Chapter 26
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Silence. After Sophie's outburst, no one dared to say anything. Offending a girl has never ended well for anyone involved. But Beta had done it. They were clearly impressed by his skills but they were more impressed by his bravery.
"How dare you ruin my apple!", Sophie shouted, her face red with anger.
Beta didn't know what to do. He didn't like handling women. He learned long ago that you can't mess with women. When he made a mistake when he was with his mother, he was almost poisoned to death. Just remembering about his training long ago made him shiver. His mother was a peculiar one. She didn't show much reaction when interacting with him nor even showed any care towards him. She was as cold as how his father has been, looking at him like a lab rat. But she, just like his father, was passionate about teaching him her skills which involved medicine and plants.
One time, to train his senses, she drank tea and chocolate milk with him every now and then. Sometimes it was poisoned, other times it wasn't. He never complained about being poisoned, for he knew that his life after that would only become worse. As for the current situation... he only knew one way to overcome it - lie.
"You call that ruin?! I just saved you! You may not have noticed but that apple had a worm in it! Imagine our glorious teacher eating a worm! How disgraceful would that be?", Beta said with a heroic air. At this moment, he seemed to be a knight in shining armor rather than an evil apple destroyer.
Everyone was shocked hearing that. Was it true? If there really was a worm inside the apple, people can imagine that it would've been very bad. Sophie paled when she heard that. But she quickly regained her red face, now in an even darker shade.
"You dare to lie to me! I checked the apple hundreds of times before this and there clearly was no hole!"
This time, it was Beta's turn to be shocked. Who the hell would do that? But he still sticked to his earlier choice, not giving up on it and even acting full of conviction and justice. He was thankful that hanging out with Brian and observing his people's skills, lying and bullshitting, which he never thought he had to use, is helping him right now.
"Preposterous! You actually dare to think that I lied? Did you even check the stem of the apple? Have you ever heard of the stem worm?", Beta said, looking infuriated by her assumptions.
Brian and the others who were watching didn't know what to think anymore. Was there a worm or not? Since the piece of the apple that was hit vanished into nothingness they would never find out.
"Aaarrggh!!! I will get back at you! Hmpf!", Sophie said, stomping her way out of the room.
Again, silence reigned. Even the teacher didn't know what to say. After an unknown period of time, Lores finally came back to his senses and continued as if nothing happened. No one minded this, as everyone was focused on their own cultivation after all. Beta, too, didn't dwell on the topic any longer. He already showed his might, making everyone notice that they shouldn't start a fight with him, or even think about it.
Brian on his side couldn't take it anymore, wanting to know the truth. So, he was secretly poking Beta to get his attention. Beta wanted to ignore him but since he knows that Brian will only keep on poking him for the rest of the time in class, he gave up and just gave him a wink and a silly grin. The moment Brian saw his face, he noticed that his friend started vibrating. At first, he was worried but then when he saw Brian trying so hard to keep his mouth shut and finally covering it with his other hand, he finally understood what's wrong.
Brian wanted to laugh so hard but couldn't, so he's struggling to keep calm at the moment. With an incredulous face and teary eyes, he was slightly bent over, clutching his stomach. He kind of resembled a person that was suffering from constipation but his face was a contradiction since he looked too happy to be a constipated person. Beta just rolled his eyes looking at his friend having a fit, then wrote a note for Brian to read and passed it to him.
The note says, "Don't shit yourself now. I wouldn't want to be tagged as the friend of someone who can't hold it in during class."
When Brian saw the note, he finally managed to get a grip and answered back, writing, "I never thought you had it in you to lie with a straight face. So brave!!! Ahh... I'm at awe of your presence!"
Beta smiled at this and wrote down swiftly, "I learned from the best – you!"
The moment Brian saw the message, his whole countenance changed. Much more different than before which made Beta curious. Brian wrote something slowly and passed it to Beta without looking. The note simply says, "I feel very fortunate to have a friend like you. No matter what, I'll follow you to the ends of the world."
