《My Slayer System: Rise to Supremacy》 Chapter 1: The Academy ******************************************* The sun had merely risen over the war-torn city, casting a pale light over the ruins. Jake Lucas, a 16-year-old boy with sleak ck hair and blue hazel eyes with a slim body build, and a determined look on his face, navigated the rubble-strewn streets with a sense of purpose. His eyes, a piercing blue, seemed to stare into the souls of the few people he passed, as if searching for something or someone. The city was just a mere shadow of its former self, a consistent reminder of the devastating war between humans and werewolves. The once-blue skies were now shrouded in a thick, grey haze, and the air reeked of smoke and ash. Jake''s heart ached as he thought about the life he once knew, the life he lost when his parents fell victim to a werewolf attack. Jake''s mind wandered to the night his parents fell victim to the werewolves'' brutality. The memory still seared his heart, a constant reminder of his helplessness. He recalled the sound of shattering ss, the scent of blood, and the feeling of helplessness as he watched his world crumble. His parents'' faces, once full of warmth, love and smile, now haunted his dreams, fueling his determination to avenge their death. Jake''s mind raced wildly and inevitably wound uping back to that night, the one which changed everything and set him on his current path, where his parents met their unfortunate end at the brutal hands of the bloodthirsty werewolves and served as a profound reminder of his helplessness in that moment. The memory, still just as fresh as the day it urred, left asting and an unforgettable impression and nasty scars on his heart and mind as he thought back, recalled the gruesome sounds of ss shattering, his parent''s cries of agony and pain, then unmistakable scent of blood, and at that very moment he felt a familiar sensation creeping up his spine...it was that infuriating feeling of total helplessness that ultimate left him effectively paralyzed as he was forced to watch his world shatter and crumble to pieces. The warm, loving,passionate, and smiling faces of his now deceased parents haunted his dreams and now serves as the driving force that left himser focused and absolutely determined to avenge their deaths and make those werewolves pay dearly for everything they robbed him of!! Jake''s parents were murdered by werewolves that were formerly rtives. His family were having a get together unknown to his family, some of his family members were werewolves and then an argument escted which made them to change to werewolves and started ravaging in the house. Ever since then, Jake was Left alone to rot but his determination to avenge his parents death kept him going. And the only way to do that was by joining Aurora Academy to be taught the art of martial arts and something known as Qi. As Jake approached the Academy''s entrance, a mix of emotions swirled in his chest. The imposing structure loomed before him, its walls bearing scars from past battles. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he pushed open the heavy metal gate, the sound echoing through the stillness. With a deep breath, he stepped forward, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of danger. He was finally here, the ce where he would learn to fight, to survive, and to avenge his parents'' death. The Academy''s walls loomed before him, a formidable fortress. Jake took a deep breath, steeling himself for whaty ahead. He stood in front of the gate waiting to be allowed in. The Academy''s imposing structure rose before him, its walls bearing the scars of past battles like a battle-hardened warrior. Jake approached the entrance, a massive metal gate adorned with barbed wire and guarded by two burky soldiers. Jake''s eyes widened as he took in the sheer scale of the operation. Instructor Thompson, a grizzled veteran with a scar above his left eyebrow and a no-nonsense gaze, stood at the entrance. His rugged features and imposing stancemanded respect, and his sharp eyes seemed to bore into Jake''s soul. A silver pin on hisbel read ''Survivor of the First Wave,'' a testament to his experience and expertise in the war against the werewolves. "Wee all of you to the military academy ," he said, his voice firm and imposing. "Wee to the Academy. I''m Instructor Thompson. But before you will be admitted, you have to undergo a few tests to test your strengths. Because as we all know the werewolves are physically stronger than us. I want to warn you, this test won''t be easy so this is yourst chance to go back home now." Seeing as no one was leaving, and the determined look on their face, Instructor Thompson decided to continue with the assessment. Looking at the hundreds of recruits here, he shouted. "Are you ready for the assessment?" All the recruits shouted at the same time determined to make it in the academy. "Sir, yes, sir" Thompson led them to a section of the academy that was the testing site inorder to test them. Jake''s heart raced as he made his way to the testing facility. He had always been fascinated bybat, and now he had the opportunity to learnbat but the only thing standing in his way right now was this assessment. As he entered the assessment facility, he saw a military personnel there already waiting for them. The military personnel looked like he was in his mid thirties. With a scruffy beard on his face that had some steaks of grey. Then Jake''s eyes moved away from the personnel to the whole testing facility. The facility was quite huge with all sort of equipment there. Jake saw a huge drum like something and also a kind of machine that looked like a treadmill. He understood what the treadmill like something is for but didn''t understand what the drum like thing was for. "Alright, listen up." The military personnel''s voice boomed loudly that it startled some of the students. The military personnel, a grizzled soldier named Sergeant Lee, began the assessment with a fiery speech. "You''re all here for one reason which is to learn how to battle werewolves. It won''t be easy. It won''t be fun. But if you stick with it, you might just make it out alive. So hence this assessment, to see if you are this academy''s material." Jake''s eyes locked onto the Sergeant''s, a fierce glint in his eye. He was ready. He was ready to learn, to fight, and to avenge. "You will all be paired into a group of five." Lee continued. "But you are not a team. It''s just to make things more orderly and organized. So the group of five will move forward and then take the test. Do you understand?" Lee asked. And they all responded together. "Yes sir." "Great. You will be called in groups of five. So will the following names step forward." "Vynn muscat, Kate ke, Jake Lucas, Sophia josh and Peter chuck."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Hearing their names they all step forward. Jake looked at the others to see how they were dealing with the pressure but aside from him and the guy name Vynn the rest were dealing with the pressure much better. "So listen up." Lee addressed them " The first test is a test of strength. So you will hit the drum over there and it will record the level of your strength. And mind you, the number must not be below 20 or else you are out of here." "And then the second test, is a test of speed and agility. You''re required to run on that threadmill looking something and we will record your speed. And as you might have guessed there is also a certain score you must get which is 15 and above." "Thest remaining assessments will be forter after you have passed this first two tests." "So with that out of the way. Will the five applicants I called earlier step forward." Lee said. With that the five applicants stepped forward and the assessment was underway. Chapter 2: The Assessment ********************** The assessment began with the strength test to which Vynn muscat was the first to take the test. Vynn stepped forward to take the test, he stood in front of the drum like thing and was wondering what to do. "For this part of the test," Lee said. "You have to punch the drum as hard as you can. You can punch it anyhow you want to but make sure your fist hits the center. Then the drum will disy a number from 1 to 50. Remember you must score 20 and above." Knowing what to do, Vynn decided to move back a few feet and then got his hand ready. Then he ran forward and punched the drum with as much strength as he could muster. The drum rang out a bit and then the numbers started shuffling until it got to a particr number then it stopped shuffling. "Hmm, strength 22." Lee said while recording the score on his tablet." "Quite a good score. Unto the next test." Vynn moved forward towards to the treadmill and got on it awaiting instructions. "Okay, so for this test you have to run as fast and hard as you can for a minute. After the time is up, the machine will record your score. And remember again you must not score below 15." Lee exined again. And Vynn readied himself to take the test while breathing in and out. "Are you ready?" Lee asked waiting to start the machine. "Yes I am." Vynn answered. To which Lee started the machine and then vynn started running as hard and fast as he could maintaining his breath so as not to quickly run out of breath. After one minute, Lee stopped the machine and allowed for Vynn to get down so as to record his score. "Interesting. Speed 16. Not bad." Leemented. "Now you can move aside, you''re qualified for the final test that will determine whether you will get epted into the academy. Next!" This time Sophia decided to step forward to take the test. Since Lee exined the rules already and Sophia had already seen someone take the test before her. she decided to go for it without any further dy. Sophia confidently strode forward, her eyes fixed on the drum. "So do you think she can do any better than the other guy?" Peter asked Jake who was standing beside him. "Huh!? Am sorry are you talking to me?" Jake asked. "Yes of course. Who else is beside us?" Peter asked again. "Am sorry, it''s just I have been considered a waste of space for so long and I had no one to call a friend that''s why I was confused earlier." Jake exined. "That means we went through the same thing then." Peter said dejectedly. Jake looked at his face and saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I wonder what he went through." Jake thought. After the initial talk, there was no further discussions between them because they were focused on Sophia''s test. Sophia decided to step forward to take the strength test. She didn''t bother to move back or anything, she just went ahead to punch the drum with as much strength as possible. The drum rang out again but this time louder than the time Vynn punched it. The drum shuffled rapidly before stopping on a particr number. The instructor and Sophia''s temporary team were shocked by the number they could see on the drum. "This is remarkable!" The instructor said amused. "Sophia, strength. 49." Without saying anything Sophia moved onto the next test. Her face wasn''t that of someone who was happy by their strength, it was more like she was disappointed. Sophia got on the treadmill and waited for Lee to start the machine. Snapping out of his daze, Lee went to the machine and started it. After the one minute was over, Sophia got down and her score was recorded again. "Really impressive. Sophia, speed, 29." Lee said again while recording. He directed her towards where Vynn was standing. "Okay so who''sing next?" Lee asked. They were all feeling nervous so they didn''t volunteer themselves. "I think this instructor is really serious about the pass mark." Jake thought. "I didn''t think about this before, it''s now that reality is just dawning on me. No matter what, I must get into this academy." Seeing that no one was volunteering, he decided to pick someone himself. "Alright. Kate ke, step forward to take the test." Lee said. Kate stepped forward, her heart racing with anticipation. She gazed up at the drum, her mind focusing on the task ahead. She took a deep breath, and walked towards the drum. "I must get into this academy." Kate thought while a distant memory pooped up In her mind but she pushed it away trying to focus. Kate went towards the drum and took a stance like she was about to battle.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "You said we could hit the drum anyhow we wanted to right?" Kate asked. "Precisely. Just make sure to hit the centre." Lee said. Hearing this, Kate moved back a bit and then readied herself. Then Kate swung her legs so fast, strong and precisely that it hit the drum right in the center. The drum rang out again but not as loud as when Sophia hit the drum the other time but it was still louder than when Vynn hit the drum. The drum shuffled rapidly again and then it stopped on a number. "Hmm quite an impressive score you got." Leemented. "Kate, strength, 26." "Darn it." Kate cursed. "Am still weak even after all the rigorous training I went through." Kate thought sadly. Next was the speed test. Kate did as the rest of the recruits did. And after a minute, her score was being recorded by Lee. "Hmm, not bad. Kate, speed, 18." Leemented. "Are you for real." Kate asked feeling annoyed by the bad score she just got. "That is what the machine says not me. So go to the other side and wait for the final test. Okay?" Lee said. "Why am I so weak even after everything." Kate grumbled while walking towards Vynn and Sophia. "Peter Chuck, please step forward for your test." Lee said. Peter stepped forward but not without saying something to Jake. "Wish me luck." Peter said smiling towards Jake. Jake didn''t say anything and just continued watching peter take the test. Peter approached the drum, his eyes fixed intently on Lee''s hand, waiting for the signal to begin. To which Lee nodded signalling him to go ahead. Peter then stood one feet away from the drum and swung his hand very fast that his fist connected with the drum in less than a second. The drum echoed out again like it always does but this one was louder than when Kate and Vynn struck the drum. After a few seconds of shuffling, the drum finally disyed a number. To which everyone was shocked again for the second time. "Wow. Very impressive I must say." Leemented. "Peter chuck, strength, 49." Peter didn''t say anything to this, he just smiled and went for the next test. "This guy, is quite strong to get a score of 49." Jake thought now feeling worried about himself. "Are you for real!" Sophia almost shouted but kept it in. "He got a score of 49. Hmph, I guess I have apetition now." Lee gestured for Peter to move on to the treadmill, his expression a mix of curiosity and expectation. Peter started the machine and ran on the treadmill, his feet jogging out a steady rhythm for a full minute. And then when he got down, Lee was surprised by the score but he regained hisposure and announced Peter''s score. "Peter chuck, speed, 28." Lee announced. To which peter smiled and went towards the other side. "I have three kids I want you to keep your eyes on. They are quite impressive I must say. They might prove very useful in future." Lee said quietly into the earpod in his ear. "Okay, I believe we have one more recruit on this team. Jake Lucas, please step forward for your test." Lee said. And Jake stepped forward feeling much more nervous but determined to get into the academy. With that, Jake''s assessment was underway. TBC¡­ Chapter 3: Roommates ******************************** "Will Jake Lucas step forward to take the test." Lee said. Jake''s heart kept thumping louder and louder as he got closer to the drum. His hand kept trembling, he even almost stumbled down. Finally he got in front of the drum and he stood waiting for Lee''s signal anxiously. And then Lee nodded signalling to him to begin. And then Jake readied his hand and swinging it fast and hard. And then his hand connected with the drum. It just rang out lower than everyone else. After shuffling for a few seconds, the drum stopped at a number. "Huh! I kind of expected more from him after seeing the rest. But what could I have expected from a kid that looked more on the lean side." Lee thought disappointed. "Alright, Jake, strength 20." Lee said. "That was a little better than I expected. I hope I do well on the next test so that I can get admitted into the academy." Jake hopefully thought. "Onto the next test now." Lee ordered. To which Jake responded by going to the treadmill machine. He got onto the machine awaiting Lee''s signal again. To which Lee nodded and started the machine. Jake''s heart was racing now much faster than before because this was it. What will determine if he will go onto thest test or not. After steadily jogging on the treadmill for the one minute time. The timer was stopped and Jake got down from the machine awaiting his result. "Jake Lucas, speed, 15. Congrattions on moving onto the next round." Lee said. To which Jake excitedly moved towards the rest of his temporary team. "Yoo man, I thought you were gonna be knocked out at the initials but even though your results were not that impressive, at least you manged to make it through to the next round." Peter said approaching Jake, his voiceced with a mix of curiosity and friendliness. "Thanks." Jake''s response wasced with caution, unsure if he was ready to trust others. Who knows maybe he might be a bully. After an hour-long of testing, the recruit pool had dwindled from 200 to 150, leaving only the most determined candidates standing. "Okay. So now gather up for thest and final test that will determine if you''re Aurora Academy (AA) material." Lee said once more. "Now you will still need to be in your team for now." "I wonder what this test is going to be about." Peter wondered aloud. "Alright listen up." Lee''s voice echoed through the room once more. "Today''s ultimate challenge: a test of unyielding Endurance." when Lee just finished saying that, a mysterious bowl shrouded in a ck velvet cloth was been wheeled towards Lee''s side. "I have beside me a bowl full of sand and beneath it, a hot inferno that''s being fueled by a specialized ignition system making it 10 times hotter." Lee exined. "The challenge is simple yet daunting: you will have to submerge your hand into the scorching bowl. Endure the agony for a full excruciating minute." "So let the test begin." As usual, they were grouped into a group of five, everyone stuck with their earlier group. Another group was called to take the test first. Out of the members of the group, only 2 out of 5 passed the test. That was how most of the group members didn''t make the test. Some of the groups didn''t even get to the 20 second mark before they gave up. Then finally it got to Jake''s group. The first to take the test was as usual Sophia. She confidently strode towards the bowl and waited for the the timer to start and then she dipped her hand into the bowl till time was up without making a sound. Then the second to take the test was Vynn, who dipped his hand into the bowl after the timer started. But when he got to the 30 second, he started feeling the burn. He was squealing but he managed to hold it in until the time was up therefore passing the test. Then Peter was next to take the test. He also confidently went towards the bowl, dipped his hand didn''t even wait for the timer to start. And then after the time was up he went towards Sophia''s side but not without giving Jake a thumbs up and smiling. "What is wrong with that guy getting all friendly with me?" Jake thought avoiding Peter''s gaze. Kate was the next who was to take the test, she also passed the test but not without squealing and squinting in pain. And nowst but not the least to take test for today was Jake. Lee didn''t expect much from him after he failed the previous tests. Some recruits didn''t even bother watching him, they rather were talking with each other. Meanwhile Jake walked confidently and more determined than ever towards the bowl. He blocked out all form of distraction and negativity from his mind so he could focus. "This is the only hurdle standing in my way of getting my revenge from those filthy werewolves." Jake thought much more determined. Then Jake got in front of the bowl and waited for the timer to start. When the timer started, Jake dipped his hand into the bowl. When he got to 35seconds, he felt the heat and burn that he was tempted to take his hand out of the bowl. But just when he was about to take his hand out, the memory of that dreaded day shed in front of him. The memory of seeing his family being killed by the werewolves and him unable to do anything about it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om This Caused Jake to endure the pain without making a sound till the time was up which greatly surprised Lee. He congratted Jake and showed him where to get his hands treated like the others. "Congrattions all of you." Lee''s voice echoed stopping any form of chattering or noise. "Out of the initial 200 of you lot, am d to know that at least 100 of you managed to endure and persevered to get to this stage. So am proud to personally wee you into the academy. Soldiers." The whole students were so excited, some screamed or danced for joy. "Alright someone wille and fetch all of you and show you towards your dorms." Lee informed them. And just then a soldier came to take them to their dorms. On the way going, the soldier decided to clear something up. "So, I have to tell you guys about your room arrangements." The soldier said. "You will share rooms with other people. Just know that the names of you and your roommates will be pasted on the door. And one more thing, you can''t change your roommates. Whether you like them or not, you are stuck with them. Also, your uniforms areid out on your bed. And all of you would be expected to be at the dining hall by 2pm, it''s very important." "Oh man, I wish we get put in the same room." Peter hopefully said. Just then Peter noticed that Vynn was all on his own. "Hey, will you get over here. What are you doing all by yourself? Join us." Peter said. "Who? Me?" Vynn asked pointing to himself. "Yes, you. Who else is here? Or isn''t your name Vynn?" Peter asked chuckling. Vynn excitedly came over to join the duo and then they shared their history and backstory. It turns out Vynn and Jake both have the same issues with their family being killed by werewolves. While Peter had it a little bit easy than the others. Where the rest were left on the streets after their family were killed, Peter was thrown into an orphanage. By the time they were done with their sob stories, the soldier finally brought them to the building that was gonna be their dorm. The trio started looking at all the doors trying to spot their names. That''s when Peter spotted his name and he was so excited. "Yes yes yes!." Peter excitedly said. "We are roomies." Vynn and Jake smiled at Peter because he was behaving like a Kid and it didn''t really fit his stature. Peter was 6ft 4 inches tall, with a good athletic body build and a handsome face that will make girls chase after him. Meanwhile Jake was the opposite of Peter, Jake didn''t really have a good athletic build and he was 6ft 2 inches tall but he wasn''tcking in the looks department but it wasn''t up to Peter''s. "Hey look, we are not the only ones in this room." Vynn said pulling Jake out of his thoughts. "Just like that soldier said, we are sharing the room with three others." "Huh!?! I recognize two out of the three names here. I know Sophia and Kate because we took the test together but who is Jack?" Peter asked confused. Chapter 4: Sixth roommate ********************************** "Hey, we can''t stay outside, let''s go inside and settle down shall we." Peter excitedly said. They all go into the room. The room was empty, with only three bunk beds and a single study table nestled in the corner. And just like the soldier earlier said, their uniforms wasid on the beds. "I call dips on the upper bunk. Peter said running towards one of the beds. Jake shrugged and imed the lower bunk, his expression unreadable as he began to unpack. While Vynn went towards another bed and took the upper deck. When they all settled in, that''s when the door to their room opened. They all sat down waiting to know who wille in except Jake who was indifferent about whoes in. When the door fully opened, they could see a blonde hair beauty walking through the door confidently with her face devoid of any emotions. "So you are the ones am sharing the room with." Sophia said. "Hmm, I recognize you." Sophia said pointing towards Peter. Peter decided toe down from the bed and introduce himself. "Hi, my name is Peter chuck." Peter said smiling with his hand held out for a handshake. "Pfft. I don''t want to make friends with you." Sophia said looking Peter straight into his eyes. "You are my rival and you will always be." She Said while walking towards one of the bed to unpack. "What''s wrong with her?" Peter asked no one in particr. Peter decided to go back to his bed, that was when the door opened again and another female walked through the door again. "Hi, everyone, My name is Kate." Kate politely introduced herself while smiling. "Finally, a very politedy." Peter said while looking towards Sophia to which Sophia just scoffed. After Kate introduced herself, she went to the bunk Sophia imed and took the upper bunk. And then finally the sixth roommate finally entered. The door to the room opened once more and in came the sixth roommate who''s name was Jack. Jack entered and stood by the door scanning everyone''s faces beforeing in. "So you are our sixth roommate?" Peter asked while looking at Jack all over from up to down. "Yes I am. My name is Jack." Jack answered also sizing Peter up. "Great. Not only did we have one pretty boy now we got two." Jake said quite frustrated. Jack was a guy that had more athletic build than the others. His bulging muscles and chiselled abs could even be seen from the tight fitting T-shirt he wore.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Jack stood 6ft 2inches tall but his hair was colored brown and he also had a confident aura that surrounded him. After the initial talk, Jack took one of the beds that Vynn took and started unpacking. After everyone were done unpacking, Peter decided to say something. "Guys. If we are going to be roommates, we need to know more about ourselves right?." Peter said. "So I will start first. My name is Peter chuck, and during the war, my parents were part of the resistance movement, fighting against the werewolves in the early days of the war. They had been killed in a raid on the town by the werewolves. I was thrown from orphanage to orphanage until I decided to attend the academy to change my fate." "My name is Vynn muscat," he said, his voice cracking as he fought back tears, "my parents were murdered In front of me by werewolves. I was hiding under the bed, listening to their screams. I couldn''t do anything to save them because of how weak I was." "My name is Jack Dem. My parents are alive, I just came to the academy to learn how to fight so that I could make myself useful in the war." "My name is Jake." Jake said and went back to his bed to get some shut eye. "What''s wrong with him?" Jack asked. The rest shrugged and continued with the introductions. It turned out that Sophia came from a rich and powerful family that contributed greatly in the war. Sophia''s family were the Josh''s. They are one of the biggest factions that managed to fend off the werewolves when they were attacked. Ever since then, they managed to secure a position at the top by sharing the secrets of the werewolves. Well the ones they want the public to know about. After the attack, the family grew more by creating equipment and techniques tobat the werewolves better. While Kate on the other hand, her family were also well off but not like Sophia''s until the war broke out and then they lost everything. Her father was the only one left for her, he created a dojo that taught the art of martial Arts. She learnt martial arts from the age of five but then she couldn''t progress further, she was always stuck. Hence that why she came to the academy to improve herself. With the whole introductions out of the way, they decided to rest a bit before the said time of meeting in the dining hall. After an hour worth of resting, the whole roommate decided to go to the dining hall to hear what the military had to say. They finally got to the hall. The dining hall was a vast, high ceiling space filled with rows of wooden chairs, scent of polished wood and fresh baked bread wafted through the air. The soft hum of conversation and clinking of silverware created a warm, weing atmosphere. They were six chairs per table so they decided to sit together as roommates. As the clock ticked closer to 2pm, a sea of students flooded into the dining hall, their chatter andughter swelling into a deafening roar that filled the vast space. In just thirty minutes, the room transformed from an empty cavern to a bustling hub of activity, with every chair and table imed by eager students. And when it was 2pm sharp, the meetingmenced. Entering through the double doors on the other side of the room, were 11 high ranking military officials. Sitting on the grand chairs were 3 head generals of the academy. The highest authority in the academy took their seats. Each of them carried such powerful aura that it suffocated almost all of the students in the hall. Then the next high ranking military personnels were the Generals. They were all 5. They also carried powerful auras. Immediately they entered, the whole room fell silent. Then one of the generals stood up to address the students. "Good day everyone." General Paul''s voice boomed. "Listen up, you all should congratte yourselves for getting into this prestigious academy.This academy was founded on the principles of courage, honor and sacrifice. It''s purpose is to train young warriors like yourselves to fight against the werewolves." "But I have to warn you, there will be no time for fun here. You are here to train like your life depends on it. Actually your life depends on it." Paul chuckled. "So listen, in order to motivate you to train harder, we will introduce a system to all of you. Based on the score from your assessment tests, we will rank you guys." Just as Paul finished talking, a box was wheeled towards his side. "So In this academy, we have 8 levels for you, the students. You can as well call it power level. With 1 being the lowest and 8 being the highest. So like I said earlier, based on the results of your tests, you will be ranked." Paul said pausing to gauge the students reaction. With that bombshell Paul dropped, the students started mumbling. Some were mumbling excitedly while others were quite worried. The newly formed roommates were also discussing. "So what rank do you think you will get?" Vynn asked Peter. "Of course the highest rank. Did you even need to ask." Peter said excitedly. While the roommates were discussing, Jake was worried about the rank he will get. "This is bad. Real bad." Jake thought. "With the introduction of power rankings, am sure people will abuse their powers and be bullies. Darn it, what do I do." "Alright. Enough talking, it''s time to give you your power level so that you can all eat and rest up for today." Paul said. "I have beside me, wrist watches, that will disy your details and power level. It also has a tracker andmunication feature so the school canmunicate with you anytime anywhere." "Without much further ado, let''s get started shall we." Chapter 5: Level Rankings *********************************************** General Paul started calling students one after the other and giving them the watch, their rankings. Some left the stage cheering from joy while others were sad, grumbling andining. Finally it got to the newly formed roomies turn. The first to be called was Jack. Jack got down from the stage with his face neutral, no emotions were showing on his face till he got to the table. Then Vynn was called, he got his watch with all smiles at the ranking. Vynn was walking towards the table with a hop in his step. Then it got to Peter''s turn, he went out confidently, collected his watch with a smile on his face went to his seat to join the others. Kate was called next. On her way going, she couldn''t help but feel nervous about the ranking. She was slightly sweating. She finally got to the stage collected her watch with shaky hands and then went to her seat with a sigh of relief after checking her ranking. Jake was called next to get his watch. He walked towards the stage nervously. In fact Jake was now a nervous wreck. His legs trembled while walking towards the stage. In fact he might have fallen over if not because of him thinking of how embarrassing it would be. Finally after what felt like an eternity, Jake managed to get to the stage, collected his watch with shaky hands, nced at the number being disyed. Jake''s face fell when he saw the number. He left the stage dejectedly with his head looking down. Thenst on the list was Sophia who confidently strode towards the stage with a cold face and expressionless face. She got to the stage, collected her watch, nced at it, bowed towards the general and came to her seat. "Great. That is all for today, eat up and rest. Since tomorrow is Saturday, you''re free to do whatever you please." Paul said. "sses starts from Monday. You will have normal ss that will update you about the current world and how it came to be. Then you will havebat sses in the afternoon. The finer details will be exined to you in your homeroom sses." Paul ended his speech and then he and all the high ranking military officials left the hall to allow the students a little privacy. After the officials left the hall, the students decided to eat their foods. Some students were too sad to eat while others were too happy that they happily stuffed in their mouth with all sort of foods but one table was a mix of emotions. "What is your ranking?" Peter asked Jake. "Am not reallyfortable sharing my ranking, if you don''t mind." Jake replied still looking at the watch with sadness. "No, I mind. We are roommates so we need to know each other''s ranking, pasts or background. You cannot keep secrets like you did when we were all introducing ourselves." Peter retorted angrily. "Do you think I care about forming friends, alliances or pal?" Jake asked with anger evident in his voice. "I have my own agenda okay, so I don''t need anybody''s friendship or concern." Jake stated angrily and left the hall to go to the library. "What''s up with him?" Vynn asked confused about Jake''s outburst. "Maybe it''s not a good idea to pry into someone else''s privacy or matter." Sophia said while staring at Peter. "Do you think we should chase after him?" Jack asked feeling concerned. "No, let him be. He just needs to cool off." Kate said already eating. "So Kate, what''s your level?" Vynn asked. "Oh, it''s 3.5." Kate answered still stuffing her face with food. Power levels could be divided into sub divisions. "How about you?" Kate asked Vynn back. "Oh, it''s 2.5." Vynn answered. "What about you Sophia?" Vynn asked while dishing out food for himself. "Its 7.5." Sophia answered eating her food unbothered. "Wow. That''s awesome." Vynn said. "What about you Peter?" Kate asked. "7.5." Peter answered seemingly pissed about his argument with Jake. "It''s like the universe just wants you and Sophia to be rivals." Vynn said while chuckling. To which Sophia gazed towards Peter. "Yoo, Jack what''s your level." Vynn asked. "It''s nothing much, just level 8." Jack stated while drinking a kind of juice. "What!!!" The whole table almost shouted out at once. "How did you get the highest level?" Sophia asked with her gaze narrowed, her eyes fixed intently on Jack. "I don''t know. I think I just performed well." Jack answered while shrugging. "Looks like you have got a new rival on your hands." Vynnmented while facing towards Sophia. "Hold on a sec." Vynn said suddenly realizing something. "What''s your family name again." "Dem. Am Jack Dem any problems?" Jack asked. "Dem? That name sounds oddly familiar. Why do I feel like I know that name somewhere." Sophia said trying to search through her memory bank. After that, there was no more argument or discussion among them, they decided to eat their food in peace. Meanwhile, after storming out, Jake decided to go to the library to read something''s. He wanted to know how the current world came to be and who managed to push the werewolves back a bit. After inquiring and asking around, Jake finally got to the library. The library was quite a tall looking building, nothing out of the ordinary. He stepped in, went to the books section, selected a bunch of books that looked relevant to him and went to a table to start reading.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om After an hour worth of reading, skimming through the books, Jake didn''t find anything of relevance there. The books were just saying things that everybody knew. Like how 200 years ago, portals opened up in every corner of the world. Bringing with it deadly and ferocious creatures that was only known in myth called the werewolves. The werewolves destroyed anything that didn''t look or smell like them. But they weren''t non intelligence creatures, they had good intelligence. After 10 years of fighting a losing battle, that''s when 3 particr families with some strange equipment, powers and knowledge rose up to challenge the werewolves therefore pushing them back. "Ahh damn." Jake cursed before closing the book back. "I already know all this. This is general knowledge. Even with the humans gaining a little bit of upper hand, it didn''t stop those filthy creatures to send strays to attack us one by one. I lost my parents because of one of those damn strays. I promise I will make them pay." "But first I need to get stronger. But how do I do that." Jake thought while looking towards the watch in his hand. Well I can''t get stronger while being here in this library." Jake then stood up and left for the dorm. Chapter 6: A New Family After Jake left the library, he headed straight to his dorm to freshen up. When he opened the door, he saw his roommates chatting and getting to know each other better - all except Sophia, who was engrossed in a book on her bed. As soon as Jake entered, the room fell silent, with all eyes on him, trying to gauge his mood. "Hey, Peter, can we talk?" Jake asked, his voice softening. Peter shrugged, trying to lie down on his bed. "I''m not really in the mood for talking." Jake persisted, "Come on, please just hear me out. I want to apologize and exin why I acted out earlier." Peter sighed, but Kate gave him a nce and a nod which made him sit up and listen. "Fine, let''s talk." Jake took a deep breath. "Firstly, I''m really sorry for my behavior earlier. The truth is, I''ve been haunted by a traumatic experience since childhood. My parents were killed by werewolves - and to make it worse, they were our rtives who had been turned." Jake paused, collecting his thoughts as he gazed around the room. Even Sophia looked up from her book, intrigued. "That''s why I struggle to trust anyone. I was determined to join the academy to grow stronger and avenge my parents. But when I got here, I realized I was too weak to make a difference. I felt like I''d hit rock bottom." The room remained silent, with only the sound of heavy breathing filling the air. Vynn''s eyes dropped, his expression somber, while reflecting on his own struggles. Peter''s voice cracked as he spoke, "Why didn''t you share this with us? You would have felt lighter, and we could have supported you." Jake headed to his bunk, his movements slow and deliberate. "I didn''t know any of you well enough, and I wasn''t ready to open up." Kate''s voice was gentle but firm. "We''re roommates, Jake. That makes us family. You should have shared your struggles with us." Jake smiled, a hint of gratitude in his voice. "I''m sorry. Sharing this with you guys has made me feel a little better." Kate''s palm faced upwards, a gesture of unity. "Family?" The others ced their palms on hers, a symbol of their bond. "Family," they chimed in unison. Sophia, initially reluctant, eventually joined in, her expression softening. "Fine, I''ll join in." Together, they shouted, "Family!" as they separated their hands. After a little bit of getting to know each other more, they decided to get some sleep. When it was 5am, Jake woke up to take his bath and dress up for today he was nning to go out into town. Students are only permitted to go into town on weekends only. So he decided to get ready. By 5:30am, Jake was ready and by then the whole room had already woken up. After a little bit of argument of who to go into the bathroom first, they finally decided on who to go in first and do whatever they wanted to do. They were forced toe to an agreement otherwise they were gonna miss their breakfasts which was gonna be served by 8am. By 7:30am, they were all ready and they decided to go to the dining hall together. On their way going, Jake and Jack couldn''t stop arguing about an irrelevant matter. And that''s when they mistakenly bumped into someone. "Hey are you blind? Can''t you see?" The person asked irritated. "We are so sorry about that. We didn''t see you," They both apologized. "Huh? Then that definitely makes you guys blind," The person said, amused. "Hey, what''s your problem? They already apologized and admitted their fault, so why are you creating a scene?" Sophia asked finally catching up with the guys. "Are am I creating a scene? Really?." The student asked amused. "You bumped into me first and now you are giving us attitude. Are you for real now?" "But we already apologized so why are you now making a mountain out of a molehill." Jack angrily said. "Oh really! Do you know who I am?" The student asked, pointing to his shoulder that had two stripes on it, indicating he was a second- year. And he also lifted up his wrists, disying the number six.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "And so?" Jake asked now quite irritated. "Does that make you the general or something." Jake asked, his tone sarcastic. "You little first year brat! How dare you talk to me like that!" The student eximed furiously and threw a punch that nded squarely on Jake''s face sending him crashing to the ground. The whole friends got angry and readied themselves to charge and deal with the second year but they were stopped by a sergeant and they were all dispersed. "You." The sergeant said pointing towards Jake. "Go get your nose treated. It looks broken. And the rest of you leave here now." "I have marked your faces. Just watch your back." The second year said while walking towards his school building. After the sergeant left, Peter offered to take Jake to the nurse''s office to get his nose treated. After the nurse tended to Jake''s face, she finally let him go. Throughout the checkup, Peter couldn''t help but stare at nurse Hayley, who was a beauty in every sense. Her symmetrical face had no blemishes, her skin looked smooth, and her body shape would make many guys chase after her. After nurse Hayley discharged Jake, he decided to still go ahead with his trip to town. "Are you for real!" Peter asked surprised. "Aren''t you supposed to be resting after getting your nose broken and now treated? And you''re saying you want to visit town." "Yes, I have something to take care of. Besides it''s just a broken nose, nothing much. I''m fine." Jake reassured Peter. "Fine but let mee with you." Peter asked. "No don''t worry, am fine. No need to babysit me." Jake reassured again with a smile. "Fine. But please take care of yourself okay." Peter said. "I have heard you. Stop behaving like my girlfriend." Jake said to which they bothugh. And then Jake finally made his way towards town. When he got to town, he noticed that it wasn''t as bad as where he came from. Despite the torn-down buildings, he saw people walking around, market stalls set up, and even little children ying. "Wow, this ce is filled with a little bit of happinesspared to my own town." Jake thought dejectedly. Jake passed the town''s market stalls and was making his way to the town''s library, maybe he could see something of relevance there. But just before he could get to the library, he heard screams. Jake decided to turn around to identify where the screams wereing from, and that''s when he saw people running Helter skelter, trying to get to safety like something was chasing them. And that''s when Jake could finally see what was chasing them. It was a werewolf. Chapter 7: The System "How is this possible?" Jake thought worriedly. "How can there be a stray somewhere so close to the academy." "What am I going to do now?" Amidst the chaos, the werewolf ravaged the area, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. Jake was unsure of what to do. He contemted running back to the academy, but the werewolf was blocking the path that leads to the academy. And straight behind him was the way to the forest. Confused on what to do, Jake decided to try and take the round route around the werewolf, but just when he was about escaping, his path was blocked by a giant creature that stood around 9ft tall. Looking up, Jake saw that he was blocked by another werewolf. "Wegre do yohu thindk yohu are goijfng to, tasgyty humuan." The werewolf struggled to say through his erged jaws. Jake''s chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath, his pulse pounding in his temples. shbacks of that night when his family were murdered resurfaced in his mind again. Not knowing what to do, Jake decided to run towards the forest while the werewolf was hot on his tail. While running, Jake bumped into a man and something was slipped into Jake''s pocket by the man but he didn''t notice because of the panic of the werewolf. Jake kept running while panting hard but the werewolf was taking its time trying to catch Jake. Then finally Jake managed to get to the forest, he ran and ran until he saw a huge tree and decided to hide there while trying to catch his breath. "I think I managed to lose the werewolf." Jake said quietly while trying to catch his breath. "What have I put myself into? I should have listened to Peter''s advice when he said I shouldn''t go into town." Jake decided to peep behind the tree to see if the werewolf was still chasing him. Jake sighed of relief while still looking behind the tree he was hiding. "I think it got fed up of chasing me and went back." Then Jake decided to turn around in order to rest a bit before tracing his way back to the academy. That was when his face met with arge snout with eyes of someone or something that managed to see a tasty snack. Jake''s body stiffened, his eyes fixed on the werewolf as his mind went nk. "I finwally got yohu, tabsty humuan." The werewolf said through itsrge snout making his words quite incoherent. The werewolf''s eyes gleamed with excitement as it taunted Jake, its voice dripping with malice. The Werewolf''s breath wafted towards Jake making his skin crawl as he struggled to catch his breath. The werewolf grabbed Jake around his neck, trying to strangle him while Jake was struggling to breath. Jake trying to make the werewolf release his grip on his neck tried punching, hitting or even biting the Werewolf''s hand but the werewolf onlyughed at Jake''s pathetic efforts. "If only I had something to stab it with, maybe, just maybe it might release its grip from my neck." Jake thought hurriedly because he was already losing his breath. As Jake fumbled in his pocket, the Werewolf''s grip tightened around his neck, making his vision blur. That''s when his hand touched something but he didn''t know what it was. Hurriedly pulling it out thinking maybe it could be of help to him, Jake pulled out a round orb like object but he didn''t notice it because of his panic, he thrust it in the face of the werewolf. And then a blinding light appeared temporary blinding Jake and the werewolf. Because of the light, the werewolf let go of Jake''s neck causing him to fall and hit his head on the tree, then Jake heard a robotic message say "System activated." then he lost consciousness. When Jake opened his eyes, he was met with an unfamiliar ce. Looking up he could see a white ceiling, he could smell chemicals. Trying to get up, he felt a banging headache. "Woah, easy thered." Nurse Hayley saiding over to check on him. "Where am I ?" Jake asked. "And what happened to me?" "Well, you are in the academy''s clinic." Hayley answered. "But how did I get here?" Jake asked again trying to get out of the bed then he felt a banging headache and the memories of him encountering werewolves resurfaced to which he shuddered. "One of the sergeants brought you here, he said he found you lying in the forest unconscious." Hayley answered again checking Jake''s vitals on the tablet. "Sorry, but how long was I out for?" Jake asked. "Just a day." Hayley replied. "Oh thank heavens." Jake heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought I was going to miss my first ss in the academy. So you are saying, today is Sunday right?" "Correct." Hayley replied. "Did anybodye to ask or check up on me?" Jake asked now lying down on the bed trying to get a little bit of rest. "Yes actually, your roommates came to check up on you yesterday, when they heard what happened to you." Haley answered. "They truly consider me as family." Jake thought quite happy that he had found people he could trust and call family again. "So when am I going to be discharged?" Jake asked again trying to shut his eyes. "In the afternoon. You are perfectly okay now. Apart from the head injury that was there initially and the trauma, there''s nothing wrong." Hayley said now suddenly remembering something. "Speaking of which, when you were brought here, you had an injury on your head, probably it''s because of you hitting your head on something heavy. And now it''s all gone. An injury like that will take some days to heal up." "Huh!!?!" Jake thought surprised while touching the back of his head and recalling him hitting his head on the tree. "I don''t really know what happened. Aren''t you the nurse here? Maybe it healed up after your treatment." Jake said.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Probably." Hayley mumbled and went to sit at her desk, letting Jake get some rest. Meanwhile Jake remembered something else also. He remembered the system interface that appeared in front of him before passing out. Thinking of the system, it appeared in front of him which totally freaked him out that he yelped loudly that Hayley came over worried. "What is wrong? What happened?" Hayley asked. "That¡­" Jake said pointing to the system floating in front of him. "can''t you see that screen there?" "What screen?" Hayley asked worriedly. "That.. there, its in front of me. Can''t you see it?" Jake asked. "Are you sure you are feeling fine? Maybe I shouldn''t discharge you yet." Hayley said looking concerned. "Will you rx. She can''t see the system. It''s only you that can see it." the System spoke. "Who is there? Who is talking?" Jake asked twisting his head around trying to see if he could spot anything. "Jake, you are already scaring me." Hayley said looking very worried. "Calm down, will you! Or else she might think you are going crazy." The system spoke again. Finally Jake decided to calm down and listen to the system. "Uhmm, am sorry for spooking you up like that." Jake apologized. "I think am just seeing things. I need to lie down a bit. Maybe i will feel better." "Are you sure you are ok now?" Hayley asked. "Yes, I am." Jake replied while closing his eyes. To which Hayley let him get the rest he wanted and went to her desk. Meanwhile, Jake decided to check the system out. Chapter 8: A Glimpse Of Power "Now, how do I open up that system screen." Jake thought. That was when the system status screen appeared right in front of him. ******* Then Jake saw a small tab that said the words ''Quests''. He decided to check it out but didn''t know how to open it up again. "Wow! It looks like all those games people used to y all the time." Jake thought excitedly. Jake noticed that on the status screen, there were more tabs on the top but without even doing anything and just reading the tabs in his head, the screen automatically switched.
"So everytime Iplete my daily quests, I will be rewarded with 10XP." Jake thought excitedly. "But this feels quite weird. What even happens when I get 100XP." "Then you will level up and progress to the next level." The system spoke. Jake upon hearing the system''s voice, yelped in shock. He totally forgot about the system speaking to him earlier, because the system was so quiet, and Jake was mesmerized by the system that he forgot there was also a talking voice attached to it. "Don''t¡­ Don''t do that." Jake said in his mind while trying to calm his wildly beating heart.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Am sorry, I startled you." The system apologized. "Its okay. So who are you?" Jake asked. "I''m an AI that''s designed to help whoever gets this system to get stronger." The system replied. "Designed? By who?" Jake asked. "I don''t really know the answer to that question." The system replied. "What can I call you?" Jake asked trying toe up with names. "You can call me AI or anything you deem fit." the system said. After a few minutes of deliberation, Jake finally decided on a name. "How about Zee." Jake suggested. "Zee?! It''s quite good and has a nice ring to it. I love it." Zee said. "Okay Zee, since you don''t have much information about yourself or about who created the system, do you have information on the details being shown on the system screen?" Jake asked. "Yes, I do. In fact, I was created to help the user of this system to grow in strength and also to rify what might seem confusing." Zee answered. "Okay, that''s nice. So first of all, why is the skill level saying ''untrained.'' ?" Jake asked. " ''untrained'', indicates that you are a beginner and haven''t yet developed any skills. As you progress and gain XP, your skill level will increase too." Zee answered. "Okay, that makes sense and it''s nice. But what about the daily quest, how does it help me?" Jake asked checking the Quest status again. "That, it''s for you to get stronger physically. What? Did you expect to defeat your foes with a body like yours?" Zee asked sarcastically while also chuckling. "Now that you put it that way, you are right." Jake said. "Okay, I believe I saw another tab earlier. What was it? Ahhh, there it is." Jake said while opening up the tab with his mind. ********** That was all the skills Jake could see, the rest were greyed out or locked till he got to a certain level. "Woah, so I can also get magic attributes or elements?" Jake excitedly asked. "Yes. You can but that is when you get to level 20." Zee exined. "Woah, that''s awesome." Jake eximed happily and then the memories of the night of his parents murder resurfaced again. "I think the universe really wants me to get revenge for my parents murder." Jake was so excited and mesmerized by the system that he didn''t realize that the time was already gone. It was time for Jake to be discharged. "Hope you had a good rest?" Haley asked while checking if everything was alright with Jake before finally discharging him. "Yes. I''m feeling better now." Jake responded all smiles. "Great. I''m gonna discharge you now. And also your roommates are here to see you and possibly take you to your dorm." Hayley said. Just right on cue, the whole roommates entered to see Jake. "Dude, how are you doing?" Jack askeding closer to Jake. "I feel fine, thanks." Jake answered getting out of bed. "Bro, you scared us there. We thought that you were seriously hurt by the werewolves." Vynn said. Jake smiled because of the sentiments. "Don''t worry, am fine now. Besides I wasn''t badly hurt, I just fell unconscious because of the trauma of seeing a werewolf again." Jake said looking around the room. "Where are the others?" Jake asked still scanning the room for any signs of the others. "Ohh, they are getting your lunch ready because you didn''t eat anything for the past 2 days now." Vynn replied. "Ohh! I actually forgot that I haven''t even eaten. Maybe it''s because of that incident with the second years." Jake replied. "Okay. Shall we go to our dorm now because am quite famished." Jack said already on his way towards the door. Vynn and Jake hurriedly go after him so they could go to their dorms and have lunch together. After thirty minutes of walking, they finally get to their dorm. Before they even opened the door, Jake could already perceive the aroma of the food from the door. "Huh! That is odd, how can I perceive the aroma of the food from here?" Jake thought. "It''s because you have changed. The change also affected your body thereby giving you a little bit of enhanced senses." Zee said. "Oh that''s right, I got a system and an AI too. I almost forgot about that." Jake thought finally opening the door and entering into the room. "Surprise!!!" The remaining roommates shout out at once. "We didn''t know what you like, so we just decided to get you a lot of food that you might like." Kate said trying to gauge Jake''s emotions. "This.. the food smells delicious. Thank you so much everyone." Jake said smiling while sitting around the table that was prepared to eat. While they were eating, Peter decided to ask the question that was probably on everyone''s mind. "So how did you survive the encounter with the werewolf and what was it like?" Peter asked. "Scary, I guess. And I don''t even know how I survived." Jake said trying to sound convincing. "Thank heavens you managed to survive." Sophia said. "Who knew that the weakest member of our team would be the one to survive a werewolf encounter." Sophia said with sarcasm in her voice. They allughed it off, as it was the first joke and effort that Sophia made to interact with the room. After some minutes of eating, they decided to sit around to listen to Jake''s tale of the encounter with the werewolves. After some hour of chatting, telling tales and asking questions about Jake''s encounter they finally decided to retire to their beds for the night so that they could wake up early in the morning so as to avoid beingte for their first ss which starts by 9am the next day. Chapter 9: First Class As the light of dawn crept into the room, Jake woke up early as 4am to start with his daily quest. He wanted to start with the push ups but he didn''t want to disturb his roommates so Jake quietly got dressed and slipped out into the crisp morning air, making his way to the gym. After thirty minutes of walking, Jake finally got to the gym. The gym door had a type of machine which has a specific code that will be inputted before it could be opened. And all the students were given that code when they got into the academy. "Hey, Jake, you know with a leveled-up inspect skill, you might just find yourself unlocking more than doors." Zee said. Jake initially was shocked about the talking voice, he almost forgot about it. "Really!?" "Yes. It can do that, so I will advice you level up as soon as possible because it might be useful to you." Zee said again. "That is great. But I need to focus on the present thing right now." Jake said as he slipped into the gym. As soon as Jake entered, the bright fluorescent lights overhead illuminated rows of sleek, silver machines. Jake even saw the drum like thing and treadmill that was used at the testing site the other day. Eager to start the quest, Jake got started with the push ups. After much difficulty, Jake managed toplete the push ups. When he was done, his chest heaved, and his lungs burned as he struggled to catch his breath because he never had any reason to train his body or even exercise. Next on his list was the sit up and squats. In an hour, he was done with his squats and sit up so he decided to rest for ten minutes before beginning the 10km run. After resting and making sure he could run, Jake finally left the gym for his run. He ran around the academy over and over untill the 10km waspleted. Immediately he was done with the run, Jake heard a ding and a system message appeared in front of him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om *********** "Well, it actually works." Jake excitedly said doubting the system a little bit before. Jake decided to head back to his dorm to bath because he was sweaty. After a few minutes of painfully walking, Jake finally got to his dorm room by 6am. Luckily most of his roommates were not awake except for Jack and Sophia who looked like they just finished bathing. After an exchange of pleasantries, Jake went to take his bath. By the time he was done, the whole room were awake. They all greeted each other before they argued on who will go into the bathroom first. Meanwhile, Sophia was curious were Jake came from all sweaty. "Hey, a word?" Sophia askeding over to Jake. "Yeah, sure what''s up." Jake said casually. "I was curious to know, where you wereing from all sweaty the other time?" Sophia asked. "Oh. After my encounter with werewolves, I decided to start doing physical exercise so that probably I might develop even if it''s a little bit of strength so that I could defend myself from werewolves" Jake answered smiling. "Oh I understand." Sophia said while heading off towards her bed. After an hour, the whole room were done bathing so they decided to wait for 8am so that they could go and get their breakfast. Finally, the clock struck 8am and the whole room decided to go get breakfast. After breakfast, they were now expected to go to their homeroom ss. The location of the ss was inputted on their watch so they could find the ss easier by following the location there. Finally they got to their ss and they decided to pick their seats. They were only allowed three per seats. So Jake,Vynn and Peter decided to take a seat together. After thirty minutes of waiting for the homeroom teacher, he finally showed up. Jake was quite surprised because he noticed that the teacher was familiar and then it finally clicked in his head where he had seen him before. The scar above the left eyebrow, the no nonsense gaze and the imposing gaze. Their homeroom teacher was none other than instructor Thompson. "Good morning, great students of Aurora Academy." Thompson greeted with a little bit of friendly smile. "Good morning sir." They all responded together. "So, for some of you that don''t know me, my name is Instructor Thompson and am your homeroom teacher. Every 9am weekdays, you are to be here without bumping ss, for this ss is quite important to you like the training." Thompson said. "So, toady''s topic is about the current state of our world and what is the academy''s position in all of this. So who can provide the answers to all this questions I mentioned." A student raised their hand and Thompson nodded signalling they could speak. "200 years ago Portals opened up in different corners of the world, releasing deadly and ferocious creatures that were only known in myth as the werewolves into our world. The academy''s purpose is to fight against the werewolves and help reim the Earth." The student answered. "You are quite correct about the world events and the academy''s purpose but it''s stillcking a bit of information." Thompson said. "The werewolves were not only pushed back by the academy but the academy joined hands with brave and three powerful families to push the werewolves back. The academy''s purpose is to train young and hardworking students like you so that you could help push back or even defeat the werewolves. And am sure we can do it together." "Can I ask a question if I may?" Jake asked while raising his hand. "Sure, go on." Thompson said giving him approval to talk. "In your exnations, you mentioned about three families right?" Jake asked. "Yes. Why?" Thompson asked raising an eyebrow. "Well, I just wanted to know more about those families since much information is not known among the general popce." Jake said. "They are three families, normally called the big three. Families with powerful abilities, equipment, techniques and even technologies. I''m not permitted to tell you more than this. Maybe in your second or third-year, you will know more." Thompson exined. "Why are they not saying anything more about the big three? Why the need to be so secretive? I need to know." Jake thought. "Okay. That is all for today, we will meet tomorrow here for another ss. Today was just for debriefing. Tomorrow the main ss will start with you knowing more about the academy and current world state." Thompson said. "So everybody ss is dismissed, it''s time for yourbat ss." Thompson said dismissing the ss. Chapter 10: Combat class The next ss for the day wasbat ss. And the ss was going to be held on the field that was used as their testing ground on the day of the assessment. When they got to the training grounds, Jake noticed that it had been changed to suit the ss better. The whole testing equipments were shipped somewhere else to allow the whole ss ample space. "Wee, students of Aurora Academy." The instructor said. Jake turned around to see where the voice wasing from. Turns out the voice belonged to Sergeant Lee. "Wee once again. For those of you that doesn''t know me, my name is Sergeant Lee and am yourbat instructor." Lee saiding over to stand in front of the field. "So every weekday, we will have sses that involves physical training and a little bit ofbat." "So let''s start with the physical training. First up, I want you to run severalps around the field now." With a sharp whistle, sergeant Lee signaled the start of the physical training, and the students took off in a sprint around the field. Jake''s legs pumped furiously as he sprinted around the field, his heart racing with eachp. He could feel the burn in his muscles, but sergeant Lee''s voice and his determination pushed him to keep going. He was reminded of the run he did around the academy during the early hours of the day. "Oh, for heavens sake. After running for about 10km this morning, am still told to run again." Jake''s thoughtining. "It''s for your own wellbeing so quit whining and focus on your breathing." Zee scolded. Jake stoppedining and focused on his breathing. Jake and Vynn were the only ones that were behind, the rest were all so far ahead. And after a few minutes of running, they were stopped by Lee to move on to the next training. "So for the next training, it''s a strength training. You are required to do some heavy lifting." Sergeant Lee led them to the weight lifting area, where rows of dumbbells and barbells lined the shelves. "Today, we are working on building your strength and muscle endurance;" He announced, handing out weights to each student. "Begin." The whole students started lifting weights, the type of weights they could lift anyway. But Jack and Peter stole the show by lifting heavy weights. They were bothpeting to see who will tire out faster. After some minutes of weight lifting, sergeant Lee decided to stop the physical training and do something else. "Okay. That is all for now. I want you to all rest up for 10 minutes because you''re going to be sparring with each other now so that I can evaluate your skill level. Also your watch also acts as a rank to monitor your rank after sparring." Lee exined. "Startimg from now, your watch will disy your rank from sparring. Your starting rank will be decided by your score from the assessment." Just as Lee finished speaking, the whole students watch started disying ranks from 1 to 200. With Jake''s number disying the number 200 while Jack''s was disying rank 1. "The only way to rank higher, will be for you to spar with each other. When you defeat your opponent, your watch will ding and also change your score, letting you take the position of your defeated opponent." Lee exined. "So now pair up and spar with each other only using the wooden equipment provided to all of you. The equipment is also yours to keep." "From now on, students will have the opportunity to spar with each other outside of ss, allowing for faster rank progression. However, thises with responsibility. You must register as authorized sparring partners and log your matches." Lee said. "Now let the sparring begin. You''re only allowed to spar with the person rank above you meaning of you are rank 10 you can only spar with rank 9." Jake decided to pair up with the person who was ranked above him and the person was Vynn since he performed a little better than Jake on the test. They sparred for some few minutes. Jake was unable to beat Vynn because Vynn was still a little bit stronger than Jake. Meanwhile, Peter who was ranked 2nd decided to spar with Jack but no matter the skill Peter used, he wasn''t able to defeat Jack. After some minutes of sparring, they were stopped by Lee telling them to go back to their dorms for the ss was over for the day. While they were all heading towards their dorm, they couldn''t stop talking about how they enjoyed the day''s training all except Jake who kept thinking about how weak he is. "Oh, will you just cheer up." Zee said. "You do know that you have a cheat. If youplete quests and also take your academy''s training serious, you will be strong." After that pep talk, Jake finally cheered up and went to his dorm to get some rest. Meanwhile¡­ ****************** In a distant ce, far away from the academy and civilization, a huge castle stood on a valley surrounded by cliffs, mountains and trees. "What do you mean the orb went missing?" A voice was heard angrily saying. "I don''t know how it happened." Another voice replied. "You had one task, just one task to do and you messed it up." The voice said again now terribly angry. "Am sorry, I had the orb but then during the chaos, I bumped into someone and I think it fell into the person''s body or something. Am not really sure. Please forgive me and give me one more chance." The voice which belonged to a middle age man said while kneeling and bowing his head down to a young looking man with a huge body build. The young looking man looked like all those old professional wrestlers but this man had a more menacing look In his eyes making the other man shiver in fear.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "There''s no second chance for you. That orb was only meant for one person to activate. What if the person you slipped it into activates it. Therefore, for making such a huge mistake, you are not allowed to live for even one second more." The mean looking man said while flicking his finger towards the kneeling man and the nail pierced the man''s heart killing him on the spot. "Clyde!!!" The man called out. And a young athletic looking man answered. "Find that orb or whoever has it and get rid of them. And I''m not going to tolerate any more mistakes. Got it?" "Yes, my lord." The other man responded while bowing down and leaving the hall. Chapter 11: A New way to level up It was a new day and Jake as usual decided to wake up early so as toplete his daily quest. Jake went to the gym for the push ups and other physical exercise. After some time, Jake went for his 10km run. When Jake was done, he heard the ding from the system indicating he was done with the quest for today. "System, pull up my stats." Jake said to the system. ******************* Jake sighed in frustration. "Darn it! It''s gonna take 10 days before I level up. If it takes 10 days to get to the next level, then how long will it take for me to get stronger." Jakeined In annoyance. "I understand your frustrations, but you have to understand that gaining strength is not instant. It takes time." Zee said trying tofort Jake. "But it''s still taking a hell lot of time. How am I supposed to get my revenge on the werewolves if it takes me so long to level up." Jakeined again. "Just calm down, don''t worry a way will be provided for you to level up faster don''t worry." Zee saidforting Jake. Jake sighed and sucked up hisints and went to his dorm to take his bath. After a few hours, the whole room were all ready for their homeroom ss after taking their breakfast. All of them apart from Jake were all excited for their homeroom ss when Kate noticed how sad Jake was, she decided to approach him. "Hey, what''s up, why do you look all sad?" Kate asked getting close to Jake so they could walk together. "It''s nothing." Jake said trying to move away from Kate. "Common, you can''t hide anything from me. I can see it in your eyes. Besides aren''t we family? And families doesn''t hide anything from one another." Kate said smiling. Jake sighed and decided to tell her what was bothering him. "I''m sad because of how weak I am. If I''m this weak, how am I supposed to get my revenge on the werewolves."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "I understand but you don''t have to push yourself that hard. If you want to be stronger then it takes time, it isn''t an instant something." Kate said. "This girl is quite wise and beautiful. She said the exact same thing I said. You know, it''s good you surrounded yourself with sensible people, at least they could drill some sense into you." Zee mockingly said. "Will you shut up." Jake angrily said out loud forgetting that Kate was beside him. "Am sorry if I said something wrong to upset you." Kate said trying to walk away. Jake quickly grabbed her hand to stop her. "No am sorry, I wasn''t talking to you. I was.. there''s this memory and sound that keeps resurfacing in my mind so I was trying to shut it off and I mistakenly shouted out loud." "Are you sure? Because it felt like it was me you were referring to." Kate asked trying to wriggle her arm free from Jake. "No, it wasn''t you." Jake affirmed looking right into Kate''s eyes. "She''s quite beautiful." Jake thought. "What did I tell you. I think she will make a great wife for you." Zee said. Jake had forgotten that there was an AI in his system listening to his every thought. "Will you two stop getting all lovey dovey like that and move so we could quickly go for the homeroom ss otherwise we will bete." Sophia said. "No we are not in love or anything." Kate quickly replied yanking her hand from Jake''s and blushing. With that, they made their way to the homeroom ss. In the homeroom ss, Thompson kept talking about the current world structure and all other stuff that Jake wasn''t interested in. After what felt like an eternity, the ss finally ended and they were to head for the training grounds for their physical training. The whole students did their physical training, and this time Jake was slowly catching up with those in front. After the physical training, they were finally allowed to spar. Jake paired up with Vynn again and they started sparring. After some minutes of not defeating Vynn, Jake decided to get some rest while drinking water. But Jake was so annoyed by the fact that he couldn''t even defeat Vynn that he threw his bottle and it mistakenly hit a guy that was talking with his friends while resting after the spar. "Hey! why did you throw a bottle at me. Are you blind or what?" The boy saiding over towards Jake. " I''m so sorry for throwing the bottle. I didn''t do it intentionally, can you please forgive me." Jake apologized. "Forgive you? Why should I? You threw a bottle at me and now you are here apologizing." The student whose name was de said. "What''s your problem? I already apologized so why are you now trying to create a scene." Jake angrily said. "Oh! Am the one creating a scene now? Fine then no problem." de said. And then de walked towards Jake and gave him a strong punch thatnded on his face throwing Jake to the ground. Jake quickly stood up with anger all written on his face. "How dare you!" Jake said running towards to de to get his payback. But before he could do anything, Sergeant Lee came to interrupt. "If you wanna fight then do it officially through a ranked battle." Lee said. "Fine. Let''s battle officially." de said sending an official request from his watch to Jake''s. When Jake saw the request, his eyes widened. "How the heck am I supposed to do battle with someone who is currently ranked 180? When I can''t even defeat someone who is in rank 199." Jake worriedly thought. But just when Jake wanted to back down from the challenge, that was when he heard a ding in his head. Chapter 12: Ranked Battle After Jake saw the system notification, His blood started to rush through his body with excitement, he was going to give it his all in this fight. They made their way to the center of the field, with all the students surrounding them from all angle making a sort of ring. Sergeant Lee was there to oversee the ranked battle so there won''t be any casualty. "So listen both of you to the rules. The rules are; No strikes to any ce fatal, you are only allowed to use the wooden equipment of your choice provided to you. And finally, a person can only be dered a winner when they knock out their opponent or their opponent give up and surrender." "Do you understand?" Lee asked. "Yes." They both answer at once ring at each other. "Do you think Jake has a chance at winning?" Vynn asked Peter and the rest who were grouped at the front watching Jake''s match. "I don''t really know. Jake is just ranked 200 while his opponent is ranked 180." Jack honestly answered. Peterughed at the others. "Do you think Jake is easy to beat? Especially when he is determined about something." "Don''t be silly. We all know that the odds of Jake winning that fight is very slim." Sophia said. "You are the ones counting Jake out but am not. I''m sure he''s going to surprise all of you." Peter said now focusing on the match that was about tomence now. Sergeant Lee stayed in between Jake and de and then looked to both of them. "Are you both ready?" Lee asked. "Yes." They both reply while not taking their eyes off each other. "Shit shit shit! What have I gotten myself into? How am I going to defeat someone ranked 180?" Jake thought annoyed at himself. Just then, Lee raised his hand down and quickly swung it down signalling the start of the fight. Immediately Lee swung his hand down, de didn''t waste any time charging forward towards Jake with full speed. When de got to Jake''s position, he swung his wooden de diagonally towards Jake stomach. The speed was unexpected for Jake and he was struck in his stomach making him curl downwards from the pain. Then de used the butt of the de to hit Jake on his head with all his strength, making Jake''s face to hit the ground with much force that it broke his nose. de decided to give Jake a breathing space so he could recover a little and then torture Jake over and over, that was the n. Jake managed to stand up with his hands on his knees while he was panting hard. And then Jake lifted his head up and on his face was a smile stered across it. "I just got the answer to beating you here." Jake said standing up still smiling. "And that is to use everything I got and also to imagine your face as the one thing I really hate." Jake shouted while running towards de with all his speed. de didn''t even have an ounce of worry because he knew that there was nothing Jake could do to him. When Jake was charging towards de, he quickly cast one of his skill. And it brought some of de''s information. Seeing this, Jake left the inspect skill active for what he was about to do next. Quickly selecting another skill, Jake was finally ready. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Jake ran faster and shed with his wooden sword but de avoided it. Quickly changing n, Jake withdrew the sword quickly and used the butt of his sword to hit de across his face thereby causing de to stagger back. ncing towards de''s HP, Jake smiled for the skill worked wonders. de''s HP was disying. therefore, the skill Quickly not letting de rest, Jake used all his strength to hit de on his leg toppling de down and then he used the sword to strike de''s head but de quickly avoided the weapon by rolling over and then he quickly got up. Taking a stance, de smiled. "You are quite good but too bad you are going against me." de said while running towards Jake again and then instead of his weapon, de swung his leg towards Jake''s head thatnded squarely on Jake''s head causing him to crash down. "Have you given up yet?" de asked smiling to which Jake struggled to stand up and face de. "I made a mistake." Jake said. "I was weak then and am still weak now but it doesn''t matter for I''m going to defeat you no matter what." ncing at his HP, Jake could see that he only had one shot at this. Realizing this, Jake took a fighting stance and waited for de toe to him instead. de not minding this, arrogantly ran towards Jake who still remained unmoving. After reaching a foot away from Jake, he decided to swing his leg again since it was the part of the body that has a longer reach. While de swung his, Jake still didn''t move waiting for the leg to get closer to his face and when it did, Jake used all the strength in his hand to stop and hold the leg in the air. And then Jake used the wooden sword to hit de''s leg repeatedly in quick session. And then Jake released the leg and quickly moved behind de who was struggling to stand on one leg after what Jake did to him. When Jake got behind de, he mustered all the strength in his body to smack de''s head with the wooden sword thereby rendering de unconscious. Immediately de fell unconscious, their watches made a ding and the ranking system was changed with Jake in rank 180 while de''s was in rank 181. Meanwhile the whole crowd were silent unsure how to react because what they were seeing was unbelievable. For the lowest rank to beat someone several ranks above them. The people most shocked were Jake''s friends, they couldn''t believe that Jake managed to win the fight. Well except Peter that was, he was the only one who had faith in Jake. After some time, the whole crowd finally came to and apuded Jake for his victory. Meanwhile, after Jake defeated de, he heard a ding in his head but before he could read it, he swayed a bit and was about to fall down but sergeant Lee already anticipating this, quickly came and caught him before he could hit the ground. Sergeant Lee quickly dismissed the whole ss for the day, while taking Jake and de to the academy''s clinic meanwhile Jake''s friends begged Lee to allow them to apany Jake to the clinic as they were worried for him. Initially, Lee refused to take them, but after some back and forth, Lee finally epted to allow them apany him there. Chapter 13: A New Quest When Jake opened his eyes once again, he was met with a scene that was now somewhat familiar to him. The white ceiling, the smell of chemicals was a dead give away. He was once again lying in a hospital bed and so soon at that. While opening his eyes, his eyes met with that of someone he was familiar with. It was nurse Hayley, checking on him. "Oh boy, it looks like you like the clinic a lot. This is the second time you are being admitted here in a week." Hayley jokingly said. "Is everything okay with me?" Jake asked sitting up. "Yes. Your vitals are normal, everything is ok, you are going to be discharged today after you get some rest." Hayley said. "Why was I even brought here?" Jake asked then he finally started remembering the events of the duel. "I was told you fell unconscious after your duel. Apparently it was because of fatigue and bleeding." Hayley answered while going back to her seat toplete the formalities of discharging Jake. After Hayley left, Jake finally remembered that the system had given him a quest to defeat de. "System! Pull thest notifications I received." Jake said. "Zee, what''s a stat point?" Jake asked. "A stat point is a point you can allocate to any of your attributes like: Strength and all that." Zee answered. "Ohh ok. I understand now. But where do I allocate this free point to now." Jake thought. In order to decide, Jake decided to pull up his status screen. "Wow! This is awesome. I have being given lots of rewards just forpleting one quest." Jake eximed excitedly. "I think for now, I will keep that free stat point till when I really need it because I''m unable to decide where to allocate it now." Then Jake''s mind wandered towards the duel. Jake sighed. "I can''t believe I actually won that duel. I''m still confused how that happened. But it was very difficult. If ranked 180 could give me such a tough fight then think about the double digits ranks." Just as Jake finished his thoughts, his roommates entered to check up on him. "Hey, my man. How are you doing?" Peter askeding over. "I''m feeling better now. Thanks." Jake said. "For real, you were awesome out there. I couldn''t believe my eyes, you actually defeated someone who was ranked 180." Vynn said with stars in his eyes. "I guess you are not as weak as I thought." Sophia said coldly. "Too bad, because of your win, I have gone from rank 199 to 200." Vynn said sadly while looking at his watch. "Am sorry. I didn''t intend to fight. But don''t worry, am sure soon you will be able to rank up and the we could all get to the top ten together." Jake said trying to cheer Vynn up. "Yeah, I hope so. Anyway can we take you back to the dorms now?" Vynn asked. "Yes. You can take him now, he''s all better so no need to keep him in the clinic anymore." Hayley answereding over to their side. After that, they all left the clinic together while chatting happily and with Peter also bragging about not losing faith in Jake. While they were going, they saw de who in turn red at Jake. "You think you have won this right? I know that your win was just pure luck and am gonna make sure you pay dearly for making me go down a rank." de said while standing in front of Jake''s face. "Hey! Cool it man. Do not start a fight that you can''t win right now." Peter said showing his watch to de that was disying the level 7.5 and rank 2. To which de backed off and looked Jake in the eyes while leaving him with one word. "Watch your back, Jake. I know you are not strong enough to protect yourself and your friends won''t always have your back." de said walking off. "He''s right you know." Zee said. "You need to get stronger so you don''t have to worry about people like him." "Yeah I know, stop reminding me that am weak." Jake said annoyed. Just as Jake finished saying the word, he heard a ding in his head then he opened up the system to which he saw a message. "Woah! this is amazing." Jake eximed excitedly in his mind. "Level 3 huh? It''s just three days away." After that, All the friends went to their dorm to rx before they will go to Combat training and Jake was required toe after he was discharged. When it was time forbat training, they all went to the training grounds for the ss. They did their normal physical exercise and sparring with each other.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om And this time there were no issues, everyone sparred with each other. Jake sparred with the person ranked 179 but he couldn''t win the fight because the person was more skilled than de. After a long day of training, everyone retired to their dorms to get some rest. Chapter 14: A New Technique A week had passed since Jake''s duel with de. He had spent most of the week training intensively. The oue, He finally leveled up to level 3, unlocking a new skill With his new skill, Jake felt a surge of confidence. He imagined himself taking down opponents with swift, precise attacks. However, he knew mastering Frenzy Strike''s timing and control was very important. During training, Jake''sck of skill often got the better of him, wasting the opportunity therefore rendering the skill useless. As the week drew to a close, Jake felt a sense of aplishment wash over him. He had leveled up, unlocked a new skill, and gained valuable experience. But what he eagerly anticipated was the first-everbat training session with Sergeant Lee, a renowned expert in hand-to-handbat. Finally it was the day for the Combat ss but they have to attend their usual morning homeroom ss. After getting their breakfast, they made their way to the homeroom ss. While in the ss, Thompson decided to teach more about the current world. And it happens that Jake found the ss quite interesting. "So we all know that the world is under attack of werewolves. So today I''m going to be teaching you about the werewolves strengths, weakness and how to defeat them." Thompson said to which Jake sat up to listen properly. "So first up, we have to know their strengths. Werewolves are physically stronger than us, they have enhanced speed, strength and even Sense of smell. They grow stronger by eating strong opponents, the more they eat, the more they grow stronger and there''s no limit to that." "This is quite interesting. I need to know more about my enemies in order to defeat them." Jake thought. "So unto the weakness, they basically have only one weakness and that is an injury to their heart. Once you stab them in their heart, they will be defeated. But it''s not going to be easy, because their hides are tough and thick to prate. Only someone with a huge number of strength can deal damage to their heart." Thompson exined. "But if their hides are thick to prate, how are we supposed to kill them?" A student asked. "Good question. It''s quite simple actually. That''s where beast crystalse in. Crystals that are fished out of the body of a beast." Thompson exined. "What are beasts or beast crystals?" Vynn asked. "Well it''s not your fault you don''t know about it because they are not found on this, beasts are found on another. So the crystals are what power up the beast, without it, they will lose their lives. So crafting equipment from the beast crystals, can help in prating the hide of the werewolves." Thompson exined. After some more teaching, the ss finally ended and Jake received more knowledge about the werewolves and he was one step closer to achieving his goals of defeating the werewolves. After a few minutes of rest, Jake made his way to the training grounds with Vynn and Peter. On the way going, they were excitedly talking about the Combat ss they were going to attend. "Man, I''m so excited about the ss. Finally after so much drill and physical training, we can finally move on to the next phase which is actual fighting techniques." Vynn excitedly said.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yeah. I''m so happy too. Maybe after this, I might be able to finally rank up higher." Jake added. After a few minutes of walking, they finally got to the training grounds and sergeant Lee was already waiting for them there. When the ss was filled up, Lee started the ss. "Wee to today''s ss. Today I will teach you a basic form of martial art and you are expected to practice it till next week or till you get it perfectly right." Lee said looking at them to see if there was going to be a protest. "Great. Let''s start the ss now. So you need to pay attention because I''m only going to be showing you the skill twice so watch me carefully. This technique is called ''The Triple Threat''. It''s a simple, effective technique thatbines three quick movements to create an opening for attack." Lee stood in front of the ss to demonstrate the technique. Firstly, Lee stepped back and then he made a quick pivot turn and struck forward. "Now, that was a demonstration without an opponent. Let me show you how the attack looks like with an opponent." Lee said while scanning for a student with a good build that could take a little bit of pain. After scanning, Lee picked Jack for the demonstration. "Okay stand here in front of me. And the rest of you, pay attention to see how the skill looks like when you''re in front of an opponent." Lee said while facing Jack for the demonstration. Lee then stepped back to create a distance between him and Jack, that was the first step. Then he made the pivot turn(quickly to the side). Then he made a forward strike.(swiftly strikes Jack). Jack was unable to quickly react to the strike and he was about to be hit but Lee quickly stopped himself before he hurt him. "Now, you see how it looks like, let me show you in slow motion and then you will repeat it Yourselves." Lee said staring at the wide mouthed students who were in awe of the skill Lee just disyed. Lee demonstrated in slow motion. First step; create distance by stepping back. Second step; Then the Pivot turn( quickly move to the side) While thest step was to do the Forward strike which is to swiftly strike the opponent. The students all tried to imitate or replicate the skill but some were unable to do it because of theplexity. Some of them even stumbled down. "Don''t worry, I didn''t expect you guys to ge¡­" Lee stuttered because he was dumfounded by a student who managed to get the skill on their first try and it was so perfect and wless. "Briliant! So perfect. Young man, what''s your name?" Lee askeding over to the student. "My name is Vynn muscat." Vynn answered. "Vynn, you are quite talented to get that right on the very first day. I must say, I''m impressed." Leemented while heading back to the front of the stage. Some boys noticed that Vynn was being praised very much instead of them that Lee always praise. So they decided toe up with something to fix that. "Alright. Listen up." Lee said pping his hands. "Today''s ss hase to an end. So through out the week, we will practice the skill together till you get it right. And you can also practice it by yourself in your free time." Then Lee dismissed the ss and everyone went back to their dorms. Chapter 15: The Mysterious Stranger In a distantnd, a portal swirled open, and a young man with an athletic build stepped out, his eyes scanning the destendscape. The portal closed behind him, and he looked up at the thick, grey haze that filled the air, heavy with the smell of ash. As he walked through the ruins of a town, he noticed the devastation left by the werewolves. "This ce is a mess," he muttered to himself. "I need to find the person with the orb, but all I have is a vague description." He thought back to the words of an unknown informant, trying to recall any details that might lead him to his search. Suddenly, an information came to mind: "The kid was wearing a uniform." That meant the person he sought was likely attending an academy, not a regr school. Since regr schools were closed because of the war going on. The stranger approached a passerby and asked, "Excuse me, sir. Is there an academy nearby?" The man replied, "Yes, there''s Aurora Academy. It''s a training ground for youngsters to fight against werewolves." The stranger''s eyes narrowed. "Can you tell me how to get there?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The passerby provided detailed directions informing the stranger that the journey would take at least two days. As the stranger turned to leave, the man stopped him. "Who are you, and why do you want to find the academy?" The stranger adjusted his hat, his expression unreadable. "I''m no one of relevance. I just needed directions. Thank you for your help." With that, he set off towards Aurora Academy, his thoughts fixed on his target. "Whoever you are, kid with the orb, I''ming for you." **************************** Meanwhile in the academy, Jake just woke early as usual and decided to do his morning exercise. He went to the gym as usual and started his exercise. After an hour of exercising, Jake was done with his exercise for the day and he was currently resting so he decided to pull up his status screen. Jake had already level-up the previous day, therefore bringing him to level 4. Each time he level-up, the number of XP he will need to garner will increase. And he still had the free stat point he was given from wining his duel with de because he hadn''t decided what to put it into. After checking his status, he decided to check his skill tab. These are the skills Jake currently had, while the rest were locked or greyed out. Jake sighed and stood up. "This is really taking too much time. How on earth am i supposed to get stronger quickly?" "Just be patient. You will grow stronger soon. It''s just a matter of time." Zee said. Jake decided to go to his dorm to practice but before he left, he decided to test a theory. He went to the drum like machine and readied himself. Then he punched the drum like thing with all his might and it rang out loudly and it shuffled rapidly before stopping on a particr number. <22> "Just as I thought, that means the system and the drum record the same number." Before he left, he decided to try something else. Jake readied himself and tried ''The Triple Threat'' skill again for thirty minutes but he couldn''t get it right. He just left the gym for his dorm. After they all took their bath, they decided to go grab breakfast together again after all it had been long they did it together. While they were going, some male second years decided to stop them by obstructing their way. "Is there any problem?" Peter asked rather irritated. "No. There isn''t. We just wanted to Speak with the student named Vynn." One of the second year replied. "What do you want with him?" Jack asked while furrowing his eyebrows. "You don''t need to know. Vynn are youing or not?" Another second year asked. "Guys. It''s okay, no need to worry." Vynn said about to walk off but Jake quickly grabbed his hand. "Are you sure everything is okay?" Jake asked still holding onto Vynn''s hand. "You know you can tell us, like you said, we are family now." "Guy''s I''m fine. Don''t worry. You can go get breakfast, I will join you for the homeroom ss." Vynn said wriggling her hand from Jake''s and heading off with the second years. "I can''t help but be worried for him." Sophia said. "You know what, you guys can go ahead. I will join youter." Sophia said heading off towards their dorm room before anybody could stop her. "What is up with all the some of our roommates dorm today?" Peter asked looking at the rest expecting an answer. To which they just shrugged and headed to the dining hall for their breakfast. Meanwhile Vynn and the second years were seen pulling up in an alley way in the middle of the first year and second year building. "Have you done what we asked you to do?" One of the male asked. "No I haven''t and I don''t want to either." Vynn answered. "What! What did you say?" The male asked now moving towards Vynn while grabbing his neck. "Can you repeat what you just said again?" "I said I''m not going to do what you asked me to do anymore." Vynn replied while trying to catch his breath. "I cannot and will never betray my friends ever." Vynn said staring right into the male''s eyes. "Fine. I will just have to teach you a lesson until you sumb." The male said letting Vynn''s neck go and then quickly kneeing him in the stomach so hard that it knocked out the wind from Vynn''s mouth. Vynn started coughing rapidly trying to catch his breath. Then the second year grabbed Vynn''s hair and pulled him up and then he punched him thrice in the face thereby breaking his nose. After a few minutes, they let him go with a warning. "Don''t you dare betray us and do as we say." Then they all leave Vynn who was coughing on the floor. After a few minutes, Vynn managed to get to the clinic to get his self treated. Meanwhile Sophia went back to her room and pulled out a secret bag and then she unlocked it and pulled out a few equipment. One of them looking like a burner phone, then she dialed a few digits on it and after, it rang a few times, then she heard a voice on the other side say. "Yes, Sophia. Do you have a report to make, an information you want to share or do you want to speak with your family?" The voice asked. "Not really. I just wanted to inquire about something." Sophia said. "And what is that?" The voice asked again. "Do you know any big family that goes by the name of Dem?" Sophia asked. "Hold on, give me a few minutes." The voice replied. And then Sophia heard a few mumblings on the call, a few flips and clicks that she could only guess where books and a keyboard being operated by the person on the other side of the call. After a few minutes, the voice finally found something of relevance. "Sophia are you there?" The voice asked. "Yes, I am. Any information?" Sophia asked. "As a matter of fact, there is." The voice replied. "The Dem family, are a family of influence and own one of the big factions of the world. Oh, there''s one more thing, they have a very deep dark secret that have to do with the current world but am unable to ess the files so I''m sorry." "I knew that name sounded familiar, our families are rivals in a kind of good way." Sophia muttered. "But why did Jack not mention he was part of the big three?" Chapter 16: A Truly powerful Technique After breakfast, the whole friends went to their homeroom ss. On the way there, Vynn and Sophia met up with the rest of the room on the way to the homeroom ss. After the ss, they went to theirbat ss. When they got tobat ss, they all did their physical training which was mandatory everyday and then they practiced ''The Triple Threat'' skill over and over again. After some time, they rested before they decided to spar with each other. That was when Kate came over to Jake to spar with him. "Hey, do you mind if we sparred?" Kate askeding over. "Sure. Why not." Jake answered. They started sparring with each other slow and steady. "So didn''t you notice how weirdly Sophia and Vynn behaved today" Kate said. "I think everyone noticed that. What do you think it might be?" Jake asked. "I''m not really sure about that. And they don''t want to open up to us." Kate said sighing. After that, they continued sparring with each other that was when Kate decided to ask something. "So what do you think about Sophia?" Kate asked. "I think she''s okay but a little cold. Why?" Jake asked. "Oh, nothing. I was just asking." Kate answered. "I don''t think he has any feelings for Sophia." Kate thought. "So you said your dad owns a dojo right?" Jake asked.