Jesse ran out of the exit where a large yellow ribbon was tied.
With refueled energy, he glanced at the students who had already made it out - seven students, making him the eighth to complete the run.
It was eye-catching but not as eye-catching as the first three students.
-Ting
He glanced at his wrist watch to see the extra fifty points that he earned.
"-Congratulations, Ranker 336, you are the ninth student to complete the stamina exercise. Head back to your dorm to freshen up and prepare for your day-"
"Huh? Ninth?" He thought he was the eighth, turns out someone else had beat him to it - all the better, anyway.
Jesse complied with the order instead of waiting around like the other seven.
***
"Ha! I missed fifty points." Maxwell sighed for the umpteenth time, "Do you know how glad I was when they said we couldn't use our abilities?" He raised his head and pursed his lips.
Aland who sat beside him fidgeted with his fingers before muttering in a barely audible voice, "Sorry."
"Sorry? If anything, thank you should be the word." Maxwell glanced at him.
"Thank you." Aland corrected with a lower voice.
Jesse who sat opposite the bickering pair, glanced at the white soggy soup in front of him - the tiny piece of chicken feet that floated on top was the only proof that what was in front of him was chicken soup.
Each rank had separate tables - The last hundred which consisted of rank three hundred to rank four hundred sat at the end of the dining hall, then the remaining ranks were divided into fifty in each section, and so were their meals.
Jesse sighed and sipped from the soup - his face contorted slightly at the pasty taste.
It was even more terrible than the meal they gave back in highschool.
"Pass it over if you don't like it." Maxwell who had watched every slight change in Jesse's expression wasted no time in asking for his meal.
"Sure." Jesse passed his plate.
He was terribly hungry but the more he ate the pasty soup, the closer his end felt.
[Nullifier has been completely expelled from the bloodstream]
[Build up your stamina - Run 15 miles → 15/15]
[Daily quest completed]
[Reward]
[You have unlocked Pure Ceteorin Search]
[Search, find and absorb Pure Ceteorin Pieces to increase your strength]
Jesse stood up. Neither the food nor the reward was appealing.
"Where are you going to?" Maxwell glanced at him.
"To find something to eat."
"Why? Can't eat chicken soup? Then raise your rank." Avila popped out of nowhere. She placed her tray on the table and sat with them.
'The annoyingly astute girl again.'
"I will, soon enough." Jesse breathed out.
***
He walked to the school cafeteria alone and bought a meal with fifteen of his newly attained points.
The meal was not as good as that of those within the first hundred ranks, but it was tens of times better than the meal for the last hundred ranks - he needed to increase his rank and urgently too.
**
"First class, maths." Maxwell announced, "Hey, Aland. How do I look?" He asked, properly adjusting the collar of his uniform.
"Great." Aland raised both his thumbs up.
"I know." With a satisfied grin, Maxwell led the way to their first class.
Classes went on for a few more hours before lunch time, and Jesse made his way to the Cafeteria again.
His newly attained points was almost completely used ul, hence, he had to up his rank as soon as possible.
"Hey." A familiar voice called in the empty Cafeteria, and a wry smile graced Jesse's lips.
He turned around to see Silas who had a grin on his face.
"I challenge you to a duel." Silas smirked.
"It's the first day-"
"Are you scared? Ha." Silas scoffed, "Even though, you have a lower rank, I will absolutely enjoy beating you to a pulp."
"..."
Jesse glanced at the the numbers on Silas' wrist band.
'297' - Though it was still a low rank, they had better meals.
"I accept."
***
"It's just the first day and they're already dueling?"
"A teacher already approved the duel, so I guess it's fine."
"Haha. It's a duel between 336 and 297. This three hundreds seem to have forgotten their place."
"It's going to be a short duel, but I will watch it either way."
"Me too."
It was the first duel in their set, and it was between a three hundred ranker and a two hundred ranker with almost fourty rank difference between them.
The students had filled the seats of the battleground.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Maxwell asked again, "I can go in your place."
"I don't think that's allowed." Avila chipped in.
"I'll be fine." Jesse reassured Maxwell for the umpteenth time.
"Don't die." Maxwell waved him off with a worried look on his face.
"Sure." Jesse chuckled at how weak Maxwell thought him to be.
Jesse left the three of them and walked to lifted stage where Silas was already standing.
"I thought you gave up." Silas taunted.
"I thought you did, too." Jesse shrugged and turned away from him, missing Silas' angered look.
"-The duel will end when one party falls unconscious, falls out of the stage, or admits defeat-"
"-The last one standing would be proclaimed winner-"
As soon as the rules were stated, Silas took a fighting stance.
"-Begin!-"
Jesse immediately sized up Silas, noting his stance and the confident smirk on his face. Silas was eager, perhaps too eager, which could be his downfall.
Silas lunged forward, aiming a swift punch at Jesse's torso. Jesse sidestepped with ease, letting Silas's fist graze past him. Without hesitation, Jesse countered with a low kick to Silas's shin, causing him to stumble slightly. The crowd murmured at the unexpected move—Jesse was clearly more capable than his rank suggested.