"Friendship is such a weird thing. I never felt this warmth from my family. I'm glad I get to live outside of that place...", thought Beta, who felt moved by his friend's promise. He didn't answer the note back and only extending his fist, to which Brian answered with a soft hit of his own fist and returned a smile towards each other. Nobody noticed their short interaction at all since everybody went back to presenting the shapes they learned and too busy minding their own training.
After class, Lores simply told them to increase their cultivation and create an arrow, as always, within a weeks' time.
Beta left class hurriedly. If he wanted to keep being the top student, he would have to put the most effort into it. But Beta wasn't the only one who thought that. Which kid that just got to know that they can use superpowers wouldn't do everything in their might to get stronger? He already knew how to increase his soulpower, so he was itching to do it as fast as he can. He wanted to be able to do more. Though it appears peaceful at the moment, he didn't feel safe in this world at all. Just what was he supposed to do if he met a strong beast? Right now, he couldn't hold a candle against it. There were also strong people that might cause him harm in the future, he can't possibly let them do what they want with him.
Beta also believed that there is more to this world. Not just the terrifying survival he has been going through all his life. He believed that there was a place, so beautiful and peaceful, that he could live there happily without having to worry about keeping himself alive. Sometimes, what people desire isn't an action loaded life, but one filled with serenity. Unfortunately, reality is cruel, who ever gets what they want?
"Hey, you! We've got something to talk about!"
When Beta saw the boy who seemed to be a bit older than him, calling out for him, he frowned hard. He had an angry look on his rather haggard face. His nose seems as though it tried to pierce the heavens.
"Who are you?!", Brain said, positioning himself between them.
"You don't know who I am? I am placed fourth in class 2-S! My name is Leopold!"
When Beta saw his actions, he felt a headache coming.
"What do you want?", Beta said in a cold, chilling voice, that made one feel as if a glacier was right in front of them.
Leopold was stunned. How can a kid emit such coldness with just a few words? He wasn't even strong and only a freshman at that. Not backing off, he stepped forward, looking proud and mighty.
"I want a duel! No worries, since you're a freshman we won't use any soulpower. I don't want anyone to say that I bullied a small kid after all!", Leopold said while pointing his index finger at Beta.
"Alright, let's fight.", Beta answered, not even looking at him while walking towards a small plot of empty land.
"Of course you would want to know why I... Wait... what?!"
Leopold didn't know what to say anymore but he quickly recovered.
"Don't you want to know why?", Leopold asked while raising an eyebrow.
Although he said that, he still followed Beta.
"You want to kill me, don't you? So, we will obviously fight.", Beta said nonchalantly.
Leopold, again, was shocked. How could he come to that conclusion? This kid was crazier than he thought!
"I don't want to fight a duel to the death, just a simple duel. It's only because you bullied my sister, so I won't kill you."
"What?"
"Sophie. She told me you bullied her."
Beta simply raised his eyebrow and didn't care anymore. Sometimes, words are not enough to solve a problem and he certainly wasn't afraid of a fight. Though he still found it troublesome, he couldn't back down now.
They moved opposite to each other and Beta readied his staff. Even though Leopold was still not drawing a weapon, Beta wouldn't look down on him for that.
"3... 2... 1... Go!", Brian said with a slight smile on his face.
As soon as the word "Go" was heard, they rushed at each other madly. The only difference was that Leopold charged with his left shoulder leading the way, at the same time he pulled back his right fist, ready to strike. Beta on the other hand rotated his staff, letting it flow around his body like a storm. As Leopold approached, the staff came at him at a breakneck speed. Even at that speed he managed to dodge it by bending his body to the extreme. This didn't interrupt Beta as he kept spinning the staff around his limbs.
Leopold was surprised. Usually, people tend to have an opening after a failed attack, but Beta's defense was like a tightly shut castle on a hill, impossible to conquer.