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yes, the dojo is not that popr but he has a few number of students." Kate answered. "Do you know any martial arts move that you could, you know, teach me or something. I would love to learn martial arts." Jake said. "Sure. But first you need to learn ''The Triple Threat'' skill first before I teach you anything. Kate answered. "Why?" Jake asked raising an eyebrow. "Because martial arts is all about timing, skill and patience. In order to learn martial arts,you have to learn how to get timing right. And that is what this triple threat skill is about." Kate exined. "I have heard you." Jake said. After thirty minutes of sparring, they were all dismissed for the day but before they left, Lee had one more thing to say. "Starting from next week, you will all have to pick a weapons ss that you love. Because not all of you can use swords properly. So I will advice you quickly decide the ss you will love to attend." Lee said now dismissing the students. The students all went to their dorms. When they got to their dorms, they didn''t know what to do to spend the rest of their afternoon. So Jake decided to head off to the gym to see if he could perfect ''The Triple Threat'' technique. Meanwhile Vynn left the room for somewhere unknown. Vynn walked for sometime while looking left and right to see if he was being followed by anyone. After some time, Vynn finally got to where he was going to. He was on his way to the second year building. After some time, a few second years stopped Vynn and they turned into an alleyway. "So what have you decided?" A second year asked. "My answer is still no." Vynn answered. "Just because my friend bumped into you and you wanna use me to exact revenge on him. I can''t and I will not." The second year sighed. "I was hoping we won''t need to do it the hard way. But you have forced my hand." The three second year started beating of Vynn terribly. With each hit, it felt like Vynn was going to die any second now. They kept on hitting him until Vynn couldn''t talk again. "We will keep on doing this until you agree to do what we asked." The second year said. They all left Vynn In the alleyway. Vynn was so bruised that he couldn''t walk for some time. Even breathing felt torturous to him. After some time, he managed to steel himself and went to the academy clinic to get treated. At the same time, Jake just got to the gym and straight away started practicing ''The Triple Threat'' technique for an hour straight until he finally managed to get it right. "Yes yes yes." Jake excitedly jumped up and down. "I finally managed to learn the skill." Jake performed the skill five times to check if he could perform the skill again. After the fifth time, Jake heard a ding in his head. "Woah! This is truly awesome! I didn''t know that by just learning ''The Triple Threat'' technique, it will automatically be added to my system. Did you have any idea about this?" Jake asked Zee. "No, not really. I''m also surprised as you are now." Zee answered. "Maybe the system felt the need to reward you after seeing your dedication and frustration about getting stronger." "Regardless, this is still cool." Jake said. Jake decided to check his skill tab to see if the skill was truly added to his skill tab. "Wow! It truly added the technique." Jake said. "Well that is great." Jake was about to leave the gym when an idea struck him. He went towards the drum like thing and took a stance and used his system to activate ''The Triple Threat'' technique and then when it was finally in the third stage, Jake quickly struck the drum with all his might. He felt the drum''s vibrations when his fist connected with it and the drum echoed out very loudly that he quickly used his hands to cover his ears. Then the drum rapidly shuffled until it stopped on a number. Jake''s mouth was left hanging. "How!? How Is this possible?" Jake thought. "Uhmm, Zee are you seeing what I''m seeing?" "Yes. I- I''m also shocked by this." Zee replied. Jake was surprised and shocked because currently the drum was disying his strength as 35 instead of his previous 22. Chapter 17: An official ranked Duel "Woah, this technique is very awesome! Just by using it, my punch has be quite powerful." Jake said. After some minutes, Jake decided to go to his dorm room. He got to the room, saw his friends and he decided to get some rest. After waking up from his nap, he saw that most of his friends were not in the room. It was only him and Peter in the room while the rest were no where to be found. "Where''s the rest of the gang?" Jake asked Peter who was just reading a book. "I don''t know. I think they are off doing their own thing." Peter answered. "Peter, can I ask you a question?" Jake asked. "Sure. Go on." Peter replied now looking up from his book to listen to Jake. Jake''s curiosity got the better of him. "Hey, Peter, can I ask you something?" he said. "What drives you to be so strong? You are not just fighting for yourself are you?" Peter''s expression turned solemn. "I''m fighting for my family. I want to avenge my parents'' death, just like you are fighting for yours. And about strength, I don''t really know. I only trained physically when I was in the orphanage." Jake''s eyes narrowed his mind consumed by doubt. "Do you really think it''s possible for humanity to win this war?" he asked Peter. Peter''s expression turned resolute. "I do. With the academy and the Big three on our side, i believe we have a fighting chance. We just need to stay strong and united." Peter replied. Jake sighed and then was about toy back on his bed when Peter decided to ask his own question. "Why were you asking all those questions?" Peter asked. "Nothing, I was just curious." Jake replied and then the room door swung wide open with so much force it nearly broke off its hinges and then Jack could be seening in quickly. "Woah, what is wrong? Do you wanna destroy the door?" Peter asked now standing up from his bed. Jack tried to catch his breath and quickly replied. "It''s Vynn. He''s badly beaten up and he his In the school clinic." "What!??" Jake and Peter asked while quickly getting out of bed and following Jack out of the room. After a few minutes of running, they finally got to the clinic and they could see Kate and Sophia beside Vynn''s bed. Vynn didn''t look to be in a good shape. His nose looked broken with his face all bruised up and worst of all, his hand was bandaged. Looking at Vynn''s body, Jake''s body was shaking furiously and he was grinding his teeth back and forth with such anger that it felt like his teeth was going to break. Through gritted teeth, Jake asked. "Who.. who did this to you?" "It''s Sebastian. He beat up Vynn because he was jealous of Vynn getting all of Lee''s attention because of learning ''The Triple Threat'' technique faster out of all of us." Sophia answered with her hands all trembling from holding her anger back. This was the first time they saw Sophia react like this. Peter''s face reddened with anger. "How could Sebastian do this to Vynn without anyone stopping him?" Kate''s expression turned grim. "It was an official ranked battle, Peter. The military personnel couldn''t intervene." "He is gonna pay for this." Jake said. "There is nothing you can do." Kate quickly said. "He is currently ranked number 20 and you are ranked 180. How do you want to do it." "I don''t care. Look at what he did to Vynn. Didn''t you say we are family? Well I''m not going to allow someone or something take another family from me." Jake said storming off. "Is he crazy? Does he think that just because he beat up de that he is going to be able to do anything to Sebastian?" Sophia asked furiously. "Someone better go after him before he does something that he is going to regret." Kate said to which Peter and Jack were about going. "No. You stay here with them. Let me go after Jake." Peter said already on his way out. Meanwhile after storming out, Jake was on his way looking for Sebastian. But he didn''t know how to find him. So he decided to ask around for Sebastian until he finally got his location. "Are you sure of what you wanna do?" Zee asked. "You heard your roommates, the guy is currently ranked number 20 and you''re number 180. How do you want to do this?" "I don''t know. I will think of somethingter, for now I need to take care of Sebastian." Jake replied and finally he got to Sebastian''s location. "I heard there was someone looking for me? Are you the one?" Sebastian a guy who stood 5ft tall with a bandana wrapped around his head and his hair dyed spikey brown. "You are Sebastian right?" Jake asked. "Yes. The one and only." Sebastian answered moving forward away from his friends. "I want to challenge you to a ranked battle." Jake dered. To which Sebastianughed so hard that he almost fell down. "You wanna challenge me? Are you for real? Do you know my rank?" Sebastian asked showing his watch that was disying the number 20. "Yes I know you and your rank." Jake answered. "And you still want to challenge me to a ranked battle? Are you nuts?" Sebastian asked. "I''m perfectly alright but I think you are scared or something." Jake said smiling. Sebastianughed again and then replied. "Ohh, I know you now. You are friends with Vynn. So you wanna take revenge on me." Sebastianughed again. "Forget it. I''m not interested since there''s nothing in it for me." Sebastian said walking off. "Wait!" Jake called out. "If you win, you will have all of my credits." Credits were the world''s currency and the academy provides 30 credits per day to the students and since Jake had nothing to do with credits, it just umted in his watch. Currently Jake had over 400 credits. Sebastian stopped in his tracks and then looked at Jake. "Are you sure about that?" Jake smiled because he knew that this might work. "Yes, I''m very sure." Jake replied. "Fine. I agree but on one condition, I want the fight to be in front of everyone afterbat training tomorrow so that people won''t think I stole the credits off of you." Sebastian said. "I agree." Jake said shaking Sebastian hand and that was when Peter arrived. Sebastian left with his friends for somewhere else and then Peter looked at Jake annoyed. "Are you nuts? You just challenged Sebastian who is ranked number 20 to a duel." Peter scolded. "Do you even realize what you have done?" "Yes I do. And I don''t regret it one bit." Jake said already walking off to his dorm. Peter chased after Jake trying to convince him to back down but he didn''t. Jake stood his ground of not backing down. After a few hours, news spread around the academy among the students of a duel between Jake and Sebastian.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om This got the whole academy excited and after so many hours, it was finally the start of a new day. The day of Jake''s duel with Sebastian. Jake woke up as usual for his early morning exercises. And after the exercise, Jake decided to check his status. His current status afterpleting his exercise was. Jake sighed and was wondering if he could win this battle with his current strength. "Whatever. I''m going to win this for Vynn no matter what." Jake said leaving the gym room to his dorm room. After taking their breakfast without Vynn they all went for their homeroom ss but the whole ss where currently unfocused because of the duel that was going to take ce today. After long hours of lecture in the homeroom ss, it was finally time forbat training. After the physical training, they all practiced ''The Triple Threat'' technique over and over for some hours before Lee dismissed them and he also left. But the students didn''t leave because they were all waiting for the duel happening today. The students all formed a ring around Jake and Sebastian with Jake''s roommate in front watching the fight that was going to take ce. And with that, the duel was underway. Chapter 18: Who won It was finally time for the duel between Jake and Sebastian and the whole crowd were excited to see how the duel will go. The rules were simple; if you knockout your opponent or your opponent gives up or the watch pings, then you win. With the rules set in ce, it was finally time for the duel but Jake''s friends couldn''t help but worry. Sophia''s brow furrowed with concern. "Peter, do you think Jake has a chance against Sebastian?" To which Peter shook his head. "Honestly, I don''t know. Sebastian''s skills are on a whole different level. But Jake''s determination might just give him an edge." Peter said. "I asked because you got the previous predictions right after all. That''s why I asked." Sophia said now looking at the match. "Honestly, I don''t see any chance of Jake winning this fight. Sebastian is ranked number 20 for a reason." Peter added now also focusing on the fight that was about to take ce. "Let us just hope that somehow he is going to pull a miracle here." Kate added. Before the duel started, a ding was heard in Jake''s head. "Huh!?!? Why is the rewardsing up with question marks?" Jake asked Zee. "I don''t know." Zee answered. "How don''t you know? Aren''t you supposed to be the AI that help answer all my questions about the system?" Jake asked. "Yes. But there are some things hidden from me also. So just focus on your duel." Zee said. "The rewards better be worth it." Jake said getting ready for the fight. And with that short conversation, the battle was underway. Sebastian didn''t want to waste any time, he decided to finish the battle quickly by charging right at Jake who just quickly pivoted to the side avoiding Sebastian''s strike by a few centimeters.N?v(el)B\\jnn But Sebastian quickly regained his footing and quickly turned around striking Jake on his head causing Jake to stagger a few steps. Not letting up, Sebastian quickly dashed towards Jake and gave him a strong solid kick that connected with Jake''s head therefore making Jake''s head go crashing down and also bouncing a few times. Jakey there unmoving and Sebastian slowly walked towards him. "Is he dead?" Someone from the crowd asked. "Who cares." Another person added. "He just wasted our time. I thought he was going to perform properly but who am I kidding. How can someone ranked 180 take on someone in rank 20?" Meanwhile Sebastian finally got to Jake''s position and then he bent down and picked up Jake''s hair. "You just wasted my time. Anyway, per the rules, you owe me all your credits." Sebastian said about doing the transfer from Jake''s watch to his but before he could touch Jake''s wrist, Jake''s eyes snapped open and he grabbed Sebastian''s hand and quickly standing up, he kneed Sebastian in his stomach with all the strength he could muster. Sebastian crouched down a little due to the strength of the hit and then Jake quickly seizing the opportunity, quickly kneed him in the face thereby breaking his nose and Sebastian''s head was flung back causing him to fall on his butt. Jake moved back a bit trying to regain hisposure and breathing. While Sebastian slowly stood up with his nose bleeding and his hands shaking in pure anger. Sebastian''s eyes zed with fury. "You dare to shed my blood?! He roared, charging at Jake with a speed that seemed almost inhuman. "You will pay for this, Jake. You will pay dearly!" "What the!? Was he holding back the whole time? Crap! I can''t keep track of him." Jake worriedly thought trying to focus to see where Sebastian woulde from. But it was toote for Sebastian was already in front of Jake throwing a strong hook towards Jake''s stomach that it knocked out the air out of Jake''s mouth. "Was he also holding back on his strength also?" Jake thought crouching down holding his stomach that was in so much pain. Not allowing Jake to rest, Sebastian kicked Jake in his face sending Jake flying a few feet away. After some seconds, Jake slowly got up with his face all bloody and his nose broken but he still managed to smile. Jake''s eyes shed with a sudden realization. "I was a fool to think I could take you down without going all out!" he stood tall, his stance firm. "You were holding back, and so was I. But that ends now?" "System!" Jake called in his mind. "Activate Inspect skill!" "Good. It''s time to end this now." Jake said while activating one skill from the system. and immediately Jake started moving exactly like sergeant Lee when he disyed the skill. "What the! How did Jake manage to learn that skill and perfect it so well that it feels like am watching sergeant Lee?" Jack asked. "Am also as surprised as you but let''s just focus on the fight." Peter answered. "Dammnn! He''s moving so fast like sergeant Lee, I can''t keep track." Sebastian said a little bit worried. After Jake closed the distance between him and Sebastian with thest step of the skill, he quickly activated another skill. "I only have two seconds with this skill." Jake thought activating it and immediately, Jake rapidly attacked Sebastian that Sebastian couldn''t even keep up with Jake''s movement. Jake attacked for 2 seconds straight rapidly not letting up. And when the skill ended, Jake quickly moved back to observe Sebastian. Although Sebastian was bleeding and coughing out blood, he was still standing strong. "I gat to admit, you are quite fast and strong but you can''t beat me." Sebastian said and quickly dashed forward again towards Jake this time with fury written all over his face. "I''m going to end this now!" Sebastian shouted moving his hands rapidly while running trying to gather energy for onest powerful attack. "Funny thing, that was what I was about to say." Jake replied smiling charging towards Sebastian while activating ''The Triple Threat'' skill again onest time to also create a powerful punch like he did on that drum like thing. And then the two of them met in the middle with a big bang that shockwaves hit the students watching. There was so much dust lifted that they were unable to see anything for a few minutes and then finally, the dust settled and they could finally see a winner for one person was on the floor unconscious while the other was standing. Chapter 19: A Costly Mistake After the dust settled, the students could finally see who won. Standing with injuries from head to toe and a busted lip with his eyes burning with a sense of determination was none other than Jake. While Sebastian was lying on the floor unconscious. Jake walked away from the formed stage to his friends with a limp in his steps. The whole crowd were so silent that if a pin dropped, it will be heard loud and clear. Everyone was so shocked with their mouths all wide open because they just witnessed something so impossible. A low level, a lower ranked 180 defeated the number 20 of the first years. He didn''t defeat rank 100, 80 or even 50. He just jumped straight to rank 20. Meanwhile Jake was also in awe of his achievement, he felt like it was a dream. Like he was in some type of a dream. If it wasn''t the ding that he heard earlier in his head signifying his victory, he would have doubted it. Earlier when Jake and Sebastian were about to collide, they both were preparing their most strongest skill to defeat their opponent once and for all. Jake prepared The Triple Threat'' skill together with all his strength and Sebastian and him collided. With Jake hitting Sebastian in the stomach and Sebastian hitting him the face therefore busting up his lips and Sebastian fell unconscious from the force of the blow. Immediately Sebastian fell down, Jake''s watch made a ding sound and his rank was updated and he also heard a ding in his head signalling he won the duel but he didn''t have time to check the messages because after the adrenaline left his body, Jake started feeling the pain and soreness of everything. While Jake was making his way to his friends, the whole crowd managed to disperse but before they all left, some military personnel came over to take Sebastian to the clinic. It turns out that the watch also had a system that monitors all the students pulse therefore alerting the officials if a student was knocked out or dead. Snapping out of his daze, Peter quickly offered to help take Jake to the clinic. But Sophia didn''t apany them. Instead she made up an escuse to leave for somewhere else but the rest didn''t think there was anything suspicious going on with her. After a few minutes, quick minutes of walking, they finally got to the clinic with Jack and Peter lending their shoulder for Jake to hold on. When they got to the clinic, Hayley quickly rushed to take Jake off Peter and Jack''s shoulder. "Seriously?" Hayley eximed quickly directing Jake to one of the beds. "What did you do now thatnded you in this state?" "This is the third time in a short span of time that you are visiting here." The friends split up with some of them staying with Jake while others went to check up on Vynn to see how he was doing. The ones who went to see Vynn were Kate and Jack. When they got to his room, they could see he was awake just staring at the ceiling and then the opening of the door pulled him out of his thoughts. "Oh, hey guys." Vynn greeted with his voice all cheery. "Hey, Vynn, how are you doing?" Jack asked walking over to see if his injuries has healed up nicely. "I''m fine thank you. What are you guys doing here so soon?" Vynn asked. "It''s Jake." Kate replied. "What happened to Jake?" Vynn asked now sitting up. "He is just injured from the duel he had with Sebastian." Jack replied. "What!?!!" Vynn eximed. "Duel? I thought you guys talked him out of the duel." Vynn said already getting out of bed to go see Jake. "Rx, he is fine. He just has some minor injuries." Jack said trying to calm Vynn down. "Minor injuries!? Do you even know who Jake went up against? The number 20 of the first years and you''re telling me he came out with minor injuries." Vynn said. "Not only did hee out of the duel with minor injuries, he also won the duel. Jake is now the new rank 20 of the first years." Kate said with her face all smiles. "What!!!" Vynn was so shocked it almost looked like he was going to faint any second now. "But how¡­ how is this possible?" "We also don''t know. We were as shocked as you are now." Jack replied. "Where is Jake now? I need to see him." Vynn said already getting out of bed. "Calm down. We already told you that he is fine. Don''t go ahead and reopen your wounds." Kate said worriedly. "No. You don''t understand, Jake has just made a big mistake." Vynn said already on his way out. "Hey! Wait up." Jack said already chasing after Vynn and then grabbing his hand to stop him. "What do you mean by Jakemitted a mistake by defeating Sebastian?" "I don''t have time and I can''t exin twice soe on, I will exin when I see Jake." Vynn replied already running out of the room to find where Jake is. Kate and Jack both went after Vynn. And then after a few minutes, they were all now In Jake''s room. This time the whole roommates wereplete with Sophia and Peter sitting beside Jake and Jake being awake. Vynn quickly rushed over to Jake''s bedside. "How are you feeling? Are you doing ok?" "Yes, I am. It''s just a little bit of injuries. I will be fine soon." Jake answered. After calming down, Vynn then quickly changed from caring to scolding. "You fool! What have you done?" Vynn said angrily. "What do you mean?" Jake replied already trying to sit up. "Why did you have to y hero? Did I ask you to avenge me?" Vynn said with shaky breath.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Woah, woah. Calm down will you and exn what you mean." Peter said. "No, you don''t understand the gravity of the mistake Jake justmitted." Vynn replied. "What is it already. Will you tell us and stop worrying all of us here." Sophia said already annoyed by the suspense. Vynn decided to take in a deep breath to calm down his nerves so he could exin better. "You shouldn''t have challenged Sebastian not to talk of beating, defeating and humiliating him like that." "Why shouldn''t I have challenged Sebastian. Do you care to exin better." Jake said. Vynn sighed and continued. "You shouldn''t have challenged and defeated Sebastian because his elder brother is in this academy in the second year. His brother is a second year and currently ranked number 3 among the second years." Chapter 20: A Gathering Storm After the revtion that Vynn revealed to all of them, there was silence in the room. Everyone was trying to take in what Vynn just said especially Jake who was the one to defeat Sebastian. "Are.. are you sure about this?" Jake asked with his voice shaking. "Affirmative. Sebastian is the little brother to the rank 3 of the second year. And I am pretty sure that Sebastian won''t let this humiliation go like that. He is going to implore his brother''s help to help teach you a lesson." Vynn said. "And how do you know about this?" Peter asked with raised eyebrows. "Well, am not supposed to tell you guys this but.." Vynn hesitated a bit with his hands all trembling. After taking a deep breath, Vynn continued. "You remember those second years that obstructed our way when we were on our way to get breakfast the other day right?" "Yes. I remember and you said that it was nothing." Jack replied.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Well, they work for Sebastian''s elder brother. And they have been threatening me to betray you guys but I didn''t want to so they always beat me up so badly and I always end up here, in the clinic." Vynn said tears falling from his eyes. "Why didn''t you tell us?" Jack asked while raising his voice a little bit. "I didn''t want to trouble you guys that''s why I kept it hidden." Vynn answered wiping his face. "Hold on a sec, what did they ask you to do? I mean how did they say you should betray us?" Jake asked. "They wanted me to spy on Sophia, to find out what makes her so strong," Vynn said, his eyes downcast. "They are obsessed with her abilities, and they think she''s hiding something." Jake''s eyes narrowed. "What do they think Sophia''s hiding?" he asked, his voice low and urgent. Vynn hesitated before speaking, "I-I don''t know, but they are willing to do whatever it takes to find out." Since Vynn didn''t know what Sophia was hiding, they decided to turn towards Sophia to rify. "So, Sophia, what are you hiding? Why did they want Vynn to spy on you?" Jack asked. "Nothing. I have nothing to hide or any secrets to keep." Sophia answered sharply. "What do you mean you have nothing to hide? It''s clear that you have something to hide or else how do you want to exin the second years beating up Vynn just to spy on your secrets?" Peter asked. Sophia stood up angrily. "I don''t know and I don''t care. Maybe a screw or two has loosen in their heads because I have nothing to hide. Now if you will all excuse me, I need to go and rest." Sophia said walking out of the room on her way to their dorm room. "It''s clear that she is surely hiding something." Peter said. "Whatever it is, it''s her secret to keep. If she doesn''t want to share, we need to respect that." Kate said. "Respect my foot." Peter said angrily. "Because of whatever her secret is, we are being targeted by the upperssmen." "Everyone just calm down. Okay?" Jake said. "We will know how to cross the bridge when we get there." They all calmed down and turned to Jake to know how he pulled off that miracle in his match with Sebastian. "I-I don''t really know. It just happened. I just used the technique that Lee taught us together with as much strength as I could muster and that was it. Bang! Sebastian was on the floor." Jake exined. "Wow! That is awesome. Too bad I missed the duel." Vynn said. To which Peter started recounting everything that happened in the duel. Step for step. It was like Peter didn''t even take his eyes away from the match one bit. He even replicated the posture Jake pulled during and after the battle. "Wow! That is truly awesome. From rank 180 to rank 20. I guess it will be difficult to catch up with you guys now. Jack is number 1, Sophia rank 2, Peter rank 3, Kate ranked 35 and now you ranked 20." Vynn said dejectedly. "Don''t worry bro. Very soon you will also rank up with us." Peter saidforting Vynn. After that, they all chatted light heartedly before Hayley came to interrupt them. "So, Vynn and Jake are all doing fine now so they can be discharged and if they still feel pain or anything, they cane back for a check up." Hayley said. After an hour, Jake and Vynn were both discharged and they were apanied by Peter, Kate and Jack back to their dorm room. On the way going, Kate couldn''t help but say something. "Hey, Jake, I want you to please promise me that you won''t do something like that again." Kate said. "wow! What a caring and kind hearteddy. I tell you Jake she''s ideal and perfect for you." Zee who had been quiet all along suddenly couldn''t help butment. Ignoring Zee, Jake decided to respond to Kate. "I promise I won''t do something like that again. Not so soon anyway." "Good. Because if you did, I won''t forgive you." Kate added and went forward leaving Jake with the boys. After a few minutes, they finally got to their dorm to rest especially the injured guys in the room. Nobody talked about Sophia''s secret or anything theypletely let it go. They thought if she was ready, she wille clean on her own and then they all went to sleep. Meanwhile, in the second-year building, a meeting was taking ce between a group of students. "I''m telling you, he needs to be taught a lesson." Sebastian said. "Don''t worry, we will teach him a lesson, I will make sure of that." Sebastian''s elder brother; Harry said. "I want you to humiliate him publicly for me please." Sebastian said. "Don''t worry, we will hit where it hurts. I heard he''s an orphan and he considers his roommates family, so we will just target one of his roommates." Harry said. "Thank you bro." Sebastian said while standing up to leave. "No mention. That guy will get what''sing for him." Harry said and to which Sebastian left the building for his dorm room. At that same time, a stranger could be seen in front of the academy''s building. "Finally after a few days of walking, I am finally here at the academy." The stranger said. "Kid with the orb, I''ming for you." Chapter 21: An Infiltrator It was a Friday morning. Jake woke up early as usual for his daily exercise. When he got to the gym, he did all his exercises. After two weeks of daily training, Jake no longer felt the strain he once did. He started doing his exercises easily. After Jake was done and he heard a ding in his head, Jake decided to pull up his status screen to see what his rewards were for winning that duel. N?v(el)B\\jnn "System, pull of yesterday''s notification." Jake said in his mind. "Now this is what I''m talking about. A new skill and the increase in stat points. That battle has taught me a valuable lesson. Strength is useless without speed so I have decided to put the free stat point into agility." Jake thought. After putting it, he decided to check his status again. Satisfied about his stats, Jake decided to check his skills tab to see the new skill he got. "Wow! This skill will be very handy to have in future." Jake said. "But the skill can only be used once a day. It is still okay anyway." With his system explorationplete, Jake headed to his dorm to get ready for the day. After bathing and dressing up, the whole room decided to get breakfast together after a long time. They chatted happily on their way going to get breakfast. After breakfast, they went for their homeroom ss together. Jake''s mind wandered during the dull ss, his thoughts drifting to his future ns once the werewolf war was over. After what felt like an eternity, the ss was finally over. They all moved to the training grounds for their training. They did their physical training as usual but unknown to Jake, a pair of eyes were burning behind his back all through the training. And the pair of eyes belonged to Sebastian. After exercising for two weeks in order toplete his daily quest, he found the physical training rtively easy now. While they were running, Jake was finally running past some people, he even started running side by side with Peter and Jack. He was no longer the one in the rear line. "Woah, somebody has gotten a little bit stronger physically." Peter couldn''t help butment. After the running, they moved on to basic training like push up and the likes of it. During the push ups, Jake surpassed everyone there by doing 60 push ups while Jack who was supposed to be the strongest, stopped at 55. After the warm-ups were done, it was time to practice The Triple Threat'' skill again. Lee wanted them to practice it so they could perfect it properly before he moved on to the next skill. After an hour worth of practicing the skill, Lee finally permitted them to spar with each other. Luckily throughout the sparring session, there were no incident among the students or anyone targeting someone. The training for the day concluded without any problems. Since the next day was a weekend, it was the students day off to do whatever they wanted to do. The whole friends went to their dorm to rest after a good day of training. "Hey, Jake, what do you n on doing tomorrow?" Peter asked. "Hope you are not nning on going to town again?" "No, don''t worry, I''m not nning to head into town anytime soon. About your earlier question, I don''t know what to do tomorrow." Jake replied. "What about you, what are you nning to do tomorrow?" "I''m nning to head to the academy''s VR gaming room to train myself further." "What!!! The academy has a VR gaming room? But why will they have a gaming room in an academy? We are in the middle of a war so what does gaming have to with training the students?" Jake asked. "The gaming room isn''t for fun and casuals, it''s for training purpose. Don''t worry, if you wanna see it, then why don''t we pay the room a visit tomorrow." Peter asked. "Why not." Jake said. "Vynn why don''t you also tag along with us tomorrow." "Sure, I was nning to anyway." Vynn answered. "What about you girls?" Jake asked. "I''m nning to train tomorrow to grow stronger and not actually y some silly games." Sophia said. "What about you Kate?" Peter asked. "I''m also going to train with Sophia tomorrow. I need to hone my skills further." Kate replied. "Jack, what are you nning on doing tomorrow?" Vynn asked. "Me? I''m going to head off with some friends to train hard." Jack answered. They finally got to their dorm room and they decided to rest or probably sleep. Meanwhile, in the staff meeting room, the whole military were having a meeting with one of the General present. "So guys, that''s all for the briefing. And lest I forget, we have a new staff. His name is Jim and he will be taking one of the homeroom ss as a homeroom teacher." The General said. They all weed the new staff. And then after a few minutes of more briefing, the meeting was finally dismissed by the General and they all left the room all except Jim that is. "Kid with the orb, I have finally gotten here and I''m going to find you no matter the cost." Jim thought. Chapter 22: VR Game The weekend was finally here and Jake was excited than usual because today, he was going to check out the VR gaming room that was introduced to him by Peter. After doing his daily exercise and getting breakfast, it was finally time to head to the VR gaming room together with Vynn and Peter. The VR gaming room was in the academy but it was another building off to the side that was used as the gaming room. Entering the building, Jake could see some students in the building and off to the side, were shelves filled with different type of games. And off to the back, there was a type of gaming pod, not just one, but multiple. Jake''s mouth was wide open at what he could see. But he quickly pulled himself together. "That there, is what I train with most times. The town that the orphanage I was in was located, had a VR gaming center so I always practice once a while." Peter said. Before Peter said or did anything, he led Jake and Vynn to the counter to rent the capsules. "That will be 20 credits per hour." The receptionist said. "Yikes, that is a lot of credits." Vynn said. Between the three of them, they contributed credits to pay for five hours which is 100 credits. After paying, they were given tag cards that had the number of the pod they were going to use. After some minutes of looking for the pods, they finally found them and before they entered, Peter decided to exin the basics. "So for you newbies, this capsule, is a VR game that allows you experience the thrill and horror of battling a werewolf. It simtes the pain, sense of smell and even simtes somewhat of a real werewolves attack that bite and kill like the real deal. Oh did I mention that you could also y against humas?" Peter exined. "Can we y this thing already? Time is running out." Vynn said impatiently. "Fine. Without much further ado, let''s y." Peter said. They all got into the capsule and the door shut tight with them inside. Jake felt the softness and warmth of the cushions inside the capsule. That was when a pop up window appeared in his view. < y as a guest> "Woah! This is just like my system." Jake excitedly eximed. "Let me quickly hurry up, am sure that Peter is waiting for me." Quickly selecting the register button, Jake decided to register. And then a message pop up again. Jake thought long and hard about the name that he should use but nothing wasing to mind. After a lot of deliberation, Jake finally settled on a name. The name was chosen for one reason and that was because of his hatred for werewolves and the need to hunt them. After creating the UID, Jake''s consciousness was transported to a white space where there was nothing but an endless room of white. After a few verification process, Jake inputted the UID that Peter gave to him and then Jake''s consciousness was now transported to another white room but this time, Vynn and Peter were there. However, Peter didn''t look like himself. Both his hands were wrapped in bandages and on his face, he wore a scarf. He looked like an ancient Ninja. "err, Peter is that you?" Jake asked. "oh sorry." Peter said while changing his character back to his self. "What was that? Because that was awesome." Jake asked. "That, the game allows you to customize your character to look any how you want it. But mind you, it costs credits." Peter replied. "So do you guys wanna watch me y a few games to see how it works?" They both nodded to which Peter created a party, where Vynn and Jake could both spectate. Suddenly in the white space, stands appeared forming an arena like shape and Jake and Vynn were teleported to the seating area in one of the stands. The game tried it''s best to allow spectators feel like it was the real deal. Peter quickly went on to select a match. The game matches you with people of your rank, like currently Peter was in rank Gold(Advanced level) meanwhile as Jake and Vynn were just beginners, they were given the lowest rank possible which is the Bronze rank. The game had 6 ranks in total. Bronze(beginner) inorder to advance to the next rank, users need to have 5 wins. Silver (intermediate) 10 winning streaks to advance to the next rank. Gold(advanced) 15 winning streaks. tinum(expert) 20 wins in total after leaving Gold, you have to restart again with 20 wins to advance to the next rank. Diamond (master) 40 wins to advance to the next rank. Legendary(highest rank) user must have 100 wins to be ssified a high tier yer. After pushing the werewolves back, the world needed something to destress, so a VR game was invented with the purpose to destressing and also to learn to fight without hurting themselves in reality. The game was yed in other cities and big towns that could afford it anyway. ****************************** Being a Gold ranked yer, Peter could also be matched with a Gold ranked yer to even the ying field. There was a quick search button where you will just be matched randomly with any ranked yer. But since he wanted to battle werewolves rather than humans, he clicked a button that did just that. After inputting his gaming rank, Peter waited a bit for a werewolf to appear. And then, a werewolf appeared. Seeing the werewolf, Jake couldn''t help but shudder because it brought back bad memories, from the night his parents were murdered to the day he encountered a werewolf. Seeing Jake''s reaction, Vynn decided to calm him down. "Rx, it''s not real. It''s just a game." Vynn said. Immediately the werewolf appeared, a big countdown screen appeared and when it hit 0, the werewolf dashed towards Peter with a speed beyond human and swiped at Peter''s face with its ws but Peter ducked avoiding the hit but the werewolf quickly turned around and hit Peter with its foot In his stomach sending Peter flying back a few feet before finallying to a stop. Not wanting to give Peter rest, the werewolf gave chase. "Damn, this feels and look so much real. How could someone create something so realistic?" Jake wondered aloud with amazementced in his voice. Peter seeing the werewolfing, quickly stood up and shed with his sword but the werewolf side stepped and then gave Peter an uppercut to the face sending him flying up in the air but before he could fly up, the werewolf grabbed Peter''s feet and swung him around and around and finally flinging Peter across the room causing him to bounce on the floor a few times. Peter finally came to a halt and then stood up again with his customized character riddled with injuries from head to toe. The game was set to make the user feel like they are really fighting therefore the creators, added a pain sensation to the game making the users feel 2 percent of pain from the injuries dealt to their avatar. Standing up, Peter looked the werewolf straight in the eyes and instead of waiting for the werewolf to charge towards him, Peter charged towards the werewolf and when he was two feet away from the werewolf, the werewolf swiped at Peter with its ws but this time, Peter didn''t duck instead he decided to use the ''The Triple Threat'' skill by creating distance and then charging right at the werewolf.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Then Peter jumped up shing the werewolf''s neck therefore cutting off the werewolf''s neck. And then a message popped up congratting Peter. Peter decided to take a break to talk to his friends. After choosing the option, he was transported to the spectating stands. "So how was it guys?" Peter asked. "Well to be sincere, it looks realistic. I can''t wait to try the game out." Vynn excitedly said quickly going out of Peter''s game room. The remaining duo decided to spectate Vynn''s match. They went to Vynn''s game room to spectate Vynn''s match. Meanwhile Vynn selected the option to y against a werewolf. After a little bit of time, a werewolf appeared and Vynn wanting to prove he wasn''t weak, he charged towards the werewolf to sh at the werewolf but the werewolf twisted around and then grabbed Vynn flinging him across the room. Vynn quickly stood up but the werewolf was already in front of him punching Vynn right in the stomach knocking the wind out off Vynn''s mouth. Then the werewolf grabbed Vynn''s hair and smashed his knee into Vynn''s face. Vynn managed to pull out of the werewolf''s grip and after creating a bit of space, he decided to use ''The Triple Threat'' skill. When he got close, the werewolf gave Vynn a strong uppercut that ended the game straight away causing Vynn''s first game to be a loss. Immediately Vynn''s game was over, the capsule was shut down making the trio toe out of the pod. They have been ying for so long that they didn''t know when the time was up for them to leave the pod. Jake was disappointed because he didn''t get the time to y the game. But he was excited for tomorrow, he will have all the time in the world to y the game. Chapter 23: First Game The next day was a Sunday and Jake woke up as usual toplete his daily quest. And afterpletion, Jake decided to check his progress by ncing at his status screen. ******************************* "Man, if the XP bar keeps on increasing after each level up, it''s gonna be a tall task to level up." Jake thought. After closing the door to the gym, Jake went to his dorm to take his bath. After everyone had taken their bath, they all went to take their breakfast together as usual. After eating, Jake decided to pay the VR gaming room a visit. After paying 60 credits for 3 hours, Jake hopped into the capsule to y his first ever game. Quickly logging in, Jake was transported to his own white space.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "The creators of this game really did a great job, they made everything seem so realistic with the Sense of smell and all that." Jake thought. "i wonder if my system works here." "I think it does, because I can hear and see everything you do." Zee said. Quickly checking his theory, Jake decided to open up his system screen and it worked. "Wait, if I can open up my system screen here then that means I can also use some of my skills here." Jake thought. Opening up his skill tab, Jake quickly closed it because the skills on his skill tab will require an opponent to use it on. So not wasting time, Jake decided to divide his three hours into three activities. The first; Battle against the werewolves for one hour. Second: battle against humans for one hour leaving him with one more hour. Last hour; Use the quick match to match him with random human opponents from Bronze to Gold. Without wasting much time, Jake decided to start the game quickly with the battle against werewolves. After searching for a while, a werewolf was found. Seeing a werewolf standing in front of him again, Jake froze, his heart thumping louder and louder. "Jake, rx. It''s just a game. A VR. Calm down. If you don''t face your fears now, how will you defeat the real werewolves?" Zee asked. Hearing Zee''s voice of reason, Jake snapped out of his trance to face his fears and defeat the werewolf in front of him. When Jake was ready, the countdown clock again was seen counting down from five to one. And when it hit 0, the werewolf dashed towards Jake. "Calm down Jake, control your breathing." Jake said to himself. When the werewolf was close to Jake, the werewolf swiped again with its ws towards Jake head. "Common, I have seen this trick once before, do you think I will fall for it again?" Jake asked while quickly sliding under the werewolf and shing its legs with his sword. And then his back was turned towards the werewolf. Jake quickly turned around but his face was met with a fist from the werewolf therefore flinging Jake''s head back and causing him to lose bnce and fall off. "Damn! I''m such a fool." Jake said. Quickly standing up, Jake moved back to create distance between him and the werewolf. The werewolf stood there looking at Jake as if observing Jake''s moves. "Huh!? They actually created this thing a little too real." Jake said. Having enough of waiting around, Jake decided to run towards the werewolf and the werewolf reacted by running towards Jake, then Jake slid under the werewolf''s leg causing a cut on it. Angrily, the werewolf turned around and gave Jake a kick in his ribcage therefore breaking it. "Ah damn! Why is it so difficult to defeat a VR werewolf?" Jake asked in frustration. "Because you are not keeping calm. You have something that others don''t but you don''t want to use it." Zee said. Realizing his mistakes, Jake decided to give it a shot maybe it might work. First of, Jake used the to see if his other skills will work. And miraculously it worked. "So I can use my skills in the game too." Jake excitedly said. But his excitement was cut short for the werewolf was already upon him. The werewolf tried to punch Jake but he quickly cast skill to get away and moved behind the werewolf quickly. And then the final stage, he casted the and causing him to rapidly attack the werewolf with his sword for 2 seconds straight non stop. The werewolf was unable to attack back for 2 seconds causing Jake to deal major damage under 2 seconds. When the 2seconds psed, Jake finally moved back to create space. "Ah damn! Even with all that, I still can''t deal any damage to it." Jake shouted. That was when he remembered one more trick that might do the job. The werewolf charged right at Jake but before it could get close, Jake used ''The Triple Threat'' skill closing the distance between him and the werewolf before it could do that. And then Jake gave it a strong punch with all the strength he could muster. That was when he heard a notification but this time not from his head but around him. "phew. That was very difficult and challenging. The werewolf although a VR, it still felt real, I had to fight with everything." Jake said. "Yeah, you did great." Zee said. "Alright, let''s see how much time I have left." Jake said checking the time and thankfully, he only used thirty minutes to defeat the werewolf, meaning he has thirty more minutes before he needed to go onto the second phase. Not wasting time, Jake quickly selected another game. This time he found it a little bit easier because he managed to get used to the werewolf''s fighting pattern. After twenty minutes of intense battling, Jake decided to take a break before he moved onto the next phase. Although he wasn''t fighting physically with his real body, it was still mentally daunting fighting. So he was mentally tired that was why he was taking a break. Checking his gaming system, he saw he had two wins to his belt. Satisfied with this, Jake decided to go onto the next phase which is fighting humans. Jake selected the button that had the words on it and he clicked it and then after a little bit of time, the game finally found him a match. Standing opposite Jake was what looked like a fisherman, the avatar that Jake''s opponent used was dressed like some sort of a fisherman. Not caring about that, Jake just wanted to get the match over and done with quickly. The big countdown clock appeared again and when the time hit 0, the match started. Will Jake win the match or not? Chapter 24: A Defeat When the timer hit 0, Jake''s opponent charged towards him nning to sh at Jake but already facing the werewolf, his human opponent looked so slow so Jake managed to avoid the sh but his opponent quickly changed tactic and turned around and delivered an elbow hit to Jake''s head causing him to stagger back. "Damn! I forgot am not skilled and all this guys must have a good level of skill." Jake said. Quickly regaining his footing, Jake checked his system and saw that cooled down timer was off meaning he could use it. But Jake had to wait for the perfect time to use it. The opponent was using some sort of fishing pole with a sharp end as a weapon of choice. Jake didn''t relent, he quickly closed the gap between him and his opponent by using ''The Triple Threat'' skill. The opponent was a little bit stunned at the use of the skill. But he couldn''t be stunned for long because Jake was already upon him with a thrust of his sword but the opponent used his weapon to block the thrust Jake was intending to do. And then he gave Jake a kick to the side of his ribs therefore sending him back a bit. "crap! I forgot that humans and werewolves both have different fighting style. I was treating them the same." Jake thought. "You are forgetting something important." Zee added. "And what''s that?" Jake asked. "Your breathing you silly host. You are trying to rush the match quickly therefore losing control of your breathing." Zee said. "Oh, I know what to do now. You know sometimes the way you talk and scold me make me feel like you''re human not an AI." Jake said focusing on his opponent who wasing towards him.N?v(el)B\\jnn Quickly closing the gap between him and Jake, the fisherman tried to wack Jake on his head with his pole but Jake quickly twisted and used his sword to block the attack and then quickly using ''The Triple Threat'' skill again to get away. When Jake finally created distance, that was when he suddenly fell on his knees panting. "What! What is going on? Why can''t I feel my legs?" "I think, your stamina has run out. Using that skill multiple times has taken up your stamina quickly." Zee said. "shit shit shit! How am I supposed to win now if I''m on the floor?" Jake cursed. The fisherman noticing that Jake was on the floor, decided to act cautiously by running towards Jake slowly to see if he will suddenly spring up and attack. But there was no reaction from Jake, he could only see Jake''s face twisting as if in pain. "Damn it! I mustn''t lose. My winning streak! Just for five seconds please let my leg move for five seconds." Jake cried out. The fisherman was finally close to Jake and he swung his pole towards Jake''s head trying to finish the fight and suddenly, Jake''s leg moved allowing to quickly roll away and got up. Not wasting time, Jake activated and and then he dashed towards his opponent rapidly striking him continuously until the 2 seconds time on was up and then he quickly moved back creating distance. After moving back, Jake was now on his knees panting hard with his chest heaving in and out. Then he looked up to see the state of his opponent but Jake was given the shock of his life as his opponent was strangely standing fine. Then his opponent calmly walked towards him. "You have strength and a little bit of speed but that is all useless without skills." The fisherman said and then he wacked Jake on his head with the pole therefore ending the game. Jake was now thrown out of the game room into his white space. "Damn! The strange fisherman is right. What''s the point of strength and speed when I don''t have any skill." Jakeined. "Have patience Jake, it''s just a matter of time before you unlock a lot of skills." Zee added. "Time? Patience? Are you kidding me? Time is running out. We don''t know when and where the werewolves will attack. I need to be ready to protect myself and those I care about so that the werewolves won''t take those I love again." Jake said gritting his teeth. "Just calm down and have patience, I think you should rest a bit before you go into your next game." Zee said. Jake just stood up from his sitting position and went to the game''s interface. "I don''t need rest." Jake said clicking on the quick match option. "What are you doing? Are you nuts? The fisherman dude you faced was a silver rank if you didn''t notice and you''re here using the quick match, what if it matches you with a Gold ranked yer?" Zee asked. Jake shrugged and replied "It doesn''t matter." After a few minutes, a match was found for Jake and he went into the game with a face of determination. His opponent this time was dressed normal. When the countdown hit 0, Jake dashed towards his opponent, used ''The Triple Threat'' skill and to deliver a powerful punch. His opponent was too shocked to move because of the speed and aggression in which Jake used to attack him. And that was how Jake managed tond his powerful punch and ended the game therefore dering him the winner. "How did I do?" Jake asked Zee before he started his next match. "Well to be honest, you did quite well but they were only two factors that made you win." Zee said. "Which are?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "Firstly, your opponent was a bronze yer and secondly, you were the aggressor in the fight which stunned your opponent. That was why he didn''t react on time." Zee exined. "pfft. Who cares, I won that Is all that matters. Anyway onto the next game." Jake said. Jake used the Quick match option to start his next match for the next hour. Jake kept going against random bronze yers and in each fight, he always starts off as the aggressor therefore ending the match quickly. Unknown to Jake, the opponents he fought with, they decided to stay to watch his next few games because they all had one thing in mind. "This kid''s speed is inhuman for someone in bronze rank." Some of his opponents, even went as far as posting the videos of their match with Jake to the online forum so that people could find out if Jake was a Gold yer In disguise. After a few more matches, Jake finally gained enough wins to move onto the next rank. Satisfied, Jake decided to log off. Unknown to him that he had gained a few fans. Chapter 25: Testing a Theory When Jake left the VR room, it was already afternoon, so he decided to go to the gym to train a bit. For some hours. When he got to the gym room, he started exercising. "Jake, you do know that you havepleted your daily quest for today right?" Zee asked. "Yeah, I know but I can''t help but try to exercise." Jake replied already picking up weights. "What that fisherman guy said is true. All the strength and speed is totally useless without skills." "How does exercising help with that?" Zee asked. "It doesn''t. It just helps to take my mind off some things." Jake replied. Then Jake started lifting weights for thirty minutes straight. Immediately he was done, he heard a ding in his head. <+1 stats point to strength.> "Huh!?!! What in the world was that?" Jake asked. "I think the system decided to gift you the free stat point after your heavy weight lifting." Zee replied. In order to see if the system was ying tricks on him, Jake pulled up his status screen. ********************** "woah, the system was serious." Jake stated excitedly. "I wonder if.." Jake went towards the treadmill and turned it on then he started running on it. Jake ran and ran for 1 hour thirty minutes straight before he heard a ding in his head. <+1 stats point to agility.> Jake quickly pulled up his status screen again and truly he got a free stat point. "woah! This is awesome. But all these are useless without skills. I need skills." Jake said. Zee didn''t reply because he knew that nothing he will say will soothe Jake so he watched Jake leave the gym dejectedly to his dorm room. Jake left the gym around 7pm, he got to his dorm 20 minutester. He entered the room, greeted his roommates and went to his bed to rest since the next day was a Monday. "what happened to him?" Vynn asked noticing Jake''s mood. The rest just shrugged and continued what they were doing earlier. When it was 10pm, they decided to go to sleep. The next day was a Monday, when it was 4am, Jake went out to do his daily quest as usual. This time when Jake got to the gym, he was shocked for the gym was unlocked.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Huh?! Who could be in there by this time? I thought it was only me thates here by this time." Jake said while making his way to the gym. Jake got to the door, opened it gently, peeked his head inside and then his mouth was left wide open for a stunning beauty was inside exercising. The girl''s proportions were perfect. Not too big and not too small. She had beautiful long silver hair. Currently she was using the treadmill machine to exercise. Jake kept on staring at her until she got down from the machine and then noticed that the door was quite open. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl askeding over to where Jake was standing. "Wait what! I am supposed to ask you that question. What are you doing here?" Jake said snapping out of his earlier daze. "What does this ce look like? Isn''t it a gym? What do they do in a gym?" She asked. "I mean, since I got to the academy, I haven''t seen anybodye here as early as this except me." Jake said. "Well I usuallye here but not as early as this. I just decided toe here early." she replied. "oh, that''s nice." Jake said already walking off to start his daily quest. But before he left, she called him back. "Sorry, excuse me. Do you mind if I know your name?" she asked politely. "Sure why not." Jake said pulling his hand out for a handshake. "My name is Jake, Jake Lucas." "My name is Cindy rk." Cindy said shaking Jake''s hand. That was when she nced at Jake''s watch and saw his power level. "So you are a power level 1?" Jake quickly pulled his hand back and then replied. "Yes, I am." Jake said walking off to begin his exercise. "You do know you don''t have to be shy or embarrassed about your power level right? I am also a low level, well not that low actually." Cindy said smiling. "That''s great." Jake said starting off with his push ups. "So what weapon ss are you going to choose today?" Cindy asked while doing squats. "I was thinking swords." Jake replied already on his 28th push ups. "Swords huh? That''s nice." Cindy said. "I''m also nning to attend the swords ss too." "Really?" Jake said already on his 48th push ups. "Yes." Cindy replied smiling. "Anyway it''s nice talking to you. I need to go prepare for the day." Cindy said while packing her bags to leave. Jake quickly stood up afterpleting his 50th push ups. "Cindy wait!" Jake called out to which Cindy turned around. "If you don''t mind me asking, why are you gyming? Because to me, you are already in perfect shape." Jake said with his cheeks all flushed up after taking another look at Cindy''s body. Cindy just smiled at the question. "I know that I''m in perfect shape but I''m just exercising because I wanted to gain more strength so I can also fight against the werewolves. And I noticed I can''t do that without gaining a little bit more strength so I decided to improve my physical strength." Jake smiled and then he remembered something. "Hold on, you know my power level but I don''t know yours." "It''s nothing much, My power level is 4.8 and I''m currently ranked number 15 in the school''sbat rankings." Cindy said already opening the door to leave while leaving Jake stunned by her ranking. Chapter 26: The Hunt Approaches After Cindy left, Jake finally snapped out of his daze and got back to his exercise. After some time, Jake was finally done with his daily quest and decided to pull up his status screen to track his progress. Jake sighed and decided to leave the gym for his dorm to freshen up for the day, that was when he heard a ding in his head. "Huh!?! What was that about?" Jake asked while pulling up his status screen. And truthfully, the system gave him the +2 stat points. "Woah! This is truly awesome." Jake excitedly said. "But what is going on? Why is the system suddenly giving me stats points out of nowhere?" "I think the system is feeling generous all of a sudden." Zeemented. "whatever it is, I still like it." Jake said while exiting the gym for his dorm room. Jake got to his dorm after a few minutes and proceeded to take his bath, he was ready for the day. After a few hours, the whole room was now ready for the day. They all head towards the dining hall for their breakfast. On the way there, they decided to strike a bit of conversation. "So dude, what weapon ss are you gonna attend?" Jack asked Peter. "I''m not sure yet, I think I will head to the axe club. What about you?" Peter asked Jack. "I''m thinking of the sword club." Jack replied. "Well I''m thinking of joining the spear club." Vynn said. "What about you Jake?" "I will join the sword club." Jake said. "I think I will join the archery club." Kate said. "What about you Sophia?" "I think I will also go for the sword club." Sophia replied. "Great. So there are three of us that are going to attend the sword club. Good thing I won''t be alone." Jack said all smiley. After a few minutes of more talking and walking, they finally got to the dining hall for their breakfast. They all went to take their normal table for breakfast but they noticed it was already taken. "Hey, dudes! This table is ours." Peter said. "Huh? Where is it written that only one room gets to use a table?" The guy that looked like the leader of the group who turned out to be Sebastian replied. "What the heck is your problem Sebastian?" Vynn said. "Oh look, the weakest of the group has the guts to talk to me like that." Sebastian said. "If you know what''s best for you, I will advise you to keep your mouth shut." Sebastian said while furrowing his brows. "Sebastian why must you be a d***k? Can''t you just move away and act mature for once?" Jake asked. "You! How dare you call me a d***k? I''m really gonna show you what I am made of now." Sebastian said standing up about to strike Jake but he was intercepted by a military staff. "No fighting in the canteen. If you got beef, settle it outside, not in here." Jim said and then he looked at Jake and his group. "I would suggest you look for somewhere else to sit." "Sure. Thank you sir." Kate said quickly, pushing her group to another table. After getting their food, they dug in quietly and there were no more run-ins with Sebastian''s group. After a few minutes, they were finally ready for their homeroom ss. The lecture was still a little boring for Jake and he didn''t really pay attention because he was thinking about how he would handle Sebastian and his supposed brother who was in the upper ss. Jake was still thinking when something instructor Thompson said caught his attention. "So ss, as first years, you need to gain experience by battling beasts and so you could also craft your weapon from the beast crystals." Thompson said. "So next week, you will all make use of Portals to go to the beasts world in order to hunt for a week." "Hunt? Isn''t it dangerous for us that don''t even have any experience in fighting?" A student asked. "The academy knows, that''s why we are taking precautions." Thompson said. "You will only hunt basic tier beasts and also two sergeants will be with you so as to protect you guys In Case you encounter a beast of a higher tier." Beasts were ssified into 5 categories or tiers. Basic tiers (lowest and weakest beasts possible) Intermediate tier(they can deal damage) Advanced tier King tier Legendary (the highest tier of beast possible and stronger too) Hearing that there will be two sergeants protecting them, the students'' hearts fell at ease. "Alright, you will all be needed to form a group of 7 members. I want the list of all the members of the groups before next week." Thompson said. With the information all said and done, Thompson ended the homeroom ss meanwhile the students decided to attend theirbat ss. After a few minutes of walking, they finally got to the training grounds and started preparing for their daily physical exercise. After a few hours of physical training, they rested before sparring with each other. After sparring for an hour, Lee stood in front of them to say something.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "I''m d to know that you guys have perfected ''The Triple Threat'' technique properly." Lee said. "So we are moving onto the next technique but this one is actually a practice of different types of kicks. For three days straight, we will practise one kick then we move to another." Lee paused to gauge the students'' expression. Some of them had smiling faces about the prospect of learning a new skill. Even Jake was grinning so hard that it felt quite creepy to look at. "So today, we will practise the axe kick." Lee said getting in position to demonstrate the kick to them. "Pay attention carefully, for I will only demonstrate this kick twice." Before Lee demonstrated the skill, he called out Jack so he could demonstrate how the kick looks when fighting against an enemy. After making sure Jack was ready, Lee proceeded to demonstrate. Lee got into a stance and lifted his leg high, adopting a stance with his knee bent at a 90-degree angle. He bnced his foot, keeping it flexible, before unleashing a powerful axe kick. His heel sliced through the air, aiming for Jack''s head with precision and force. The kick''s trajectory resembled an axe''s downward swing. Jack felt the wind force closing in on his head. He could feel how powerful and strong the kick was gonna be if it connected with his head. But before it could connect, Lee reduced the speed of his leg and told Jack to go back to the ss. "So you see, how powerful the kick is. If it had connected with Jack''s head, it would have been terribly bad except if he was using Qi to protect himself that is." Lee said. "Qi?" Jake thought confused but before he could ask, Vynn quickly asked the question. "Sir, what is Qi?" Vynn asked, "Because I don''t think I have heard of it before." "Qi, is our superpower but you will be taught all that when you are in your second year. For now, focus on your first year." Lee said and then he gave the ss thirty minutes to practise the Axe kick before he could dismiss the ss. The students all eagerly practised the kick meanwhile Jake was stumped about the mention of this mysterious thing called ''Qi''. "Zee, do you know anything about this thing called ''Qi''?" Jake asked. "No. I have no record of anything called Qi." Zee answered. "But it''s a good thing, if what he said Is true about the Qi being this world''s ability then it will really aid you in getting stronger." "Yeah. I can''t wait for me to get into the second year then." Jake said while practising the kick until the time was up for the ss to be dismissed. And then, it was time for weapons ss. Chapter 27: Weapons Hall The next andst ss of the day was Weapons mastery. And Jake couldn''t help but feel excited the more he approached the building that''s going to serve as the weapons ss. He was currently walking alongside Jack and Sophia. They were all quite because they didn''t have much inmon and they never talked to each other. Meanwhile Jake was so bored out of his mind walking with the other two. He usually walked with Peter and Vynn and normally they were both talkatives so walking these two, felt different. After 20 minutes of walking, they finally got to the building that was the weapons building. The weapons hall was detached from the main school building and off to the side in its own separate building. It was a singlerge-room building that had a Japanese pce style feeling to it. To enter the building, students needed to scan their watch into the scanner ced on the side of the door and then the tworge doors will slide open. This is to ensure that students really chose the weapons hall and not just toe watch and then switch sster on.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Although the outside of the building gave off an eastern feeling, the inside waspletely different. It was arge room with vast, opulent space. Where the ceiling was about twenty metres high. The room had no decorations apart from the mountains and mountains of different types of swords lined up on the walls in front of the ss. And in front of the room, was a round raised tform. In front of the room, was a man who had brown flowing hair and was in a sitting position with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. The man was wearing ck leather armour and had a very long de by his side. But the hilt of the de was jagged and rough and the back of the de the same. It looked like it had been forged from an animal that wasn''t on this. The man remained silent with his eyes closed and Jake could only assume that the man was the teacher. Jake kept on looking at the man intently, searching his memory bank of where he had seen the man earlier because the man''s face looked very familiar but he couldn''t remember where he had seen him. After trying so hard, Jake gave up searching his memory bank. And then slowly, the room was bing filled with students. Jake, Sophia and Jack were almost close to the front of the room. After the room filled up and no more students wereing in, the man stood up therefore stopping any form of chattering from the students. The room was filled up with at least fourty students. "ATTENTION!" The teacher shouted. "My name is Von, and I will be your teacher for this ss every weekdays." Von said. The students were all quiet listening to what the teacher was saying. "If you are here, it means that you want to learn the art of swordsmanship in order to defeat your foe, our foe. The werewolves. So I will implore you all to pay rapt attention in this ss." Von said. "So first of, before we start, I need all of you to go there and pick the type of sword you will use from now on and try to get the feel and weight of the weapon because your weapon will be your life line on the battlefield." Immediately Von finished talking, the students all rushed towards the weapons lined on the wall to pick their own type of sword. Jake just kept looking at all the des and didn''t know which one to pick. That''s when he decided to use one of his skills to make his decision easier. Jake kept using the inspect skill on all the weapons and it was bringing out some information about them. "Huh?! This skill worked better than I imagined. This is good, it also tells me if it is suitable orpatible with me. Now my decision has be easier." Jake thought excitedly quicky moving onto the next weapon. Jake kept looking at all the swords not seeing one that was suitable for him. But he noticed one thing inmon that the swords all have and that was that the weapons were all made from a basic tier beasts; the lowest tier of all beasts. After a few minutes of intense searching and using of his Inspect skill rapidly, he finally found the sword that waspatible and suitable to him. "Huh!?! That is quite a surprise." Jake said. "I can''t believe the skill finally found a suitable weapon. I was beginning to feel like I won''t be able to find any suitable sword today. The de was 60-73cm long. It had a curved, single-edged and slender de with a ck hilt and also a type of scaly pattern on it. It looked perfect for Jake. Immediately Jake said that, he heard a ding in his head. Pulling up the system, he was surprised for what he could see. "Woah! I never expected for the skill to level up like that." Jake thought while grinning. "I think the repeated use of the skill, is what made it level up. Anyway that''s good. Now let''s see what this new skill can do." "Well that is quite good. Anyway let''s see what this weapon can do." When all the students were done picking their weapons, they all stood in front of Von waiting for him to give further instructions. "So from now on, you will all be using your chosen weapons to train and spar with each other. Since I''m a master swordsman. Well not to brag, I will be training you all. No matter the type of sword you chose, I can still teach you." Von said. Meanwhile Jake was now standing beside Jack and Sophia and they also were with their swords. Sophia was holding a Scimitar; a type of sword that was 60 cm In length with a curved, single-edged and tapered with an ornate hilt. While Jack was holding a Tachi; a sword that was 70cm in length with a longer, curved and single-edged worn with the de facing down. The weapon looked good on them, after admiring each other weapons, they turned to face Von in order to listen to what he was saying. "Mind you, you are not to keep the weapon. It is the weapons hall''s property except when given permission to keep can you keep your sword. You can only keep a sword that was crafted by the beast crystals you hunted." Von said. "Now without further ado, let''s start training. Shall we." Chapter 28: Mastery and Mystery The entire ss was captivated by Von, who stood before them, excitement radiating from the whole students very being. The weapons ss was about tomence, and Von began by exining the technique he was about to teach them. "Today, we''ll be learning a fundamental skill essential for mastering more advanced sword techniques. This skill is called the Primary Guard." Von demonstrated the stance, standing with his feet shoulder-width apart, his dominant foot forward. He held his sword in front of him, the de angled downward at 20-30 degrees. The tip of the sword pointed toward his opponent''s chest or shoulder at a 45-degree angle. Von''s knees were slightly bent, his weight evenly distributed between both legs. His back was straight, shoulders rxed, and head held high. With a firm yet controlled grip, he grasped the sword with his dominant hand. In a sh of movement, Von swung his sword with inhuman speed, unleashing a strike so swift it seemed almost invisible. The ss watched in awe, eager to learn this powerful technique. With the swift demonstration over, Von had to demonstrate the skill again but this time, a little bit slower so the whole ss could see the steps. They were to practice this skill on the dummies that were at the back of the ss. The dummies were made from a material that was harder than diamond so it won''t break easily. The dummies now were in the middle of the room, with all the students taking one dummy each to practice with. Von went around the room to see how all the students wereing with the skill. While walking around, Von was impressed by the number of talents in his ss. Some of the kids were sloppy at first and then slowly, they were getting the hang of the skill especially Jake who was part of the first people to get the skill right on the third try. Jake couldn''t hide the excitement on his face because he was worried that it might take longer to learn the skill just like when he was practicing ''The Triple Threat'' technique but now, he learnt this skill perfectly. After an hour of more practice, Von dismissed the ss saying that the students will practice the skill for three days straight before they moved onto the next skill. It was already evening when Jake, Sophia and Jack left the weapons hall for their dorm. Jake couldn''t hide the excitement on his face after he learnt the skill. "I can''t wait to boast in front of the rest about how awesome our ss was." Jake said excitedly. "C''mon, will you calm down? Just because you learnt one skill, you won''t let the rest of us rest." Sophia said. "Just because you don''t know how to use the skill, it doesn''t mean that you will ruin our happiness." Jake said smiling. "Who said I don''t know the skill? Do you want me to demonstrate it on you instead of a dummy?" Sophia said. "I would love to see you try. Without a sword that is." Jake said chuckling. "You annoying brat!" Sophia shouted about to hit Jake. "Hey! Will you guys just cool it down and stop fighting." Jack said trying to defuse the situation. "You guys are just behaving like a bunch of toddlers and am the babysitter." "She''s the one behaving like a toddler not me." Jake said. To which Sophia red at him while gritting her teeth back and forth trying to hold herself back. And just then, they finally got to their dorm. Jack heaved a sigh of relief after seeing his dorm room. "Finally. Now I won''t have to bear you guys bickering anymore." Jack hurriedly opened the door and he saw that the rest of the room where in dorm chatting excitedly probably about their weapon ss. Jack went to his bed and jumped on it tiredly. "Hey, Jake what''s up? How was your ss?" Peter said. "Is it only Jake that you gonna ask that question?" Sophia said ring at Peter. "Well Jake isn''t as rude and cold as you. So yes, he''s the one I''m gonna ask that question." Peter said smiling sheepishly at Sophia. "You guys are so annoying." Sophia said whileying on her bed. "Thanks for thepliment." Peter said smiling. "It''s not apliment you moron." Sophia said. "Will you guys just stop it? You''re not toddlers anymore." Kate said. "Thank you. That was what I said earlier with Jake and Sophia." Jack said. "So how was your weapon ss?" Kate asked. "Well, it was okay. The teacher was good at exining and demonstration and he''s truly powerful and skillful." Jake said. "Did you guys learn any new skill?" Peter asked. "Yeah, and I was among the people that got it right on the first three times." Jake said excitedly. "Big deal." Sophiamented. "Didn''t you get the skill right?" Kate asked turning to Sophia. "I did. But not on the first few times. It took a bit of time before I got it right." Sophia said looking downwards at the ground.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Well it doesn''t matter because I also didn''t get the archery skill taught to us today in ss but I did kinda have some fun. The instructor, she''s very nice and lovely." Kate said. "Female!?" Peter asked. "Yup. Actually, our ss was filled with females no single male." Kate said. "Females! Now I''m really jealous of your ss and wish I could transfer over because my own ss is the opposite of yours. Rather than all female ss, it was filled with males. No single female." Peter said looking dejectedly. "Will you stop trying hard to get a girlfriend? You are good looking enough to get girls chasing after you. But you are trying hard. Girls loves guys that don''t make it obvious that they love them." Kate said while looking towards Jake who was oblivious. After a few more hours of describing their ss, how they enjoyed it and the different type of skills they learned and were taught, they finally went to sleep when it was 10pm. Meanwhile, in the academy''s staff office, a staff could be seen going through theputer in search of different things. "How am I meant to find the kid with the orb?" Jim thought. "I was not even given a clear description, I don''t know who he is and what he looks like so how am I meant to find him. I was only told that he wore an academy uniform." Jim sighed and continued looking through theputer. "No matter what, I will find you kid. I won''t disappoint my leader." Chapter 29: Seventh Teammate The next day, Jake went to the gym as usual toplete his daily quest. This time, he didn''t run into Cindy again which somewhat saddened his heart because he was looking forward to talking to her today. But he continued his training as usual and after the training, he decided to check his status screen to track his progress. ************************** Jake sighed and proceeded toin."At this rate, it''s gonna take sometime before I level up. I can''t help but imagine how it will be like the higher I level up because the XP bar will just keep on increasing therefore making it harder to level up. I need more quests." Not getting any response from the system and Zee, Jake decided to head off to his dorm room to bath. After bathing, the whole room went to take their breakfast before heading off to their homeroom ss for the lesson. During the ss, Thompson kept on updating them about the world''s current status. And before he ended the ss, Thompson had something to say. "Some students have started submitting their team. I need the list of all teams before this week is over." Thompson said then he left the ss therefore dismissing the ss. "Oh man, I totally forgot about the formation of teams for the beast hunt." Peter said. They had an hour of break before they had to head off for theirbat training ss so they gathered around Jake, Peter and Vynn''s table to discuss. "So we are all going to form a team with the six of us right since we know each other right?" Vynn asked. "Yes of course. But who is going to be our seventh member. We all heard Thompson, he said that we need seven members." Kate said. "Now what are we going to do?" Sophia asked. "Hey guys! I heard you need a seventh member. Do you mind if I join up with you guys." A silver haired beauty wasing over towards their table. "Cindy?!" Jake said surprised. "You know her?" Kate asked with her eyes looking like a me was burning in it. "Yes, I do." Jake said. "What are you doing here?" "Do you like to ask silly questions? I heard that you needed a seventh member and so here I am. Do you have any problems?" Cindy asked with a raised eyebrow. "No it''s just.." Jake wanted to say but he was quickly interrupted by Peter. "Yes, you can join our team. You are very wee." Peter said while blushing like a girl. "Hey! You don''t get to make the decision for us like that." Jack said. "Right guys?" "Well am okay with her joining." Sophia said shrugging. "Me too." Vynn added. "Me three." Peter said still smiling. "Same here." Jake said. "Well I am against her joining." Kate said while ring at Cindy. "Well majority carries the vote." Peter said. "The majority of us have agreed. So you''re wee Cindy." "Thank you guys." Cindy smiled. "Hold on." Peter said. "You mentioned earlier that you and Jake knew each other. How did you guys know each other?" "Well we met in the gym yesterday in the early hours of the day." Cindy answered. "In the gym huh?" Kate asked now furiously ring at Cindy. "Were you guys alone?" "Uhmm, yes we were. Any problem?" Cindy asked. "Ohh no no." Kate said furiously shaking her head. "So do you mind introducing yourself better so we could know a little bit more detail about you." Vynn said. "Sure. My name is Cindy rk and am currently ranked number 15 on the school''sbat rankings." Cindy answered. "15! That means you must be strong." Peter said impressed. "Strong? I guess so." Cindy shrugged. "So can I also know you guys better?" *sure. My name Is Peter Chuck and I''m currently ranked number 2." Peter quickly boasted. The others just pped their foreheads loud because of the way Peter was behaving. "My name is Jack Dem, ranked number 1." Jack said. "Woah! You''re number 1?" Cindy asked excitedly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Yeah." Jack said. "Wow! Can''t believe I''m in a team with strong individuals." Cindy said. "My name is Vynn muscat, I''m ranked number 200." Vynn said while avoiding Cindy''s gaze because he didn''t know what she will think of him. "My name is Kate ke, number 35." Kate said. "My name is Sophia Josh, currently ranked number 3." Sophia said. "Woah! Josh? As In one of the Big three?" Cindy said excitedly. "What?!" The whole other roommates shouted at once. "How.. how did you know that?" Sophia asked with a stunned expression. "My father works for the Josh''s, so I know a little bit about the big three families." Cindy responded smiling sheepishly. "So your family is part of the big three? Why didn''t you tell us earlier?" Jake asked stunned. "Because it wasn''t important then and it isn''t now. I came to the academy to pave my own path not to use my families influence to get everything I want." Sophia said. "Wow! I didn''t imagine that your dad will work for one of the big three. Do you know more about them? I mean do you have any information about the other big three?" Jake asked curiously. "I''m sorry, I can''t tell you. I only told you about Sophia because I thought she must have told you guys." Cindy said. "It''s okay. If it is meant to be kept a secret then it''s ok." Peter said. "Anyway back to the introductions." "My name is Jake Lucas and am currently ranked number.." "20" Cindy said. "I know, we were all there when you battled Sebastian." As they finished discussing their team formation, and sharing of information, Jack nced at his wrist watch and said. "It''s time for ourbat ss, shall we go?" The others nodded, gathering their belongings and filing out of the ssroom. With their minds still buzzing from the team discussion, they made their way to thebat training grounds, eager to learn more skills. Chapter 30: Remember My name Immediately they left the ss, they made their way to the training grounds for theirbat training. After the usual physical training and sparring with each other, they continued practicing the axe kick and thankfully, Jake got the kick right. He was so excited. Looking around, he saw that majority of the students managed to get the kick right. Seeing that most of the students got the skill right, Lee was happy and he was even smiling which was a rarety to see. "Okay." Lee said pping his hands to get the students attention. "I''m d to know that majority of you managed to get the skill right. So I want to announce, after tomorrow''s physical training, you will all spar with each other officially by only using the skills I have thought you so you can know how it feels when you use it in battle." "ss is dismissed for today, I want you guys to prepare for your duels tomorrow. After that, we will move onto the next type of kick the day after." Lee said dismissing the ss. After Lee dissmed the ss, Jake, Sophia and Jack decided to head off for their weapons ss. But this time, Cindy tagged along. On the way there, Cindy noticed how boring the group were, no discussion or anything. This Caused Cindy to be bored out of her mind. "Oh for heavens sake!" Cindy said. "What? What happened?" Jack asked. "You guys are so boring and quiet and it is really boring and making our walk seem longer." Cindy said. "Trust me, you don''t want to hear us talking. It can turn pretty argumentative." Jack said. "I will appreciate it. Anything but this quietness. It is truly annoying." Cindy said. "Don''t worry. You gonna get used to it soon." Jack said. After thirty minutes more of walking, they finally get to the swords hall. As usual, Von was sitting in front of the ss with his legs crossed and in a meditative position. Jake and the rest took their positions in front of the ss awaiting the start of the ss. After thirty minutes of waiting, the ss was now filled up with eager students. When the ss was filled, Von stood up and beginned the ss. "You can all go ahead and pick up your swords from the wall." Von said. To which all the students rush at once to pick the sword they used the previous day. After the students were done picking their swords, they went back to their positions awaiting further instructions from Von. "You can now pick your dummy and start practicing The Primary Guard." Von said. And the students picked their dummies, started practicing away for an hour straight no rest. After practicing for two hours now, Von dismissed the ss. After leaving the sword ss, Jake decided to head off to the VR room since there was still time before curfew. Curfew was at 10pm and the time was currently 7pm so Jake decided to head to the VR room to y a few matches. And he decided to inform his friends. "You really wanna go to the VR room by this time? Isn''t it toote?" Sophia asked. "Don''t worry, I will be back before curfew." Jake said. "Alright then, just don''t bete and keep off from trouble." Sophia said. "Don''t worry, I will be fine." Jake reassured. "Awwn, so sweet. You guys are so sweet." Cindy couldn''t help butment while Jake headed off. After splitting up from Jack and the rest, Jake finally got to the VR gaming room. He payed for 2 hours which cost 60 credits and then he hopped into the pod ready to y. Jake decided to split his time Into two as usual. The first hour was for ying against werewolves while the remainingst hour was to y against humans. With that settled, Jake quickly selected the y against werewolves option and started his game. Unknown to Jake, immediately he logged in, three humans who were spectating his match the previous time, were notified because they were interested in Jake. When Jake started his match, the humans were already in the stands spectating his match. "Do you think he can win against the werewolf?" One of the spectators asked the other. "I''m not sure, I have only seen him fight against humans earlier." The second person replied. "Well that means you people haven''t done your research properly. Because I have searched up his previous matches and I saw him battle against werewolves. Although he struggled a bit so I don''t know if he has improved or not." The third person replied. Jake battled against the werewolf so skillfully, he used all the skills he learnt during the week. Although he struggled at times, he managed to pull a win. Meanwhile the second fight he had with another werewolf, it ended in a bitter defeat when he wanted to use a skill but he got the timing wrong thereby resulting in his loss. After an hour of battling werewolves, Jake decided to get a little bit of rest before challenging humans. Although he wasn''t battling with his physical body, he was quite mentally drained. When Jake was about to rest, that was when he noticed the humans in the spectating stands. "Huh? What are they doing here? And who are they?" Jake thought. "Maybe they are your fans or something." Zee said chuckling meanwhile Jake just shrugged and decided to go for his next match. Selecting his match, Jake was matched up with a bronze yer at first. The match was a quick one between Jake and his opponent. Ending in his victory. Meanwhile Jake was quite disappointed. But he decided to suck it up and yed another match but he was just matched up with bronze yers all through the time. "Damn! I came here to probably learn something new or find someone worthy enough to push me to my limit but I''m here matched up with newbies." Jakeined. "At this rate, my time will be up and I haven''t learnt or seen anyone worthy to push me to my limits. If only I could be matched up with that fisherman dude." As if the universe heard Jake, his next andst match of the day was between him and the fisherman yer. "Finally apetition." Jake said excitedly. "Woah! Wolf hunter is being matched with Shark fighter." One of the spectators said. "Huh?" One of the earlier spectator thought and then he turned around to see 5 more yers and he recognized each and every one of them because they were the Bronze yers who Jake battled against. "Probably they also became fans of Wolf hunter after their matches." The match between Jake and Shark fighter was already starting. When the timer hit 0, Jake didn''t rush in, he waited and decided to watch his opponents next move. "Wise decision." Zee said. "I won''t lose to you again." Jake said to the Shark fighter. "Huh? Lose to me? Do I even know you?" The Shark fighter said. "Are you kidding me? You don''t remember me?" Jake asked. "No I don''t. And if I don''t remember you, it means that you are too weak to be remembered and I only remember the strong." Shark fighter said smiling. To which Jake just smiled and looked at him. "Then I just have to show you how strong I am." Jake wasted no time in dashing towards the shark fighter with full speed he threw a punch with his free hand that wasn''t holding onto his sword. The shark fighter ducked therefore avoiding the blow then he punched Jake in his stomach so hard that Jake stumbled back and held his stomach for he was feeling the pain. But his high Endurance was helping him currently, so he got over the pain quickly then Jake ran forward again and shed his opponent with his sword but his opponent blocked the strike with his fish pole and then gave Jake a kick in his stomach therefore pushing Jake back a bit. "Is it just me or is the wolf hunter losing?" Someone in the stands asked. "I think he is." Someone else said. "He battled against werewolves, winning his fight again and again and now he can''t even beat a silver ranked yer." Someone else said. "Aren''t they supposed to be in the same rank?" Someone else asked. "I think you don''t know who the shark fighter is." Someone replied. "Who is he? I just know he''s a silver ranked yer that is winning the fight with the wolf hunter." The person said. Then the spectatorughed. "Then that means you don''t know who he is." "The Shark fighter is currently the strongest silver yer. But he is still weak because no matter what he does, he can''t move onto the next rank." "That means Wolf hunter doesn''t stand a chance." Someone said.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Apparently he doesn''t, didn''t you hear him say he lost to Shark fighter before." "And you missed something he also said which was he fought with him when the wolf hunter was a bronze yer." One of the earlier and original spectatormented. "Any how it is, let''s just watch what''s going to happen." Someone else said. Meanwhile back at the match, after being pushed back, Jake didn''t give up. He dashed at the shark fighter then he used the new sword skill he had been practicing at the academy ''The Primary Guard''. And the attacknded perfectly therefore shing the shark fighter on his shoulder causing a deep wound and then Jake used ''The Triple Threat'' technique to get behind his opponent quickly and struck him at his back causing anotherrge and open wound on the shark fighter''s back. Not letting up, Jake moved back to create distance again and he activated two of his skills at once while using ''The Triple Threat'' technique again to move forward. Jake activated And then he quickly activated attacking the Shark fighter rapidly for two seconds. The shark fighter couldn''t even defend, he was just being attacked in several ces for two seconds and then finally, the two seconds was up and Jake moved back again to observe his opponent. The shark fighter was now a bloody mess with injuries riddled on his body from head to toe. He couldn''t stand properly, his feet were wobbly. Satisfied with this, Jake smiled. "Now remember my name." Jake said dashing forward with full speed and then he shed the shark fighter''s neck. "Wolf hunter" And then the gaming system congratted Jake on his victory and also announced his moving on to the next rank in the game, (Gold) satisfied with this, Jake logged off. Chapter 31: A Lesson After logging off, Jake quickly rushed off to his dorm before it was curfew time. Meanwhile at the same time that Jake got to his building, a secret meeting was going on in the second year building. "C''mon brother, it has been so many days and you haven''t done anything yet." Sebastian said. "You are so impatient. You have waited for some days now right? Then wait for a few more hours then I will help you get revenge. Just be patient." Harry said. And then Sebastian left the second building for his dorm because of the curfew. The next day, Jake woke up feeling good for defeating the shark fighter and then he got out of bed for his daily quest as usual. After his quest, he pulled up his status screen. