20 TARGET: The bully

Lin Zhen was in a class when a message from the principal came in. It didn't have any specifics, but she had to see the principal after class.

Knocking on the door to the principal office she was pondering on why would principal Xiao call her over.

"Come in."

Opening the door, a thick smell of books entered her nose, behind a desk was the principle Xiao Zhi. He looked like a scholar, but she knew that his strength was immense. Standing in front of Principle Xiao Lin Zhen's heart started to beat faster.

"Principal Xiao, can I ask why was I called here?"

"Of course. There will be a new student joining the Hunters Guild Program, I want you to protect him from tomorrow until he graduates. All of your class will be canceled from tomorrow onwards. Your only task is to make sure nothing happens to him."

Lin Zhen was dumbfounded, she was one of the best teachers in this academy, and now all of her class are going to be canceled?!

"But Principal Xiao..."

"Teacher Lin this is not something you can negotiate about. This task is tremendously important, and I need someone that can make sure there will be no mishaps. And knowing your previous records, you are the best fit for this task. Wait for me tomorrow morning in front of my office. You can go now."

Standing in outside the principal's office Lin Zhen was frozen in place. In a few sentences her whole career crushed down and she was reduced from a distinguished teacher to a lowly bodyguard. This was unacceptable!

The next day in front of the principal's office Lin Zhen was waiting. Noon was getting closer, and soon it will be four hours since she is here.

The door suddenly opened, and Principal Xiao showed up.

"Come with me. And be nice."

Leaving the building, they stood in front of it, and soon a carriage entered their view. Looking closely, Lin Zhen recognized it belongs to the Hunters Guild. It was normal for them to escort Hunter Guild Training Program students.

She was surprised seeing Guild Leader Xu but witnessing that brat she is supposed to protect having no cultivation whatsoever infuriated her. Anyone can kill this guy.

"...she will show you around. If you have any inquiries, go directly to her, and she will take care of it."

Take care of it? Now she is also a servant? This is getting worse with every second.

"Let's go."

Leaving, she heard Marcus's footsteps behind her.

"Cantine is over there, you are a part of the Hunters Guild Training Program, so everything is free. Your timetable is in your room, I will show you where it is at the end. Over there you can sign for additional classes. There are additional, so you don't need to attend them. In front are the training grounds, any fights can only take place over there under the supervision of a teacher. There will usually be one there to look over sparrings."

"Teacher Lin can I go and check it out?"

"You? Go if you want. After I finish showing you everything."

So arrogant, he should be glad I'm willing to show him anything. While explaining every aspect of the Academy, Lin Zhen and Marcus soon arrived in front of the dormitory.

"Here is the key to your room, books, schedule, and uniform are inside."

With a key in his hand, Marcus looked at Lin Zhen as she left. She did explain him everything, but he could tell she didn't like him. He pondered as to why for some time but found no answer. Pushing it to the back of his mind Marcus entered the dormitory and found his room. It was on the top floor and was very spacious. On the bed was the academy's uniform, it was white with silver finish. Putting it on he felt that it was of good quality.

His schedule was small, and it mostly consisted of practical classes. Tracking, fighting, recognizing spiritual beasts were only some of his classes, the rest, like cultivation comprehension, ware not worth mentioning since Marcus won't learn anything there. Even tracking that he wants to attend to isn't the best as he can continue to learn it with the help of Es. Putting everything into his interstitial ring, he left the dormitory and headed for the training grounds.

It was full of people practicing different skills while some eye-catching ones had many people watching them, others were practicing by themselves. If he wants to train his fighting technique, it would be best if he can find someone to spar with. The only problem was that he didn't know anyone here. He saw that there was already someone fighting on the stage that was in the middle of the training grounds.

Standing at the entrance, Marcus used Energy wave sonar as he made his way forward. He found many people that had strength equal to him some even stronger. But he is looking for someone that has a power of stage 5 Dantian nourishing.

Soon he found someone perfect. He was bullying someone at the moment, walking in their direction Marcus heard others whispering. It turns out that the bully is in the genius class. And from what he knows to get there one needs to improve at a fast rate without any external support. This was how the Academy divided their students, not by strength but by the speed of their improvement.

There is only one exception to this rule. The Hunters Guild training program. There the hunters guild put the best of the best they could find, and only they can rival the genius class.

While passing by everyone, Marcus didn't attract much attention. But something that no one expected happened. Marcus bumped into the bully, and with a smile kept walking.

This was the first time Marcus has done something like this, he still knows very little, and the book talking about people's behavior and responses was hard to understand. But he soon found that he succeeded. As a hand grabbed his shoulder, he looked back...

"Where do you think you are going?"

and was greeted with an angry face of the bully.