"N-No! H-How did you record?! Why didn't I notice? When did you send it?" Knox yelled hysterically.
He was sweating buckets and wetting the floor.
This position was too important for him. He glanced at the luxuries he 'earned' one at a time.
Once an investigation was launched, he would lose everything.
The thought of blocking Varian and kidnapping him flashed in his mind, but only for a moment before he discarded.
He could still keep his life after this incident, but if he really crossed the line, then his life was hard to guarantee.
But even the realization of what would happen was despairing enough.
In the best case, he'd lose his job.
In the worst case, they'd dig deep into every bribe he took and he'd be forced to sell everything.
Like a fish out of water, he thrashed on the floor and looked at the ceiling with hollow eyes.
Regardless, his career was over now.
His supervisor post was gone for sure.
Even his post in the army was in jeopardy. Forget any possibility of promotion. He'd be transferred to a remote and dangerous area.
High Awakeners like him would usually be forgiven for such crimes, but this time, it involved the personal disciple of High General.
If even this was forgiven, then it would be a stain on Evander's reputation. It wasn't a matter of a cadet anymore, but that of a general.
'There's no one who could save—'
"Young Master Xander, please help me out. I'm Level 7. I can be your personal servant. Please help me keep my position." Knox kneeled to Narcis and begged.
Varian watched the turn of events and applauded. "Wonderful. Now, Mr. Narcis Xander, THE SECOND, what are you going to do?"
Narcis trembled with anger as his face flushed with humiliation. The words that hurt the most were, of course, 'The Second'.
He didn't like anyone telling him that. Not even if it was true.
He glared daggers at Varian's smiling face and growled. "You're just a coward hiding behind your master. Without him, you're nothing."
Varian threw his head back and laughed. "Coming that from you is the biggest joke. Without your family, what are you? An arrogant trash."
"Young Master, pleas—"
Bam!
Narcis kicked out Knox, and his aura exploded.
Varian could distinctly feel the aura shaking in the air. It was an early Level 4 aura.
Narcis took a pill and his hand began to heal at visible speed. He showed his broken hand to Varian. "Unlike a level 2 trash that sneak attacks me, I'm a Level 4."
Without giving Varian a chance to reply, Narcis partially transformed. His ears turned into white wolf ears, his hands turned into claws and he grew into a three meter Demi wolf.
"This is my power." Narcis's voice turned morbid, and he scowled. "This is beyond your reach. From the moment you were born, you were destined to be below me. You can only look upto me. Even if you somehow got a backing, you'll remain a trash."
'Master, this guy is putting mental patients to shame.'
'Indeed, he is the arrogant young master.'
'Yes, yes. The forever delusional, a product of bad parenting and ungrounded superiority complex.'
'You're learning pretty fast, Boo.'
'Hehe. That is of course. I'm the best ghost AI.'
Varian looked at Narcis with interest and smiled. "How about a duel? You want to prove, no, you already believe it. You want to demonstrate you're superior, right? How about a duel? "
Narcis transformed back to human form and chuckled. "Since you are asking for it, I'll show you the difference between us. Like the old earth saying, It's like the difference between Heaven and Earth."
Knox hurriedly stood up and said. "Yes, young master. Show him his place. Even with backing, he can't compare to you."
Varian raised an eyebrow at Knox.
Was this guy still keeping his hopes alive?
That was better. The despair that comes after hope is the best.
"Let's go." Narcis said and the three of them reached the Dueling fields.
They reached the statues of founding fathers. Under the tall statues were the Duel rings.
Each duel ring had a barrier blocking its impact from spreading and referees in different uniforms were supervising the duels.
They quickly set up a duel with Narcis, paying for his entry as well.
The only unfortunate thing was that it wasn't a death match.
Narcis didn't want to completely piss off Evander, so he didn't dare to kill Varian.
Varian too didn't want to escalate things with Xanders, yet. Once he got strong enough though...
Soon, Varian got onto the stage with confidence.
Since it was a strength match, the rules were simple.
The one to be knocked out or unable to fight loses.
They were only allowed to take a single weapon, if any.
The Referees would act in time to prevent death.
A hemispherical barrier enveloped the ring.
"Yes! I'll let you experience the feeling of being crushed." A red light flashed from Narcis and he transformed into his white Demi-wolf form.
After reaching Level 4, Morphers could partially transform into the entity.
Varian looked at Narcis and recalled the first time they met.
For one sentence that wasn't ill intended, Narcis wanted to kill him and Kyle. If not for their luck and perseverance, they'd have died.
Heck, it was still only a few days after Varian got the system. He only went to Dungeon once.
So as he battled through the difficulties in the entrance exam, the possibility of dying always lingered in his mind.
Why did such a normal test turn so precarious?
Why did Kyle almost die?
Why did he almost die to Abyss Duke?
Why was he ostracized from the very first day in the campus?
Varian could vividly recall the day when tutors selected their pupils. Only he was abandoned.
Like he was a defective product. An unworthy human.
Unworthy… Varian hated that word.
Now, after everything he went through, he stood in front of the perpetrator that caused most of the misery in his recent life.
He still had the same arrogant look as the first time they met in the Demon Abyss.
"Do you think I should just swallow my pride when a commoner insults me? His death will serve as an example." Were his first words as he disdained to spare them.
'Pride, huh. You'll have no such thing after this match.' Varian clenched his fist.
The bell rang.
The stage caved in and Narcis shot at Varian with breakneck speed.