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om After checking his status screen, Jake headed off to his room for a bath. After a few hours, the whole room except Peter and Jack went to take their breakfast. When they were done with their breakfast, they headed to their homeroom ss as usual without Peter but when they got to the entrance of their homeroom ss, them and several other students were stopped. The people stopping them, were second-year students and they had asked all the students to gather at the assembly hall. "What the heck is going on?" Kate asked. "I have no idea." Jake answered. "But I think it will be best for us toply with whatever they asked us to do." Of course, the second-year were powerful and the first-year students had no choice but to agree. Even the higher level and rank, had agreed toply afraid something might happen. All of the hundred and fifty first-year students had gathered in the assembly hall, around them was not a single teacher but just several second-year students. Up on the stage, the curtains were drawn and in front of it stood Harry. "What the hell is going on now?" Jake asked quietly. "And who the heck is that?" That was when Jake noticed that Vynn was shaking, no, more like he was trembling in fear after seeing who was on stage. It wasn''t only Jake that noticed it, Sophia and Kate also noticed it. "Vynn, what is the matter? Why are you trembling?" Kate asked looking concerned. "No no no no. This is bad." Vynn said shaking his head. "What happened? What is going on? Why are you suddenly afraid of who came on stage?" Sophia asked. "That.. Don''t you know who is that?" Vynn asked his lips quivering in fear. Suddenly, a realization dawned on Jake. "Vynn, is- is he Sebastian''s elder brother?" To which Vynn nodded answering Jake''s question. Sophia and Kate were both shocked and a little bit afraid but they decided to listen to what Harry had to say. "Wee every single one of you." Harry said. "Today we have a very special event, a special message to all you first years. You see, there has been someone who decided to go against us and also to mess with us and am here to tell you that this is what happens when you mess with us or our family." Harry pulled down on a piece of string and the curtains on the stage opened up, as the curtains moved away slowly, it started to reveal a student who had been tied up and ced on arge piece of wood. The student was bloody and had markings of being beaten everywhere. "Peter?!" Jake said. Just then several of the second-year students pulled out carts that seemed to be filled withrge ck circr stones. Harry picked up one of the round balls and held it in his hand. "This here is a metal ball that has been embedded with the power of a beast crystal." Said Harry. "When the earth had found beasts and their crystals, and a way to forge equipments with beast crystals, that was what gave us edge against the werewolves. But what they don''t teach you as first years, is that the crystals or weapons need to be activated. And it can only be activated by something all of us humans have which is Qi. Once activated, they can give out extra power." Jake watching the whole thing couldn''t help but look at the badly beaten up Peter. He was wondering how on earth Harry could stand there and talk so casually as if he was giving a presentation to the whole ss. "So us second years have decided to give you first year students free lesson and a short cut. Today we will show you how to activate beast crystals by using these metal balls." That was when a first year student raised his hand to ask a question. "Uhmm, does any of the teachers know about this?" For a moment, there was silence in the hall, even the first years couldn''t believe that someone could ask such a question in this type of situation. It was obvious even to the dumbest of person that this was done behind the teachers backs. Then a second year student hade from the side of the assembly hall and immediately punched the student who asked the question in the face. The second-year student repeatedly punched the person until he eventually passed out. "Any more questions?" Harry asked. The first year students stood in silence afraid of the second-years. They didn''t want to say anything or ask any questions after they saw what happened to the boy who asked a question earlier. "Good." Harry, said before continuing. Now to exin, these beast stones here were made with the purpose to help you activate your equipment so, to be honest, they are quite useless but they are very useful for demonstration. Now in order to activate this balls, you just have to focus your Qi into it and it will activate. Even the tiniest bit of Qi when focused into the ball, it will activate." Just when Harry finished saying that, the ball he held in his hand started glowing a bright yellow colour. "Normally, your weapons won''t change colour but as I said, these balls are just for the sake of helping you learn how to activate weapons. Once the colour has changed, that means it has been sessfully activated and its strength has increased. Now today we will be practising target hitting." Harry said. ''Now let''s see how he feels when someone he cares about gets hurt badly and he can''t do anything about it.'' Harry thought while smiling. ''This is wonderful! He is going to feel powerless against what is happening and if he tries anything funny, he''s going to be beaten in front of everyone.'' Sebastian thought. Meanwhile, the second-year students wheeled the board that Peter was tied on from the stage onto the floor where the first-year students where. "This board here, is very special in the sense that even a bullet can''t prate it. That is how tough and hard the board is. Only the power of beast weapons or Qi can damage the board. So hence today''s lesson is to throw and hit the target. Simple right?." After finishing his speech, the remaining second-year students poured out the crates that were filled with beast stones on the floor. There were more than enough stones there for each students to pick and throw at Peter. "So for this lesson, you have to get 50 points to pass otherwise, I don''t know what will happen." Harry smiled. "The stomach area of this student, worth 50 points while the area a little bit to his arm side is worth 30 points and the outer area is worth 20 points each and you only have two throws. So who''s going to go first?" The first-year students were all hesitating to do it and no one wanted to step forward except one who managed to step forward. "I am gonna do it." Sophia said stepping forward smiling. "I have been looking for a chance to hit him just once and now I got it so I''m not gonna turn it down." Harry was initially shocked because ording to his Intel, Sophia was friends with Peter so why was she going to hit her friend. "Great." Harry said snapping out of his surprise. "It''s a good thing there''s a volunteer. So you need to pick one of the balls and throw." Sophia bent down, picked up a ball and focused hard and then the ball started glowing a bright yellow colour just like when Harry held the ball. And then she aimed at Peter then she flung the ball hard and it hit the the 30 point side, then she picked up another ball and threw it again hitting one of the 20 point area therefore earning her 50 points. "See, we can avoid hitting him by hitting the other areas." Sophia shouted towards the first-years. Then one students also went ahead to hit the target like how Sophia did but he missed his target therefore earning him a severe beating by the second-years therefore rendering him unconscious. Seeing this, the students all decided toply with the second-year students wishes by hitting Peter with the ball causing Jake''s blood to boil the more Peter was being hit. And then finally Jake decided to do something. "Hey! Let me go next." Jake said smiling while picking up one of the balls. Chapter 32: Fight with someone in your league When Jake stepped out to throw the ball, the whole room were shocked especially Harry and the second-years. Meanwhile Peter who was half unconscious earlier woke up fully and he was surprised by Jake stepping forward. Jake caught Peter''s gaze, he didn''t need to hear the words to know what his friend was thinking. "You fool! What are you doing? Get back now!" Peter thought in his mind. But Jake''s smile was all he could give. "Don''t worry, everything is going to be okay. I''m doing this for you friend." Jake thought smiling. Then Jake held the ball tightly and focused trying to activate the stone and then he felt a warm energy flowing from him towards the ball and then the ball glowed that it almost illuminated the room. "Impossible!" Harry eximed. "How can a first-year who doesn''t have any training in Qi activate the ball to its full potential?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Jake unaware what this meant, scanned the room properly for what he was about to do next. There were two second-years on either side of the board Peter was tied on and there were also two second-years blocking the entrance. While eight second-years surrounded the whole first-years and finally Harry and two more second years by his side. Making it 15 second-years in total including Harry. Jake smiled, then he aimed the ball at Peter and waited for the right moment then he swung the ball with full strength and speed that in less than a second, it connected with the board therefore resulting in a loud bang and a hole in the board. Harry and the other second-years mouths were all left hanging by what they saw while Jake just smiled and bent down to pick another ball and he focused again making it glow bright yellow and he swung it again but this time not with his full strength and it wasn''t aimed at Peter instead it was aimed at one of the second-years who stood by Peter''s side. The ball connected with the second-year''s stomach making him curl forward while clenching his stomach in pain. Snapping out of their earlier daze, Harry was now furious. "Attack them!" Harry shouted and immediately the whole room turned chaotic. The second-years were all attacking the first-years while one of the second year standing beside Harry earlier charged right at Jake to deal with him. Jake waited for the student to get close. When the student got to Jake''s position he swung his wooden sword very fast but Jake quickly blocked with his de but unfortunately, Jake''s de broke. "Shit! How did my de break? Isn''t it the same materials our de were made from?" Jake thought worriedly. Without any weapon on him, it proved difficult to even attack back. All Jake could do was dodge and avoid the second-year''s strikes but Jake couldn''t dodge forever. He was getting hit in different ces causing cuts on his body. Luckily, they were not in anywhere fatal as Jake did a good job protecting his vitals. Meanwhile the remaining first-years weren''t fairing well against the second-years. Only the higher level of the first-years were able to hold them off until they started using Qi therefore tipping the fight into the second-years favor. "Damn! This guys are too strong. Even me, an unable to do anything against them." Sophia thought while trying to punch a second-year but he dodged it while the second-year kicked her hard in her stomach causing spit and blood toe out of her mouth. Meanwhile Vynn wasn''t doing any good at all. He was unable to do anything against his own opponent, he was getting hit over and over until Kate came over to assist him and then with the two of them, they managed to knock their opponent down quickly moving onto the next opponent. Peter who was tied up, seeing his friends fighting like that, made him feel sad that he was unable to help. If only he wasn''t tied up. Meanwhile, Jake was still having a hard time against his opponent and there was nothing he could do until Zee spoke up. "Jake! Use your system. They have skills or abilities you don''t have and so do you. Use them." Heeding to Zee''s advice, Jake quickly activated his system and activated one of his skills and and he immediately started gaining the upper hand in the fight. Jake started using all the skills he was taught in the academy including the newly learnt Axe kick. He was injuring his opponent badly and then finallybining his and , Jake delivered a strong punch to his opponent guts that managed to render him unconscious. Jake was now panting hard with his hand on his knees panting due to tiredness and then he saw a shadow in front of him and immediately, a punchnded on Jake''s face sending him flying back into the fighting students. "Crap! Who the hell punched me that hard?" Jake angrily said while standing up but he was feeling quite dizzy. "Darn it! That person''s fist really packed a punch." Jake said while staggering his way back to where he was earlier hit to see who hit him. Standing there with an angry expression on his face, was Harry. "Oh! So the big bad wolf decided to join in." Jake said already a few feet away from Harry. Without wasting time, Harry charged at Jake and threw a punch towards his face with a speed that looked inhumane meanwhile Jake barely avoided the hit. Then Jake threw a hook towards Harry''s stomach that barely made him flinch. And then Harry quickly repositioned himself and released a furry of kicks on Jake that Jake was unable to avoid, block or dodge. Therefore leaving Jake helpless, finally, Harry decided to give Jake a breathing space to see how he was holding up. And Harry was surprised to see that Jake was still standing and not unconscious. "Hmm, you must be really strong or you have a good endurance but too bad you''re going against me." Harry said. To which Jake just spat. "You know, that was the same thing Sebastian said to me before I defeated him. I think history is gonna repeat itself again." Harry furiously charged right Jake again with full speed andunched a punch towards Jake but he avoided it by using ''The Triple Threat'' technique and getting behind Sebastian then he quickly activated therefore raining countless sessful hits on Harry for two seconds straight until the time for ''Frenzy Strike'' was up. Then Jake moved back a bit to create a bit of space between him and Harry by using ''The Triple Threat'' technique but he was shocked by what he could see when he looked up at Harry. The reason for Jake''s shock was that Harry waspletely okay not even a scratch was on him. It appeared like as if he wasn''t even hit. "I can''t believe that this thing called ''Qi'' could be useful." Jake thought. Harry justughed out loud seeing Jake''s facial expression. "Are you shocked? Hahahaha. Too bad you can''t do anything against me because, I''m out of your league." Harry said then he ran towards Jake to Strike him, Jake tried moving away but his legs were refusing to budge. "Huh! What''s going on? Why can''t I move?" Jake asked. "I think, it''s because you have used ''The Triple Threat'' technique multiple times so it affected your stamina." Zee said. "Shit shit shit! I''m gonna be hit if I don''t move away soon. What do I do?" Jake asked but it was toote for Harry was upon him with a punch towards Jake''s face. Which caused Jake to instinctively close his eyes awaiting the hit. But then Jake heard a shout. "If he''s out of your league, then fight with someone who''s in your league." The voice said while stopping Harry''s fistpletely in its track effortlessly. Chapter 33: The Mysterious Saviour Jake braced himself for the hit, his eyes shutting instinctively. But then¡­ nothing happened. That was when a voice rang out across the chaos, and the world seemed to freeze. "If he''s out of your league, then you need to fight with someone in your league." Jake was astounded that someone could hold onto Harry''s fist so effortlessly as if he was holding onto a kid''s fist. Jake couldn''t see anything because the person was facing Harry with his back turned towards Jake, but Jake couldn''t help but think that the voice and stance of the person looked familiar. Then finally, the person turned to look at Jake with a smile stered on his face. "I''m sorry I camete, friend." Jake was so shocked because he truly knew the person in front of him. "Jack!!!" Jack just smiled and turned back to focus on Harry while releasing a suffocating aura and pressure. "You!! How dare you try to hurt me friends?" Harry was initially shocked by the fact that someone could hold onto his fists like that. For a second there, he thought that it was the number 1 of the second years that was here but it turns out it was just a first-year.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Who are you? And how dare you hold onto my hand like that?" Harry asked with furry written on his face. "You don''t need to know who I am. All you just need to know is that I''m the one who is gonna kick your arse." Jack said quickly twisting Harry''s hand and kicking him in the stomach so hard that itpletely knocked out all the air from Harry''s mouth. Then Jack grabbed Harry''s hair bringing his head towards him and then kneeing him in his face causing some of Harry''s teeth to go flying. Then Jack kneed Harry again and again in his face then he punched Harry hard that he went flying back a few feet. Meanwhile Jake was still on his knees watching Jack deal with Harry as if he was a first-year. Even the whole first-years and second-years stopped fighting and were now watching the fight between Harry and Jack. Snapping out of his daze, Jake remembered that it still remained one more task to bepleted. Forcing his legs to move, Jake finally got to where Peter was tied up and he started untying Peter from the board. After finishing untying him, he moved Peter and himself to the side so as not to be caught in the cross fire. Peter was so weak currently but thankfully he was conscious. "Is it just me or is Jack really matching Harry strength for strength? Or am I just hallucinating things coz of the beating." Peter asked weakly trying to sit up in order to watch the fight properly. "Well, unless we were both beaten up too badly to be hallucinating things then yes Jack is holding Harry up." Jake replied. Meanwhile after being pushed back by Jack''s punch, Harry managed to regain his footing and wiped off the blood from his face and looked at Jack with a murderous re. "Do you know who I am?" Harry asked. "Do you think I care?" Jack asked. "No matter who you are, I don''t care because you can''t do anything to me." "Then I just have to show you and your friends that you have messed with the wrong family." Harry dered. Harry then charged right at Jack with full speed and his wooden sword in his hand. When he got to Jack''s position, he shed the sword towards Jack stomach but Jack used his bare hands to stop the hit. Then Jack broke the sword Into two with only a single hand, this Caused Harry to move back in astonishment. "But how? How did you do that?" Harry asked. To which Jack justughed and quietly say. "Do you think you were the only one who knew how to use Qi?" This revtion, shocked Harry to the core. "But how.. how do you know how to use Qi?" "I don''t need to exin things to you." Jack said rushing off towards Harry to finish things off. Meanwhile Harry just stood there looking at Jacking then heughed out loud which caused Jack to stop running and observe whether there was something Harry wanted to do. "Even if you know how to use Qi, it doesn''t matter because it''s only the first stage you know. You don''t know the second stage but I do and that is what I will use to defeat you." Harry said and then immediately, he burst out into energy with a little glow shining in chest. And then finally, shards of yellow invisible energy were been formed out of thin air. "Let me show you the difference between a first-year and a second- year" Harry said standing there with an amused smile. Feeling the shards been formed, it really worried Jack for he knew what they could do even if he couldn''t see it, he could feel it. Then finally, Harry was ready and then when he was finally ready to unleash the shards, the door to the assembly hall swung open and a voice rang out. "Imand everyone to halt now!" Harry was so consumed by the feeling of revenge that he didn''t hear the voice that shouted out to him. But the remaining students in the hall heard the voice loud and clear and when they turned to see who entered, they were now feeling worried for Harry, well it was only the second-years that felt worried for him. Not hearing the shout, Harry prepared tounch the shards. Immediately, he started firing the shards quickly but then he noticed that his shards were all stopped by something invisible. Looking up, he noticed that someone was standing beside Jack now. Seeing the person, Harry trembled in fear for what they will do to him. And then immediately, the shards fell to the ground and dissipated. "What is the meaning of all this?" The voice boomed loudly and angrily at Harry. "I-I-I am sorry." Harry managed to say with shaky breath. The person standing beside Jack was a woman who had long blonde hair that went down her shoulders. On her head, she was wearing a beret and by her side, was a rapier sword that was jagged and looked to have been made from a beast stone. She had a feeling that resonated off her body, she looked like the type of person thatmanded respect and someone who shouldn''t be trifled with. The female''s name was L dallum. She was a General in the academy. "Those of you who are injured, go to the academy''s clinic to be treated immediately. While the rest of you, head to your dorms and stay inside until you are called out again. Do you understand?" L said. Most of the first year students were silent because they didn''t know who she was or anything. Seeing theck of response, L drew her rapier and immediately they all responded. "Yes miss." Peter had gone to the clinic alongside Jake to be treated. The second-year went to their own building to get treated. After being treated and healed up, Peter and Jake headed to their dorm. When they got there, they decided to talk about what they saw. "Hey, Jack, Since when were you so strong and know how to use Qi?" Peter asked. "Qi? What makes you think I used Qi?" Jack asked nervously. "Don''t lie to us. There''s no way on earth you could go toe to toe with Harry without using some sort of Qi." Kate snapped back. "I really didn''t use Qi." Jack said again firmly. "Really! You didn''t right?" Jake asked. "Yes I didn''t." Jack said. "Then do you care to exin how you were able to go toe to toe with Harry." Jake said. "Well to be honest, I don''t know. It just happened I think I was filled with rage that''s why." Jack answered. "What a flimsy excuse." Sophia said. "I still don''t understand why some of you guys are keeping secrets." Peter shouted out. "We are roommates, we need to know some things about each other so we can build trust." "Well there are some things that need to remain a secret." Sophia said alreadyying down to get some rest. Jake alsoy on his bed to rest. After the wholemotion today, sses were cancelled for the day. And after some time, all the students who were involved in the incident, were being interviewed and that of course included Jake and Peter. They weren''t asked a lot of questions like they thought, they were simply told to recall the events that happened. And after some more interrogations of other students, they finally decided to close the case after punishing Harry and his gang members. The extent of the punishment was not known to the first-years, it was only known to the second-years. When it was night time, Jake was about to sleep when he heard a loud ding in his head. *ding* *ding* "Woah!" Jake almost shouted out loud but he quickly closed his mouth before he woke his teammates up. "This is a lot of rewards for a quest I wasn''t even informed about." "I think the system is feeling generous recently." Zeemented. "I know right." Jake said. "Let me see something." Jake pulled up his status screen. "Now this is awesome." Jake couldn''t help but say then he went to check for his new skill. "Please be attack based skill." Jake prayed as he opened up his skill tab. Skill Tab> "Now that''s what I''m talking about. With that skill, I can quickly make a lot of damages especially ifbined with ''Frenzy Strike'' then that is extremely deadly." Jake almostughed out loud pitying his future enemy. With the system exploration done, Jake decided to get some rest as it was alreadyte. ____________ ***** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram:KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Chapter 34: Off to a new planet A week had passed since the so-called lesson Harry organized in the assembly hall. The week passed smoothly without any issues. The first-years got on with their homeroom ss andbat ss as usual. Trying to hone their skills in preparation for their beast hunt. And now finally, after a long week, it was finally the week for their beast hunt. All the first-year students were told to gather in the training hall. Which was located on the west side of the building. Usually, the training room was only limited to military personnel, which didn''t include students. In the middle of the room, was a portal that was colored green. Green indicated that at the other side, there were only basic tier beasts or rarely intermediate beasts but that rarely happens. While the orange color, indicates that on the other side were intermediate and advanced beasts. While the red portal leads to thes with King tier and Legendary beasts. This red portal, was only for military personnels to use because they didn''t want any students death on their hands.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The entire first-year students were all lined up in front of General Paul while two sergeants were on either side of the students row. Jake suspected that they were the sergeants that were gonna be with them and protect them Incase of an emergency. Jake recognized one of the sergeant because he was sergeant Lee thebat training teacher while the second one, Jake didn''t really know who he was but if he was with them, he is surely a sergeant. "Alright boys and girls," Paul said. "I have to inform you of some things before you go into the portal so listen up. You won''t be able tomunicate with each other with your wristwatches because it will be down. But don''t worry, you can still buy things with your credits on your watch and know that It is very important when entering through the portal, you keep physical contact with the person in front of you otherwise you will be teleported to somewhere else." The students all looked at each other and then nodded understanding what Paul said. "Also, you will be teleported to somewhere safe that the military has a hold on, it is called military shelter. The shelter is built far away from any dangerous beast zone so the shelter is totally safe. The hunt, is gonnast a week, and the goal is to bring back as many beast crystals as you can. Don''t worry, you will be given back some of the crystals to craft your beast weapons after your score has been recorded." "Also, if you see an intermediate beast, then you need to run away. Don''t confront it, just head off to a different location. Inside the shelter, there is a storage room monitored by military personnels. You will be given adequate equipment,munication device for you and your team and other things. Lastly before you all go in, you will be given thirty minutes to all decide who will be your team''s leader. Hurry up." Immediately Paul finished talking, the whole different teams huddled up trying to pick who will be suitable for their team as a leader. Even Jake''s team were also doing the same. "Who should we pick?" Jake asked. "Before we choose someone, we need to consider some qualities." Sophia said. "The team leader needs to be smart, brave, strong and has a good sense of judgement." "Well who should it be then?" Vynn asked. "How about Kate?" Cindy asked while smiling at her to which Kate returned it with a re. "Huh? I was gonna nominate Sophia." Jake said to which Kate was now looking at him with an eye of sadness and at the same time annoyance. "I also agree with Jake." Vynn said. "Hey! Who says the leader has to be a female." Peter said. "Well it''s because we are calm unlike you guys." Cindymented. "And don''t also forget that they are hot-headed." Kate added. "In what way have we been hotheaded?" Jake asked. "Do you want me to remind you about your duel with Sebastian and it was what got us Into that situation the other day." Sophia said. "Okay, I''m convinced." Jake said. "So now the nomination is between you and Kate." Jack said. "Anyway I give my vote to Kate." "I also give my vote to Kate." Cindy said. "Well I give my vote to Sophia." Jake said. "I also give my vote to Sophia." Vynn said. "Peter what about you?" "I nominate Kate." Peter said. "In that case, the leader has been chosen which is Kate." Jack said. Immediately, that was when Paul pped loudly to get the students attention. "Will the team leaders of each team please step forward." To which they did then Paul gave them a littlemunicator. "This is linked to the sergeants watches, so when you see a beast you can''t handle, push the button there and it will alert the sergeants." Paul said while dismissing them back to their teammates. "Alright with that said and done, it''s time for you to go into the portal." With that said, each team stepped forward with all of them holding onto the shoulders of the person in front. Then finally it got to Jake''s team''s turn. As they went through the portal, they all felt a tingling sensation all over their bodies. The world around them started to warp and disce and their minds felt like it was melting. It wasn''t really a horrible feeling, in fact to some, the feeling of traveling into the portal felt addicting. A few moments, they already made it to their destination. When they opened their eyes, they were surrounded by some townsfolks and a lot of military personnels chatters and all sorts. Rows of buildings and shops, market stalls selling food and weapons. They had sessfully made it to the shelter. And the team couldn''t wait to start hunting. ______________ ****** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Chapter 35: Planet Caladie The shelter they arrived at was just a little bit smaller than the military academy. There were buildings lined up almost everywhere with a three- story building in the middle of all the buildings and Jake could only guess that it was the main military shelter. The ground they stood on top was hard and solid, a dry orange colour, with no sign of green life. It was hard to imagine anything being able to grow on thesends. The sun was quite hot and probably that was the reason why things couldn''t grow on the soil. It was the first time all the students had arrived at another, and even for Jake. The streets were full of both military personnel and a little bit of people walking left and right. Stalls everywhere selling all kinds of things, like foods, fruits and smoky meats. Immediately they arrived, they quickly left the spot they were in because they saw the teams that entered earlier where in another side. Immediately they left their spot, another team came out of the spot they stood on earlier. "So now what''s next? What do we do now?" Jake asked. That was when they saw the students heading off to the sergeants standing off to the side so Jake and his team decided to head there. When they all got there, they waited until the students were all there. After some time, all the students were now here so sergeant Lee decided to speak to them all. "I want you guys to rest up today or you can as well explore the shelter but you are advised not to go to far away. Tomorrow, the hunt willmence so make sure you get adequate rest." "Some military personnels will show you guys were you are gonna stay for the week long hunting."N?v(el)B\\jnn After Lee finished speaking, some soldiers came over to take the students to their temporary dorms. After some minutes of walking, they were finally here. The building that was to be their dorm, was located at the east side of the shelter. The building was big enough to house close to 150 hundred people. So luckily it was big enough to house the 100 hundred students. When they all went into the building, they could see doors on every side. It felt like they were back at the academy. "You guys will have to stay in the room ording to your team. Which means, one team per room." The soldier said. "Don''t worry the rooms are big enough to hold even eight people." To which Jake and his team members quickly picked a door and went into the room. The room was truly big enough to hold 8 people. More like it was designed for 8 people to stay in. There were four bunk beds, two study tables and a single window. "So what do you guys suggest we do now?" Jake asked as they all sat down on their beds. "Should we explore the shelter or rest up?" "I want to explore the shelter." Peter answered. "Me too." Vynn and Cindy said together. "Well, I wanna rest up." Jack and Sophia said together at once. "I Will also want to explore the shelter with you guys." Kate said getting up. "Alright, that settles it." Jake said. "We will go explore the shelter and see what information we can gather about the different types of beast we could encounter here." "Great. Have fun." Sophia said quickly shutting her eyes. To which Jake, Cindy, Peter, Vynn and Kate exited the room to explore the shelter. "So where do we go to first?" Kate asked. "I think we should head to the travellers hall," Cindy replied. "Its a ce where they have information for travellers, you can also trade in your crystal cores you manage to hunt for credits there." "I have two questions," Vynn said. "Firstly what are travellers?" "Travellers are people who go out on hunt for some of the big families or other influential people." Cindy replied. "And how do you know all this?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "That was gonna be my second question." Vynn said. "Have you guys forgotten when I said my dad works for one of the big three." Cindy said. "I kinda forgot." Vynn said. They walked through the shelter and eventually reached a veryrge hanger like building. It was an open space with no entrance, so people were free to enter and leave as they pleased. From side to side, it was filled with counters with workers stationed there. Just as Cindy had said, there were cksmiths here who were forging equipment and weapons. Shops that sold little gadgets and beast baits. And even a quest board. The quest board was mostly filled with other travellers looking to group up andplete tasks together. The group went towards a stall that sold all sorts of items necessary for capturing beasts. Behind the counter, was a middle age man with a monocle over one of his eye. "How can I help you, young soldiers. I guess it''s that time of the year where they send you all on your first hunt." "We were wondering if it was possible for you to provide us a map of all the hunting grounds here." Peter asked. "Sure I can. That will be a total of 50 credits though." "That is alright. Lemme pay for the map." Peter said. "No. Don''t worry, since I''m the team leader, let me pay for it. It''s my responsibility." Kate said. After a few minutes of back and forth on who was going to pay, they finally allowed Kate to pay for the maps. After buying the map, they exited the building to look for a ce that has shade so they could observe the map better. The group opened up the map which was on some sort of digital paper. On it, the map indicated where they were and different areas around them which was colour coded. It went from green, orange and red. The closer the colour was to red, the more popted the area will be with beasts. That was when something caught Jake''s eyes on the top of the map. It was the name of the; Cdie. Jake just shrugged and they decided to study the map some more before they went back to their dorms to rest for their hunting that was gonnamence the next day. Chapter 36: Beast hunt finally begins The next day was finally here and it wasn''t only Jake that woke up early, his friends all woke up earlier than usual. Since they were all awake, Jake decided to do all his physical training inside the room. While Jake was doing his push ups, Cindy came over. "Must you always do physical training? Can''t you take a break. It''s not like we are still in the academy." "Regardless of whether I''m in the academy or not, I need to this," Jake said. "And I will appreciate if you gave me a little bit of space so I can continue." To which Cindy just shrugged and went to sit with the others. After a few minutes of physical training, Jake decided to go outside for his daily running exercise. Jake got outside, got ready and took of running with full speed around the shelter. And then after a few minutes of running, Jake heard a ding In his head. To which Jake just pulled up his status screen to check. *************************** Jake just sighed and slowly walked back to his room. When he got there, he saw that everyone were all ready and prepared for the day so he hurriedly got prepared so he won''t be left behind. After a few hours, they all went to take their breakfast in a dining hall in the shelter. After breakfast, they were all called to arge storage room. "Wee young soldiers," Lee said. "Today, is the beginning of your beast hunt. So we called you here to give you some equipment that will help make your hunting a little bit easier." The whole students were all wondering what equipment Lee was talking about. That was when some soldiers brought all manner of crates filled with things that they didn''t know about. "In all these crates, there are equipment that will make your hunting easier and also, they aren''t for you to keep. After the hunt, you need to return them except if they are broken or something but if you think you wanna y smart by lying about the equipment breaking or anything then you better think twice coz we have a way to tell if you are lying or not." Lee said. Then he signalled the soldiers to open one of the crates. The crates the soldier opened, was filled with weapons. Different types of weapons from;short swords, axes and bows. Then Lee called the students team by team toe pick their own equipment. When it got to Jake''s team''s turn, Sophia went first and quickly picked the Scimitar that she always used in the sword club. Jack picked a Katana de, Jack picked a Tachi. While Vynn picked a spear, Kate picked a bow and arrow, Peter picked a double axe and finally Cindy picked a sword also. Jake inspected the weapons with his inspect skill and he noticed that they all had one thing inmon and that was, they were all basic tier weapons. After all the teams picked their weapons, Lee decided to make an announcement. "Okay. All the weapons with you guys, will need to be returned after the week long hunting. And also will all the team leaders step forward." The whole team leaders stepped forward and they were all handed a med kit, an endless pouch that things could be stored in water. "Now you will go into the hunting grounds, to hunt. Make sure you don''t stray into the red colored zone and also, Sergeant Leo and I will be nearby all the time but we won''t interfere in your hunting unless we see you can''t handle a beast." Lee said. "And yes all team leaders, the watch you were given, in case you forgot lemme remind you. You can only press the button there when you see a beast that''s very powerful and you can''t run away because of whatever situation. Actually the only powerful beast you can see here is an intermediate beast but I will advice you shouldn''t engage, just press the button and find a way to escape." Lee said. "Alright, let the beast hunt begin." Leo said pping his hands to which the whole students all rush out of the building. Quickly bringing out the map they bought earlier, the team decided to pick where they should head to. "I think we should y it safe and head off to the green zone." Vynn suggested. "Yeah, I also agree." Jake said. "Alright then. Let''s all head off to the green colored zone." Kate said and they all checked their equipment and other things before they set off.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om After a few minutes of walking, they all got to the green colored zone but they noticed that they weren''t the only ones here, there were other teams also and they have started hunting. The hunting grounds here were like the dessert, filled with sands all over. This desert part of the green zone, housed a lot of what was known as sand worms. They wererger than snakes but have the properties of a worm. With the slimy and twisty body type. The worms were only found in the sands and they also travel through the sands quickly. This was the information that the group managed to find from the map and some other research. Without wasting much time, they decided to start hunting. There was no need for them toe up with any luring techniques to lure the worms to them. For the worms already sensed them and they were heading for Jake''s team quickly. "They areing!" Peter announced. "Prepare yourselves for hunting." And immediately, the snakes bursted out of the ground and was heading for Jack who was in front of the group. Jake who was at the back of the group, counted around 10 sand worms heading for them. Jack upon seeing the worm, didn''t hesitate as he quickly lifted his sword and made a diagonal strike but the worm was not cut Into two as Jack thought. "What the! Howe they aren''t cut? Aren''t they supposed to be just basic tier beasts?" And then he was bit on his arm. Kate who was also at the back of the group, also prepared her bow and started firing towards the beasts although her skills were quite sloppy, She still managed to hit one of the beasts on the head with her arrow and that was when she noticed it wasn''t moving so she quickly shouted out a warning to her team. "Guys! Aim for the head, that''s the beast weak point." Kate screamed. Hearing this, the ones who were struggling, quickly started shing and shing but the beasts were also quick in movements as they quickly burrowed into the sand before they could be hit. Jake was still standing observing the whole team. And that was when the beasts popped out of the sand for an attack again. Peter just smiled looking at them and then he started shing with his two handed axe vigorously. Peter was so busy shing one of the beasts that he didn''t notice one of the beasts popping out from behind him. Meanwhile Jake who hadn''t done anything until now, noticed the beasting for Peter and he quickly dashed forward towards the beast quickly. Luckily, he was quite close to Peter''s position so he got there and managed to strike the beast on its head with a powerful sword strike that the beast was split into two. After a few minutes, they were finally done killing the beasts that headed for their way so they decided to rest up and collect the beast crystals they managed to kill. When they finished collecting the crystals, they counted it and saw it wasplete. So with a triumphant smile, they decided to rest before they hunt more beasts. Unknown to them, a beast was heading their way from underground but they didn''t notice it. Popping out of the ground, the beast aimed for Jake who was oblivious to the attack but luckily, Kate who was still standing back, drew her bow quickly and killed the beast. That was when they knew that a beast tried a sneak attack on them. After thanking Kate for her help, they decided to also add the beast crystal to their collection but that was when they heard a shout. "Hey! You guys stole our kill and beast crystal also." The voice saiding over to Jake''s team. ________________ ********** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Chapter 37: A dangerous idea "Huh? What do you mean the beast is yours?" Peter asked visibly irritated. "That beast was ours." A boy with a curly hair saiding over. "The beast was already injured and then it burrowed itself underground and came to you guys." "So how does that make the beast yours?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "Because it was ours and we injured it before it got to you, so that makes it ours." The curly haired boy who''s name was Jared said. "That is not a relevant argument. We got the kill on the beast so it''s ours. No argument." Vynn said. "Oh really!?! Is that how you wanna y it? Then fine two can y this game." Jared said backing out to head to his teammates. "What an annoying kid," Peter said. "I felt like punching his face in." After that little, confrontation, they decided to hunt again this time, a little bit away from Jared and his group so as to avoid any form of confrontation. They hunted the sand worms for an hour more before they were called back to base. After getting back, the crystals were collected and scanned by the military so as to record the teams scores. Any crystals that has been scanned, can''t be scanned again since the machine could recognize it therefore losing the team a few points. When it got to Jake''s team''s turn, Kate walked forward and handed their 21 sand worms beast crystals. They had hunted 10 more crystals in that hour added with their earlier 11 crystals, giving them 21 crystals in total. Per crystal, that''s 2 points. So the team had 42 points in total. After all the teams scanned their crystals, a scoreboard pulled up so they could see their positions. It turns out, Jake''s team were in the third position. "What!" Sophia shouted. "So you mean, some teams handed in even more crystals than us?" "And so?" The soldier asked with a raised brow. "I mean our team has the most strongest among the first years so howe we got the third position?" "Well strength doesn''t mean team work. So chop chop to your dorm rooms." The soldier said dismissing them. Sophia just stomped her foot in annoyance and headed out of the building grumbling under her breath. ''what''s wrong with her?'' Jake thought. The rest of the team also went off to their dorm for a good rest. When they got to their room, they saw Sophia sitting cross legged as if meditating. When they opened the door, she stood up and looked at them. "You guys I''m truly not happy with our position." Sophiained. "We have the most strongest in our team and we only got third position." "Rx will you." Jake said heading to his bed. "Today is just the first day and we still have six more days to go. We will surely get the number one spot before we finish the beast hunt." "No you don''t get it." Sophia said. "What don''t we understand?" Peter asked with a raised brow. "We all want to get the top spot like you but you''re the only one making a mountain out of a molehill. Just like Jake said, today is just the first day so chix." "I will." Sophia said. "But before I do that, I want us toe up with a strategy." To which Jack raised an eyebrow. "What strategy?" "I want us toe up with a team formation and also I propose we head out to the orange zone tomorrow." "What!" They all shouted at once. "Are you crazy or what? The orange zone?" Kate asked. "Yes the orange zone. What''s wrong with it." "Everything is wrong with it." Kate replied. "We all struggled a bit with the sand worm and you want us to head into the orange zone. Heavens knows what awaits us there." "If you don''t wanna go because you are weak, then you can stay." Sophia said. "What! You think am weak?" "Yes I do." Sophia replied. "Fine then, if you wanna go get yourself terribly injured then be my guest." Kate angrily said and headed out of the room. "So about my earlier suggestion, what do you guys think?" Sophia asked. "I think, you are being crazy." Jake replied. "Look I''m not forcing you guys. I only just want we the strongest out of all of us which are; me, Jack and Peter to head off to the orange zone to hunt." "Huh? Why are you involving me in your crazy expedition?" Peter asked. "Think about it, if we managed to hunt something strong and we gather the crystal, we will finally rank up higher on the scoreboard." Sophia said.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "But, still it''s still quite stupid and dangerous." Jack said. "Don''t worry, it will all be fine. So do we have a n?" Sophia asked. "Sure. I''m in." Jack said. "You managed to convince me. I''m also in." Peter said. "Well, I''m out." Jake said actually heading out to look for Kate. "Vynn and Cindy, no need toe with us. You can all head into the green zone and also hunt some beasts sobined with the ones we get, we will finally rank up." Sophia said. "That sounds like a n to me." Vynn said lying down to get some shut eye. Meanwhile, when Kate stormed off earlier, she didn''t have any where in mind to go to so she just wandered around trying to calm down. ''what does she think of herself? Just coz she''s strong, doesn''t mean she gets to pull the strings here and call the shots for the rest of us.'' Kate just kept wandering around annoyed that was when she heard her name. "Kate!" She turned around and saw Jake chasing after her. "Aren''t you also going to join them in their little expedition?" "Me? Why will I? Actually she thinks am too weak and said I shouldn''t bother going with them. Besides I think her idea and suggestions is quite stupid and not wise." "Well because the idea is actually stupid. But if she really wants to risk her life just because of some crystals then she should go ahead am not gonna stop her." Kate said. "Don''t worry, we will head off to the green zone and help hunt crystals for them so when they finally realize the danger and how stupid they were, we will rub it in their face." Jake said smiling. Kate just smiled. "Thanks. You managed to cheer me up in your own weird way." They looked into their eyes for a bit and then Kate quickly looked away with her cheeks red. "So what do you think the world will look like after the war?" "Peaceful, I guess." Jake answered. After a few more minutes of talking, chatting and walking, they decided to head to their dorm to get some rest for the next day. Chapter 38: Grinding time The next day came, the second day of hunting and the whole team were awake. Jake woke up to do his daily quest as usual. After doing his quest, he decided to check his status screen which disyed. ************************** Jake decided to do more physical exercises and push himself further than his limit and after one hour thirty minutes of exercising, he was finally rewarded by the system.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om ''Huh?!? Why did the system decided to give me +1 in Endurance while the rest are +3?'' "I don''t know." Zee answered. After pondering about the likely scenario, Jake just decided to leave it at that and check his status screen again to confirm the rewards. *********************** "Well at least it really gave me the rewards." Jake shrugged and headed back to his dorm room to freshen up. After the whole room were done bathing, they waited for an hour before they were called to take their breakfast. After a few minutes of eating, they rested for two hours before they were told they could go into the hunting grounds. Before they left, Kate decided to ask something. "Sophia, are you sure you really wanna do this?" "Yes I am very sure I wanna do this." "Fine then, I guess there''s no stopping you then." They all head off to the green zone, when they got there, Sophia, Jack and Peter split off from them to head into the orange zone meanwhile Kate couldn''t help but be worried about them. "Calm down and stop worrying, they will be alright besides what could go wrong?" Jake said heading off to begin hunting. The team started hunting the sand worms like before but this time, knowing the strategy of hunting, they had an easier time of killing the beasts faster. After an hour of hunting, Jake decided to stop hunting. "Ah damn! I''m tired of hunting these beasts. I''m not even sure they are gonna be worth anything when we get back to the academy." "I agree with you." Cindy said. "This is quite boring, the beast are to easy to kill well that is if you know the strategy." "So what do you want to do?" Kate asked. "Head Into the orange zone like Sophia?" "I don''t mean it that way." Cindy apologized. "I meant we could explore another area of the green zone. I''m pretty sure that they are more hunting grounds of the green zone around." "Well I kinda like that idea." Jake said. "Fine." Kate said getting ready to explore another area. ''i just hope Sophia and the rest are okay.'' Meanwhile when Sophia and the guys split up from the others, they made their way to the orange zone unknown to them that a team were trailing behind them but a little bit farther away from them so they won''t be discovered. "Are you sure of this?" One of the members of the opposing team asked his leader. "Yes I am sure of it." Ben replied. "I will make they sure they pay for stealing my crystal from me." "But they are heading into the orange zone" the earlier student who''s name is rk said. "There could be dangerous beasts in there." "Didn''t you listen to what the sergeants said, they said the highest beast here is an intermediate beast and he said the chances of encountering one is very slim." Ben said. "Besides we can handle ourselves, we are not weak either." Another student that goes by the name of Liam said. It was only Ben, Liam and rk that were trailing behind Sophia while the rest of their team were hunting in the green zone. They were all already hunting in the green zone when Ben spotted Sophia and the guys splitting up so he decided to follow them with his own team and he saw that they were heading into the orange zone. Sophia and the guys walked a bit more before they came across their first beast. The ce they were in currently had torn down buildings all over and scurrying out of the buildings was a beast that looked a bit like a dog but it was bigger than a normal dog. The dog was big like a mini bicycle and this type of beasts were called Dogsy. It came out of the building and ran at a fast speed towards Sophia and their group. Sophia looked towards the guys. "Are you ready?" And they both nodded and prepared their respective weapons. The beast lunged towards Jack who was in front of the team. With a swing of his de, Jack hit the beast back and then put a little bit of distance between them. Immediately, the beast stood up and charged right at the group but this time, Peter and Sophia were a little bit faster. They got to either side of the beast and shed with their weapons therefore killing the beast. "That was a little bit hard. But thank heavens we managed to pull it off." Peter heaved a sigh of relief. "Come on, let''s extract the core and let''s move on." Sophia said heading to the dead beast and started looking for the beast core. After some time, she managed to find the core then she threw back for the guys to keep safe. And then they moved closer to the buildings so they could hunt more beasts. Meanwhile, Ben and his group were still far back watching their every move. "Are we gonna make our move to?" Liam asked. "No not yet. It''s not yet time." Ben replied and then they continued watching Sophia and her team that were slowly inching closer to the center of the buildings. And that was when they heard scurrying from all around. "Well good thing that this ce if filled with beasts." Sophia said preparing herself for battle. "it''s time for grinding." And then jumping out of all the buildings, were Dogsys. Chapter 39: Duel Of Pride Jumping out of the torn-down buildings, were close to 10 Dogsys and they headed towards Sophia''s little group. Immediately they were within range, Sophia charged forward shing and stabbing a dogsy that was when another lunged at her from behind, noticing it, she quickly pivoted therefore avoiding the attack and then she used the butt of her sword to hit the beast hard on the head therefore sending it crashing into the other one she was battling earlier. Meanwhile Jack was having a more easier time handling the beasts that were attacking him. He was skillfully dodging the bites and scratches from the Dogsy and was precisely shing the beasts. He even used some of the skills taught to them at the academy In his fight. While Peter, he was more like a bull. Peter charged forward with his axe slicing anything that came in his way and it was working that was untill one of the beaststched onto his leg with its teeth. Peter screamed out loud in pain and in anger he cut off the beast''s head cleanly. But his leg was still bleeding from the bite and on seeing that, Sophia decided that Peter should go rest a bit. "Don''t worry, Jack and I will handle this. Just go and use the med kit." To which Peter initially refused. "Don''t worry, I can still help." After a bit of back and forth, Peter decided to go treat himself therefore allowing Sophia to concentrate on her fight properly. But that was a bad idea because as if sensing that their power were a little weakend, more dogsy came out of the building numbering around twenty. "Crap! This is bad." Sophia said gritting her teeth preparing for battle again. Jack didn''t even seem worried, he just kept on going. Skillfully dodging, avoiding and killing the beasts one after another. That was when Jack spotted a weak beast that was quite injured so he decided to finish it up so it won''t cause any problems for themter on. When Jack got close to the beast, that was when something fast and sharp skimmed past his face and headed for the beast therefore killing it. "Hey! Since we got the kill on the beast, then it is rightfully ours right?" A voice saiding over. Quickly turning around, Jack saw that it was the same guy that imed the stole their beast crystal the other day. It was Ben. And then one of his teammate hurriedly went passed Jack to fish out the crystal. Jack didn''t say anything because Sophia was struggling against the beasts so he decided to let it go and he should help Sophia. Jack started hunting again this time with a little more aggression. He hit a beast with his foot sending it a few feet away from him and then he went forward to finish it but then again something fast flew past him and finished the beast off. Checking what killed the beast, Jack noticed that it was an arrow and then he turned towards Ben who just had arge smile on his face. Ignoring them, Jack continued fighting and then the same thing kept happening over and over again with Jack injuring a beast and Ben''s team finishing him off. This greatly pissed Jack that he went towards Ben instead of the beasts. "What the heck is that all about!?" Ben just raised an eyebrow. "What else does this look like? I''m hunting." "Then why are you stealing our kills? Just hunt somewhere else." Jack said. "Huh? This is where I wanna hunt and what are you gonna do about it?" Ben asked. "Jack! Let them be, I need your help now. I''m about to be overwhelmed." Sophia called out. Jack just angrily stomped his foot in anger and ran back to help Sophia. It was impressive how she was able to defend herself from three beasts that were attacking her at once. Then Jack came and helped kill some beasts that wereing towards Sophia. After a few minutes, there were no more beasts heading their way only one more beast was left. And the beast was injured. Seeing itsrades dead, the beast started to scurry away from them but Jack wasn''t about to let it go. He lifted his sword and held it like a type of spear then he threw it forward towards the running beast and then Jack noticed another arrow side by side with sword and then together, the sword and arrow plunged into the beast. "That kill is ours." Ben shouteding over. Jack was looking down while his fists were clenched in anger. He was beyond breaking point. ''That is it!'' "I have had enough of you." Jack dashed towards Ben at a speed that almost seem inhuman and then he threw a punch towards Ben''s face but Ben managed to narrowly avoid the punch and then he quickly punched Jack back but it didn''t even manage to make Jack flinch. Meanwhile, Peter came back over and saw Jack fighting against Ben and Sophia gathering all the beast crystals they earned. ''if it is one person, Jack can handle himself. I need to help Sophia collect the beast crystals.'' Peter thought and then he went to Sophia and helped collect all the beast crystals. After collecting the crystals, it was remaining only the ones that Ben''s team killed and the one Jack and Ben killed. So Sophia carved out the beast crystal that Jack and Ben killed together, left the rest and headed towards Jack and Ben that were still fighting. "Enough!" Sophia said after getting close. "Stop acting like toddlers, let''s settle this matter maturely." Hearing her voice, they both stopped fighting and turned to look at her. "What do you suggest we do?" Jack asked. "Actually, I propose a duel between me and one of you." Ben said. "Oh really!?!" Jack said. "You do know that we are the number 1,2 and 3 among the first years. And you want to still fight with us?" Jack asked. "I know," Ben replied. "And besides, we aren''t weak either."I''m ranked number 4 in the academy so I can handle myself. "Fine then." Jack said. "Let''s begin, let''s fight." "Haha. I''m not gonna fight against you. I know that you''re stronger than me. After all we were all there when you went toe to toe against Harry." "So who do you want to fight against?" Sophia asked. "Him." Ben said pointing towards Peter. "Me?" Peter asked pointing towards himself. "You really wanna duel with me?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yes." "Fine then. If that''s what you wish then so be it. Let''s not waste any time shall we?" Peter said to which Sophia pulled him a little to the side. "You do know that you''re currently injured right." "Yes I know but it''s only a few scratches. I''m fine, I can handle myself." "Are you sure?" Sophia asked. "Because there''s no need for us to duel against them, after all we have more than what we need we can just head back." "No it''s okay. I just want to wipe away the smug look from his face." Sophia just sighed. "Fine, if you want to do it then you can go ahead but try not to get to injured okay." Peter finally walked away from Sophia to face Ben. "Don''t worry, I don''t n to." After a few minutes of going over the rules, Peter and Ben stood a few feet away from each other while staring into their faces. "Are you guys ready?" Sophia asked. "Yes!" They both said together. After listening to their response, Sophia raised her hand up and let it over a bit while looking left and right at Peter and Ben and then with one smooth motion, she swung her hand down therefore signalling the start of the duel. ___________________ **************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Or you can also add me on discord if you wanna ask some questions about the book or talk to me. Chapter 40: A New Threat Emerges The two guys stood opposite each other ready for the duel to begin. And then, Sophia swung her hand down in a smooth motion therefore signalling the start of the duel. Immediately Sophia swung her hand down, Ben didn''t waste any time he charged right at Peter with a decent speed that would have been difficult for some people to avoid but Peter managed to avoid the hit. But then Peter staggered again because of his injury and he knelt down with his hands on the floor. Ben quickly regained his footing and charged at Peter with his spear. And he made a thrust towards Peter but Peter quickly used his axe to block the hit then Peter quickly stood up and used the other axe to hit Ben on his hand hard therefore making Ben move back a bit in pain. And not letting up, Peter ran towards Ben and swung his other leg that wasn''t injured very fast therefore performing the Axe kick on Ben''s head. The kick was so hard and heavy that it pushed Ben to the ground with much force. Seeing that the momentum was on their side, Sophia couldn''t help but cheer. "Yes! Go Peter, you can do this. I believe in you." Hearing Sophia''s word of encouragement, Peter couldn''t help but smile. In that little moment of being distracted, Ben had already recovered then he quickly picked up his spear and rapidly stabbed Peter in his leg that was injured therefore making Peter stagger back in pain. Ben stood up with a grin on his face sorge that it looked like his lips were going to touch his ears. "Do you know why I chose to fight you?" Ben asked dashing towards Peter. "It''s because of your injury." And then Ben made a thrust towards Peter''s stomach and it went through with such force that it made Peter skid a little bit on the floor. When Ben pulled out the spear, Peter coughed out blood from his mouth. "What are you doing?" Sophia screamed out loud in annoyance. "The rules was that you can''t hit each other in anywhere vital and you just went ahead and stabbed him in the stomach." "Rx," Ben said not taking his eyes off Peter. "The kit you were given, can treat such an injury so stop making a fuss and keep quiet."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Peter was still clenching his stomach trying to apply pressure on it so it won''t bleed out. After chiding Sophia, Ben turned his attention towards Peter and then he smiled. "Look at you, so weak and helpless. Did you even imagine that you will be defeated by a lower rank than you? Oh how I wish we were back at the academy, I would have taken your position from you but this has to work." Ben said and then he swung his spear in a type of bat way and then it hit Peter right on the head sending him flying a few feet. Petery there unmoving. "Huh? Is that all? Have I won?" Ben asked confused. Not getting any response, Ben walked towards Peter and then he used his foot to try and move him but then his foot was grabbed by Peter. "Number one lesson, never get close to your opponent." Peter said and then he dragged Ben down with such force that he fell and hit his head on the ground hard. Then Peter stood up and gave Ben a heavy kick on his stomach therefore breaking a few ribs. The force of the kick was quite heavy that it sent Ben skidding a few feet. And then Ben managed to stand up after few minutes coughing and holding his side. Then he smiled at Peter. "Wow! That Kick packed a lot of strength." Then he stood up fully and slowly walked towards Peter not taking his eyes off him. And then they both took a stance ready for round two. They were about to charge towards each other again but that was when they felt a chill in the air. They both stopped their charge and looked around confused. And that was when they heard a crackling and sparkly sound as if fireworks were going off. They all turned their heads towards the source of the sound and it wasing from a few feet away from where the rest of the guys were standing watching the fight. And then after two minutes, the ce looked like something was tearing into space. And then a portal opened up and a heavy build man came out of the portal while looking around and then the portal snapped shut. "Huh? I didn''t expect for people to be out here." The man spoke. Nobody moved because they all felt one thinging off from the man and that was a kind of sickening aura that almost suffocated them. They could all tell one thing, this person was very powerful and it won''t be wise to engage with him recklessly. Meanwhile, Jake and the rest were busy hunting and after one hour thirty minutes of hunting, in a new area of the green zone, they decided to rest up a bit and wait for Sophia and the guys toe so they could submit and scam their crystals together. But after an hour worth of waiting and resting, they didn''t see any signs of theming. "Huh? What''s going on? Did they run into trouble or what?" Jake asked. "What trouble could they possibly run into that they couldn''t handle?" Kate asked. "I don''t know but I have this strange feeling that I can''t exin that something is wrong." Jake replied. "Do you want us to go and look for them?" Vynn asked. "Yes I think that''s a good idea but I don''t want all of us to go together. Let me, Cindy and Kate go together." Jake said. "What about me?" Vynn asked. "Look, the three of us have a good chance of surviving whateveres our way. With Kate''s martial arts, Cindy''s skills and me, we have a good chance." Jake said. "I understand. I''m just too weak to help." Vynn said. "No don''t get me wrong Vynn, I''m not calling you wrong but I just want you to be safe and yes, I also want you to protect our crystals." Jake smiled. "I understand. Don''t worry, you can go." Vynn said. ''Even if you don''t say it out loud, I know that I''m weak to help you.'' After that, they all head off to find Sophia and the rest unaware of the problem and threat that they were going to face when they got there. Chapter 41: Battle For Life {1} Sophia''s team went out hunting in the orange zone and there, they encountered trouble and argument that escted into a duel between Sophia''s team and Ben''s team. The duel was fiery with blows, hits and kick. Just when the duel was entering its final moments, that was when a mysterious portal opened up and a very strange man with a powerful aura stepped out of the portal. "Huh? I thought there were not supposed to be humans out here." The man said. Hearing the man speak like that, Sophia and the rest didn''t move a muscle because they could all feel a chill in the air when the man spoke and moved. "Anyway," the man continued. "I''m here on a secret mission and now seeing you here, I''m sure you guys will head off and report this therefore foiling my ns and mission." "So this is my decision," the man said lifting his hand and his nails elongated. "There are not supposed to be witnesses so therefore, you all have to die." And then his nail shot out very fast towards Liam. The nail struck Liam''s chest. It went in deep that Liam dropped down dead. "What the f***k!" Peter eximed. "Everybody move now and run away!" Peter''s voice snapped the rest out of their daze and they started running Helter skelter trying to get as far away as possible from the strange man. Jack ran forward to assist Peter to get up so they could all escape. "Do you think I''m gonna let you all escape without doing anything?" The man said as he jumped up high andnded in front of rk who was the first person to snap out of his daze quicker and ran away. Then the man lifted rk up with his hand and then he smashed rk''s head into the ground. When he saw that rk was still alive, then he stomped hard on rk''s head therefore popping his head. This gruesome act, sent chills down everyone''s spine that were watching. "I don''t think we can run away so easily." Sophia screamed. "You bet your pretty self that I''m not gonna do that." The man smiled. "Guys! I think we need to fight." Sophia suggested. "Are you crazy?" Jack screamed. "Did you see what he did to the rest?" "It was because they didn''t put up much of a fight. We have to fight if we wanna live." "Well I don''t need you telling me that," Ben said standing in front of them. "I was nning to fight anyway. I need to get revenge on him for what he did to my friends." Ben then charged forward with his spear in his hand. "Come on, we have to back him up." Sophia said getting her sword and running behind Ben so as to back him up. "She''s right," Peter said getting up. "We have to help take him down." "But you can''t," Jack retorted. "You are still injured and bleeding. You might die of blood loss." "I will still die anyway if we can''t defeat him." Peter said already walking forward. "I rather die as a hero." "Then I''m not gonna let you do this alone." Jack said running behind Peter trying to catch up with Sophia and Ben. Meanwhile when Ben got to the man''s position, he quickly made a thrust to the man''s stomach but the man caught the spear with two of his hand but Ben quickly pulled back the spear and made a thrust again towards the man''s head but the man leaned sideways therefore avoiding the spear again. And that was when Sophia came in with a kick to the man''s stomach that pushed him back a few feet. "Wow! I didn''t know they were some strong humans here. I thought you were all weak." Sophia didn''t care about whatever the man had to say, she charged forward with a sh of her sword but the man just avoided it again but he couldn''t avoid Ben''s thrust of spear that lunged into his stomach. Twisting the spear, Ben then pulled it out again and made a thrust to the man''s head but in annoyance, the man grabbed the spear and then with a snap, the spear broke.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "What the!" Ben was surprised after taking a step back to create space. ''How could he just break a basic tier weapon like it was just a twig?'' ''now what do I do? Without my weapon, I don''t know how to help.'' That was when Ben felt a breeze run past his face, looking forward, he saw Peter and Jack''s back running towards the man. With Ben gone, the man focused all his attention towards Sophia who was still relentlessly striking, dodging and weaving. When Sophia went to strike the man''s neck with her sword, he did like he wanted to catch the sword making Sophia pull back and that was when a kicknded in her face sending her flying back. Sophia was flying hard and fast until her back felt like it hit a solid wall. Looking behind her, she could see Jack holding her back stopping her from skidding. And then when she looked forward, she could see Peter fighting with the man with everything he had. Peter kept shing and hitting the man but his injury was slowing him down greatly. Noticing Peter''s injury, the man grabbed Peter''s axe that was heading towards his face and then gave Peter a solid kick in his already injured stomach that sent Peter reeling away in pain. After making sure that Sophia was okay, Jack ran towards the man with fury written in his eyes. When Jack got to the Mysterious man''s position, he kicked off from the ground with such force that the ground had a fissure crack in it then he fell back down with a strong axe kick that sent the man down on his knees with much force that his knees broke the ground. Then Jack moved back a little bit and dashed forward again with a sh of his sword towards the man''s neck but his de was stopped by the man who kicked off from the ground quickly and came at Jack with a kick of his own but his kick was intercepted by Sophia with a hit of her weapons butt on the man''s leg strongly that made his kick lose direction andnded right beside Jack. Quickly getting up from the ground, Jack dashed towards the man with Sophia trailing behind him to back him up. When they got to where the man was sent, Jack saw the man was on the floor trying to get up so he threw another strong axe kick on the man''s head but his leg was grabbed and then the man''s hand was shed by Sophia''s sword. The man let go of Jack''s leg and moved back a bit then he was suddenly struck hard sending him flying forward towards Jack. Seeing the man heading towards him, Jack pushed off from the ground hard and fast towards the man then he gave him a strong solid uppercut towards the sky. Seeing the man flying off, Jack jumped up high by directing some Qi to his leg and then he got above the man. With all his strength, he wacked the man back to the ground very hard therefore causing the man to crash towards the ground so hard that it created a crater and dusts everywhere. Jack finallynded back down away from the man''s position side by side with Sophia and Peter. It turns out that it was Peter that sent the man towards Jack with that powerful punch. "Is it over?" Sophia asked worriedly because she was feeling quite exhausted. After hunting beasts and now fighting against a very powerful human. "I think s¡­" Jack stammered at what he could see. "Damn it!" When the dusts settled, they could see the man standing upright with his clothes ripped to shreds. Taking it off, the man was only left with his trousers therefore exposing his upper body. "I didn''t think I would have to use this against some puny little kids. But it goes to show how urgent and serious the matter is." Immediately the man finished talking, a chill was suddenly felt in the air with the hairs on all the kids body standing up and their heart beating incredibly hard and fast. All hairs on their body was screaming at them to get out of there now for, the man was changing. Chapter 42: Battle For Life {2} After splitting up with Vynn, Jake, Cindy and Kate were on their way to find Sophia and the rest of the guys. "Good thing they told us where they were headed because I don''t know how we will find them in all the whole of the orange zone." Cindy said. "Yeah I guess, it''s a good thing. Let''s just hope they are okay." Jake replied. They walked for some minutes, before they finally got to the orange zone and then they started heading towards where Sophia said they will go to. They walked for some minutes more and then they came across the torn down buildings. "Hey look." Cindy said pointing to the ground. "Do you think it''s them?" Jake moved forward to where Cindy was pointing and then he could see some dead beasts on the floor, Jake counted at least 10 of them. Jake then noticed that the beasts were riddled with sword marks all over their bodies. Jake used his sword to look around inside the beasts body trying to find the beast crystals. "The crystal is gone. It means it''s them." Jake said standing up. "It means they must have headed further down the center of the streets." Kate said. To which they walked some more and finally they entered the center of the town and they could see close to twenty dead beasts on the floor. "Woah! They sure did kill a lot." Cindy said. "I don''t get it." Kate said. "With all this kills, it is more than enough to make theme back because together with our own kills, it is enough to make us rank up on the leaderboard. So what happened to them?" "I don''t know but I suggest we keep on walking." Jake said already heading deeper into the torn down town. Meanwhile back at the fight with the mysterious man, Sophia, Jack, Peter and Ben just witnessed something that made their body shake In fear. Just when they thought they were gaining the upper hand in the fight, the man went ahead to transform. After a few minutes, the man was done transforming and Sophia suddenly regretted not running away when her instincts told her to. "Awooooh!" The man shouted. "He''s a freaking werewolf!"Peter shouted. "So we have been fighting a freaking werewolf all along." "Guys we are no match for a werewolf, we need to run." Ben said. "Hold on," Sophia said. "Look, it''s the lowest tier a werewolf could be." Looking closer, they noticed it was true because this werewolf, was a little scrawny, few fangs and its eyes were beaming with the color yellow. It was a ''Runt'' "So what?" Peter asked. "Do you want us to attack it again? You do know it was your silly ideas that got us into this mess in the first ce." "I know but we can''t outrun a werewolf so the best chance we have is battling it." Sophia replied. "We can''t outrun it neither can we battle." Peter retorted. "Enough! Enough of the argument already. It''s toote for us to run so the best shot we have, is battling it." Jack said. Immediately Jack finished talking, the werewolf calmly walked towards them with a sinister grin on his face. Ben looked left and right at what he could use since his spear was broken earlier by the werewolf and that was when he spotted a bow and some arrows that histe friend used. Running towards it, Ben picked it up and moved a little farther back away from Sophia and the rest so he could use the bow better. "Good thing I learnt how to use the bow then." When the werewolf was just 10 feet away from Sophia, it stopped moving and looked towards them again with a grin on its face. And then in a sh, the werewolf was already 3 feet away from Sophia, quickly dashing in front of Sophia was Jack who pulled her away from the w strike that was heading her way. "How is it possible that you are so fast?" The werewolf asked clearly. Runts were able to converse normally because they didn''t have enormous Jaws or fangs hindering them from speaking. Quickly taking advantage of the momentarily confusion, Ben tugged at his bow and let an arrow loose at the werewolf. The arrow wasing at the werewolf with incredible speed but it just caught it and snapped it like a twig. Dashing forward was Peter with his axe shing at the werewolf''s body but it managed to avoid every single hit from Peter and then it gave Peter a p across his face that sent him flying back. Meanwhile Jack just jumped and came falling down with an axe kick towards the werewolf''s head. The kick connected sessfully but it didn''t make the werewolf flinch a bit. Grabbing Jack''s leg, he werewolf swung Jack around and around and then it mmed Jack on the floor with such strength and force that it created a deep crater in the floor. Running towards the werewolf was Sophia, when she got close, she quickly performed the triple threat technique together with the Primary Guard technique. The sword was now aimed towards the werewolf''s shoulder and neck. It pierced the neck but didn''t go deep. Turning around the werewolf gave Sophia a strong hit towards her face that sent her flying away. "Haha, so pathetic." The werewolfughed. "I didn''t know that the humans were so weak. I don''t know what the Alpha is waiting for, he should just attack now because you guys are so¡­" the werewolf was interrupted by a hit that sent it skidding back a few feet. "Just shut up already. We don''t wanna hear you talk all the time." Jack shouted. "You!" The werewolf said. "How are you so strong? Nevermind, I will just have to beat you to death." ''Crap!'' Jack thought. ''my Qi is running low. Without it, I can''t handle the werewolf at full strength. What do I do?'' "Don''t worry, you are not alone." Peter saiding to his side while holding his now reopened stomach injury alongside Sophia. Just at that time, the werewolf had already gotten to their positions and then it threw a punch towards Jack''s head but Sophia together with Peter quickly threw a punch also that changed the trajectory of the werewolf''s punch causing his punch to miss. And then Jack quickly threw a kick to the werewolf''s stomach causing it too skid a little then an arrow plunged deep into the werewolf''s stomach. Peter and Sophia looked at each other then they ran with full speed. Sophia was the first to get there and then she jumped up and threw a kick into the arrows plunging a little deeper and then Peter got there and threw a kick also that pushed the arrow deeper again. Then they quickly ran back again to join up with Jack. The werewolf just looked at them with a grin. "Pathetic." Luckily for the werewolf, the arrow didn''t go in deep so he pulled out the arrow in one smooth motion and then threw it on the ground. Seeing this, the team were visibly worried. "Guys, I have almost ran out of Qi," Jack said. "I only have enough of Qi for one more attack after that I''m out." "I also don''t have energy again." Peter added. "My injuries are really starting to take a toll on me."N?v(el)B\\jnn Unsure of what to do, they watched as the werewolf dashed towards them. When it got to their positions, it threw a powerful punch towards Jack''s stomach that sent him flying far away in pain. While it threw a back p towards Sophia''s face that sent her away also. Meanwhile Ben just kept shooting arrow after arrow but none of them touched the werewolf. Then it got to Peter''s position then it threw a very powerful punch towards Peter''s face aiming to finish him once and for all. "Stay away from my friends!" A voice was heard saying and then a hit very strong sent the werewolf flying back a few feet. Chapter 43: Fury and Frenzy Some minutes earlier, Jake and the girls finally made their way deep into town. That was when they were attacked by 10 Dogsys. When Jake''s eyesyed on them, a ding was heard in his head. ''What!?! 6 of them? How on earth am I supposed to do that?'' Jake thought. While Jake was eximing about the quest, Kate and Cindy were ready for battle but just before they charged in, Jake stopped them. "Hold on," Jake said. "I want you to leave six of the beasts for me so that you can both take out two each." "Are you sure about that?" Kate asked. "Yes!" Jake said already charging towards the beasts that were closing in on them already. When Jake got to their position, he quickly activated one of his skill that dealt 10 percent damage to his opponents. And then he started shing and attacking the beasts will full strength and speed. While he was attacking one, another beast crept on him from behind, quickly sensing this, Jake rolled away avoiding the bite then he quickly stood up and shed at the Dogsy''s neck therefore severing its neck. ''oof. One down, five more to go.'' Jake thought as he quickly went on to the next beasts. Meanwhile Cindy and Katebined teamwork, was helping them immensely. Kate stayed far back with her bow shooting out arrows at one beats at a time therefore pinning them making them unable to move. Then when Cindy was ready, she will then kill them by severing off their heads. But it wasn''t easy with other beasts heading their way. Meanwhile Jake was still somewhat struggling against the beasts. He kept dodging, weaving and striking. After a few minutes, they finally managed to deal with all the beasts with Jake using abination of the skills taught to him at the academy. He didn''t use his system skills because he wanted to save them in case Sophia and the rest were in trouble. Immediately Jake pierced his sword into thest beasts head, he heard a ding in his head. ''Wow! This reward isn''t so bad after all.'' Jake thought now deciding on checking the skills while Cindy and Kate harvest the crystal cores. ''Okay, System, being up my skill tab.'' Jake thought excitedly. "Woah! This is tots amazing." Jake almost screamed out loud. "A whole 10 percent increase in strength for five minutes!?!." "I think the system is feeling generoustely." Zeemented. "You can say that again." Jake replied. Jake decided to pull up his status screen next. "Well that''s an improvement." Jake said. And just then, Kate and Cindy were already done with carving out the beast crystals. "Okay, shall we go look for Sophia and the rest?" Kate asked. "Sure." Jake answered. And then they all head off to find Sophia. When they got to where Sophia and the rest were, they felt shockwaves going around with loud bangs as if someone was hitting someone or something. "Are they fighting with someone?" Kate asked as another shockwave hit them. They were still far away to see anything so they hastened their steps to quickly get to their Sophia. When they were just 10 feet away, they finally saw what they were fighting with. "Is.. is that a freaking werewolf?" Jake screamed.N?v(el)B\\jnn The rest of the girls shared the same fear as Jake because currently they were both trembling in fear. Teeth chattering against each other in fear. "A¡­ a werewolf!" Kate and Cindy said together. That was when they saw the werewolf hitting the rest of the guys as if they were nothing but mere dolls. Jake now noticed the werewolf heading towards an injured Peter. Seeing this scene, the memory he tried so hard to push back about his parents death, they were now resurfacing. ''No no no, I won''t lose my family again to a damn werewolf!'' Jake screamed in his mind as he ran towards Peter in an attempt to protect him. As if answering to his scream, a surge of power erupted in Jake''s body as he dashed towards Peter with such immense speed like never before. And then he finally got to the Peter''s side then he threw a strong hit that managed to push the werewolf back. "Stay away from my friends!" The werewolf was very surprised by the fact that a human managed to push him back. Peter had his eyes closed initially awaiting his presume death but that was when he heard the voice and opened his eyes to see a curly jet ck hair in front of him. Immediately he recognized who it was. "Jake!" Peter shouted. "What are you doing here? You aren''t supposed to be here. You could have ran away, why did youe here?" To which Jake just turned around and smiled. "Why shouldn''t I havee here? I couldn''t leave my family behind while I run away." Peter just smiled back. "How about we take that wolf down together." Jake quickly shook his head. "No, that''s not a good idea. You are terribly injured. So go get yourself treated I will handle this." Jake then turned around to face the werewolf with anger evident all over his face. His fists were clenched tightly after seeing the state his friends were in. Then the werewolf came striding towards Jake casually as if he didn''t have any care in the world about the new arrival. "Oh wow! Another annoying toy to y with." Jake just kept his head down and was shaking, no, more like he was trembling but not In fear it was in anger and then he lifted his head up and looked up at the werewolf. "I''m gonna beat you to death for what you did to my friends." Jake screamed out loud. "Let''s see you try." The werewolf said dashing towards Jake with full speed. Chapter 44: Survive your fight When Jakeid his eyes on the werewolf, he heard a ding in his heading from his system. ''Huh??'' Jake thought confused. ''Another question marks reward? If I remember correctly, thest time I saw a question mark in the reward category, I got a lot of rewards.'' Jake just smiled and looked at the werewolf. ''So the system thinks I can''t win this fight huh? I will prove you wrong and you better give me a good damn reward!'' Currently, Peter was far back with Kate and Cindy who were too scared to move. They were watching Jake''s fight with the werewolf. When the werewolf dashed towards Jake, it tried to swipe at Jake''s neck but Jake quickly slid under the werewolf''s legs and made a cut on its leg. Then Jake moved back again waiting for the werewolf. ''Haha, this is just like the VR Game. With me sliding and shing at a werewolf''s legs.'' Jake thought. Zee didn''t say anything because he didn''t want to distract Jake. Zee wanted to remind Jake that this was reality and not a game. That was when the werewolf charged right at Jake again and then threw a fist towards Jake''s stomach but Jake quickly pivoted towards the side therefore avoiding the hit barely.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Jake quickly shed the werewolf''s hand that threw the initial punch but the werewolf quickly pulled back its hand therefore avoiding the hit. And then it quickly threw a kick towards Jake''s stomach that sent him a few meters back in pain. ''Crap,'' Jake thought. ''If it wasn''t because of my high level of Endurance, I''m sure my rib would have been broken.'' Before Jake coulde up with something, the werewolf was already in front of him then it threw an uppercut towards Jake which flung Jake up. Raising him towards the sky but before Jake could go flying away, the werewolf grabbed Jake''s legs and mmed him down on the floor therefore creating a mini crater in the ground. Then the werewolf moved back to observe if Jake would stand up again. After a few minutes, Jake struggled to his feet. Spitting out blood, Jake narrowed his eyes at the werewolf. "That f**king hurt." "Oh! A tough kid." The werewolf said running towards Jake but Jake didn''t move one bit. He waited and waited until the werewolf was just a foot away from him then Jake quickly activated. technique to move behind the werewolf then Jake quickly did the ''Primary Guard'' skill and then made a sh towards the werewolf''s neck. The sword lunged a little bit deep into the werewolf''s neck but it didn''t go in further because of the strong hide of the werewolf. Then the werewolf quickly turned around and hit Jake on his face with its elbows sending Jake back a few feet. ''Damn! This basic tier sword can''t do anything but leave a few scratch. What do I do now?'' Jake thought worriedly. "Jake just keep the sword for now and fight with your fists." Zee adviced. "Huh? Are you nuts? You want me to fight with my fists? If a sword couldn''t do anything, how do you expect my fists to do any damage?" Jake asked angrily. "Just trust me." Zee said. "Most of your skills require you to use your fists, and they won''t work well with a sword in your hand." ''That''s true. Zee make a good points.'' Jake thought but before he could do anything, he felt a stinging p on his face that sent him flying to where Peter and the rest were. Seeing Jake flying, Peter quickly jumped up and caught him, safely bringing him over to their side. "Crap! That p hurt." Jake said annoyed. That was when Kate and Cindy snapped out of their daze. "I''m so sorry Jake," Kate apologizeding over. "I should have helped but seeing the werewolf earlier, I froze." Jake just shook his head and slowly stood up while coughing violently. "Don''t worry, it''s okay. I would have also froze just like you if it wasn''t because I saw Peter in danger." "I''m sorry too." Cindy apologized. "I will back you up to the best of my abilities." "Same here." Jack saiding over while slightly limping. "But you''re injured." Jake said. "Don''t worry," Jack reassured him. "My Qi is slowly making me heal up faster, so I can still fight." "I will also help," Ben said. "Well in my own way. That wolf took the lives of my friends so I also want to get payback." "Well, count me out." Sophia saiding over with her body all riddled with wounds. "I''m too injured to do anything." "Alright then, we still have a wolf to take down." Jake said then he turned to Ben. "Do you know how to use a sword?" "Yes, but barely. I only know basic skills in using the sword." "It will have to do." Jake said handing his sword over to Ben. "Wait what! What are you going to use?" Ben asked. "Don''t worry, I have my fist." Jake replied running towards the werewolf with full speed. The werewolf was already running towards Jake also and then they met in the center with a big bang. With the werewolf throwing an over head strike towards Jake''s head and Jake ducked avoiding it while also giving the werewolf a strong hook to the stomach. Then the werewolf quickly kicked Jake in the stomach therefore putting space between him and Jake. Immediately Jake moved back, an arrow quickly flew past and hit the werewolf on his shoulder therefore distracting him. Just right at that time, a fist hit the werewolf in its stomach sending it more than a few feet. And then a sword strike followed it on either side. With Cindy striking one side of the werewolf and Ben striking the other. The sword strike only went a meter deep into the werewolf''s skin before they pulled back and created space between them. Unknown to the werewolf, Jake used one of his system skill to get behind it and he activated also and he gave the werewolf a full on heavy punch that sent it flying towards Jack who in turn readied himself and moved thest Qi in his body to his hands and then to his fists and he gave the werewolf an uppercut that sent it flying up. While the werewolf was flying up, Kate kept on firing arrow after arrow at the werewolf. In fact Ben switched from the sword in his hand to a bow and arrow and started firing out arrows after arrows at the werewolf. After a few seconds, the werewolf fell back down heavily that it created another crater on the ground with dusts everywhere. Finally after a few seconds, the dusts settled and the students could all see the werewolf slowly standing up with its body riddled with injuries all over but there was still a grin on its face. "Is that all?" The werewolf asked. "Is that all you guys got? Even with you guys teaming up, you couldn''t still defeat me." "Says the guy who is riddled with injuries all over." Jake replied. "We managed to injure you to this degree so it''s just a matter of time before we defeat you totally." "Oh! injuries?" The werewolf asked with a raised brow. "What injuries?" And then, the werewolf''s body started to heal up quickly. All the scratches and injuries they made on the werewolf, all of them were fading away leaving the werewolf looking good and new. "Did you guys forget that we have supernatural healing?" The werewolf asked with a smirk on his face. "Honestly, yes I forgot." Jake answered. "But it doesn''t matter, I''m still gonna beat you." "Oh really!? Fine, let''s see you try." The werewolf dashed towards Jake again and so did Jake dash towards the werewolf with full speed. And in less than a second, they met in the middle. Chapter 45: It is not over unless I say so! When Jake and the werewolf shed in the center, they were engaged in a full on fight. This time, the werewolf was taking the fight seriously. It kept avoiding all of Jake''s hit and skills. The werewolf still carefully avoided the arrows sent his way. That was when Jack managed to find his way to Jake''s position and he waited for the right time. Immediately the werewolf struck Jake back causing him to skid, that was when Jack came in with a kick to the werewolf''s ribs but it didn''t make it flinch one bit. ''Crap without my Qi, this fight will be harder than I thought.'' Jack thought quickly moving back to reposition himself. That was when a sword strike from Cindy came in towards the werewolf''s back. It caused a deep scratch on the werewolf''s back. Feeling a little bit of pain on his back, the werewolf quickly turned around and gave Cindy a punch to the face sending her flying. When the werewolf turned around, it totally forgot about Jake who just rapidly punched and tore into the injury that Cindy made on its back earlier while activating his skill therefore causing 10 percent damage to the werewolf. The werewolf quickly turned around and swatted Jake away. It tried to move to purse Jake but an arrow was shot out stopping it from moving forward. That was when Ben and Jack came in. With Jack jumping up and throwing out an axe kick towards its head while Ben used all his strength to sh at the Werewolf''s legs. The werewolf had only two options, either take Jack''s hit and dodge Ben''s hit or the other way around. So the werewolf quickly pivoted to the side avoiding Jack''s axe kick but he was cut on his legs by Ben and an arrow wasing towards its head but the werewolf caught it and then snapped it. Jack and Ben moved back to reposition themselves that was when Jake came in again with a heavy punch aimed at the Werewolf''s head but his fists were caught by the werewolf then it looked at Jake with fury written all over its face.N?v(el)B\\jnn "I have had enough." The werewolf slowly and quietly said. "Enough is Enough!" The werewolf shouted out loud and then it punched Jake repeatedly in his face, his chest and stomach. Causing Jake to cough out blood. Jack tried toe in to try and save Jake but the werewolf quickly stomped his foot on the ground very hard therefore causing dusts and stones to go flying out, making it impossible for Jack to see properly. Then the werewolf lifted Jake and mmed him to the ground again before flinging him far back away from him towards one of the somewhat okay torn down buildings. Causing Jake to crash into it and go skidding away. The rest of the gang didn''t know what happened to Jake and they didn''t have anytime to worry for the werewolf was now going after Jack next. When it got to Jack''s position, it gave Jack an uppercut and before Jack could fly up, the werewolf grabbed Jack''s legs and mmed him down again causing another deep crater. The werewolf lifted Jack again and kept on mming him down again and again therefore adding more depth to the crater. Then finally, the werewolf moved back and then jumped up high and then fell back again trying to stomp on an unconscious Jack''s head to death. But Jack quickly regaining a sliver of consciousness, he quickly rolled over but he didn''t have the strength to get up. "It''s over." Peter said shaking his head In fear. "We can''t win this fight." The others agreed with Peter. Shaking her head, Kate ran forward to join the rest of the guys. "I''m not gonna go down without a fight. I can''t keep on shooting arrows, I need to get at least a good hit on that wolf if I''m gonna die." Kate got to Jack''s position and managed to move him back a bit. And then she got in position with Cindy and Ben by her side. Quickly running forward, Kate got to the werewolf''s side. Seeing this, the werewolf wanted to punch Kate but she ducked avoiding the hit and threw a roundhouse kick towards the werewolf''s head thatnded squarely causing the werewolf''s head to m on the floor. Then she stomped on the werewolf''s head over and over again. When she tried to stomp again, the werewolf grabbed her leg and slowly stood up then it did its signature move by mming Kate on the ground again and again. The hit affected Kate more than she thought. She heard a crack in her side. Seemingly her ribs being broken. Finally the werewolf stopped mming her and then he kicked her hard on her side sending her skidding back. Ben and Cindy didn''t even have a chance to attack and now the werewolf''s attention was solely on them. Before they could move, the werewolf was suddenly in front of them. With a punch to the face, it sent Cindy flying back to Sophia''s position. Then it quickly grabbed Ben''s head and started squeezing hard as if trying to pop it. Ben feeling his consciousness slip away from him, tried to do everything he could on the werewolf by stabbing it with his sword but it didn''t work and then finally Ben''s head popped loudly. The werewolf didn''t stop there, he made sure to eat Ben''s body therefore leaving now trace of Ben. This act totally freaked the rest of the gang that were still far back. They couldn''t help but shiver thinking about what the werewolf will do to them if it got its ws on them. After devouring Ben''s body, it slowly walked towards Kate who was slightly conscious and coughing violently because of her injuries. Then it grabbed Sophia''s head and looked deep into her eyes. Then it opened its mouth and smiled then he said. "It''s all over." He was about to bite Sophia''s head off but then suddenly its head stopped moving and then slowly it let go of Kate''s head making her drop to the ground. Looking at its hand, the werewolf could see someone holding onto it. The werewolf recognized the curly ck hair and hazel blue eyes. It was Jake holding onto him. "It is not over unless I say so." Chapter 46: The Timely Hero Earlier when Jake was punched so hard that he flew into one of the somewhat okay torn down buildings, his back hit the wall therefore causing it to break and allowing him to enter the building. Jakey there unmoving because he actually felt terrible pain coursing through his whole body. His ribs were broken therefore making it some what hard for him to breathe, his face was all bloody and even his head was bleeding. After a few minutes, Jake managed to sit up while resting his back on the wall of the building while also taking deep breaths. "Crap! I''m so terribly injured. What do I do now? How am I gonna win this fight? At this rate, we are all gonna lose if something doesn''t change soon." "Oh heavens! Why was I given such a silly host?" Zee asked no one in particr. "What do you mean?" Jake asked in between coarsed breath. "Why are you fighting like your friends?" "What do you mean?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "You have something no one else has. You have a system, so use it. Jake use the system. You have more skills at your disposal than any of your friends then why don''t you use it?" Zee chided. ''I guess Zee is right. I have been acting like a fool and not making use of what is at my disposal.'' Jake thought. ''Well, that ends now.'' Jake then opened up his system and navigated to his skill tab. *************************** This were all the skills Jake currently had in his system. He nced at the one that could currently benefit him right now. Before he did anything else, Jake also opened his status screen. N?v(el)B\\jnn ************************** "Damn! My HP is currently low, I think this skill will be quite useful now." Jake thought while activating his skill, and then immediately, his HP increased a little bit. ************************** "Haha, Good thing this works otherwise, I don''t know what I''m gonna do." Jake said. ''Okay, now that is done with, it''s time to payback that wolf.'' Jake exited the building with his body all sore and his face and head still bleeding. Just when he exited the building, he was met with a scene that horrified Jake so much. He saw the werewolf popping Ben''s head and devouring his body whole. Then he noticed the werewolf looking towards Kate who wasying on the floor. Seemingly sensing what the werewolf was about to do, Jake quickly ran forward and activated his skill. increasing his strength by 10 percent. Quickly ncing towards his system, he saw it worked for his system was disying, Instead of the former 35. He saw the werewolf going for Kate and lifting her off the ground meanwhile, Jake was just 5 feet away. Then the werewolf lifted its mouth to bite Kate''s head off and then finally, Jake got there and held on tightly onto the werewolf''s hand causing it to let go of Kate. "It is not over unless I say so." Jake said with his eyes zing with evident fury. Then Jake quickly kneed the werewolf In its stomach with full strength almost knocking out the wind from the werewolf''s mouth. Then Jake lifted the werewolf up by his hand then he mmed the werewolf down with full strength therefore a huge crater to form on the ground. Then Jake moved back a bit while looking at the werewolf who was carefully get out of the crater. "You¡­ how are you so strong suddenly?" "That is for me to know and for you to shut the f***k up!" Jake screamed as he dashed towards the werewolf. And then started rapidly punching the werewolf but the werewolf was carefully avoiding the punches that was aimed at his vitals while waiting for a chance to attack back. With each hit Jakended, loud bangs and shockwaves was been spread around everywhere. It was evident that Jake was putting his all in his hit. Meanwhile his friends that were watching were suddenly confused. "How is Jake suddenly so strong?" Peter asked with a raised brow. "I mean we all saw how the werewolf easily dealt with him and then Jake went flying to a building and now he came back stronger than before." "Let''s just hope it is enough to defeat the werewolf." Cindy said while bringing a slightly conscious Kate over so she won''t be caught in the cross fire. Meanwhile back at the fight, Jake was still rapidly punching until the werewolf angrily let out a bit of energy that pushed Jake back a bit and then the werewolf tried to dash towards Jake but it was unable to move one inch because Jake had activated, therefore keeping the werewolf stunned and unable to move. To which Jake just smiled and quickly picked up a sword and activated and and then he started rapidly attacking the werewolf all over and over again with all his strength. Finally, the time limit for Frenzy strike and stun strike psed and then Jake quickly used the ''Triple Threat skill'' to get behind the werewolf who was now riddled with injuries from head to toe. "Is that all you got?" The werewolf asked with a sinister grin that made him look like a demon from hell coupled with his injuries. "I''m just getting started." Jake smiled and quickly dashed towards the werewolf. Luckily, was still active. He still had 2 more minutes on the timer to go. Using The Triple Threat technique, Jake got to the werewolf''s position in less than a second, and then started swinging his sword all over the werewolf from head to toe while the werewolf was now taking the fight seriously by dodging, avoiding and hitting back with full strength. Jake used The Triple Threat technique again to get behind the werewolf and then he quickly used The Primary Guard sword strike he learnt to sh at the Werewolf''s back causing the de to go more than deep into the werewolf''s neck therefore causing the werewolf''s neck to spurt out blood. Jake then moved back again to create a bit of space to look at the werewolf for an opening to strike again. ''Damn! I only have enough stamina for one more Triple Threat technique.'' Jake thought worriedly. ''oh well, I need to make it count then.'' Instead of waiting for Jake toe at him, the werewolf ran towards Jake and in response, Jake quickly used the Triple Threat technique to go around the werewolf and he swung his sword towards the werewolf''s hand with his full strength and then finally, he managed to cut off the werewolf''s hand but it came at a cost. Jake''s stamina was depleted and the skill was over leaving Jake on his knees panting hard due to exhaustion. The werewolf stopped running and it looked at its stump that once had his hand on it with anger evident on his face and then it lifted its head to look at Jake but it could see Jake on his knees gasping for air. Trying to take advantage of the situation, the werewolf now calmly walked and smiled towards Jake who was screaming at his legs to move out of the way but he was truly exhausted. His friends seeing the werewolf walk towards Jake, decided to run towards Jake to at least assist him. Especially Peter who had somewhat regained his strength. So currently Peter, Cindy and Sophia were the ones running towards Jake because Kate and Jake were to weak to move. It turned out that they will be toote to help because the werewolf was now holding onto Jake''s curly hair with his one remaining hand. "I gat to admit, you are really strong for being able to chop off my hand." The werewolf said looking at its stump again. "But don''t worry, it will heal up nicely after am done eating you and your friends." Jake hearing the werewolf''s threat, tried his possible best to move but he was unable to. Then the werewolf opened its mouth wide to eat Jake and Jake also closed his eyes seemingly epting his fate. Meanwhile, his friends seeing the werewolf''s mouth inch closer and closer to Jake''s mouth, they screamed out loud unable to do anything for they were to far away but that was when a gust of wind blew on their face and when they looked up, they could see someone running towards Jake with an inhuman speed and finally he got Jake''s position and chopped off the werewolf''s one remaining hand that was holding onto Jake with ease as if he were cutting through butter. Chapter 47: A strong teacher Just when all hope seemed lost, just when Jake thought he was going to die at the hands of the werewolf, then from the corner of his eyes, he saw someone run towards the werewolf and chopped off the hands of the werewolf with ease as if a hot knife was cutting butter. Then he heard the man shout out, "Do not touch my students with your filthy hands!" Immediately the werewolf''s hand was cut off, Jake fell down and looked up to see who saved him. It turns out, it was sergeant Lee that saved him. The rest of Jake''s friends finally got to Jake''s position and they were as shocked as Jake after they saw sergeant Lee but they quickly got over their shock and managed to pull Jake out just in time so he won''t be caught in the cross fire of the battle between sergeant Lee and the werewolf. Sergeant Lee after seeing the students move out of the way, finally turned to face the werewolf with his eyes zing with fury. Meanwhile the werewolf was still in shock after seeing his hand being cut off so easily. The werewolf just stood looking at its stump that earlier held his hand. Now, the werewolf had its two hands cut off. That was when it lifted its head to look at the human who managed to cut its hand off. "You.. you managed to cut my hand so easily. How? How did you do it?" Sergeant Lee didn''t respond, he just calmly walked forward a bit then he took a fighting stance. And then sergeant Lee exploded forward with such force that the ground beneath his feet was broken. And then he swung his sword at the werewolf''s neck. Quickly snapping out of its daze, the werewolf quickly ducked avoiding the hit. Without its hands, the werewolf was limited to only dodging now. Sergeant Lee quickly repositioned himself and dashed forward towards the werewolf again. When he got to the werewolf''s position, instead of his sword, sergeant Lee used his leg to throw a roundhouse kick that connected sessfully with the werewolf''s head causing the werewolf''s head to go crashing down on the floor with such force that it made the werewolf''s whole body bounce a few times beforeing to a halt. The students who were all watching sergeant Lee''s show of strength, were in so much awe at what they could see. "Are we all seeing the same thing?" Peter asked with his mouth wide open. "Yeah, and I thought that Jack was the only one who could make the werewolf go flying like that." Cindy said. "You guys shouldn''t forget that I''m just a student and sergeant Lee is a, well a sergeant." Jack said while standing to get a better view of the fight. Jake who was also watching the fight was quite disheartened. ''I guess I still have a long way to go before I can handle a werewolf on my own.'' Meanwhile, after bouncing a few times, the werewolf finally came to a halt and then slowly stood up with its head bleeding slightly. Then it smiled at sergeant Lee. "And here we thought that the humans have gotten weaker. We should really have attacked sooner." Sergeant Lee still didn''t reply, he just ran towards the werewolf again and when he was close enough, he used The Triple Threat technique to get behind the werewolf, he pushed off from the ground again and then swung his sword very fast and cleanly. Then sergeant Lee dropped now smoothly and walked towards the students without even looking back. The werewolf didn''t even feel anything, it just stood there stunned and then finally, it felt a shooting pain across its neck and it finally realized its done for. ''We have truly underestimated the humans. We should have attacked soon¡­'' then the werewolf''s head fell off its body and its body followed next. Lee then finally got to the students position. "Was that the only one?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The students for a second there, they forgot how to speak because they were so amazed by what sergeant Lee just did. The thing that they were all struggling with. That even theirbined teamwork and strength couldn''t do, Sergeant Lee did it with ease. Without even breaking a sweat. Then finally Sophia snapped out of her daze. "Yes sir, it''s thest one." "Good. Let''s all head back to the academy." Lee said already assisting Jake to stand up. "Academy?" Sophia asked. "Aren''t we supposed to be going to the shelter?" "No. We are all going back to the academy." "But what about the beast hunt?" Sophia asked again. "It''s cancelled, all the students in the shelter have already gone back to school, and anyone hunting, has been brought back." Lee replied. "But how did you know that there was an attack here?" Jake asked. "The shelter has equipment that monitors the atmosphere. So when the portal opened up, the shelter were notified but we didn''t expect for students to be all out here." "But why did it take you so long to get here?" Kate asked. "One, we didn''t expect any students to be out here so we decided to round up the remaining students that were still out hunting. Before we will deal with the threat. It was your friend I suppose, that informed the shelter that you guys were still out here." Getting their response, they decided to leave it at that and head back to the academy together with Lee. After a an hour of walking, they got to the shelter, got into the portal and was transported back to the academy. Sophia decided to suck up herins. It turns out that the score and position they got on the first day, that was gonna be their score. Meanwhile, when they all got to the academy, the whole students were given three days break because of what they experienced. While some of the students left to go to their town to visit their family or rest, Jake and the rest of the gang decided to rest up in the academy since most of them had no where to go to. While rxing at night, Jake decided to check his system for the notification he heard in his head immediately Sergeant Lee defeated the werewolf. Opening up his system to bring up past notifications, Jake was pleasantly pleased with the rewards he got. ''Woah! This is very much. Howe the system is feeling so generoustely?'' Jake thought. "Well, you deserved it. If it wasn''t because of you and Jack, you guys would have been dead by now." Zeemented. "Yeah. That''s true. Speaking of Jack, I saw first hand how that Qi is useful and now am wondering how Jack managed to learn the skill." "Maybe you can ask him tomorrow." Zee said. "For now, let''s quickly check your new skills and then so you could get some rest." "That''s true." Jack said opening up his status screen.
