Chapter 90 Rank UP! II



After the event of 'Storm Arrow' that ravaged the battle at the West-Central of Artificial Forest, the monitoring room was in an uproar.

"That was amazing!" The supervisors exclaimed as they watched the playback of Enzo's Storm Arrow. "Who is he again?"

"Enzo. He's Enzo Ruiz!" The other responded.

The supervisors were captivated by Enzo's extraordinary skill, especially when they found out that his rank was only 91.

"Wait, he's only ranked 91st?"

"Yeah, it's hard to believe. He definitely deserves to be among the top 10 students."

"I agree. I wonder if he's hiding his skill at the entrance exam for him to get a low placement in the rankings. But, the question is why did he do that?"

The chatters began to devour the room atmosphere. Half of the supervisors present in this room talked about how they would lure Enzo to their guild, and that lead to a small conflict between them.

One side wanted Enzo in their guild, while another also shared the same intention.

Before the tension escalated any further, Raja forcefully stomped his foot on the floor. The impact shock of it made the supervisors immediately muted.

"The audacity to call themselves heroes with such an attitude…" Raja grumbled.

Neychta, whose focus was still attached to the screen, responded sarcastically.

"Isn't it a bit too late for you to realize that? This so-called hero society is no longer what it used to be."

Raja sighed, and did not even bother to argue with her. He knew that if he was trying to argue with her, it would just become an endless conversation. 

Neychta was that stubborn, and so he was. But at least he knew when to retreat.

"Anyway," Raja changed the topic, "Is it that boy you had your eyes on?"

Neychta shrugged. "Don't even bother to ask. I won't tell you."

Her mask visor glowed a dim light of purple shade, showing that she was frustrated. Her shoulders raised up, and her foot relentlessly tapped on the floor.

'Enzo, Enzo…' she said inwardly.

A few moments later, the visor once again glowed a dim light, this time bluish.

At the same time, Raja pointed to another screen where two students–a blonde Latino student and a dark-skinned with cropped hair student—were captured by the drone. 

"Oh. Here's the guy!" he exclaimed.

In the hologram projection, they were currently running from the northern forest to the central. A small information about their estimated arrival time was expanded above the two students' hologram model.

The expanded panel read '5 minutes before encountering the central group.'

Raja rub his beardless chin and said, "This is going to get more interesting."

***

So, after I accidentally spoke about Ember, the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward. At least for me, it was awkward.

Niah looked like she was ready to barrage me with questions. Before she could do that, and before everything became more awkward between my teammates, I tried to smooth the situation by looking for validation of what I'd said.

"Did you just—"

I walked passed the trio and approached the tree several meters behind them.

"Oh, it's really beautiful!"

I turned around to face my teammate, trying to keep my act and expression. It'd be better to be recognized as crazy and weird rather than the 'guy was caught in 4K confessing to the headmaster's granddaughter, dude dream big!' guy.

Between those two, the former obviously would be the best. It attracted people's attention, but not one that would bring me trouble unlike the latter.

"Do you see that fruit up there?" I pointed at the Smokefruit. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"..." 

Ember stared at me with her usual deadpan expression. She seemed unfazed by whatever I'd said earlier. That's good.

Hulio looked at me with a pair of eyes that seemed to pity my situation.

Niah stepped beside Enzo. She whispered something at him and he responded with a sigh and headshake. After that, both of them looked at me as if I was pitiful, someone who mentally needed professional help.

"Sure… Zio. But, have you thought about visiting—"

"I will climb and pluck them!"

I didn't know how many times I had cut off Niah mid-sentence, but I knew I would do it every time she made a weird remark about me. 

Reaching the top of the tree, I extended my hand to grab the Smokefruits. Once I got five in my hand, I threw them down for my teammates to catch.

"Catch this."

After doing so, I jumped down, covering my legs with mana before I could land on the ground to avoid injury or any unexpected variable.

"What do you guys think? Isn't it beautiful?"

Niah examined the fruit in her hand, tilting her head from one side to another side. "This… Is this Smokefruit?"

Before I could answer her, a breathy voice echoed in the air, calling my name—my nickname. 

"Rat!"

I suddenly tensed up as soon as the voice entered my ear.

Walking with a heavy step, Seo Yeong-Ha approached me with a focused sharp stare.

I could feel the intensity of her gaze as she closed the distance between us, her fists clenched tightly.

"Yo!" I greeted her, trying to maintain a composed and carefree demeanor despite the unease.