The staff continued attacking Leopold with a fierce gale following it. The sound of it alone terrified the onlookers. Even their seniors had to admit that Beta was very strong.
"He's a strong kid, but that won't be enough to handle someone who's been here for a year longer."
"Yeah, he's dead meat."
The conversations around the battle were getting louder as the fight continued.
Leopold soon noticed that it wouldn't be easy to get through Beta's defense, so he chose to go head up against it. After Beta attacked once more, he launched a punch at the staff deflecting it and at the same time disrupting Beta's flow. Beta was surprised by his strength and finally saw Leopold in a new light. He stopped twirling his staff and looked at him as if he was looking at an opponent in the arena. He had the warmest of smiles on his face, stopping Leopold's advance.
Beta was in the shadow world for hundreds of years. Because of that, he forgot the feeling of having to battle in an arena. But now that he was finally fighting against a worthy, strong opponent, the feeling came back to him. He saw Leopold as if using an x-ray. Beta saw every muscle move, every tendon stretch. He was eyeing the parts that he thought could be worth taking. Such a way of looking at the human body was born after thousands of bisections and endless life or death battles. He knew exactly where he had to hit and what kind of effect it had.
Leopold was confused. His opponent was looking at him warmly, as if he was his closest kin. But at the same time, he felt exposed. Then, suddenly, he felt a looming threat to his life. He didn't dare to confirm what it was, so he ducked without thinking twice.
Whoosh!
Beta's staff flew past his head, scratching him. He started bleeding. Just how fast did a staff have to be to cut someone? When he looked up at Beta again, he still saw that warm smile, but now it felt more like a radiant sun. Not the beautiful kind that everyone would think of but the hot gaseous mass flying in the void of the universe. If he got too close, he definitely would die.
Leopold looked at Beta with a serious face. He braced himself and walked up to him with more caution, throwing punches to deflect the staff as he aimed to keep on hitting Beta.
Beta didn't care about getting hit and just continued the same way he fought before. Twirling the staff on his limbs, hips, legs, even on his neck, making it seem like he was only playing around. His attacks were getting faster and more unpredictable, either going left, right, up, or down. The others watching found Beta's fighting style really mesmerizing, as he twirled his staff, it created afterimages and his movements made him seem like he was dancing. But all in all, they noticed something that was clear to see, he's still weak compared to the senior.
"He's gonna lose for sure."
"For a second, I even thought that he had a chance."
"He will win."
The last one was clearly Brian, who didn't stop believing in Beta even once. This proved to be the right decision. Soon, a cracking noise was heard as Leopold deflected another staff strike, followed by a scream.
"ARRGH!"
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Silence. After Sophie's outburst, no one dared to say anything. Offending a girl has never ended well for anyone involved. But Beta had done it. They were clearly impressed by his skills but they were more impressed by his bravery.
"How dare you ruin my apple!", Sophie shouted, her face red with anger.
Beta didn't know what to do. He didn't like handling women. He learned long ago that you can't mess with women. When he made a mistake when he was with his mother, he was almost poisoned to death. Just remembering about his training long ago made him shiver. His mother was a peculiar one. She didn't show much reaction when interacting with him nor even showed any care towards him. She was as cold as how his father has been, looking at him like a lab rat. But she, just like his father, was passionate about teaching him her skills which involved medicine and plants.
One time, to train his senses, she drank tea and chocolate milk with him every now and then. Sometimes it was poisoned, other times it wasn't. He never complained about being poisoned, for he knew that his life after that would only become worse. As for the current situation... he only knew one way to overcome it - lie.
"You call that ruin?! I just saved you! You may not have noticed but that apple had a worm in it! Imagine our glorious teacher eating a worm! How disgraceful would that be?", Beta said with a heroic air. At this moment, he seemed to be a knight in shining armor rather than an evil apple destroyer.