"Now that''s an improvement from what I was before." Jake said. "Haha, it all feels funny, from someone who was the bottom of the barrel, I am now almost equal to Jack and Sophia in terms of strength." ''Too bad the XP bar keeps on increasing the more I level up.'' Jake thought dejectedly. ''Anyway, let me see the new skills I got. They better be worth it.'' <(New) Lockdown(Lv1): Immobilizes the opponent for 5 seconds. Cool down timer; 3 minutes. <(New) Step shift(Lv1): A short, quick movement skill to create or close distance and gaps within one metre. <(New) Immunity{Passive}: This is skill is always active, it protects the host from any werewolf bite that could turn the host to a werewolf.> "Woah! Now this is so dope. To be sincere, I love this system. This is truly amazing." Jake almostughed out loud. ''Bute to think of it, the fight was really difficult. If it wasn''t because of sergeant Lee, we will all be dead by now. I really need to learn that Qi and master all of my system skills soon before another attack. And I know that perfect ce to master my new skills.'' Jake thought with a smile on his face. After more exploration, Jake decided to call it a day and go to sleep for their 3 days break will begin tomorrow. Chapter 48: Getting the hang of skills {1} Jake woke up early as usual toplete his daily quest. Although he was injured the previous day from his fight with the werewolf, nurse Hayley did a good job in healing him up. The academy had good equipment that could aid In the healing process. The ones with the more serious injuries were still in the academy''s clinic. Peter, Kate and Sophia were the ones with the more serious injuries and they were still in the clinic. Although Jack had injuries, when he visited the clinic, nurse Hayley helped his healing process go faster with his own Qi so now Jack was just as good as new. After Jakepleted his daily quest, he went back to his dorm to take his bath and then went to the school''s canteen with Vynn to take their breakfast. After breakfast, They both went to the school''s clinic to check up on the rest of their friends who were still there. When they got to the clinic, they could see the three of them chatting away although not that happily because the previous incident was still fresh in their minds. Immediately Jake opened the door, the rest of the gang turned their heads to see who wasing in. Upon seeing Jake and Vynn, they all smiled all except Sophia that was. "Hey bro, how are you doing?" Jake asked with a smile on his face. "I''m doing well, thanks." Peter answered with a smile. "That beautiful nurse really did a good job. It made me fall in love with her again." To which they allughed. "You know, if you stop trying so hard, you will quickly see a girlfriend." Sophia said. "Just act uninterested for once and you will see." "Like that is gonna happen." Vynn added. "We all know Peter, it is unlikely he will stop trying so hard." To which they allughed at Peter''s expense. They all chat some more before Jake decides to take his leave to head off to the ce where he will surely practise to get the hang of his skills and get more experience. After leaving the clinic, Jake walked away from the building and headed to another building entirely. When entering the building, he could see the shelves full of different games and the capsule pod at the back. Heading to the counter, Jake paid 90 credits for three hours leaving him with a total of just 50 credits. ''Ah damn! I need to think of how to make money soon other than the allowance given to us by the academy.'' Jake thought while heading off to the Gaming capsule. When Jake got to the capsule, he got into the capsule and logged in. When Jake logged into the capsule, he was flooded with multiple notifications. "Huh? What is all of this?" Jake thought about checking the notifications one after the other. It turned out the notifications were all friend requests from different yers asking to be Jake''s friend. "Huh? Why are they suddenly sending me friend requests? What is going on?" Unknown to Jake, after his match with the shark fighter, the yers that were spectating his match, uploaded the video to the online forum therefore gaining Jake quite a number of fans because the Shark fighter was none as the strongest silver yer and Jake managed to defeat him hence the friend requests. Immediately Jake logged in, those on his friend lists, and those that set their game to ping them when the wolf hunter logged in, were now alerted so now, they were all waiting for Jake to start a game so they could witness something awesome again. Quickly swatting away the friend requests, Jake decided to check his system skills to see the one that he will prioritise in learning first before moving onto the next. After going over the skills over and over again, Jake finally decided to prioritise learning the skill first before moving onto the next skill. After checking everything if it was ready, Jake decided to start his first match for the day by dividing his time as usual into three. With the first hour battling against werewolves, second hour battling against humans on his rank level and thest hour using the quick search button to match him randomly with human opponents. When Jake was done finalising everything, he decided to start the match by battling with the werewolves. After clicking on the ''Fight with werewolf'' button, and waiting for a few seconds, a werewolf finally appeared meanwhile the stands were now half filled with spectators that wanted to see Jake perform something awesome again today. Immediately the werewolf appeared, the big countdown clock appeared again. And when it counted down to 0, the match started with Jake dashing forward. Chapter 49: Getting the hang of skills {2} Immediately the werewolf appeared, the big countdown clock also appeared. And when it counted down to 0, Jake dashed towards the werewolf with full speed. When he got to the werewolf''s position, he swung his sword quickly towards the werewolf''s stomach but the werewolf quickly pivoted sideways therefore avoiding the hit and allowing Jake to keep on running forward. A secondter, Jake stopped running and quickly turned around to face the werewolf. ''Woah! Have I gotten faster?'' Jake thought. "You foolish host!" Zee chided. "Have you forgotten, your stats have all increased so definitely, you have gotten faster." "Oh I totally forgot about that." Jake said taking a stance while not taking his eyes off the werewolf. "Oh well, I just have to get the hang of my new speed as well as my new skills." It wasn''t only Jake that noticed he had gotten faster, his regr three fans had also noticed it because they had always watched Jake''s match from ever since when Jake defeated them in the match and so it was easy to spot that Jake had gotten faster. This only added to their excitement. The werewolf was now smiling at Jake which also causes Jake to grit his teeth in anger. ''Why did they have to make this game so realistic. Looking at this werewolf, keeps on reminding me of the one we encountered yesterday.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Not letting his anger get to him, Jake closed his eyes and breathed in and out before taking a stance again and calcting the best way to approach the werewolf. Finallying up with a n, Jake ran towards the werewolf but without his full speed. While the werewolf ran towards Jake but with its full speed. When the two were about to collide, Jake quickly activated skill to get behind the werewolf then he also quickly activated therefore boosting his strength by 10 percent. From <45> to <55> therefore making him stronger than all Peter and Sophia but not as strong as Jack when he uses Qi. And then Jake rather than use his sword, decided to quickly use his fist therefore punching the werewolf with full strength. The hit caused the werewolf to go flying instead of skidding. Instead of moving, Jake stopped and looked at his fist for a second in astonishment. The spectating stands were also very quiet with what they just witnessed. Because in the history of Reality X gaming, no silver yer had ever sent a werewolf flying like that. It was only possible from the Gold rank and above. Quickly snapping out of his astonishment, Jake smiled and dashed towards the werewolf again with half his normal speed. He didn''t want to use his full speed for what he was about to do now. When Jake was now one metre away from the werewolf, he quickly activated and . The stun strike made the werewolf unable to move for a second while Jake was going through the motion of the step shift. The step shift made use of short, quick movement to create or close distance and gaps within one metre. When Jake activated the step shift, he got the timing wrong therefore sending him stumbling in the path of the werewolf who was now finally free from the effect of stun strike. Seeing Jake stumbling towards it, the werewolf readied its fist and then it swung it hard and fast therefore sending Jake flying to the other end of the tform. After some minutes, Jake came to a halt from the impact of the Werewolf''s punch. And then he slowly stood up but he was on his knees coughing hard. "Shit shit shit!" Jake cursed angrily. "How on earth did I get the timing wrong?" "You didn''t get the timing wrong, more like, you got the speed wrong." Zee said. "What do you mean?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "Didn''t you read the skill description? It said short and quick movements to close or create distance or gaps." Zee said. "Yeah I know that already. What''s your point here?" Jake asked impatiently. "My point is, I''m tryna advice you. The system was tryna tell you how to use the skill by saying short movements to create gaps and quick movements to close gaps or distance. So my point here is, use short movements to create gaps or distance while the quick movements to.." "To close the distance." Jake replied. "I see my mistake now. I used short speed or movement to try and close distance instead of using quick and fast speed. Thanks Zee." "You''re always wee Jake." Jake''s talk with Zee only took a minute while in reality, it took only a second. So now Jake finally stood up from the ground with a smirk on his face. ''Time to pay a werewolf back.'' The werewolf calmly walked towards Jake with a grin on its face meanwhile, Jake checked the time limit on the strength Surge. Seeing he had 3 minutes left before the skill was over, Jake quickly dashed towards the werewolf with full speed this time and when he was almost a metre away, he activated another skill. as the name implies, he locked the werewolf down therefore rendering the werewolf unable to move. Then when he was finally a metre away, Jake now activated the to close the distance between him and the werewolf and this time, it sessfully worked. Jake was now in front of the werewolf who was now starting to be free of the effects of Lockdown but it was toote for the werewolf''s face was now met with a full on fist from Jake sending it crashing down again. Then Jake quickly moved forward and used his sword to stab the werewolf on its head therefore ending the game with Jake being dered the winner. The spectating stands were now totally silent and amazed by the splendid performance Jake did. And then finally, they all snapped out from their daze and apuded Jake loudly while also cheering him on. It was because of the cheer, Jake now acknowledged that there were people In the spectating stands. Not caring about them, Jake wanted to just move on to the next game of the day. One newer in the stands, was confused with the people''s excitement and cheering. "I don''t get it, just because he defeated a virtual werewolf, you all are now suddenly excited." One of the first initial three fans of Jake whose name was Nate decided to reply him. "Huh? Oh now I get it, you haven''t been following the wolf hunter from the beginning. That exins why I haven''t seen you before." "And so?" The man asked with a raised brow. "You still haven''t exined what the fuss is all about." To which Nate just chuckled. "The reason everyone is excited, is that, the wolf hunter doesn''t disappoint. Anytime he log out, he alwayses back stronger than ever. Like the skill where he closed the distance between him and the werewolf, he didn''t have it before nor did he used it in his previous matches." "Oh really?" The man asked. "Yes. And he was definitely not strong enough before to punch a werewolf and send it flying like he did earlier. It''s like he just got a strength boost all of a sudden and it wasn''t even a week when west saw him y the game." The other initial three named Sam replied. The man didn''t ask any questions, he just stroke his beard and continued watching Jake who was now starting another match with a werewolf. It wasn''t strange for men to be ying the game, it was because some of them usually used it to practice and sharpen their skills. And in the spectating stands, most of the spectators weren''t using their gaming avatar. Most of them appeared the way they were in reality. Meanwhile no one could identify Jake''s identity because he was using his gaming avatar. The man after hearing what Nate and Sam said, was now in deep thought. ''Could the wolf hunter be the one?'' The man thought as he stroke his beard. ''Could he be the one I have been looking for? The kids said he alwayses back stronger than ever and anytime hees back, he uses skills that he didn''t use before. Could he actually be the one? If so, then I have to get him as soon as possible.'' Chapter 50: Round two After defeating his first werewolf in the previous match, and getting the hang of the , Jake decided to y another match against a werewolf and in all the match, Jake kept on using all his system skills trying to master them. After an hour of ying against werewolves, Jake finally decided to y against humans.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om This match was going to be his first match against a human after he got to a silver rank. And he was eagerly awaiting his opponent to appear. It wasn''t only Jake that was excited, even the spectators were all excited about Jake''s match against a human. Among the three first fans of Jake, they were also excited and that was when they were suddenly confused. "Huh? Where''s Dan?" Sam asked, looking among all the other spectators. "What do you mean? He was right here not too long ago." Nate replied. "Oh no!" A thought struck Sam. "Is he¡­ is he nning to do what I think he is tryna do?" "What do you mean?" Nate asked. "He must be so impressed by the wolf hunter''s growth that he might wish to y against him." Sam said. "And so?" Nate asked with a raised brow. "Dan is a silver ranked yer and I''m sure he can handle himself. And he isn''t only just a silver yer, we all know he is closer to getting to the Gold rank than any of us." And just as Sam had predicted, Dan was currently on stage about to face off against Jake. Dan''s gaming name was ''Vortex,'' his avatar looked like a futuristic, cyberpunk-inspired behemoth. Standing tall with a muscr build, Vortex has piercing blue eyes and jet-ck hair styled in a messy, spiky fashion. The avatar was d in a sleek ck and neon-green jumpsuit,plete with metallic armour ting and glowing blue circuits. A silver mohawk-like fin runs along the top of his head, giving him a menacing, high-tech appearance. His choice of weapon was a Gauntlet. A type of weapon that covers a person''s hand like a glove. "It''s good to see you wolf hunter." Vortex smiled. Jake just raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Do I know you?" "Oh, my bad. I''m so sorry, you don''t know me personally, but I know you. I know you Enough to know that I can defeat you." Jake justughed at thisment. "Defeat me? Are you serious? Anyway only time will tell who will defeat who." Jake said while taking a fighting stance. Vortex just smiled. "Oh how arrogant. Just a little bit of a winning streak, you think you can beat me? Fine, lemme humour you a bit." Vortex also took a fighting stance. And then the big countdown clock appeared again. When it counted down to 0, it signalled the start of the match. Jake didn''t dash forward like he did in all his matches against the werewolves. He calmly looked at the vortex while also ncing at his skills tab to choose the skills that will work against the vortex. "Will you just keep on standing there for the rest of the match, or will you do something?" Vortex asked, still smiling. Tired of standing around, Jake quickly dashed towards the vortex carefully then when he was a metre away from vortex, he activated to close the distance between him and vortex then he quickly used ''The Triple Threat'' technique to get behind vortex and he swung his de towards the vortex''s neck but the vortex quickly ducked avoiding the hit. Then he quickly stood up straight, turned around and punched Jake in the face with full strength therefore sending Jake skidding for a bit. Jake''s avatar now had a little speck of blooding from its nose. Instead of getting angry, Jake just smiled. ''Finally, I have seen a decent opponent to go against.'' Jake thought excitedly. ''Now let''s test all the skills to the fullest. I''m not a fool to think that I won''t have to go against humans in the future so let''s see first hand how good my skills are against them.'' Vortex noticed the smile on Jake''s face, couldn''t help but be curious as to why he was smiling. "What''s so funny?" "Oh it''s nothing, I''m just imagining what your face will look like after I beat you." Jake smiled again then he ran towards the vortex and quickly used again to close the distance and he swung his sword towards the vortex''s stomach. But his attack was stopped by vortex''s hand which was holding onto Jake''s de. And then he threw a kick towards Jake''s stomach thatnded sessfully but Jake didn''t flinch one bit instead, he let go of his de for a second and then he quickly threw a hook towards Vortex''s neck thatnded squarely therefore making vortex''s head to crash on the ground and bounce a few times beforeing to a stop. Jake then calmly picked his sword from the floor while the vortex was also getting up from the floor with a trickle of blood dripping from his head. But there was a smile on his face. Meanwhile, everyone in the stands were all at the edge of their seats. Especially Vortex''s friends, they didn''t even know who to root for because they admired the wolf hunter and Vortex was their friend. Regardless, they could both agree on one thing and that was, the fight was surely entertaining. Back at the fight, the vortex calmly stood up and smiled at Jake. Meanwhile Jake was just thinking of what skills to use now and then an idea popped into his head which made him smile inwardly. ''Let''s see how he handles thisbination of skills.'' Jake thought in amusement. ''I think it''s time I stepped it up a notch a bit.'' Vortex thought. "Are you ready for round two?" Vortex asked with a smile. To which Jake just smiled back. "Always ready and I gotta warn you, I''m not gonna take it easy on you now." This made the vortex almostugh out loud. "I was just about to say the same thing to you. You took the words right out of my mouth." With that short conversation, it was now finally time for round two between the wolf hunter and the vortex. Chapter 51 Not strong enough After watching Jake battle against werewolves, seeing how he improved, Dan decided to y against him too. This made Dan send Jake a battle invite. After epting, Jake and Dan went toe to toe for some minutes and then finally after a few minutes, they halted to observe each other properly. And then after a few minutes, it was finally time for round two between them. Jake and Dan stood opposite each other with a smile on each of their faces. And then Vortex was the one this time to make a move by dashing towards Jake and then throwing a punch towards Jake''s face but Jake easily avoided it by ducking but unfortunately, Jake''s face was met with a knee kick from Vortex that managed so fling his head back.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The knee kick caused Jake to stagger back a bit then he managed to regain his footing but the vortex was already in front of him with a punch to Jake''s stomach. Jake curled inwardly because of the strength of the punch and then he received another knee kick again to the face but the kick didn''t connect for Jake used his hands to block the kick and then he quickly lifted his head and threw a kick towards the vortex''s rib which connected sessfully. Explore more stories at empire Then Jake moved back quickly to create distance but he didn''t go past one metre and then he quickly activated , , and all at once for one deadlybo. Immediately he activated , the distance between him and the vortex was instantly closed then he started attacking the vortex rapidly with full strength. The strength of Jake''s punches were creating loud bangs and little shockwaves everywhere. And then both wore off at the same time but Jake kept attacking the vortex with a punch to the face, a kick to the rib, an axe kick on the head and a hook to the vortex''s neck that sent him flying back. The vortex was still on the floor for a few seconds before he slowly got off with blood on his face but there was still a smile on his face. "You think you have won? But sorry to burst your bubbles, you haven''t." Meanwhile in the stands, Dan''s friends were all the more impressed with Jake''s skills for he managed to cause Dan to bleed. While the man who was sitting down, eyes now widened like someone who just saw a ghost. ''I knew it. It looks like my suspicion was spot on.'' ''So the wolf hunter is really the kid with the orb. I recognize that skill he used. The one that made someone unable to move therefore making them vulnerable although, it''s still a bit weak. I need to find him before he slips away from me.'' The mah thought while getting ready to exit the gaming room. ''But I thought they said he attended an academy, hold on, I think the academy has a gaming room, I need to find it now! And get that kid.'' The man who turned out to be Jim thought as he exited the gaming room and came out of his capsule. The academy''s staff room had a bunch of the capsules there so that the staffs could also practice their skills without getting hurt so that was what Jim was doing initially before he found out about a rising star in the gaming world and he decided to check him out after seeing the countless videos uploaded on the forum of all the wolf''s hunter matches. Quickly exiting the staff room, Jim was on his way to the academy''s gaming room. Meanwhile back at the fight in the gaming room, after getting off from the ground with a smile, the vortex was just looking at Jake before he decided to say something. "You know, you are strong. In fact strong enough to even make me bleed. But you are just not strong enough to defeat me or even give me a tough enough match. I''m sorry," Vortex said dashing towards Jake with tremendous speed that he didn''t use initially In the fight. And then he got to Jake''s position in less than a second, then he quickly grabbed Jake''s neck. "You can fight against me again when you are stronger." Then the vortex snapped Jake''s neck therefore ending the game and dering the vortex''s as the winner. Immediately Jake lost, it left a sour taste in his mouth but he decided to suck it up and y another match after all, win and loss were all apart of life. He can''t always win. Sucking it up, Jake decided to y another match. But he quickly realized that the number of strong human opponents he wasing across in the silver rank, was more than the bronze rank. He couldn''t help but shudder at the thought of those that were in Gold rank and above. After an hour and thirty minutes of ying, Jake finally decided to call it a day by logging out of the game. When Jake exited the capsule, he noticed that most of the students had already left the gaming room so he also decided to do the same. Jake left the room to head off to his dorm room but not without checking up on his friends in the clinic. Meanwhile, one hour fourty five minutes earlier, when Jim exited the room to head off to the gaming room, he ran very fast to get there so he could catch the wolf hunter before he left. When Jim got to the gaming room''s entrance, that was when a message yed out from his watch. "Will all staffs report to the meeting room, including the sergeants and Generals. If you aren''t here in the next thirty minutes, you will heavily punished." The voice said. "Darn it! Just my luck. Why must it be now? I wish I could disobey them, but I don''t want to take the risk." Jim said while turning around to head off to the meeting room. He was even tempted to turn around and head inside to get the wolf hunter but he decided to obey the call. "Don''t worry kid, I''m gonna get you soon. It''s just a matter of time." Chapter 52 Prepare for war! When Jake got to the clinic, he could already see his friends sitting and chatting quite excitedly and nurse Hayley was checking up on Peter again meanwhile Peter''s cheek had a tinge of red on it because of nurse Haley''s touch. Kate and Sophia couldn''t help but face palm themselves because of the way Peter was behaving. The opening of the door, was what distracted them a bit when they could see Jake, Jack and Vynning in. The three of them had met each other on the way so they decided toe over to the clinic together. Seeing the door open, Nurse Hayley decided to leave the friends together so they could have privacy. The went to take a sit beside their friends beds. "So how are you guys feeling now?" Jack asked. "I''m feeling much better now. After getting personally checked up on." Peter replied with a smile on his face to which Sophia and Kate just shaked their heads again in disappointment the way Peter was behaving. They kept talking to each other some more that was when Cindy came into the room . "Hey guys!" "Oh hey Cindy, how are you doing?" Peter asked with a smile. "I''m doing well thanks." Cindy replied with an equal smile then she turned towards Jake with a more radiant smile on her face which didn''t go unnoticed by Kate. "How are you doing Jake?" "I''m fine thanks." Jake replied also shing a smile at her. This caused Kate to frown deeply and mumbled some incoherent words under her breath which didn''t go unnoticed by Sophia. ''Oh I see.'' They talked among each other some more. "So when are you guys gonna be discharged?" Cindy asked. "As a matter of fact," nurse Hayley came in. "Your friends have all healed up quite nicely and they will be discharged this evening." "Are you sure we are all healed up nicely? Coz I don''t mind spending another day here." Peter said which earned him strange looks from his friends. "I mean, what if we aren''t healed up properly and it causes a problemter." "Oh please." Sophia rolled her eyes. "I''m just saying." Peter said. Jack justid his hand on Peter''s shoulder. "Please stop talking bro." "Don''t worry, you guys are all good to go." Nurse Hayley said with a radiant smile on her face. "Alright then, let me go and prepare for your discharge." Nurse Hayley left and then Sophia turned to Jake. "So how did you guys know where to find us the other day?" Jake just shrugged. "I didn''t. I just went into the orange zone and looked for you guys besides it wasn''t that difficult. You guys left a trail of dead beasts so it was quite easy to follow and that''s how we got your location. The only thing was that, we weren''t expecting a wee party from a freaking werewolf." Remembering the werewolf, it caused Jake to shudder in fear. ''The good thing was that it was a low power, a runt. I can''t help but shudder at the thought of meeting something higher. That is more reason why I need to get strong fast.'' Jake thought. After a few minutes of waiting, nurse Hayley finally came and discharged the rest them. And then they all went to their dorm room along with. When they got to their dorm, they first of ally down to rx their brains before they did anything. That was when Jake decided to pop a question to Jack. "So Jack, do you care to exin how you know and use Qi so well?" Jack just sighed and then sat upright. Seeing Jack sitting upright, the rest of the room also sat upright because seeing Jack sitting like that means the truth and Sophia wanted to see if Jack would say the truth now or not. "So you see, the reason I know Qi, is because my family knows how to use Qi too. Infact my family were part of those that discovered Qi. And I know that you guys are gonna ask how they were part of those that discovered Qi," "So let me save you guys the stress. The reason I said my family were part of those that discovered Qi is because they are part of the Big three So they kinda, sort of taught we the children and possible heir." After Jack just dropped that bombshell, Peter, Jake, Vynn and Kate were both dumbfounded. The only ones not surprised by this were Sophia and Cindy. "I''m guessing the both of you knew the truth." Jake asked while looking at Cindy and Kate to which they both nodded. "What! Why won''t you guys tell us?" Vynn asked. "Well I already told you guys, the Big three identities are top secret and I only told you about Sophia because I thought she told you guys. Then seeing you guys not knowing anything about them, I knew straight away that you didn''t know about Jack so I kept quiet." Cindy said. "And you?" Kate asked Sophia with a raised brow. "The Big three identities and family members are only meant to be kept secret. The public aren''t supposed to know much information about them. The public are only meant to see them as this type of gods that managed to push the werewolves back. So that''s why I kept quiet." Sophia replied. "Exactly." Jack chimed in. "So now I''m trusting you guys to keep our identities secret." They all sighed and then nodded together agreeing to keep it a secret. And now, they all turned towards Jake with quite a strange look on their faces. Jake now was confused and raised an eyebrow. "What? What''s with the weird looks? Why are you guys staring at me like that?" "Jack told us the truth about his identity and how he got his strength, now it''s your turn to also confess." Sophia said. "Confess what?" Jake asked with his heart racing fast and hard. ''What did they figure out? Why are they asking me to confess?'' "We all saw you go head to head with the werewolf, saw him punch you and send you crashing into a building and somehow, you came back stronger and better. How did you do that? How did you survive that hit?" Peter asked. Jake was now rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Do be honest, I don''t really know what happened. When I was punched into that building, I was unconscious for some a minute before I heard a voice in my head calling me to wake up." "I woke up, came outside and saw the werewolf eating Ben and going for Kate next. I didn''t know what to do, I was panicking and that was when the desire to save Kate and protect my new family arose and a surge in strength rose in me, allowing me to go head to head with the werewolf." They all looked at Jake again with a raised brow. "I see, it happens. That is what we call love." Peter said. "What!?!" Kate and Jake screamed out at once. "It isn''t love, I''m not in love with her, it''s just a feeling of wanting to protect a loved one." Jake rified. "You don''t have to worry, you don''t need to confess now, we know what or who is in your heart." Jack said with cheeky smile on his face. "Jack you too?" Kate said this caused aughter in the room. "Oh my goodness, look at her face. Its so red like a tomato. She''s blushing." Peter said this caused Kate to pick up a pillow and threw it at Peter with a lot of strength thatnded on his stomach. "Ouch!" Peter screamed while clutching his stomach. "My injuries aren''t healed up properly you know. Or you know what, you can just hit me again and reopen the wounds so that at least, I can be with my love. Nurse Hayley." Explore more stories with empire This made everyoneugh out loud. "You do know she''s older than you right?" Sophia asked. "Who cares anyway, age is just a number." Peter replied and then theyughed and chatted a little bit more before they decided to call it a day with Cindy leaving the room to head back to her own dorm. ***************************** Meanwhile in the school''s staff room, an emergency meeting was going on with all the instructors, sergeants and Generals. At the head of the table, was one of the head generals. "I hope you understand what you guys have to do?" The head General asked.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yes sir." They all shouted together. "Good, for I will need all of you to prepare yourselves and the students for this attack, wasn''t a random attack and I''m pretty sure it''s gonna happen again. We need to prepare for war." Chapter 53 Bidding A year had passed since Jake and the rest had entered Aurora Academy. This meant it was time for them to be second years at the academy. They were still required to go through their basic Combat training and weapons training. During thebat trainingst year after the werewolf incident, many students fought for the rank 4 position since Ben was dead. So many duels happened, some of them even went as far as challenging Jack, Peter and Sophia but they were unable to best them therefore allowing them to keep their position as the top three among the first years. With the year ending, the final season of winter hade. The snow deepened and massive icicles appeared on buildings. Not all students actually made it to the end. Some had found it quite hard and daunting especially after hearing of the werewolf''s attack during the earlier beast hunt. While some unruly ones, broke the rules therefore earning them an expulsion from the academy. Most of the information Jake and his friends knew about Aurora, was being received by one person and that was Vynn. He was like their own personal bulletin board. He knew almost all the information about Aurora, the rankings and even the shift and change of the power levels. Meanwhile, Cindy ever since that day at the beast hunt, she was now closely knitted with the roomies. It was like she was now their seventh roommate by spending more time in their room than hers. Due to the training, and his daily quest, Jake had grown more bigger and muscr and his sword skills were now much more than decent. Jake was now more than a match for Peter but he wasn''t still on Jack''s level because of the use of Qi but that will all change now that they were in the second year because, they will all be taught Qi when they got to second year. The power rankings between the roommates had changed over the years. Currently, Jake was now the new number 4 of the academy, Kate was the new rank 5, Cindy rank, 6, Vynn rank 10 while Peter, Jake and Sophia still held their previous rank. Ever since the day of the beast hunt, Jake hadn''t receive any major quest from the system again but he was still keeping up with his daily quest and leveling up nicely but over the years, the XP bar had further increased therefore letting Jake hit a bottle neck in terms of leveling up or gaining new skills. Currently, Jake''s status was.. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om **************************** While his skills remained the same without receiving any new skills. Today was a weekend, so Jake decided to go out into town. He hadn''t gotten any chance to do that because of everything that happened and what happened in town thest time but now he was finally ready to go because he was capable enough to protect himself. When going to town, Jake took his basic tier katana de with him along. After the beast hunt, they all shared the crystals between each other equally so currently, the whole team each had a basic tier weapon. Jake left his dorm with a destination in mind. When he got to the gate, he was told to scan his watch by the soldiers to confirm he was a student and they also asked where he was headed and the reason. After a few hours of walking, Jake finally got to the town. He noticed it looked a little different with more buildings and less ruins. As he walked pass, he saw the happy smiles on the children faces and some of the adults. Then he walked a bit more to the library. Jake entered a big building that was used as the library. Inside, he could see rows and rows of wooden shelves filled with different type of books. Picking the books he wanted to read, Jake went towards a table and sat down then he started reading. The book currently in his hand, was a technique book. A book about swords and basic techniques. Jake read the book for thirty minutes straight and then he closed it up. ''This book is just teaching about what I already know I need something else.'' Jake thought as he opened up another book to read. After skimming through the book for a few minutes, there was now a smile on his face for this book had a little better technique. He kept on reading it word for word and image for image till he could remember it by heart. After two hours of reading, Jake decided to head out of the library. He wanted to explore the town better and possibly get some things on his way back. He kept on looking at all the different stalls and then he spotted a beautiful ne in one of the stall. It was glistening like a diamond. Jake walked towards it and was staring at it then an image of Kate appeared in his mind. This ne will definitely suit her. "I see, that''s quite an excellent choice you got there young man." The man behind the stall said. "I guarantee you, this ne will be perfect for whoever you put on." Jake wasn''t even listening to the man''s ramblings he just picked up the ne and looked at it properly then he smiled. ''This is perfect, I know she will surely like it.'' "How much does it cost?" Jake asked. "150 credits." The man replied. ''Yikes, that''s quite a lot.'' Jake thought looking down at his watch that disyed the bnce of 600. Jake would have had more credits if it wasn''t for the game. Over the years that Jake yed the game a lot, thankfully he hadn''t encountered Jim probably because he was busy or something. Meanwhile, the man was getting impatient at Jake. "Will you buy it or not?" The man asked with a little bit of anger in his voice. Jake decided to suck up hisints about theck of money and decided to pay for it. "I will take it." ''wait, I didn''t say that.'' Jake thought as he turned around to look at who said that. When Jake turned around, he could see a young beautiful female in a flowing red gown with a body guard of some sort beside her. "But I picked it up first." Jake said. "It doesn''t matter." The girl turned towards the stall owner. "I''m gonna pay you 200 credits for that." The man''s eyes were now quite greedy as he went to snatch the ne from Jake but Jake quickly moved his hands away and then turned to the girl. "I''m gonna pay 300 credits for the ne." The girl now smiled and turned towards the stall owner. "How about 800 credits. Final offer." The man''s eyes were now showing money signs on it. Meanwhile Jake just kept his head down he knew he didn''t have enough money topete with that. He lost both the bidding war and the ne. The stall owner just snatched the ne from Jake''s hand as he went to wrap it up for the female. Meanwhile Jake was already walking off. ''I need to earn more credits and I think I know how to.'' Jake thought as he left to head towards one more building before he left the town which is, The Guild hall. Chapter 54 Pay up After losing the ne, Jake decided to head off to the Guild hall. ''If I remember correctly, Cindy mentioned that travellers go somewhere to get tasks or be hired for a particr task. So there''s surely going to be a Guild hall of some sort here. Every town has it.'' Atst, after a few minutes, Jake finally got to the Guild hall. It was the biggest building in the town and it stood right in the centre with the words ''Guild Hall'' above the building. Upon entering the building, Jake saw long tables with groups of people on it that Jake could only assume where adventures. Then to the right, was a huge bulletin board that was split up into different sections, above each section was a letter that went from F to S. The further down one went, the fewer quest they were as they got harder. Jake looked at the bulletin board and noticed that they weren''t quest that went beyond C ss. In fact, they were only two quest on the C ss. ''I guess in a small as this, there''s no one strong enough to take up a quest stronger than the C ss.'' Jake thought as he carried on moving, he noticed there was a separate bulletin board which was small in size. On top was written the word "Guild quests." Jake was staring strangely at the board as he didn''t understand what it meant or what any of what he had been seeing meant. That was when he heard a voice. "I see, it looks like you are not from around here or something." Jake turned around to see who was there and he noticed that it was the female he was bidding against for the ne. Seeing her, Jake wanted to leave the ce. That was when she stopped Jake. "C''mon are you upset about the ne?" "No I''m not." Jake answered not even looking at her as he wanted to head towards the counter but his hand was grabbed. "I''m sorry for that. It''s just that I needed the ne for something and if you badly want the ne, I can give it back." "I don''t want your charity." Jake said as he wriggled his hand free and then went off to one of the tables and that''s when he saw a man sitting on the table calmly drinking. Jake greeted the man, to which the man responded politely then Jake went ahead to ask questions that he had about the Guild hall since he saw the man was most likely an adventurer. "Uhmm I gotta ask," Jake said talking to the man in front of him. "What''s the meaning of Guild quests?" The man raised an eyebrow and looked up from his drink and looked Jake again for the second time and then sighed before he took a swig of his bottle and answered Jake''s question. "Hearing you ask this question, I can see you are not from around here. And looking at your dressing, I think you are a student." The man said while sipping his drink. Jake looked down at his uniform. He didn''t have much clothes and the ones he had, were all worn out so he just decided to put on his uniform and head into the down. "It would make sense why you don''t know about it." The man continued again. "You see, this guild hall is owned by the government and its part of the town, so it doesn''t belong to any specific guild. Some quest will be too much for a person handle so they put up guild quests. These quests are based on your guild rank though which is separate from an individual rank." Jake decided to ask more questions as he was suddenly interested in these sorts of things. "So how does one rank up and get to the next rank?" The man took a sip from his drink again and responded. "For each quest a personplete, they would get two types of points, Guild points and ranking points. You are only allowed to take quests based on your rank and once you reach enough points, you would be upgraded to the next rank." "And also, mind you, they are three types of Guildhall. One of them is run by the government that it means it doesn''t belong to any of the Big three such as ours. The second type of Guildhall, is run by the Big three. The Big three each had different Guilds that they run. While the third, are private Guildhalls, they don''t fall under the government or Big three. They are their own people." "So if I get it right, the government type of Guild isn''t In the control of the Big three right?" Jake asked. "Yes. The Big three do not control any of the government type Guildhall." The man replied. "So how does a government Guildhall earn money to function?" Jake asked again. "Government Guildhalls, earn their ie from quests and beast crystals trade. When a quest is put up, and a government Guildhall ept andplete the quest, the money will be used to maintain the Guild." "So how can I be a traveller?" Jake asked with a smile on his face. "Just head there." The man pointed to a counter behind him and Jake set off but not without saying Thank you to the man for all the information. Jake head off to the counter there to register as a traveller so he could earn more credits. Unknown to him that a pair of eyes kept following him everywhere which belonged to the female that bought the ne that Jake wanted earlier. "What''s wrong miss Helen? Why do you keep looking at that kid?" The bodyguard who kept following her asked. "I don''t know Berg." Helen replied. "I just took an interest in him. I feel like there is something special or interesting about him." "So when are you going to be done observing him?" Berg asked again. "When he leaves." Helen replied as she went to take a seat. Berg didn''t say anything, he just took a seat opposite her and they kept on observing Jake who was now at the counter. "Hi, good day." Jake greeted the middle aged man who was at the counter. "Hi, how can I help you?" The man asked. "I want to register as a traveller." Jake said. "Alright that will be 150 credits." The man said to which Jake paid the man and his name was registered then he was given a tag and was told to prick himself with the needle provided to him and put the blood on the tag so it could be bonded to him and registered. Jake did everything and the tag now changed and disyed the letter F on it. Immediately Jake collected his tag, he was about leaving because he wanted toe back the next day toplete quests but as he was about leaving the counter, the doors to the Guild swung wide open with force and four heft looking men came in with a mean look on their faces. "Alright, it''s time for you guys to pay protection money." The leader who had a scar across his face said and because of the scar, he was given the name Scar. Everyone shivered in fear and one of Scar''s men brought a little watch and started going around while everyone were transferring the credits from their watch to the watch held in Scar''s men hand. Jake who was still thinking about the Guild, tag and how he will earn money didn''t even really notice scar and his men as he was on his way out of the building but he was stopped by Scar. "Hey, Kiddo! Where do you think you are going?" Scar said, his voice booming loudly. Jake stopped and turned around. "Huh? Are you talking to me?" Scarughed out loud. "Who else am I talking to if not you?" "What do you want with me?" Jake asked now fully turning around. "What I want with you? You haven''t paid protection money. Everyone in this town, are needed to pay protection money and you haven''t." Scar said. "What if I said I''m not gonna pay?" "Then I will say, you are in a world of pain." Scar said with a grin on his face. "What are you doing kid? Just pay up and you can go freely." The man who Jake was asking questions from earlier said. Jake didn''t respond as he turned around to leave but his shoulder was grabbed by Scar. "I said you have to pay." "And I said am not gonna." Jake replied not turning around. "I warned you kid but you didn''t listen. Just know you forced my hand." Scar said stepping back away from Jake. Jake now turned around to look at Scar who''s three men were now standing beside him. "Kim, take care of the kid and make sure he pays." Scar ordered. Upon hearing his boss'' order, Kim walked forward towards Jake and that was when he could see a smile on Jake''s smile. ''Atst, what I couldn''t get in the past year, I finally have the chance of getting it.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om _________________ ******************** Author here; I wanna ask everyone a question and I will be d if you all can kindly respond. So the question is, would you all like for me to start posting extra chapters or not? Chapter 55 Handsome Stranger When Kim was ordered toe at Jake, he received a system message. ''Atst, what I couldn''t get for the past year, I finally have the chance of getting it.'' Jake smiled. ''At least, the rewards aren''ting up with question marks which means I can handle the..'' Jake''s thought was interrupted by a punch heading his way from Kim. ''Haha too slow.'' Jake thought as he quickly ducked avoiding the punch and then he punched Kim''s stomach hard that sent him skidding. Then Jake stood up straight and Kim also stopped skidding. Kim dashed towards Jake again and then he threw a hook towards Jake''s stomach but Jake quickly pivoted sideways and then gave Kim a strong axe kick on his head that sent him go crashing down on the floor not even moving one bit. This stunned everyone inside the room. But it was Scar''s scream that snapped everyone out of their thoughts. "You dare go against us? Do you know who we are? We are members of the Iron Fist Guild, the third to the strongest independent Guild. And you dared to disobey one of us? Now you''re gonna seriously get hurt." Explore more stories at empire Jake just smiled and took a stance seemingly unfazed about their words or threat. "Bring it on." Scar looked towards the remaining two men by his side and he signalled them to attack Jake. They both started running towards Jake. "You know this is the perfect time to gain experience of how to fight against humans in reality rather than some silly game." Zee said. "Yeah yeah, I have heard now let me concentrate." Jake said as Scar''s men were now upon him. One of Scar''s men, swung his sword right at Jake''s neck but Jake managed to avoid it and then a punchnded on Jake''s facing sending him skidding back. ''shit shit! I kinda forgot that am fighting two people.'' Jake just smiled again seemingly unfazed and then he quickly brought up his system skills. And activated, on the one with the sword and now Jake was finally ready. Quickly dashing forward, Jake was now one metre away from the other one then he activated and suddenly, Jake was in front of him. With a punch to the face, he was sent flying back and crashing down on so many tables therefore breaking them. Helen who was far back was now starstruck by what she could see. "I knew, I knew there was something interesting about him. But how is he able to send full grown up men flying like that? Based on his appearance, he shouldn''t be older than 17. So how?" Helen asked with her mouth agape but she quickly closed it and decided to focus on the fight. Now feeling the effect of wearing off, the swordsman was now ready to attack Jake but he was toote as Jake had already activated step shift to create distance of one metre therefore causing his sword strike to miss. Then quickly using step shift again, Jake was suddenly in front of him and then with a p to the face, the man was sent flying back andying there unconscious. Then Jake calmly walked towards Scar who was now trembling with the mixture of anger and fear. "You¡­ you shouldn''t have done that. You will surely regret this." "Do you think I care?" Jake asked as he used the step shift to quickly appear in front of scar. "I wasn''t going to disturb your business but what you did really pissed me off so I''m gonna tell you to return all the credits you collected from this people now." Scar didn''t know what came over him, he felt obliged to obey. Maybe it was because of the boy''s strange look or the disy of strength but something in his body made him obey and refund everyone their credits. Then Jake smiled as he looked at Scar''s watch. "Oh will you look at that, you still have over 2000 credits, you don''t mind me taking some do you?" Jake asked as he quickly took the watch and transfered a thousand credits to his own watch. ''this will have to do until I am able to solve my money problem.'' Feeling satisfied, Jake now turned around to leave and then Scar who suddenly realized about everything that happened decided to act fast. ''No no, I can''t let him get away without paying him back for humiliating me so much.'' Quickly dashing forward, Scar drew his weapon and then tried to stab Jake but a scream managed to alert Jake. "Behind you handsome stranger." Helen screamed and then she realized that she had called Jake handsome and then her cheeks went all red. ''it doesn''t matter, you didn''t know his name and am sure he didn''t hear that part.'' Hearing the scream, Jake quickly turned around in time and then he caught the de that managed to draw his blood which came as a surprise to Jake. With his high level of Endurance, even an intermediate weapon will find it hard to draw his blood which means, Scar''s weapon was higher than an intermediate weapon. Seeing his blood dripping on the floor, made Jake''s eyes burn with fury and then he looked at Scar. "You¡­ you tried to kill me?" Scar didn''t respond as he was struggling to push the de into Jake''s stomach to finish him once and for all. But Jake just furiously snap the de but he struggled before he could do so then with half of the de in his hand, Jake thrust it forward with full speed and strength that not many people could keep up with towards Scar''s neck but his hand was stopped. "Stop!" The voice ordered. And then turning around, Jake could see that it was a soldier holding his hand. Quickly realizing what he was about to do, Jake was now feeling quite guilty so he quickly left there by running away with full speed. Scar also left but not without waking his gang members up. ''i promise kid, I''m gonna pay you back with interest for what you did.'' Scar thought as he left the Guildhall.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Meanwhile Helen was now upset that she didn''t even get to know the boy''s name. "I hope we meet again." ___________________ *********************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy And if you just wanna talk to me and ask some questions then you can chat me up on Discord. Chapter 56 Out of the Guild After running out of the Guildhall, Jake was now on his way back to the academy. ''Phew, that was a close one. I can''t believe I won that fight so easily.'' Jake thought as he kept on running back to the academy. It took an hour toe to the town while walking but now he was running so within thirty five minutes, Jake was now in front of the academy''s gate. Scanning his watch, Jake was now heading towards his dorm room. He got to his room and then fell down on his bed due to exhaustion from running for thirty minutes non stop. Actually, he wasn''t that tired because he was used to running whenpleting his daily quest. His friends were all in the room talking when they saw Jake enter. Jake just decided to rest a bit. After thirty minutes of resting, Jake decided to check the rewards given to him afterpleting the quests. Jake now pulled up his status screen to decide where to allocate the stat points. ''Okay, so now where can I allocate these points?'' Jake thought as he was quite confused about where to allocate them. ''Hmm, I already have a good number of strength and especially if I were to use strength Surge then I even surpass Jack. That is if he doesn''t use Qi and my endurance is quite high, I rarely feel pain and basic weapons don''t hurt me again so that leaves me with agility.'' "It''s not a bad idea to allocate the stat points into speed, because I noticed you werecking In speed so I think it''s best to allocate the points to agility." Zee said. ''that was what I wanted to do.'' Jake thought as he quickly allocated the stat point to his agility. >> 47> Satisfied with this, Jake now sat up on his bed. "So where were you?" Peter asked. "I went to town." Jake replied. "Hope there was no trouble?" Peter asked. "No, there was not." "Okay, that''s great." Peter replied. "We were just discussing how busy our schedule will be starting from tomorrow." "Oh yeah, our homeroom ss is gonna change, thebat training teacher is gonna be different and we are finally gonna be taught how to use Qi." Jake said excitedly by the prospect of learning Qi. "It''s not only that," Cindy said. "I even heard about something but am not sure." "And what''s that?" Kate asked. "That second years will all go beast hunt in an orange coloured portal. We are to hunt intermediate beasts." Cindy said. "Obviously," Sophia said. "We are gonna do that but it''s gonna be at ater time so don''t worry. They wouldn''t send a bunch of students who do not know how to use Qi to an orange portal." "That''s true." Vynn said. "I can''t believe we are in our second year." Jake said. "Oh how time flies." They all kept silent and then Jake nced at his watch. "It''s just 6pm, do any of you have any idea of what we should do to pass time?" They all shook their heads before Cindy smiled. "How about we do a little bit of exploration." "What do you mean?" Kate asked. "I mean, we are technically second years now so we will be given a little bit more freedom than before so, I propose we explore the nearest town a bit and find something interesting to do." "Well count me out." Jake said whileying back on his bed. "Why? What happened?" Kate asked. "You don''t wannae with us?" "No it''s not like that. It''s just.." "Just what?" Peter asked. "C''mon it will be fun." "I can''t." Jake said. "You just literally came back from town so why can''t you go back?" Sophia asked. "Because, I caused a bit of a mess when I was there earlier today." Jake said. "What did you do now?" Kate asked, fearing the worst. Jake then sighed and stood upright from his bed then he recounted everything that happened when he went to town from bidding for the ne to trying to be a traveller and then crossing Scar''s gang and beating them up. "Oh boy. This is quite bad." Jack said. "What do you mean?" Jake asked.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "You beat up members from the Iron Fist Guild? That is a problem." Jack said. "How''s that a problem?" Kate asked. Continue reading at empire "Because the Iron Fist Guild, are the third to strongest independent Guild in the world. Aside from the big three, the academy, the independent Guilds are the next big thing." Jack exined. "Well luckily, it is only low level members you beat up and not someone high up otherwise you might be in big trouble." Sophia said and then Peter startedughing out loud that made all heads turn to him. "I am so sorry, it''s just amazing and funny at the same time." Peter said stillughing. "What''s funny?" Sophia asked with a raised brow. "No seriously, are we just going to believe that Jake beat up members from the Iron Fist Guild without even getting a scratch on him? I mean, even though they are low level members, they are still strong." "Well I don''t think Jake is lying, why will he even lie In the first ce?" Kate asked. "I''m not lying and you can choose to believe it or not but if you guys are going to town, then count me out maybe next time." Jake said as he went back to his bed to sleep. "Good going Peter." Kate said. "Anyway I''m also going to sleep." "It''s not my fault that Jake''s story is quite unbelievable." Peter shrugged. "Anyway, I''m off to the VR room, I haven''t been in the game for a while." "Mind if I tag along?" Vynn asked. "Sure why not." Peter said as he and Vynn headed out of the room for the VR gaming room. Meanwhile Sophia, Jack and Cindy all went their own separate way to do their own thing. ************************* In an unknown building a little farther from town, some people were in a dimly lit room while someone was sitting on the chair with some sort of cigarette. "So you are saying, a Kid beat you guys up that''s why you couldn''t deliver." The man said as he took a puff calmly from his cigarette. "Yes boss." Scar said while still down on his knees. The man angrily kicked the table in front of him that went flying towards a wall and the table broke in pieces. "And you aren''t ashamed of yourself? A Kid beat you and your men and youe down here and tell me that without doing anything." "I''m sorry I failed you boss." Scar said with his head down. "No no no. You didn''t fail me, you failed yourself. You''re a failure and our Guild do not ept failures so here is my verdict." The man said, taking another puff of his cigarette. "You are out of the Guild, no argument or pleading. Now get the hell out of here before I do something terrible to you." "Yes boss." Scar said while walking out of the room and out of the building. ''I promise, I will find you kid and I will kill you. If I don''t do that, then my name isn''t Scar.'' _____________________ ************************* For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Chapter 57 The Next Phase Today was Jake and his friends first day as second years, there was no grand celebration or anything. They were at war and every precious second counts. The students were told to gather in the dining hall. Training sses were cancelled for today as they were to be updated on their new schedule. They had finally made it to the dining hall after a few minutes of walking. Today, the five Generals stood side by side on the stage to greet them all. Jake and his friends went to sit at their usual table to listen to what the Generals had to say. Before they could getfy, one of the head generals stepped forward. "Wee all of you, I congratte each and every one of you forsting this long in the academy. Many has left the academy due to the toughness and how hard the training were but the rest of you managed to persevere to this day. So I congratte you." General Julian said. "Unfortunately for you all, the second year is were the main training begins." Behind General Julian a holographic list appeared. "Behind me here is the list of clubs you may join. You need to think about your choice carefully for this will now be your main focus for it will rece your basic training." Jake looked at the list and saw some clubs that pretty interested him. He saw clubs like, Healing club, survival skills club, Alchemy club, Battle strategy club, Martial Arts club, Hand to handbat club and so on. Jake was now in deep thought about which club to join but his thoughts was interrupted by General Julian. "Now listen up to your schedule from now on. You will all still attend homeroom ss but it''s going to be for half an hour then you will move straight to your weapon club, you will practise for an hour then you will move to Qi training you will spend three hours there since it''s very important and then straight to your club and you will spend three hours there." "So you will retire to your dorm by 5pm to rest. After the 5pm, you can do whatever you want but you have to be back before curfew which is by 10pm otherwise they will be severe consequence. Do you all understand?" "Yes sir!" They all shout at once. "Anyints?" General Julian asked again. "No sir!" The whole students shout out again. "Good. My colleagues here will tell you whatever is left." Julian said moving back to stand with his colleagues. And that was when General Paul stepped forward. "Good morning everyone. General Julian has said everything but there''s one thing I have to add." General Paul said. "Thebat rankings you had when you were in your first year, wasn''t something random. The rankings which were used in yourbat training, will now be used in school. If you were number 1 in yourbat training ss, now you will be the number 1 in all the second year unless someone takes your position through a duel." Paul exined.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Just as General Julian here said, there won''t bebat training ss instead we have reced it with clubs. Thebat training ss was mostly used to build your strength and stamina for your second year. Oh, the direction to your new respective sses and club has just been updated to your watches." Immediately Paul said that, all the students watches made a ding, checking it, they could see all the directions to different ce in the academy. Them being In the second year meant more privileges. "One more thing." Paul said. "Your level rankings that you got initially in your first year, has been cancelled. The main focus will be your rankings now. The reason being that, when you were in the first year, the power level was used to motivate you to grow stronger and surpass your pairs. So now, being in the second year, your rankings will determine how strong you are. There will still be the asional duels. You can challenge each other." Paul said. "Okay, I think that is all for now, tomorrow sses start as you have been told. Today is your free day off. You can do whatever you want. That is all the briefing now. Dismissed." Paul said and all the students shuffled out of the dining hall to their new dorm room in the second year building. On the way there, Jake and his friends plus Cindy couldn''t help but discuss about what the Generals told them. It was a lot to take in. "Woah! And I thought we had it rough in the first year but now am being told that, that was them going easy on us." Peter said. Stay updated with empire "Are you scared?" Sophia asked. "Scared? Me? Pfft, why would I?" Peter asked. "You know if you are scared, you can always drop out." Sophia said with a cheeky smile on her face. "So you could get rid of your rival. Haha, nice one but it ain''t gonna work." Peter said. They all justughed at Peter''s and Sophia''s bickering. "So what clubs are you guys thinking of joining?" Vynn asked. "Well I don''t think any of us has decided just yet." Cindy said. "Well you guys better decide quick because we are expected to head to our clubs tomorrow." Jack said. "We will think of that when we get to our rooms." Kate said. "I know you have something in mind about the clubs." Zee said. "Yes, I''m currently stuck on two choices. The hand to handbat club or the martial arts club." Jake said. "Huh? Is that what''s bothering you?" Zee asked. "Yes. Why?" Jake asked. Jake could have sworn he heard Zee sigh in frustration. "The choice is very simple but you are here over stressing it." "How is it simple?" Jake raised a brow. "Why do you need martial arts training when you already have a cheat?" "Meaning?" Jake asked seemingly confused now. "I mean, your system skills. If we look at the way that they are, their description and their use, you would see that they are designed in some sort of martial art way. Take for instance your skill it''s some what like Triple Threat technique but much more advanced so you see." "I kinda understand your point. So what do you suggest?" "I suggest you go for the hand to handbat club. Because it''s not everytime you are gonna be with a sword. There mighte a time where you will lose your sword and what next?" Zee said. "I see your point now." Jake said. "Good. You are wee." Jake smiled and then he looked forward. He didn''t even realize that they had gotten to their new dorm in the second year building. Entering in, they could see it was just like their dorm in the first year with the single study table and three bunk beds. Quickly unpacking, the students decided to call it a day by going to sleep early so they could wake up early for the next day was going to be their first day as a second year. Chapter 58 Second year It was finally the next day, the day for their first sses as second years. The day they will be a full fledged second year. Overnight, the roommates had already chosen the clubs they wanted to attend. With Jake already sending the Hand to handbat club option to the school, Kate decided to go for the Healing Arts club which will take ce in the academy''s clinic. Sophia chose battle strategy club, Peter chose Martial Arts club together with Jack while Vynn chose the Survival skills club they didn''t know about Cindy since she doesn''t stay in their room. So after a few more discussionsst night, they finally went to sleep and now it was finally the day they had been waiting for. Jake woke up early as usual and slipped quietly out of the room to head over to the second year gym. He inputted the code given to them, went inside and started his daily quest. The gym was mostly like the one in the first year side of the wing but with more equipment. After an hour of working out, Jake finally decided to take a break and nce at his status screen. Continue reading at empire Jake sighed. "It''s been a long timeing huh zee?" "Indeed it is." Zee replied. "I can''t believe that once upon a time, this screen disyed my stats as being low. As in, my strength was in number 20 and now it''s in 49 but I just have a feeling that it isn''t enough. I mean who knows, I don''t think I''m still strong enough to defeat a werewolf." Jake said. "Although, I''m pretty sure I can handle a runt." "Just like I told you once before, patience. If you are patient enough, I''m sure you will grow stronger and look like you did and yes I know it isn''t enough but it''s still an improvement." Zee said. "You know, when I first met you, I was upset about having a voice in my head following me around and watching all of my moves. I even hated you for the fact that you kept telling me to be patient when I wanted to grow stronger." Jakeughed. "But over the year, I grew fond of you. Sometimes the way you scold me, reminds me of my dad. Probably that Is the reason I even hated you because I didn''t want anyone to rece my dad or take his role. But I think I have epted my fate and I don''t hate you anymore." "Wow! That''s quite emotional. Although I will pretend like I didn''t know earlier about you hating me. But I have always liked you and I will continue to help you grow stronger in order to defeat your foe. That''s my promise Jake." Jake smiled and decided to stand up to pack up and head to his room. "You know, the way you talk sometimes makes me feel like you are a human and not an AI." ''Yeah I guess. I just wonder how you will feel when you know the truth.'' Zee thought in the part of his mind that Jake couldn''t ess. "Did you say something?" Jake asked as he was already closing the door to the gym. "No I didn''t." Zee replied. Jake then just shrugged and started heading back to his dorm. "I guess I''m just hearing things then." After a few minutes of walking, Jake finally got to his dorm room. His roommates were already awake while Jack was in the bathroom taking his bath. After an hour, the whole room were ready for the day. When it was 7:50am, they went to the canteen to take their breakfast. When it was 8:50am, they headed to their homeroom ss. Getting in, they all took their seats. Jake, Peter and Vynn sat together at the back. While Kate and Sophia sat together in front and Jack was sitting on his own somewhere else.N?v(el)B\\jnn And slowly as the time ticked, the ss was now getting full with studentsing in but it wasn''t like before, because some of the students had dropped out of the academy due to the toughness. The ss was now half the size it used to be in the first year. When it was 9am, the doors to the ss opened up and their new instructor stepped in. With a clean and neat uniform, standing 8ft tall with sses on his face and his blonde hair neatly swept back, instructor Jim stepped in. "Good morning students." "Good morning sir." The students replied. "I''m so d to see new faces here. Anyway, my name is Instructor Jim and am going to be your homeroom teacher in your second year in this academy." Jim smiled. After introducing himself, Jim decided to start the ss. "This dude is the opposite of Instructor Thompson." Peter whispered to Jake and Vynn. "Yeah he is smiling a lot while Thompson kept his face straight no smile on it." Vynn replied. "It will surely take some getting used to." They now kept quiet to listen to Jim''s ss. After teaching for a few minutes, Jim decided to say something. "Do any of you know why your power level was cancelled and now reced with rankings?" They all didn''t answer because they were also confused when they cancelled. "It isn''t cancelled in the whole academy. The power level will be used in your first year while the rankings will be used from your second year till you are out of the academy and the reason is because," "When you are in your second year, there will be a school tournament between you guys and the third years." Jim smiled. The students were all visibly surprised including Jake and his friends. "So the reason why I''m telling you guys is because I want you all to work hard and not disgrace yourselves. And also, after learning the basics of Qi, you will all be allowed to hunt once a week aside from the normal one week hunt." Immediately Jim finished talking, his watch beeped loudly. "Oh there''s my time. See you all tomorrow again. Now ss is dismissed, head to your next ss." Jim smiled and the students headed out of the ss for their weapons ss. But Jake had a thought on his mind. ''If what Jim said is true, then there''s a chance of me facing Sebastian''s elder brother; Harry.'' Jake smiled. ''Now, I have to grow much more stronger to pay him back for hurting me and my friends.'' ______________________ ************************* Congrattions to My Werewolf''s yer System, for being sessfully contracted. So now, there''s an option to vote with Golden tickets. It will make me d if you all can vote with your power stones and Golden tickets. Chapter 59 Qi Training After leaving the homeroom ss, it was time for the students to head to their Weapon ss. Jake, Sophia, Jack and Cindy were walking together to get to their Weapon ss. Getting there, they could see Von in his sitting position. It turns out, that Von was still going to be their teacher in the second year. When the ss was filled up, Von opened his eyes, scanned the room and then stood up. "Greetings to all of you. I don''t want to waste time with speeches, so let''s start the ss." Von said as he walked around in front of the ss. Von then started teaching the students different sword techniques, how to use them properly and some footwork. After demonstrating, Von let the students practise with the dummies. The dummies were created in a way that it will feel like fighting against a human. The dummies can dodge, attack and even defend its self. This dummy was one of many technology created by one of the big three. After an hour of intense training and practice, it was finally time to end the ss and head to their Qi training ss.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Jake and his friends were now on their way to the Qi ss, they were following the direction their watches was showing to them. The location appeared as a red dot on the map and an arrow sign indicating the direction to go. The Qi training ss seemed to be based off-campus. After twenty minutes of walking, Jake and his friends with some other students finally arrived at their destination. The entrance of the hall where their Qi training will be taking ce was an open gate with two big red pirs on each side. On top of the pir was a single wooden sign. The entered the gate and walked into a peaceful garden. Stay connected through empire The garden had a stone statue to the right meditating in the middle. At the end of the garden, was a single huge building with one floor. The students walked towards the building, opened it up and they could see a middle aged man in the middle meditating with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. The students filed in, in a straight line and stood in the middle. Jake was somewhat in front of the line with Peter, Jack and Vynn. "What''s it with middle aged men and meditation?" Peter whispered towards Jake and Vynn. When the whole students were now in the room, the man opened his eyes and then stood up. "Wee all of you to your first Qi training ss." The man greeted with a smile on his face. "Before we start the lesson, let me introduce myself. My name is General Kron, a Qi specialist." Kron said. When Kron Introduced himself as a General, most of the students were shocked but they quickly got over it since they had mostly seen him in the academy whenever they wanted to be addressed. "Now I don''t want to waste time, so let''s start with the ss. Before we practice, you need to know what Qi is. Qi is the force or power from inside our bodies. The strength of our bodies determine how much Qi we can hold hence the training and exercises you all did in your first year. It was to strengthen your bodies." "Now before I continue, I want the strongest of you lot toe out." Kron said. Everyone''s head turned towards Jack who in turn stepped forward and walked towards Kron and he stood right in front of him. "Now I want you to hit me in the stomach as hard as you can." "Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Yes." Kron answered. Jack then readied his hands to punch Kron. ''I better not use Qi otherwise my identity will be found out.'' Jack then readied his hand and punched Kron as hard as he could without using Qi. His punch connected with Kron''s stomach making Jack feel like he was punching metal with his bare hands but he didn''t even manage to move Kron at all. The students were all not really amazed since Kron was a General for a reason. "Now that there, is what I call Qi. I had used Qi to reinforce my stomach so I won''t feel the impact of this young man''s punch." Kron then directed Jack back to the line and then he continued the ss. "The Qi in our body, is a flow of energy, that flow can be used on our own cells. You might also liken the flow of energy to a river. Just imagine a flowing river and the ability to direct it to wherever we want." "Just now I used it to strengthen the cells in my body to make it as hard as a rock. People who master the use of Qi very well can even slow down the ageing process in their body." Kron said. A student then raised his hand and Kron nodded towards him signalling for him to speak. "If Qi is in our body, then howe some people are able to fuse it in their weapons?" "That''s a very fine question. The flow of energy, could be extended to the extent of what we touch, almost as if it has be a part of our body. Everything in this world has a flow and we can use our Qi to either strengthen or disrupt it." Now Kron stopped talking and walked towards the students. "This is gonna take a whole lot of time but I''m happy to do it. Good thing you guys are not more than Eighty." Kron then asked two students toe up towards him and seat in front of him and then he sat down behind them and ced his hands on each of their back. "The best way to learn how to use Qi, is to experience what Qi feels like. In a second, you are going to feel a warm sensation go through your body. But don''t fret, the cells in your body will feel like they are on fire strengthening your body. I want you to remember this feeling." Just as Kron said, the students started feeling the energy seep into their bodies and then Kron started moving the energy around in their body allowing them to feel how it''s was been used. After a few minutes, he let them go back to the back of the ss so they could practice. Kron kept on going through two students until he got to Jake''s turn. He called up Jake and Jack together. Then he repeated the process on both of them. ''Huh? That''s strange, this student has a good amount of Qi. My best bet is he''s being practising but how?'' Kron thought as he looked at Jack strangely. Jack already knew he''s cover was gonna be blown but he just let it be and allowed the General to do whatever he wanted to do. Meanwhile Jake''s eyes was closed as he tried to visualize the energy and try to feel the sensation. After a few minutes, Kron allowed them to go and practice but before he let them go, he turned to Jack. "What''s your name?" "My name is Jack Dem." Jack answered with a smile as he went back to the ss to pretend to practice leaving Kron awestruck. ''Dem? As in one of the big three Dem? But how and why is he here of all ces?'' Kron thought. ''I need to look into this caseter for now I need to focus on the students.'' When Jake went to the back of the ss, he sat down cross legged and closed his eyes to practise better. After a few minutes, Jake could somewhat see and feel the energy flowing in him. He tried to gather the energy inside of him. Slowly he could sense small green particles all around his body. Jake started to gather them towards his stomach until they formed a small pea-sized ball. ''I think this was the Qi flow Kron was talking about.'' Jake thought excitedly. Jake slowly tried to use his will to move the flow to the different part of his body just as Kron did. Jake then felt an odd sensation but it suddenly dissipated. Jake was now frustrated and then he tried again and again but each time, the flow kept on dissipating. "Calm down Jake and calmly go through the process again." Zee said trying to calm his down. Listening to Zee''s advice, Jake now focused calmly but intently and then slowly, he could move the flow around his body. Jake noticed that it was easier to move it around his body when the flow was small sized. After moving it around his body a little bit, Jake decided to test the limits of his own body by erging the Qi flow. Jake then started making the flow bigger. From the pea-sized ball, to a fist size ball. When he wanted to erge it further, his body started twitching in pain a little. "I think this is your limit." Zee said. And Jake had to admit it and he stopped trying to erge it for today but he continued practise moving the how fist size ball all around the different part of his body. And then finally Kron stopped them for it was now the end of the ss. Jake had been practicing for an hour straight that he didn''t realize that time had gone. Exiting the building with his friends, Jake was excited toe back the next day for more training. ''With this new skill, some of my enemies do not stand a chance.'' Jake smiled. Chapter 60 Hand to hand combat club After exiting the Qi training ss, Jake went for his club ss alone. Since they all chose different clubs. It turns out that Cindy also chose the Healing Arts club. Jake followed the directions on his watch and went towards the building. Opening the doors, Jake saw a man doing physical exercises in the middle of the room. There were no students or anything, the room waspletely empty. The man didn''t notice someone was there for he was engrossed in his exercises. When he was done, he stood up and that was when he saw Jake. He walked towards Jake and then looked him up and down with a frown on his face. "Yes? Who are you and what do you want?" The man rudely asked.