"The rules are simple. The elimination of the slips will decide your entry order. Sabotaging each other is allowed. Collecting and tearing apart the slips are allowed. Killing or disabling someone is not allowed."
The bulky elder Kim said in his deep voice.
"With the chime of the bell, the competition will start. Do your best."
DING!
As soon as the chime was heard, the youngsters of the branch families went into an uproar. They were well aware that if they did not eliminate the ones from the main families at the earliest, then the situation would be dire.
One young man from the main family became the life of the party as everyone's attention was turned to him. Loud hoos and haahs reverberated in the hall as the branch family youngsters charged towards a certain young man with green hair.
"Sigh…" Leo visibly sighed. There was no helping it. These idiots weren't in the wrong to attack him. If he was in their shoes, he would've done the same as it was hard to believe that someone from the main family with an impure bloodline could have power.
Red hair signified authority. The brighter the color, the purer was the bloodline. It was the characteristic of the Ignis Family, the second greatest family in the world under the Imperial Luan Family.
It rivaled the top three clans among the Six Major Clans and was feared by most people worldwide. Everyone knew that red symbolized authority and never to offend someone with that hair color.
Within such a family, that too in the main one, Leo was someone born with green hair and eyes. He was fated to be scorned at and mocked since birth for something he did not even have a control of.
In his past life, he had wondered every single day on why he did not have the slightest amount of Ignis bloodline in him. How could such a thing be even possible? He was a direct descendant in the main family for god's sake!
Leo had such thoughts for the first few decades of his life. It was only after that did he realize how foolish they were.
It was his green hair that saved him from getting destroyed along with the Ignis. It was his green hair that let him roam freely and brought a tremendous amount of freedom that no amount of money could buy.
He failed to notice such a privilege back then, but now was different.
After meeting Lanlan and going through multiple resources in the Heaven's Library, Leo understood why he had this green hair he was so unhappy with. He understood that what his mother had unknowingly done was hands down the best thing that could ever happen to him and his siblings.
She did not know what their bloodline was and she had no clue about the powers either, but she only instinctively knew that it was better than the Ignis, and that it should be preserved and not be tainted with the Ignis blood.
This was causing some serious trouble to Leo, like the current instance where everyone was charging at him, but he knew this would only last for a short while.
He had to endure until then.
Just a while longer…
"Fuuuu…" Leo exhaled and got into a defensive position. "Stand behind me, you two. Assist when possible, otherwise just focus on keeping your slips safe."
Ellyse had no combat experience and was overwhelmed with so many people charging towards her.
Everett was trained and did not panic. The butler stood behind Leo and was ready to assist the new master.
"Get him! Get his slip!" A dark red-haired youngster with a club in his hand did not even bother to hide his killing intent as he charged at Leo.
Similar to the past, it was the same boy acting as the leader of the branch families and initiating an attack. His name was unknown and frankly, it was irrelevant as he would be taken as a subordinate by someone from the main family for his leadership skills
Underestimating Leo and charging like an angry bull with confidence, the boy was full of openings.
The moment he neared to steal Leo's white slip, a blurry something appeared in his sight.
THUD!
A roundhouse kick straight to the head knocked the boy down. His body twitched as he fell unconscious immediately.
The charging crowd halted and gasped while the ones from the main family raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"What?!"
"Just one kick!? One!?!"
"How useless was York to be knocked out from one kick!?"
Cursing the guy for his uselessness, the group sneered and placed their attention back on Leo, not thinking in the slightest that this guy might be capable of making their faces kiss the ground.
Leo's eighteen year old body was healthy and trained. It wasn't exactly the best, but it was enough to beat down a bunch of amateurs with no experience in combat.
All the youngsters here were gathered from different places and backgrounds. They lacked solo combat skills, so it went without saying how bad their coordination was when attacking in a group.
They banded together to attack Leo, but he simply pulled one person to use as a shield and blocked all the attacks coming at him from his right side and kicked the youngster in the face who was coming at him from the left.
With the attacks blocked, Leo pushed the youngster in his hands at the ones charging at him from the front, making them stumble.
He jumped close to them and grabbed their slips, tearing it apart instantly and moving onto the others whom he had sent crashing down.
The sound of ripping paper made the ones from the main family knit their brows. They stared at Leo with a vicious glare and finally realized… this guy was not to be trifled with.
The elders of the Disciplinary Hall watching the scene did not feel anything. The green-haired boy was simply using some basic martial arts movement to knock out the inexperienced ones from the branch families.
In their eyes, such skills were the bare minimum that someone from the main family was supposed to have.
After defeating half the guys from the branch families, the rest did not dare to approach Leo.