Everyone was shocked hearing that. Was it true? If there really was a worm inside the apple, people can imagine that it would've been very bad. Sophie paled when she heard that. But she quickly regained her red face, now in an even darker shade.
"You dare to lie to me! I checked the apple hundreds of times before this and there clearly was no hole!"
This time, it was Beta's turn to be shocked. Who the hell would do that? But he still sticked to his earlier choice, not giving up on it and even acting full of conviction and justice. He was thankful that hanging out with Brian and observing his people's skills, lying and bullshitting, which he never thought he had to use, is helping him right now.
"Preposterous! You actually dare to think that I lied? Did you even check the stem of the apple? Have you ever heard of the stem worm?", Beta said, looking infuriated by her assumptions.
Brian and the others who were watching didn't know what to think anymore. Was there a worm or not? Since the piece of the apple that was hit vanished into nothingness they would never find out.
"Aaarrggh!!! I will get back at you! Hmpf!", Sophie said, stomping her way out of the room.
Again, silence reigned. Even the teacher didn't know what to say. After an unknown period of time, Lores finally came back to his senses and continued as if nothing happened. No one minded this, as everyone was focused on their own cultivation after all. Beta, too, didn't dwell on the topic any longer. He already showed his might, making everyone notice that they shouldn't start a fight with him, or even think about it.
Brian on his side couldn't take it anymore, wanting to know the truth. So, he was secretly poking Beta to get his attention. Beta wanted to ignore him but since he knows that Brian will only keep on poking him for the rest of the time in class, he gave up and just gave him a wink and a silly grin. The moment Brian saw his face, he noticed that his friend started vibrating. At first, he was worried but then when he saw Brian trying so hard to keep his mouth shut and finally covering it with his other hand, he finally understood what's wrong.
Brian wanted to laugh so hard but couldn't, so he's struggling to keep calm at the moment. With an incredulous face and teary eyes, he was slightly bent over, clutching his stomach. He kind of resembled a person that was suffering from constipation but his face was a contradiction since he looked too happy to be a constipated person. Beta just rolled his eyes looking at his friend having a fit, then wrote a note for Brian to read and passed it to him.
The note says, "Don't shit yourself now. I wouldn't want to be tagged as the friend of someone who can't hold it in during class."
When Brian saw the note, he finally managed to get a grip and answered back, writing, "I never thought you had it in you to lie with a straight face. So brave!!! Ahh... I'm at awe of your presence!"
Beta smiled at this and wrote down swiftly, "I learned from the best – you!"
The moment Brian saw the message, his whole countenance changed. Much more different than before which made Beta curious. Brian wrote something slowly and passed it to Beta without looking. The note simply says, "I feel very fortunate to have a friend like you. No matter what, I'll follow you to the ends of the world."
"Friendship is such a weird thing. I never felt this warmth from my family. I'm glad I get to live outside of that place...", thought Beta, who felt moved by his friend's promise. He didn't answer the note back and only extending his fist, to which Brian answered with a soft hit of his own fist and returned a smile towards each other. Nobody noticed their short interaction at all since everybody went back to presenting the shapes they learned and too busy minding their own training.
After class, Lores simply told them to increase their cultivation and create an arrow, as always, within a weeks' time.
Beta left class hurriedly. If he wanted to keep being the top student, he would have to put the most effort into it. But Beta wasn't the only one who thought that. Which kid that just got to know that they can use superpowers wouldn't do everything in their might to get stronger? He already knew how to increase his soulpower, so he was itching to do it as fast as he can. He wanted to be able to do more. Though it appears peaceful at the moment, he didn't feel safe in this world at all. Just what was he supposed to do if he met a strong beast? Right now, he couldn't hold a candle against it. There were also strong people that might cause him harm in the future, he can't possibly let them do what they want with him.