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Uhmm, my name is Jake Lucas sir and I''m here for the hand to handbat training ss sir." Jake said surprised by the man''s rudeness. Immediately Jake stated who he was and his reason for being here, the man''s expression took a 180 degree turn. His eyes glowing like someone that saw a treasure. "Say that again." The man requested. "I said. My name is Jake Lucas and I''m here for the hand to handbat ss." Jake repeated again. The man almost jumped for joy but he calmlyposed himself and looked at Jake with a grin. "Wee Jake. My name is Sergeant Sunny and am going to be your teacher for this ss. Come on in." Sunny said as he led Jake to the middle of the room. Jake then looked around and curiously asked. "Where are the rest of the students?" "Students? You are the only student there is. I haven''t had a student in years, they all view the ss as useless stuff. Youngsters." Sunny scoffed. "So good thing, for you will get my undivided attention and I promise to teach you everything I know." Jake now understood why he was initially rude and now his attitude changed totally. Sunny''s voice now snapped Jake out of his thoughts. "So today, for the next three hours, I''m gonna be teaching you three moves that you need to practice for the rest of the week. I want to inform you, although they might be useless against beast, they will be very useful against humans especially since you will be attending the tournament too." Not wanting to waste time, Sunny stood In front of a dummy and asked Jake to watch him carefully as he was going to be demonstrating the moves twice and then Jake will also have to practice it. "So the first move am going to be teaching you is called ''Guard stance'' this move is a defensive stance that aims to protect your vital organs." Sunny said while activating the dummy toe and attack him. The dummy started attacking Sunny but he didn''t attack back, he kept on dodging. Anytime the dummy was about to strike his vitals, he will quickly use to Guard stance and then he will continue dodging. Sergeant Sunny kept on demonstrating the move until Jake was confident about knowing the move. Jake stood in front of the dummy while Sunny went behind it to activate it and then the dummy started attacking Jake but he kept on avoiding each and every hit then when the dummy was about to hit his stomach, Jake on instinct, quickly used the Guard stance to protect his stomach then he quickly struck the dummy sending it flying back. Sunny was so impressed by what Jake did. Although the skill was somewhat basic, he noticed how wlessly Jake managed to perfect it, no single mistake. Thinking maybe it was a fluke, Sergeant Sunny brought the dummy back and asked Jake to do the move over and over again. Each time, Jake did the move wlessly. Discover more stories at empire ''This is kid is quite talented. But before I jump to conclusions, let me test him with more moves to know if he''s truly talented.'' Sunny thought. "Okay." Sunny pped his hands therefore making Jake stop doing the move again. "You performing the move wlessly has saved us lots of time so let''s move on to another move shall we?" Jake then left the dummy and walked down from the stage and then sunny went up towards the dummy and stood in front of it about to demonstrate another move to Jake. "This move, I call it Jab. It is a quick, precise and straight punch to your opponent''s face." Sunny said and then he activated the dummy again and stood in front of it waiting to be attacked. The dummy charged right at Sergeant Sunny then it threw a punch towards sergeant Sunny''s face but he quickly avoided it by dodging the punch then he moved back again waiting for the dummy toe at him. When the dummy came again, Sergeant Sunny quickly performed the Jab by quickly throwing a punch towards the dummy''s face with half his speed and strength. The dummy was pushed back but it came again and tried to attack. Sergeant Sunny did the jab again and again for Jake to see. Deciding that Jake had seen enough, Sergeant Sunny stepped back and allowed Jake to try perform the Jab on the dummy. "It''s okay if you can''t perform the mov¡­" Sunny''s words were cut short for Jake performed the move perfectly without making any mistakes. ''Maybe it''s a fluke right?'' He thought but Jake performed it like thrice with each wless. Smiling to himself, Sunny decided to teach Jake thest move for the day. Standing in front of the dummy again, as usual sunny decided to exin the name of the move before he began. "So I call this move a Cross. It''s a powerful, hooking punch to your opponent''s head." Sunny said while activating the dummy again. Then the dummy came at him and he quickly threw the punch towards the dummy''s face. The punch connected sessfully and it made the dummy crash on the ground. Jake seeing the move was now inwardly smiling. ''I guess I didn''t make the wrong decision by choosing this club. With it, if I don''t have any weapon with me, I can still fight and it turns out this sergeant isn''t weak after all. Thank you zee.'' "You''re wee." Zee replied and if he had a face now, Jake imagined he would have been smiling. After performing the move again, Sergeant Sunny invited Jake to perform it. Jake did it once but his timing was somewhat off earning him a hit from the dummy that sent him skidding a bit. Then he calmly tried again and this time he got it right. Which impressed Sunny greatly. ''He is truly a talented kid. My first student in so many years and he turned out to be a genius.'' Sunny smiled. Jake practised the moves all of them over and over again excitedly untill sergeant Sunny''s watch made a loud ding signalling the end of the ss. "Alright Jake, this is the end of our ss today. Tomorrow, we will practise how to weave the three moves together." Jake smiled ans nodded then he picked up his bag to leave. When he was about leaving, sergeant Sunny called out. "Hey Jake! I will see you tomorrow." Sunny smiled radiantly. Jake then returned the smile back. "Sure sir. See you tomorrow too." Jake then turned around to leave the building. ''I guess there''s another ss to be excited about apart from Qi training.'' Jake inwardly smiled. Chapter 61 Back Online One weekter, Jake was in the middle of the hand to handbat room battling against a dummy with everything he learnt over the week. Jake was punching, weaving and striking back. While Sergeant Sunny was standing behind him observing everything. "Time!" Sunny said and Jake stopped, took a towel and wiped his sweat off his face. "How did I do?" Jake asked while drinking a bit of water. Read new chapters at empire "That was better than before, you managed to weave the three moves I taught you perfectly into each other creating deadly and powerful strikes." Sunny smiled. "I must say, you are improving tremendously. It''s like the universe wants you to learn hand to handbat skills." Jake smiled and went to sit in order to rest while reminiscing about the past week. The week brought Jake and sergeant Sunny closer than before. Now Jake was kinda like a son that Sunny never had. While Jake considered sunny as his mentor. The previous week, after his Qi training ss, Jake went to the Combat training ss for his second day of training. When he opened the door, he could see sunny standing waiting for him with a radiant smile on his face. "Wee Jake." Sunny greeted me. This was a great contrast to how he had initially greeted him the previous day he came. "So shall we start?" Sunny asked. "The three moves I taught you yesterday, you were meant to practise it all week but since you perfected it in a few hours, I decided to teach how to weave the moves perfectly into each other and this will be our main focus for the rest of the week." Jake nodded and then sunny went ahead to bring out the dummy and then he activated. "Watch me carefully cos this might be a little tricky so I don''t want you to rush." Sunny said as he waited for the dummy toe at him. The dummy charged right at sunny and then it struck sunny towards his stomach but he quickly used the Guard stance to protect his stomach then he made a Jab towards the dummy''s face which pushed it back a little then Sunny charged right behind it with a cross towards the dummy''s head that sent it flying back. "You see, that is how you use the three of them together." Sunny smiled. "Aren''t you worried about breaking that dummy?" Jake asked as he was getting ready to practise the move. Sunnyughed. "That dummy is made from the strongest and hardest substance in the whole world. The Hyperalloy so no, it won''t break easily. Besides, the academy has a lot of this stuff."N?v(el)B\\jnn Jake just shrugged and went towards the dummy to practise the intertwining of the three moves taught to him. Jake tried to replicate Sunny''s movement to thetter but he was always making mistakes. Sometimes in a panic, he will deviate from the hand to handbat and use his system skills. But after some days, Jake finally started getting the hang of it. It wasn''t only in his hand to handbat that Jake was doing well in, even in his Qi training Jake was smashing it albeit a bit slowly. Throughout the week, they were taught how to move the Qi ball around their bodies and to strengthen the cells in their body with it. Jake was the only one that not only managed to increase his Qi ball from the pea-size to a fist size, he managed to move it around his body and strengthen his body. Aside from the normal ss, Jack also tutored Jake In how to use Qi. And then slowly, Jake started bing stronger in the past week. So today he decided to pay Sergeant Sunny a visit for tomorrow, they will be going for their first weekly beast hunt in their second year. Sergeant Sunny was quite worried about Jake so he asked Jake to stay and possibly show him whether he had managed to perfect the skills properly. That was what led to the current situation with Jake showing sergeant Sunny all the three moves. Satisfied with Jake''s growth, Sergeant Sunny decided to let him go so he could prepare for the hunt the next but not without wishing Jake good luck. Jake left the hand to handbat club room and was just walking around. "I''m so bored now. What can I do to pass time?" "How about heading to the VR room." Zee suggested. "I mean you have only practised your skills against a dummy for the past week so how about practising against human opponents." "That is actually a very great idea." Jake smiled as he walked quickly towards the VR gaming room. Entering in, he went to the counter to pay for his time in the game. "How many hours do you n on spending in the game?" The man behind the counter asked. "Just two hours." Jake replied with a smile on his face. "That will be 60 credits." Jake smiled then he nced at his watch that showed his bnce as 1500. Jake then paid the 60 credits leaving him with 1440 credits. Jake had enough credits thanks to his haul from Scar and his gang but Jake knew that it won''t be enough. He needed to make more money and this was where the beast hunt came in. Jake was nning to hunt a lot of beasts then he will go back to town and sell the crystals for credits. After paying, Jake headed towards a capsule and then he hopped in. After inputting his user ID, he was now logged in. Immediately Jake logged in, the watches of all Jake''s fans were pinged therefore alerting them that the wolf hunter was online. Meanwhile, in a huge city, a teenage guy was in his room surfing the inte when his watch was pinged. ncing at his watch, a smile crept onto his face. "Finally, the wolf hunter is back online after so long. Let''s see how much you have improved." The boy quickly rushed to his capsule that was in his room and he also logged in nning to watch the wolf hunter''s game. Chapter 62 Still weak After leaving the hand to handbat ss, Jake decided to y the VR game so he could gain more experience using the moves taught to him by sergeant Sunny. Jake logged into the game, was met with tons of friend requests from multiple users. Jake just closed them and then decided to start ying almost immediately. This time, his time was to be spent ying against humans since his hand to handbat skills were best used against humans and possibly werewolves too. But he wanted to focus his attention on humans for now who knew he might make human enemies soon. Jake decided to y against people whose rank is silver. After a few seconds, his opponent appeared in front of Jake. Immediately his opponent appeared, the spectating stands were now filled almost to the brim with people of different ages and sizes all here to watch Jake''s match. Even Sam, Nate and Dan were there as usual. "So what do you think? Do you think he has grown stronger again?" Sam asked Dan. "I''m sure he would have gotten stronger by now. And if not, he is more than capable of handling his opponent." Dan replied not taking his eyes off Jake. There was a teenage guy in the crowd that heard what Dan and his friends said and he couldn''t help but smile. ''Let''s see how strong you are before I decide to battle against you.'' Back to the match, Jake was standing in front of his opponent calmly. When his opponent appeared, the big countdown clock also appeared and then it started counting down from 5 to 0. When it hit 0, Jake waited for his opponent who dashed towards him. In this match, Jake decided against using any weapon so currently, he was bare handed. Then his opponent swung his sword towards Jake''s neck. But Jake just ducked, then he gave his opponent a powerful hook to the stomach with half his strength because he didn''t want to end the fight just yet. The hook was still powerful enough to move Jake''s opponent away from his position. Then Jake stood up straight waiting for his opponent again. Who in turn foolishly charged right back at Jake. When he got to Jake''s position, he swung his leg towards Jake''s neck. Seeing the iing leg, Jake just smiled then he uses Guard stance to block the leg then he punched the leg hard therefore breaking a bone in the leg. His opponent screamed in pain. Even in the stands, when Jake had struck his opponent''s leg, some of the spectators squinted as if they were the one being struck. Jake then dashed towards his opponent and made a quick Jab towards his opponent''s face that managed to swing his opponent''s head back. Jake didn''t even get to use the third move, for his opponent was now on the floor seemingly unconscious and then gradually, Jake''s opponent was now fading away and the gaming system dered Jake the winner but Jake was not even happy. "Pathetic, he didn''t even give much of a match. If I keep on getting all these weak matches up, I won''t know how effective my moves are." Jake said out loud, unaware that the spectators were there and they heard everything he said. Meanwhile the teenage guy in the stand chuckled out loud after he heard Jake say what he said. ''Not strong enough huh? Let''s see how you do against me.'' The teenager left the spectating stands and then he went into his own lobby to send Jake a match invite. Meanwhile Jake was about starting his next match when the invite was sent to him. Checking the rank of the invitee, Jake''s eyes widened in surprise and ecstasy. Quickly, Jake epted the invite and then slowly a person appeared. He didn''t bother to use any customised avatar or anything, he just appeared the way he was in reality. This teenager had fiery red hair with a sword in his hand and a two pairs of daggers by his side. His face had a smile on it. He just stood there with his hands crossed. Meanwhile, upon seeing who it was, Dan nearly jumped out of his seat. Even his friends were shocked. "But why? Why would the Red dragon decide to y against the wolf hunter?" Dan said. Discover hidden tales at empire "Exactly, the Red dragon is currently ranked Gold but he''s the strongest Gold yer and very close to getting to the next rank which is tinum so why bother fighting against a mere silver rank?" Sam said. "Maybe the wolf hunter just interested him or something." Nate said. "Anyway, this should be fun and entertaining, that is if the wolf hunter couldst long against him." Sam said. Meanwhile, seeing his opponent, Jake just smiled. ''Finally, a strong opponent. Although, I would have preferred to battle against the vortex to see how much I have improved against him but this should have to do.'' Red dragon calmly stood there waiting for the timer to count down and when it did, he still didn''t move so Jake decided to take the initiative by running calmly towards the Red dragon. "Since you are not using weapons, I will also not use weapons. I want this fight to be fair." The red dragon said. Then Jake threw a Jab towards the red dragon''s face but he managed to duck avoiding the punch but he didn''t counter attack. Jake went in again but this time with a hook towards his neck but the red dragon just leaned sideways avoiding it again. Frustrated, Jake decided to use more than his hand to handbat skills but also use his system skills. Quickly using the Triple Threat technique, Jake was now behind the Red dragon then he threw a roundhouse kick that connected sessfully with the rib of the red dragon''s but it didn''t even make him move one bit. Smiling, the red dragon grabbed Jake''s leg and then hit it with such force and strength that it made a snapping sound so loud it got to the spectator stand. Jake wanted to scream out loud but he managed to bite down on his tongue. Then he managed to move back a bit with his legs throbbing with so much pain that for a second he felt that the pain was real and not just a simtion conducted by the game. ''Darn it! This was meant for me to train and not to fight against someone stronger than me just yet.'' Jake thought. "That is what you get for being greedy." Zee said. "Nothing was stopping you from declining the invite but you decided to ept now bare the brunt." While he was conversing with Zee, his leg managed to heal up just enough for him to move and run. But when he lifted his head, his face was met with a kick that sent him flying back. "Crap! What monstrous strength does this dude have and why is he being so ruthless with me?" In the stands, the spectators were confused by the red dragon''s behavior, especially the trio. "Why does it feel like the red dragon is toying with the wolf hunter." Sam said.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "I don''t know, maybe it''s because he knows that the wolf hunter is holding back that''s why he hasn''t ended the match just yet." Meanwhile, back at the fight, Jake was slowly getting up then he wiped the blood gushing out of his nose then he looked at the red dragon then he raised his middle finger towards him. "F***k you! I''m gonna pay you back In full now." The Red dragon just smiled back, not even annoyed in the slightest. "Come get me." Jake dashed towards the Red dragon then when he was a metre away, he activated Step shift and suddenly, he was in front of the red dragon. Without an uppercut, the red dragon was sent flying up but before he lifted off the ground, Jake grabbed his legs then mmed him hard on the ground. And then Jake decided to stomp on the Red dragon''s head but his foot was grabbed and now, Jake was the one on the floor with the Red dragon standing above him with a grin on his face. "You''re still so weak even with the gift given to you." Then the Red dragon stomped on Jake''s head so hard that the game was dered over and Jake was thrown back to his white space. After being thrown to his space, Jake didn''t even bother about the loss or anything, his mind was focused on one thing and that was what the Red dragon said before killing him in the game. "What did he mean by the gift given to me? Do you think he was referring to the system?" "Unlikely. I don''t think it''s possible for him to know about it. Maybe he was talking about your talented nature or something else." Zee replied. "Whatever the case, I need to talk to him again but I have a feeling he wouldn''t want to talk to me for now so I just have to try and talk to him another time." Jake said while logging off from the game to head back to his room and rest up for the beast hunt tomorrow. Chapter 63 A warning After leaving the VR room, Jake went to his room and there he saw his roommates making somest minute preparations before they went to sleep. They were all checking their equipment and other things. After some hours, they finally decided to get some sleep. While Jake was sleeping, he was having a nightmare. He saw his mother standing in the middle of the forest with a concerned look on her face. "You''re not strong enough son, be careful, you are in danger." Then he saw his mother getting stabbed in the back and then he was jolted awake. Jake''s heart was now beating hard and fast it felt like his heart was going toe out of his chest. He touched his face and he felt how sweaty he was. After a few minutes of calming down, Jake decided to check the time and noticed that it was already time for his daily quest. On his way to the gym, Jake couldn''t shake the dream off his mind. ''Why did I see my mom and what did she mean by I''m in danger. Was it just a dream or does it has a meaning?'' "Zee, did you see my dream or nightmare?" Jake asked. "Normally, I do see whatever you dream sometimes but this time, I didn''t see anything." Zee replied. Jake decided to shrug it off and then opened the door to the gym. Then he started his daily quest which was now rtively easy. He didn''t even break a sweat as he was doing the physical exercise and then he moved on to the running. After an hour, Jake was now done with his daily quest then he decided to nce at his status screen. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om *********************** Jake sighed. "I''m still a long way from levelling up. It seems I can only level up now through quests." Jake said as he stood up to leave. Jake walked for a few minutes before he got to his dorm and strangely, his friends were all still asleep. ''Huh?'' Jake thought confused. ''By this time, they would have all been awake fighting over who will go in to take their bath first.'' Jake just shrugged it off as he went to take his bath. When he came out, he saw his mother standing in front of him. "What the heck!?!" Jake shouted out loud. His mother was standing looking at him with her long blonde hair and oval shaped face and her lovely gaze. "Son, you are not strong enough. You are in danger son." His mother''s voice was now fading in and out and she was already fading away. Seeing that, Jake dashed across the room to hold his mother back. "No mom! Don''t go." Jake screamed and then finally got to his mother''s position but she was already gone. Jake turned his head left and right looking for his mom but he didn''t see her. This caused another type of pain to pierce his heart and he didn''t know when he started screaming. "Arghhh! Are you taunting me? Why show me my mom again?" Jake said as he fell on his knees crying. Jake''s shout woke the room up and then they saw Jake on the floor sobbing. Kate was the first person to dash towards him then she held him on the shoulder. "What''s wrong? Why did you shout earlier and why are you suddenly crying?" Kate asked with her voice sounding worried. By this time, the rest of the room had surrounded Jake. Jake turned around to look at who was talking to him then he suddenly hugged Kate out of the blue. "I¡­ I saw my mom again and..she was standing there and now she¡­" Jake said in between sobs. "It''s okay. Let it out. You have been keeping everything to yourself, you don''t have to carry this burden alone. We are family." Kate said while stroking his hair. Peter then walked forward. "What do you mean you saw your mom?" Jake then lifted his head from Kate''s warm embrace then he looked at Peter then he wiped his tears from his face. "I was woken up by a strange nightmare. I saw my mom in the middle of a strange forest. She was telling me that I was in danger and I should be careful that I wasn''t strong enough." Jake said as he slowly stood up from the ground. "Then I saw her again, she was standing here telling me the same thing she told me in my dream. It all felt so surreal, it was like she was truly standing here and the next thing, she disappeared." "What if it wasn''t your mom." Sophia said. "What do you mean?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "Are you saying I have run mad? That I don''t know what my mom looks like again and that I''m hallucinating." "Exactly." Sophia said. "Well except the mad part. I mean what if the reason you saw her is because you miss her and wanted to see her again so your mind yed tricks on you by giving you what you truly wanted." "I don''t usually agree with Sophia." Peter said which caused Sophia to roll her eyes. "But on this, I think she has a point. What if everything was just a figment of your imagination. Trust me, I have gone through what you went through with my parents being murdered by werewolves and me hallucinating seeing them again. Our minds always y tricks on us." "So in summary, you are all saying I''m imagining things." "Exactly." Sophia and Peter said. Jake just sighed and didn''t say anything back as he slowly made his way to his bed to rx while closing his eyes. Kate was about to go to Jake to try and make him see reason but Sophia stopped her. "Just let him be for now. I''m sure by the time he wakes up, he will be fine." Looking between Sophia and Jake, Kate decided to listen to Sophia as they all decided to get ready for the day because today was finally going to be the first day of their weekly beast hunt and they were quite excited. Meanwhile Jake was still on his bed but he wasn''t sleeping, he was conversing with Zee. "Did you see that? Please tell me I wasn''t hallucinating." "Yes I saw that too. But I don''t understand how I could see her. I think it''s because our consciousness was linked together." "Whatever it is, my mom was trying to warn me of a danger ahead so I need to be ready for anything." Jake said as he slowly stood up coz his roommates were all ready to head off for breakfast before the hunt will begin. Chapter 64 Hunting time After breakfast, they all headed to the assembly hall and waited for further instructions. When the whole students were finally here, General L decided to inform them the rules and everything. "Wee all of you to your weekly portal outing." L said with a smile on her face. "You will all go through this portal," L said pointing to a green coloured portal behind her. "And will be transported somewhere to hunt for three hours straight. Mind you, there are only basic tier beasts there. And each of you are to donate ten percent of your crystals after hunting to the academy." L looked at all the students to see if there was going to be a protest among them. "You will all go in to the portals with your team you made in your first year. For those of you that your team is iplete due to not having enough students, you can join up with teams that aren''t full. You all have thirty minutes to quickly get to it. And your time starts now." Immediately L finished talking, the teams that didn''t haveplete members, started recruiting some lone students meanwhile Jake and his team stood off to the side watching everything going on. While Jake was somewhat absentminded. After thirty minutes, the whole students each had a team and L came forward again to address them. "Good. I want you to know that because of some circumstances, no sergeant will apany you so we have made some arrangements and hired some members of a guild to be on standby Incase of a problem." The students were now mumbling wondering what was going on. Not caring about what the students were mumbling about, L decided to continue. "May I introduce to you, members of the Iron fist Guild." L said and then immediately four individuals came on stage. Seeing the four of them, Jake who was not mostly listening to what was being said now had his widened by what he was seeing. ''no no no, this is bad. Out of all the Guilds they are, why did they have to hire this specific guild and this specific members.'' Unknown to Jake, the academy didn''t want to hire the Iron Fist Guild before. They wanted to hire another Guild but when the Iron Fist Guild found out, they volunteered themselves and sent this specific members. It was all the work of the one in charge of this Guild branch here in the town. Although he didn''t want to do anything earlier when Scar reported but hearing that someone dared to steal from him, he decided to investigate and luckily for him, he found information about Jake and how to find him so when he found out that Aurora Academy were hiring Guilds to protect the students, he decided to send his Guild instead. Currently on stage was Kim, the other two guys that were with Scar the other day and one more person who wasn''t there when he fought against scar which made Jake wonder what happened to Scar. They might not even remember what happened.'' Jake shrugged.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Okay so without wasting much of our time, let the hunt begin." L said and one by one, each of the teams were going through the portal. When it got to Jake and his team turn, they did likest time by holding onto each other shoulders with Jack in front and Sophia behind the whole team. When they all teleported, they could see the rest of the teams standing there and looking at the Iron Fist Guild members. The location they were in now, was like forest with tall trees all around some what obstructing the sunlight and the smell of soil all around. When all the team arrived, the man that Jake hadn''t seen before who''s name was Kilberg called all the team leaders forward. "This here is a whistle connected to my own whistle, if you are in trouble, then blow on this and we will be there." "Now this is a forest of bugs, giant insects and mostly bunnies. So be careful because anything can get you out here." Kilberg said while staring straight at Jake. "Crap they remember." Jake mumbled. "What''s that?" Peter asked. "It''s nothing." Jake replied. ''its fine, I defeated them once before, I can do it again.'' Jake reassured himself. After giving the team leaders the whistle, they were told to head into the forest and hunt. When the whole teams were now In the jungle, Kim turned to Kilberg. "Should we execute the n now?" Kilberg just smiled. "Patience Kim, it''s not yet time. I need to study him some more." Kim didn''t argue back because he knew how Kilberg could get. And he knew how dangerous he could be. Back at the forest, Jake and his team were navigating their way through the forest while leaving trails and tracks of their whereabouts on the trees thanks to Vynn''s suggestion. "You know it''s good you attended that Survival skills club otherwise we wouldn''t have known to keep tracks." Peter said. "Well you wouldn''t have known because you are quite dense." Sophia said. "So speak for yourself." "Who are you calling dense? You fool." Peter shouted. "I''m calling you dense Peter and you see, this is the reason you can''t get yourself a girlfriend. Look at how you are screaming atdy." Sophia said. "Will you guys stop it." Kate shouted. "The way you guys are shouting, will attract beasts towards us." "Toote." Jack said. "We are under attack now." Immediately, they all stood side by side to look at what they were up against. The beasts that were attacking them were all looking like Lady bugs but much more bigger. They were giant Lady bugs. From their waist up till their upper bodies, they had normal bug like bodies with antennas on their heads while their lower bodies had a stinger and they were all 10 of them ready to attack their team. Jake and his team seeing them, immediately went into formation ready for battle. Chapter 65 Its Grinding time Today was the day for the weekly beast hunt for all the second years and currently Jake and his team were in a forest looking for beasts to hunt when Peter and Sophia were both bickering therefore attracting beasts towards them. Seeing the Lady bugs, they all got Into formation with Jack in front, Kate a little far back, Sophia behind Jack but a little feet away Jake and Peter on either side of the beasts. "Guys, I will take care of two beasts. You guys split the rest between yourselves." Jake said and then the beasts dashed towards them quickly. While Jake ran forward towards the bugs. With a swing of his sword, one of the beast stopped for a second and then the second one attacked Jake from behind but he quickly used Triple Threat technique to get behind them and then the initial beast he struck then dashed forward towards Jake with its stinger. It almost connected but Jake activated Stun strike unsure whether it was going to work or not and miraculously, it worked stunning the beast for a few seconds which was enough for Jake to take care of the other beast. With an overhead strike towards the beast abdomen, Jake managed to slice it in half. Right on cue, the stun strike wore off from the other beast and Jake quickly used the Triple Threat technique to get behind it and then he stabbed it with so much strength that his sword came out of the other end. Jake was now panting with sweat dripping from is forehead. "That was a little bit hard. I had to concentrate incredibly hard so as not to be stung." Jake now was resting while watching the rest of his teammates. Vynn was actually doing a little bit better. With his spear, he was putting space between him and the beast while also making puncture injuries on the beast and then slowly, the wounds added up and then, a final wound to the head finally made the beast drop dead. Meanwhile Kate was shooting out arrows at one of the beast but it kept avoiding it while inching its way towards Kate. Finally, the beast was now almost close to Kate. "Even if I''m still an amateur with the bow, I''m still good in close quarterbat." The beast was now in front of Kate about to sting her with its stinger but Kate used the bow to wack the stinger away therefore changing the trajectory then she quickly picked an arrow from her quiver and stabbed the beast multiple times before the beast died. While Peter was having fun with the beasts. He was actually facing against two of the bugs. Peter was just brutally attacking the beasts with his double axe. One of the beast was heading towards him then he quickly knocked it away with one of his axe then he stabbed and stabbed and then finally sliced the other beast. Finally he decided to focus on the beast he knocked away earlier. As he turned around, he could see the beast''s stinger in front of him heading towards his head. Peter froze unsure of what to do but then, a sword strike severed the stinger and then Peter snapped out of his daze and quickly sliced the beast into half. He turned around to see who helped him and it turns out it was Sophia. "You are wee." She said while walking off. It turns out, she managed to kill her beast quickly. "Hey! I didn''t say thank you." Peter shouted out towards Sophia who was already gone. And then finally, they managed to kill all the 10dy bugs. When they were done, they got to work searching for the beast crystals in the bodies. Each and every one of them, took the crystals from the bugs that they killed. So currently, Jake and Peter where in possession of two crystals each while the rest were in possession of just one crystal each. Quickly moving on, they decided to go hunt more beasts while Jake was admiring the crystals in his hands ''I wonder how much this will sell for?'' After a few minutes of walking, they reached another part of the forest and this part was rtively quiet until they heard shuffling noises all around them in the bushes so Jake and the rest quickly backed up with each of them backing their backs against each other. They were all turning their heads around trying to find what was making the shuffling noise around them. They quickly readied their weapons in their hands waiting for what was toe. And they didn''t have to wait for long as what was making the noises finally came out. What was making the noises were what was known as Hop bunnies. They looked like normal bunnies but with grey fur and a little bigger than normal bunnies. Their size was like two times a regr and normal bunnies. They all had two horns on their heads. The horns were on either side of their heads. They were like twenty of the beasts moving towards Jake and his friends. "Uhmm, should I say today is our lucky day or bad luck." Vynn said nervously. "I would say it''s our lucky day." Jake replied as he readied himself for battle again.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Discover more content at empire And without warning, the bunnies ran towards them while surrounding them without any way from escaping. Jake didn''t actually care for the formation as he was running towards the bunnies. While Jake was running, he was already calcting the amount of credits he would earn. ''20 bunnies, it mean if I can take out like more than five, I will have enough money to sell for credits.'' Jake thought as he was already in front of one of the bunnies. With a sh, one of the bunnies was sliced into half by Jake''s sword but in doing that, the other beasts had surrounded him while the others went after his teammates. ''Yes yes,e after me.'' Jake thought a he quickly activated meleebat and Frenzy strike together while also using ''The Triple Threat'' technique to get out of the circle the beasts made. "It''s grinding time." Jake said. Immediately Jake got out of the circle the beasts made, he charged right at them while shing and swinging his sword. Jake was attacking one of the beast when another one attacked Jake''s leg with its horn therefore giving Jake an injury on his leg. "Arghh you damn bunny." Jake shouted as he quickly kicked one of the bunnies away then he swung his sword at the one that attacked him but anticipating his move, another bunny jumped up and stabbed Jake on his hand therefore changing the trajectory of his strike. Another bunny used its horn to stab Jake''s leg again. This caused Jake to grit his teeth in anger. "Enough is enough." Jake said as he quickly activated the Qi in his body therefore strengthening his cells and also making body heal up. Then Jake stood up with a smile on his face. "Let''s go for another round you annoying bunnies shall we?" Chapter 66 Shadows in the forest After being injured by the bunnies, and seeing as he was about to be surrounded, Jake decided to activate the Qi in his cells, therefore strengthening them and also healing his injuries. Jake stood up from his kneeling position on the floor with a smile on his face. "Let''s go for round two you annoying bunnies shall we?" Immediately Jake finished talking, he dashed towards the bunny closest to him and then he swung his sword on its tail and immediately, the bunny was sliced into half. With the Qi empowering Jake, he felt much stronger and lighter so he was able to slice the bunny into half. Jake kept on going from bunny after bunny, slicing them in half very easily. That was when another bunny was heading for Jake''s legs but an arrow quickly flew past and lunged into the bunny''s head therefore killing it. Hearing the sound the arrow made while flying past, Jake turned around and then he saw a bunny dead with an arrow lunged deep in its head. Seeing the arrow, Jake knew where it came from but he just continued what he was doing by going from beast after beast. And then finally, after a few minutes, they were all done hunting and killing the Hop bunnies. Immediately Jack killed thest of the Hop bunnies, they all fell on the floor exhausted. They all decided to rest for some time before they will find their way back to the academy. Kate was now twisting her head around looking at all the beasts they killed. "We sure did kill a lot of beasts today." "Yeah. A lot." Vynn added. "Do you think it''s enough now?" "I think it''s pretty much enough for today because I''m exhausted." Cindy said. "Yeah me too." Vynn said. After a few minutes of resting, they decided to start harvesting the beast cores. They harvested for ten minutes, because they didn''t know where the core will be located on the beast but when they managed to find out it was located in the center of the bunny''s head, it became easier to get the crystal. When they were done, they split the crystals ordingly by the number of kills you got. Jake got 5 crystals, Peter got 3 crystals, Kate got 2 crystals, Vynn 2 crystals, Cindy 2 crystals, Sophia, 3 crystals Jack got 3 crystals. So in total, that was 20 crystals from the Hop bunnies. Jake had 7 crystals in total in his possession but it will be lowered to 6 by the time he donated ten percent to the academy. After they were done harvesting, they all left and followed the tracks they made on the trees to get out of the forest unknown to them that two individuals were on top the trees watching them when they were hunting. "Did you see that?" Kim asked Kilberg. "I told you that the Kids were a strong bunch especially the one we want to get rid of." "And I will tell you again. Patience, we can handle them. Don''t worry." Kilberg replied as they hurriedly run and jump from one tree to another in order to get to the forest entrance In time. Jake and his friends were finally got to the forest entrance and they could only see two out of the four Guild members but they just shrugged it off and then the each dropped one crystals out of their crystals with them. When they dropped their crystals, they went off to the side to wait for the rest of the students toe out so they could all go back to the academy. After an hour, the whole teams were now here including Kim and Kilberg. Your journey continues with empire After the whole teams were here and ounted for, Kilberg brought out a strange looking device and then he pressed a button on it and a portal opened up then all the students went through one by one and then finally The Iron Fist Guild members entered and the portal zipped and zapped a few seconds and then it was closed. When the students got back at the academy, they were censored again to see if any of them were missing before they were told to head back to their dorm room to get rest. While walking, Jake couldn''t stop grinning. ''This crystals should be enough to get me more credits. And it turns out Sophia was right, I think I was hallucinating when I saw my mom warning me for nothing bad happened today.'' After a few minutes of walking, they got to their dorm room and they all fell on the bed to rest. Today was a Friday so tomorrow is going to be their day off since it was a weekend and it was the day Jake will head into town again to sell some of the crystals. ************************* Meanwhile, in a destend that looked a lot like a desert, a portal opened up and then two men stepped out of it then they examined their surroundings. Before the portal closed up. "Remember, we are only here to scout so no causing of problems okay?" One of the men told the other. "Yeah, I heard you loud and clear. This is like the second time you are telling me this. We are here to scout and also find Digg because he was supposed to report back a few weeks ago." The man said. The man who initially started talking smiled. "If this scouting mission is sessful, they won''t know what hit them. And then finally, that pesty academy that always troubled us will fall followed by those annoying big three and then finally the whole earth will belong to us." "And then we will be the rulers of the whole earth." The second man said and then they bothughed out loud before they left the destend to explore. _______________________ *************************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. But if you want to chat, you can also add me on discord. I''m always online there. Chapter 67 Prince charming It was finally the weekend and the rest of Jake''s teammates decided to sleep in today but Jake had a n in mind for today. After his daily quest and him getting breakfast, Jake decided to head into town to probably sell his beast crystals and earn him credits. After scanning his watch at the gate, Jake was now on his way to town with the crystals safely tucked away his pants pocket. Out of the 6 crystals Jake earned in the beast hunt, he decided he wanted to sell 4 and keep the remaining two forter. When Jake got to town, he saw the somewhat peaceful atmosphere and smiling faces. Then something clicked in his head. ''Oh shit, I forgot that thest time I came here, I created a lot of ruckus and I''m sure that my face will be pretty known around here. What do I do now?'' Jake thought while keeping his head low so as to avoid any sort of recognition. Scanning the town, Jake saw a little store that sold customised clothings and other things. Opening the door, the little bell above the door chimed loudly and the man behind the counter looked from whatever he was doing. "Oh, a new customer. Wee." The man said as he came out from where he was standing to wee Jake. "What would you like to purchase here today?" Jake didn''t respond as he was busy looking around. Jake saw some clothes, robes, masks and even boots. Thinking fast, Jake finally came to a decision about what he wanted. "I will take a robe and mask." Jake said smiling. The man was confused by Jake''s choice of purchase but he just shrugged and gestured Jake towards the robe and mask section. Jake looked at all the robes there and he just decided to pick a ck robe that could cover up someone from their head to their ankles. The robe had a round something that could cover someone''s head and possibly their face. Then Jake picked up a mask that could cover someone''s face and hide someone''s identity. The mask was fully ck that covered the top half of the face so the mouth could be seen. Across the mask, was blood stter and something that looked like a fang designed on it. Picking the mask up, Jake smiled. "I will take this also." The man didn''t see anything to it, he took it to the counter to record and package the purchase for Jake. "That will be 50 credits for the robe and mask." Jake didn''t say anything, he just paid and took the stuff along with him. Before he stepped out of the store, Jake put on the robe and covered his head with the robe. He also kept the mask in his pocket. ''With the number of things I carry around, it won''t be easy to hide some things. I need a storage space to hide things like this robe and mask from my friends. Otherwise, they will have a lot of questions for me.'' Jake thought as he finally stepped out of the store.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Now I need to find where to sell these beast crystals." Jake said looking around and that was when he decided to approach another stall. Jake walked up to the person there. When the stall owner noticed a shadow cast over him, he looked up and that was when he saw Jake. "Yes, may I help you?" "I''m looking to sell some beast crystals." Jake said. "Oh, you have to go to the Guildhall to sell any beast crystals." The man said. "Alright, thank you." Jake said, already heading off towards the Guildhall. The moment Jake left the stall to head off towards the Guildhall, two individuals just entered the town. One of them was a huge man with a big body build and a sword sheathed on his waist while the other one was a female with tied up purple hair and a confident posture around her like she owned the world. The female was wearing a purple robe that also covered up her hair and part of her face. But her hair was slightly showing. "I''m telling you, there''s no way we can meet up with him again." The man said. "And I said, we will meet him." The female replied. "How are you so sure? Because you are talking as if you guys hadmunicated about it before today." "We haven''t talked to each other since that day. Besides, I just have a hunch that he will be here today." The man scoffed and was ncing around. "So, what now? Where do we head to or do you just want us to be looking around for him?" The female just shrugged "Let''s just head over to the Guildhall, perhaps we might find him there." The man just sighed. "Why are you even hell bent on finding him?" "Because the day I saw him, I noticed this fire in his eyes when he dealt with the Iron Fist Guild members. And.." The female blushed. "I think I like him. But you are not gonna tell dad about this okay?" Helen said. It turns out that the female and male looking for Jake were Helen and Berg, her bodyguard. Berg had been her bodyguard ever since she was a Kid. He hadn''t left her side for once and therefore, their bond was strengthened further and Berg became her best friend of sorts. Berg just sighed. "Fine, I promise not to tell your dad anything about this." Helen smiled. "Good, let''s head over to the Guildhall maybe, just maybe I might find my prince charming there." Ever since Helen saw Jake in the Guildhall that day, she couldn''t stop thinking about how cool he was taking down those members from the Iron Fist Guild. No one in months could stand up to their bullying. Helen would have helped but she didn''t want to create a mess which her dad will have to clean upter. After all, the Iron Fist Guild was the third strongest independent Guild in the world so she didn''t want any issues. But when she saw Jake stand up to them, she noticed how fearless he was and how cool and handsome he looked and ever since then, she had a thing for Jake. And with that, Berg and Helen were on their way to the Guildhall. Chapter 68 Joining Forces After a few minutes of walking, Jake was now in front of the Guildhall. With a deep breath, Jake walked into the building. The loud noisesing from the different adventurers talking hit Jake like a wave. Jake could see that the damages he caused from the fight between him and the Iron Fist Guild was repaired. Walking away from the door, Jake went towards the counter where he registered as an adventurer thest time he came. "Hi, how may I help you?" The man behind the counter asked. "I am here to sell some beast crystals." Jake said. "Alright, what tier are they and how many do you have?" The man asked. "They are all basic tier beasts crystals and I have four of them." Jake replied.N?v(el)B\\jnn The man didn''t say anything, he just waited for Jake to bring the crystals out. Fumbling In his pocket, Jake brought out the crystals. The ced the crystals down on the counter and they made a nging sound as he ced them down. The man didn''t react, he just brought out a small, intricately crafted device with a glowing blue crystal at its center. The crystal analyzer emitted a soft hum as it scanned the beast crystals, revealing its purity and type through a series of intricate symbols etched into the device''s surface. "Okay, this is truly a beast crystal." The man said looking up from the device. "It says, it was got from Hop bunnies." Jake was impressed. It turns out this device was more than what meets the eyes. ''I bet this device was created by one of the big three families. I just wonder which one.'' Jake thought. "I''m willing to buy it from you for 40 credits." The man said. "What!" Jake shouted but he was mindful not to draw attention towards himself. "Are you trying to rip me off here?" "It is not a rip off, it''s a fair price. One basic tier crystal is worth 10 credits while an intermediate crystal is worth 100 credits, an advanced crystal is worth a thousand credits. That''s the market value for all these things." The man said. Jake just sighed and gave the man his wrist to make the transfer seeing as he had no choice. After the transfer was done, Jake just went to one of the tables to sit down. ''I can''t believe that the crystals were sold for 40 credits. So cheap.'' Jake thought. "Well what do you want to do now?" Zee asked. "The only thing I can do. I''m gonna go hunt myself some intermediate beasts." Jake replied. "How? Because as far as I remember, the academy will only allow you to hunt intermediate beasts during the monthly beast hunt." Jake just looked at the quest board and then he stood up to get a closer look. And he saw quests asking travellers to hunt intermediate beasts. But for these quests, there needed to be three people in a team to go out and hunt the beasts. "I found the solution to my earlier problem of hunting intermediate beasts and now this. Where on earth am I gonna find two more people to join me for a hunt?" "I could help." A voice said. Turning around, Jake could see a huge man standing beside a female with purple robe on her. "You need two people to join you for the hunt right? Then here we are." Helen said with a smile on her face. Jake looked her up and down with a hint of doubt on his face. "Why?" "Because we also wanted to go hunt some beasts and noticed that everyone was already In a team, when we approached the board, I heard you mumbling to yourself so we decided to join up with you. You needed two members for you to go hunt beasts and we needed one more member so its a win win for the both of us." Helen smiled. A little while ago when Helen and Berg entered the Guildhall, Helen scanned the room to see if there will be any signs of Jake but there was none. Helen decided to go sit on a table with Berg sitting across her. Berg also scanned the room but he couldn''t see Jake anywhere. "I don''t think he''s here miss Helen. And besides I don''t think he will show up after the ruckus he created the other day." Berg said. "He will show up. My gut feeling tells me so." Helen replied still looking around that was when her eyesnded on someone dressed in a ck robe and was walking away from the counter then he went to sit down for a few seconds then he stood up and headed to the Quest board. "What''s wrong miss?" Berg asked noticing that Helen was looking at the strange person putting on a ck robe. "It''s nothing, that person felt familiar." Helen replied. This caused Berg tough. "Oh please, do you want to tell me that the robed figure is your mysterious crush." Berg chuckled. "He could be." Helen replied. "What! What do you mean?" "I mean, it will make sense for him to hide himself especially with the ruckus he created herest time. He would want to y safe by hiding himself. That will exin me not seeing him." Helen replied. "Are you for real now? He could just be a normal person that felt like wearing a robe or someone of importance like yourself that will want to hide their identity." Berg replied. "No, my gut feeling tells me that''s my guy. Besides there''s no harm in checking right?" Berg didn''t argue further, he decided to agree with whatever Helen said and nned and that was when they approached Jake who was contemting where he was gonna get a two more people from and that was when Helen decided to volunteer to join Jake for a beast hunt. ______________________ ************************* For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy. When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. But if you just wanna chat and ask some questions, you can also add me on discord. Chapter 69 Wolfs bane After Jake sold the basic tier crystals he got from the Hop bunnies the previous day, Jake was disheartened by the amount of credits he got so he decided to hunt higher beast which is an intermediate beast. But as he approached the quest board, he was met with another obstacle which was, Jake needed two people to join him making them three members in order to be granted the chance to hunt. Just when he was contemting what to do, he was approached by two individuals that wanted to join him to hunt. Jake was hesitating on what to do but seeing as his situation was quite desperate, he agreed and they went off to register and also received a type of remote of some sorts that had a button that when pushed, a portal will open up to the location of their chosen beast quest. The remote could be called a portable telepoter of some sorts. Going outside and into the forest that surrounded the town, Jake, Helen and Berg were standing in the middle of the forest about to open the portal. "Sorry, before we open up the portal, we haven''t even introduced ourselves yet." Helen said. "I''m sorry, is that necessary? After all, this team hunt between us is a one time thing. Not like it''s gonna happen again." Jake said while pushing the button and opening up the portal then he stepped in with Helen and Berg following him. And then, after a few seconds the portal snapped shut. Going through the portal was a regr feeling to Jake now. It wasn''t a foreign feeling to him like before. When they came out of the other end, they came out into a forest. "What''s with the hunt I always go to with forests can''t there be another hunting grounds." Jakeined. "Well that''s because of the nature of beast we are here to hunt." Helen said. "Huh?" Jake raised a brow. "What do you mean?" "What do you mean by what I meant? Didn''t you even look into the type of beasts we were about to hunt before you epted the quest?" Helen said. Jake just shrugged this caused Helen to p her forehead with her palm and then shook her head. ''I think I made a mistake. There''s no way that this fool can be my guy.'' Helen thought. "The beasts we are here to hunt are¡­ look out!" Berg shouted to which Jake quickly turned around but he was hit by something that sent him flying back therefore breaking trees. "Shit! Your earlier noise must have attracted the beast." Berg said while going in front of Helen. ''I wonder if that guy is okay.'' Helen thought.N?v(el)B\\jnn The beast in front of them, was a wolf. Not a werewolf, but a full on wolf. It was huge like a small house with ck fur all over its body and staring at Berg its glowing red eyes. And getting ready to attack Berg. Meanwhile, when Jake was hit by the wolf, he went crashing into so many trees and in the process breaking them until his back hit a tree that managed to break his flight. Coughing violently, Jake slowly stood up and rxed his back on the tree to catch his breath. "Shit! What was that? What could have hit me like that?" Jake said. "Beat me, If you don''t know, how am I supposed to know?" Zee replied. Jake finally regained his breathing and then decided to retrace his steps by following the path of broken trees. After walking a few steps, Jake halted his steps abruptly because standing in his path, was a ck wolf. "Oh shit!" Jake said as he saw a w swipe heading towards his head. Jake quickly managed to duck down therefore avoiding the hit. Immediately heid his eyes on the wolf, he heard a ding in his head. Read new chapters at empire Jake didn''t even bother to check the quest, he quickly unsheathed his sword and then moved to the side but the wolf was already in front of him with a swipe of its ws towards Jake''s face but he quickly used his sword to hit the w trying to change its trajectory. It worked but he put in a lot of efforts before he could change its trajectory. Jake''s sword had a crack on it. "Oh shit! My sword is just a basic tier sword. How is it supposed to go against an intermediate beast." Jake cursed. But his thoughts was interrupted by the wolf who dashed towards Jake with full speed and then Jake quickly used Triple Threat technique to get behind it then Jake gave the wolf a strong kick that only make it skid a few feet but the wolf quickly regained itsposure and charged right at Jake. "Ah crap!" That was all Jake could say before he was hit sending him back again. "If an intermediate beast could give me so much trouble, I wonder how the higher tier beasts will be like." Jake said as he slowly got off the ground. Immediately Jake got off the ground, the wolf wasing at him again. When the wolf was one metre away from him, he quickly activated stun strike and and step shift at once. Immediately the wolf was stunned and Jake was now in front of the wolf. With a swing of his sword towards the wolf''s neck, Jake made a cut but it wasn''t enough to kill the wolf since Jake''s sword was only at the basic tier. The wolf was now released from the stun strike effect but Jake had already anticipated this so he used the Triple Threat technique to get behind the wolf quickly. Then he gave it a good kick sending the wolf go crashing into multiple trees before it came to a halt. "What can I do now? My sword is only at the basic tier and this damn wolf is an intermediate beast." Jake said quickly going through some options that he might use and that was when option came to his mind. And it was just right on time for the wolf was now dashing towards Jake. Quickly putting his n to motion, Jake activated Meleebat, stun strike, strength Surge and step shift together. Immediately, the wolf stopped charging again and now Jake was in front of it with a swing of his sword towards the wolf''s neck with all his strength, Jake managed to slice the wolf''s head off. Immediately the wolf fell, Jake also fell on his knees due to exhaustion. Immediately the wolf was dead, Jake heard a ding in his head and a screen appeared in front of him but he quickly dismissed it. "I will look at itter. For now, I need to extract the crystal and go check on the others they might have encountered the same trouble as me." Jake said getting to work in extracting the crystal. ''I just hope they are fine.'' Jake thought. Chapter 70 Useful Qi Unleashing true strength. When Berg and Helen had encountered the wolf, they were initially frozen with Berg in front of Helen trying his possible best to protect her. The wolf not wanting to participate in any form of stand off, decided to act first by dashing towards Berg who was in front. Seeing the wolfing at him, Berg unsheathed his sword and swung it at the wolf but the wolf quickly moved sideways avoiding the strike. And then the wolf dashed faster than before this time towards Helen who was initially behind Berg who moved in order to attack the wolf. Snapping out of her daze, Helen reached inside her robe and brought out two daggers. The wolf was now in front of her. With a swipe, Helen ducked down avoiding the hit and stabbing the wolf''s leg quickly and moving back. The dagger pierced deep and managed to injure the wolf this gave her enough time to move back a bit and this time, Berg came forward and sliced on of the wolf''s nails off. The wolf in annoyance, moved back a bit to create space not knowing that Helen was already behind the wolf. Helen jumped up and then came crashing down with a stab to the wolf''s back. The dagger sinked in showing that the dagger was an intermediate dagger. This annoyed the wolf a lot that it shook its body forcefully trying to get Helen off and it worked. Helen was sent flying back from the force of the shake but it was enough of a distraction for Berg was now in front of the wolf and then he swung his sword towards the wolf''s neck but the wolf already anticipating that the man was dangerous, quickly grabbed Berg who was unable to react in time. Helen seeing Berg being held by the wolf, quickly thought of a way to help him. With one of her dagger still lunged into the wolf''s back, she charged in with her remaining one dagger. Meanwhile the wolf was bringing Berg close to its mouth trying to eat his head off.N?v(el)B\\jnn But Helen was already there just in time. With a jump, Helen was now high enough to reach the wolf''s w that was holding onto Berg and then she quickly stabbed the furry part. This made the wolf to howl in pain and then it let Berg go by flinging him away so it could focus on the annoying female. Luckily for Berg, he wasn''t flung too far. But he was thrown with such force that a speck of blood came out from his mouth when he coughed. Quickly standing up, he could see Helen dodging and weaving from the wolf''s paw strike. "Damn! I never thought an intermediate beast was going to give me much trouble like this." Berg said as he picked up his sword for another round. In a few seconds, Berg was now in front of the wolf and directly behind Helen waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And finally the time came, the wolf moved back to create space again then it dashed towards Helen with full speed and when it got to Helen''s position, it swiped again with its ws but Helen quickly rolled over avoiding the swipe and now Berg was ready. In annoyance, Berg activated the Qi coursing through his body then he used the Qi to coat his de and also to strengthen his body and now he was ready. With a full and strong swung towards the pawing towards him, Berg sliced the w off with ease. Then he pushed off from the ground with full strength and he fell onto the wolf''s body. The wolf seemingly sensing the dangering from the human, tried to shake Berg off but he stood strong and he swung his de vertically towards the beast. The de sliced through the beast with ease. The beast fell together with Berg who was on top of it fell with it too. Climbing down from on top of the beast, Berg walked towards Helen to see if she was okay. After confirming she was okay, Berg started extracting the crystal which was located at the beast''s stomach area. Then Berg chucked the crystal up and down and noticed how a little clear it was then he chucked it towards Helen to keep it. "I wonder how that guy is. Do you wanna go look for him?" Berg asked. "Yes,e on let''s go. He might have also run into trouble." Helen said about to walk in the direction of broken trees when she saw someone dressed in a ck robe walking towards them. "No need, I''m okay." Jake saiding over towards them. "Did you encounter any trouble?" Berg asked. Not wanting to tell them about him encountering the wolf, Jake decided to lie because he knew if he told them about encountering a wolf and him defeating it, they will Inquire about how he did it and he wasn''t ready to starting up with excuses. "Aside from being chucked so far back by a wolf, what else could I have encountered?" Berg just shook his head and was about to scold Jake that it he didn''t encounter any trouble then why didn''t he encounter any problem why didn''t hee sooner he could have helped a lot but Helen''s eyes told him not to say anything. "So what now?" Helen asked. "What do you mean what now? We go back to the Guild." Berg said. "No, not yet. I need to hunt more beasts before I go back." Jake said. "Are you nuts? I already told you that this forest is one for wolfs and since you weren''t here, let me recap to you. It was difficult taking it down, I had to use my Qi to take it down." Bergined. "If you want to leave, you are free to do so. Just drop the portable telepoter button for me before you leave." Jake said about to go deeper into the forest but before that, he stretched his palm waiting for the button. He had given it to Berg earlier before they started hunting. He was about to give it to Jake but he was stopped by Helen. "Don''t worry, we would hunt for as long as you want to." Helen said with a smile. Berg looked at her but she just nodded her head and then Berg sighed. "Fine no problem, let''s go and hunt." Enjoy more content from empire "Very well then." Jake said heading deeper into the forest along with Berg and Helen. Chapter 71 Advanced Beast Trouble Jake, Helen and Berg were now heading deeper into the forest to hunt more beasts. Helen and Berg were behind Jake while Jake was taking the lead. "Are you sure this is the right decision?" Berg whispered towards Helen. "Yes. Besides what are you afraid of? Didn''t you say you hunted an advanced tier beast once? So I''m sure an intermediate beast should be a piece of cake to you." Helen smiled. Berg didn''t reply back as they were now in the deeper parts of the forest that''s when they heard shuffling noises. Jake stopped moving and drew his weapon ready for battle while Berg stood in front of Helen with his sword also drawn and Helen was now twisting her head around with her two daggers in her hands. She had managed to retrieve the other dagger from the beast that was killed by she and Berg. They heard another shuffling noise this time behind Helen. Berg turned his head around to look at Helen. That was when two wolfs came out, one in front of Jake, the other one behind Helen. Berg was now confused, he didn''t know what to do about this new development. Jake didn''t say anything, he just looked at Berg then he shouted. "You and the girl, take care of that wolf I will take care of this one." Before Berg could say anything, Jake had already pushed off and managed tond a fast and strong punch on the wolf''s head that managed to push it back to allow Berg and Helen the space to fight with the other beast. When Jake punched the beast, he had a thought on his mind. "I just hope they will manage after all, they managed to take care of the other beast right?" When the wolf Jake punched regained its footing, it turned to Jake with its glowing red eyes and then it dashed towards Jake and tried to snap Jake''s head off with its jaws but it only ate air. Quickly turning its head around to see where Jake was, the wolf''s face was now met with a sword strike that only managed to cause a scratch. "Darn it! This sword is too weak to go against an intermediate beast." Jake said as the beast was now running towards Jake. Jake then slid under the wolf''s legs and used his sword to cut its legs but as usual, it only made a scratch and didn''t leave a cut too deep. Then Jake quickly stood up and gave the wolf a strong kick that sent the wolf skidding back a few feet. Jake didn''t give it a chance to regain its footing, he quickly dashed forward again and when he was a metre away from the wolf, he quickly activated Step shift to get in front the wolf and then he activated the Qi in his body again and also Strength surge then he swung his sword at the wolf''s neck therefore cleanly slicing the head off. Smiling at his effort, Jake then calmly walked towards the wolf''s body to extract the core. "That was a little easier than thest time. Probably because I already know all its movements." Jake then turned around to see how Berg and Helen were doing, it turns out they were already done killing the beast and also extracted the core. They were now heading towards him but then when they were metre away, they stopped walking and it looked like they froze with Helen''s pupil diluted like as if she saw a ghost. Even Berg was shooken. Jake was wondering what happened, he wanted to move but Helen quickly stopped him. "Don''t move!" Jake was confused by this but he obeyed and stayed still and was pulling up faces. "What''s going o¡­" Jake stammered because he felt a hot breath on his neck. Slowly turning around, Jake''s face was met with arge snout. Moving back a little, Jake could see a giant wolf in front of him with a horn on its head. Looking at Jake with its glowing red eyes. "Oh f**k! It''s an advanced tier beast!" Berg shouted. Jake didn''t need Berg to say anything for his system already alerted him. The wolf then quickly wacked Jake with its paw that sent him flying back and crashing into Berg but Berg stood strong and didn''t fly back. Jake slowly got up. "F**k! This beast is much stronger than an intermediate beast. This is gonna be harder than I thought." "I told you this was a bad idea and we should have gone back." Berg said. "Quitining guys and let''s focus on this." Helen said as she got her daggers ready for the beast was already charging towards them. Stay tuned to empire The beast was already in front of them in less than a second and then it swiped its ws towards Helen who was in front of them but Berg quickly drew his sword and blocked the hit. His sword didn''t break which showed it was at the advanced tier. "This is no time to be holding back." Berg said as his Qi was already coursing through his body and even strengthening his sword making it more sharper. Even Helen was already activating her Qi. Jake also stood up and activated his Qi also letting it strength his cells then he took his de that already had a crack on it about to break. They were all standing behind Berg who was still holding onto the beasts paws with his sword. Then Berg managed to move the paw to the side that was when Helen came in with a stab with her daggers towards the other w. Then Jake also jumped up and struck the beast''s snout with his sword. In retaliation, the beast just shook its ws away that it sent Berg and Helen skidding. While Jake was still on top of the beast''s head trying to cause any damage possible. But then the wolf shook its head left and right trying to shake Jake off and it worked as Jake was thrown to the ground and then the wolf tried to stomp on Jake''s body but Berg quickly came in and held the beast''s legs. This gave Jake enough time to roll away and escape the hit. Berg was hit again sending him back but Helen was already in front of the beast with a roundhouse kick that sent the wolf go crashing away. Then Jake also kicked off when he was one meter away from where the wolf was thrown by Helen''s kick, Jake activated the step shift and he was suddenly in front of the wolf. Jake then threw an axe kick on the wolf that was about to stand up therefore causing the wolf to go crashing down on the floor therefore causing a little fissure in the ground. The wolf was now furious it managed to push off therefore sending Jake skidding back. But the strength of Jake''s earlier kick caused the wolf to stagger for a few seconds. Which was enough for Berg toe In with a strike to the wolf''s stomach. The sword managed to go in deep but the wolf still had enough energy to wack Berg away. And this time, Jake quickly activated stun strike. It was good that the cool down timer on it was off. And then Jake kicked off with so much strength that it almost looked like he was flying then he kicked the sword that was lunged into the wolf by Berg earlier. The kick managed to push the sword in very deep and then the wolf staggered a bit before it fell down with a thud. Jake also fell down due to exhaustion and loss of stamina. Helen managed to walk towards Berg and then she brought Berg over to where Jake wasying down. When she got to Jake''s position, she let out a smile. "So it really is you." Helen said. Jake then turned around and looked at her with a raised brow. "What do you mean?" "You are that guy that trashed those Iron Fist Guild members right?" Helen asked. Jake then touched his face and he noticed that the hood from the robe hade off. Then he slowly stood up and looked at Helen. "And who are you?" Helen then pulled down her own hood and smiled. "My name is Helen." It only took a few seconds for the face to click for Jake. "Right. You are that girl that bought the ne I wanted." "Seriously? Is that how you wanna describe me?" Helen asked. Jake just shrugged and then walked towards the advanced tier beast and started extracting the crystal from it. Then he took the sword from the beast''s body and walked towards Berg then he gave it back to him. "Shall we go back now or do you still wanna hunt?" Berg asked finally standing up and collecting his sword back. "Yeah, that''s enough for today. It''s best we head back now." Jake said.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om And then he activated the portable telepoter and a portal opened up in front of them then they all stepped into it and we''re transported back to the Guildhall. Chapter 72 The Blacksmith When Jake, Berg and Helen went through the portal, they now found themselves in the forest that surrounded the town. The smell of wet soil, and the sounds of birds chirping was nice for once without the thought of beasts chasing after them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om They were now making their way back to the Guildhall. After a few minutes of walking, they were now inside the Guildhall. They returned the portable telepoter and also submitted their crystals to be recorded into the adventurer system. When Jake and Berg had submitted the advanced tier crystal, the man behind the counter was initially shocked but after seeing their injuries and all that, he inputted the crystal into their system. The advanced tier crystal managed to push Jake from rank F to rank E. Then the man gave them back the crystals. Jake kept the two Intermediate crystals and Berg and Helen kept the two Intermediate crystals they also got now they were stumped on who will get the advanced tier crystal after all, it was a very precious crystal and it would even cause small time Guilds to fight against each other just to get it. "I think you should have it." Helen said to Jake. "Huh? Why do you want me to have it?" Jake asked. "You killed the beast so it''s right for you to keep the crystal." Helen smiled. "We all killed the beast together so it''s not right for me to keep the crystal." Jake refuted. "Berg won''t you say anything?" "I agree with whatever she says. If she says you should get the crystal, then you should keep it." "No, it''s not right." Jake said. "Please just keep it and stop arguing with me. Besides, consider this as a sorry gift for taking the ne you wanted." Helen said. "So just for a crystal worth 200 credits, you are willing to let an advanced tier crystal go." Jake said. "Hey! Do not undermine your help, we both know that without you, we would have likely not survived in the first ce." Helen said. "Just take the crystal." Zee said. "It might even be useful to you." "Fine I will take it. Thank you." Jake smiled. "Alright, it''s time for us to head off now." Berg said. "Yes, that''s true. I will see you again." Helen said stretching her hands for a handshake. Jake shook the hand. "I didn''t get your name earlier." "The name is Jake." Jake said while releasing his hand from the handshake. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire "Jake, what a nice name." Helen said. "And it''s fitting for a brave guy like you." Jake smiled. "Thank you." And then Berg and Helen now left Jake while going back to their home. "Now what to do about this?" Jake said looking at the crystal then he looked at his sword that was now broken. "I think I have got an idea." Jake said as he exited the Guildhall as he headed back to the academy. After exiting the town, Jake removed the robe and kept It in a bag. When he got to the academy gate, they scanned his watch as usual and they also searched the bag before the let him into the academy. Jake went back to his dorm room. And it was a good thing that no one was there. Jake quickly hid the bag underneath his bunk bed then he left the room again for somewhere else. After a few minutes of walking, Jake was now In front of the academy''s ck smithing shop. It was arge shop and a metal door in front of it. Jake pushed the door open and a chime from the bell above the door was heard as he let himself In. Then the man behind the counter raised his head up. Noticing the uniform on him, the man greeted Jake as he lifted up the monocle from his face. "Wee young soldier, what can I get you?" The man asked. Jake then looked around at all the different weapons in the stall. The highest equipment here was at the intermediate tier. Then Jake went towards the man and brought out the one of the intermediate crystal he got from the wolf and ced it on the counter. "I was wondering what this could be turned into." Jake said with a smile. Then the man''s eyes widened in surprise. "How did you get this? Aren''t you a student of Aurora Academy? Then how did you get this?" Jake was shocked by the man''s question. He was now thanking the heavens he didn''t bring out the advanced tier crystal otherwise the man would have gotten a heart attack. "A friend gifted this to me." The man''s expression didn''t change showing he wasn''t buying it. That was when an idea clicked In his head. "My friend Sophia Josh gifted this to me." Hearing the name, the man eyes almost popped out of its sockets and his monocle fell from his eye. Then he quickly regained hisposure. "I see, you are friends with the Josh''s. Very well then." The man said as he took the crystal and started observing it on the same ss thing Jake saw at the Guildhall. ''I''m sorry for using your name like that Sophia.'' Jake thought. "It says this crystal was gotten from an intermediate wolf beast." The man said looking up from the ss. "It can only be turned into a boot." "What!" Jake almost shouted. "Can''t it be turned into a sword of some sorts?" "No not at all. You see, specific crystals can be turned into specific things. You see this crystal was gotten from a wolf so it can only be turned into a boot because wolfs have incredible speed." Jake just sighed. "So how much will it cost?" "That will be 80 credits. With students discount." The man said. Jake didn''t say anything, he just did the transfer and was about to leave when he decided to check out the weapons here. Jake kept walking around when he stumbled upon the swords shelf. He looked at all the sword there when a Katana de caught his eye. Picking it up, Jake admired the weapon for its design was certainly eye catching. The de had a ck handle. Then the de itself had a twisty pattern on it that looked almost like a snake. Swinging the sword around, Jake noticed how perfect it was for him. Then he used his inspect skill on it. "Hmm, I will take this." Jake said turning to the ck smith. "Excellent choice young soldier. That will be 110 credits." Jake didn''t say anything, actually because the cost was perfect. 100 credits for the crystal and 10 credits for the ck smith gain. Jake did the transfer and he was left with 1340 credits. "So how long will the boot take?" Jake asked the man. "It will be ready in five days." The man replied. "Alright then. I wille pick it up in five days." Jake said while heading out of the shop on his way to his dorm. Chapter 73 Do not make an enemy of the big three When Jake got to his dorm, hey on the bed to sleep because he was tired because of the beast hunt. Jake slept for three hours before he woke up to the sound of his roommates chatter. Then he slowly got out of the bed. "What''s the noise about?" "Huh?" Peter said. "What do you mean?" "Can''t you guys see I was sleeping?" Jake asked. "Why are you even sleeping by this time? I haven''t seen you sleep by this time? And where were you?" Kate asked. "Woah woah, easy with the questions. Which do you even want me to answer first?" Jake asked. "How about you start with where you were." Kate said. "I went to the VR room for some training." Jake answered. "I think you have be somewhat be obsessed with that VR stuff." Sophia said. "It''s just a waste of time." Jake didn''t answer. He was about to go back to sleep when something clicked in his head. "Hey Jack." Jack then turned around to listen to Jake. "Do you know everything about Qi?" "Huh? That is a very weird question which you asked all of a sudden." Jack responded back. Enjoy more content from empire "Can you please just answer my question?" Jake requested. Jack sighed then he decided to reply. "Yes I do know everything about Qi mainly because my family is part of the big three." "Then can you exin Qi to me better? Because I think that Kron was hiding some things from us." Jake said. Jack then raised an eye brow. "Is there another reason to this question?" "No there''s not. I''m just curious." Jake replied but it was a lie. Jake had noticed that Berg used a different Qi to his when they were battling the wolves and also Harry had used a stronger and more visual Qi to theirs. "Okay to answer your question, the exnation Kron gave about Qi was correct. Qi is a type of energy thates from within us. But he didn''t exin itpletely." Jack said. "What do you mean?" Vynn asked now sitting properly to listen to what Jack had to say. It wasn''t only him, even Peter and Kate sat up to listen to Jack''s exnation. "You see, the exnation that Kron gave was correct but he didn''t go deep. You see Qi has three stages." Jack said. "Three stages?" Jake asked. "Yes three stages. You see the first stage is what Kron has been teaching you guys about. The stage that allows us to strengthen the cells in our body to give us a strong body. While the second stage allows us to coat our weapon with Qi. Move it around our bodies to either enhance our speed or strength. We could also shoot invisible Qi strikes either from our weapon or fists." "And the third?" Jake asked. "The third stage is something called the Visual Qi. This will allow a person to shape and shoot visual Qi towards their enemy. Although the shooting of Qi is simr with the second stage, the third stage projectile is much more powerful and faster. The third stage could even allow someone to create shields out of Qi but mind you, it all depends on the amount of Qi in your body." Jack exined. "Wow! I never knew that Qi was this awesome." Vynn said. "Well I knew it was awesome but not to this extent." ''So it was the second stage Berg used when we were fighting the wolves earlier.'' Jake thought. "What stage are you at?" Peter asked Jack. "I''m still at the first stage. But my immediate elder brother is already at the second stage about to advance to the third stage." Jack answered. "I don''t understand something." Jake said. "And what''s that?" Jack asked. "If the academy and the big Guilds and the government know about the three stages of Qi, then how are the Big three still at the top?" Jake asked. "That''s because the Big three where the one to teach the world Qi and also were the ones to push the werewolves back so they all respect them. Besides, do you think it''s only Qi the Big three have at their disposal?" Jack asked. "What do they have?" Jake asked. "If I go ahead telling you the secrets of my family, do you think I will be spared? My advice for you, do not make an enemy of the Big three if you want to live." Jack said with a face of seriousness. "Anyway it''ste now so I think it''s time for us to go to sleep right?" "Yeah right. Let me get back to my dorm now." Cindy said already getting up heading for the door. "See you guys tomorrow." They all told her bye and then they all went to bed all except Jake who wasying on his bed with his eyes open. ''What did Jack mean by the Big three have something else at their disposal? Something is fishy about them. Come to think of it, I know that Sophia and Jack''s family are part of the Big three, so who''s the third one?'' ''I just hope they are as nice as Sophia and Jack''s family. Anyway, I almost forgot to check the rewards I got from the system.'' "System, pull up my previous notifications." Jake quietly said. "Woah! Now that''s massive." Jake still whispered. "System pull up my status screen." ''Finally, I have gotten to level 15. Just 5 more levels to unlock my magic ability. Haha I can''t wait.'' Jake excitedly thought. ''okay now let''s see that new skill.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn <{New} Inventory: user can now store items, weapons and armour In his system and when it''s needed, it will pop out.> "Finally! This is what I have been looking for. This inventory has finally solved my storage situation. First thing tomorrow, I''m trying it out." Jake smiled. ''Now I believe there was another quest earlier.'' Jake thought as he went through the next notification. Before he checked the new skill, he decided to check his status screen again. Now under his status tab, it had the free stat points space there. ************************** Now that he had checked the status screen, it was now time for him to see his second new skill. <{New} Inventory: user can now store items, weapons and armour In his system and when it''s needed, it will pop out.> ''Now that''s a cool skill. Too bad I can only use it once a day. I will only have to use the skill when I can''t avoid a particr attack that will be lethal.'' Jake thought. ''all this skills are amazing. Thank you system. With this, eventually I will grow strong enough to even rival the big three and then I promise mom and dad, I will avenge your deaths from the hands of those filthy werewolves.'' Jake said as he was now ready to go to sleep and then after a few minutes, he fell asleep. Chapter 74 Training Intensifies The next two days, was a Monday and Jake as usual woke up early for his daily quest. Uponpletion, Jake and his friends went to take their breakfast then they went for their homeroom ss. After the homeroom ss, they went to their weapon club where they were taught more sword skills. The next ss it the day was their Qi training. For this ss, they were taught more things about Qi and how they could use it better. They kept on practising the first stage so they could be able to use it better that it will be second nature to them. After the ss, they headed off to they different clubs. All the days that Jake always cake for his hand to handbat club, he always met sergeant Sunny waiting for him in front of the gate. "Good morning Jake," sunny greeted Jake as they both headed into the building. "Good morning sergeant Sunny." Jake greeted him with a smile as they were now inside the building. "So how was your first weekly beast hunt?" Sergeant Sunny asked. "It was fun andpetitive I guess." Jake said with a shrug. "I am d to know you had fun. Alright so for today, we will be studying two moves." Sunny said. Jake smiled because he was looking forward to this training everyday along with his Qi training. ''When I first started, I thought this training will be terrible or boring but with Sergeant Sunny''s enthusiasm, great exnation and cool moves, I have grown to enjoy this ss.'' Jake thought. ''I''m always happy anytime I see this Kid. I can''t believe that I got a student that I could grow fond off and also care for. I like this Kid and I hope he continues to grow so he could show the world that hand to handbat isn''t useless. And I know the perfect tform for that.'' Sunny thought. "So do you n on participating in the academy tournament?" Sunny asked he was getting the dummy that they used for practising. "Sure." Jake said as he was getting ready for practice. "I''m nning on participating and not only that, but I n oning out as the best student there." "That''s the spirit." Sunny smiled. "And I promise to train you properly to make sure you do not face any difficulties in defeating any of your opponents." "Well that''s will only apply to the second years and not the third years. Those guys are monsters." Sunny mumbled. "Alright, let''s start with today''s ss." Sunny said as he stood in front of the dummy then he readied himself. "This one, is called a hook swipe." Sunny then stood in front of the dummy and then waited for the dummy toe at him with an attack. The dummy came at sunny with full speed then it swung its fist towards Sunny''s face but sunny quickly used the Guard stance to block the hit then he threw a wide, curved punch towards the dummy. The hit managed to push the dummy back and was now deactivated. "You see, this move is quite simple and based on your talent, I know you will perform this move excellently." Sunny said as he went to take the dummy and then activated it for Jake to try the move. Jake stood In front of the now activated dummy that was now charging towards him. The dummy threw a punch to Jake''s stomach but he quickly used the Guard stance to block the hit then he quickly did the Hook swipe thatnded precisely on the dummy''s face sending it back and deactivated. Impressed, sunny brought the dummy again and asked Jake to perform the move over and over again until it became muscle memory for Jake. Seeing that Jake had the hang of the move, Sunny moved on to the next move. "Alright, I knew that move was pretty simple but I just taught it to you because ofter when I will teach you a more advanced move that will need that move." Sunny said as he stood in front of Jake. "Okay, so that hook swipe wasn''t technically part of today''s lesson. Today''s and the rest of the week''s lesson, will be focused on more advanced moves that will be sure to do some damage."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om This brought a smile to Jake''s face hearing the word more advanced moves. "So shall we get started?" Sunny asked. "Why not?" Jake smiled. "So this move, is called Aerial strike." Sunny said standing in front of the dummy but he didn''t activate it yet. "Okay so you see, I will show you the move in slow motion without activating the move then I will show you how the move looks like with a charging opponent." Jake just nodded and then moved back to allow Sunny space. Then Jake went down from the stage so he could watch Sunny''s move much more better. Sunny stood in front of the dummy and then started the motion of Aerial strike. First of all, Sunny moved back then he jumped up high but not too high then he rotated his body and delivered a hook punch towards the dummy''s head sending it back. Jake was in awe seeing that move, he couldn''t wait to try it out. "Alright, let me show you how it looks like now with an opponent after your blood." Sunny said as he activated the dummy then he stood back a bit waiting for the dummy toe at him. He didn''t have to wait long for the dummy was alreadying at him with full speed. When it was it was just two feet away, Sunny jumped up high, rotated his body and delivered a strong hook punch towards the dummy''s head that sent it crashing far back. "Shit! I must have used more strength than I intended to." Sunny said already running to see if where the dummy crashed through was broken. After seeing that it was okay, Sunny came over with the dummy. When sunny came, he could have sworn he saw stars in Jake''s eyes. Waving his hand in front of Jake''s face, Sunny then called Jake''s name. Continue your story on empire Snapping out of his daze, Jake smiled. "I didn''t make the wrong choiceing here." This statement brought a smile on Sunny''s face. "I''m d you''re enjoying the ss and I got to admit, I enjoy teaching you. You are the best student ever." They both smiled again then Sunny directed Jake towards the dummy to try the move. Jake stood in front of the dummy then he waited for the dummy toe at him then Jake quickly jumped high but it was too high for the dummy quickly grabbed Jake and mmed him back down on the floor hard. Releasing its grip from Jake''s legs, Jake now stood up and moved back. "Shit! I got the timing wrong." "It''s okay, you can try again. There''s enough time." Sunny said. Jake then nodded and tried the move again for like three times before he got the move right. He tried it again for a few times before he was satisfied. Seeing Jake grow stronger, it just brought a smile to Sunny''s face. ''I hope one day, you will be the hope the world needs.'' After a few more times of testing the move, Jake was now satisfied enough to return back to his dorm. After bidding bye to sergeant Sunny, he left for his dorm. When Jake exited the building for the club, he walked a few more minutes then he was now in front of the second year building but there were four students obstructing his path. "You remember when I told you that it wasn''t over, well it''s time for you to pay for what you did to me." One of the guys said. Chapter 75 Tournament Beckons Standing in front of Jake, was someone he was all too familiar with after the stunt he pulled when they were in the first year. Standing before Jake was Sebastian and his friends. "What the heck do you want Sebastian?" Jake asked annoyed. "Oh, what I want is much but how about we start with revenge." Sebastian smiled. "Revenge for what?" Jake asked. "Are you for real? Are you ying the ignorant card here or what?" Sebastian asked with his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Okay, how about we start with revenge for humiliating me when we were in the first year, revenge for taking my position In the school''s rankings and finally, revenge for the punishment my brother had to go through." "How is all that my fault?" Jake asked. "How isn''t it you fault?" "Firstly, you hurt my friend through one silly duel. You were a rank 20 and you had to challenge someone who was ranked 200 then just because he caught the eyes of Leo. Then I also decided to challenge you through the same duel and I won then you went to enlist your elder brother''s help to hurt me and my friends. So how on earth is it my fault?" Jake replied. "It is all your fault. If you had looked away when Vynn was hurt, none of this would have happened." Sebastian said. "Look away? I should look away when my family was hurt? Never I would never do that. So please get the f**k out of my way before I do something to you which I will regret." Jake said about to push his way through but he was obstructed by Sebastian''s friends. "I''m not done talking to you Lucas. I''m here with a proposal." Sebastian said. "I don''t want to hear about your stupid proposal. Now tell your useless friends to get the hell out of my way." Jake replied.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Listen, this proposal will interest you." Sebastian said. Jake turned around then looked Sebastian in the eye. "I said, I don''t care about your silly proposal so get the hell outta my way." Jake said already backing Sebastian about to walk off. "I heard you are attending that Hand to handbat club. How about a duel between us to prove which club is the best." Sebastian said which caused Jake to halt his movements. Then Jake turned around and smiled at Sebastian. "Why do I need to prove anything? I already know that my club is the best." "Oh please, the club which you call the best where you are the only member." Sebastian scoffed. "Why will I duel you? After all, I already beat you once and we were first years then and oh, I was a low rank then. I was ranked 190 while you were rank 20." Jake said. "So what difference will it make besides am a rank 4 now and you are just a rank 7. So this proposal doesn''t benefit me." Jake said already walking off. Stay tuned to empire "But it will benefit your teacher." Sebastian said with a smirk on his face. "How so?" Jake said turning around. "Remember I said this is a duel to know which club is the best. If you win with purely your club skills, then I''m sure more students will love to join your club and your teacher will be happy." Sebastian smiled. Jake stopped to ponder for a few minutes before he came up with an answer. "I don''t ept you proposal besides, why do I need to duel with you in order to gain little members for my club when I can participate in the academy''s tournament and bring in probably the whole students." Jake smiled and then walked off without Sebastian''s friends stopping him. Then one of Sebastian''s friends came over towards Sebastian. "What do we do now?" Sebastian smiled. "Now, we just let him go and then show him during the academy''s tournament. I will make sure he eats his words. That''s a promise." ***************************** Meanwhile, in the staff room, a meeting was called by one of the Head Generals that included all the staffs, instructors, sergeants and all the Generals. On his way to the meeting, Jim was currentlyining. "Darn it! It feels like the academy really enjoys this meeting of a thing. It gets called more often than before." Jimined. "I''m unable to find out anything about that Kid for the past year now. I only know his gaming name and the fact that he''s in this academy nothing else. What am I going to tell my leader when I get back?" "I''m sure he''s not even going to give me a listening ear before he kills me." Jim sighed as he was now in front of the door to the meeting room. Pushing it open, Jim walked in the vast, opulent room that had high ceilings, adorned with intricate moldings and crystal chandeliers. The walls were painted a rich, dark blue (almost ck) colour. The floor was made of polished, dark hardwood that reflected the lighting. The room had couldfortably amodate 15 individuals, with arge, ornate wooden table at its center. The table measures 6 metres in length and 2 metres In width. Plus high backed 11 chairs that surrounded the table in a U like formation and then at the head of the table, were three grand and higher chairs designed for the Head Generals. Pulling up a chair, Jim sat down while also greeting the instructors who were in the room and also the sergeants. The door opened, and all the Generals walked in. When they came in, all the people sitting down stood up to salute the Generals. The Generals acknowledged them and they went to sit in their designated chairs. After a few minutes of waiting, the doors opened again and this time a lone figure walked in with his clean uniform and straight gait. With his face that had a goatee beard on it with sun sses ced on his face, was one of the Head Generals in the academy. One of the highest authorities In the academy and immediately he walked in, everyone stood up to salute him including the Generals. After acknowledging them, the head General stood at the side of his chair to begin the meeting. "So I have called today''s meeting to inform you all about what we the Head Generals have decided upon about the academy." The head general began. "We have decided to bring the date of the tournament forward because we the Head Generals want to be there when the tournament takes ce and it wouldn''t have been possible with the earlier date we agreed upon because something hase up." The Head General paused a bit to look at the room to see if there was any objections but there was none so he continued. "So because of this, I want the Qi teacher for the second years, teach them the second stage of Qi before the tournament because I want the tournament this year to be entertaining since there will be some special guests invited." The head general said. "So when is the tournament?" General Paul asked. "We have decided to hold it a month from now after the second year monthly hunt. We want them to at least get intermediate equipment before the tournament that''s why we have decided to hold the tournament a month from now. When is their monthly beast hunt going to be held?" The Head General asked. Then Jim stood up. "In the next week Sir. After this week''s weekly hunt." "Great, so that means, the tournament will be held three weeks from now then. That''s good, all of you instructors and teachers, I want you to train the third years harder so they can show the world that Aurora Academy is the best and their children will grown stronger if they enrol here." "Yes sir!" The whole teachers and instructors said at once. "Great. That brings our meeting today to a close. Do not disappoint us." The head general said. "We won''t!" They all said at once. "Great." The head general said and he then walked out of the room. After the Head General left, the whole room started leaving one by one until it was only Jim left. "Great. With this tournament, that kid is sure to participate and am going to get him." Jim smirked. "There''s no way you can hide from me kid, I''m gonna get you now. Just a few weeks more. Hahaha." Jimughed hysterically. ___________________________ ******************************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. But if you just want to chat or ask questions, then you can add me on discord. I will always reply your messages. Chapter 76 Unlocking Qis Second stage The next day was a Tuesday, Jake woke up earlier than usual because he was nning to test something out before his daily quest. Jake opened his eyes, scanned the whole room to see if his friends were still sleeping. After confirming that no one will see what he''s doing, Jake pulled a box from underneath his bunk bed. Then Jake opened it up and emptied the contents of the box silently. When he was done, Jake proceeded with his experiment. In front of Jake was a robe, three beast crystals one from the advanced tier beast the remaining two were from the basic tier beast got from his weekly hunt. The next thing was the intermediate sword he got from the cksmith and thest thing there was the mask he had bought when in town. "Alright, let''s see how this works." Read thetest on empire Jake said as he held the robe in his hands then he opened up his system with his mind and selected one skill. and immediately, the robe disappeared from his hand to be stored in his system. ''wow! This is so cool.'' Then Jake opened up his system and clicked on the inventory skill. After clicking the inventory, a tab popped up in front of him. "So the robe is safely stored." Jake said quietly then he heard a ding in his head. ''What! Is this system for real?'' Not wasting time, Jake activated the Equip skill then he thought about the robe and immediately the robe in his inventory was now on his body. Fully clothed in the ck robe Jake couldn''t help but smile. ''This system is now more than useful for me.'' Then Jake proceeded to De-equip the robe and also stored the sword, mask, and crystals in his inventory. Satisfied with this, Jake decided to for his daily quest. Uponpletion, he came back to his dorm and saw Jack was awake. After a few pleasantries, Jake went into the bathroom for his bath before Jack went in and then the whole roommates were awake and ready for the day. After their breakfast, they went to their homeroom ss. Instructor Jim was now teaching them some things that was when he decided to make an announcement. "Listen, I''m not supposed to tell you guys this but you need to be prepared so listen up." Jim said. This made Jake wonder what the instructor wanted to say. "So you see, the academy has decided to bring the date of the tournament forward so that means, the date for your monthly hunt will begin next week and then the next two weeks from then, the tournament will begin so be prepared." Jim said. Jake was pleasantly surprised by this arrangement but he just decided to let it go. ''Oh then, I will just have to get stronger much faster.'' Jake thought. After their homeroom ss, they all went for their weapon club. In the club, Von didn''t go easy on the students there. He started teaching them moreplex and advanced sword skills in order to prepare them. After the weapon ss, they were now in their Qi training ss. Kron asked all of sit down on the floor and listen attentively. "So listen, today''s ss won''t be about the first stage again, I''m gonna be teaching you the second stage." Hearing this, Jake almost jumped up from where he was sitted in excitement. ''Finally, I get to learn the second stage of Qi. I bet his teaching us this now because of the tournament. Nevertheless, I can''t wait for the lesson. Hmm, I wonder what sunny has In store for me.'' Jake thought. "Alright, so I want you all to close your eyes. I''m sure you are now familiar with the Qi in your body. So I want you to focus and move the ball of Qi in your body to your hands. I want you to do it slowly, do not rush the process. This will allow you to have enhanced strength depending on your Qi capacity." Kron said and Jake didn''t waste time in getting to work. Jake could visualize his Qi energy clearly. It hadn''t grown in size yet, it was still the size of a small fist. ''After this, I need to work on increasing my Qi size before the tournament.'' Jake thought as he now concentrated on the task at hand.