Karuza High, the Gymnasium.
"Yawn!" A silver-haired young man in a white Karuza High jersey stretched his arms above his head and let out a loud yawn.
At the back of the jersey, the number "1" was displayed in bold black font.
"Yo!" At that moment, a blond-haired young man entered the gymnasium with a grin. He wore the same jersey with the number 2 on the back and dragged his backpack behind him.
The silver-haired young man turned to look at him and lazily waved. He had a lazy look on his face with drooping eyes and a relaxed posture.
"I told you to stop with those video games." The blond-haired young man sighed and scratched the back of his head. "If you had put the same effort into martial arts, you would be Martial Fighter by now."
"But martial arts are boring." The silver-haired young man said lazily. "Nath, do you know why the coach wanted us here so early?"
Nath looked at the lazy-looking young man and shrugged his shoulders. "No clue. By the way, did you heard what happened yesterday, Ryan?"
"Hmm?" Ryan raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "No. Did it happen after school? After school ended, I went to play games."
"Of course you did…" Nath sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Dominic apparently lost to another first-year. The whole school is talking about it, y'know."
"Dominic lost?" Ryan's lazy look slightly disappeared. "Interesting. I didn't think anyone from the first year was a match for him."
"Hehe, Karuza High will be in good hands once we graduate." Nath grinned.
The door of the gymnasium opened and a man with round belly entered. He was wearing a tracksuit and holding a clipboard.
"Coach." Ryan and Nath nodded.
"Good, you're already here." The Coach said while scratching his head. "Others should be here shortly."
While the coach didn't look anything special, he was the coach of Karuza High's Martial Arts Team. He had been one for ten years now.
At his peak, he used to compete in various big martial tournaments overseas and even won a few of them. He got settled in Irio and ended up becoming the coach.
"Coach Jin, why are we here?" Nath asked. "The training is not supposed to start so early."
"The principal wants us to meet someone." Jin said.
"Someone?" Nath frowned.
At that moment, three figures entered the gymnasium. They looked vastly different from each other.
One was incredibly muscular and tall, nearing two meters. He also had a buzzcut and looked way older than other students—he could be easily mistaken for someone in his early thirties.
On his jersey, number three was in bold black font.
Right next to him, a young man nudged his glasses up his nose. He looked quite intellectual, but also quite weak. He was short—way shorter than the two and had black bowl hair.
In his jersey, number four adorned the back.
"Sigh." Next to him, a gray-haired young man with hair braided down his back let out a long sigh. He looked quite scary, with tattoos covering his arms.
A number five adorned the back of his jersey.
"Klaus, Timothy, and Denton, thanks for being here." The coach, Jin, said with a nod. "Now, all of us are here. The principal should soon arrive with his guest."
"What bullshit." Denton said and sat down cross-legged on the floor, his tattoos peeking out from under his shirt sleeves. "Couldn't this meeting have been after school? I had to wake up early for this shit."
"Denton, watch your mouth." Jin said sternly. "The principal must have good reason to gather us all here."
"Tch." Denton clicked his tongue.
"Well, I agree with Denton." Ryan said and yawned. "I only got two hours of sleep."
"Ryan, that's your fault for playing so late." Nath said with a chuckle. "You were informed last night that we had an early meeting today."
"You should study instead." Timothy said and nudged his glasses. "You lack intelligence, anyways, Ryan."
"Shut up, four-eyes." Ryan said lazily. "How does your intelligence help you when you get punched in the face?"
"True, punching is usually stronger than intelligence." Klaus said in a deep voice. "Except if your glasses work as some kind of shield."
"Klaus, I don't expect you to know anything about intelligence." Timothy said in a condescending tone. "How many times have you been mistaken as the father of one of the students today?"
Klaus's head dropped low. "Those damn security guards. They never recognize me, even though I am already in my third year. Today, they didn't want to let me through the gate because they thought I was going to kidnap one of the students. They said I looked like someone who would kidnap children. Curse them…"
"They're just pulling your leg." Nath chuckled.
Jin sighed and rolled his eyes at the conversation. He had gotten used to them always bickering. But then he noticed a familiar figure walking outside towards the gymnasium.
"Stand up!" He ordered and faced the door.
Denton groaned and slowly stood back up. The five young men stood beside each other with their arms behind their backs.
At that moment, Azer entered the gymnasium with a young man following closely behind him.
"Thanks everyone for coming here." Azer said and looked around at the serious faces of the five men. "I want you guys to meet someone."
The coach's and the five men's gazes turned to the young man beside Azer. He was wearing the school uniform and looked quite pleasant to look at. His black hair was slightly messy, but it added to his charm.
There was nothing else quite special about him—his smile was unassuming, his posture was relaxed, and his gray eyes looked calm like the surface of a still lake.
"This here is Kiernan Hunter, the new eight-ranked student." Azer said. "He defeated Dominic yesterday."
"Oh." Jin rubbed his chin and scanned Kiernan from head-to-toe. Instantly, a strange look appeared on his face.
'He defeated Dominic? Why doesn't he radiate stronger energy? Does he have lower Martial Soul rank than Dominic?'
"Nice to meet you all." Kiernan bowed respectfully and looked at the five young men with a deep look. 'These five are the top of Karuza High.'
"Introduce yourselves." Azer said with a calm voice.
"Ryan Lee." Ryan said in a lazy tone. "I am the first-ranked student."
"Nathaniel Waters, but you can call me Nath." Nath said. "I am the second-ranked student."
"Klaus Kohn, third-ranked." Klaus said shortly.
"Timothy Howe." Timothy said and nudged his glasses. "Fourth-ranked."
"Denton Kyles." Denton said coldly with a sharp look. "Fifth-ranked."
"Kiernan is here to get to know each one of you. In the future, he will be a very promising member of Karuza High's martial arts team." Azer said.
"Nice to meet you, Kiernan." Jin walked over to him and offered a handshake. "My name's Jin Reece; I am the coach."
"Nice to meet you." Kiernan grabbed the hand and shook it. 'What a powerful grip!'
"Well, now that we have met, I have some better things to do." Denton said and grabbed his backpack from the floor.
"Oh, like meeting with your thousand girlfriends?" Ryan said mockingly. "Don't act like you're going to class. We all know you aren't."
"None of your business, Ryan." Denton spat out.
"Denton, behave!" Jin roared out.
"Fuck off." Denton slung the backpack over his shoulder and headed to the exit.
At that moment, Azer said. "If you leave, you will be replaced by Kiernan."
Denton stopped in his tracks and turned to him with red eyes. "What did you say?"
"You heard me." Azer said calmly. "You will be out of the team if you leave."
"An eight-ranked garbage is replacing me?" Denton scowled.
"Well, you are not really needed, are you?" Azer looked at him with a smile. "If either Ryan, Nath, or Klaus gets injured, Timothy will replace one of them. What's the chance of two getting injured? Slim to none."
Denton narrowed his eyes and dug his fingers into his palms, resisting the urge to argue. He knew he was most likely not going to fight in the representation match.
However, he didn't care.
He was on the team because of the prestige. It would open up some doors for him after he was finished with school. He could get a well-paying job in Irio and have a stress-free life.
"Tch." Denton dropped the backpack to the ground and sat on it.
"Good." Azer said with a smile. "What about we have a match?"
"A match?" Jin raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, three-versus-three." Azer chuckled. "It can be good practice for everyone. Now with Kiernan, we have six people."
'Oh?' Kiernan chuckled. 'That's why he wanted me to meet them. He doesn't know the extent of my strength, and he hopes this can shed light on that.'