Varian widened his eyes as he felt all the strength he put into the punch absorbed by a single finger.
He stepped back as he saw the owner of that finger.
A young man at around 20. He was tall but not brawny. He possessed the air of a scholar, but Varian felt the terrible danger from him. Not even Abyss Duke gave him this feeling.
It was as if this young man a few years older than him was an absolute monster.
"Click"
Varian stepped back and got into a defense posture instinctively. His footsteps were the only audible sound for the few hundred meters.
Everything and everyone was dead silent.
Then a huge aura pressure descended. Varian felt like he was crushed under a mountain on all sides. Everyone on the scene, including the seniors, couldn't move.
They all had the same feeling of suffocation and burden.
Varian found Narcis looking at the young man with a mix of emotions, the most of which was envy.
"Taking merit points and intentionally provoking trouble." The young man said slowly, but his voice reverberated in every ear.
He looked at the boy who provoked Narcis in the beginning. The boy's face was white and stricken. Under the pressure, he couldn't move his body.
But his eyes were begging for mercy.
"Kneel." The young man said and the pressure on the new student spiked.
"Plop"
"Crack"
The breaking of the knee joints rang in the field as the boy collapsed onto the ground into a kneeling position.
"Apologize." the young man spat out.
"I... I'm sorry." The boy looked at the young man, but seeing his glare, he understood and turned to Narcis.
He bowed his head and repeated, "I'm sorry."
Narcis clenched his fist and looked at the young man "Charles, I didn't need your help."
Charles shook his head as he glanced at Adir, "I can't let my younger brother be led on."
Narcis glanced at Adir and understood the ploy. He felt even more humiliated by Charles's presence.
He glared at Charles and walked away. His body was shaking with anger as his silhouette vanished into the dorm.
Varian was shocked by the revelation.
Charles Xander. First born of the Xander Family. First on the amethyst list. The first student in strength.
He also understood why Narcis hated being called second.
But he didn't have the luxury to think as Charles turned to him.
He raised an eyebrow and said, "You're not from any major powers, yet you're still messing with the member of a prime family."
Varian gritted his teeth but didn't answer. This guy was blind. When did he provoke Narcis? He always stayed away from trouble.
'I try not to get into trouble but I always end up there.' Varian thought.
The pressure on everyone except Varian was lifted.
The crowd was able to move, but none did. Instead, they informed their friends of the event and in no time, more and more students started to pour in.
"Kneel. Apologize." Charles said.
Instead of waiting for Varian's response, the aura pressure on him skyrocketed and his shoulders slumped.
Varian felt as if he was pushed down by a huge rock and his knees bent.
He gritted his teeth and endured the pain from his bones. His legs shook and before he knew it, his muscles were torn and blood vessels broken.
The red blood flowed down the green garden.
Varian was shaking uncontrollably as he struggled to resist the pressure, but he looked at Charles straight in the eye.
He saw only indifference. To him, it didn't matter who was in the wrong. There was a common disdain to all humans here.
'I see.' Varian desperately channeled the chi in his body to hold himself up as he realized he was wrong.
'My earliest wish was to end the war with Abyssals and bring peace. I wanted to save humanity.'
The pressure increased, and Varian's back was hunched. Now he couldn't gaze up. He couldn't even lift his head.
'Save from who? Not just Abyssals but also these bastards.' He gritted his teeth and realized that the dream he gave up long ago — becoming a Saviour, was still alive in his deepest corner.
He gave up on it, but it didn't give up on him. At this moment, he knew what he must do to be a Saviour, even if he didn't believe he could do it.
'Save humanity from their own darkness.'
"You're asking for it." Charles said and a blue light surrounded his body.
His hand turned into a wolf claw and he walked towards Varian.
The audience now consisted of hundreds of students, at least 50 seniors and even a few… teachers.
No one intervened. No one even questioned.
'Strength… strength…' Varian felt his insides churn under the pressure and spat out blood.
'Even if I want no trouble, I keep getting dragged into them. Maybe it was because of system. Or my own bad luck. Regardless, if I'm weak, I can be suppressed by anyone.'
'What if I even find Sia? I wouldn't be able to save her with my current strength.'
'I'll need strength.' Varian told himself and spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Crack"
"Crack"
His foot bones were crushed, and Varian felt his body lowering.
The pressure on him was just right to push him down, and he kept resisting it.
"So you want to keep resisting?" Charles's icy voice sounded, and the temperature dropped.
He turned to the professors in the crowd and asked, "What's the punishment for repeated aggression and intentionally provoking trouble?"
A middle-aged woman among them replied immediately, "Fine mp in light cases. If there is any heavy crime, expulsion."
"Yes, Expel him."
"Expel!"
Charles turned to the boy who was kneeling since earlier and asked, "So who bribed you to provoke Narcis?"
The boy caught the hint. He pointed his bloody hand at Varian and yelled, "It's him!"
"I knew he was shady."
"Expel this student. He is a disgrace to our Academy."
"Yes, who knew how he got first. Must be cheating. Maybe he even colluded with Abyssals."
One by one, the comments from students and professors turned more vicious.
Varian didn't speak. He just remembered the voices. He'd keep them in his memory.
"Kneel down if you want to be expelled intact." Charles snorted and the pressure on Varian doubled.
Varian was crushed and collapsed.
"Stop."
But before he could kneel, a large hand made of water held him up.
He turned around to see the same senior girl. Sarah.
She descended from the sky and looked at the crowd before turning her gaze to Charles.
Her gaze didn't have the worship everyone had, but instead there was a fire of rivalry.
"We can check if this student really bribed that boy from his merit point records."
Charles's face darkened.
"Narcis and this guy both attacked each other. They're even and will get fined." She said, but her tone turned persuasive.
Everyone, including Sarah, knew Narcis was the clear aggressor. But this was the closest she could enforce "justice".
Punishing only Narcis meant retaliation from Charles and no one here could afford it.
Instead of getting expelled, fine of a few mp was indeed a blessing.
Charles glanced at Varian for a moment, and then he smiled at Sarah.
"If you say so." The pressure on Varian vanished, and he turned around to leave.
"Ch-char-l-es" A broken voice sounded in the field, startling the crowd. They turned around to see the bloodied figure slowly standing up.