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Jake could see the ball moving around and then Jake managed to move the ball towards his hands. Jake moved it there and made it stay then he clenched his hands in and out. Jake could feel the strength in it. Satisfied with this, Jake opened up his eyes and could see a few students with their eyes open with a smile on their faces while some students still had their eyes closed concentrating hard. Jake turned to see how his friends were doing. Aside from Jack, Sophia and Kate, the rest still had their eyes closed. And then after a few more minutes, Kron stopped the students who still had their eyes closed then he asked why they were having problems and then gave them some pointers. Checking his watch, Kron could see that there was still some more minutes left before the ss was over. In order to speed things up before the day of the tournament, Kron called those that were sessful in moving the Qi to their hands. Then Kron asked them to move it to their legs. Kron sat them down including Jake, Jack, Sophia and Kate. Then he asked them to move the Qi around from their hands to their legs repeatedly until they got the hang of it and they could quickly switch and move the Qi from their hands to their legs. Satisfied with their result, Kron checked up on the rest of the students and saw that they hadpleted the task on moving the Qi to their hands sessfully. Kron then asked them to move it to their legs to give them enhanced speed while asking Jake and the rest to keep practising. After a few tries, the students managed to get it right but it was already the end of the ss. "I want you all to practice it every time before the next ss tomorrow okay?" Kron said. "Okay sir." They all responded then they all left for their club training. Chapter 77 The rematch for revenge The next and possiblyst ss for Jake today was the hand to handbat club. After walking for ten minutes, Jake was now finally In front of the gate to the club with Sunny standing in front of the gate waiting for him as usual. They walked into the club room and now they were fully in their club training uniform. "I trust you must have heard the news about the tournament right?" Sunny asked. "Yes. But why are they bringing it forward?" Jake asked. To which sunny just shrugged. "I never know why those oldies do some certain things."N?v(el)B\\jnn "Oldies?" Jake asked. "Yes oldies. Oh, I meant those head generals." Sunny said. "So shall we begin our training for today?" Explore more at empire Jake then nodded and as usual, sunny brought the dummy again for practice. "Now since you got all the moves I have been teaching you, it allowed us to advance faster in our ss." "So because of your talents and rapid growth, we will be learning one moves per day thanks to you." Sunny smiled. "So let''s begin with our first move of the day and hopefully, it will all be enough for your big daying soon." Sunny then stood in front of the dummy. "Today''s move is called Snake bite." Sunny didn''t activate the dummy, he wanted to show Jake how the move looked like in slow motion. "Now observe." Sunny then moved back a bit to create a little bit of space between him and the dummy. Then he did a rapid three-punchbination targeting the dummy''s face. The move was a little too fast that Jake didn''t catch anything. Understanding, Sunny decided to do it a little bit slower this time. Sunny moved back a bit then he dashed forward a bit slower and then threw a quick Jab, cross and hook towards the dummy''s face. Thankfully, Sunny pulled back on his strength so the dummy didn''t go flying like before. Performing the move three more times, Sunny then activated the dummy and showed Jake how the move looked like with a charging opponent. "Do you get it now or should I perform the move again?" Sunny asked. "I think I have got it now." Jake replied then he went in front of the dummy and activated it then he moved back quickly to create space. The dummy charged right at Jake then it swung its hand towards Jake''s throat but Jake quickly activated the Guard stance then he tried to imitate sunny in doing the snake bite. Jake got the first two moves right but instead of a hook at the end, he ended up giving the dummy an uppercut because of the dummy''s awkward position. "Try again." Sunny shouted. And Jake tried again but this time, instead of a Jab at the beginning, Jake threw a straight punch towards the dummy with full strength that caused the dummy to go crashing back at where Sunny sent it the previous time. "Woah woah! It seems you have gotten a little bit stronger than before. Or did you use Qi in that punch?" Sunny asked. "I don''t even know." Jake replied. Jake got the dummy again, then he performed the move over and over again but he couldn''t just get it right and that was when the ss ended. "It''s okay you didn''t get it right now, you can still get it right tomorrow so cheer up." Sunny said after noticing Jake''s sour mood. Jake just wryly smiled and then left the club room for his dorm but before he got there, he decided to pay the VR room a visit. ''I couldn''t practise with that dummy for more time, but I can practise against real human opponents right?'' Jake thought as he was on his way to the VR gaming room. After a few minutes of walking, Jake was now in front of the VR room then he quickly walked in, paid for just an hour because he was quite tired. Then he went to the capsule, hopped in, and logged in. [Wee User ID Wolf hunter] Jake smiled then he was now transported to his white space. "Alright, I want to test my hand to hand skills so, I don''t need to battle against werewolves for now. So let''s battle against humans." Jake said. And then Jake clicked on the [Fight with humans] option and the game started matching him up with someone his rank. After a few minutes, the game finally found him a match. Immediately his opponent appeared, Jake''s fans watches were pinged and now they were all in the spectating stands especially Dan, Sam and Nate. Immediately Jake''s opponent appeared, the count down clock also appeared and when it got to 0, Jake''s opponent dashed towards him. ''Keep calm Jake, and wait for the right time.'' Jake thought to himself. And then Jake''s opponent was now In front of Jake. His opponent threw a fist towards his face but Jake was more faster by using the Guard stance to block his face then he made a quick Jab towards his opponent''s face that sent him skidding back a metre from Jake. Then Jake quickly used the step shift to get in front of his opponent then Jake performed a cross towards his opponent''s head that sent him crashing down on the ground hard. Jake didn''t waste time in kicking his opponent hard that managed to kill his opponent therefore dering Jake the winner. Those in the stands apuded Jake but Jake didn''t even pay attention to them. He was just focused on practising his moves. Sam, Dan and Nate were left with their mouth open after Jake''s first match. "Are we all seeing the same thing?" Sam asked. "I think so, unless something is wrong with our eyes." Nate said. "How did the Wolf hunter grow so strong to the extent he defeated a gold rank yer with a few moves." "I mean it''s not like he doesn''t win his matches against Gold ranks but he usually struggled than this. Is this guy even human?" Nate asked. "Or what do you say to this Dan." Nate turned to where Dan was sitting but he wasn''t there anymore. Sam also turned around to look for Dan but he was no where to be found. "Please don''t tell me he''s nning to do it again." "Yup I guess he''s nning to do it again." Nate said looking towards the stage. Because right on stage currently, a match was found for Jake again and standing there, was Dan in the avatar of the Vortex an opponent that easily defeated Jake before. Will Jake manage to defeat the vortex now or will he still be defeated like before? Chapter 78 Virtual Rematch Pride on the line When searching for an opponent, Jake didn''t expect that the Vortex will appear standing in front of him again. Of course he will remember the vortex after all, he was the one that made Jake taste defeat in the VR world the second time. "I can''t believe we are facing each other again." Jake said. "Yeah, it feels awkward right?" Vortex smiled. "I have been watching your matches everytime you login and I must say, you keep surprising me with the way you grow strong rapidly. It amazes me so that''s why I came down here again so I could see for myself first hand how strong you are." "Oh you will be pleasantly surprised by my strength." "Surprised?" The vortexughed. "I watched you fight just now and I can say, you won''t give me much of a fight right now." "Oh really?" Jake asked. "Yes. You are just not strong enough to make me get serious with you." The vortex said. "Then I just have to show you how strong I can get and also give you a tough enough fight that you won''t be able to fight back." Jake smiled while taking a stance and that was when the count down clock appeared again then it started counting down. Meanwhile, Jake made sure to keep calm so he could focus. "I''m not gonna take it easy on you Vortex." "How funny enough that I was just about to say the same thing." Vortex said and immediately, the clock counted down to 0 and Jake dashed towards Vortex then he performed the triple threat technique to get behind him and thennded a punch sessfully on the Vortex''s back that sent him stumbling. Then Jake quickly used the Triple Threat technique again to get in front of him then he swung his leg and performed an axe kick that connected sessfully therefore sending the Vortex go crashing down on the floor. Then Jake calmly moved back a bit to create space of one metre. The vortex calmly stood up with a trickle of blood running down his head. "I must say, you are certainly strong. Stronger than thest time we fought. I don''t know how you did that, you are this strong, but I admire the dedication you must have put in to grow this strong." "Oh please cut me the crap." Jake said as he quickly used the Triple Threat technique to get in front of the vortex then he threw a Jab towards the vortex''s face but his fist was grabbed. "You should have let me finish what I was saying." The vortex said. Then he kicked Jake on his shin but Jake remained standing fine because of his high level of Endurance. "What happened? Were you expecting me to roll around in pain?" Jake then twisted the vortex''s hand that was holding onto his, this made the vortex to curl forward towards Jake then Jake quickly kneed him hard in the face that made the vortex''s face fling up with blooding out of his nose. Then Jake used stun strike to make the vortex stunned then he quickly activated meleebat and strength Surge. Finally, Jake activated Step shift to get in front of the vortex again. Jake rapidly started punching the vortex with all his strength and speed. Immediately stun strike wore off, Jake still activated Lockdown. This caused the vortex to be unable to move as he was being pummeled with hits all over his body. "You shouldn''t havee here, because thest time someone told me I wasn''t strong enough, I proved them wrong now it''s your turn." And finally, the effect of Lockdown wore off then Jake moved back but he stayed a metre close so he could activate the step shift again. Meanwhile, the vortex was wobbly on his feet. He couldn''t stand properly and he was bleeding from head to toe. Satisfied, Jake used step shift to get in front of him again and then stabbed the vortex in his heart. Before he dissipated, Jake left him with one message. "I''m stronger than you. You can''t keep up." And then the Vortex was finally defeated. With a satisfied smile, Jake left the VR room. Meanwhile, Vortex who was back in his white space was just sitting down and that was when his friends Sam and Nate came into his white space. They were expecting Dan to be upset but instead, he was smiling. "I can''t keep up right, then I just have to show you when next we meet how strong I can get." Dan said with an unsettling smile on his face that made his friends uneasy. After his win, Jake logged out of the game in a good mood. "That was a job Weldone by the wolf hunter. Just two more wins for me to advance to the next rank." Jake said as he exited the VR gaming room for his dorm room. ____________________ ************************ For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. Explore more stories at empire But if you just want to chat, you can add me up on discord. ____________________ *********************** Also guys, you aren''t supporting the book like I expected. No power stones, Golden tickets or even gifts. What''s going on? Anyway, with that in mind, I decided to do a little something. I did mass release updates earlier but there was no turn up. Now I''m nning on doing it again. ____________________________ Mass release goals! 50 power stones for 2 extra chapters at the end of the week. 5 Golden tickets for 1 extra chapters at the end of the week. These are the mass release goals for the following week. Please you all should ensure we meet up with these goals and I promise to deliver also.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Chapter 79 Wolfs gift It was now two days'' time. The previous days went well with Jake learning more about the second stage of Qi. He even learnt how to coat his weapon with Qi and shoot invisible Qi strikes; he even managed to increase his Qi size to a small ser ball. He even managed to learn the snake bite perfectly and also advanced well in his weapon training. Today, Jake was very excited and it had nothing to do with Qi training or hand to hand club. Jake was happy because today was the day he was going to receive his intermediate boot from the cksmith and Jake couldn''t help but be excited. He couldn''t wait for the sses to be over. Jake waited impatiently and finally when it was 5pm, Jake just quickly bid sunny bye as he rushed out of the building to head towards the cksmith shop. Jake didn''t walk or jog, rather he ran to get to the shop. And when he got there, he opened the door and let himself in. The chiming of the bell alerted the cksmith that someone was at the door. "Oh it''s you, young soldier. Wee." "The name is Jake Lucas Mr cksmith." Jake said with a smile. "Well Jake, the name is Dame, Mr Dame not Mr cksmith." Dame said with a smile. "I suppose you are here for your boot right?" "Yes of course, I can''t wait any longer." Jake replied excitedly. "Just give me a moment." Dame said as he went to the back that he went to the first time Jake came. Jake suspected that that ce was the cksmithing area where Dame forges weapons. Because thest time Jake came, he heard nging noises from the ce. After a few minutes of waiting and tapping his foot, Dame finally came out with something covered in a piece of clothing, then he set it down. Jake wanted to rip the cloth covering his boot. He literally wanted to touch and rip it but a p from Dame on his hands managed to screw his head tight. "This is my big reveal so don''t go messing it up with your impatience." Dame said. "You know the way you talk and behave, don''t give off the vibes of a middle aged man rather you give off the vibes of a teenager." Jake said. "Why won''t I give off the vibes of a teenager when I''m always surrounded by them. Even impatient ones." Dame said, pointing towards Jake. "Whatever," Jake said, rolling his eyes. "Can you please just hurry up with the big reveal." Dame just sighed as he slowly raised the cloth covering the boots and then finally he had unveiled the boots. In front of Jake, was a boot that looked quite regr except for the ck and grey fur design on it. The boot went past someone''s ankle a bit. Jake kept admiring it and even took and was just turning it around trying to see the features properly. While Dame was impatiently tapping his hands on the counter. "Well, will you try it on now or what?" Dame impatiently said. "Now who''s the impatient one here?" Jake asked. "You know, I''m old enough to be your dad so you can''t talk to me like we are both teenagers." Dame smiled. "Fine, I will try it on." Jake said. Jake was tempted to use his inventory on the boots and then equip it but if he were to do it, he knew Dame would surely have questions for him. So Jake just put the shoe on the old fashion way. After putting it on, it was a perfect fit, as if it was made exactly for Jake''s legs. "Well, is it good? Do you like it?" Dame asked. "It''s good, yeah and I like it. It is even a perfect fit." Jake said. "I''m d you like it." Dame smiled. Then Jake removed the boot from his feet then he put on his normal shoes and held the boot as if it was an egg. Then he thanked the cksmith profusely and happily left the shop. Meanwhile the cksmith couldn''t help but keep on smiling at Jake. "That Kid is a good and fun kid. I like him." The cksmith said. Meanwhile after exiting the shop, Jake quickly used the Inventory skill on his boots and they disappeared into his system. When I had put the boot on, it had brought a system message so I need to check it out as soon as possible. Jake walked a few more minutes and then finally got to his dorm to rx and he saw his roommates weren''t there when he came. So he quickly pulled the boot out of his inventory to inspect it. "Three percent is still a lot, especially with my current speed." Jake said. "This boot is quite good, I need to try it on." Jake then used his system to equip the boots then he checked his system again now with the boot, his speed was disying.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Woah! It really did increase my speed by 3 percent. So with the boots on, my total speed will be 54." Jake said excitedly. "This is great, I love these boots. I can''t help but imagine how the equipment made from higher beast crystals will be." Jake then quickly De-equip the boots and went out. ''I can''t wait for tomorrow''s weekly beast hunt.'' _________________ Mass release goals! 50 power stones for 2 extra chapters. 5 Golden tickets for 1 extra chapters. Continue reading at empire I hope we can meet the goal for this week. _________________________ For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy. When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. ??Have a nice day Famz. Chapter 80 Beast hunt Round two It was finally the long-awaited second weekly beast hunt for the second year and Jake was excited because he would get to collect crystals, and probably test his equipment. Afterpleting his daily quest and bathing, Jake was ready for the day and both Jake and his friends were off to get their breakfast. After breakfast, they were told toe to the assembly hall for their beast hunt. They all got to the hall, this time there wasn''t any long winding speech from the general since they already knew the basics of the hunt. The portal was opened, and all the teams stepped through the portal after the Iron Fist Guild had already stepped through the portal. When Jake and his friends came out of the portal, they noticed that they were in the forest which they had hunted in the previous week. But they didn''t say anything because they thought the academy knew what they were doing. They weren''t given any weapons because after the previous week''s hunt, all the students had gotten their own weapons. Jake didn''t take out his weapon from his inventory, rather he left it in it so he won''t be questioned by the General about where he got his intermediate weapon from when others had a basic tier weapon. The different teams all picked the directions they wanted to go to. Jake and his team picked a direction opposite the one they had gone to the previous week. After a few minutes of walking, they finally got deep enough for the beasts toe out and attack them. Currently, they were surrounded by beasts known as the Razor horn. They were beasts that looked like deers but they had razor sharp horns. Their horns were incredibly sharp so any one battling had to make sure to avoid the horns. But the problem Jake and his team encountered currently was that they were surrounded by five of the Razor horn beasts. Quickly getting into formation, Kate moved back a bit and pulled out her bow and arrow while everyone else pulled out their respective weapons. Jake just equipped his sword from the system without his friends seeing him because they were focused on the beasts that surrounded them. The first to do something was Kate who pulled the strings of her bow and let one arrow loose on one of the beast''s legs, piercing it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om This aggravated the remaining beasts and they decided to charge right at Jake and his group. The faster of the beasts was already in front of Jack and then it tried to pierce Jack with its horn but Jack quickly used his sword that was coated with Qi to block the attack sessfully but he was pushed back a few feet. Then Jake quickly used his Qi to fire out invisible strikes on the beast''s body that made it let Jack go and moved back. Jack then smiled and rather than waiting for the beast toe at him, he dashed towards the beast himself. Meanwhile, Jake was having a much easier time dealing with the beast. He had taken out his intermediate sword and was waiting for the beast toe at him then when the beast was one metre away, Jake activated Step shift and he was suddenly in front of the deer. Then Jake used his sword to slice the deer''s horns off cleanly and he gave the deer a kick that sent the beast back to create space. ''Haha, thebination of my Qi around the sword made it sharper than an intermediate weapon. I think it''s now more like an advanced tier weapon.'' Jake thought. Seeing its horns cut so easily, it felt like the beast was feeling fear currently at the human that managed to cut its horn off so easily and then it tried to run away from Jake. "Oh, I''m not done with you yet." Jake smiled as he quickly used the Triple Threat technique and Step shift to get in front of the running deer. Then he wanted to slice the deer but his leg was suddenly in a little bit of pain. Looking down, Jake could see another horn inside his leg from one more deer. In annoyance, Jake used his sword to cut the beast''s head off, then he turned towards the other beast he was chasing and also finished it off quickly. ''It''s a good thing I had activated my Qi around my body otherwise that horn would have done more damage than I thought.'' Jake thought. ''I can''t believe I have grown so strong that I''m able to kill basic tier beasts so easily without straining myself or getting terribly injured.'' Jake thought with a smile on his face then he turned around to see if he could help any of his friends that were in trouble but he noticed that they had taken care of the beasts quickly. ''I guess I''m not the only one who got stronger. Even Vynn, who used to be the weakest among us, has also gotten stronger.'' Jake smiled. "Hey am sorry bro, the deer I was battling came to you and injured you." Peter said as he came forward. "It''s okay." Jake smiled. The rest of the team came forward to meet Jake and Peter. "But how the hell did you get so strong enough to defeat two beasts at once without breaking a sweat?" Peter asked. This caused Jake to scratch his hair nervously. "C''mon, we were taught about Qi. So that''s what I used in my fight. I just coated my de with the second stage of Qi." Jake replied. "Alright, I have extracted the beast crystals from all the beasts that we killed." Cindy saiding over. Cindy then gave Kate the crystals to keep in the storage space. "Guys," Jake called out. "I have an idea." "And what''s it?" Kate asked. Readtest chapters at empire "We are all Strong right? And we can handle a couple of intermediate beasts so why don''t we split up so the hunt would be faster and we can gather twice the amount of crystals." Jake said. "Are you crazy? Sorry to say." Kate quickly apologised. "You are suggesting we split up in a forest we know nothing about. What if we encountered any trouble or problem and we needed more hands on deck?" "We can handle ourselves. C''mon please let''s do this. Everything will be fine." Jake said. "I agree with Jake." Sophia said. "Me too." Peter replied. "Are you all nuts? Why would you agree to such a crazy idea like that?" Kate asked. "How about this," Jack said. "We put it to a vote. Those that are in favour of splitting up, please raise your hands." Immediately, Jake, Peter, Jack, Sophia and Cindy raised their hands. Kate and Vynn were the only ones who were against the idea. "Fine, since you want to split up so badly, then let''s do it." Kate said. They all cheered and they started deciding on who will go with who. Peter and Jake were on one team while the rest were on one team. "How''s this fair?" Jack asked. "Because you are big and strong so you can take care of thedies." Peter replied. "Oh, you think I can''t take care of myself?" Sophia asked about drawing her sword. "Will you guys just cool it and stop fighting?" Kate said and they all stopped bickering. "Good, we will all go just as we have been split." They all now evenly shared their resources and everything before they set off. "Remember, we will meet here in exactly one hour okay?" Kate said and they all nodded before they set off unaware that they had been followed before. On the trees above where Jake and his team were earlier, there were four individuals there. "What do we do now sir?" Kim asked Kilberg. "Now? They have made our work easier so we just have to follow Jake and take care of him for humiliating our Guild." "He won''t even know what hit him." Kilbergughed. Chapter 81 Ambush in the forest After splitting up with each other, Jake and Peter headed in the opposite directions to the others so they could hunt. "I suppose the reason you decided to split up with the others has another reason to it." Peter said. Jake then smiled. "Yes. With the both of us, we could hunt more powerful beasts and also I noticed something." "What''s that?" "In a forest filled with basic tier beasts, why isn''t there even a single intermediate beast?" "Probably there''s no intermediate beast. Maybe it''s just a forest for basic tier beasts." Peter shrugged. "Exactly my point. That''s why I want us to investigate and if possible, we might stumble upon intermediate beasts." "Isn''t that too much? I mean an intermediate beast. Are you sure we could handle it ourselves?" Peter asked with uncertainty in his voice. "I''m confident we could handle ourselves. Or are you telling me you are scared or what? I think I should have chosen Sophia instead, maybe she is braver than you." Jake smiled. "Are you trying to rile me up? Because I think it just worked. I don''t know why, I hate beingpared with Sophia. She''s my rival." Peter said. "So can we pick up pace now." Jake said.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om To which Peter took off sprinting forward and Jake also followed. After a bit of sprinting and also putting downndmarks so they could find their way back, they were now in front of beasts. They stopped unsure if the beasts were powerful enough or not. So Jake decided to try one thing that might work. Jake smiled then he quickly alerted Peter. "Peter, they are intermediate beasts so be careful." They stood together while backing each other because In front of them were four intermediate Herculean beetles. They were the size of the basic tier bugs they had battled with the previous week. "This is great. We can take them on." Jake smiled. "I will take care of two of them, you take care of the other two okay?" Peter nodded and they quickly got to work with Jake charging forward and leading two of the beetles away from Peter so they wouldn''t be in any trouble. One of the beetles charged at Jake with its stinger, but Jake avoided it by ducking down. When he raised his head, he saw a stinger already close to his face. Acting quickly, Jake activated Step shift and suddenly he was one metre away from the stinger. More than enough time to charge right in again with another Step shift to move him forward one metre and now he was in front of the beetle. Then Jake swung his de at the beast but it didn''t go in deep because both his de and the beast were at the intermediate tier. Hearing a whistling type of sounding at him, Jake quickly turned around and then used his Qi coated de to slice the stinger from the second beast off. Then he quickly moved back for the stinger from the other beast was heading for his neck. Then Jake quickly used his de to slice the stinger off. With the beasts stingers cut off, Jake could now finally ease up. "You are not strong enough like the intermediate wolf I faced nor the advanced tier wolf I faced." Jake said as he quickly swung his sword towards the beasts and killed them in one strike. "This de is quite sharp, especially with the coating of Qi I used on it." Jake smiled while getting to work in extracting the crystals. He would have loved to help Peter but when he turned around, he could see Peter had dealt with one of the beasts and he wasn''t struggling with the second one so Jake just started extracting his crystals. By the time Jake was done extracting the crystals, Peter was also done killing the beasts and he was now extracting the crystals. When he was done, he came over to Jake. "Well, that was a lot harder than I thought, especially with my axes still being at the basic tier level." Peter said. ''It almost slipped my mind that Peter was still using a basic tier weapon.'' Jake thought. "Anyway, with this, I can finally get an intermediate weapon." Peter smiled. "So should we keep hunting or do you want us to head back and meet up with the rest?" "I suggest we head back now. This is more than enough so let''s head back. Besides I have already proved my theory of there being intermediate beasts here." Jake replied. "So let''s go before we encounter more trouble." "Agreed." Peter said already about to lead the way. "Toote for that, trouble hase looking for you." A voice was heard talking behind them and in front of them, the trees fell blocking their path back and then two men were in front of them and two more behind them. Jake and Peter were now on guard. They couldn''t see the face of the men blocking their path because they were putting on ck masks that only allowed for their eyes, nose and mouth to be seen while the rest of their facial features were obscured. Jake didn''t want to take any chances, he quickly equipped his new boots and held his sword tightly while looking from back to forth at the four men. "Who are you guys? And what do you want with us?" Stay updated through empire "You don''t need to know about us. But just know that you aren''t leaving here alive." One of the men spoke. The men now had their weapons drawn. They all had different weapons ranging from sword, axes, spear and a chain type of weapon. ''I think these guys are really serious about their threat. Can I take them on?'' Jake thought worriedly. "You are going to die here Jake Lucas." One of the men dashed towards Jake with full speed then Jake heard a ding in his head but he didn''t have time to check it out. Chapter 82 Desperate battle Jake and Peter split up with the rest of the team so they could hunt faster and garner more crystals so that they could get more and equipment. Unknown to them that Jake had a different reason for splitting up. He wanted to hunt intermediate beasts so he could get more crystals for more equipment.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om His n worked out and he and Peter hunted intermediate beasts that were known as the Herculean beetles. After killing them, they decided to head back so they could meet up with the rest of the team but as they were about to leave, a tree fell down blocking their path and they were surrounded by four men dressed in all ck with a ck mask. Peter was quite nervous after the men pulled out their weapons and he looked at his. ''I don''t think we can handle these men. They have a higher level of weapons than us and I bet they are more skilled than us.'' Peter thought worriedly. But he didn''t have much time to think as two of the men obstructing their path dashed towards him while the other two dashed towards Jake. The two men that were attacking Peter were the men with axes and spear. The one with the spear thrust it towards Peter''s stomach but he managed to pivot sideways avoiding the hit but as he was about to hit the spear, the other man with an axe came lunging at Peter from above with an overhead strike. But Jake quickly lifted up his axes and coated it with Qi to make the axes as strong as an intermediate weapon then he raised them up to block the strike but the force of the hit made Peter''s legs buckle and almost fall down. And then the man with the spear thrust his spear towards Peter''s stomach again. Quickly using all his strength, Peter managed to push the man with the axe off and then he rolled away avoiding the spear strike. ''Shit shit shit! This is proving so difficult. How am I supposed to battle two skilled men together?'' Peter thought. ''I just hope Jake is alright. I would have loved to help him but I am in a pickle currently.'' Peter nced towards Jake to see how he was holding up and Peter could see that Jake was holding up nicely and skillfully. Peter hated to admit it but he thought that Jake was stronger than him with the way he was handling the two men with one of them Peter thought as the leader of the group. But unknown to Peter, Jake wasn''t holding up nicely in fact he was cornered. When the man with the sword had dashed towards Jake, Jake thought he was prepared for anything but the man''s next action made Jake regret his thoughts. For as the man started moving, Jake couldn''t keep track and immediately he was struck so hard that he was about to go flying but before he could, his legs were wrapped with the chains from the other man and he was yanked back down with so much force that Jake was coughing violently. While on the floor, Jake could see the man with the sword jumping up anding back down at him with tremendous speed and was about to hit Jake who was stillying on the floor. ''Shit!'' Jake quickly rolled over away from the man who now hit the ground where Jake was not too long ago with such strength that he created a fissure in the ground. ''This is bad, terribly bad.'' Jake thought as he was now standing up but his waist was now wrapped with something, looking down, Jake could see he was wrapped up with chains and then he was yanked towards the chain wielder who now jumped up and gave Jake a hard kick sending him back in the path of the sword wielder. The sword wielder after striking the ground and not seeing Jake there, he stood up and that was when he saw the chain wielder kicking Jake and sending him towards his path. Then he quickly readied his de and struck right at Jake but there was only a scratch on his body. "What the hell!" He said and when he looked up, he was given an uppercut that sent him skidding away. The person who delivered the uppercut was Jake. Continue your adventure at empire When Jake had been yanked and kicked back to the sword wielder''s path, he quickly decided to think on his feet. Then he used his Qi to strengthen his body and hoped that the Qi coupled with his high level of Endurance would do the trick unless the man was using Qi himself. So when Jake was finally in the sword wielder''s path, and was struck, Jake felt relieved and then took advantage of the man''s momentarily confusion to throw an uppercut his way that managed to send him skidding. Not wanting to waste this opportunity,Jake sheathed his de and used Step shift to get in front of the man then he threw a quick Jab towards the man''s face that flung his head back. As Jake was about to move forward, his movements were restricted. Looking down, Jake could see a chain holding his legs down then he was drawn backwards away from the man. "Darn it! This chain user is pretty annoying. I don''t even know who to concentrate on now." Jake said frustrated then he grabbed the chain and released its grip from his legs. Then Jake held the chain and looked at the chain wielder with a grin on his face. "Let''s see how you like it." Then Jake activated Strength surge therefore boosting his strength from 53 to 63 which was a lot then he yanked the chain with all his strength that the man was flying towards Jake. Then Jake jumped up and gave the man a roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into the trees, therefore leaving a lot of destroyed trees in his wake. And then Jake turned around to see where the sword wielder was but when he turned around, he could see the man heading towards where Peter was with a smile on his face and his sword in his hands heading towards Peter who was still struggling against the two men. Chapter 83 Tracking the lost When Sophia, Jack, Vynn, Cindy and Kate split up, they headed into another part of the forest where they were now surrounded by another type of beast that gave them a tough time. After a hard battle, they managed to kill them all and obtained their crystals and they still decided to head deeper into the forest to hunt more beasts. Here, they encountered intermediate beasts, the Herculean beetles. They were currently surrounded by 8 of the beetles. Kate quickly went back again to take her position so she could shoot her arrows properly and issue orders. While Jack went a little bit forward with Sophia beside him and Vynn together with Kate were both standing together a little behind Jack and Sophia. Without any prior warning, the beetles charged right at them. Kate was quick to act with her shooting out Qi infused arrows. She was able to coat her arrows with Qi and she was even better with the bow and arrow now. One of Kate''s arrows managed to hit one of the beast''s stingers therefore allowing to stray off course and this gave Sophia the time to hit the beetle with her sword. But it didn''t go in deep because her weapon was still at the basic tier so it made it hard for her to slice it off. This made her realise something instantly. "Guys! They are not basic tier beasts, they are intermediate beasts." Discover hidden content at empire Everyone heard but Jack was already in the middle of a strike when the warning reached him but he didn''t falter. Rather at thest second, Jack quickly coated his sword with Qi therefore making it sharp enough to slice through the beetle therefore killing it making the number of beasts 7. Hearing Sophia''s warning, the team were quick to act with everyone coating their weapons with Qi and ready to go again against the beasts. "Vynn!" Kate called out. "Stick with Cindy and cover her back when necessary okay?" "Got it." Vynn shouted back not taking his eyes off the beasts and then Cindy dashed towards one of the beasts and swung her de at the beetle but one of the beetles came at her this was where Vynn came in. With a stab of his Qi infused spear,Vynn thrusted it towards the beetle that was going after Cindy and the spear managed to pin the beetle down and then Vynn kept stabbing it multiple times until it died. Then he looked up to see how Cindy was doing and he could see that she was done with her own beast. Kate was still at the back firing out arrows after arrows at the beasts that would cause of them trouble and then finally, they were done killing all the beasts with some minor injuries here and there. They decided to rest before they extracted the crystals because the beasts gave them a tough challenge. "If this bug like intermediate beasts could give us trouble, I hate to imagine how the other type of beasts will be like." Vynn shuddered. "Agreed. But at least after this, we can get ourselves intermediate weapons with the bug crystal cores." Cindy said. "I wonder how Jake is doing." Kate said. "Is it only Jake you are worried about?" Jack asked. "Don''t forget that Peter is also with them. Aren''t you worried for him too?" Jack smiled. "No, I am worried for both of them but it''s just, Jake is¡­" "Special?" Sophia asked with a smile on her face. "I didn''t say that." Kate quickly shook her head as her cheeks had a tinge of red on it. "Alright, I think it''s time we extracted the crystals and headed back. They might have even gotten back to where we agreed to meet up." Vynn said. "Yes, I agree with you." Kate said, already getting up to start extracting the crystals. "Just a few minutes of not seeing Jake, she''s now restless and can''t wait to get back." Jackmented. "You know that I can hear you right? And if you don''t shut up, I''m gonna plunge an arrow into your body." Kate said, already extracting the crystals. The rest of the team started extracting the crystals also and after a few minutes, they were done and they were now heading back the way they came by following thendmarks they left on the trees. They walked for twenty minutes before they got back to where they were supposed to meet up with the rest of the team but they were nowhere to be found. "Huh?" Kate said. "What happened? Why aren''t they here yet?" "Maybe they got lost." Vynn said. "No, I''m sure they would have leftndmarks to identify their way back. Even if Peter is a fool sometimes, Jake has a good head on his shoulders so it couldn''t be that they got lost." Sophia said. "Then what happened?" Jack asked. "Whatever it is, we will find out." Kate said. "I remember the general route they took so we can try and track them." "I agree." Cindy said. "We need to find them who knows, they might have encountered trouble and might be in a pickle." "Yes that''s true." Jack said. "Alright, let''s go find them." Kate said, leading the way. And with that, they were on their way to look for Jake and Peter. Will they find them in time to save them? Or will they be toote? _______________ ***************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy. When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. But if you just want to chat, then you can add me on discord. ________________________N?v(el)B\\jnn ******************** Guys please vote the book with your resources e.g power stones, Golden tickets and you can also gift the book gifts please. Let''s also not forget our mass release goals for this week. Mass release updates! 50 power stones= 2 extra chapters. 5 Golden tickets= 1 extra chapter. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 84 Guilds revenge. When Jake sent the chain wielder flying away, he decided to turn around to focus on the sword wielder but he was shocked because he could see the sword wielder going after Peter slowly while Peter was still In the middle of a battle with his own share of opponents. ''Darn it! What am I going to do now? I''m far away from Peter.'' That was when an idea popped into his head. Jake quickly pulled up his system and then activated the free stat points he was given by the system forpleting a quest then he put it all into his agility therefore raising it to 53 coupled with his boots, his speed was now 56. Then Jake quickly used Step shift quickly to close the one metre gap. Now the sword wielder was directly behind Peter then he lifted his sword about to strike Peter but Jake quickly used all his speed to get there and used step shift again to get there then he grabbed the sword that was just an inch away from Peter''s skin tightly with all his strength. "Don''t you dare touch my friend with your f***ing weapon or hand." Jake growled slowly and deeply with his eyes zing with evident fury. Then Jake quickly used his hand to hit the sword wielder''s hand that was holding onto the sword. He hit the hand so hard that the man let go of the sword and then he was struck in the face by Jake''s fist sending him flying back into a lot of trees again. Peter, who had heard Jake''s voice, quickly nced back and then he saw Jake chasing his opponent to where he had sent him. Not having enough time to focus on Jake''s fight, Peter quickly turned back to his own fight that was going a little easy but he could feel his Qi draining up. Meanwhile when Jake had struck the sword wielder away with his full strength coupled with Strength surge, the man flew back and then his back hit a tree that managed to stop him from moving back again. Then suddenly Jake was in front of the man about to hit him but he stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell!" Jake screamed loudly. The sword wielder slowly stood up and then something fell down looking down, he could see a piece of mask on the floor. Touching his face, he could see that part of the mask had broken off and fallen down. Seeing as there was no use for it anymore, he ripped the maskpletely off from his face and threw it down on the floor. "It''s no use hiding my face again since you have seen it. But it doesn''t make a difference again for you are going to die here and now." Kilberg said. Jake just kept his head down then Kilberg noticed his shoulders moving up and down and then he heard Jakeughing loudly. "I should have guessed. All along I was wondering who would ambush and attack me but I didn''t know that the ones meant to protect us would be the ones who wanted to take our lives." "What did we even do?" "What? You want to act like you don''t know, you forgot that you humiliated our Guild and also beat up our members." Kilberg said. "So that''s what this is all about." Jakeughed. "How do you want to take revenge now? I was struggling initially because there were two of you. Now it''s only you so I''m curious to know how you want to kill me." Kilberg just smiled. "If you really want to know, then fine, see it for yourself." Immediately Kilberg finished talking, chains wrapped around Jake hard keeping him restricted from moving. Looking back, he could see the chain wielder he had earlier sent flying now holding onto the chain then Jake turned to look at Kilberg who was now holding his de with a smirk on his face as he wanted to make Jake suffer before he killed him. Jake tried to use all his strength to break the chain but he couldn''t. Even strength Surge had worn off and he had little Qi left because he had been using it right from the start. "Forget it, you can''t break out of these again. Thest time you freed yourself was because I didn''t infuse it with Qi but now my Qi is infused with it making it stronger than before." The chain wielder who turned out to be Kim said. "You shouldn''t have messed with our Guild. You should have done what you were told to do quietly and then left. You wouldn''t have faced all this and neither would your friend be paying the price for your sins." Kilberg said. To which Jake turned around to see how Peter was faring but he was now on the floor kneeling and panting hard and one of the men knocked out with the other one standing over him smiling. "Peter, I''m sorry." Jake shouted. To which Peter lifted his head and smiled. "It''s okay." "It''s over for you now." Kilberg said as he swung his sword towards Jake''s neck but his hand was stopped dead in its tracks and the next second, he was sent flying. "It''s not over unless we deem it over." Jake heard a voice say. ____________________n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om *********************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy. When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first But if you just want to chat, then you can add me up on discord. __________________ Guys also please support me with Gifts, power stones and Golden tickets. It''s not easy toe up with words to write. There are some days when I feel down but I know I have fans I wanna please so I gotta write. So please, please me by sending power stones, Golden tickets and Gifts my way. Chapter 85 Against all odds Just a few minutes ago, after Kate and the rest couldn''t see Jake and Peter in the location they were supposed to meet up, they decided to look for them by going in the general direction they went to. They walked for about 10 minutes before they came across the Herculean beetles Jake and Peter killed.N?v(el)B\\jnn Kate bent down to observe the dead beast then she looked in the carcass to see if the crystals were still inside. "It''s clean, the crystal has been taken out. That means, humans were the one who killed the beasts." "But we didn''t see any other person pass through here earlier so it must mean that it was Jake and Peter that killed the beasts." Sophia said. "Exactly, so where are they?" Kate asked. That was when Jack shouted out. "Over here guys!" They all came to Jack''s position and they could see what Jack saw. "How did a huge tree like this fall over?" Vynn asked. "Look here." Cindy called out. They all came over and they saw what Cindy was pointing to. They saw multiple sword strikes on the base of the tree as if someone wanted the tree to fall over. "What''s going on? Who could have done this?" Sophia asked. "Well we are about to find out. I just hope they are okay." Kate said, already crossing over the tree to get to the other side. Seeing Kate cross over, they all followed suit. And they were on the other side but they now froze with their mouths agape by what they were seeing. Currently, they could see Peter battling with two masked men and Jake was preupied with one more and then suddenly, he was tied up. That was when they could see the man Jake was facing off against walking towards him with a sword in his hand. Jack didn''t waste time in activating the Qi in his body and moving it to his feet to give him more boost and then he sprang forward with full speed and agility. Then he managed to get to Jake''s position in time and grabbed the man''s hand then he quickly switched the Qi from his legs to his hands then he punched the man with full strength that sent him flying back. Jack then turned around to see if Jake was okay. That was when he saw the chain wielder''s chain heading towards his face but Jake was quick to act by grabbing the chain tightly, not letting it touch Jack at all. "Thanks for your help Jack." Jake smiled. "Do you mind handling this one, let me deal with the one you sent flying." "Of course." Jack said then he dashed forward towards the chain user who was now swinging his chain rapidly trying to hit Jack but Jack was agile and kept on avoiding every single hit. Meanwhile, when Jack ran off to help Jake, Sophia didn''t waste time in sprinting to where Peter was and then she unleashed a roundhouse kick that pushed the man standing over Peter back. Then she turned to Peter. "Are you alright?" "Yes I am. I''m just exhausted and out of Qi but I''m fine. I didn''t expect you to help me." Peter smiled but his eyes were twitching in pain. Sophia looked at him and could see that he was riddled with injuries from head to toe. His head was bleeding, his legs had multiple stab wounds, his lips were busted and blood was gushing out of his arm. Seeing this, Sophia was fuming with anger; it felt like her head was going to explode with anger. Then she turned around to face the person who did this to Peter but her face was met with a kick that flung her back. "Sophia!" Peter called out trying to stand up but he was too weak to even move. Then the man slowly walked towards Peter but then suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks and then he looked down to see a spear lunged in his leg. Lifting his head up, his face was also met with a kick that made him skid a bit. Then he could see a sword strike heading for his neck. Quickly acting fast, he lifted his own axes to block the strike but his stomach was met with a kick again that almost knocked out the air from his mouth. Then Kate quickly went and helped Sophia on her feet. "Sorry we took a lot of time to act." "Don''t worry, let''s go and teach this son of a b**ch a lesson." Sophia said as she quickly took her sword and dashed forward. Currently, Vynn and Cindy were keeping the axe man upied but it was providing hard with the man''s level of skill. And then finally, Kate and Sophia were here for backup. Kate unleashed a flurry of kicks on the man from head to toe. While also using all the skills and techniques she learnt in the academy. While Sophia wille in whenever there''s an opening to strike with her Qi infused sword at awkward ces that the man couldn''t block or avoid. Therefore he was being riddled with injuries. A stab from Vynn in the man''s stomach pushed him back a bit then Cindy came in with a sword strike to the face that cut perfectly therefore drawing blood. Then Kate came in with a kick thatnded on the man''s face sending him crashing on the floor. The man slowly stood up with anger written on his face. The person next up was Sophia but before she could move, she felt a sudden pain in her legs. Looking down, she couldn''t see anything that might have caused her any pain. And that was because the man had shot out invisible Qi strikes towards her legs to stop her. But baring through the pain, Sophia was determined to help defeat the man. With a punch to the gut, Vynn went flying then the man went after Kate next but Cindy was keeping him upied with sword strikes here and there. That was when Sophia came in with an axe kick that made the man''s legs tremble and stumble then his legs buckled and he fell on his knees with the force of the kick Sophia unleashed on his head. And finally, Cindy came in with a hit from the butt of her sword that made the man lose consciousness straight away. With a pant and huff, the whole team sat down with Peter who was sitting down with his back to a tree. They were all sitting in exhaustion while watching Jake''s battle with the swordsman hoping and rooting that he would win. Will Jake manage to defeat Kilberg and save he and his friends or will Kilberg take revenge for his Guild''s humiliation by killing Jake? Chapter 86 Ambush aftermath After Jack had punched Kilberg therefore sending him back, Jake quickly made use of Kim''s momentarily confusion to escape from the chains he was bound with and then he went after Kilberg after leaving Kim for Jack to deal with. In less than 2 seconds, Jake was already in front of Kilberg who was holding onto his jaw that was still in a little bit of pain after Jack''s punch. Before Kilberg could move, he was suddenly punched in the gut by Jake. The punch was powerful enough to make Kilberg spit blood and spit from his mouth. Then Jake struck him with his sword towards his face but Kilberg was quick to act in using his Qi to block the hit then he wanted to strike Jake with his own sword but he realized he had let the sword go when Jack had hit him earlier. Jake seeing as his sword won''t do any damage, decided he was going to use his fists. So he used The Triple Threat technique to get behind Kilberg quickly activated Frenzy strike then performed multiple Jabs towards Kilbergs face rapidly. Before the skill Frenzy strike wore off then he wanted to go in for an attack again but his head was met with a Qi filled kick from Kilberg that sent Jake crashing down. <-5HP> "Shit! That kick took 5 points of HP from my health. This guy is no joke." Jake said and immediately, Kilberg was in front of him about to throw a strike. But Jake quickly reacted by activating Step shift to create distance between the both of them. When Kilberg had thrown his hit, he noticed he struck air and then he lifted his head to look for Jake then he saw him one metre away from him and the next second, Jake was in front of him going through the motions of Aerial strike. Stay tuned to empire Jake quickly jumped up, rotated his body and delivered a heavy hook towards Kilberg''s head that caused his head to hit the ground with much force that the ground had a deep crack in it. Slowly, Kilberg stood up but his face was now bleeding and his lips a little busted but he was rtively fine. "You are strong, stronger than I expected especially with the strange skills you used. Now I know how you were able to defeat Scar and his gang the other time." Kilberg smiled. "But there''s something you don''t know, I''m much stronger than Kilberg. Your little skills won''t do any thing to me." "Oh please," Jake rolled his eyes. "You know, that''s the same thing most people say when I use my skills but at the end, theyy on the floor while I stand over them." "But this will be different." Kilberg smiled. "This time, I won''t only stand over you, you will also be on the floor. Dead." Then Kilberg dashed towards Jake with tremendous speed probably using Qi. Then he coated his hands with a lot of Qi, a crazy amount trying to finish Jake once and for all with this amount of Qi. Jake seeing Kilberg rushing at him with tremendous speed, didn''t know what to do especially with the confidence he somehow exuded. Then when Kilberg was close enough, he threw his fists out towards Jake with his Qi going towards Jake and colliding into him. With a smile on his face, Kilberg walked to where he supposed Jake would be. But when he got there, he didn''t see Jake nor could he see his body. Kilberg only saw the Qi attack go through so many trees therefore destroying them. "What?! How is this possible, how could he have avoided that? I saw him getting hi¡­" Kilberg stumbled as he looked down, he could see a sword impaled in his chest. "I told you, this won''t be as you envisioned." Jake said while holding onto the sword. "I have never killed a human before but you made me do it and now am supposed to carry this guilt, this burden around." Jake removed the sword from Kilberg''s chest and let him fall on the floor with a thud. Jake just heaved a sigh of relief as he sh backed to what happened when he saw the Qi strike. Earlier when Kilberg wasing towards Jake with his fists full of Qi, Jake was stumped at what to do. But when Kilberg closed in, something clicked in his head as he quickly activated his newly gotten skill. this skill allowed Jake to move two metres away from Kilberg quickly getting behind him. Then when Kilberg had swung his fists, Jake was already two metres away from Kilberg then he summoned his sword from his Inventory and used Step shift to get behind Kilberg properly and then he impaled his sword into Kilberg''s chest. After killing Kilberg, Jake slowly made his way to his friends with a bruised and tired body. His chest was paining him the longer he walked and his eyes was somewhat closing in and out. After the adrenaline wore off, Jake was now feeling the pain from his injuries. While walking, Jake''s legs hit something. Looking down, Jake saw the sword Kilberg used and it was still in good shape. Not having enough time, Jake just used Inventory to keep it in his system for now. And then he finally got to his friends position, where they were sitting watching Jake earlier. He was just one metre away when he saw another weapon from one of the men that attacked them. This weapon turned out to be axes so Jake quickly used Inventory on it to keep in his system and now he was just a few feet away from his friends when his eyes was about to shut and he was about to fall due to exhaustion. But before he could hit the ground, Jack quickly caught him and then put Jake''s arms around his neck so he could support him properly. Kate came the other way to put Jake''s arms on her neck so the walk back would be easier because Jake was now unconscious. Sophia and Vynn did the same with Peter and they were about to leave but not without Vynn taking the spear the spear wielder was using and now they were on their way back. After a draining and tiring 30 minutes walk, they were now out of the forest and they could see all the students waiting for the Iron Fist Guild to take them back to the academy. But Jake''s friends knew it wasn''t happening soon so Sophia used the button that she got from the Iron Fist Guild''s pocket to open the portal and let the students go in but not without them questioning Sophia thoroughly about where she got the button from.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Trying to clear the air, that was when a sergeant appeared from the portal because back at the academy, they saw the portal open up but no one wasing through so they sent a sergeant to check what was going on. "What''s going on here?" Sergeant Leo asked. Then he scanned round the crowd of students. "And where''s the Iron Fist Guild?" Sophia quickly stepped forward and briefly exined everything that happened and showed the sergeant an unconscious Peter and Jake. Seeing their injuries, the sergeant was convinced this wasn''t the work of a beast but a human. Then he collected the button, told the students to go in. When all of the students had sessfully went in, Sergeant Leo closed the portal then he went into the forest to investigate. After a few minutes, he came across Kilberg''s corpse and the unconscious bodies of the remaining crew. Not knowing what to do, Sergeant Leo woke them all up and then told them to take Kilberg''s corpse along and follow him back. Doing what they were told to do, they lifted the corpse and sergeant Leo opened up a portal and they all stepped through. Chapter 87 Guilt and Redemption Jake opened his eyes wondering where he was and then his eyes met with a white ceiling and the smell of chemicals hit his nose making him aware he was in the academy clinic. Jake tried to move his legs but he noticed something heavy on it. Looking down, Jake could see someone''s head sleeping on his legs. The little movement he made, woke the person up. And Jake could see it was Kate that was sleeping on his legs. With a dribble down her mouth, her eyes swollen as if she had cried and her hair messy, her eyes lit up in delight, she greeted Jake with a smile then she felt something on her face. Touching her face, she could feel the dribble then she quickly wiped it off and looked at Jake embarrassed with her cheeks having a tinge of red. "What happened? Why am I here again?" Jake asked then he felt a banging pain in his head as the memories from the hunt and then to the Iron Fist Guild members surfaced in his mind. He remembered the arduous battle and the many times he felt he was going to die by the hands of the Iron Fist Guild members. He even remembered killing Kilberg. This soured Jake''s mood and his eyes showed a glint of remorse for it was the first time he killed a human ever. Continue your adventure at empire It felt different from killing a beast although Kilberg and his gang were a beast of their own kind for trying to kill young teenage students but they were still humans. "It wasn''t your fault." Kate said as if reading Jake''s train of thought. "The situation called for it so you had to do what you did to survive. Anyone in your position would have done the same thing without a second thought." "You don''t understand how I feel. It''s just.." Jake sighed. "I know, I can''t understand how you feel but I do know what you feel, which is guilt and remorse. I know it was hard killing a fellow human but I just want you to know that it was for the survival of you and your friends, your family." Kate said. "If you hadn''t done that, you would have eventually weakened then he would have possibly killed you and thene for us next so as to not leave any witnesses." "So try to forget what happened. Think of everything as a bad dream, okay?" "A bad dream huh?" Jake mumbled as he recalled having a bad dream with his mom in a forest warning him he wasn''t strong enough. ''Was this what she was warning me about? If so then, I definitely proved her wrong by showing how strong I am.'' Jake thought. Then Jake looked towards Kate.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Thank you for the talk, it kind of helped and I think I will be fine soon." Jake said then he remembered something. "Hold on, how long was I out for?" Jake asked. "You have been out for a long time." Kate replied. "How long? Two days? Or better still, three days?" Kate shook her head telling him no. "You were out for a week." "A week?" Jake shouted. "Yes, a week." Kate replied. "But wasn''t our monthly beast hunt supposed to be held by this week?" Jake asked. "Well it has been cancelled owing to what happened with us and the Iron Fist Guild. The academy is currently trying to sort things out with the Guild." Kate said. "Hope I am not gonna be punished for killing a Guild member?" Jake asked. "No, don''t worry you are in the clear. Rather the Guild had a lot to answer from the academy about trying to kill its students." Kate replied. "How did the academy find out?" Jake asked again. "Well, when you and Peter fell unconscious, we took you both out of the forest then we met the other students at the entrance of the forest all waiting for the Iron Fist Guild to open up a portal so they coulde back to the academy." "Knowing that they won''te, Sophia opened up a portal with the button she took from one of the Iron Fist Guild''s members then the students started questioning us about where we got the button from." "Sophia was trying to exin but the students weren''t giving us a listening ear. Then Sergeant Leo arrived through the portal. Apparently, he was called by the soldiers that guard the portal room about the portal opening up but no one came through so he went through the portal and asked what happened." "We exined what happened to him, he collected the button and asked us to go in then he went to the forest to investigate. There he came across the Iron fist Guild members so they came back to the academy and were reported and handed back to their Guild to deliver the appropriate punishment." "But, the Guild were seriously pissed about one of them that was killed and they swore to take revenge. But with you still being in the academy, it won''t be possible for them to attack you unless they are willing to make an enemy of the academy which they are not willing to." Kate exined. ''Well at least I am still safe as long as I am in the academy.'' Jake thought with a sigh of relief. "So how''s Peter?" Jake asked. "Peter is fit and fine. He had recovered during the previous week and is currently in the room next to you." Jake heaved a sigh of relief hearing that Peter was okay and then decided toy back on the bed because he was mentally drained right now. Kate, seeing that and confirming he was okay, decided to let him be for now as she headed back to their dorm to freshen up. Jake just slumped back to the bed and decided to shut his eyes. "That was a thrilling battle you had there." Zee said. Jake almost shouted out but then he remembered that there was a talking AI in his system and with Zee being quiet sometimes, he kinda forgot about him. "Thank you. I couldn''t have done it without you or the system." Jake smiled. "Speaking of the system, you need to check it now because before you passed out, I had seen what was written and am sure you will be pleasantly shocked and surprised to see what message you received." Zee said. Chapter 88 A New Quest Alert After waking up and catching up with Kate about what happened, Jake decided to rest while Kate went back to their dorm to freshen up meanwhile, Zee informed Jake about seeing a notification before he passed out. "What did you see?" Jake asked with a raised brow. "Not my ce to tell, check it yourself." Zee said. Jake sighed and opened up his system and decided to check forst and previous notifications. ''What''s the worst that can happen?'' Jake saw the first message he received. Jake quickly opened up his status screen and skill tab. Find exclusive stories on empire "Well, this all good with my strength and agility evening out but too bad I couldn''t level up from this." Jake sighed as he proceeded to check his skill tab. < Inventory: user can now store items, weapons and armour In his system and when it''s needed, it will pop out.> "Well this is all good with the increase in stats and leveled up skills but I feel slightly disappointed by not gaining a new skill or levelling up." Jake sighed. "Zee, I don''t see what you said I should see." "Keep scrolling through your notifications. You haven''t gotten there yet." Zee replied. Jake then went through all his previous notifications to see what Zee was talking about. That was when he saw it too and Jake almost choked on the air with what he was seeing in front of him. "What? How and why? How on earth am I supposed to do this?" Jake almost shouted. Because what he was seeing was almost impossible to do.
N?v(el)B\\jnn "Is the system trying to get me killed?" Jake almost shouted but he toned his voice down in fear that someone might hear him. "How on earth am I supposed to topple the Big three. The Guild formation, I had ns of doing it but not so soon but toppling the Big three, that is almost impossible." "I also had the same thoughts when I saw the system notification that was why I said you should check it out as soon as possible." Zee said. "So what now? Are you gonna do it?" "Of course not. Do you also want to get me killed? The system clearly has a glitch or something. Hold on, let me check something." Jake said as he opened up his Quest tab. He hadn''t opened this tab in a long time.
"Well, that checks out that system was being serious about it but how on earth am I supposed to do it? I remember Jack''s warning about not messing with the Big three. So is the system trying to send me on a suicide mission?" "Anyway, I will just ignore the quest for now there''s no way am doing that." Jake said as he closed up his system screen to get some rest. ____________________ ************************ For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me up on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy When news on WSS or any other serieses out you will be able to see it there first. But if you just want to chat with me or ask any questions, you can add me up on discord. _________________ ******************* I just wanted to use this medium to apologize to all my readers for the upload of just one chapters per day which is unlike me. But the issue is I''m tryna stockpile a lot of chapters for y''all for next month so we can all enjoy WSS together in full swing. Thank you for your understanding ?? Chapter 89 The Stage is set After checking his system, he and Peter were both discharged after a day. They all went back to their room all hale and hearty. Even sses got back to normal everyone attended their sses regrly. They were informed that the tournament was to be held in two weeks time and they should prepare very well. Even their teachers were all training them hard. With Sunny taking it up a notch in his teachings. All the roommates were all taking this tournament seriously as they were training as if their lives depended on it. After their practise for the day, they all met up in their dorm resting. "Wow! Today''s training was intense." Vynn eximed. "Yeah, I''m pretty worn out now." Peter replied. "Even during club activities, sunny didn''t take it easy on me one bit." Jake said. "Before, he usually train me with a light hearted expression but now with the tournament closing in on us, he has taken it more seriously." "You guys should stop whining and be happy that we got teachers that want us to have even the slightest chance at winning." Sophia said. "Yeah, stop being ungrateful guys." Kate said. "Speaking of the tournament," Jack said. "I heard a lot of important dignitaries will be there and even some people sent my the Big three to scout important talents." "Well that''s a good thing right?" Vynn asked. "Being scouted by the Big three will improve our skills better." "Well it would have been a good thing if it wasn''t for the fact that they won''t even pay attention to us rather they will be focused on the third years who they think are strong and talented." Cindy said. "Then it''s settled." Jake said. "We will make sure we put up a show for them and show them that we aren''t weak either. Let''s get to the top 10 together." Jake said with his palm facing upwards. And then slowly, everybody put their palms onto Jake''s palm and said together. "Let''s get to the top 10 together and show the world that we aren''t weak." Then they all lifted their hands up in cheers and smiles. "Oh, lest I forget." Jake said while taking a box from underneath his bed then he handed Peter the axes he had obtained from one of the men that attacked them in the forest. He had taken it out of his system earlier so he won''t arose suspicion about how the axes suddenly appeared in his hands from thin air. "Here, I want you to have it. It is pretty useless in my hands." Jake said.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Peter collected the axes and gave them a swing he could tell how powerful they were just by swinging them. "They are advanced tier axes." Jake said having used his inspect skill on it earlier. "And you want me to have it? You would have sold it for a lot of money even if you don''t know how to use them but you gave them to me why?" Peter asked. "We are family so it''s the least I could do for family. Besides I know if I''m need of something, you would also do the same for me." Jake smiled. "But what about you? What are you going to use?" Vynn asked. Then Jake pulled out a ck sword with lightning patterns on it. "I''m gonna use this advanced tier sword Kilberg left for me." They all were in awe looking at the weapon. "Well it wasn''t only you guys that got an upgrade, I also obtained an advanced tier spear from one of the men also." Vynn said bringing the spear out. "Well, the rest of us better get something soon before the tournament." Sophia said. "Yeah, I will check the cksmith shop by tomorrow to see if he have anything to my liking." Jack said. "And if he doesn''t, I will just have to visit town." They all nodded while Peter, Jake and Vynn put away their weapons and starteding up with strategies on how to go about the tournament but without information about it, their strategies were loose. While they were discussing, a thought crossed Jake''s mind. ''What if I offer my friends the contract and make them apart of my Guild? Will it be wise of me?'' Jake thought then he quickly shook his head. ''No, not yet. Sophia still has her allegiance to her family so does Jack. But Peter, I think I will recruit him but after the tournament.'' That was when Jake heard his name being called. "Jake!" Jack shouted louder. "Yes, why are you screaming my name?" Jake asked. "Where were you lost? I called your name close to three times no response." Jack said. "No, I was just reflecting on something. So what''s the matter?" "We were discussing about the fight that happened in the forest and were curious about two things." Jack said. "Which are?" Jake asked with a raised brow. Discover more stories at empire "Firstly, why did the Guild members wanted to kill you guys?" Sophia asked. "They didn''t want to kill us, it was me they were after. Peter just happened to get caught in the cross fire. I''m sorry bro." Jake apologized. "Don''t worry, it''s okay." Peter smiled. "So am guessing that they were after your head because of what happened in town that you told us about." Kate said to which Jake nodded his head confirming her theory. "Okay that exins it, but what we all want to know most, is how you were able to go toe to toe with Kilberg and the skills and moves you used when fighting, were not taught to us in the academy and neither have we seen it before so what was that?" Cindy asked. Jake''s heart was beating fast trying toe up with an answer to quell their curiosity. ''I can''t tell them about the system, they will think I have gone crazy.'' "It''s the hand to handbat club I attended." Jake blurted out. "You see, Sunny made me learnplex footworks and skills to help me process the hand to hand moves better just in case a situation like the one that happened in the forest urred." Jake lied confidently because he knew that they won''t know anything about the hand to hand club nor what was taught there so he chose this lie hoping it will quell their curiosity and questions. "Okay, I buy it." Kate said. "I really must say though, those skills or moves were really good. I would have loved to learn them if I wasn''t upied with so many training currently." Jake smiled at thement and everybody talked some more about different things, different strategies for different situations during the tournament. And after three hours of talking and nning, they finally decided to go to bed while Cindy returned to her room. Finally after the long wait and long boring two weeks, it was finally time for the Aurora Academy tournament¡­ Chapter 90 Tournament Day arrives Jake woke up at 4am as usual. Instead of putting on the standard uniform like every other day, today was totally different. Usually when inside the academy¡­ Students were only allowed to wear the uniform with standard equipment. The weapons dedicated for training were mostly made out of wood. This way, they won''t seriously injure themselves when sparring. The only time they were allowed to used their beast gear was when they were on missions or out hunting. The previous day, Jake was given another intermediate weapon by Sunny. His reasons was that Jake could lose his sword while fighting so it will be good if he had another weapon which was why he gave Jake a gauntlet. A type of weapon that looked like a glove but it covered someone''s arm to the elbow and it was good enough to even cause damage on an opponent and the gauntlet was colored ck just like most of Jake''s equipment. The gauntlet also could allow someone to hold onto another weapon so it didn''t hinder Jake from using a sword. He was happy about the gauntlet and was thanking sunny profusely before he left the ce. Today, everyone taking part in the tournament was to wear the equipment they owned and they were not really required to hold onto the wooden equipment given to them. Most of Jake''s equipment were at the intermediate tier all except his sword that he acquired from Kilberg. A part of the tournament would allow real equipment. The tournament was taking ce at the sports arena in Aurora city a city that was owned by the academy were most soldiers afterpleting their training at Aurora stay. The arena was around a 30-minute walk from the academy. Although the city was filled with soldiers, it didn''t stop them from participating in normal activities which included sports. That was why the city had an arena where they would often host sport games. This was where all the students were required to gather. Looking around in the dorm, he could see some of them were nervous while others including himself were quite confident. Although, he was nervous, he knew that he could handle whatever was thrown at him. After everyone were ready, they all decided to get a head start by going to the arena quite early. While walking through the city, Jake noticed that the atmosphere was different than usual. The city felt more alive and less tense. Usually the soldiers were always serious, tense and on guard. But today, it felt more like a festival. Today, there were people from all different cities who came to visit. Once a year, Aurora would open its gates to surrounding cities for the tournament. A lot of famous and rich personalities would look for talented soldiers to recruit into their army. Finally, after a good walk and touring the ce, Jake and his friends reached the arena. Outside was a jam, full of energy. The starting event won''t start till nine so it was impressive to already see this many people waiting outside. Luckily, there was a different entrance for participants. Outside the participants only entrance, a lot of parents hade to visit and wish their children good luck before letting them head back inside. They continued to head inside and followed the signs to the waiting area for contestants. The signs led them to an underground stairway, eventually to a huge set of double doors. When Jake and his friends had opened the doors, their eyes were met with a huge hall. The hall was as big as the dining hall at Aurora Academy. The only difference was there was no tables or chairs. The hall was currently half-filled with contestants. In total, there would be around 250 contestantspeting in the tournament. Some contestants were already in the hall practising or checking their equipment. Others had formed groups and we''re causally chatting. It was a mix of 2nd and 3rd-year students and the difference in equipment was dramatic. All the 3rd-years didn''t have any equipment below the intermediate or higher than the advanced tier level. It was obvious that the 3rd years had an advantage in this tournament. Every year so far, a 3rd year student hade out as a winner in the tournament. It was an expected result. In truth, the tournament was a way to show the 2nd years that they had a long way to go to keep them from gettingzy. Jake''s eyes made contact with Harry and some of his friends but he quickly looked away. Jake and his friends decided to go to an empty space in the room to practise while Jake was meditating trying to see if he could expand the amount of Qi in his body. After an hour passed, the room was beginning to fill up. The double doors opened and more people came in. After some time, Cindy broke the silence. "I heard the first round is going to be a battle-royale style." "What do you mean?" Jake asked opening his eyes from the meditation he was doing. "They usually split the rounds into two groups." Cindy exined. "Second-year students will go first then the third-year will go next. Thest ten students go through the knockout stages which are one-on-one." "So there are really ten spots huh? Well, that''s great we just have to get through together and leave the remaining three spots for whosoever wanna take it." Peter said. "But won''t we face each otherter on?" Vynn asked. "We will cross that bridge when we get there." Jack said. "For now, we wanna prove ourselves so we just have to do our best and no personal feelings involved." Find more to read at empire They couldn''t argue with that all they had to do was to do their best. Suddenly, Kate ced her hand in the middle of everyone. They all looked at it strangely wondering what she was trying to do. "Then, let''s promise to get the top ten spots together." Kate said. "Haven''t we done this two weeks ago?" Jake asked. "C''mon don''t be a party pooper. Just do it." Kate said. Jake sighed and one by one, they started to put their hands on top of each other, all apart from Sophia who felt like it was childish especially with everyone watching. "C''mon Sophia!" Jack said. "Join us and stop being a sour grape."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Reluctantly, Sophia ced her hand on top with everyone else as well. "Together" "1,2,3¡­" "Hurray!" They all shouted. Chapter 91 Tournament Rules While Jake and the rest waited in the hall for further instructions. A group of soldiers entered the room. Each of them held a fairlyrge sack that was filled with something unknown. They then began going round the room handing out bracelets from the sacks to each and every one of the contestants. Not much was said about the bracelets. They were just told to wear them if they want to participate in the tournament. The bracelet was clear as ss and slightlyrger than an adult fist. When the bracelets was put on their wrist, it shrunk down to a perfect fit. After waiting a little while longer, a Sergeant entered the room. It was sergeant Lee that entered the room. When Lee was ready to speak, the room fell silent to listen attentively. "Good morning, everyone! I''m here to tell you all about the rules of this tournament. The first order of business: Will ranks 1 to 3 of the third year students pleasee forward?" Three students whom Jake had never seen before went over to where Lee was standing. Actually, on closer look, Jake recognized one of them which was Harry; Sebastian''s elder brother that wanted to harm Jake and his friends when they were in their first year on the pretense of teaching them an important lesson. Discover stories with empire "Next, will the rank 1 to 3 of the second years step forward?" Jack, Sophia and Peter went over towards where Sergeant Lee and the third years were standing. "The 6 students standing here, will be seeded. They will not participate in the first round and will go straight through the knockout stages." "You might be wondering what the devices on your wrists are for. In a moment, you should all see a number disy on it." Lee said ignoring the mumblings of the crowd after announcing those that will go through to the knockout stages. As Jake looked towards his wrist, a green figure could be seen "100 HP" written across the bracelet. "The first round of the tournament will be a battle royale style. The second year students will participate first. Thest seven students left standing, will go on to the knockout stages." Lee then raised one of the bracelets in the air. "This is your winning ticket. In the battle royale style, you will only be permitted to use the regr training wooden equipment. For each hit you take, this number will go down. When the number reaches zero, you will eliminated from the tournament." Lee looked at all the students there then he pointed at Kate. "Miss Kate, will you please join me?" She said. Kate quickly rushed over to sergeant Lee''s position. He then handed Kate a wooden bow and a blunt wooden arrow. Lee then started to look at the second-year students that were lined up and pointed at arge build student. "Big guy, you look like you can take a little bit of pain. I want you to stand in front of Kate and let her shoot you." Doing as asked, Kate readied her bow and aimed at the student''s stomach. As the arrow left the bow, itnded on the student''s stomach and bounced off. "As you can see, the student has taken no damage but if we look at his bracelet, it now disys 90HP. We want the students to show their skill in the first round not their wealth or luck." "This will put you all on an even ying field. The first round is all about skill. Now Kate, will you please take a shot using Qi?" Kate again took a shot but this time infusing Qi into her bow and arrow. "Now his bracelet should be disying 70HP¡­" "The stronger the attack, the more HP is taken. If this student had blocked using his Qi, it would counter attack and disy the usual minus 10HP. That is all you need to know about the first round." Lee said. The students were all asked to put all their equipment in a storage room and then meet back in the room. This included Jake who had his intermediate sword with him. So he was only allowed to wear his intermediate armour he bought from the cksmith before the tournament and his boot. Looking around inside the storage room, Jake could see a wall lined with wooden equipment and all types of weapons. Axes, maces, spear, bows, everything¡­ Jake went over and picked a regr wooden sword. Swinging it around, Jake liked the weight of the weapon and its feel so he took it. The 6 seeded students were then taken somewhere else since there was no need for them to be there. From the hallway, they are further escorted down a huge tunnel. The tunnel went on for about five minutes and at the end of it, they could see a bright light. As soon as they went into the bright light, they were weed with loud cheers. It felt like the whole ground was shaking. The whole arena waspletely packed with people and not a single seat was left empty. The arena also had a special seating area where the 3 Head Generals and six Generals sat. Just underneath them, were two instructors that Jake was familiar with. Instructor Thompson and instructor Jim. They were holding onto a microphone.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Weedies and gentlemen!" "We will now begin the opening round of Aurora Academy''s tournament." As instructor Jim spoke into the microphone, it was being magnified so the whole audience could hear him. The students were asked to spread out all over the arena. There were around 100 contestants in total on the ground floor. As Jake went into his open space, he couldn''t help but shake the feeling that some other yers were looking at him. He could feel their eyes piercing into his skull. ''What are they up to?'' Jake thought. "The first round, will be a battle-royale style tournament. Thest seven students remaining, will go onto the next round." A screen suddenly appeared over the fighting arena. "As you can see, the audience are able to see the HP of every single contestants. Once the HP counter of a contestant reaches 0, they will be eliminated." "Now let''s get ready to start in¡­" The whole audience started to count down together. "3¡­2¡­1¡­" Chapter 92 A Powerful Jake As soon as the fight had started, the five people closest to him dashed towards him. Jake had a feeling that some contestants were watching him and he was right. They had nned to attack him together not wanting to take any chances. As the first man swung his sword towards Jake''s stomach, Jake quickly pivoted sideways and then kicked him in the shin very hard, not even withdrawing his strength a little bit. Then the second man was already behind Jake and he swung his sword on Jake''s back thatnded sessfully. Immediately the hitnded, the number on Jake''s bracelet changed and disyed 90HP. Although the hit didn''t hurt Jake, the system still counted it as a hit. Jake then quickly turned around to the other person that had hit him with the sword then he used his sword''s butt to whack him across the face so hard that he went flying towards his allies. The crowd of spectators were now on edge, they were watching the fight between Jake and the five people. Although some of them thought that Jake was being brutal in his strikes, they couldn''t deny that he was quite strong. Even Jim was now watching all the fights happening intently. ''If that Kid with the orb is really in the academy, he should be here fighting. So I just have to identify him quickly before he gets away.'' Now almost everybody''s attention was on Jake wondering if he could pull through this obvious ambush. The third person was now upon Jake with an axe kicking from above. Jake quickly rolled over then he swept the person off his feet therefore causing to fall off bnce. Then he did his own axe kick thatnded on the man''s stomach knocking out the air from his stomach. On the disy screen, they could see that the man''s bracelet was now disying 0. Immediately it did, the man was teleported away then Jake went back a bit confused why five people were attacking him. Squinting closer, Jake could finally recognize them. "Sebastian." Jake said under his breath. The men attacking Jake were Sebastian and his friends. Jake just kept his head low while his fists were tense in anger. He started mumbling under his breath. "Why¡­ Why are you all ganging up on me? Is it just because I decided to take revenge for my family?" "I''m not gonna let this slide away now." Jake then just lifted his head in time for a sword strike was heading towards his face then he quickly used his own sword infused with Qi to block the strike. Then Jake used the Triple Threat technique to get behind him and gave him a roundhouse kick thatnded squarely on his head therefore sending him crashing down and his bracelet showing the number 0 and him teleporting away. "One hit and they are out! How does he do it?" Thompsonmented. A spectator eximed, "What''s going on? He''s taking down opponents with ease!" "He''s a beast! That kind of strength is unheard of!." Another person said. In the viewing area for the Head Generals and other authorities, they were also having their own talk about Jake. "How is it possible that a student like this is in this school and we don''t know about him?" Head General Gunther asked. He was a man that looked to be In histe forties with his brown long hair tied in a ponytail and he was looking fit enough like someone who fought a lot of battles to get to his position. "I think he just went off the radar." Head General Rowan replied. Rowan was a man that had a kind of mysterious look to his eyes. He looked like a man in histe thirties with arge and muscr build. He had his ck hair swept back neatly. "Do we have any information about this kid?" Head General Humfree asked. Head General Humfree was the oldest among the Head Generals with his white hair neatly swept back and some wrinkles showing on his face. His beard was even white in colour but even though he was old, he had this powerful look and aura around him that would make people think twice about antagonising him. Together, these three rule Aurora Academy. "Yes." General Paul replied. "His name is Jake Lucas, he came into the academy as a low level. His strength was around number 20, the lowest number a student could have, therefore he earned the power level 1 and the rank 200 in thebat training rankings." Gunther leaned forward. "And what''s his current ranking?"N?v(el)B\\jnn "He''s currently the rank 4 of the second years." Paul replied to him. "How''s this possible?" Rowan almost shouted. "He grew so strong over the year. Even if he was very dedicated or determined to grow stronger, it should have taken years to do that. So howe he managed to grow strong in just a year?" "Was he on our radar?" Humfree asked. "Negative." Paul said. "Those that had potential are the current number 1 to 3 of the second years. They were the ones we were told to keep an eye for." "Well the kid is certainly good." Gunther said. "Let''s just see what else he can show." Currently in the arena, there were three people remaining including Sebastian that were now surrounding Jake looking for an opening for an attack. "I can see you have grown stronger over the past year." Sebastian said, still circling around Jake. "And so have I." Sebastian dashed towards Jake with full speed along with his two remaining friends for an attack while Jake readied himself to defend from the attack with his eyes scanning and watching their movements while Jake''s brain wasing up with counter attacks. And then in less than a few seconds, they were now upon Jake. Will they defeat Jake or will Jake manage to pull through this ambush. Chapter 93 Rise of the underdog Currently, in another viewing booth where the seeded students were, the second year and third year students were split by some sort of barricade. There, Jack, Sophia and Peter were watching Jake''s match intently. "Do you think Jake will be alright?" Sophia asked. "Are you kidding me right now?" Peter shouted. "Are we watching the same thing right now? You can see how Jake is hitting them with one hit therefore eliminating him and you are doubting him?" "But how''s he doing that?" Jack asked. "How is he able to defeat his opponents with just one hit and I don''t think he even used Qi at all. That is just purely his strength. So how is this possible?" "Well, I knew Jake was strong ever since that day in the forest. The way he went toe to toe with Kilberg, a C rank adventurer. That was when I knew he was strong but how he became this strong, I don''t know." Peter said.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Exactly my point. We all knew Jake was the weakest among us in our first year. He was ranked 200 and also received the power level 1 so how on earth is he this strong?" Sophia asked. "Well whatever it is, I am d he''s my friend and on our side. Because I would hate to make him an enemy or fight with him currently." Jack said. At the same time that Jack and the rest were talking, the seeded third years were also having their own discussion. Enjoy exclusive content from empire "Harry, so do you think your brother can defeat this dude?" The rank 2 of the third years named Emily onyx asked. "I''m not sure." Harry shrugged. "Why, what do you mean?" Emily asked. "Because, when Sebastian was ranked 20, that guy was ranked 180 and he managed to defeat Sebastian quite easily although he didn''te out unscathed." Harry said. "So I can''t say the same thing now. He is currently ranked number 4 while Sebastian is the rank 7 of the second years so I don''t really know. And there was even a time when I wanted to get revenge on him and we fought. He was really skillful then, skillful enough tond a hit on me." Hearing this, the rank 1 of the third years and possibly the strongest in the academy turned around. "You mean that guy managed tond a hit on you." Alexander de or otherwise known as Alex de a huge, bulky guy that had a giant sword strapped to his back and also red fiery hair. "Yes, he was very skillful then and he was just a first-year at that time. I don''t know how much he has grown since then." "Well, he has apparently grown strong enough to defeat your brother''s friends with a single hit." Alex said with his heart thumping louder by the second and his eyes showing a sense of excitement. Alex always loved to fight strong opponents. People he thought were strong so he could improve himself more. And now hearing and seeing that Jake was a strong person, Alex just wanted to jump down to the arena and fight with Jake but he just sat down patiently and prayed to match up with Jake in the tournament. Back at the arena, Jake was currently surrounded by Sebastian and two of his friends. And then, Sebastian dashed towards Jake with full speed throwing a kick towards his face but Jake leaned backwards avoiding it then he slid down while shing at Sebastian''s legs which removed 10HP from Sebastian''s watch. Then one of Sebastian''s friends was now upon Jake with arge wooden hammer weapon about to smash on Jake but Jake quickly rolled over and kicked him hard in the hand making him drop the hammer then Jake quickly stood up and smashed his face with an elbow hard that flung his head backwards and then he fell but he didn''t teleport for his watch still had 20HP left. Then another one with a spear came at Jake with a thrust but Jake used his sword to block it. Unknown to him that his opponent was using Qi making him drop his sword because of the strength of the thrust. Seeing as he was defenceless, Sebastian decided to strike from above but as if sensing it, Jake bent down forward therefore avoiding the strike. And then Jake quickly used the Triple Threat technique to get behind Sebastian then he kicked him hard causing him to crash on the floor. Before he could move again, a thrust was heading towards his face again. Annoyed by this spear user, Jake grabbed the spear which caused a slight cut on his palm and removed 10 HP again leaving Jake with just 60HP in his bracelet. Then with his Qi coursing to his hands and strengthening his hands, Jake snapped the spear in half. Seeing this, the spear user stepped back in fear of Jake. "You¡­ you are a monster!" Jake just smiled and stepped forward to get closer to him. "I''m a monster? If I''m a monster, what should you guys be called? You decided to attack someone five on one and you call me a monster?" The whole crowd including the Head Generals could hear what Jake and all the others were saying because microphones were ced on every corner of the arena including the contestants bracelets so the spectators could hear everything being said. "What did I do wrong?" Jake asked, continuing his words. "Just because I challenged Sebastian to a duel and I won, you guys decided to gang up on me today. What about when he challenged my best friend, Vynn to a duel and won while leaving Vynn in a terrible condition? None of you saw that." "Ask Sebastian what he gained by challenging someone who was ranked 200 and he was ranked 20 to a duel. You know, my family were murdered by werewolves anding to this academy, I trained day and night so I can have the strength to protect myself and avenge my parents. But I managed to make new families and Sebastian decided to harm one of them." "No, I won''t let that happen. So if I''m a monster for trying to protect my new found family, then so be it." Jake dashed forward with all his speed that he was in front of the spear user in less than a second and then he punched him hard that his bracelet which was disying 100HP, was now disying 0 and he was even unconscious. The crowd hearing everything Jake said, were sympathizing with him. Many of them there, the werewolves took some of their family so they knew the pain of losing someone close to them. And now, they could see Jake walking slowly towards Sebastian. Chapter 94 Prophecy unveiled After defeating all of Sebastian''s friends, Jake was now walking towards Sebastian with an angry expression on his face and his fists clenched tightly. While Sebastian just stood there looking at Jake with a grin on his face as if he wasn''t scared of Jake at all. Jake then stood two metres away from Sebastian. This surprised Sebastian and everyone else because with the way Jake was walking, they expected that he wouldn''t stop until he beat up Sebastian but then he suddenly stopped one metre away from Sebastian. Enjoy new tales from empire Then Jake lifted his head and smiled. "You know nothing about me. You don''t know what I have been through to get strong. That is why I will say this, you are nowhere strong enough to push me to my limits. Only your elder brother might give me a little bit of trouble." This promation was heard loud and clear in the stands, viewing booths and by everyone else. "This guy is gutsy. I really like him and his guts." Alex said. "Well, I can''t wait for the time to pound his smug face in." Harry said. "This kid sure has a lot of guts. I wonder how he''s going to do what he ims." Gunther said. And then, Jake quickly used step shift to get in front of Sebastian and then he threw a Jab towards Sebastian''s face but Sebastian quickly ducked avoiding the hit which came as a surprise to Jake because the move was quite fast especially with him using Step shift but it was still avoided by Sebastian. Then Jake quickly kneed him in the face that managed to bring Sebastian''s head up then Jake quickly swept Sebastian off his feet causing him to fall down. Then Jake lifted his foot about to hit Sebastian with an axe kick but Sebastian quickly rolled away avoiding it. Then Sebastian quickly stood up and dashed towards Jake with full speed but it looked like Sebastian was moving slowly in Jake''s eyes. Sebastian threw a punch towards Jake''s stomach. Jake didn''t do anything, he stood there taking the punch that was infused with Qi. Jake didn''t even move an inch he just stood there smiling at a dumbfounded Sebastian who was shell shocked. It felt like he was hitting a metallic boulder with his fists. Although the hit didn''t hurt Jake, the bracelet still removed 20HP from Jake. Grabbing onto Sebastian''s hand, Jake looked him in the eye. "I told you, you are nowhere near my level." Jake then lifted Sebastian by holding his hands and then he mmed Sebastian down with all his strength that caused dust to be raised everywhere and obscured everyone''s view for a few seconds. The dust settled and now Sebastian could be seen standing up with blood trickling from his mouth. He even coughed out huge amounts of blood. ncing at his wrists, Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief for Jake''s hit only removed 30HP meaning, Sebastian currently had 40HP to spare. Sebastian lifted his head to look around for Jake but he was nowhere to be found. That was when he felt a breath on his neck. "You can never meet up with me. I''m sure this is how you made Vynn feel that day." Turning around, Sebastian could see Jake lifting his wooden sword and infusing it with Qi then Jake was about to swing it when a loud buzzing sound stopped him. Looking around, Jake could see that the arena was somewhat empty with only a few contestants standing there. "Congrattions to the seven students that have made it to the next round." Jim said through the microphone. "Woah! That was an intense match right there." Thompsonmented. "Contestant Jake sure did surprise everyone here." Everyone was so focused on Jake''s match that they didn''t notice the other people that were fighting. Because of Jake''s friends, the other contestants were eliminated quickly. They didn''t really stand a chance with Cindy and Kate taking the charge. And then after a few minutes, there were only seven contestants standing in the arena. The students that passed the knockout stages were; Jake, Sebastian, Kate, Vynn, Cindy, the other student that Jake hit away but had his HP still in number 20 and therge student that was shot an arrow by Kate when they were in the hall. Currently, in the viewing area of the Head Generals and other high ranking officials, they were discussing Jake. "The kid is quite strong, strong enough to do that to 5 students and even defeat some of them in a single hit." Humfree said while stroking his beard. "Could he be the one?" Rowan asked. "Impossible." Gunther shouted. "We are the strongest in the academy, we have the big three and also some strong guilds and you wanna believe a stupid prophecy about a saviour?" "I''m just saying." Rowan said. Which caused Gunther to scoff. "Just because someone managed to defeat four weak students, doesn''t mean he''s the one in your stupid prophecy." "Gunther has a point." Humfree said, still stroking his beard. "But we can''t rule out the possibility so let''s just wait and watch what happens." ___________________ ********************** For more updates on WSS and future works, please remember to follow me up on my social media ounts below. Instagram: KBKayboy. Facebook page: KBKayboy. When news on WSS or any other serieses out, you will be able to see it there first. But if you just want to chat, you can as well add me up on discord. ______________ ***************** I''m doing a mass release today, please enjoy this new month with this mass release of this epic journey.