Severin watched as many students, even those from class two and three, glanced over. But when they saw it was between two small fries, their eyes clouded over and they looked away with a bored expression.
As if desperate for their attention, the short boy dashed out of his seat and pointed at Derrick. "You muscle head pig, get out of here now before I change my mind."
Derrick, the bully, turned bright red and looked away, his hands clenched into fists. But that seemed to annoy the short boy, because he shook his head.
"Hey, muscle pig. What did you just do?"
Derrick turned, his face flushed with anger, but he didn't dare say anything. Instead, he glared at the students from class five, and they flinched because they knew their bully was going to return to the dorm angry that day.
Severin's mouth curled and he thought, "...even among the weak, there's still weaker and better. I'm simply the weakest..."
When the short boy saw that the attention he had gathered was fading fast, he snorted and flicked his hand. A thick rope of water suddenly materialized in front of him and cracked forward. The water slammed into Derrick, a literal slap on the face that sent him into the ground.
The short boy turned and joined his friends, and they all went out.
The panicked class five ran out next, leaving only Severin and Derrick in the classroom.
Severin slowly walked over. He passed where Derrick was lying on the ground and looked down at him, his blue eyes cold.
Derrick stared up at him, a sneer on his lips. "What are you looking at, you worthless dog? At least I have people that want to fight me, unlike a worthless shit like you!"
Severin turned his back on Derrick and slowly walked away without speaking. But once he reached the door, he turned. He had a pitying look on his face and a smile. "That's a good coping mechanism for a weakling like you."
Then he was gone.
It took some time before Derrick understood that Severin was talking to him. He roared and rushed to the door, but Severin was long gone. His whole body trembled. "That trash just made fun of me... all because of that short bastard! How pathetic. Tonight, I'm going to break at least four of his fingers!"
☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆
The monthly combat assessment is a totally random list. Anyone could find their name on the list, and once they did, they had no choice but to fight.
Severin was walking the hallway when it finally seemed to click, and he gave a cold smile. "Very well. I have made the decision to dominate everything and anything here. I have the weakest Talent Ability, so what? Power is power, and I will gain it."
His mind calmed down and he went to the noticeboard to check the monthly assessment list. And right there, he found his name.
Severin stared at the flickering blue projection blankly. "My name is here?"
A lot of the students around actually gave him a pitying look, while others who were chosen sighed in relief. And some were actually sad that their names weren't on the list.
Severin felt like he'd eaten a lump of hot metal. "So the academy has finally decided that it's time to kick me out?"
Every admission time, teenagers from all over the Empire would be tested to see if they had the right aptitude to become Etherion users, and after that, they would hook them into the collapsed system to get their Ability Talent and rank.
The academy did not actually care if you were weak or not. All of that would be determined inside the academy, because the weak weren't actually useless as people say. They are stones—stepping stones for the strong.
They are fodder, punching bags. The academy uses the monthly assessment to filter out the trash and train their strong.
"A win-win situation." Severin smiled.
Then he checked who he would be fighting and his breath seemed to stop. "Ethan Aldrich?"
Ethan Aldrich was from class two. He came from a wealthy family that had a short history of producing Heroes. He even had an older sister who had already graduated from Zenith Hero Academy.
His Talent Ability Rank made it possible to control gravitational fields. In fact, there was no comparison between Severin and Ethan. It was a completely hopeless fight that those who saw it already knew the outcome of.
Severin nodded. "Not bad."
A class four student who was beside him suddenly snorted out a laugh. It was the short boy with the brown hair from earlier. "Not bad? You're already dead, boy. I'd advise you to cut your two hands off before then or stab one of your eyes.
"It's a common way that weak trash like you get to avoid the monthly assessment, and the academy won't hold it against you. After all, it takes a certain level of courage to pull it off."
Severin ignored the boy. His blue eyes seemed to flicker as he began to put his plans together.
"Don't worry. Maybe your dead body will be used for training the healers. You'll get some attention then."
Severin finally turned. He looked down at the short boy for a long time, his gaze filled with intensity. It was as if a high-ranked Hero was looking down at him.
The short boy almost took a step back as he shifted uncomfortably.
Severin shook his head and turned to go, only saying, "You are a class four student."
The short student stared dumbly at Severin's back. "Wait, isn't that the infamous F-ranked student? Strange, this is the first time I'm actually noticing him, but why is he behaving so arrogantly?
"Ah, I see. Some people, when they are faced with their death, will actually run mad and start behaving irrationally. Well, that's the fate of the randoms." He chuckled and continued to read the names.
He was studying the names of all the high-class students so he could find a way to suck up to them.