Principal Aldric leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the polished wood of his desk, his sharp eyes fixed on Mr. Reyes. Outside, the school hummed with life—students chatting, sneakers squeaking against the floors, the faint sound of someone practicing a fight move in the gym.
But in here? This was where everything was decided.
"You're picking favorites," Reyes said, his tone flat as he crossed his arms.
Aldric smirked, not even bothering to deny it. "Of course I am. You don't win national tournaments by being fair, Reyes. You win by stacking the deck in your favor."
Reyes sighed, already regretting being here. He didn't get paid enough for this. Then again, if he didn't get paid, he wouldn't be here at all.
"The last match hasn't even finished," Reyes pointed out. "What if some hidden genius suddenly wipes the floor with Zik?"
Aldric scoffed, like that was the funniest thing he'd heard all week. "Then I'll deal with it when it happens." He waved a dismissive hand. "But it won't. We both know it won't."
And Reyes did. That was the annoying part.
---
Tobias. Zik. Aiden. That was the team.
Tobias was an obvious pick. The strongest student in the school, hands down. There wasn't a teacher or student alive who would argue against that. If the nationals were a war, Tobias was their nuclear weapon.
Aiden was an easy choice too. He had the combat experience, the speed, the durability—and most importantly, he was the type of guy people listened to. You needed someone like that on a team. A person who could keep things together when everything fell apart.
Zik, though… Zik was a gamble.
He wasn't the strongest. He wasn't the fastest. But he had something better—he was the only person Tobias actually liked.
And that? That was more valuable than any ability.
Because Aldric knew exactly what would happen if he forced Tobias onto a team with people who feared him. He'd pull back, hold back, get reckless out of frustration, or worse—decide he didn't care about winning at all.
Zik was the glue. Without him, Tobias wouldn't fight at full strength. And without Tobias, they wouldn't win.
---
Reyes rubbed his temples. "You really don't care about any of the other teams, huh?"
Aldric shrugged, unbothered. "Backup plans, that's all they are. Necessary to make it look fair, but let's be honest—none of them are winning."
Reyes exhaled through his nose. He hated how casually Aldric dismissed the others, but at the same time… he wasn't wrong. He hated that more.
"I hope Zik wins his last round, then," Reyes muttered. "Because if he loses, you've got a problem."
Aldric's fingers stopped tapping. His face darkened slightly, a rare flicker of unease passing through his normally unreadable expression.
Then, as if to shake it off, he sat up straighter and pressed a button on his desk intercom.
"Send them in."
---
As the three entered the office, Principal Aldric leaned back in his chair, studying them with the same intensity a gambler would give his final bet. Reyes sat off to the side, looking like a man who just wanted to get through this meeting and go home.
Zik, Aiden, and Tobias stood in front of the desk, all three aware that whatever this was, it wasn't just a casual check-in.
Zik glanced around, half-expecting a hidden camera. "Sooo, are we in trouble, or is this one of those 'we're not mad, just disappointed' things?"
Reyes let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead. "For once, you're not in trouble."
"Yet," Aiden added.
Aldric smirked. "That depends entirely on how this conversation goes."
The three stiffened slightly at that, and Aldric took a moment to let the tension settle before getting straight to the point.
"You all know what's at stake here. The national tournament isn't just a competition—it's the biggest opportunity of your lives. And I don't think I need to remind you how this school expects to perform."
Zik crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Don't lose. Got it. Very inspiring pep talk, sir."
Aldric raised a brow, unimpressed. "It's not just about winning. It's about not embarrassing this school. It's about dominating. We don't just want victory. We want fear. We want other schools to look at our team and know they have no chance."
Tobias remained silent, but Aiden gave a small smirk at that. Zik, however, frowned.
"So what's this meeting for? You already decided we're the team, didn't you?"
Aldric leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "Almost." His gaze locked onto Zik. "You still have one fight left. And if you lose, we have a problem."
---
Zik exhaled slowly. "No pressure, huh?"
Aiden slapped his back, grinning. "You got this! I mean, probably!"
Tobias gave a slow nod. "You should win." Then, after a beat, added, "If you don't, that would be disappointing."
Zik shot him a look. "Wow, the motivation is overwhelming."