Silas quickly regained his balance and grinned, "Not bad, but you'll need more than that to win." He charged again, this time faster, his fists flying in a flurry of jabs aimed at Jesse's face and midsection.
Jesse blocked and dodged with precision, "You talk too much."
After dodging a few more punches, Jesse saw an opening.
As Silas overextended on a right hook, Jesse ducked under and delivered a powerful uppercut to Silas's ribs. The impact was solid, and Silas grunted in pain, stumbling back a few steps. The crowd gasped, some students on the edge of their seats. Jesse wasn't just holding his own—he was on the offensive.
Silas winced, clearly affected by the blow, but his expression quickly turned to one of determination. He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and launched himself at Jesse again, this time feinting a punch before spinning into a roundhouse kick aimed at Jesse's head.
Jesse anticipated the move and raised his arm to block, but the force of the kick was more than he expected. The impact sent him skidding back a few feet. His arm throbbed from the block, but he maintained his stance, not letting Silas see any sign of weakness.
Silas pressed the advantage, following up with a series of quick kicks aimed at Jesse's legs, trying to sweep him off his feet. Jesse whose eyes were ten times sharper now that the nullifier was completely expelled could see every movement that Silas made.
And as Silas went for another kick, Jesse sidestepped and grabbed Silas's leg mid-air, twisting it just enough to unbalance him. With a swift motion, Jesse yanked Silas off the ground and threw him to the floor of the stage.
Silas hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of his lungs. The crowd erupted in cheers and gasps, shocked at the turn of events.
Jesse stared at Silas, hoping the stubborn twerp would remain down. Silas, however, got up on his feet, "You fucker!"
He threw in a flurry of punches, and just like always Jesse blocked every single one of them, aiming to push Silas out of the stage.
However, the punches soon started coming from all side as Silas multiplied.
He was finally using his ability, which was bad for Jesse.
"Let's see you avoid this one." The tens of Silas all spoke at once. And slowly, the entire stage disappeared along with the spectators - the entire space turned white.
Jesse stood in the middle of the now empty, white void, surrounded by countless versions of Silas. Each one grinned wickedly, eyes gleaming with malice. He could feel the tension in the air, the sense of danger heightening his awareness. These weren't just illusions; they could hit as hard as the real thing, and worse, they were all coordinated.
"You're trapped now, Jesse," the Silas clones taunted in unison, their voices echoing in the featureless space.
Jesse tightened his fists. He knew he couldn't afford to be reckless. One wrong move, and he'd be overwhelmed. But he also knew something crucial—these clones weren't real, and if he could exploit that, he could turn the tide.
The first clone lunged at him, followed by another, and then another. Jesse ducked under the first punch, spinning to avoid the second, and blocked the third with his forearm. He quickly countered with a sharp elbow to the closest clone's jaw, and the clone shattered into mist, disappearing into thin air. But as soon as one vanished, two more took its place.
They attacked in waves, fists flying from all directions. Jesse dodged and blocked as best as he could, but he couldn't avoid them all. A clone's punch landed squarely on his shoulder, and he grunted in pain as the impact sent him stumbling back. Another kicked at his legs, trying to sweep him off his feet, but Jesse managed to leap back just in time, narrowly avoiding being floored.
Jesse focused, his sharp eyes scanning the battlefield, looking for any sign of the real Silas. He parried another blow, driving his fist through the chest of another clone, and it dissolved into dust.
If this goes on for too long, he'll only run out of stamina.
"Claw." He murmured and his fingers hardened, stretching out four times the usual length.
"Inspect."
The multiple Silas wavered and behind all of them, one that didn't waver stood.
Jesse ran towards him, swiping all the fakes with his claws and as soon as he got to the real one with neck-breaking speed, he swiped his claws at him - though, Silas jumped back just in time to escape a deep gash, the claws still sliced through his chest, leaving a bloody scratch.
"You, goddamn rat!" Silas cursed. He saw the opening that Jesse had left and immediately used it - he sent Jesse flying out of the stage with a kick.
With shallow breaths, Silas glared at Jesse but he didn't even move a muscle. A victorious smile graced his lips as the white void slowly disappeared.
-Doom!
A large drum sound was heard, and cheers erupted - the students cheered for him as the drumming sound came to a stop and the announcer announced the winner.
"-The winner is Jesse Louis!-
"What?" Silas blinked and staggered back, he turned to where Jesse once laid outside the stage but he was no longer there, "T-theres a mistake somewhere."
The students still cheered despite his confusion.
"I said there's a mistake somewhere! I won! I won!"
"Is he out of his mind?" A student asked, nudging his friend.
"I'd go crazy too if I were him. Haha, a three hundred ranker beating a two hundred ranker into a pulp."
"He has lost his mind."
Silas' eyes widened, he glanced at where he stood and noticed that he was outside the stage, and on top the stage, Jesse stood in all his glory.
"H-how?"