Beta also believed that there is more to this world. Not just the terrifying survival he has been going through all his life. He believed that there was a place, so beautiful and peaceful, that he could live there happily without having to worry about keeping himself alive. Sometimes, what people desire isn't an action loaded life, but one filled with serenity. Unfortunately, reality is cruel, who ever gets what they want?
"Hey, you! We've got something to talk about!"
When Beta saw the boy who seemed to be a bit older than him, calling out for him, he frowned hard. He had an angry look on his rather haggard face. His nose seems as though it tried to pierce the heavens.
"Who are you?!", Brain said, positioning himself between them.
"You don't know who I am? I am placed fourth in class 2-S! My name is Leopold!"
When Beta saw his actions, he felt a headache coming.
"What do you want?", Beta said in a cold, chilling voice, that made one feel as if a glacier was right in front of them.
Leopold was stunned. How can a kid emit such coldness with just a few words? He wasn't even strong and only a freshman at that. Not backing off, he stepped forward, looking proud and mighty.
"I want a duel! No worries, since you're a freshman we won't use any soulpower. I don't want anyone to say that I bullied a small kid after all!", Leopold said while pointing his index finger at Beta.
"Alright, let's fight.", Beta answered, not even looking at him while walking towards a small plot of empty land.
"Of course you would want to know why I... Wait... what?!"
Leopold didn't know what to say anymore but he quickly recovered.
"Don't you want to know why?", Leopold asked while raising an eyebrow.
Although he said that, he still followed Beta.
"You want to kill me, don't you? So, we will obviously fight.", Beta said nonchalantly.
Leopold, again, was shocked. How could he come to that conclusion? This kid was crazier than he thought!
"I don't want to fight a duel to the death, just a simple duel. It's only because you bullied my sister, so I won't kill you."
"What?"
"Sophie. She told me you bullied her."
Beta simply raised his eyebrow and didn't care anymore. Sometimes, words are not enough to solve a problem and he certainly wasn't afraid of a fight. Though he still found it troublesome, he couldn't back down now.
They moved opposite to each other and Beta readied his staff. Even though Leopold was still not drawing a weapon, Beta wouldn't look down on him for that.
"3... 2... 1... Go!", Brian said with a slight smile on his face.
As soon as the word "Go" was heard, they rushed at each other madly. The only difference was that Leopold charged with his left shoulder leading the way, at the same time he pulled back his right fist, ready to strike. Beta on the other hand rotated his staff, letting it flow around his body like a storm. As Leopold approached, the staff came at him at a breakneck speed. Even at that speed he managed to dodge it by bending his body to the extreme. This didn't interrupt Beta as he kept spinning the staff around his limbs.
Leopold was surprised. Usually, people tend to have an opening after a failed attack, but Beta's defense was like a tightly shut castle on a hill, impossible to conquer.
The staff continued attacking Leopold with a fierce gale following it. The sound of it alone terrified the onlookers. Even their seniors had to admit that Beta was very strong.
"He's a strong kid, but that won't be enough to handle someone who's been here for a year longer."
"Yeah, he's dead meat."
The conversations around the battle were getting louder as the fight continued.
Leopold soon noticed that it wouldn't be easy to get through Beta's defense, so he chose to go head up against it. After Beta attacked once more, he launched a punch at the staff deflecting it and at the same time disrupting Beta's flow. Beta was surprised by his strength and finally saw Leopold in a new light. He stopped twirling his staff and looked at him as if he was looking at an opponent in the arena. He had the warmest of smiles on his face, stopping Leopold's advance.
Beta was in the shadow world for hundreds of years. Because of that, he forgot the feeling of having to battle in an arena. But now that he was finally fighting against a worthy, strong opponent, the feeling came back to him. He saw Leopold as if using an x-ray. Beta saw every muscle move, every tendon stretch. He was eyeing the parts that he thought could be worth taking. Such a way of looking at the human body was born after thousands of bisections and endless life or death battles. He knew exactly where he had to hit and what kind of effect it had.