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om _____________ *************** Also, happy new month to all my fans, I hope this month brings us good tidings. I would have said all these in the author''s thoughts but it won''t be able to contain what I want to say so please bear with me. Please guys, in this new month, your gifts, stones and Golden tickets will be very much appreciated. Please y''all help my book gain the recognition it needs. Chapter 95 The Bracket of Fate After seeing Jake fight, Alex was itching to fight with him more than usual. He was even itching for a fight recently but he justposed himself and waited for the next event that was about to happen any minute from now. Right on cue, the announcers started to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen thank you for waiting. It is time for the next event to begin. It will now be starting in 3¡­2¡­1¡­ go!" The match had now begun and everyone''s eyes were now focused on the match going on below. As the match started, many third year students were getting eliminated. Just like with the second years, there was arge difference in power among the third years. And then after a few minutes of intense fighting among the third years, there were now seven winners that will be going onto the next stage.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our seven winners!" Currently standing in the arena, were the seven contestants that will be going through the elimination rounds. There were seven third year students standing. One of them was Charlotte, a third year student that used a whip as her choice of weapon. She always stays a little bit far away then she always uses the whip to hit opponents a little farther from her. Then the second person was another girl that used a bow and arrow. Her name was Ruby and she was quite skillful in using the bow and arrow. The third person was someone named Geo, a huge guy that looked like a giant for his age and his main weapon was a two-handed axe. There was also a male contender named Simyon that used daggers as his main choice of weapons. There was another male that used a longsword there, his name was Gary. A female named Jasmine used a Tachi de as her own choice of weapon. Thest contender was a spear user named Dan. Together, all these were the ones that will be going onto the next stage. These were the five people going onto the next stage. The first round of the tournament was over and the third year students were taken to the medical bay just like the second years earlier to check their injuries up. Once everyone was healed up, they asked the ten winning students from each year to meet back up in the arena. Currently standing in the arena from the second year students were. Jake, Jack, Sophia, Cindy, Vynn, Peter, Kate, Sebastian, the student that Kate shot an arrow at back in the hall named Lan, one of Sebastian''s friends that was hit by Jake named Cole were all in the arena. Jake and his friends looked at each other with smiling faces because they did it, they managed to get to the top ten together. Standing on the other side were the third year students. Alexander, Emily, Harry, Charlotte, Ruby, Geo, Simyon, Gary, Jasmine and Dan. That was when an hologram appeared in the arena and General Paul was being disyed on it. "We are here today to congratte this twenty fine students. The best of the best at Aurora Academy!" Immediately all the people in the stands started cheering loudly at General Paul''s words. Why won''t they cheer, after all each of the students here had disyed amazing skill. The audience thought that these were the best and strongest students they had seen at Aurora Academy. They hadn''t even seen the top 3 fight already but based on what they were seeing from the other ranks, they were very impressed and one name was on all of their lips and mind which was "Jake the underdog!" Paul cleared his throat before he continued speaking. "For the next round, we have a surprise for you all. The second-year students have all exceeded our expectations. And they have been the best that we have ever seen since the start of Aurora Academy." There was no doubt on the minds of everyone after what they had seen today. If Paul had said all these before they had seen the second-years fight, they would have thought he was bluffing. Out of all of the second-years standing there, there was only one student which they all wanna see more of. And which was Jake. Even someone in the crowd was just looking at Jake intently and blushing. "Miss Helen, I can see why you have a liking for the guy. He''s very strong." Berg said. "Yes. I knew that my prince charming was strong but not this strong." Helen smiled and now they were focusing on what Paul had to say. "We have decided to change things from the usual routine of past tournaments. Behold!" Paul pointed behind him and anotherrge holographic disy appeared behind him. Then a bracket sheet had appeared with each and every one of the students names and who their was that they were facing. The holographic screen disyed this: Alexander vs Jack Emily vs Sophia Harry vs Jake Geo vs Peter Garry vs Sebastian Ruby vs Kate Charlotte vs Cole Jasmine vs Cindy Dan vs Vynn Simyon vs Lan Most of the second year students eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their skulls looking at the list. Looking at the list, Jake was happy that he would get a chance to face off against Harry. He couldn''t help but think that this was done on purpose by the academy. And it was true, after hearing what Jake said to Sebastian, they decided to set up his next match against Harry. "The first match will begin tomorrow at midday. Please enjoy your time in the city everyone hey a good rest." The joyous mood between Jake and his friends were now reced with seriousness. Everyone had their opponents on their minds. The walk back to the dorm was near silent. When the group eventually reached the academy, everyone started to split up in several directions, saying they needed to train. ***************** In a far away distance far from the academy and Aurora city, in a desert of some sorts, a portal opened up and close to two hundred men poured out of the portal with a man standing in front of them all with a serious look on his face. "Get ready, go into the city, act like a normal citizen and wait for my signal. Because soon, Aurora Academy will experience blood bath." The man said. Chapter 96 Academys Strongest It was finally the next day, Jake woke up early as usual toplete his daily quest and probably warm up a bit. Afterpleting his daily quest, Jake went back to his dorm to freshen up and in an hour, everyone was ready for the day and tournament. Then they decided to head to the arena together again after having their breakfast. They walked for a few minutes in silence because they were all contemting how they will take their opponents down today. Although Jake wasn''t showing his worries on the outside, deep inside he was worried. ''I wonder if I''m strong enough to take down Harry.'' Jake thought. ''I remember him besting me when I was in my first year. If it wasn''t for Jack, I would have been terribly injured. But a lot has changed, I''m now a different Jake from before. I think¡­ no, I know I can hold my ground.'' Just then, they finally arrived at the arena. The students going through the next round, were told to go to two separate waiting rooms before the event started. One contained all the second year students, the other one contained all the third year students. When entering the room and seeing the others, Jake and his friends went to sit somewhere patiently while some were warming up before their next fight for the day. Before they headed out, everyone checked their equipment because for this event, they were allowed to use their real weapons. After a few minutes of waiting, it was finally time for the next round of the tournament. The ten second-year students walked into the arena while the ten third-year students walked in from the other side. As the two teams entered, there were gigantic cheers from the crowd but one name was being chanted after a while. "Underdog! Underdog!" "Jake the underdog!" The cheers were getting louder and louder. "Wow! Look at who got himself some fans." Petermented but Jake didn''t pay him any attention because he was more focused on his fight. "Will everyone please look at the disy in the middle of the arena?" Paul said and everyone looked at the holographic disy that was randomising between all the contestants'' images. After a few seconds of shuffling, it finally stopped. "And it looks like the first Battle of this evening will be between the number ones of the second and third year students. Jack Dem vs Alexander de!" Jack and Alex approached the centre of the arena while the rest of the students watched with eager anticipation from the outside. The rules for this round were differentpared to the previous round. Contestants were allowed to use real equipment for this fight. There were no longer any bracelets on the contestants. Instead, two Generals were on standby, Paul and Wilfred. If a contestant was about to take a fatal blow, Paul and Wilfred will do everything in their power to stop the hit. Therefore dering the other person the winner. If it was obvious that one person was stronger than the other, at any time the Generals had the power to stop the contestants and dere the other person the winner. If a contestant was knocked out or forfeited, this too will also count as a win. With the rules exined, it was finally time for the fight between Alex and Jack. Alex just calmly unbuttoned his shirt to reveal hard rock abs like as if it was carved from stone then he pulled out his giant sword and looked at Jack with a bored expression. "It''s not you I really want to fight." Alex said while looking towards Jake''s direction. "Is it me or is that guy looking right at Jake?" Vynn asked. "Yeah I think so too." Kate replied. "But why will he say he wants to fight with Jake?" "Who knows." Jake shrugged. "Anyway," Alex continued. "I just hope you don''t bore me." Alex then took a stance so did Jack as he gripped his sword tightly while looking at Alex intently. The centre of the arena was slightly elevatedpared to the rest of the arena this time. And currently, Jack and Alex were on the elevated arena. "And the first match of the day will start in 3¡­2¡­1¡­" The warhorn yed signalling the start of the first round. Jack just stood there in a stance wanting to observe Alex more but Alex was just nning to end the fight as soon as possible unless Jack was a decent enough opponent for him. Alex didn''t waste any time in dashing towards Jack with full speed then he swung his sword fast and hard towards Jack''s neck but he quickly used Triple Threat technique to get behind Alex then he swung his sword again which was coated in Qi towards Alex''s back. But when the sword struck, it felt like Jack was hitting steel for Alex''s body didn''t have a cut on it. Not even a scratch on it. This stunned Jack and everyone watching. "What! Is his body made up of metal or what?" Vynn shouted. "I think he just has arge amount of Qi." Sophiamented.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Well if it''s true, then that means we shouldn''t take any of our matches lightly." Kate said. "I wasn''t nning to." Jake said still not taking his eyes from the match. Seeing as his sword didn''t prate Alex''s body, he quickly moved back to create space and it was just in time for Alex''s sword was now heading for the spot he was standing in not too long ago. When the sword crashed into the ground, it caused a lot of dust to be raised and blown everywhere. Using this opportunity, Jack quickly dashed forward into the dust so Alex won''t be able to see him but when he got there, he was now struck In the chest by a powerful blow from Alex that sent him flying. Walking calmly out of the now settling dust, was Alex with a frown on his face. "You are so weak and not even worth my time." ''If only you know who I am, you won''t even think of talking to me like that.'' Jack thought with a smirk on his face as he was getting up. Dashing towards Jack, Alex swung his sword towards his head but Jack quickly rolled over avoiding the hit then he quickly stood up and moved his Qi to his legs to give him a speed boost. Then he dashed towards Jack with full speed and quickly switched his Qi from his feet to his hands to give him a strength boost. And then he swung his sword that was coated in Qi so fast that Alex was stunned and unable to avoid it. The strike hit Alex in his chest and what everyone saw including the third years was shocking including Alex. Ever since Alex learnt about Qi, he was always so talented that he could switch between all the stages and coat himself with it in less than a second and no one will know. He had so much Qi and his body was able to handle it without exploding. So ever since then, Alex didn''t need to get an armour for his body was capable enough to shield him from any attack. Even the third years couldn''t even cause an injury on Alex''s body and that was why he was currently the strongest in the whole academy. But now, they were seeing a second year causing a white mark on his body which even the third years couldn''t do. Although to Jack, this was not impressive in the least. ''All the speed and strength all for what, just to cause a white mark on his body? Are you kidding me? What type of body does this guy have?'' Jack thought annoyed. "Well you are quite strong but I''m sorry, I need to end this now." Alex said as he quickly gave Jack a quick kick in his stomach that sent him flying and crashing down. The kick was strong enough to not even let Jack stand up because he was still feeling the pain of the kick and he was coughing violently. Until some soldiers came over and took Jack away to the clinic then Paul took Alex''s hand and raised it up as if they were in a wrestling ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner for the first match!" And immediately, the crowd cheered loudly. But this loss, was not so surprising because they had expected it after seeing the strong body Alex had or the strong Qi he had. This situation made some of them worried. How were they going to be able to defeat the third years if all of them are monsters like this. But they didn''t know that Alex was one of his kind and the second years definitely knew now that he truly deserved his position as the academy''s strongest. But this was not going to stop Jake for he was going to take down Harry no matter the cost. Chapter 97 Fierce clashes The next match was between Emily and Sophia and now, they were both in the middle of the stage staring at each other. Emily was a girl who had fiery red hair and a cold face just like Sophia. They both held their swords with Sophia holding her scimitar and Emily with her Katana de. After the warhorn resounded, Sophia didn''t take any chances as she dashed towards Emily who was calmly taking a stance. And in less than a second, Sophia was already in front of Emily with a downward sh that almost caught Emily off guard but she quickly used her de to block the hit. Sophia quickly acted fast, quickly moved back just an inch and then came back with a roundhouse kick but it was blocked by Emily with her own roundhouse kick. Emily then threw Sophia away with her leg and then dashed forward with a sword strike from above but Sophia quickly blocked it with her sword while the strike was pushing her down on her knees. But she gritted her teeth and poured her Qi into the de and her arms then she managed to push Emily away but it only caused her to move just an inch but it was enough for Sophia who quickly stood up and swept Emily off her feet causing her to stumble and was about to fall. But Emily quickly used her sword to prop herself up. But before she could stand properly, Sophia was already upon her with a strong axe kick that sent Emily crashing down with much force. Then Sophia quickly drew her sword and struck at Emily''s neck but she was stopped by General Wilfred who held her hand and dered her the winner therefore awarding the second years their first win for the day. Emily was whisked away to the clinic to check herself up while Sophia slowly made her way back to her friends. Seeing Sophia walk back towards them, they were just cheering her on. "Woah! For a second there, I thought you were going to lose to her." Vynn said. "Were you doubting me?" Sophia asked. "No, it''s just with the level of skill which the third years have shown so far, I thought we didn''t have a chance." Vynn said. "Well speak for yourself." Sophia said while going over to her spot.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om In the Head Generals viewing booth, they were really impressed by Sophia''s win. "Well, obviously she was going to win after all, she was on our radar." Gunther said. "But even the rank 1 of the second year was also on our radar too." Rowan said. "And he still lost." "Well, I think he was holding back." Humfree said, stroking his long white beard. "What do you mean?" Gunther asked. "You don''t know anything about who that boy is." Humfree said. "Will you tell us who he is?" Rowan demanded. Humfree just sighed. "You fools! What was hisst name called?" "Dem wh¡­" Rowan stuttered as his eyes widened in surprise. Even Gunther quickly realised what Humfree was hinting at. They hadn''t realised it earlier because they thought anybody could have thest name Dem but since Humfree was putting emphasis on it, they now realised. "You mean¡­" Gunther didn''t want to say it out loud. "Yes." Humfree replied. "Jack''s family are part of the Big three and I think he''s a direct descendant to them." "Well that is shocking." Gunther said. "Well, I wonder what the Big Three are nning for them to send their children here. Don''t get me wrong. I don''t have anything against them sending their kids here but it''s still confusing because they could also train their descendants themselves so why send them here?" "Exactly." Rowan said. "Two of the Big Three Kids are here. I wonder if thest one will also be here too." "Anyway, I think we should focus on the match for now and worry about the Big Three motives." Humfree said as the next match was starting. The next match of the day was between Geo and Peter, two students who used a two-handed axe as their choice of weapon. As Peter made his way to the centre of the arena, he couldn''t help but feel a little nervous. Who could me him? After all, the third year students were beasts in their own way. Thinking about beasts, an image of Jake appeared in his head. Somehow, anytime it seemed like Jake was cornered, he always managed to pull through and win his fight. Currently, Peter knew that Jake was stronger than him in every way. He wasn''t ashamed of admitting it. But now, he has to focus on his match because currently, Geo was already in the centre of the arena waiting for Peter. Peter now stood confidently in front of Geo and then the war horn was blown signalling the start of the fight between Peter and Geo. Peter didn''t charge first, rather he waited and baited his time for Geo to attack first and which he did. Geo dashed towards Peter with full speed which was surprising because he had a full set of armour on his body which seemed heavy and coupled with his huge size, many would have thought he wouldn''t be able to run that fast, but he did. Charging right at Peter with a speed that seemed inhuman, Geo was already in front of Peter while swinging one of his axe towards Peter''s head but Peter easily ducked avoiding it then Peter shed at Geo''s stomach with his own axe but it just made a ng on the armour not even damaging it in the slightest. Currently, Peter''s axes were at the advanced tier and he was even coating it with his Qi so it was sharper than normal but it didn''t damage it one bit. Which means either Geo''s armour was of a higher tier or it had a skill that made it more durable. Weapons or armour at the higher stage like an advanced weapon and above, tend to have a skill which is called an active skill. It could range from offensive skills or defensive skills. Peter was thinking along the right lines. Geo''s armour had an active skill that allowed it to be 5 times more durable and also feel lighter on his body making him not feel the whole weight of the armour. After seeing his strike didn''t work, Peter moved back a bit but Geo quickly moved forward and swung his axe towards Peter''s chest. Peter quickly used his own axe to block the strike but the strength of the hit sent Peter skidding a bit. ''Darn it! These third year students are no joke.'' Peter thought, gritting his teeth. Then Peter managed to push the hands away with all his strength but the next thing, a kick smashed into Peter''s head sending all his whole body tumbling and bouncing around on the arena. Where the third year students were, they just scoffed at the second years. "Pathetic, if all of them are like this, we have the win in the bag."Jasmine said. "You should learn not to underestimate your opponents." Alex said. "Remember, a second year student managed to defeat Emily who is the rank 2 in the whole academy." Hearing thisment, Emily just turned her face away because she was ashamed of her loss. She couldn''t believe that she lost. She is the second strongest in the academy and she was bested by a second year student. Meanwhile, where the second year students were standing, they were also having their own discussions. "Do you think Peter can win?" Cindy was obviously worried for him with the way she was seeing Geo toy around with him. "Tch." Sophia scoffed. "Even if Peter acts like a fool sometimes, he is still certainly strong. Strong enough to defeat a D rank adventurer that ambushed him and Jake in the forest." "So now tell me, between a D rank adventurer and a third year student of an academy, who is stronger?" Cindy didn''t answer because the answer was very obvious and now, they were now watching the fight. After being kicked on the head and crashing on the floor, Peter wasying on the floor unmoving which got some people in the crowd wondering if he was dead or not. Geo just calmly walked towards Peter and then bent down to get a good look at Peter. "So pathetic." Geo said as he raised his axe to strike Peter''s head but Peter quickly rolled over a little bit to get away from the axe strike then he backflipped while in the process kicking Geo''s head very hard sending him falling on his butt and partly hitting his head on the floor. Standing up, Peter walked towards Geo who was now getting up from the ground but then Peter quickly used the butt of his axe to whack Geo hard on the head and then he pointed his axe towards his neck which made General Wilfrede over and announce Peter as the winner. Geo was taken to the clinic so was Peter who sustained an internal injury in his head because of the kick delivered to him by Geo. The crowd were really surprised because twice now, a second year managed to pull out a win. This has never happened in the history of Aurora Academy where second year students were this strong. Only rarely did a talent pop out once a while but now, they could see that there was more than one talent among the second years. Which made most of the parents sitting in the stands, want to send their children here next year. "And now, the next match of the day is between our very own Harrrrrry Thane vs Jakeeee Lucas, our very own underdog!" Immediately, the crowd erupted in cheers. The crowd were excited about seeing a fight between these two after hearing what Jake had said the previous day. Leaving his friends, Jake walked confidently towards the centre of the arena with his gauntlets equipped in his hands, his sword in his hand, his advanced tier boot that he had crafted again from the wolf beast and some pieces of intermediate armour on his body. Immediately Jake walked out, the cheers erupted again making the arena feel like it was shaking from the sound. Then after a few seconds, Harry walked out and now, Jake and Harry were standing opposite each other while staring into each other''s eyes intently. "And the match will begin in 3¡­2¡­1¡­" Chapter 98 Its time to end this! After a few intense matches between the second and third years, it was now finally time for the match which everybody had been anticipating. The match between Jake and Harry and everyone watching, were very excited. Even the Head Generals were now excited about this match up. "So who do you think will win?" Rowan asked. "Obviously it''s Harry." Gunther replied. "I was thinking Jake will win." Rowan said. "Pfft. What on Earth will make you think that?" Gunther said. "We all saw what Jake did in the knockout stages." Rowan said. "Just because someone knockout five weak second years, doesn''t mean he can defeat a third year. And Harry Is not an ordinary third year." Gunther said. "Or do you want me to remind you who he is?" "In case you have forgotten, let me remind you." Gunther said. "There are five strong independent Guilds that have the potential of joining the Big three table or rivalling them if theye together which they can''t because of their differences. And Harry along with Sebastian are the children of the leader of the second most strongest independent Guild." "Now tell me, how do you think a no name like Jake could defeat Harry?" "I think the young boy is going to surprise you all more than you think." Humfree said stroking his beard which was a habit of his. "Meaning?" Gunther raised an eyebrow. Humfree just chuckled. "How about a friendly bet among us three about who would win." Gunther and Rowan''s mouth were now wide agape. "Are you alright? Did you hit your head on something or what?" Humfree just chuckled again. "It''s just a friendly bet nothing else." "Well, I''m in." Gunther said. "5000 credits on Harry to finish him off quickly." "3000 credits for Harry to defeat Jake but Jake willst a little more longer." Rowan said. Humfree just chuckled again. "10,000 credits on Jake winning this match." Gunther and Rowan''s eyes were now widened in surprise. "What are you nning old man?" ''Betting 10,000 credits on Jake winning was no small money. 10,000 credits is equivalent to a King tier beast crystal which is the second to strongest beast that has been discovered or it''s equivalent to 10 advanced tier crystals.'' Gunther thought. ''So why is he betting so much on Jake like that? Did he see something aside Jake beating up five people that we didn''t? Whatever the case it is, I''m sure that Harry will make quick work of him.'' With the bets ced, there was no more arguments or discussions for the match between Jake and Harry was starting now. Jake stood opposite Harry in a battle stance while Harry just stood there calmly with his hands crossed around his chest waiting for the match to begin. And then, the warhorn sounded signalling the start of the match and everyone were watching the match intently. Immediately the match started, Jake dashed towards Harry with incredible speed that it was like Jake teleported from one ce to another that was how fast Jake ran to get to Harry''s position in a blink of an eye. Then Jake swung his sword from above towards Harry''s head but he quickly used his own sword to block. What Harry didn''t expect was the strength behind the strike which almost made Harry tumble to the ground but he quickly used Qi to strengthen his hands and managed to push Jake away. ''What kind of monstrous strength does this guy have? Is that his real strength or is he strengthening his hands with Qi?'' Harry thought. Jake didn''t give Harry time to formte a n as he quickly ran forward again then when he was at Harry''s position, he threw a roundhouse kick towards Harry''s face but Harry quickly ducked avoiding it then Harry rolled over forward and then quickly stood up and unleashed a flurry of kick towards Jake''s face. But Jake was doing well blocking his vitals from the hits. Once a while, the kick was connecting with his body. ''Shit! This feels a lot like when we fought back then at the assembly hall with him overpowering me.'' Jake thought. In order to get a breathing space which Harry wasn''t giving him enough of, Jake quickly activated Stun strike to make him pause for a second which was more than enough for Jake to quickly use. Triple Threat technique to get behind Harry. Then Jake quickly threw a strong axe kick towards Harry''s head that connected sessfully after Harry managed to free himself from the Stun strike effect and then he felt his head smashing to the ground hard. When Harry lifted his head back up, his face was met with a kick that sent his head flinging backwards and he fell on the floor. Then Jake walked towards him slowly but all of a sudden, Jake stopped dead in his tracks. His feet were not responding to him making him not move even one bit. Looking up at Harry, he could see him standing up with a trickle of blood dripping down his head from the earlier hit. "This, Is the difference between us third year students and you second year students. You have only been taught the two stages of Qi whereas, we have been taught the three stages." Harry smiled. "Honestly, I don''t know why does din don fools, lost to some of you. They had the three stages of Qi but they chose not to use it. They purely wanted to use their silly skills and thus, they underestimated you all. But I won''t make the same mistake as them, I''m gonna use everything I got to take you down!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Harry dashed towards Jake with incredible speed that in a moment, he was in front of Jake and then he swung his sword at Jake''s stomach with all his strength that it made Jake fly back. When Jake managed to stand up, he noticed that his armour had all broken and fell off his body therefore leaving him with his sword, gauntlet and boot. Looking up, Harry was already in front of him with a swing from above but quickly acting fast, Jake activated Step shift and suddenly he was two metres away from Harry who just swung his sword and noticed it struck air. Everyone were pleasantly surprised wondering how Jake managed to get away. Some people in the crowd dismissed it as a skill possibly taught to the students at the academy. But the academy including the Head Generals knew that hadn''t taught any students this skill for they themselves know nothing about it so they dismissed it as Jake learning it on his own. But someone else hadn''t dismissed it because he knew what it was. "That was the skill the wolf hunter used in the game." Jim said quietly having recognizing the skill. "The wolf hunter used a skill that belonged to the powers of the orb but that skill was weak whereas this one has be stronger." "Hold on, I knew that the kid with the orb was in this academy that''s why I disguised myself and came here and I found out he was ying the game. It can''t be a coincidence that this kid and the wolf hunter are using the same skill which means that Jake is the wolf hunter and the kid with the orb I have been looking for." Jim was now smiling. ''I have finallypleted my mission. And with me knowing what you look like, you can''t escape from me.'' Even Jake friends had recognized the skill he used. "I guess he''s going all out against Harry and since he''s going all out, that means Harry doesn''t stand a chance." Peter said which caused Sebastian tough out loud. "You seriously think my brother is gonna lose just because your friend managed to avoid the strikeing from Harry." Sebastianughed again. Thisughter or mockery didn''t make Jake''s friendsugh or anything, rather theyughed back at Sebastian. "Do you remember when we said we were attacked by members of the Iron Fist Guild?" Peter asked. "And so?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Well, one of them was a C rank adventurer and Jake managed to defeat him." Peter smiled. "So tell me, who is stronger between your brother and a C rank adventurer?" Peter now turned back to watch the fight. But what he said got Sebastian thinking. ''Did Jake really do that? Did he really defeat a C rank adventurer? But how? Nah, stop overthinking Sebastian, it''s not possible. They might just be hyping their friend nothing else. Even Harry will struggle against a C rank adventurer.'' ''They might have defeated the C rank adventurer together. Harry has nothing to worry about and he''s not going to lose.'' Sebastian thought as he watched what will happen next. Meanwhile, after using the Step shift, Jake was now two metres away from Harry then he activated Meleebat, Frenzy strike and lockdown skills together. "It''s time to end this now." Jake said as he used Step shift again to get in front of Harry¡­ Chapter 99 An Emergency After using his Step shift and wowing the crowd, Jake activated his Frenzy strike, meleebat and Lockdown Jake was now in front of Harry by using Step shift again to get In front of Harry. Then Jake quickly used his sword and started rapidly swinging at towards Harry who couldn''t move because he was frozen by Jake''s Lockdown skill. Jake kept on attacking everywhere he could attack with all his strength causing cuts all over Harry but it didn''t go in deep for Harry was using Qi to strengthen his body very well. This confused the crowd for they could only see Jake striking while Harry was standing still, not moving one bit. After 11 seconds, both Frenzy strike and Lockdown wore off and Harry could finally move again which made Jake activate step shift to get away from Harry to observe his condition. Currently, Harry was stumbling on his feet and his body was riddled with injuries from head to toe but he was still standing strong looking at Jake. Everyone in the crowd were awed by Harry''s resolve in not giving up and Jake''s vast pool of skills. Harry was now gritting his teeth in anger. "Enough is enough!" Harry now was spilling with energy that everyone were familiar with known as Qi. The Qi was spilling from his body and was now showing visually, this was the start of using the third stage of Qi and now, in less than a second, shards and arrows were now floating around Harry. "I told you, there''s a difference between us and this is it!" Harry shouted as he shot out all the shards and spears made from Qi towards Jake. This move by Harry, was worrying to everyone watching. "Isn''t he taking this too far?" Humfree said worriedly. "What? Are you worried that you are gonna lose 10,000 credits and your favorite to win is going to lose?" Gunther said while smirking. "You fool, that''s not what I meant." Humfree said. "If Jake is unable to avoid the shards, he''s going to die and the crowd and everyone will be angry at the academy for allowing a death of a student to take ce which will make us lose public support." Gunther listening to Humfree now realized the truth in what he was saying. "Should we call of the fight now and dere Harry the winner?" "No, I don''t think Jake has given up and I think he has a n." Rowan said who hasn''t taken his eyes from the match one bit. They could all see Jake taking a stance and drawing his sword out then he opened up his system then went to his equipment. "Activate lighting sword''s active skill" Jake called out at the system and immediately, his sword started sparking and currents could be seen running around the sword. ''Kilberg couldn''t use this skill against me because I didn''t give him the chance to but thanks to him, I have something to help me.'' Jake thought as he swung his sword and called out. "Lightning strikes." Jake said and pointed out the sword towards the shards heading his way and immediately, three lightning bolts came out of the sword and headed for the shards then it shocked it rapidly therefore making all the shards and spears disappear. The crowd cheered at the sight of this disy and they were now shouting. "Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!" ''I was forced to use that skill. Now I only have two more times to use that before the cool down activates.'' Jake thought as he remembered the description of the active skill when he had used his Inspect skill on it. Jake was impressed by the sword and the attributes and couldn''t wait to try it against his opponents and he just got the chance today in the tournament. When Harry saw that his shards didn''t work, he kept on shooting more shards and now a dozen of them were heading towards Jake.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ''Let''s see you destroy these.'' Harry thought with a smile. ''Darn it! Even if I use the sword to destroy it, it won''t be enough to. What do I do now?'' Jake thought worriedly. As the shards were approaching Jake, he could only do one thing that came to his mind. Jake quickly used the second stage of Qi to create invisible shards and then he quickly shot them out towards Harry''s strikes. Jake had to shoot two strikes for one of Harry''s one shard which made him shoot out two dozens of shards towards Harry''s shards and then, they all fell down to the ground. Jake was so focused on the shards that he hadn''t seen Harry move and when he lifted his head up, Jake could see a fist heading towards his face that connected sessfully with his nose therefore blurring his vision for a bit. It was more than enough for Harry charged right towards Jake and started shing and swinging his sword towards Jake who was now trying to block or avoid the strikes blindly. All of Harry''s strikes connected sessfully therefore causing a whole lot of injuries on Jake''s body. By the time Jake could finally see properly, he was now a bloody mess and Harry had created a bit of space while panting hard. Jake was now somewhat tired and feeling pains all over his body even his eyes were somewhat closing in and out and he was about to lose consciousness because of blood loss. But a thought crossed his mind. ''If I''m gonna lose, then I need to at least deliver a good hit on him.'' Jake thought as he sheathed his sword and took a stance while looking at a now tired Harry. Even though Harry was good at using Qi, he had been using it for long and was about to run out of Qi now. Normally, Qi users could go on for some time before they needed to rest as long as they had more Qi in their core but due to Jake''s strength and skill, Harry had to expend more Qi. Harry now took a stance with his sword in his hand and looking at Jake. Then Harry charged right at Jake with all the strength and speed he could muster. And so did Jake, Jake used all his 61 points of Agility together with the boot to dash towards Harry. To the crowd, it looked like Jake teleported again and in less than a second, they met in the middle with Jake having activated Meleebat again and then Jake jumped up, rotated his body and delivered a strong hook towards Harry''s head while Harry also swung his sword towards Jake''s stomach. Jake''s fist hit Harry sessfully on his head and sent him crashing down with full force therefore causing dust to rise up. But before he went flying, Harry had managed to make a sh towards Jake''s stomach that made a deep cut on it because there was no Qi protecting his body. Then Jake heard a ding in his head. <-8 HP> "That strike was strong enough to remove 8 HP of health from me." Jake said as his body now hit the floor the same second Harry fell down due to exhaustion and his eyes were now closed. Paul, Wilfred and some soldiers quickly came on stage and then the soldiers took Jake and Harry to the clinic because they were now unconscious meanwhile Paul decided to announce the results. "Due to there being no winner orst man standing, we have decided to call this a draw. There''s no winner in today''s match." Paul said which made the crowd boo angrily because there was no doubt in anybody''s mind that Jake was the winner of the match. But Wilfred managed to calm them down and then they were now given a break to prepare for the next match. Some people left the stands to get some snacks or use the restroom before the next match. Meanwhile Jake''s friends quickly rushed to the clinic to see if Jake was alright. Meanwhile, the Head Generals were still in their viewing booth sitting down. "Well that wasn''t the result I was expecting." Rowan said. "Yeah, I didn''t expect a draw between them." Gunther said. "But Jake certainly made an impression on the people''s minds today." Humfree said chuckling. "If some of these second years are this strong, I can''t wait to see the next mat¡­" Rowan stopped as they all heard three beepsing from an electronic device kept on them. Rowan''s eyes widened. "What do they want now?" "Whatever it is, I know it''s an emergency that''s why they are calling." Humfree replied getting all serious. "We need to inform the generals." Gunther said as he called Paul over. After a few minutes, Paul was now standing by the Head Generals side. "There''s an emergency, we won''t be here for the next matches. Heck, we won''t even be in the academy for some time so take care of the academy for we will be taking some Generals along." Humfree said and then he dismissed Paul after saying what he wanted. Immediately Paul left, the Head Generals stood up and left their own special viewing booth along with two Generals. Chapter 100 Chaos Unleashed Jake was currently being carried to the clinic and when he got there, he wasid on the bed while nurse Hayley quickly tended to him. ''Darn it! With this tournament of a thing, I just got assigned more work and it''s really exhausting.'' Hayley thought as she was now Checking up on Jake and patching up his injuries. Hayley rubbed her hands hard and then a soft yellow glow emitted from her hands as she ced it on Jake''s body checking everywhere for any internal injuries. ''I see, he somewhat depleted his Qi, I can fix that.'' Hayley thought as she kept on using her glowing hands on Jake. ''All I have to do is to input a little bit of my own Qi to help his own Qi regte and heal himself up.'' Hayley closed her eyes as she concentrated hard and then looking into Jake''s body, she could see a type of yellow aura going into Jake''s body and moving it around trying to get his own Qi to work. After a few moments, Hayley removed her hands from Jake''s body then she wiped the sweat off her face. "ooff. I''m already running low on Qi with the way things are going. Well the good thing is that he will be alright in an hour or so." Hayley said as she went to check up on the next student and that was when the door swung open and some students walked into the room. Looking at them, Hayley recognized them as Jake''s friends then she directed them to where Jake is and she left them be to go check up on the next student. Sitting down, Kate held Jake''s hands and was currently rubbing it back and forth. "I can''t believe Jake has grown so much stronger that he managed to get a draw between him and Harry." Peter said. "It shouldn''t be wrong to say he is currently stronger than me." "Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, Jake is also stronger than me." Sophia said. "So who''s having a match next?" Jack asked. "I think it''s Vynn." Cindy said. "Yeah, the match is gonna start anytime soon." Vynn said nervously. "Don''t worry, there''s no pressure on you. Just do your best besides you''re also strong you managed to rank up from rank 200 to 10 in a year. That in itself is a testament of how strong you have be." Peter said trying to calm Vynn down. "Exactly, you are no more the weak Vynn that we once knew." Sophia said. "In fact, none of us are as weak as we were when we got to this academy so I want you to go out there and show them that even if we are a year below them, we are not to be trifled with." "Thanks for the word of encouragement guys, I promise to try my best." Vynn smiled. "And I think that Jake has already proved to them that we aren''t so weak." "That''s right, Jake certainly proved that we are also a strong force in his own way by defeating the academy''s rank 3." Kate said. "And he also got the crowds support and love by this." Cindy added. "Anyway, I need to go now and get ready for my own match." Vynn said as he made his way to the door and exited the room. "You guys should go and support him, I will stay with Jake till he regains consciousness." Kate said. They all looked at each other with uncertainty before they left Kate and Jake together in the clinic. They all got to the arena in time because the announcer was now announcing the next match and Vynn was making his way to the stage. While the crowd were all making their way to their seats. But it looked like they were much more many than usual as if it was two times the normal size of crowd that were there but no one thought much of it. "Go Vynn!" Peter shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth. "Yes, show them what we are made of." Sophia shouted also. Vynn turned around and smiled at their gestures and words. Meanwhile the third year students just scoffed at their words. "Even though Dan Is ranked number 10, he is still strong and they think their own rank 10 can do anything? Pathetic." Ruby said. "I told you not to ever underestimate your opponents because that will be your downfall but you won''t listen." Alex said. "Emily is rank number 2 among us and she lost her fight fairly quickly against their rank 2 because of over confidence. Do I also have to remind you guys that Geo also lost his match and Harry, even though the authorities said it was a draw, there''s no doubt in our minds that Jake won that fight." "So far, we have lost three fights with only one win on our side which is because of me." Alex pointed at himself. Hearing Alex''s words, Ruby just scoffed and folded her hands towards her chest and continued looking at the fight that was about to take ce. Standing in the centre of the arena, was Vynn and his opponent from the third year, Dan. They both were spear users and it was like as if the academy set this up on purpose. Vynn stood a few feet away from his opponent and took a fighting stance and looked at Dan intently. The next moment, the warhorn sounded again signalling the start of the fight. Vynn rushed forward with a thrust to Dan''s stomach but he quickly pivoted sideways avoiding the thrust then he also made his own thrust towards Vynn''s arm. The strike managed to pierce Vynn but it didn''t go in deep. Vynn gritted his teeth and decided to bear the pain and then he pushed off strongly from the ground then he spun around and came back down with a hit from above while holding his spear as if it was a staff he was holding. Dan quickly used his own spear to block the staff but then he suddenly felt a shooting pain in his legs. Looking down, Dan could see blood trickling from his legs. Unknown to Dan, when Vynn had pushed off from the ground, he had already used the second stage of Qi and shaped a few invisible shards then we had hit Dan and noticed he was blocked, Vynn sent the shard into Dan''s legs to made him stumble. Vynn didn''t waste any time as he quickly did a thrust towards Dan''s stomach but he still managed to twist his body sideways but the spear managed to make a cut on his cheeks drawing blood. Dan managed to get up then he charged right at Vynn and swung his spear very quickly as if he was holding onto a staff and it hit Vynn across the face sending him tumbling backwards from the force of the hit. Dan quickly followed up with another strike but this time, it was a thrust to Vynn''s stomach that went in deep drawing blood. "You guys made a mistake thinking you could win against us." Dan said still with the spear In Vynn''s body. Vynn''s friends at the back were now worried for him seeing the critical hit thatnded in his stomach. "Isn''t this going too far?" Peter said. "Where are the Generals? Why aren''t they stopping that crazy third year?" Cindy shouted. The Generals had seen the strike that Dan wanted to make but they didn''t think it was going to be fatal or critical so they hadn''t moved in like they usually would before the fight got out of hands. Meanwhile, Dan just pulled out his spear from Vynn''s body allowing him to fall on the ground on his knees. His eyes were about to close. ''I''m still so weak even after this past year.'' Vynn thought. ''I just failed my friends that believed In me. Will I ever be able to catch up with them?'' Vynn managed to muster enough strength and he shot another Qi shard into the injury he made on Dan''s leg which made him fall on his knees in pain. Now, Dan was kneeling in front of Vynn who because of his resolve of not wanting to disappoint his friends that believed in him, managed to whack Dan hard with all the strength he could muster in his current condition. But Dan just used his hand to block the strike and was about to hit Vynn again when he stopped moving and then, Dan dropped on the floor limply and wasn''t moving. Everyone in the crowd were confused by this, they could all see that Dan managed to block the hit so he couldn''t have been that hurt and suddenly, he was on the floor not moving. Vynn was the most shocked out of everyone. Looking closely, Vynn could see that Dan was dead not even a single heartbeat was heard from his body. Vynn used his Qi to strengthen his cells more and sealed the injury made in his stomach a little bit then he moved closer to Dan and saw what killed him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Vynn saw something like a long nail in his head. It only took a second for it to click in Vynn''s head and he quickly looked up to inform the Generals but it was toote for chaos had erupted among the crowd. Vynn turned to look at his friends who were confused by why the crowd were now fighting against each other all of a sudden. Then Vynn cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at his friends. "Run guys! Save yourselves, we are being attacked by werewolves!" Chapter 101 Bloodied Arena Thirty minutes earlier, after the break, when the spectators were supposed to return to the arena to watch the next match of the day, some people entered the arena along with the crowd, though they didn''t sit together. Instead, they took seats separately.As one of them was about to sit, he identally stepped on someone. "Hey! Watch it, will you?"The man turned around and frowned. This made the other man, the one who had been stepped on, grow angry. "What? Why are you frowning at me? You stepped on me, and now you''re giving me attitude?" The man said nothing, just turned away, about to leave, when the other man grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Where do you think you''re going? You stepped on me and didn''t even bother to apologize! Are you crazy?"The man turned around to look at who was holding his shoulder. "Get your hands off me," he scowled. "Or what?" the man said, still gripping his shoulder. Their argument drew the attention of a few people nearby. "Hey, man! C''mon, apologize," someone from the crowd called out. The man was about to snap back at him when he looked up and noticed someone from the crowd shaking his head. He calmed down and turned back to the man he''d stepped on. "I''m sorry," the man muttered as he turned to sit down "Hey! Say it like you mean it!" the other man shouted, reaching to grab him again, but someone stopped him. "C''mon, he already apologized. Let it go," the bystander said, holding his arm in a firm grip.The man struggled to free himself but eventually gave up. "Fine," he muttered and took his seat. As the spectators settled back into their seats, the match between Vynn and Dan began. The two fighters went toe-to-toe, blow for blow, until, after some time, Vynn was stabbed in the stomach. He dropped to his knees but managed to pierce Dan with a strike of his invisible Qi. Vynn was about to deliver a finishing blow when Dan blocked the strike at thest second. Just then, in the stands, a man''s nails elongated unnaturally, and he shot them at Dan''s head, killing him instantly. Without hesitation, he turned and stabbed the person sitting next to him. Panic rippled through the crowd, but before anyone could react, others began to draw weapons, shing indiscriminately at the spectators. Chaos erupted.Helen and Berg, caught in the crowd, narrowly avoided a sword strike aimed at Helen, blocked at thest second by Berg''s own de. "What''s going on?" Helen shouted. "Why are they suddenly attacking us?" The answer came with a terrifying transformation. Those attackers who had not yet revealed their true forms began to change. Fur sprouted from their bodies, bones cracked and shifted, and soon werewolves stood where ordinary people once sat.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om By now, Vynn had shouted warnings to his friends. His voice cut through the noise of the battlefield. His friends, still stunned, quickly snapped out of their daze.In the arena, General Paul and Wilfred were about to leap into the stands to aid the crowd, but two werewolves blocked their path, keeping them upied. Jack, wasting no time, dashed toward Vynn. In an instant, he was by his friend''s side, lifting him onto his shoulder. They hurried back toward their friends, but a werewolf leaped down from the stands, aiming for Jack. An arrow suddenly pierced the werewolf''s leg, halting its advance. Ruby from the third year stepped forward with her bow, followed by Emily, who drew her sword. "Go! Get him to the clinic. We''ll hold this beast down, but we won''tst long alone," Ruby shouted. "You won''t have to," Sophia said, stepping forward with Peter. Seeing Jack move to save Vynn had snapped them out of their frozen state. They saw the werewolves advancing but were intercepted by Emily and Ruby.The werewolf they faced was a runt, weaker than the more dangerous ones that had attacked them during the beast hunt, but still dangerous. Jack and Vynn reached the entrance, but a werewolf blocked their way but then, Vynn stood still freeing himself from Jack''s shoulders. "Don''t worry, I can help," Vynn said, gripping his spear tightly. "I can hold on for a little longer." One of the werewolf threw a punch towards Vynn who managed to duck slightly avoiding the punch then Jack came down with a sh of his sword on the werewolf''s hand and it was cleanly sliced off. The werewolf pulled its stump for a hand back in surprise but he couldn''t be surprised for long because Vynn was already upon him with a stab to its head, the werewolf leaned backwards avoiding it. But it couldn''t avoid Jack''s sword strike from behind that managed to cut deep into its hide therefore drawing blood. The werewolf quickly turned around to deal with Jack by kicking him hard sending him flying with full force. Vynn seeing this, quickly made a stab towards the werewolf''s head again but the werewolf turned around to stop the spear strike heading towards its head by holding onto the tip of the spear. Vynn was struggling to pull the spear from the werewolf''s grip that was when a sword strike cut the werewolf''s hand that was holding onto the spear cleanly. Looking up, Vynn could see who had saved him and it was Alex, the rank 1 among the third years, the strongest student in the academy. "Thank you." Vynn said as he was panting from the exhaustion with his hands on his knees. Alex looked at Vynn up and down. "You are still injured and your wounds have reopened. You need medical help ASAP." "Don''t worry," Vynn said propping himself up with his spear. "I will be fine." The werewolf was now visibly furious as it dashed towards Alex and Vynn but Alex was quick to act. With a sh from above, the werewolf jumped back avoiding it but it couldn''t avoid the spear stabing from Vynn towards its rib. The spear managed to lunge in deep as Vynn twisted it then he activated the spear''s active skill. "Activate Fire surge!" Vynn called out and immediately, his spear lit up inside of the werewolf and then the werewolf was feeling hot from inside. The werewolf tried to move back to get the spear off its insides since it doesn''t have any hands. Alex seeing this, quickly moved behind the werewolf by using ''The Triple Threat'' technique and then he kicked the werewolf from behind towards the spear and the spear was lunged In deep allowing the active skill to do its work therefore burning the werewolf from the inside out. Then Alex jumped up and shed at the werewolf''s neck, slicing the werewolf''s head clean off. When the werewolf dropped down, so did Vynn because the fight took a lot out of him and his wounds was now reopened again. ''I just hope the others are okay.'' Vynn thought. Chapter 102 Werewolf onslaught When a werewolf had intercepted Vynn and Jack''s path, Emily and Ruby from the third year hade to help but they weren''t feeling confident about defeating the werewolf alone but they didn''t have to, for Sophia and Peter had stepped forward to help them and now, they were facing off against a runt; the weakest of the pack members. The werewolf didn''t give them any time toe up with a strategy or anything, it quickly dashed towards the closest person to it which was Emily but instead of freezing up, Emily used her sword to block the w strike heading towards her face. The next moment, Peter and Sophia appeared on either side of the werewolf. They both swung their weapons at the same time. The werewolf seeing this, tried to move back avoiding the strikes but an arrow from Ruby towards its back made it stay in ce then the strikesnded perfectly. Sophia''s sword managed to slice an inch into the werewolf''s side but Peter''s axes managed to do the trick. One of Peter''s axe managed to cut deep enough to draw the blood of the werewolf but it couldn''t go in deep. It didn''t have to, for Emily had already jumped up and delivered a Qi filled axe kick towards the werewolf''s head with all the Qi she could muster. The kick connected sessfully with shockwaves being produced everywhere. The axe kick was strong enough to make the werewolf buckle and tumble down. Then a Qi filled arrow was heading towards its head but the werewolf caught the arrow before it reached its face. Sophia quickly came in with a roundhouse kick from the side but the werewolf grabbed her leg and swung her far away. Peter quickly came in with a sh of his axe and then an invisible Qi strike was seen in the air heading towards the werewolf''s neck from Peter''s axe. The werewolf swung its hand trying to break the strike that it could feel in the air. The werewolf managed to stop the attack but it caused a huge cut in its hands and the werewolf looked down at its hands. ''The humans have grown stronger than we estimated.'' The werewolf thought. ''Have we let them be for too long?'' But the werewolf''s thought was interrupted by Emily againing in with a Qi filled kick again towards the werewolf''s head causing it to m its head on the floor hard. Emily then moved back to create a bit of space. ''I didn''t use that much Qi in my earlier match so I still have a lot of reserve but at this rate, I''m sure to run out of Qi soon if this beast doesn''t die.'' The werewolf managed to stagger up but its face was met with an uppercut from Peter that lifted it from the ground just a bit but before it could fly off, Peter grabbed the werewolf''s legs and mmed it back down causing a huge crater to form. "Thest time something like you attacked, I wasn''t strong enough to help." Peter shouted while making his way to the werewolf. "I was already injured back then, I didn''t have any good equipment, nor did I have this new energy called Qi." Peter was now standing above the werewolf. "But this time, it''s different!" Peter shouted as he swung his axe with all the strength he could muster while coating his axe with the second stage of Qi. And when Peter swung his axe, the werewolf was slow to react as the axe connected with its neck and sliced its head off. And then the werewolf dropped down dead with a thud to the ground. Peter also fell to his knees as he had almost exhausted his Qi in the fight. He had used up all his Qi for that single strike to the werewolf''s neck. Sophia had now managed toe over from wherever she had been hit away by the werewolf. "We did it!" She shouted. "We defeated a runt together." But her victory was interrupted by a sudden chill in the air. Then they all looked up to the sky as they dreaded the worst. "I think something big is heading our way soon." Meanwhile, Berg and Helen were still in the stands battling against more werewolves. They would have been killed long ago if it wasn''t because of the military soldiers that were in the stands before and some of the crowd that were skilled and powerful enough to hold their own against the beasts. "Shit! Why are they suddenly attacking the academy all of a sudden?" Berg asked as he just deflected a w that was heading for his chest. "How am I supposed to know?" Helen asked as she just ducked avoiding another w heading towards her head. And now, Helen and Berg were standing while their back was together so something else won''t attack them from behind. So currently, Helen and Berg were facing off against one werewolf each. "I just hope Jake is okay." Helen said as she hit a w away then she stabbed the werewolf''s hand with her dagger. "I''m running out of Qi. Something needs to change soon." Berg said as he shed with his sword towards one of the werewolf''s hand therefore cutting it cleanly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Well¡­" Helen said in between breath as she was trying to maintain her breath while also stabbing and kicking the werewolf in front of her. "It''s not only you that is running out¡­ of Qi, it''s like they are endless." That was when the werewolves, charged right at their opponents at the same time. "Switch!" Berg shouted and He and Helen managed to roll away and then face a different opponent to theirs with Helen in front of the werewolf Berg was facing and vice versa. Since the werewolves had been charging in earlier, they were unable to stop their charge. This gave Helen and Berg enough time to switch opponent and now, Helen coated her dagger with the second stage of Qi as she aimed it at the werewolf''s heart. The werewolf had run into the dagger and now, the werewolf dropped down dead while on the other side, Berg had also done the same by coating his de with the second stage of Qi. Then he stabbed it into the werewolf''s heart also killing the werewolf. Helen and Berg wanted to fall down because of exhaustion since they have been fighting against werewolves from the start but they couldn''t because more werewolves were now heading their way. Chapter 103 City in ruins While everyone were battling for their lives in the arena, they kept on seeking military assistance but even the military couldn''t do anything because they were also busy with their problems. General Paul and Wilfred were also currently battling two werewolves each. And they were all at the runt level. General Paul just avoided a w strike from one of the runt he was facing while the other one kicked him in the rib sending him skidding. The werewolf had its hands cleanly cut off so it was fighting with its legs while the other one was the hands. ''Darn! If only it was just one of them, I can handle them but two? It''s quite troublesome.'' Paul thought as he did a backflip avoiding a w strike heading for his face. Then he quickly stood up and shot out both invisible and visible Qi strikes out towards the werewolves. One of the visible Qi strikes headed for the armless werewolf but it managed to avoid it but it couldn''t avoid the invisible one that pierced its chest but couldn''t go in deep. Quickly, Paul followed up with an attack by performing The Triple Threat technique to quickly get in front of the werewolves then he performed a Qi filled axe kick towards the armless werewolf. This caused shockwaves to be rippled out towards the other werewolf that wanted to back its partner up therefore making it unable to move forward to help. Immediately, Paul swung his sword lightning fast towards the werewolf then he turned around to the second werewolf. To the outside, it felt like Paul didn''t do anything special and that the werewolf was still alive standing still. But in a few seconds, the werewolf fell apart into two dead. By the time the werewolf fell, Paul was already in front of the second werewolf then he performed a strong Qi filled roundhouse kick that connected sessfully with the werewolf''s head. The kick managed to lift the werewolf off its feet and then go crashing down on the floor with its head. Therefore causing a deep crack in the ground while its head was also broken with it being indented as if arge heavy hammer had been used to hit the werewolf''s head.N?v(el)B\\jnn General Paul heaved a sigh of relief and was about to go help General Wilfred but another set of werewolves intercepted him. Paul was beyond angry for he had been doing this the whole time. With him defeating werewolves and trying to go help those that were struggling and another set intercepting him. It was like there was no end in sight for all of this. Everyone was struggling, so was the whole Aurora city. The whole city was attacked and hit hard. Innocent civilians, parents were murdered, merchants and other influential people that came for the tournament were killed left and right. But those that could fight, were all putting up fight against the werewolves with all they got while thest General that was left in the academy along with some sergeants and soldiers were all trying to escort some of the parents, merchants and civilians back to the academy. While fighting against werewolves that were trying to obstruct their way. "Keep going guys!" General Julian shouted. "We are almost there. The academy is the safest ce for them all currently so keep pushing we will soon be there." Hearing General Julian''s words, the soldiers kept on fighting and finally, they got to the academy but the werewolves were still hot on their heels. Finally, they had gotten to the academy and the huge gate was dropped down blocking the werewolves from entering in. Then all the people that were escorted, were led further into the academy. Those that were unaware about what was going on in the arena, were now aware and there was full on panic going on. Back in the Academy''s clinic, Kate was still sitting down waiting for an unconscious Jake to wake up when nurse Hayley came in and delivered the news about the werewolf attack while telling everyone to be calm and not panic that the academy had it under control. But Kate wasn''t calm, she knew that her friends were currently in the arena and they might need help. Then she looked back at Jake who was still unconscious and now she was torn between going back to the arena to help her friends or stay here with Jake till he wakes up. ''The academy is currently the safest ce for Jake while the others might be in a lot of trouble. They might need assistance soon. I don''t know how much I can help but even if it''s only 1 percent, I will take it.'' Kate thought as she stood up and took her bow along with her quiver full of arrows then she made her way to the door but she stopped and looked back at Jake. ''Don''t worry Kate, he will be alright but you need to focus on your friends that are in trouble now. Jake will be alright." Kate reassured herself as she opened the doors and left the room to head back to the arena. Immediately Kate left the room, she could feel the panic in the air but she calmly but hurriedly walked out of the clinic and was heading out of the academy building. When she got to the gate, she was stopped by the military personnels there. "Where do you think you are going?" One of the men asked. "I''m going to help my friends." Kate said. The personnelsughed out loud. "Help your friends?" "You silly girl, there are werewolves at the other side of this gate waiting to rip someone''s body off and you said you wanna go help your friends? Are you kidding me right now?" Another one of the personnel said. "You better go back into the academy and stop trying to y heroine." The second personel said. Kate didn''t give up, she turned around to head back into the academy when she heard loud bangs resounding on the gate as if someone was pounding the gates. Quickly turning around, she could feel the military personnels were all nervous with sweat running down their faces. The bangs resounded louder and louder and then, a dent could be seen on the gate and the bang became louder than ever. ''How''s this possible? This gate is made from Hyperalloy. The strongest material discovered on earth so how is there a dent in it?'' Kate thought and then her thought was interrupted with another bang louder than ever as the gates blew open. Chapter 104 The second wave Back at the arena, everyone was now rounding up their fights with the runts that attacked them. There was loss on the humans side but at least, they managed to get rid of all the werewolves so they thought. Now with their numbers a little lessened, the humans made their way to the centre of the arena including Berg and Helen who were heavily tired after fighting non stop against the runts. Currently in the centre, General Paul, Wilfred, the third years that hadn''t fought in the tournament, and Jake friends that were in the arena along with the student named Lan. The people in the centre of the arena were: General Paul, Wilfred, Vynn who was now terribly injured, Jack, Peter, Sophia, Berg, Helen, Cindy, Emily, Alex, Ruby, Jasmine, Simyon, Gary, Charlotte and Geo. These were the people at the centre of the arena with a couple of strong adventurers that were in the arena, there were at least four of these adventurers here. All of them were now resting in the centre of the arena tired. "Well, I guess it''s all over now." Vynnmented, still holding onto his injured stomach while wincing In pain. Those that were strong and in tune with Qi and energy, they didn''t reply for they also knew that it was far from being over but they weed the little breather they were given. While sitting down, Peter kept turning his head around. "So many people died today." "And I don''t think we are off the hook yet." Petermented as he saw so many dead bodies littered around. Some of them had their limbs torn while some were heavily mutted. Looking at the scene, Peter felt like throwing up but he held it in and then looked away. "I don''t know about you, but I''m really low on Qi right now. I don''t think I can help in any next battle." Berg said while clenching his hand in and out to feel the energy left in it. Even the Generals were also low on Qi but they put on a brave face so the students won''t be discouraged or lose hope. Sophia opened up her mouth to say something but she quickly closed it as her eyes widened in shock. "Shit!" She cursed loudly. The rest were about to ask her why she was cursing and that was when they could also see it. More werewolves were storming through the arena with ferociousness. And that was not the reason for Sophia''s shock or the others either, it was because of what level the werewolvesing were. They were all at the Omega level; a little bit above the runt level. And they were all charging into the arena along with some more pack members. They were numbering around 150 werewolves charging. The number was a little lower than the earlier wave that attacked them but they were still too much for them to handle currently especially when some of them were almost out of Qi. "Can you hold them down along with some of the students?" General Paul asked Wilfred as they could see the werewolves charging towards them. "I can, but it won''t be easy. We will be defeated quickly if we don''t get more help. Why do you even ask?" Wilfred asked. "Because I n to recover some of my Qi then when I recover enough, we will switch while you also recover your Qi. Because that''s the only way I see of us winning this right now." "That is not actually a bad idea, it might just work." Wilfred said as he stood in front of the students while readying his sword. "So what are you waiting for? Go and recover and we will buy enough time." Wilfred shouted as Jack, Sophia, Peter, Emily, two of the adventurers, Alex, Gary and Geo stood side by side with Wilfred.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om While the rest of them were all staying far away from Wilfred and the rest. The ones staying far away, were those that were trying to recover their Qi along with General Paul. They all sat down cross legged and hoped that Wilfred and the others would be able to hold on till they could recover a little bit to assist them. Meanwhile, on the field, Wilfred couldn''t help but feel nervous at the prospect of buying time especially with his low reserve of Qi. ''Rx Wilfred, you have defeated countless omega wolves during the first war against them.'' Wilfred reassured himself. And that was when the charging werewolves finally got to their position. The first Omega wolf received a sh of the sword from Wilfred. But the werewolf managed to twist around avoiding the strike then it swung its ws so fast that it connected with Wilfred''s face therefore sending him skidding. But he managed to stop himself from skidding further as he charged right in again while the others had also begun fighting with everything they got. Jack had dashed into the midst of the charging werewolves fearlessly with Alex and Peter by his side. They got to the midst of the werewolves and started taking down the other pack members amongst them. They couldn''t take down an omega on their own, they would leave it to the adults or when they were together but with them fighting separately, they just wanted to take down the pack members that were weak and also made up the bulk of the group. A w strike was heading towards Peter''s face but he quickly ducked easily avoiding it then he swung his axe towards the wolf''s body. The axe lunged in deep after all, it was an advanced tier axe so it could deal enough damage. Peter was about to move again when another wolf came at him, he quickly jumped back along with his axes therefore avoiding the strike that was heading for his head when he was dealing with the werewolf from before. Then he quickly jumped back in again with a swing to the werewolf''s hand therefore cutting it off cleanly then he pushed from the ground hard and fast towards the other werewolf then he sliced its head off cleanly. ''One down, many more to go.'' Peter thought. ''These pack members are all weakpared to those runts. I hate to imagine how strong those Omega wolves are and then the higher tiers.'' Alex was also making his mark in the middle of all the werewolves. With a swing of his giant sword, Alex then leaned backwards avoiding a strike that was heading for his face. Then he jumped back in again with another swing of his giant sword that sliced the werewolf''s head off. Before the werewolf dropped down dead, Alex had already jumped towards the next one closest to him. He jumped up high and thennded with an axe kick towards the werewolf''s head therefore causing its knees to buckle and then fall down. Therefore making it easy for Alex to slice its head off with his giant sword then he moved to the next one, no time for rest or break as Jack, Alex and Peter kept going from werewolf after werewolf therefore lessening their numbers. Jack, Peter and Alex were now the tank and damage dealers of the new formed group. Meanwhile, Sophia along with Emily were also making their own mark by working together to try take down a single Omega. It wasn''t easy as they were hit a couple times but each time, they kept oning back with much more fervour. Emily quickly moved to the side avoiding a kick that was heading towards her stomach and then Sophia came in with a roundhouse kick towards the omega head but it just lifted its hand therefore blocking the kick. Then it wanted to grab Sophia''s leg but she quickly pulled it back and then one of the adventurers quickly jumped in and helped her by kicking the omega wolf back with such strength that it managed to make it skid away from its position. "Thank you." Sophia said as she quickly moved in again for the attack. In less than a second, Sophia was already beside the werewolf while Emily was already on the other side of the werewolf. As if knowing what they had to do, they both nodded and threw out their legs that was now enhanced with whatever Qi they had left in their body towards the werewolf''s head while the that helped them earlier, came in with a sword strike from the front. Now the werewolf had to choose between getting its head smashed in with a Qi filled kick or a sword strike from the adventurer. And it chose neither. When Sophia and Emily''s legs were about to connect with the werewolf''s head, it just ducked avoiding their kick totally while Emily and Sophia''s legs crashed together creating shockwaves that spread out. They hit each other shin to shin but luckily for them, they had covered their legs with Qi and now, with their attack failing, they lost the little Qi they had left. Meanwhile, the adventurer had swung his sword but it just struck air. Now, the adventurer along with Sophia and Emily were now standing away from the werewolf who had a grin on its face after seeing their feeble attempt fail. The werewolf dashed towards them with a speed that surpassed what the runts of earlier couldn''t do and then it was in front of Sophia who was in front of the group then it swung its ws but it was intercepted by a sword¡­ Chapter 105 What the heck is going on? Back at the city, Kate was currently in the middle of the academy while the supposed strong gate made from the strongest material known to man just got sted and werewolves were seen storming. They numbered around a hundred probably the rest were at the arena. But the hundred werewolves were filled with both omega and runts. Although, the runts outnumbered the omegas so they had nothing to worry about. But with a hundred werewolves charging towards them, the military personnels at the gate were frozen. The werewolves seeing this, quickly swiped at their heads killing them in an instant and then they ate their bodies rapidly digesting them quickly. Kate was initially frozen but seeing what they did to the military personnels, she quickly started running back to the academy. But her movements alerted the werewolves to her and 10 of them were now chasing her down while Kate was trying to outrun them by weaving around some small buildings. When she was close to the Academy''s building, she could see the military were outside. And seeing the werewolvesing, they also ran forward to meet them with General Julian taking the charge along with Sergeant Leo and Lee by his side and a lot of the soldiers. "Don''t let them get into the academy or else, they will kill every single one of those students that are being protected there." Julian shouted as they were almost close to the werewolves. "Those students are the future of the world so we have to do anything it takes to protect them. If it means that we lose our lives in the process." Julian shouted as he was now by one of the Omega''s side then he swung his giant hammer at the werewolf''s face. But the werewolf managed to dodge the strike then it swung its long limbs towards Julian''s face but Julian was quite skillful. He leaned sideways avoiding the strike then he moved back in again with a swing of his giant hammer and the added Qi into it made it dangerously fast and strong as it pummeled Into the werewolf''s face causing it to be indented and then it fell down dead. Quickly, Julian moved onto the next victim. "You guys are no match for me!" Julian shouted. "I have dealt with you lots in the first war so I can handle myself." Julian said as he ducked avoiding a hit heading for his face. Then he used his hammer to lean all his weight on it and then threw a Qi filled kick to a runt''s head therefore killing it on the spot. It wasn''t only General Julian, even sergeant Lee and sergeant Leo were all making huge impacts in the battle. With Leo being abat prodigy, he easily defeated the runts that came at him while going after the omegas leaving the runts for the soldiers to handle. One of the omega wolf, quickly pushed off the ground strongly towards sergeant Leo who just readied himself while directing the Qi to his leg and waited for the right time. When the omega wolf was now a foot away from him, Leo quickly swung his leg out very fast that the Omega wolf was unable to avoid it and it got sted far back even hitting its pack members and then they collided on the wall that was used to hold the gates. Leo didn''t give chase, he just went onto the next werewolves and started decimating, kicking, punching and tearing through the werewolves like a bull that was out of control. Meanwhile, Kate was still standing far away from the scenepletely awed by how the academy were pushing the werewolves back although they had losses, it wasn''t that major, it was just minor losses. Seeing this, Kate decided to make use of this chaos and head to the arena. Quickly, Kate ran and weaved her way through the chaos that was unfolding although there were stray attacks but she managed to avoid them all. And then finally she got to the gate that was sted and then she ran out of the academy and made her way towards the arena very quickly with all the speed she could muster. ''Hold on guys! Please hold on for a little bit longer, I might not be able to help that greatly, but I can still support you all with the little strength I have.'' Kate thought as she sped even further. ''I hope the fight back at the academy doesn''t spill into the clinic where Jake is.'' And then finally, after 5 minutes of running, Kate finally got to the arena but it was worse than she imagined. Meanwhile, back at the academy, the fight was already easing up with the military personnels pushing the werewolves back. And just when they thought they were winning, reinforcements from the werewolf side came in. Fifty omega werewolves stormed the academy to back the earlier wave up. "How many omega wolves do they have?" Julian asked no one in particr. ''This doesn''t feel right.'' Julian thought. ''There wasn''t this many omega wolves during the first war so howe they have these many? This will be harder than I thought.'' But Julian didn''t give up, he pushed through again. But since the omegas came to reinforce them, they were losing men left and right. The only people strong enough to deal with them were the sergeants and the General while the rest of the soldiers couldn''t even damage their hide not to talk of killing them. And slowly, they were being pushed back bit by bit. Some Omega wolves had already broken free from the military and headed for the academy but the General managed to pull them back but there were too many and then finally, 20 omegas had finally stormed inside of the academy killing anything or anyone the found.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The people inside, couldn''t put up much of a fight. While 15 out of the 20 omegas were rampaging around the academy, 5 of them were now making their way to another part of the building which was the academy''s clinic. They had blown the door with their fists and stormed the clinic while killing innocent students that were either unconscious or trying to put up a fight. Nurse Hayley even tried to protect some by fighting against them but they just overwhelmed her and now she was struck with such force that she crashed into a wall and couldn''t stand up. She wasn''t much of a fighter. And in order to avoid the front lines, she opted for the choice of being a nurse. The werewolves headed into room after room dragging the students found in there whether unconscious or not and then eating them in front of their friends in the corridor of the clinic. And finally, one of the Omegas had entered one room to drag a student out. While everyone on the floor were sobbing or crying helplessly unable to do anything. Some were praying to the heavens to send help or a saviour to save them. And as if the universe heard them, the werewolf that went into a room to drag a student out, was sted through the door and it went flying and crashed into a wall. They waited for it to get up and move but it remained unmoving. Meaning only one thing, it was dead. Then they all looked up to see who could kill an omega wolf in one hit and that was when they heard him say. "What the heck is going on?" Chapter 106 Another Danger After defeating all the runts, some students from second and third year along with the Generals and some adventurers that were still in the arena decided to rest but they couldn''t do that for long because storming the arena were more werewolves and these were at the rank of Omega along with more runts. And now, almost everybody were in a tough battle trying their best to at least best the omega wolves or the runts but it was proving very difficult to do that on their own so they decided to team up. Even with the teams, the students were still finding it hard to take the omega wolves down but some teams were finding it easier. Among those teams was Jack, Peter as well as Alex. These three were the damage dealers of the group. Charging head first into the middle of the werewolves while wrecking havoc amongst them. But their charge was interrupted by an omega wolf that stood in there. Initially, they were dealing with the runts separately but now, an omega wolf stood in front of them so they decided to team up together and currently, they were finding it a bit hard to take down the wolf. "Now!" Peter shouted and Alex quickly came down with a swing of his giant sword towards the omega wolf''s head but the wolf quickly leaned back avoiding it. But behind the wolf, Jack quickly threw a strong punch towards the head of the werewolf thatnded sessfully but it only skidded a little bit forward. This was perfect for Alex who swung his sword again diagonally towards the werewolf and itnded sessfully cutting a big lump of flesh from the wolf''s chest. The hit was infused with Qi that managed to push the back towards Peter that was ready. Peter dug his feet into the ground hard then he readied his axes and then infused it with a lot of Qi that the axe was now glowing somewhat. Then when the omega wolf was in position, Peter swung his axe furiously with all the strength he could muster. The axe sliced off the wolf''s head cleanly and it dropped dead with a thud. Peter was now huffing and panting because he had totally exhausted his Qi so did Jack and Alex. But they still kept on moving, going back to deal with the runts that were overwhelming the others. Meanwhile, part of the group that were struggling with the omega wolves was Sophia, Emily and the adventurer that came together to try to take the wolf down but it was very difficult. With the little Qi they had left in them, they decided to try onest attack but it didn''t work. And now, the wolf dashed towards them and when it got to their position, it swung its ws towards Sophia''s face because she was in front of the group. But the w was intercepted by a sword. Then the wolf''s hand was flung back and it was now struck in the chest sending it skidding away from Sophia and the rest. Looking up to see who saved them, they could see that General Paul was here and he was the one who saved them. "Don''t worry, reinforcements are here." He smiled then he dashed towards the werewolf that he had struck earlier. With Paul, and some of the others that had decided to meditate in order to recover their Qi being high level Qi users, they could easily and quickly recover their Qi so now, they were back in the fight with full force giving those that were tired or needed to recover enough time to rest. Currently, Wilfred, Sophia, Emily, Jack, Peter and the two adventurers decided to go recover their own Qi while leaving the werewolves in the hands of Paul and his group. Alex refused to go and rest. Saying that he wouldn''t rest until he had taken down each and every single one of those werewolves. They tried convincing him but he refused and then rushed off towards the iing werewolves and continued rapidly shing, and kicking werewolves left and right. "Alright, who''s ready for round two?" Paul shouted as he charged right into the midst of the werewolves with others behind him. A runt had thrown a hit towards Paul''s head but he quickly twisted around avoiding it then he shed the limb off with his sword and he dashed towards the runt''s head and quickly sliced it off as if a hot knife was cutting through butter. Before the werewolf hit the ground, he quickly dashed towards another runt in order to deal with it. Meanwhile, Berg and Helen were also doing well against the werewolves they encountered. Not willing to allow Helen go off by herself, Berg kept Helen by his side so currently, they were working together to take down runts. With a push from her legs, Helen stabbed a runt''s eyes and then Berg quickly came in and shed its head off with his Qi infused sword. Then they moved on towards the next werewolf. Vynn was currently struggling against the runts he encountered because of his injury. Vynn was teaming up with Charlotte and Cole; one of Sebastian''s friends. With a swing of her whip, Charlotte held one of the runt''s hands then Cole also tied up the other hands and Vynn quickly jumped up but not too high enough because of his injury then he swung his spear towards the werewolf''s head. The spear couldn''t go in deep because Vynn was terribly injured then he performed a backflip before hended and now, he was beside Cole and Charlotte. The runt had managed to free itself from Cole''s chains but it was still struggling against Charlotte''s. "You had an opportunity and you wasted it." Charlotte said, still doing tug of war with the werewolf. "Are you that weak or what?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Are you that dense or what?" Vynn shouted. "Can''t you see I''m injured?" "Guys!" Cole shouted. "Stop arguing and let''s focus on this werewolf." Immediately Cole finished talking, the werewolf managed to break free from Charlotte''s whip then it headed towards Vynn since he was obviously the weakest considering his earlier injury. When the werewolf was in enough of a distance, it swung its ws towards Vynn''s head very fast but then something very fast went past Vynn''s head and lunged into the werewolf''s hand. The pain of whatever lunged into its hands deep made the werewolf stop its movements towards Vynn''s head then it looked into its hand and pulled whatever lunged into its hand. In his hand was an arrow. Confused, since none of those it was fighting against used a bow and arrow then it looked up but it was toote for another arrow was shot and it lunged into its eyes and then it popped right out from the other end. The werewolf swayed left and right and then it hit the ground heavily causing a bit of dust to rise. Charlotte was shocked about everything that happened then she lifted her head up to see who managed to kill the runt that easily. They all turned around and all saw a blonde beauty heading towards them with sweat trickling down her face. "I''m sorry that I''mte." Kate said finallying over. "Kate!" Vynn shouted, then he held his stomach in pain. "What are you doing here? What about Jake?" "Don''t worry he''s fine." "I guess." Kate mumbled. "How on earth did you manage to kill the runt with an arrow?" Charlotte asked. "I don''t know, I just shot the arrow with as much strength and QI I could muster then I released it." Kate said. "Uhmm guys," Cole called out. They then turned around to see him. "Look!" They all turned to where Cole was pointing and they were all shocked by what they saw. "The battle is over." Vynn said. "So fast!" Charlottemented because what they could see, they saw all the second wave that attacked, were all dead and their bodies were littered around the arena. "The battle is over!" Kate said now jumping up and down then she surveyed the arena. "Woah! So much destruction." Kate said as she could see so many broken chairs in the stands and many bodies littered around that she felt like throwing up with the way they were killed brutally. The pungent smell hit her hard now that the adrenaline of the battle wore off. They then gathered again in the centre everybody including the ones that were meditating earlier to recover their Qi. "I guess since the battle is over, let''s head to the academy." Kate said again. Immediately Kate finished talking, everyone could hear guttural growls echoing from the depth of the arena shadows. The air turned thick, oppressive and the temperature seemed to drop. Everybody''s skin prickled, their instincts telling them that something much worse wasing. "Are you kidding me right now?" Cindy exhasutedly said as she feared for the worst or thinking that more werewolves wereing. Then the ground rumbled, low threatening growls were heard. The growls were much deeper than before and five times scarier. "No no no no." Paul said, shaking his head left and right. "This is bad. Very very bad." "What do you mean?" Wilfred asked fearing the worst. "We need to get the hell outta here ASAP now!" Paul shouted and everybody were about to do it but they now heard a voice. "Do you think I will let you guys do that now? I can''t have my toys escape now will I?" The voice said and everybody turned around slowly to see who was talking. From the shadows, emerged a towering figure, their fur darker, their eyes glowing with deadly intent. This was no ordinary werewolf, the movements the werewolf made were deliberate and calcted. The werewolf''s eyes were glowing bright blue and Paul''s worst fear happened. "It''s a freaking Beta wolf!" Paul shouted. Chapter 107 Close Call Back at the academy, in the school clinic, some Omega wolves stormed the clinic and started ravaging all around. They killed and mutted almost all the students there. Nurse Hayley even tried to go against the werewolves but she was heavily injured in the scuffle allowing her not to go further with her attack or do anything. Nurse Hayley watched helplessly as the wolves stormed room after room dragging students out. The ones that tried to resist were eaten alive and that was when they entered another room to drag a student out but they got sted through the doors even hitting a wall and the wolves were no longer moving again; they were dead. A little while ago, when the five omega wolves were heading to the academy clinic, Jake was in his room still unconscious, unaware of the destruction going on that was when he heard his name. "Jake!" "Jake!" "Jake! Wake up you silly host!" But he couldn''t wake up, he was really unconscious, unable to hear or see anything. And that was when the wolves entered the clinic dragging students out. After some time, they entered Jake''s room and they saw him justying there. "Another unconscious human." One of the omegas struggled to say. "It all just makes it easier to eat and kill them." The other one growled. That was when one of the two left the door and headed towards Jake. "Wake up! Wake up Jake, you are in danger." Zee screamed. But Jake wasn''t waking up until the wolf was now one metre away from him. "Jake! You and your new family are in danger now, wake up or else they will all die and you will be an orphan again." The werewolf was just about to touch Jake when its hand was grabbed. Then the werewolf heard the human say. "Oh gosh! Why the hell are you screaming Zee?" And then in a sh, the werewolf was struck so hard it went flying towards the other wolf and they both skidded a bit before they came to a halt. Jake then slowly stood up. "Darn! My ears or my mind hurts because of your silly screaming." Jakeined. "At least you woke up. Now deal with that problem." Zee said and Jake looked up to see a w strike heading for his face. Jake quickly leaned backwards avoiding it then he quickly equipped his sword that he had de-equipped before falling unconscious. Then Jake quickly used his sword to stab the hand hard and the werewolf quickly pulled its hand back in pain and it moved back a bit.N?v(el)B\\jnn ''Good thing the equipment in my inventory takes only a second to be summoned, otherwise I would have been doomed.'' Jake thought as he quickly dashed forward towards the werewolves. And then shed with his sword towards one of the omega wolves but the other one came in between and wanted to sh at Jake but he quickly used {Step shift} to get two metres away from the wolves causing the wolf''s w to strike nothing but air. Then Jake quickly activated {Step shift) again to get in front of the wolf that struck earlier and he quickly performed the Primary Guard sword skill taught to him in the first year. Jake stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, his dominant foot forward, he held his sword in front of him, his de angled downward at 20-30 degrees then in a sh, Jake moved his hand so fast, the wolves couldn''t keep up with his 58 agility. The sword shed the wolf''s neck causing blood to spurt around and the wolf fell down to its knees lifeless. Then Jake, making use of the other wolf''s surprise, dashed forward then he shed the wolf''s head off. Before the wolf could hit the ground, Jake readied his legs then he kicked the wolfying down dead Into the one about to fall and then, they went flying into the door breaking it open and then crash into the wall not moving. A secondter, Jake came out into the hallway and could see all the students on the floor with the nurse panting hard and then three more wolves. Jake, confused, decided to ask his next question. "What the heck is going on?" Seeing Jake st the two omega wolves, everyone was shocked by this. "How did he manage to defeat an omega wolf so quickly and easily? There were two of them." Someone whispered the question that was on everyone''s mind including nurse Hayley. ''I knew the kid was strong.'' Nurse Hayley thought. ''Strong enough to defeat the rank 3 in the academy to the extent he went unconscious. But strong enough to defeat two omega wolves like that? How did he do it?'' Nurse Hayley''s thought was interrupted by one of the omega wolves that was going straight for Jake. Unfazed, Jake readied his sword, then he waited for the werewolf to get in range, then he used the Triple Threat'' technique to get behind the wolf. When Jake got behind the werewolf, he shot out huge invisible spears and shards made from his invisible Qi by using the second stage. One upside of Jake being unconscious, was that his Qi was fully recovered and he was as good as new. The werewolf couldn''t see the projectiles, but it could feel that something was in the air heading for its head. It tried avoiding all of them to the best of its abilities but Jake kept sending more its way. And shortly, the werewolf was overwhelmed then Jake dashed towards the werewolf who was still focused on dodging the invisible projectiles. Jake thenced the de of his sword with Qi and then swung it at the werewolf''s neck, therefore cleanly slicing it off. Before the body hit the ground, Jake dashed towards the remaining two that were still standing by the exit door. One of the werewolves charged towards Jake again and swung its ws very fast towards Jake''s head. Jake barely managed to avoid it therefore his face had a little cut on it from the w. But Jake quickly un-equipped his sword and then used the Triple Threat technique again to get behind the werewolf while equipping his gauntlets. By then, the werewolf had turned around to face Jake but its face was met with an uppercut that was about to lift it up but Jake quickly quickly grabbed the leg of the werewolf and mmed it back down with so much force. Jake was about to punch the werewolf on the face when he heard a shout. "Look out!" Jake quickly turned around and he saw a w that was rapidly closing in on his face. Jake was unable to do anything because the hit was heading towards him very fast and in less than a second, Jake estimated he would be hit but the hit never came. Instead, Jake heard a ng as if metal was hitting metal. And he opened his eyes to see the fist stopped by a sword. Jake traced the hand holding onto the sword and he looked up to see who saved him. Jake was shocked by who he saw. Chapter 108 Racing against time In the academy clinic, Jake was initially focused on one of the omega wolves when someone shouted out to him to watch out. Heeding the warning, Jake turned around and saw his face was about to be met with a w strike from the other werewolf but before the w made impact, the hand stopped, not letting it move forward. Looking closely, Jake could see what stopped the werewolf''s hand and it was a sword. Looking up, Jake could see who held the sword and it shocked him. "I''m sorry I was a bitte." The voice said as it pushed the werewolf hand aside. Jake just scoffed and focused back on the werewolf that he was facing earlier who was now standing upright about to attack Jake again. "Why are you helping me Harry?" Jake asked. The person that had helped Jake by stopping the werewolf w strike was Harry.