She ignored my greeting and passed by my teammates who sadly, didn't even try to stop her… fuck you guys!

"Didn't I tell you to stand still?" She grabbed my P.E. Uniform collar. "Don't even think to run away, Rat."

Then she pushed me away.

"Now, let's settle this," she said as she flexed her arms and neck, then entered a fighting stance.

I fixed my collar and examined her and my surrounding.

Her breath was heavy, I could tell that she was tired from the fighting earlier. Looking past behind her, I saw the students groaning in pain on the ground. 

Lux, with an innocent face, put the flag back on the flagpole stand.

I looked at Niah who instantly realized my gaze was on her, she raised her eyebrow at that moment.

"Niah," I called her. "Take this."

I pulled the flag on my belt and threw it toward her. 

As I threw the flag, Seo Yeong-Ha's followed my hand motion and the flag until it reached Niah, her palm wrapped around the flag.

"Huh?! This is our flag! Did you lose it to someone?!"

"Of course not. If that was the case, we would have been lost already."

I shifted my attention toward Seo Yeong-Ha, but her focus was still on my flag. So I cleared my throat to garner her attention.

Looking back at me, Seo Yeong-Ha clenched her fists and said something through gritted teeth. "Come!"

I raised my hand and said, "I'd like to do a bet."

"A bet?" She raised her eyebrow, but this time her guard was still up.

"Yes. A bet, with our merits on the line. If I win, I'll take all of your merits. But if you win, you'll take all of my merits."

She grinned widely, confidence painted her face as soon as she heard my challenge's offers.

"Heh! Deal!"

Nodding, I pulled my daggers from their sheath and twirled them in my hands.

The glint of the blades caught the sunlight, reflecting the light on my eyes accidentally.

I clicked my tongue when that happened.

Seo Yeong-Ha watched my movements closely, her arrogant expression still painting on her face.

Everyone else—my four teammates backed away, standing around Lux and his team flag.

I smiled upon seeing that, it looked like they knew what my intentions were for dealing with Seo Yeong-Ha's request.

Taking a deep breath…

"Huu…"

I focused my attention solely on the arrogant girl in front of me. Though I knew I was no match for her in raw power, I could still underhanded tactics and tricks.

She said she wanted to have a clean fight against me. But, as expected of Seo Yeong-Ha, she was really naive.

'As if such a thing could happen,' I thought.

Without wasting another second, Seo Yeong-Ha charged toward me, her fists clenched tightly.

"You dodge, you die!" she shouted, aiming a swift punch at my face.

But I swiftly sidestepped, dodging her attack effortlessly.

Using her momentum against her, I countered with a series of quick slashes, targeting her exposed side.

"Tch! You're annoying!"

I smiled in response, "Do you have a mirror in your room?"

I launched a powerful roundhouse kick, aiming for her midsection.

However, she managed to block the attack perfectly.

"Heh! Is this all you've got?"

Seo Yeong-Ha's attack grew more ferocious. She was really a stubborn person!

I was almost overwhelmed by her as we exchanged attacks.

"Just take the hit, damn rat!" she shouted as she launched her fist.

Hot steams were emitting from her fists.

Taking notice of that, I tried to suppress her fist as I had done in our last sparring. But, I was too late this time.

"Bye, bye, go sleep!" A wide grin was expanding on her face.

But, heh. Did she think I would lose just like this?

Hoho. No. I won't let her win and take all my merits away!

BAM—!

"Gugh!!!"

As I blocked her Formless Fist with my hand, I could feel my bone fractured. Not enough power to hold her fist, I was sent flying several meters.

But, before I flew and stumbled backward, the Smokefruit that I held in my hand I used to block her attack exploded and created thick fog shrouding us.

I heard a few of the same explosion sounds as I was sent flying backward.

"Hup!"

As I finally landed on the ground and rolled a few times, I got up, my stance was wobbly.

"This Rat!! This trick again! Cough!" Seo Yeong-Ha's voice reverberated.

I looked around in the fog. Though I couldn't see anything, I could sense anything.

"Clai–" I stopped before I finished my skill cast.

Feeling a gentle wind brush my face, I turned around and saw some fog looking like it was being sucked by a vacuum. 

"Heh, thank you for the guide."

With the help of Enzo's wind, I escaped the fog and reunited with my teammates.

"The flag?" I asked.

Niah, with a wide smile, waved the flag around.

I smiled, "Good!"