Leopold was confused. His opponent was looking at him warmly, as if he was his closest kin. But at the same time, he felt exposed. Then, suddenly, he felt a looming threat to his life. He didn't dare to confirm what it was, so he ducked without thinking twice.
Whoosh!
Beta's staff flew past his head, scratching him. He started bleeding. Just how fast did a staff have to be to cut someone? When he looked up at Beta again, he still saw that warm smile, but now it felt more like a radiant sun. Not the beautiful kind that everyone would think of but the hot gaseous mass flying in the void of the universe. If he got too close, he definitely would die.
Leopold looked at Beta with a serious face. He braced himself and walked up to him with more caution, throwing punches to deflect the staff as he aimed to keep on hitting Beta.
Beta didn't care about getting hit and just continued the same way he fought before. Twirling the staff on his limbs, hips, legs, even on his neck, making it seem like he was only playing around. His attacks were getting faster and more unpredictable, either going left, right, up, or down. The others watching found Beta's fighting style really mesmerizing, as he twirled his staff, it created afterimages and his movements made him seem like he was dancing. But all in all, they noticed something that was clear to see, he's still weak compared to the senior.
"He's gonna lose for sure."
"For a second, I even thought that he had a chance."
"He will win."
The last one was clearly Brian, who didn't stop believing in Beta even once. This proved to be the right decision. Soon, a cracking noise was heard as Leopold deflected another staff strike, followed by a scream.
"ARRGH!"
Silence. After Sophie's outburst, no one dared to say anything. Offending a girl has never ended well for anyone involved. But Beta had done it. They were clearly impressed by his skills but they were more impressed by his bravery."How dare you ruin my apple!", Sophie shouted, her face red with anger.Beta didn't know what to do. He didn't like handling women. He learned long ago that you can't mess with women. When he made a mistake when he was with his mother, he was almost poisoned to death. Just remembering about his training long ago made him shiver. His mother was a peculiar one. She didn't show much reaction when interacting with him nor even showed any care towards him. She was as cold as how his father has been, looking at him like a lab rat. But she, just like his father, was passionate about teaching him her skills which involved medicine and plants.One time, to train his senses, she drank tea and chocolate milk with him every now and then. Sometimes it was poisoned, other times it wasn't. He never complained about being poisoned, for he knew that his life after that would only become worse. As for the current situation... he only knew one way to overcome it - lie."You call that ruin?! I just saved you! You may not have noticed but that apple had a worm in it! Imagine our glorious teacher eating a worm! How disgraceful would that be?", Beta said with a heroic air. At this moment, he seemed to be a knight in shining armor rather than an evil apple destroyer.Everyone was shocked hearing that. Was it true? If there really was a worm inside the apple, people can imagine that it would've been very bad. Sophie paled when she heard that. But she quickly regained her red face, now in an even darker shade."You dare to lie to me! I checked the apple hundreds of times before this and there clearly was no hole!"This time, it was Beta's turn to be shocked. Who the hell would do that? But he still sticked to his earlier choice, not giving up on it and even acting full of conviction and justice. He was thankful that hanging out with Brian and observing his people's skills, lying and bullshitting, which he never thought he had to use, is helping him right now."Preposterous! You actually dare to think that I lied? Did you even check the stem of the apple? Have you ever heard of the stem worm?", Beta said, looking infuriated by her assumptions.Brian and the others who were watching didn't know what to think anymore. Was there a worm or not? Since the piece of the apple that was hit vanished into nothingness they would never find out."Aaarrggh!!! I will get back at you! Hmpf!", Sophie said, stomping her way out of the room.Again, silence reigned. Even the teacher didn't know what to say. After an unknown period of time, Lores finally came back to his senses and continued as if nothing happened. No one minded this, as everyone was focused on their own cultivation after all. Beta, too, didn't dwell on the topic any longer. He already showed his might, making everyone notice