Aldric tapped his fingers on the desk. "Enough jokes. You're versatile, I'll give you that. But versatility doesn't mean much if you don't know how to use it. Your next opponent—Ethan—was proof of that. You almost lost to him because you didn't have a proper counter until the last second."
Zik bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn't wrong.
"Which is why," Aldric continued, "you'll be training after school, effective immediately."
Zik blinked. "Wait. What?"
Aldric smirked, gesturing toward Reyes. "Your combat instructor here will personally be making sure you don't humiliate us in the final round."
Reyes, who had been very much not informed of this, slowly turned to Aldric. "I will?"
"Yes."
Zik, for the first time in the meeting, grinned. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."
Reyes groaned.
---
Aldric stood, walking around the desk until he was right in front of them. He wasn't a physically imposing man, but there was something about the way he carried himself—controlled, confident, certain—that made people listen.
"Zik," he said, his voice even, measured. "You're unpredictable. You think fast, you adapt, and you've got a range of abilities that make you flexible in a fight." He tilted his head slightly. "But let's be honest—if you fought yourself, which one of you would win?"
Zik frowned. "Uh… me?"
Aldric didn't even blink. "Wrong. You'd both lose."
Aiden snorted, but Aldric ignored him, keeping his gaze locked on Zik.
"You lack refinement. You fight on instinct, and while that's gotten you this far, it's not going to cut it against someone trained, experienced, and tactical. The only reason you beat Ethan was because you panicked and stumbled into a counter."
Zik wanted to argue. Wanted to say I knew exactly what I was doing! But… he didn't. Not really.
Aldric let the silence sit before continuing. "That's why Reyes is going to be drilling you. You have one more match to prove you belong in this team, and I'm not leaving it to chance. You're going to refine your skills, learn to counter faster, and if necessary—you're going to unlock something new."
Zik blinked. "You say that like it's just something I can do on command."
Aldric smirked. "It is. If you push yourself the right way."
Zik exhaled sharply, rubbing his neck. "Fine. Extra training. Got it."
Aiden nudged him. "Could be worse. He could've told you to wear weights like in an old martial arts anime."
Reyes suddenly looked thoughtful. "That's… actually not a bad idea."
Zik groaned. "I hate all of you."
---
Aldric clapped his hands once, finalizing the conversation. "Good. That's settled, then. You'll train until the final match, and you will win. Because if you don't, then this entire team balance gets thrown off, and that is not an option."
Zik nodded, and even Tobias gave a rare, approving grunt. Aiden threw an arm over his shoulder. "Looks like you're getting buff, buddy."
Zik sighed, already regretting everything.
"Meeting over," Aldric declared, moving back toward his desk. "Now get out and start making yourselves worth the investment."
The three turned to leave, but just before they stepped out, Reyes sighed and muttered under his breath, "Guess I have to actually start trying now."
Aldric smirked, sitting back down. "Good. Because if this school loses, I'm blaming you first."
Reyes grumbled all the way out the door.
Reyes walked down the hall, hands in his pockets, his thoughts spiraling in thirty different directions at once.
Train Zik in a week?
In a single week?!
He resisted the urge to kick the nearest trash can. How the hell did Aldric expect him to do that? What was he supposed to do, throw on some motivational music and hope Zik magically levels up through the power of a montage?!
This wasn't a damn RPG.
Reyes wasn't some mystical quest-giver who could hand Zik a rare EXP boost item and suddenly make him battle-ready. It didn't work like that.
…Right?
---
He sighed, rubbing his face.
To be fair, Zik had been improving fast—annoyingly fast. But that didn't change the facts:
1. Everyone left in the final round was stronger than him.
2. He had no perfect counter to any of them.
3. Any of them could have a secret ability that completely ruins whatever strategy they come up with.
Tobias? Untouchable. Aiden? A nightmare to pin down. The remaining students? All trained, experienced, and had abilities that were way more developed.
And Zik?
…Zik had a lot of abilities, sure, but he was a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He had too many tricks, but no solid win condition against a stronger, more specialized opponent.
---
But what was Reyes supposed to do? Tell the kid to quit?
Yeah. No.
He liked his paycheck.
And if Zik lost, this whole team setup fell apart. Which meant Aldric was gonna breathe down Reyes' neck until he found another solution.
