or think about the weird screen he just touched 'yes.'
[Soul contract has been successful. Any breach of contract will lead to punishment.]
Upon seeing the notification, Harry let go of the leg and turned around. John's friends were running off, and Liam, Blake, and Tyler were dusting off their clothes.
"It's good that we're not in a crowded place, and it's already dark here. I don't think teachers will notice unless they tell them, but they probably won't risk it since they attacked first," Liam said.
"Tyler has regained his confidence after the last fight and is in a cheerful mood," Blake added.
Harry leaned forward and whispered to John, "Don't tell anyone about this. Now, get lost."
John stood up and sprinted into the darkness.
As they returned to their room, Blake was proudly showing his badge to everyone. His rank had increased to 1429th.
Harry and Liam were puzzled. "I realized we can exchange our ranks if both parties accept it. So when I beat them up, I took their credit and exchanged ranks," Blake explained, smiling ear to ear.
Having known Blake for a while, Harry understood that he wasn't a bad person; he was just very shrewd with money and never missed a chance to benefit.
Harry was grateful to have someone like Blake in his group. Liam was excellent at analyzing and making calculated decisions, and Tyler... well, he was a different story.
Tyler was now walking, mimicking his previous fight, jumping and kicking around. He didn't pay much attention to their conversation.
Recently, he had learned to use the white lines that appeared while fighting. These lines guided him during battles and even gave him glimpses of his enemy's next moves.
This allowed him to anticipate attacks and counter them more effectively.
He wasn't entirely sure about it, but sometimes he could discern people's intentions through their body language. To learn more about this ability, he joined history classes to see if anyone in the past had possessed similar skills.
As they walked towards their room, they realized that students here rarely slept and could survive without sleep for days. But they had been wasting precious time on sleep.
"We haven't slept for a while; we always cultivate at night," Liam and Blake said.
Tyler and Harry looked at them, surprised. "So, we were the only ones wasting time. It's a natural cycle for us to sleep at night, but I think we need to change it if we don't want to fall behind," Harry said determinedly.
"We're also feeling the breakthrough to the elemental master realm, but something is stopping us. I think we need an external push," Blake said.
"Yeah, now we have enough credits. We can cultivate in the tower," Liam added.
Harry was intrigued because he wanted to try cultivating by normal means.
They found themselves standing before a majestic black tower. Students were coming and going.
Harry and his friends entered the first floor of the tower. Two teachers at the entrance checked their badges and accepted 40 credits as payment.
Inside the tower, they felt physical pressure and rich energy that refreshed them.
Harry felt these changes but couldn't utilize the rich energy for his Qi cultivation. Instead, he focused on the physical pressure to cultivate his pure body.
Stairs in the middle of the tower increased the physical pressure the closer one got. Many students were sitting at varying distances, finding their comfort zones.
Harry moved a few steps closer to the stairs but felt immense pressure and couldn't move further. He sat down to cultivate his pure body.
Liam, Blake, and Tyler also sat down at comfortable spots.
A student sitting nearby noticed Harry. "First time?" he asked.
Harry nodded, trying to cultivate.
"I heard first-timers take time to adjust to the pressure. Even with a lower cultivation level, you can go further if you've been here multiple times. I'm also new," the student said.
Harry wondered why this person was talking to him.
Frustrated, he realized he couldn't cultivate his Qi with the rich energy and could only use the pressure for his body cultivation.
He hoped to break through in body cultivation to avoid the problem of overflowing Qi from the system's quests or after killing beasts.
---
Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic day. I just wanted to remind you all that I'm so grateful for your support and feedback on my novel so far.
And remember, if you have any ideas for the story, I'm all ears! I love hearing your thoughts and incorporating them into the plot.
Finally, don't forget to add this novel to your collection so you can stay up-to-date with all the latest updates.