that they shouldn't start a fight with him, or even think about it.Brian on his side couldn't take it anymore, wanting to know the truth. So, he was secretly poking Beta to get his attention. Beta wanted to ignore him but since he knows that Brian will only keep on poking him for the rest of the time in class, he gave up and just gave him a wink and a silly grin. The moment Brian saw his face, he noticed that his friend started vibrating. At first, he was worried but then when he saw Brian trying so hard to keep his mouth shut and finally covering it with his other hand, he finally understood what's wrong.Brian wanted to laugh so hard but couldn't, so he's struggling to keep calm at the moment. With an incredulous face and teary eyes, he was slightly bent over, clutching his stomach. He kind of resembled a person that was suffering from constipation but his face was a contradiction since he looked too happy to be a constipated person. Beta just rolled his eyes looking at his friend having a fit, then wrote a note for Brian to read and passed it to him.The note says, "Don't shit yourself now. I wouldn't want to be tagged as the friend of someone who can't hold it in during class."When Brian saw the note, he finally managed to get a grip and answered back, writing, "I never thought you had it in you to lie with a straight face. So brave!!! Ahh... I'm at awe of your presence!"Beta smiled at this and wrote down swiftly, "I learned from the best you!"The moment Brian saw the message, his whole countenance changed. Much more different than before which made Beta curious. Brian wrote something slowly and passed it to Beta without looking. The note simply says, "I feel very fortunate to have a friend like you. No matter what, I'll follow you to the ends of the world.""Friendship is such a weird thing. I never felt this warmth from my family. I'm glad I get to live outside of that place...", thought Beta, who felt moved by his friend's promise. He didn't answer the note back and only extending his fist, to which Brian answered with a soft hit of his own fist and returned a smile towards each other. Nobody noticed their short interaction at all since everybody went back to presenting the shapes they learned and too busy minding their own training.After class, Lores simply told them to increase their cultivation and create an arrow, as always, within a weeks' time.Beta left class hurriedly. If he wanted to keep being the top student, he would have to put the most effort into it. But Beta wasn't the only one who thought that. Which kid that just got to know that they can use superpowers wouldn't do everything in their might to get stronger? He already knew how to increase his soulpower, so he was itching to do it as fast as he can. He wanted to be able to do more. Though it appears peaceful at the moment, he didn't feel safe in this world at all. Just what was he supposed to do if he met a strong beast? Right now, he couldn't hold a candle against it. There were also strong people that might cause him harm in the future, he can't possibly let them do what they want with him.Beta also believed that there is more to this world. Not just the terrifying survival he has been going through all his life. He believed that there was a place, so beautiful and peaceful, that he could live there happily without having to worry about keeping himself alive. Sometimes, what people desire isn't an action loaded life, but one filled with serenity. Unfortunately, reality is cruel, who ever gets what they want?"Hey, you! We've got something to talk about!"When Beta saw the boy who seemed to be a bit older than him, calling out for him, he frowned hard. He had an angry look on his rather haggard face. His nose seems as though it tried to pierce the heavens."Who are you?!", Brain said, positioning himself between them."You don't know who I am? I am placed fourth in class 2-S! My name is Leopold!"When Beta saw his actions, he felt a headache coming."What do you want?", Beta said in a cold, chilling voice, that made one feel as if a glacier was right in front of them.Leopold was stunned. How can a kid emit such coldness with just a few words? He wasn't even strong and only a freshman at that. Not backing off, he stepped forward, looking proud and mighty."I want a duel! No worries, since you're a freshman we won't use any soulpower. I don't want anyone to say that I bullied a small kid after all!", Leopold said while pointing his index finger at Beta."Alright, let's fight.", Beta answered, not even looking at him while walking towards a small plot of empty land."Of course you would want to know why I... Wait... what?!"Leopold didn't know what to say anymore but he quickly