So.
He was going to train Zik anyway.
Even if it was impossible.
Even if it was ridiculous.
Even if it meant actually putting in effort for once.
He let out a slow breath, accepting his fate.
Alright, kid. Let's see if you can survive what I throw at you.
As Reyes was still drowning in his overthinking, Zik's Hero System pinged with a new notification.
---
Quest: Survive Reyes' Training Montage
Objective: Endure and complete the brutal training set by Mr. Reyes.
Reward: Effort-Reflective Bonus (???)
---
Zik blinked at the screen, his gut immediately telling him this was going to suck.
The wording was way too vague for his liking. Usually, his quests gave specific rewards—an ability upgrade, stat increase, or even a new skill. But this?
"Effort will reflect the reward"?
That sounded way too much like actual hard work.
And worst of all?
If he half-assed it, he might get nothing.
He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. This was going to be painful.
Aiden leaned over his shoulder, noticing the stress on his face. "What's up? Did Reyes already scare you?"
Zik exhaled slowly. "Something tells me I should start writing my will."
Tobias smirked. "If you die, can I have your boots?"
Zik groaned. Training hadn't even started, and he already hated this.
Zik, still reeling from the vague-yet-terrifying quest notification, decided to do the only logical thing in this situation—use his Hero System's inspection ability on Reyes.
If I'm gonna suffer, at least let me know exactly what kind of nightmare I'm walking into.
The second he activated Hero Perception, a full status window for Reyes appeared before him.
---
Mr. Reyes' Status Window
---
Name: Reyes Veldorn
Level: 42
Grade: A
Specialization: Combat Tactics & Disciplinary Training
---
Core Abilities
1. Battle Adaptation
Grade: A
Level: 10
Description: The longer a fight lasts, the more Reyes automatically adjusts his movements, attack patterns, and defenses to counter his opponent. His body and instincts adapt in real-time, making him increasingly harder to defeat.
2. Enhanced Reflexes
Grade: B
Level: 8
Description: Reyes reacts to movement faster than most super-speed users can process, allowing him to dodge, counter, and intercept attacks before they fully form.
3. Martial Mastery
Grade: A
Level: 12
Description: Reyes has perfect mastery over multiple martial arts, allowing him to fight at peak efficiency in any combat scenario. If he's using his fists, you're already at a disadvantage.
4. Tactical Suppression
Grade: B
Level: 7
Description: Reyes can instinctively find weak points in an opponent's fighting style and exploit them, overwhelming them with precise counters, psychological pressure, and battlefield control.
5. Adaptive Physiology
Grade: A
Level: 9
Description: Reyes' body automatically adjusts to extreme environments. If thrown into water, he develops gills. If placed in a blazing desert, his skin resists heat and dehydration. If forced into low-oxygen conditions, his lungs compensate.
Note: This makes him nearly impossible to weaken through environmental disadvantages.
6. Hell Domain
Grade: A
Level: 6
Description: Reyes can trap his target in a localized reality shift, creating an environment specifically designed to be their worst possible battlefield.
Examples:
A fish? Dropped into a desert.
A fire-user? Sent to a rain-soaked ice tundra.
A speedster? Forced into a gravity-heavy swamp.
Side Effects: Reyes thrives in Hell Domain. His Adaptive Physiology lets him fully adjust, while his Tactical Suppression ensures his opponent cannot.
---
Notable Skills & Traits
Pain Tolerance: Minor injuries? Doesn't feel them.
Fear Resistance: Unshakable. Absolutely nothing fazes him.
"I've Seen Every Trick": Don't bother trying cheap moves. He's already countered them before you were born.
---
Zik's Immediate Thoughts Upon Seeing This
WHAT THE HELL.
Reyes didn't just train people. He broke them down and rebuilt them in the most nightmarish way possible.
And worse?
That Hell Domain ability wasn't just bad—it was comically unfair.
If Zik fought in a normal bad environment, he could adjust. But this? This was custom-tailored suffering.
And Reyes was completely immune to it.
Zik shut the inspection window so fast he almost broke his own brain.
Aiden nudged him again. "Dude. You look pale. What'd you see?"
Zik swallowed hard.
Then, slowly, he whispered:
"We are so unbelievably screwed."