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "If I didn''t help, I knew I would have died along with the rest of them." Harry said as he was now going toe to toe with the werewolf. The werewolf threw a punch towards Harry''s head but he quickly bent down avoiding the punch then Harry spun his sword around in circles anding out of it was both invisible and visible Qi projectiles heading for the werewolf. Harry''s sword''s active skill allowed for his energy to be or otherwise known as Qi to be released in waves by spinning the sword and that was what he was currently doing. And now, the projectiles were hitting the werewolf he was fighting against in waves not allowing it to move further then not wanting to waste his Qi reserve, Harry dashed towards the werewolf then he enhanced his strength and speed with Qi while also infusing his sword with Qi. Harry pushed off with all his might and y the werewolf by cutting off its head cleanly then hended softly on the ground while heavily breathing. He had been holding his breath the whole time to give him more focus and to top it all off, he had just woken up from his own sleep and then he heard themotion which made hime out and saw Jake fighting against the werewolves. The next second, he could see another werewolf heading for Jake and in an instant, he dashed towards the werewolf to try and help Jake which he did. Turning around, Harry wanted to see if Jake was alright or if he needed any help. And he could see that Jake had dealt with the werewolf with a few scratches here and there and some blood seemingly from the werewolf on him. And in the next instant, Jake was surrounded by all the students and teachers there thanking him for his help. They kept on gushing on how strong he was and all that. Jake managed to push his way through the new fan club and appeared right beside nurse Hayley who was already recovering nicely. Harry was also by the nurse''s side too. "What happened here?" Jake asked. "We were attacked by werewolves." Hayley replied. "That is obvious based on what we just fought but why?" Jake asked again. "How am I supposed to know that?" Hayley said. "Are these all the werewolves that attacked?" Harry asked, to which Hayleyughed. "These are just drops in the ocean." ''Darn it! What the hell is going on?'' Jake thought and then he heard a ding in his head. {Ding!} {User has defeated omega werewolves for the first time} {Rewards: 2000XP; +5 in both strength and speed; a new skill} ''Well all these rewards are definitely worth it considering what I went through to defeat the werewolves. I just hope the XP is enough to allow me to level-up to the next rank.'' Jake thought. Then Jake opened up his status screen. Jake was beyond impressed, he had managed to level up and also got a plus one in all stats together with the +5 he got for some of his stats. ''Now this is what I''m talking about, let''s hurry up and check the new skill.'' Jake thought as he went to his skill tab. < Inventory: user can now store items, weapons and armour In his system and when it''s needed, it will pop out.> <(New)Adrenaline rush {Lv1}: Temporarily increases speed and agility by 2 percent for 2 minutes. Cool down timer; 30 minutes.> ''This skill wille in handy especially in some tough situations where I have to quickly evade a deadly attack and am not fast enough.'' Jake thought. That was when something clicked in Jake''s head. He looked at nurse Hayley dreading the worst. "You said the whole academy was attacked right?" Jake asked which nurse Hayley. "Then that means, the arena might have been attacked too." Jake said and to which Harry too was now scared because his brother was at the arena along with his friends. "Darn it!" Jake shouted. "I need to get to the arena soon to help my friends. They need me." "Are you crazy?" Harry said. "Look I understand what you are going through now, because my own brother is also there but we are talking about fighting hundreds of werewolves." "I don''t care. I must help them even if I have to go against the world." Jake said as he was about leaving. "Wait!" Harry called out. "I wille with you." "No, I''m not going now, I need to take care of something first before I go. So I want you to go to the arena and help them to the best of your ability." Jake said as he headed out of the clinic. ''I wonder what he ns to do.'' Harry thought as he also exited the clinic running towards the arena. ''Please Sebastian, hold on for me.'' Meanwhile, when Jake exited the clinic, he could see fights between humans and werewolves going on. Then Jake opened up his system and went to his inventory then he selected some things there. Immediately, Jake was covered in a somewhat tight fitting robe that could allow for maximum movements. The robe had a hood that could cover a person''s head then a metal mask appeared on Jake''s face. He equipped his advanced tier boot, held his advanced tier sword in his hand with his gauntlets also equipped in his hands. "It''s time to hunt some monsters and get the hang of my new skills and strength." Jake said as he stepped forward to assist a soldier who was struggling with a runt. ''Please guys, hold on for a little bit longer.'' Jake thought as he sprung into action. Chapter 109 Vynns last stand Back at the arena, everyone had just finished dealing with the second wave that consisted of both omega and runts werewolves and they decided to rest up. But just when they decided to rest, that was when they all felt a chill in the air and a lone werewolf appeared with its eyes glowing bright blue then everyone heard General Paul shout. "It''s best we get the hell outta here now! That''s a freaking Beta werewolf!" Paul shouted. A Beta werewolf was the second inmand to an Alpha werewolf. The werewolves hierarchy was quiteplex and somewhat distinct. The highest of the pack and the leader, was called an Alpha; they were the strongest of the werewolves. History has it that there has never been two Alphas before so, an Alpha was the strongest of the pack. A way to identify an Alpha was by their eye colour which is red. The different tier or rank of a werewolf are: Alpha: Strongest and the leader of the pack; an Alpha could be recognized by their red glowing eyes and Thick, luxurious, ck fur. Beta: They were the second inmand to the Alpha. There are only three beta werewolves in a pack; Beta prime(Senior Beta): Oversees the overall pack. Beta-enforcer: Handles security and defense. Beta-strategist: they focus on long-term nning, alliances and diplomacy. A Beta werewolf can be recognized by their glowing blue eyes with dark, coarser brown fur. The next rank is a Gamma: they are known as the advisors of the Alpha. They have Grey coloured eyes. Delta werewolves: they were the regr pack members. They had pale grey eyes. Omega werewolves: They were stronger than the deltas and they had yellow coloured eyes with thin and scrappy fur. Thest but not the least werewolf was the Runt: They are the newly transformed werewolves who often struggle to control their transformations. But when controlled, they could be somewhat deadly. They had ck glowing eyes. That''s one way to differentiate them. And now, standing in front of everyone was a Beta werewolf. A Beta-enforcer was standing in front of all them. Now even Jack could understand General Paul''s worry and why he was so concerned. Jack remembered when the war was still ongoing between the humans and werewolves, a beta werewolf had appeared one time. Nobody, none of the soldiers or Generals could do anything to it. It took the strength of all the big three and the head Generals to defeat it. They couldn''t even defeat it, they only managed to make it run away and ever since then, the war went somewhat smoothly, no sightings of the beta werewolf. That same thing that took thebined strength of the big three and the academy to chase, is right here in front of them all. And there wasn''t a doubt in Jack''s mind that this werewolf is stronger than then. "The humans have all somewhat recovered," the beta werewolf said with his mouth partially transformed Into the shape of a human''s mouth In order to allow easy speech. "And we never expected that you will all grow this strong in such a short amount of time. Ahh, we should have realized it, when you guys manage to make Dibb run away." The werewolf smiled and then looked around. "I don''t see any of your leaders around. Ohh well, this will just be an easy and quick work then." Nobody could move, after seeing his glowing blue eyes, hearing General Paul''s shout of warning and the aura that surrounded it. With the way it stood and moved like as if it doesn''t have any care in the world. Like as if nobody can defeat it. The Beta werewolf took a step forward towards Sebastian who wanted to make a break for it. That was when General Paul snapped out of his daze and moved in front of the werewolf therefore blocking its path from Sebastian. "Ohh!" The werewolf said surprised. "I didn''t know that you would move in front of me like that, I thought you were too scared to move." "I was," General Paul said. "But I can''t stay and watch you kill my students in front of me, I rather die than watch you kill any of my students." Paul dered while drawing his de and staring intently at the Beta werewolf. The werewolf looked at Paul while its eyes were now glowing a fierce blue but Paul was determined and didn''t move away. Then the werewolf moved back and smiled. "It''s funny you know, even though you know I''m stronger than you, you still stood your ground to protect those humans behind you. So I wanna see if they will do the same for you." The werewolf then looked at all the students, adventurers and people left in the centre of the arena. "I will allow anybody here thates over to my side, I will allow them to leave this arena without harming them." The werewolf smiled. The offer was quite enticing and they were now contemting whether they should ept or not but some people had already made their decision. "Screw you and your shit offer!" Vynn shouted while holding his spear in one hand and the other hand on his injured stomach. "I don''t give a f*ck about your silly offer or proposal, I will not leave my friends here and go away, I rather help take you down with them by my side. And I have already promised myself to rid this world of werewolves for what they did to me." Then Vynn twisted his spear in his two hands and it lit up and started burning. "So I don''t mind starting from you." Vynn said as he dashed towards the werewolf with full speed which surprised everyone that saw how injured he was. And that was when they realized the horror of what Vynn was about to do. Kate reached out to grab Vynn but he was already almost at the werewolf''s position. "Vynn stop, don''t be a fool!" Kate shouted but Vynn was already far gone in anger. ''I must avenge my parents death from these filthy werewolves.'' Vynn thought as he was already in front of the werewolf. Then Vynn thrust his spear towards the werewolf''s head with such impressive speed and strength but the werewolf just held the spear and stopped it from going into his head. ''What is with this strength? I can''t even move, did I make a mistake? No, I must avenge their death.'' Vynn thought as the memories of his parents face shed in his mind. Vynn saw his parents love, his mom''s warm smile. Then the image changed to when he saw werewolves ravaging in the town he lived with his parents and how they killed everyone including his parents while he was told to hide somewhere. When his mom told him to hide, he was reluctant but his mom promised him that she will be back. Then Vynn went behind a house and hid while his mom went looking for his dad. Vynn''s mom, didn''t move far when she was stabbed in the heart by a werewolf''s w. Seeing this, Vynn wanted to run out to meet his mom but his mom saw him and shook her head telling him not to. Remembering this, Vynn''s eyes lit with anger burning. "Arghhhh! I''m gonna kill you!" Vynn shouted as he withdrew his spear from the werewolf quickly. Then Vynn moved back a bit and threw a roundhouse kick towards the werewolf''s head but it was blocked by the werewolf''s hand but Vynn didn''t give up, he thrusted his spear again that was lit and burning with fire from the spear''s active skill from the spear''s tip. But the Beta werewolf just held the spear''s tip and the fire was extinguished. ''Impossible!'' Jake eximed. ''This spear was strong enough to kill an omega wolf but it just extinguished it like it was nothing, how?'' The werewolf didn''t give Vynn time to think as he threw a punch towards Vynn''s head but he snapped out of his thoughts and ducked avoiding the punch then Vynn thrust the spear again towards the werewolf''s stomach that was opened because of the werewolf throwing a punch. The spear managed to hit the werewolf''s stomach but is just left a white mark on its body while the spear''s tip broke and now the spear was broken. ''How is this possible?'' Vynn thought in horror. ''Howe this werewolf has the same strength in its body as Alex?''N?v(el)B\\jnn The werewolf then stood upright and looked towards its stomach from where Vynn had hit it then it smiled. "You''re impressive, strong enough to defeat most werewolves. Now I can see how you all were able to defeat the werewolves that were sent to kill you all." Then the werewolf raised its foot up and then dashed towards Vynn therefore closing a distance of 3 metres in one move of its foot. Then the werewolf quickly grabbed Vynn by his neck and raised him up with a single hand. "Too bad that you are going to die." The werewolf said as it squeezed Vynn''s neck while Vynn was struggling to breathe. While his consciousness was fading, Vynn saw his mom calling to him and telling him toe. ''I''m sorry mom, I couldn''t get revenge for you and dad.'' Vynn thought as his neck was now snapped by the werewolf and Vynn fell down with a thud without a single heartbeat heard from his body. "Vynn!" Kate shouted. Chapter 110 Im sorry I acted late Everyone were scared, afraid and rooted in one spot unable to move from the fear that the Beta werewolf won''t spare their lives if they did. But one person couldn''t control their anger and they decided to move and challenge the werewolf in anger. Everyone wanted to stop him but they were still too scared to move. They just waited for the oue maybe the werewolf will show mercy and let him go but that was when they saw the fight between Vynn and the werewolf. The werewolf was so rxed, not even taking the fight seriously while Vynn was fighting with everything he had. In the whole exchange, they hadn''t seen Vynnnd a sessful hit but that was when they saw himnd a hit with his spear. Seeing this, the others had hope but that was when they saw the hit leave only a white scratch on the body while the tip of the spear broke. Everyone watching knew that Vynn didn''t stand a chance so some of them snapped out of their daze and reluctance then they decided to move. The people that moved were Vynn''s friends and the Generals. But before they could get close, they saw the werewolf close a distance of 3 metres with a single move of his foot and then in a second, he was holding onto Vynn''s neck while lifting him up with only a single hand. Then, in a single smooth motion, the werewolf snapped Vynn''s neck letting him drop to the floor with a thud and Kate''s shout of pain. "Vynn!" The werewolf just stood there with its arms folded and a grin on its face while it moved back away from Vynn''s body. Meanwhile, Kate and Vynn''s friends ran towards where heid unmoving. "Vynn, wake up," Kate said while shaking Vynn that was on herp. "Vynn wake up! You can''t die like this, what will we tell Jake? You care about Jake right? Then wake up, don''t let him see you like this." Kate kept saying words while still shaking Vynn meanwhile the others had already gotten to their position. Jack didn''t say anything for he had already heard it, there was no single heartbeat from Vynn meaning he was dead but Kate didn''t want to admit it. "Vynn wake up! How are you supposed to get revenge if you keep onying like this?" But no matter what she said, he wasn''t waking up. "Arghhh!" Kate screamed as she looked at the werewolf who was still grinning from ear to ear. "I''m gonna kill you, you bastard!" Kate said as she stood up in one smooth motion and was about to lunge forward towards the werewolf but she was quickly grabbed by Jack. "Don''t make the same mistake which Vynn made before," Jack said gripping Kate''s hand tighter so she won''t break loose. "Exactly, what are we going to tell Jake? That two of his friends died because of rash decision making and we couldn''t stop them? You need to think with a cool head." Sophia said. Hearing Jake''s name, Kate calmed down and looked at the werewolf with fury burning In her eyes. By now, the Generals had already gotten to where they were standing and General Wilfred took Vynn''s body and walked towards the back where the body won''t be damaged in the fight that was about to happen. Then Wilfred calmly walked back to the others but he was shaking furiously and now, Kate and the rest along with General Paul and Wilfred stood side by side staring intently at the werewolf who was still grinning with his arms crossed around its chest. "How are we meant to defeat that thing now?" Cindy asked. "I don''t know," Peter said while holding his double handed axe and ring at the werewolf. "Neither do I care, all I know is that, that beast took my friend, my family away from me and I n to return the favour ten folds." "Haha." The werewolfughed out loud. "I wanna see how you are going to do what you imed."N?v(el)B\\jnn General Paul couldn''t contain his anger any longer as he dashed towards the werewolf whilecing his steps with Qi and his sword coated with Qi. In less than a second, General Paul was already in front of the werewolf. Then Paul exploded forcefully from the ground causing the ground to break under the force and strength of General Paul. Currently, the other students and everyone else were all witnessing the strength of a General in full force. As General Paul swung his sword very fast towards the werewolf''s neck. The speed of the hit surprised the werewolf but it quickly used its hardened w to block the hit therefore making a ng sound as if metal struck metal. Then General Paul did a backflip while creating Qi tforms under his feet. And when he was far enough, he exploded again and continued creating invisible Qi tforms under his feet. From the sidelines, it looked like Paul was running on the air. Then General Paul swung his sword again but this time, the sword was totally covered in Qi making it look like a giant sword. The sword was swung from above and it hit the werewolf so hard, its feet buckled under the strength of strike. The werewolf was being pushed into the ground more and more and then finally, the werewolf had enough by swinging his hand out sending Paul flying away from him. And therefore crashing where the others were standing then the werewolf stood upright and looked straight at Paul. "You humans have really grown so strong, I knew it was a mistake to let you all live but the Alpha kept saying we should let you guys be and now, I have seen it was a mistake." The beta werewolf said. "I thought we only had to worry about the heads of this academy and the Big three but I see that you humans have been gathering your strength and now, I''m gonna take it upon myself as the Beta-enforcer of the werewolves to get rid of you lot." The werewolf said as it dashed forward with inhumane speed and then it swung its ws at the person it perceived as a threat which was General Paul but then, its ws were blocked by a sword. "I''m sorry I actedte." The owner of the sword said. Chapter 111 Revelations After the reality dawned on everyone about Vynn''s death, they had to move on and focus on how they would take the Beta werewolf down. Someone that was considered the vice leader of the pack. That was when General Paul took the initiative by going head on against the werewolf. His skills were impressive enough to make everyone think that maybe General Paul had it covered. They all hoped maybe by some miracle, General Paul would defeat the werewolf but who were they kidding? The next moment, they could see General Paul sent flying towards them after delivering a huge amount of Qi strike towards the werewolf. General Paul was a little weak after exerting that amount of Qi but he still managed to stand up and that was when he could see the werewolf dashing towards him with the same speed he used against Vynn. General Paul was slow to react and he was about to be hit by a w strike from the werewolf but then, a sword stopped the strike and a voice followed suit. "I''m sorry I actedte." Experience new stories on empire General Paul turned around to see who the voice and sword belonged to and he was surprised. "Alex!" Paul said. It turns out the person that stopped a very fast and powerful w strike from the werewolf that was heading towards General Paul was Alex, the strongest student in the whole Aurora Academy. Alex had seen General Paul battling against the werewolf and he was a bit hesitant about whether to interfere. Alex wasn''t foolish enough to think that General Paul had it covered, he knew that sooner orter, General Paul would lose. So he took that opportunity and inched forward but by bit until he was almost close to Kate and her friend''s position and that was when General Paul was flung by the werewolf and the werewolf gave chase. The werewolf was nowing with a w strike so Alex decided to act fast by evening his Qi out and distributing them to his legs, hands and sword and then Alex dashed forward with a decent speed. And then he blocked the w strike from hitting General Paul but what he didn''t expect was the strength of the strike. It managed to make him skid a bit and then he grunted and managed to say. "I''m sorry I actedte." "What!?! When and how did he get there?" Emily who was still far behind in the centre of the arena along with the other third year students, adventurers and both Helen and Berg asked. "I don''t know," Ruby replied. "I was too focused on General Paul that I didn''t notice when he moved." "But we have to help him right? We can''t let him take that werewolf on his own." Geo said. "I wasn''t nning on that," Emily said. "I''m not going to let him take the werewolf on his own. He''s too pretty to die and he owes me a promise." Emily dashed forward to get to Alex''s position as soon as possible. While the rest of the third year students were least surprised about her words before she ran forward, they always knew that Emily had feelings for Alex. But Alex was only focused on one thing; and that was to get strong, fight strong opponents and also to defeat the werewolves. But Emily didn''t give up, she persisted and kept on chasing Alex right from when they were in first year. Then Alex snapped and told her one time that he only wished to fight strong opponents and if she could get strong enough to assist or help him whenever he was in trouble then he will consider her. Everyone thought it was cruel of Alex since Emily was ranked number 150 among the first year students of their time while Alex held the number one spot. So they thought it was near impossible for Emily to do that. But she proved everyone wrong and trained harder than anyone to get stronger in order to be perfect for ''her Alex''. Slowly but steadily, she rose through the ranks and then in their second year, she managed to get to the rank 3. Then she asked Alex again but he said she wasn''t strong enough. Then with that annoyance, she went straight to Harry who was ranked number 2 then and she challenged him to a duel which he epted and she won in front of everyone making her the rank 2 since then and up till now.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Then Alex finally told her that he will go out with her if she could retain her position up till when they were done with their academy years. So finally, Emily got to Sophia and her friend''s position then she stood waiting for an opportunity toe in. But it never came since Alex and the werewolf were still in a stand off. The werewolf was shocked that someone managed to block its hit and then it looked closely at Alex and noticed he was a student. This made the werewolf more shocked about how a student could stop its hit like that. The werewolf then pulled back and moved back to observe Alex well. ''This humans are no joke. If ordinary students are able to block my strikes like this, I hate to imagine how strong those so called big three have all gotten.'' Thinking of that, the werewolf kept looking at Alex strangely. "I feel like I have seen you somewhere but I can''t wrap my head around it." Alex didn''t care for what the werewolf had to say for he was cultivating his Qi to regain his strength while standing and looking at the werewolf. "Ah yes!" The werewolf eximed. "You look exactly like him, you look exactly like one of that big three that attacked us." Everyone who were standing were shocked by what they heard including Alex''s fellow third year students but they didn''t think much of it for it was normal to have some semnce to somebody. "Now I get it," the werewolf said again. "You are the son to that annoyingly strong big three. Your father is Rex de right? The physically strong big three." Everyone jaws almost dropped to the ground. Chapter 112 Shut your f*cking mouth up! Seeing Alex save General Paul, everyone were surprised by the fact that he was strong enough to block a hit like that. Then the next shock came with the werewolf revealing that Alex had some semnce to one of the big three. Then the werewolf used Alex of being the son to Rex de one of the physically stronger big three. "Is that true Alex? Are you the son of Rex de?" Emily asked. Alex didn''t reply, he was just staring at the werewolf while the werewolf was grinning. "What does it matter? We still have a werewolf to defeat." Alex said gripping his sword tighter. "Defeat a werewolf?" The werewolf said twisting its head around as if searching for something. "Which werewolf are you nning on defeating? Wait, is it me?" The beta werewolf said while pointing at itself. "Hahahaha," the werewolfughed holding its belly. "You''re very funny you know, just because you blocked one of my hit, you think you are strong enough to defeat me? Even if you''re Rex''s son, it doesn''t mean you can defeat me. Besides, your dad still took the help of the academy and the other big three to just chase a beta werewolf away and you think that you can defe¡­" The werewolf was interrupted by a swing of the sword that was heading for its face. Quickly, the werewolf leaned backwards avoiding it. ''What the!'' The werewolf thought. ''How did he move so fast?'' "Shut your f*cking mouth up, we don''t like hearing you speak!" Alex said as he moved back to reposition himself. "You''re certainly fast but are you str¡­" the werewolf was interrupted again by a hit to its head from behind that sent it skidding a bit. "He said, shut your f*cking mouth up, we don''t like hearing you speak!" Jack said. The werewolf turned around to look at Jack with its eyes now glowing blue again. "I still haven''t gotten revenge from you for killing my friend, and I n to." Jack said drawing his sword from his sheath and twisting it in his hand then he red at the werewolf and shouted. "Now!" Immediately, the werewolf turned around after sensing something in the air but it was toote for its face was met with a kick from Sophia and then an arrow was shot out towards the werewolf''s head. The kick from Sophianded therefore causing the werewolf''s head to fling backwards but it managed to catch the arrow and then broke it while standing upright to look at the students. But it forgot about some people who had now appeared on either side of the werewolf. Both General Paul and Wilfred swung out their sword that was coated with Qi. The swords hit the werewolf only going an inch deep and drawing a bit of blood. The werewolf in annoyance quickly stomped its foot on the floor causing dusts and debris to go flying around blocking some people''s view. But that was the werewolf''s mistake foring out of the dust was Alex with his giant sword that was swung at the werewolf''s stomach going one metre deep and drawing more blood. But now, the sword was stuck in the werewolf''s stomach as it tensed its abdomen making Alex to try and draw out his sword but it didn''t work. Then the werewolf quickly grabbed Alex by his shoulder and then the werewolf kneed Alex in the stomach causing him to hurl forward in pain. Before the werewolf could hit again, Emily along with Sophia hade in with a strike to the werewolf at either side of his hands. But the werewolf quickly let go of Alex and grabbed hold of the swords. "No no no, I won''t make the same mistake again." The werewolf said as it snatched the sword out of Emily''s hand while sending Sophia flying with a kick to her stomach. Then the werewolf wanted to grab Emily but General Paul had quicklye in. With a kick to its hand, the werewolf''s trajectory was moved to the side giving Emily enough time to move away and reposition. Everyone were now standing 3 metres away from the werewolf side by side. "What''s the use of everything when you guys can''t even take me down?" The werewolfughed. That was when an arrow wheezed towards the werewolf''s face faster than any arrow that had been shot today. The arrow hit the werewolf on its forehead but it only moved an inch before it fell back down. "Kate how did you get so strong enough to shoot an arrow so fast and hard like that?" Peter asked turning around to look at her. Kate was looking at Peter with confusion. "I didn''t shoot that arrow." "If you didn''t, then who did?" "I did." They all turned around and saw Ruby walking over. "I''m sorry I waste." "It''s okay." Emily said. "You annoying pests! You just keeping one at a time therefore dying your inevitable death." The werewolf said. The werewolf took a step forward when it suddenly stopped and a battle cry was heard. "Arghhh!" Sebastian shouted as he charged in along with everyone else that were on the side lines. Experience more on empire With a swing of his axe, Geo quickly ducked avoiding a hit then Peter was seening from above with a powerful overhead axe strike thatnded sessfully sending shockwaves everywhere.N?v(el)B\\jnn Then Helen came in with a thrust of her dagger but the werewolf avoided it. And then Berg came in with a sh of his sword towards the werewolf''s neck but it leaned backwards avoiding it and then it felt a sting in its back. Turning around, the werewolf saw it was stung by Gary the third year that was supposed to fight against Sebastian. "I''m gonna freaking skew you for what you lots did to my friend Dan!" Gary dered as he pulled out his sword and jumped back just in time for the werewolf had swung its ws. While all these was going on, General Paul and Wilfred were both standing surprised by everything that was going on. "How did these students grow so strong?" Wilfred asked. "Exactly, they were all struggling against an omega werewolf and now, they are all doing so well against this beta." Paul said. "Hold on, that''s because they aren''t doing this alone, everyone, are helping. This is what we call team work and I think this is what we need to defeat this werewolf. After all, that''s what the big three did then." Wilfred said. "They worked together." Paul said gripping his sword harder. "So c''mon, let''s go help take down this f*cking werewolf!" Paul shouted as he and Wilfred dashed towards the werewolf. Chapter 113 Dont touch my brother! Everyone had joined the fray against the werewolf in full swing. Everyone was working together in an attempt to take the Beta werewolf down no matter what it takes. General Paul and Wilfred had also joined the battle. General Paul jumped while creating Qi tforms under his feet and then he coated the de part of his sword with the second stage of Qi then he swung it out towards the werewolf. But the werewolf caught the de and shook its head. "Not again." Then the werewolf punched General Paul so hard that he went flying off but before he could go far, he created a wall of Qi stopping him from flying off. Then General Paul started coughing violently with specks of blood dripping from his mouth. "Shit!" Paul eximed. "My internal organs have been ruptured by that single hit alone. I would have fallen unconscious by the hit If I didn''t strengthen my cells with Qi." General Paul managed to stand on his feet without stumbling then he readied himself to go again at the werewolf. ''I only have a little bit of Qi left. Something needs to change soon.'' Paul thought as he dashed forward again. Explore new worlds at empire Meanwhile, when Paul had been struck, the others didn''t have any time to worry about him as they were solely focused on the werewolf that was in front of them. Alex came in again with a strong swing of his sword that was strengthened by the second stage of Qi but the swing missed the werewolf by a small margin and then Alex was kicked by the werewolf sending him skidding far away from the werewolf. Jack was already behind the werewolf again with a swing of his own sword while Peter and Geo were on either side of the werewolf. But the werewolf just stomped its feet again on the ground causing dust and debris to go flying around blocking Peter and Geo''s view. Then the werewolf quickly turned around and grabbed Jack''s sword that was aimed at its back. And gave Jack a kick sending him flying away also. By that time, the dust had already settled, General Wilfred had alreadye in with a strike towards the werewolf''s legs that managed to only go an inch in. Then in order to shake him off, the werewolf kicked Wilfred away and now, Berg was upon it with a swing of his sword towards the werewolf''s head but his sword was also grabbed and he was punched hard in the stomach. The punch was strong enough to send Berg flying with pain coursing through his every being. When he finallynded, Berg was feeling pains in his stomach and then he coughed out loud and felt something flowing from his mouth. Letting it flow, Berg could see that it was a red flowing liquid. It was blood, his blood. "Darn! This werewolf is too strong and my Qi is depleted. To make matters worse, the little Qi I have is disrupted by that punch. I just hope Helen can handle herself for a little bit of time." Berg said as he wanted to move forward towards where Helen and the rest were fighting but even breathing was difficult so he stayed put. Everyone were fighting with their lives on the line. Arrows were just flying rapidly towards the werewolf from both Kate and Ruby. Even though the others were keeping it busy, it was still managing to avoid each and every single arrows heading its way. Slowly, the werewolf was sending everybody away with a single hit. With a kick to the face, Gary was sent hurling away. An uppercut was delivered to Peter that sent him flying up. The werewolf turned around in time to catch a sword strike heading his way from Emily and then it hit her away with its back fist. Slowly, the werewolf kept hitting everyone with a single hit either causing them to lose consciousness on the spot or they were unable to attack again. The people that were attacking the werewolf were now less. Kate and Ruby were both letting arrows after arrows loose at the werewolf while Alex who hade back in the fight along with General Paul and Wilfred with two out of the four adventurers, Sebastian and Cindy were still attacking. In the middle of attacking, Alex was conflicted about what to do. ''Should I use it? If I use it, I can still make it run away from here. But if I use it, people''s thoughts about my identity will be solidified.'' Alex thought as he rolled away avoiding a w strike from the werewolf. ''No, I will only use it when I really feel like my life is in danger.'' Alex thought as he went in with a swing of his giant sword again. The werewolf was avoiding every hit to his vitals so skillfully.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ''I know how to take these pesky humans down," the werewolf thought. ''I just have to take out the weakest of them all to weaken their numbers.'' With a n in its mind, the werewolf kicked Alex again who used his sword to block the hit but the force of the kick made him skid a bit. Then the werewolf moved so fast that General Paul and Wilfred couldn''t even get a hold of him nor could Kate and Ruby''s arrows get it. And now, it was in front of Sebastian then it swung its ws towards his face so fast that Sebastian had already closed his eyes epting his fate. "Goodbye, you put up quite a good fight." The werewolf said as its ws were now a few seconds from Sebastian''s head. Everyone could see what was happening. It felt like it was going in slow motion and again, somebody''s life was going to be taken right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do because the werewolf and Sebastian were far away from them. The werewolf''s ws now reached Sebastian''s neck quickly but it met resistance again. This resistance came with a loud nging sound again as if metal was striking metal. "Don''t touch my brother with your filthy hands!" Chapter 114 Qi explosions Everyone were fighting with everything they got to try to take the Beta werewolf down but it wasn''t working, in the process, some people were injured, some people had internal injuries while some people''s Qi had been depleted that they couldn''t even strengthen their cells with Qi even if they wanted to. Being annoyed by people it deemed as pests, the werewolf came up with a n to deal with these pests one by one and that was when an idea popped in its head. It decided that the best way to deal with them was to reduce their numbers one by one and also deal with the weakest among them so it could focus on those that were attacking it. And that was when the werewolf''s glowing blue eyesid on Sebastian who was 4 metres away from the group looking for a way to enter and deal a hit on the werewolf. Quickly, the werewolf''s leg wheezed in the air very fast towards Alex''s chest but he quickly used his sword to block. The impact of the werewolf''s kick sent shockwaves through Alex''s sword. The force of the kick even sent Alex skidding back. And then the werewolf dashed towards Sebastian with his inhumane speed that General Paul and Wilfred couldn''t even stop. And then, it was now in front of Sebastian. Then the werewolf''s razor-sharp ws sliced through the air lightning fast towards Sebastian while the werewolf bid Sebastian goodbye at the same time. But then, the werewolf''s ws were stopped by something that made a ng sound and a shout followed. "Don''t touch my brother with your filthy hands!" the voice said. "Brother?" Sebastian said as he opened his eyes that were initially closed and then he saw who was in front of him. Behold, Harry; Sebastian''s elder brother was here in front of him with his sword blocking the werewolf''s ws from reaching his brother and his face burning with evident fury at the thought that he nearly lost his brother. Not wasting time, Harry shot out invisible Qi projectiles at the werewolf. Being at a high level, the werewolf was able to feel the disturbance and power in the air, then it quickly moved, dodging each and every projectile in the air because it could feel how powerful they were. Following up, Harry jumped exploding from his position with so much strength and force and then he came crashing down on an unassuming werewolf who was still dodging the many projectiles that it failed to realise the Qi filled axe kick heading his way from above. The kick connected sessfully making the werewolf''s legs buckle from the strength and force of the kick. While the force of the kick sent shockwaves hitting everyone that were four metres away from them. "Woah! Was Harry always that strong?" Emily asked, feeling the force of the kick even from where she stood.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "I think it''s because of the furry that he almost lost his brother that made him draw out more power." Jasmine answered as she stood side by side with Emily. "I never knew he loved his brother this much." Emilymented again. Then Alex appeared by their side. "C''mon, he can''t hold the werewolf on his own." Alex said as he ran to where Harry was. Out of all the third year students, Alex took a liking for Harry and they became close friends right from when they were in the second year. So he couldn''t stand by and watch his close friends die at the hands of a werewolf. Even though they were tired, no oneined as they held their weapons tighter and we''re running behind Alex who was almost there. Jack also followed suit along with Helen, the generals, two of the adventurers while Kate and Ruby still stayed back nning to assist from where they stood with their arrows. Meanwhile, before the rest of the students decided to help, Harry had just delivered a full on heavy, Qi filled axe kick on the werewolf''s head that made it buckle under the force and strength of the kick. ''What''s with all these kids and their strength? They aren''t even adults, they are just students and they have so much power.'' The werewolf thought as it managed to throw Harry off its head. Before Harry hit the ground, he performed a couple of backflips and then hended on the ground smoothly while ring at the werewolf. The werewolf didn''t like to be the aggressor of a fight but in this instance, the werewolf was forced as it charged right at Harry with full speed but Harry was already ready for it. When the werewolf was already within range, explosions went out wherever the werewolf stepped. The explosions were strong enough to send small attacks heading its way causing little holes on its body as if a bullet was shot at the werewolf. Alex, who was almost close to Harry''s position, stopped after he saw this. "Why? Why did he use that explosive Qi?" Alex wondered out loud. "This is a prolonged fight and explosive Qi uses up half of the user''s Qi. That''s the reason why we, who knew how to use it, didn''t use it. So why?" ''Maybe his rage has blinded him and he''s using everything he''s got to take the werewolf down even if it means depleting his Qi reserve.'' Alex thought as he sped up. When Harry was running towards the werewolf earlier, he kept on releasing little Qi every step he took on the floor. Those little Qi, were what made up an explosive Qi. They were just like traps; when set and someone stepped on it, explosions would go off like a bomb and small Qi bullets would go out hitting the person. In some cases, the Qi bullets would kill the opponent that it was used on. This Qi explosion cost the user half his Qi reserve so Qi users were always careful about using it. They only use it when they know that when the Qi explosion hits their opponent, it would be enough to kill them or injure them enough in order to follow up with a strong attack that will finish them off. So the Qi explosion was only seen as ast resort move used in a battle. And now, Harry was about to see the result of the Qi explosion when the dust that it created cleared off. By that time, those that were running to catch up with Harry had already arrived and then, the dust finally started settling while they were awaiting their fate. Will the Qi explosion be enough to injure the werewolf so they could kill it or will it not be enough and they would be all killed? Chapter 115 Do not f*cking touch her! Just when Sebastian thought that he would die at the hands or ws of the werewolf, his brother made a dramatic entrance and saved his life. And then the next things that happened blew Sebastian away. His brother was delivering hits after hits on the werewolf''s body and then his brother was flung, sending him backflipping before he smoothlynded on the ground. Angrily, the werewolf decided to charge right at Harry but suddenly, explosions went off all over, around the werewolf. The explosion was caused by Harry; who used his Qi to create Qi explosions around the werewolf, therefore using half of his Qi reserve. And then finally, the dust from the Qi explosion was settling and Harry along with some other people including the Head Generals were all tense awaiting the results. Because in truth, they were all tired. They had been fighting werewolves after werewolves all day. And now, they were fighting a Beta werewolf; the second inmand to the Alpha. Their Qi reserve was already depleted, they were all riddled with injuries, internal organs ruptured and they were both mentally and physically drained. They were just putting on a brave face while fighting with the skills and little strength they had. Finally, the dust settled with the werewolf standing strong in front of them all with bullet holes in all its body. Luckily for the werewolf, it had managed to avoid any fatal injuries to its vitals. It stood there, with a grin on its face while looking at the humans and then slowly, in front of their face, the werewolf was healing rapidly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om All the injuries made on its body by Harry or the others, were all healed up. Then the werewolf turned its neck left and right as if it was looking for something and finally, it walked towards one of the dead bodies. Seeing it walking towards a dead body, Paul''s eyes widened in shock. ''No no no!'' Paul shook his head then he turned towards the students. "We need to stop it from eating any one of those students or else, it wille back stronger than ever. For it to decide to eat, it must mean it''s on itsst legs." Paul warned. "I''m on it." Harry said as he dashed forward with full speed almost as fast as an Omega werewolf along with Alex and Paul. Paul kept on using Qi tforms to propel him further towards the werewolf who was looking for the best body to eat, seemingly forgetting that it had a battle to fight. Finally, they got to its position and Harry along with Alex swung their swords out at once towards the werewolf. But not turning around, the werewolf with a flick of its wrist grabbed the swords and then it slowly turned its head and looked towards them. "It''s time to end this shit now! This has gone on long enough." The werewolf said as it slowly stood up and then it saw Pauling at it with an overhead strike of his sword. But the werewolf quickly kicked him hard in the rib sending Paul hurling away in terrible pain. Still holding onto the swords, the werewolf, a powerful kick from the werewolf sent Alex flying. And then it finally turned towards Harry. "And for you, you are the cause of my earlier injuries. So I have a special punishment for you." The werewolf said. Then it grabbed Harry''s head and looked him in the eye with its eyes glowing intently then the werewolf opened its mouth wide. Seeing this, everyone was horrified by this. Quickly acting, both Ruby and Kate shot out powerful Qi filled arrows towards the werewolf that hit its face not even leaving a white mark on it. But the arrows served its purpose. For Jack along with Wilfred had already gotten to the werewolf''s position. Then Jack jumped up and unleashed a flurry of kicks towards the werewolf''s head. Each kick was causing shockwaves everywhere, Jack''s legs were throbbing with pain but he kept going. Unleashing kicks after kicks while General Wilfred hade in with a stab to the werewolf''s hand forcing it to let go of Harry. Harry moved back a bit and was panting because he felt like his life was going to be over any second. Wilfred shed the werewolf''s stomach with his sword while skillfully avoiding a w strike. Jack had also thrown a roundhouse kick that connected sessfully on the werewolf''s head but it didn''t do anything to it. Not even moving the werewolf from its position. General Wilfred shot out invisible Qi projectiles at the werewolf. Powerful Qi projectiles with thest of the Qi reserve he had in his core. While Jack was also throwing kicks after kicks. Kate and Ruby were also unleashing arrows after arrows towards the werewolf. Frustrated by everything, the werewolf carefully avoided all the Qi projectiles while letting Jack''s kicksnd on its body. Then the werewolf avoided all the Qi filled arrows skillfully and now, itnded a powerful uppercut towards general Wilfred that sent him flying unconsciously. While it grabbed Jack by his shoulders and kneed him hard in the stomach causing the air to be knocked out of him. Nobody could do anything for they were too weak to do anything as they watched the werewolf knee Jack in the stomach again causing spit and blood toe out of his mouth and his eyes to roll to the back of his head. Then the werewolf let Jack fall down with a thud unconsciously as it dashed towards Ruby who was in front of Kate. The werewolf''s swipe of his w ripped through whatever defences Ruby had as she fell on the floor lifelessly. Then the werewolf''s glowing blue eyesid on Kate. ''One more annoying pest to go through.'' The werewolf thought as it dashed towards Kate who was too stunned to move. Then it grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. With an attempt to free herself from the werewolf''s grip, Kate pulled an arrow from her quiver as she repeatedly stabbed into the werewolf''s furry hand. But it didn''t work. While the werewolf''s tightened grip made her release the arrow and it slid off from her fingers as she was losing consciousness. Then one person''s face shed in front of her mind. ''Jake, I''m sorry. I promised to keep our little family together but I couldn''t, I failed you. Now I''m leaving this world without saying goodbye to you or seeing your face for thest time.'' Kate thought as she felt her consciousness slip away from her. ''My biggest regret is that I couldn''t tell you how I feel. That I love you, and I''m going to my grave without telling you that. Which saddens me.'' Seeing Kate being held up like that, Sophia wanted to move to at least help her best friend but she was seriously damaged by the single punch she received to her guts. "Please, Somebody save her! I can''t lose her." Sophia shouted but no one could move because they were too weak too. That was when Sophia''s hair was blown flying in the wind as if a gust of wind had hit her hair.Then when they looked up, everyone could see someone running towards the werewolf and Kate. Then the person got there in time, squeezed the werewolf''s hand tightly making it let go of Kate and then an uppercut was delivered by the person sending the Beta werewolf flying with so much force as if a train had hit it. "Do not ever f*cking touch her or else am gonna skin you alive!" The person shouted. Chapter 116 Im gonna kill you! The battle against the academy versus the Beta werewolf was going bad for the academy. They couldn''t defeat it even with their most powerful skills or techniques, it didn''t do anything against the werewolf. Slowly, they were losing students one by one. The werewolf kept killing anyone that he seemed a threat. That was when the werewolfid eyes on Harry who caused the Qi explosion earlier. Causing it a little bit of injuries. It decided to grab Harry and eat him up but before the werewolf could do that, Kate and Ruby shot out Qi infused arrows towards the werewolf causing it not to eat Harry. And then, General Wilfred l and Jack managed to get there in time to save Harry from certain death. In annoyance, the werewolf decided it will get rid of the archers that kept disturbing it by shooting out arrows. In less than a second, it appeared beside Ruby then the werewolf swiped its ws at Ruby getting rid of any armour on her and killing her. Then the werewolf moved towards Kate who was too frozen to move and then it grabbed her by her neck, trying to squeeze and suffocate her to her death. She tried everything she could to free herself from the werewolf''s grip. That was when she heard Sophia''s plea for anybody to save her and she was more saddened by this. ''I''m sorry everyone, I''m supposed to be the leader, the one that brings our group and family together but I failed you all.'' Kate thought as she felt her head about to explode. That was when from her blurry vision, Kate saw someone dash towards the werewolf with an inhumane speed that seemed impossible except the person was using a huge amount of Qi. ''No no no, who is foolish enough toe here?'' Kate thought as she was hardly breathing. ''Do they want to die? Don''t save me, save yourself.'' The next thing that everyone saw, made their jaws almost drop to the floor. They saw the person dash towards the werewolf, grabbed the werewolf''s hand and squeezed on tight making the werewolf drop Kate to the ground. Then the person threw an uppercut towards the werewolf sending it flying away. "Do no f*cking touch her or else am gonna skin you alive!" Everyone heard the voice shout. When the dust settled, they could see someone standing where the werewolf was standing earlier. The person was d in a ck robe with the hood covering his face.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The robe itself was stained with blood, and then the person was putting on a ck metallic mask on his face not letting people see his face that well. Kate who was on the floor, was gasping for air and she was also shocked by the fact that a human was strong enough to send the Beta werewolf flying. But that was not what she was shocked about, it was the voice of the person that surprised her. "Jake?" Kate managed to croak out in between heavy breath. The man turned to look at Kate then he turned back around to look at the werewolf he sent flying that was already making its way back to where it was with anger written all over its face. "Jake, is that you?" Kate asked again but the man didn''t respond. Everyone who were standing far back where already slowly making their way back to where the man along with Kate were. "Jake, if that''s you," Kate said. "I hate to say this, I won''t tell you to run away because we still need to get revenge." The man still didn''t react making Kate doubt if it was really Jake under the hood and mask. But she still continued speaking anyway. "Jake, that werewolf killed Vynn!" Kate shouted with hot tears streaming down her face with her fists clenched. When she looked up, she finally saw a reaction in the man making her believe stronger that this was Jake. Right on cue, the werewolf arrived back from where it was sent flying and now it stood in front of the masked stranger while looking at him strangely and angrily. By now, every other person that was conscious, were already standing on the sidelines observing what would happen. The people on the sidelines were; Jack, Harry, Sophia, Peter, General Wilfred, Helen, Alex, Cindy, Simyon, Sebastian and Emily. The rest were either unconscious or dead. Hearing that Vynn was dead, the masked man kept his head down and his fists were tightly clenched in anger. He didn''t lift his head up for some time which confused everyone about the reason for it. But Kate was now sure that the masked man was Jake and even the werewolf had heard what Kate said to the masked man and seeing his reaction, the werewolf now knew that this masked man was somewhat rted to one person it had killed. "Was he rted to you?" The werewolf spoke with a grin on its face. "I don''t really recall any weak person I kill. But if I had killed him, then I must have really enjoyed killing him." This statement finally sparked a reaction from the masked man. He slowly lifted his head and looked behind him towards Kate. "Are you telling the truth? Is Vynn really dead? Did that f*cker really kill him?" The masked man asked. Kate nodded repeatedly with tears streaming down her face. "Yes, he killed him in cold blood." The masked man now turned his head back to look at the werewolf and then he kept his head bowed again. ''I came toote. Vynn died and I couldn''t even help him. Someone from my family has been killed again by these filthy beasts.'' The masked man who turned out to be Jake thought. ''I will make him pay! Vynn I will make sure I avenge you!'' Jake thought as he lifted his head to look at the werewolf with his eyes all red as if bloodshot. "Arghhhh! I''m gonna kill you!" Jake shouted out loud as his sword appeared from his system into his hand and he dashed towards the werewolf swiftly. Chapter 117 The Werewolf Slayer Earlier, when Jake and Harry had exited the academy''s clinic, Harry ran towards the arena while decided to go hunt more werewolves. The first werewolf he encountered was a runt that a soldier was struggling with. The runt''s w was about to hit the already injured soldier''s neck when a sword intercepted the strike and then pushed it back. The soldier turned around to see who saved him and he could see a man clothed in a somewhat tight fitting robe and a metal mask on his face. "Go get yourself treated, I will handle this." The man said as he dashed towards the runt he had pushed back. The soldier didn''t want to abandon hisrades so rather than take the masked man''s advice, he went ahead to help those that were struggling against the werewolves. Meanwhile, Jake and the runt were locked in a battle. Luckily for Jake, after fighting with an omega werewolf and already used the its speed, the runt was now somewhat slow in his eyes. So he managed to evade a kick from the werewolf and then Jake bashed his sword''s butt on the werewolf''s leg with all the strength he could muster. Not wasting time, Jake followed up with an attack by using ''The Triple Threat'' technique to get behind the werewolf then he quickly shed its head off killing it. ''The saving grace of all these is that the runts are quite slow and fight like a beast making it easy to avoid their attacks.'' Jake thought as he dashed towards another runt. Jake was making quick work of the runts and even helped some soldiers on the way that were struggling against the werewolves. The werewolves now saw Jake as a threat and they were now surrounding him. Currently, Jake was surrounded by four runt werewolves. Jake just smiled. ''Oh, this will be a good test for me.'' Jake thought as a runt was now heading for his head. Jake ducked avoiding the strike and he quickly stabbed the werewolf''s stomach. Then another runt was heading for his head again with a fist. Quickly pulling his sword out of the werewolf''s stomach, Jake jumped back as he managed to avoid the fist strike by the skin of his teeth if he hadn''t acted fast enough. Then a leg swooped through the air andnded right on Jake''s ribs therefore pushing him back a bit. Jake took the hit with a gritted teeth and then he grabbed the werewolf''s leg as he shed the leg off with his sword and all the strength he could muster. Jumping back, Jake avoided a w strike to his head. But he couldn''t avoid one thing and that was a bite mark to the shoulder. "Arghhh!" Jake screamed feeling the werewolf''s teeth sinking into his shoulders. Then the werewolf let go and moved back thinking whatever it did might have worked and then suddenly, a sword shed in front of the werewolf''s face and its head was cleanly cut off. Jake was seen standing there with a smile on his face. "Did you think your n could work against me? I''m immune to your bite that can turn me into what you are." Jake said as he quickly turned around to face the other werewolves. Seeing the monstrous strength Jake had, the werewolves felt something they hadn''t felt in a while and which was fear. They turned around to try to run away. "Ha! I''m not done with you lot yet." Jake said as he activated {Step shift} and he was suddenly in front of them. Then Jake coated his de with Qi and started swinging and shing at the three remaining werewolves. And finally, Jake was done taking care of the werewolves that had surrounded him earlier. Jake turned back to the battle field and he could see that the werewolves were already being reduced so he went helping more and more on the battle field. Every soldier that were seriously injured kept on reporting one thing, that they were saved by a man in metal mask. He kept on ying werewolves as if they were just basic tier beasts. So now, they dubbed him the name; Werewolf yer. "Did you see the werewolf yer?" One soldier asked the other as he was just parried a fist strike to his face. "Yes," the second soldier replied struggling to hold the furry hand of the werewolf that attacked him. "He''s quite skillful, skillful enough to kill runts as if they were nothing." That was when the first soldier made a slip up and a w was heading for his neck when a sword intercepted it. Looking up, the soldier could see he was saved by the werewolf yer. Immediately, with a flick of his wrist, the werewolf yer pushed the werewolf back and then used The Triple Threat technique to get behind the werewolf and then he swung his sword decapitating the werewolf''s head off. Then the werewolf yer moved onto the next one. By the time Jake had dealt with that werewolf, the soldier that was saved, hispanion had also just finished ying his own werewolf. "Did you see that?" The soldier that was saved asked. "What?" Hispanion asked as he was now panting after that tough battle. "The werewolf yer saved me." The man said excitedly. "And that''s not the most exciting part, he used the military triple threat technique to do that, which means, he must be part of this academy and doesn''t want his identity to be revealed." "Or he could be a past student that came to watch the tournament and then decided to help." Thepanion said. "Whatever the case, I''m d he''s on our side." The saved soldier said. Meanwhile, while on his own rampage, the werewolf yer encountered trouble of his own. Standing in front of Jake was an omega werewolf. But it wasn''t the trouble, he was standing in front of a strong omega werewolf. The possible leader of the omega werewolves. How did Jake know, immediately he saw the werewolf, it triggered a quest. {Ding!} {User has encountered a very strong omega werewolf}N?v(el)B\\jnn {New Quest: Defeat the werewolf; Rewards: ???} Chapter 118 Find the werewolf slayer! Jake had equipped all his equipment from his inventory in order to fight against all the werewolves and probably help some of the soldiers that were struggling against the werewolves. It was going well so far and Jake was helping eliminate any werewolf he sees therefore earning him the nickname of The Werewolf yer among the soldiers. General Julian along with Sergeant Leo and Lee were ravaging in the battlefield killing werewolf after werewolf but everyone''s focus was on The Werewolf yer. As he went from werewolf to werewolf killing some of them in one fell swoop while using skills and techniques that they haven''t seen before. That was when he met with an omega werewolf. So far, the werewolves he met hadn''t triggered a quest from his system meaning that they were too weak to even give Jake a quest. But that all ended when he met an omega werewolf standing in front of him with its yellow glowing eyes staring at him and saliva drooping from its mouth. That was when a quest was triggered by Jake''s system. {Ding!} {User has encountered a very strong omega werewolf} {New Quest: Defeat the werewolf; Rewards: ???} "Oh, a strong one!" Jake eximed. The werewolf dashed towards Jake and threw a fist with its ws clenched towards Jake but Jake managed to avoid it by the skin of his teeth. Jake ducked avoiding the hit then he quickly stabbed the werewolf in its stomach but it didn''t go in deep. Jake quickly jumped back avoiding a w strike that was heading for his neck. Immediately he jumped back, his feet touched the ground, Jake pushed off again strongly towards the werewolf. Then Jake activated {Stun strike} stunning the werewolf and making it unable to move for 2 seconds which was enough time for Jake to cause some serious damage on the werewolf''s body. With a roundhouse kick, Jake sent the Omega flying while the effect of {Stun strike} had worn off. Everybody had their mouths widely agape for what they were seeing. "How can he send an omega werewolf flying like that?" A soldier asked someone beside him. "Even the General struggled a lot against one of the omega werewolves." Someone else said. "Is he even human? The skills and techniques he''s using, are not something I have seen before." Another person said. By now, all the werewolves that had attacked the academy had been defeated all except one and that was the one The Werewolf yer was battling. So everybody tiredly stood watching the fight including General Julian, Sergeant Leo and Lee. "Do we know who that is?" Julian asked. "I don''t know who he is and neither do I recognize the skills and techniques he''s using. All except one and that is The military''s triple threat technique." Leo replied. "Well whoever he is, I''m d he''s on our side for now." Lee said. And now everyone were focused on the fight that was going on. After sending the werewolf flying, Jake gave chase by moving most of his Qi towards his legs giving him a speed boost. Then he sprung forward with his sword above his head. The werewolf finally stopped skidding then it looked up and its face was met with a sword strike from Jake that went in a metre deep causing blood to spurt out of the injury. The werewolf quickly sent a powerful punch towards Jake''s way that sent Jake skidding. Jake finally came to a halt and then he fell to a knee.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Coughing out specks of blood, Jake looked up to see a furry leg heading towards his face therefore flinging his head backwards and sending him tumbling backwards. "F*ck me! I forgot that these types of werewolves are fast." Jake said as he crashed into a wall. The wall managed to stop his flying. Slowly, Jake stood up and looked by the side; he saw that the soldiers were about toe help him. But Jake lifted his hand telling them to stop and then he shook his head. "He''s all mine." Jake said as his eyesid on the werewolf that was already heading his way with tremendous speed. Smiling, Jake activated {Step shift} a skill that made him close the gap of two metres between him and the werewolf in less than a second. Then he activated {Lockdown} a skill that immobilized the werewolf for 5 seconds. Enough for Jake to activate {Frenzy strike}. Activating these skills, Jake went on a frenzy. With a sword strike to the chest with his Qi infused advanced sword, Jake sent the werewolf flying. Then Jake directed some Qi to his legs and then channeled all the speed he had to push forward. The speed propelled Jake forward so fast that to everyone else, it looked like Jake teleported. In a twinkle of an eye, Jake was already in front of the werewolf. Then he activated {Strength surge} a skill that allowed his strength to be boosted by 10 percent. So now, Jake''s strength went from 58 to 68. Coupled with his Qi, Jake was now tremendously powerful enough that he swung his sword towards the werewolf''s neck therefore slicing its head off cleanly. Immediately the werewolf fell, Jake heard a ding in his head. Opening his system up, Jake saw a congrattory message awaiting him. {Ding! Questpleted} {Rewards: one new skill; +2 to strength attribute; one chance to level up only one skill among the user''s skill tab to the next level.} Jake smiled at the rewards he got but before he could check them out, he was interrupted by the soldiers who had practically surrounded him. "Woah! That was amazing!" A soldier said. "Who are you? Please can you allow us see your face?" Another soldier asked. Jake was now practically stunned. The soldiers were behaving as if they had seen a superstar or something. That was when Jake saw the Head General Julian and the sergeants walking towards him. ''Oh no,'' Jake thought. ''With these three walking over, I might not be allowed to go. So how am I supposed to help my friends?'' Quickly acting fast, Jake channeled all his Qi into his fists coupled with his strength Surge, Jake was about to release a deadly punch. Jake punched the ground so hard that dust along with the ground was thrown up so hard that it was impossible for Jake to be seen. Immediately he had punched the ground, Jake had already moved the remaining of his Qi to direct it to his feet. Allowing Jake to run away so fast that by the time the dust would have settled, no one would see where he went. By the time Jake had released his powerful punch, the soldiers that surrounded him had used their hands to close the eyes so dust won''t get in. That was when the Head General along with the sergeants finally got to the scene but The werewolf yer had already escaped. "Why do you think he did that?" Leo asked as the dust had finally settled showing that The werewolf yer was no longer there. "Clearly, he doesn''t want his identity to be revealed." Lee said. "So he did that to avoid questioning." "Look!" General Julian called while his finger was pointing to the ground. The sergeants went close to where Julian was pointing and they could see it was where The Werewolf yer had punched. Seeing this, the sergeants heart skipped a bit. "How could someone be so powerful enough to cause that type of punch?" Leo asked as they were all seeing a deep hole in the ground where the werewolf yer had punched. The hole went 10 metres deep as if a meteorite had struck the ground. "Whoever he is, I just hope he is on our side in this war against the werewolves." Leo said. "He is clearly on humanity side after today''s fight." Lee replied. "Whatever or whoever he is, we need to find him and bring him over to the military side." Julian said. "He would surely be a big boost to the military''s power." "Find The Werewolf yer at all cost!" Julian shouted. Chapter 119 You are a dead man After escaping from the centre of the military, Jake ran through the gates of the academy and found himself in one of the stalls that was still open but the owner had run away due to themotion. Quickly entering inside, Jake sat down on the bare floor panting hard. "Phew! That was a close one." Jake said as he removed his mask and ced it down beside him and checked on his injuries.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "How did I do zee?" "You did good." Zee replied. "In fact, exceptionally good. As much as I don''t like praising you so you won''t get big headed and do something rashly, I gotta say you did well." "I can''t believe you were the same weakling that could hardly defeat a runt. You have grown so strong that you managed to defeat an omega werewolf." "Hey, it feels like you''re using the opportunity to insult me." Jake said. "I wasn''t insulting you, I was instead praising you." Jake imagined that if Zee had a face, he would have been smirking now. "Alright, it''s time to check those new skills I was given so I can go help the others." Jake said as he opened up his system. Opening up his system, Jake saw that he had really been given the +2 to his strength. *********************** "Well too bad I was unable to level up. Anyway, I hope the new skill is worth it." Jake sighed as he opened up his skill tab. < Inventory: user can now store items, weapons and armour In his system and when it''s needed, it will pop out.> ******************** "Well, that skill is pretty much worth it." Jake said as he went on to decide upon hisst reward given to him. ''Now, that brings us to what to do.'' Jake thought. "What skill should I level up." Jake said as he brought up his system skill tab again. "Okay let''s see," Jake traced his hand on the transparent tab. "I would have loved to level Strength surge up but it''s not possible, I''m unable to do that." "I would have loved to also level this new skill I got called Adrenaline rush but I don''t know how useful it is so I don''t know if it''s worth it." Jake kept going from skill to skill looking for the one perfect for levelling up until his fingers hovered over a skill and then Jake shrugged and proceeded to click on it. {Levelling Step Shift up} The system called out. "Step shift has been pretty useful to me in allowing me to avoid dangerous hits and also closing distance in a second for a surprise attack of sorts. So I think it''s pretty worth it." Jake said. {Levelling upplete! Step shift is now level 3} Jake then went onto the skill tab and clicked on Step shift. "Now this is perfect." Jake said as he stood up, put his mask back on his face and de-equipped his sword. Then he walked out of the stall. "Guys, I hope you are all okay. Hold on for a few minutes, I will be there soon." Jake quickly dashed off towards the arena with all his speed. Jake ran for 10 minutes straight without resting with only one single thought on his mind. ''I hope my friends are okay.'' And then finally, Jake reached the arena. He saw the arena gates were sted. Dreading the worst, Jake walked into the arena quickly. Then he looked around at the horror. Jake saw multiple and countless dead bodies. He saw humans torn to shreds, werewolves bodies littered the arena from the spectating stands to the arena floor. Jake saw that the arena spectating stands were broken with chairs scattered everywhere. He saw craters in the ground and also broken walls. Then the smell of blood hit his nose hard. Luckily for him, he had his mask on that somewhat helped ease the pungent smell. "What the heck happened here? And where are the rest?" Jake asked himself as he carefully walked around that was when he heard someone shouting but the voice was somewhat familiar and sounded far away. Finally he stood behind everyone that was initially watching the fight. Jake saw some of the students dead while some were on the floor either partially conscious or totally unconscious. That was when he heard the same shout again. ''Wait, that''s Sophia''s voice.'' Jake thought to himself as he wanted to call out to her but that was when he heard the content of her words. "Please, someone save her! I can''t and don''t want to lose her. Please save her!" Sophia shouted. ''Save her? Save who?'' Jake thought as he looked up and squinted his eyes. That was when his eyesnded on the werewolf holding onto Kate''s neck while squeezing it tightly. Jake''s instincts kicked in and his heart raced very fast as he saw Kate being held up like that. Without thinking twice, Jake dashed towards the werewolf with all the speed he could muster while also channelling some Qi to his feet and hands. Then he got to the werewolf''s position. He quickly squeezed the hand tightly and gave the werewolf an uppercut sending it flying with anger evident on his face. The element of surprise had worked as the werewolf was so focused on Kate in its hand that it failed to sense anyoneing towards it. The werewolf finally came back from wherever it was sent by Jake and even those on the sidelines had alsoe closer. That was when Jake was told that Vynn died. Immediately he heard it, images of his parents being murdered by werewolves appeared in his head while his fists were tightly clenched and he was grinding his teeth back and forth. ''I couldn''t help my parents back then because I was too weak. The family I had formed in the academy, this filthy beast took one of my family members again.'' Jake thought. ''Why? Why can''t I just live peacefully? I failed Vynn just as I failed my parents. I couldn''t even get here in time to protect him.'' That was when Jake lifted his bloodshot eyes to look straight at the werewolf. ''Vynn, I promise, no matter what, I will avenge you.'' Jake promised as his hands that were clenched were now open. "Arghhh! I''m gonna kill you!" Jake shouted as he quickly activated his inventory and equipped his sword from his system and without thinking twice, Jake dashed towards the werewolf. With a blink of an eye, Jake was already in front of the werewolf. He quickly swung his sword out towards the werewolf''s neck but the werewolf had leaned backwards avoiding it. Then the werewolf unleashed a lightning fast kick towards Jake but Jake had already acted fast enough by backflipping twice therefore getting away from the werewolf. Immediately his leg touched the ground, Jake pushed off strongly towards the werewolf with all the strength and Qi left in him. With a strike to the shoulder, Jake''s swordnded going an inch deep and drawing out blood. Then Jake quickly moved back and threw a roundhouse kick thatnded squarely on the werewolf''s head therefore lifting it from the ground and making it go tumbling and bouncing on the ground. Everyone on the sidelines didn''t know how to react. The werewolf they had all struggled with, a masked stranger was currently toying with it as if it was nothing. Sophia quickly ran towards Kate and lent her a hand to get up. "Are you okay?" Sophia asked. "I''m fine." Kate replied as she and Sophia were now making their way towards where the others were. "Who the heck is that guy?" Sophia asked. "If I''m not wrong, which I''m sure I aren''t, then that is Jake." Kate replied not taking her eyes off the fight. "Jake?" Peter almost shouted. "I know he was strong, in fact stronger than me. But how on earth is he toying around with a Beta werewolf like it''s just a basic tier beast?" Kate shrugged. "I don''t know. And honestly, I don''t care as long as he can help kill that werewolf and avenge Vynn." There was no further conversation between them because they were now concentrating on the fight as they could see the werewolf getting up from the ground after the strong roundhouse kick that was unleashed on its head. And strangely enough, it was fine. No single speck of blood on its head or anything then it looked at Jake angrily with its ws springing out. "You''re a dead man for what you did. It''s not like I was going to let you all go." The werewolf imed. Will Jake be strong enough to defeat the werewolf, or will they all meet the same fate as Vynn? Chapter 120 You are done for now! When everyone was expecting a miracle, one actually urred with Jake storming the arena and saving Kate from certain death. Then the next few scenes were shocking to say the least to the spectators. The same werewolf that all of them together couldn''t do anything to, Jake¡­ or the person they thought was Jake, managed to push the werewolf back with all sorts of skill and strength. After unleashing a roundhouse kick on the werewolf that sent it tumbling and bouncing, Jake stood not moving while looking at the werewolf as it slowly stood up from the ground while its eyes were glowing bright blue. "You are a dead man for what you just did. It''s not like I was nning to let any of you leave." The werewolf imed as its ws sprang out longer than ever making it seem as if it was holding onto a w weapon. Jake didn''t care as he kept looking at the werewolf intently. Then the next second, the werewolf dashed towards Jake very fast making it seem as if it teleported from where it was. And then it swung its ws so fast towards Jake''s head but he managed to avoid it narrowly by the skin of his teeth. Jake quickly moved back to regain his footing but the werewolf quickly gave chase again towards Jake. "Shit! This werewolf is certainly faster than those Omega werewolves." Jake thought as he narrowly evaded a powerful kick that was heading for his stomach. The werewolf quickly stomped its foot on the ground causing the ground to shake and Jake was somewhat off bnce. That was when the werewolf wasted no time ining at him. ''Okay, let''s see how you work.'' Jake thought as he quickly used his mind to activate the new and levelled up {Step shift} When the werewolf was close to hitting Jake on his head, Jake was suddenly three metres away from it. This momentarily confused the werewolf at what was going on.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Taking advantage of the momentarily confusion, Jake activated {Step shift} again therefore bringing him in front of the werewolf quickly. Then he swung his sword from below so fast that itnded on the werewolf''s chin, therefore causing its head to fling backwards. Jake quickly swept the werewolf off its feet as itnded on its back. Jake then channelled all the Qi to his feet as he jumped up high. Jake was now heading back down with tremendous speed and force that it looked like a rocket from space was heading to the earth. The werewolf seeing this, quickly rolled over just in time as Jake just crashed into where it was. Immediately Jake crashed, dust was pushed up everywhere. Then the dust settled and Jake was seen standing in a crater that was formed by the force of his jump. Jake then quickly looked around by turning his head around looking for the werewolf. "Look out!" Kate shouted. But it was toote because Jake''s face was met with a powerful kick from the werewolf sending him flying. {-5HP} {Total HP:45/50} ''Shit!'' Jake thought as he finally stopped flying and tried to stand up while wiping his blood that was dripping down his mouth. ''That kick was so strong that it removed 5HP from my health. Then I need to be careful, I can''t take much hit from that werewolf.'' Jake''s eyes were now scanning the battlefield looking for the werewolf that was when he spotted it in front of him. The werewolf then quickly grabbed Jake''s neck. "Too slow." The werewolf said as it jumped up while holding onto Jake''s neck. Then the werewolf came falling back down still holding onto Jake. They then crashed into the ground with equal force like when Jake also crashed. {-15HP} Jakeid on the ground while coughing out blood. Loads and loads of blood were pouring out of Jake''s mouth as he slowly stood up while propping his sword up in an attempt to stand up properly. "Had enough?" The werewolf asked as it stood two metres away from Jake. Jake finally stood up weakly and he smiled. "I''m just getting started." Jake activated Step shift making him appear one metre behind the werewolf. Jake quickly took his sword. ''I have only two chances with this for the day.'' Jake thought as he twisted his de and called out. "Activate lighting bolts!" Jake shouted at his system as his sword was now crackling. ''This sword, the active skill allows me to shoot out lightning bolts. I only have three tries with this before it goes into cool down for 4 hours. I had already used one of the chances when fighting against Harry.'' ''And now with this one, I only have one more chance.'' Jake thought as sparks were now showing on his sword. Jake then thrust his de out furiously as three lightning bolts shot out towards the werewolf''s back. Feeling all the hairs on its body stand up, the werewolf turned around to see three lightning bolts head its way. The werewolf quickly acting fast, crossed its hands in a X shape. ''My hide should be strong enough to protect me from that right?'' The werewolf thought. But it was wrong. As soon as the lightning bolts touched its hide, it electrocuted it while sending joules and joules of heat and energy into its body. The werewolf was technically paralyzed by this and its body shook. Facing the lightning bolts, it failed to realize that Jake had already appeared behind him. "This is for Vynn!" Jake shouted as he coated his sword with all his Qi. Leaving him with next to no protection on his body. The sword crashed into the werewolf''s body and sliced its back open. Finally, the lightning had dissipated and that was when it registered the immense amount of pain going through its body from the back. "Awooooh!" The werewolf cried as it turned around and delivered a powerful fist strike to Jake that sent him flying and crashing into one of the arena''s walls. The hit was powerful enough to make him go through the wall. {-25 HP} {Warning! User''s health has gone critical} Jake painfully walked through the huge hole he had made in the wall slowly making his way back to the fight with blood pouring out of his mouth. "Jake," Zee called out. "You''re critical, one more powerful hit from the werewolf and you will be dead." "I still need to avenge Vynn. I won''t die before Iplete that task." Jake replied as his wobbly feet had finally brought him back to the battlefield. The werewolf currently looked a little weakend but it was standing strong as if not feeling the pain coursing through its body. "Back for more?" The werewolf asked. "Why not do yourself a favor and die peacefully? Why are you just hurting yourself more?" "So that I can avenge all the innocent lives you took!'' Jake shouted and he soon went into a coughing fits. "Haha!" the werewolfughed. "Big talk for someone that can hardly talk or shout. How do you want to take revenge when you are hardly able to stand?" Everyone were worried for Jake especially Kate as they could see he was barely able to stand. She was about to run towards him and tell him to stop fighting but then, they soon saw a smirk on his face. "Oh really!?! How about we go for round two then?" Jake said which surprised everyone considering his state. "System! Activate Restore" Jake called out. And soon, he was being healed in front of everyone. All the injuries dealt to him was now being healed. But to him, Jake could feel that not only his injuries were healed, his Qi has also been restored to what it once was in thest 24 hours. He was now rejuvenated than ever before. All the weariness or tiredness he felt, has all went away and even his sword''s active skill had been restored to its full potential. "You''re done for now!" Jake shouted as he dashed towards the werewolf for round two. Chapter 121 Did I make a mistake? Everyone all had their mouths agape with everything that was going on between Jake and the werewolf. They kept receiving surprise after surprise from Jake.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om That was when he was hit so hard that he went through one of the arena walls therefore breaking it and some of his bones. But Jake stubbornly came back to the arena with his body riddled from head to toe with injuries. Everyone were now worried for him. Kate was about to head over to Jake and tell him to stop. That he should stop hurting himself and let it go but she stopped dead in her tracks after hearing what Jake said. "How about we go for round two then?" Jake smiled. "System! Activate Restore." Jake called out. And immediately in front of everyone, they could see Jake healing rapidly. All the injuries dealt to him had all healed up and he was now standing strong with a smirk on his face. "You are done for now!" Jake shouted as he dashed towards a stunned Beta werewolf. With a sword strike from above, the werewolf quickly snapped out of its daze and lifted its hand up in an X way to block the strike that was heading for its head. But what the werewolf didn''t ount for was the strength behind the strike. The werewolf''s knees buckled under the force of Jake''s strike. What the werewolf didn''t know was that Jake was using his Qi to the fullest. His Qi had already been restored by the skill he used and Jake was now stronger than ever. Using the Triple Threat'' technique, Jake was now behind the werewolf and then he swung his leg lightning fast behind the werewolf. The werewolf had already sensed the kick heading its way. Then it quickly turned around and used its hand to block the leg. Immediately Jake''s legs connected with the werewolf''s furry hand, a loud bang resounded as if a gun had been fired. And the werewolf was now skidding from its position from the strength of Jake''s kick. ''How''s this possible? How did he get so strong all of a sudden and all his injuries are all healed up?'' The werewolf thought while grunting from the throbbing pain it was feeling in its arms. ''Me, a Beta werewolf, he is pushing me back. How on Earth is he doing this? I''m the second inmand to the Alpha, the second strongest among the whole werewolf pack and he is toying with me.'' The werewolf was now furious as its eyes were now glowing bright blue and then it swung Jake''s legs down from its hand. And it dashed towards Jake with full speed. And punched Jake so hard with all its strength but contrary to what it expected, Jake only skidded a few inches. {-2HP} Seeing the system message, Jake smiled and wiped the specks of blood from his mouth and turned to look at a surprised werewolf. "Are you shocked? Did you expect me to go flying?" Jake asked as he gripped the werewolf''s hand tightly. Then Jake swung his leg from below thatnded on the werewolf''s snout and made its head fling backwards. Jake didn''t stop there as he kneed the werewolf in its stomach hard with all his strength. The werewolf gritted its teeth and bared through the pain as it swung its head towards Jake''s head and itnded sessfully causing Jake to stagger back in pain. The werewolf didn''t waste time in dashing towards Jake and delivering a fist strike to his head that caused Jake to go flying. {-5HP} Jake went flying for about 4 metres before he came to a halt and fell towards the ground with a thud as he coughed out blood. "Darn it! That hit was quite strong." Jake said as he looked up at the werewolf expecting it to have appeared before him with a follow up strike but it didn''t. Instead, the werewolf was looking around by twisting its head as if looking for something. ''Huh?'' Jake thought. ''What is it looking for?'' Jake asked as he slowly got up from the ground and then he could see the werewolf heading in the opposite direction to Jake. And then it stopped as it bent down to pick something which surprised and confused everyone because they didn''t understand its actions until they saw the werewolf standing up with something in its hands. Seeing what was in the werewolf''s hand, totally horrified everyone as their heart were now beating fast but they couldn''t do anything because it was toote as the werewolf took a big bite from the human''s body he was holding onto. Jake couldn''t move now as he was deeply rooted with fear after seeing this. "No no no." Jake said as he kept on turning his head left and right after realizing what just happened. "This is terribly bad." Jake said as he quickly activated one of his skill to try and stop what was happening. {Step shift} Jake was now suddenly closed a distance of three metres with a move of one of his leg but he was still another three metres away from the werewolf but it was toote as the werewolf had just finished devouring the body. Jake activated Step shift again and now he was in front of the werewolf quickly with a thrust of his sword, invisible Qi strikes along with his sword shot out towards the werewolf''s body. But the werewolf avoided each and every one of the strikes and then it grabbed Jake''s sword tightly. Jake couldn''t even move his sword even for a bit from the werewolf''s grip. "Surprised?" The werewolf asked. "This is just the beginning!" The werewolf delivered a strong and powerful roundhouse kick towards Jake causing his head to m on the ground with so much force that dust were thrown up. "Jake!" Kate shouted as images of Vynn''s death appeared in her mind. The dust finally settled and Jake was now slowly standing up with blood gushing out of his head. And then he looked up at the werewolf and Jake''s eyes widened in shock and fear. "Did I make a mistake?" Jake asked himself as in front of his eyes, the werewolf was now healing up. All the injuries delivered to the werewolf by Jake was now healing rapidly more than when Jake healed up. Chapter 122 Use everything I got! Throughout the fight with the Beta werewolf, it looked like Jake was getting the upper hand but everything changed when the werewolf decided to eat a human body, thus boosting its strength a little bit. And also allowing the werewolf heal from the injuries dealt to it by Jake especially the sword strike which Jake had dealt to it on its back. Now, the werewolf was standing strong with all its injuries all healed up and Jake standing two metres away from the werewolf with his sword in front of him and blood trickling down from Jake''s head. "I don''t know why you humans are always this stubborn," the werewolf said. "Why can''t you just admit that you have lost the fight. Must you fight?" "I don''t even know why you are fighting so hard." The werewolf said looking straight at Jake. "Is it for the academy, or is it for the world? If it''s for the academy, then you are making a wrong choice here. Let me ask you this, where are your academy heads? The strongest ones in this academy?" "This fight between us all has been going on for so long but they haven''t shown up. Let me tell you the truth, they have all abandoned you all. They don''t care about your lives, they never did. You guys are just tools to use to fight against us." Everyone were listening to all what the werewolf was saying. ''Now that I think about it, why haven''t the head generals showed up here yet?'' Jake thought. ''Have they abandoned us? Is what the werewolf saying true?'' Jake now gripped his sword tightly in anger and his eyes looked as if they were burning. ''It''s not like I was relying on their help. That''s the reason I grow strong, to help myself and those around me while I also get revenge against the werewolves.'' Jake then looked up at the werewolf. "F*ck the academy! I don''t give a f*ck whether they abandoned us or not." Jake shouted with conviction in his voice. "To answer your question, I''m not fighting for the academy neither am I fighting for the world but I''m fighting for myself, I still have to take revenge from you for killing Vynn. And I don''t care if I die in the process but I must make sure I take you to hell with me." "Very well then." The werewolf said as it stood upright and looked at Jake with seriousness written all over its face. "Let me grant you your wish of dying and rotting in hell." The werewolf dashed towards Jake with immense speed that it seemed like it teleported from one ce to another. But Jake was not phased as he held his sword tightly waiting for the werewolf to get close. The werewolf was now 2 feet away from Jake. ''I need to slow it down.'' Jake thought as he quickly opened his system and tried to activate {Stun strike} {Warning: Stun Strike failed, enemy''s intelligence is too high.} "What the?!" That was what Jake could say and he was suddenly flying through the air with tremendous speed that he crashed into the ground hard in less than a second. {-6HP} {HP: 37/50} "Shit!" Jake cursed and looked up to see the werewolf heading his way. "If Stun strike won''t work, then Lockdown which is at a lower level won''t work." "Then all I have to do, is to beat it the old fashioned way by using everything I got!" The werewolf was now in front of Jake. But Jake was already through the motions of The Triple Threat technique. He had already done the first two steps by stepping back so he could create more distance then Jake did a pivot turn so he could move to the side immediately the werewolf was almost upon him. Now Jake quickly did thest step by swiftly dashing forward with his sword that was now infused with Qi. The sword managed to cut the werewolf deep on its shoulder causing blood to spurt out. The werewolf quickly turned around and tried to send a powerful kick towards Jake''s way but Jake had quickly used Step shift to move away from the werewolf.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The werewolf seeing Jake standing away from it, just stomped on the ground hard causing rocks to go flying up then it punched two of the rocks that flew up sending it towards Jake''s way. Jake seeing the rocks didn''t fret. As he sheathed his de and readied his hands with his gauntlets on it and then Jake activated {Strength surge} Therefore increasing his strength by 10 percent for 6 minutes. That means Jake''s strength shot up from 66 to 76. And then Jake punched the rocks that were heading his way hard to the extent they broke into tiny little pieces and fell down in front of him. Jack''s mouth was now agape and he was staring right at Jake with confusion. "Has Jake always being this strong?" Jack asked. "Nope," Peter responded. "I''m sure he didn''t have this amount of strength when he and the werewolf started fighting." "So you are saying that he is growing in this fight."Geo who stood beside them asked. "I think so." Jack said. "Or, it could be that he is using Qi therefore strengthening himself more." Meanwhile, back at the fight, immediately Jake had punched the rocks, he didn''t expect for the werewolf to have followed up with a w strike that was heading for his head. "I just have to beat speed with more speed." Jake said as he quickly activated his new skill. {Adrenaline rush} a skill that temporarily increased a user''s speed and agility by 2 percent for 2 minutes. Jake''s speed had now gone from 64 to 66 coupled with his boots. Jake finally avoided the strike although narrowly therefore leaving a cut on his face. Jake was now a metre away from the werewolf while the werewolf was just looking at Jake with a grin on its face. "You know, I would have loved to turn you into a werewolf to see how strong you can get." The werewolf said with a smile and then the smile wiped out of its face and its face turned dead serious. "But you have annoyed me long enough that I just want you dead. So, it''s time to kick it up a notch." The werewolf said as it sped towards Jake while leaving a trail of smoke and dust behind it. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!