recovered."Don't you want to know why?", Leopold asked while raising an eyebrow.Although he said that, he still followed Beta."You want to kill me, don't you? So, we will obviously fight.", Beta said nonchalantly.Leopold, again, was shocked. How could he come to that conclusion? This kid was crazier than he thought!"I don't want to fight a duel to the death, just a simple duel. It's only because you bullied my sister, so I won't kill you.""What?""Sophie. She told me you bullied her."Beta simply raised his eyebrow and didn't care anymore. Sometimes, words are not enough to solve a problem and he certainly wasn't afraid of a fight. Though he still found it troublesome, he couldn't back down now.They moved opposite to each other and Beta readied his staff. Even though Leopold was still not drawing a weapon, Beta wouldn't look down on him for that."3... 2... 1... Go!", Brian said with a slight smile on his face.As soon as the word "Go" was heard, they rushed at each other madly. The only difference was that Leopold charged with his left shoulder leading the way, at the same time he pulled back his right fist, ready to strike. Beta on the other hand rotated his staff, letting it flow around his body like a storm. As Leopold approached, the staff came at him at a breakneck speed. Even at that speed he managed to dodge it by bending his body to the extreme. This didn't interrupt Beta as he kept spinning the staff around his limbs.Leopold was surprised. Usually, people tend to have an opening after a failed attack, but Beta's defense was like a tightly shut castle on a hill, impossible to conquer.The staff continued attacking Leopold with a fierce gale following it. The sound of it alone terrified the onlookers. Even their seniors had to admit that Beta was very strong."He's a strong kid, but that won't be enough to handle someone who's been here for a year longer.""Yeah, he's dead meat."The conversations around the battle were getting louder as the fight continued.Leopold soon noticed that it wouldn't be easy to get through Beta's defense, so he chose to go head up against it. After Beta attacked once more, he launched a punch at the staff deflecting it and at the same time disrupting Beta's flow. Beta was surprised by his strength and finally saw Leopold in a new light. He stopped twirling his staff and looked at him as if he was looking at an opponent in the arena. He had the warmest of smiles on his face, stopping Leopold's advance.Beta was in the shadow world for hundreds of years. Because of that, he forgot the feeling of having to battle in an arena. But now that he was finally fighting against a worthy, strong opponent, the feeling came back to him. He saw Leopold as if using an x-ray. Beta saw every muscle move, every tendon stretch. He was eyeing the parts that he thought could be worth taking. Such a way of looking at the human body was born after thousands of bisections and endless life or death battles. He knew exactly where he had to hit and what kind of effect it had.Leopold was confused. His opponent was looking at him warmly, as if he was his closest kin. But at the same time, he felt exposed. Then, suddenly, he felt a looming threat to his life. He didn't dare to confirm what it was, so he ducked without thinking twice.Whoosh!Beta's staff flew past his head, scratching him. He started bleeding. Just how fast did a staff have to be to cut someone? When he looked up at Beta again, he still saw that warm smile, but now it felt more like a radiant sun. Not the beautiful kind that everyone would think of but the hot gaseous mass flying in the void of the universe. If he got too close, he definitely would die.Leopold looked at Beta with a serious face. He braced himself and walked up to him with more caution, throwing punches to deflect the staff as he aimed to keep on hitting Beta.Beta didn't care about getting hit and just continued the same way he fought before. Twirling the staff on his limbs, hips, legs, even on his neck, making it seem like he was only playing around. His attacks were getting faster and more unpredictable, either going left, right, up, or down. The others watching found Beta's fighting style really mesmerizing, as he twirled his staff, it created afterimages and his movements made him seem like he was dancing. But all in all, they noticed something that was clear to see, he's still weak compared to the senior."He's gonna lose for sure.""For a second, I even thought that he had a chance.""He will win."The last one was clearly Brian, who didn't stop believing in Beta even once. This proved to be the right decision. Soon, a cracking noise was heard as Leopold deflected another staff strike, followed by a scream."ARRGH!"
