16 Climbing the Ranking [1]

After my experience with the intelligence skill, my plans changed.

I was waiting for Maya to use her skill and depend on her to get to S class.

But then I realized I was limiting my own training for that.

My strength should have been my priority, but it wasn't.

I can't depend on someone else, even if they are trustworthy, I had to trust myself more.

My own strength was what would define whether I would survive or not, I was myopic.

"Tsk... How could I make such a stupid mistake."

The problem wasn't my distrust of Maya, it was my blind trust that was causing me problems.

I was planning to hide my strength as long as I could, but now I finally understood that I didn't have to.

The more I excelled, the more problems I would face, but the benefits would outweigh the risks.

Stretching my arms up, I felt a familiar sense of relief.

"Damn, staying in bed is really a nuisance" I took in a large amount of air and released it slowly. "Nowhere like home."

Maybe I should have said that to my apartment? But considering I only spent 1 day there, it's not so recommended.

I took a few steps to stand in front of the bed, opening my arms, threw myself back.

BEAT!

the sound of my body coming into contact with the mattress was quite satisfying.

Grabbing my cell phone, I went to the Triângulo's official website. Because yes, the Triangle had a website.

I was asking for a photo of the school ID card.

Doing the processes to log into my account, I managed to get through security. Going up to the rank, I started to observe how it was.

Lucas continued with his position, motionless.

Raven, Dhara and Raisel moved up a few categories, they even managed to break into the top 10.

Which was quite an impressive feat.

"Who will I face first?"

One of the rules that Triangle has implemented with the school ranking is the mechanic called 'first challenge'.

As your first official fight, you can challenge anyone in the rankings.

Even student number 1, the current strong Maia student from class S and the Triangle.

That's why I didn't let Maya fight anyone.

"Um...going directly into the top 10 will be a problem, the top 20 too."

However, one of the unspoken rules is the so-called revolt of the lower rankings.

Which forbade lower rank students to challenge above rank 20 as their first challenge.

The student who emoluments this rule was very accurate, he even cited several examples so that the rule made some sense.

"The top 30 looks good...but who?"

While still fiddling with my cell phone, I got up from the bed and grabbed my spiritual fists.

Opening my bedroom door, I walked out scrolling the large list on the small screen with my fingers.

As I walked along and ran my eyes over the names, I finally found someone interesting.

"Dustin Trew, Ranking 30th six battles, six fights."

Entering the canteen, I could hear the different students talking to each other.

The canteen was busier than the schoolyard. For some reason the students liked the division that existed in the canteen.

Opening Dustin's photo, I tried to find him there.

It was just a kick, but being A2 class, he would probably be in the cafeteria.

Most A-class students were generic enough to find others inferior and want to hang out with people of similar status to their own.

I found a muscular boy with white hair at a table.

I smiled as I started to walk towards him, the closer I got, the more I could hear what he and his friends were talking about.

"Man, you really are in a tough spot huh? Three challenges in one day."

"That's what you deserve for losing to that B-class kid."

"Oh come on Dustin, he's from Lucas' faction, I didn't win because of that. Imagine I break him, and Lucas comes after me looking for revenge?"

Dustin made fun of his friend who was making excuses for losing 34th place in the rankings to Arlo.

"Hey Dustin!" I called out his name as all the students at his table turned and faced the small screen on my uniform. "I challenge you to a ranked fight."

Dustin looked me up and down with a dark expression, he took a potato from his plate and threw it into his mouth.

"I do not want."

I smiled again, already waiting for that answer.

"You can't refuse." I took my card and showed it to him. "I'm using my right of first challenge."

As soon as it darkened me, Dustin clenched his fist and slammed it down on the table quickly getting to his feet.

"You... You scum! Alright, let's fight, I'll kill you!"

Watching his aggressive attitude, I felt a little happiness grow inside me.

I knew this character, and one of the characteristics of this fourth-rate cylao is that he is easily irritated.

"That's what we're going to see."

You shouldn't lose your cool in a fight. Dustin didn't know that, but he was about to learn.

******

"Hey Lucas, want to hear something interesting?"

"Say it quick, I'm in the middle of something."

"That student, Dreyden."

Hearing a name that interested him, Lucas tore his eyes from his spiritual artifact and looked at his classmate with some curiosity.

"What about him?"

Seeing that the number 1 of Class A was finally taking him seriously, he smiled. "When he started the school ranking, he didn't fight anyone, but out of nowhere he used his first fight right and beat Miguel Xolo!"

Lucas started to think about what Dreyden was trying to do, but he didn't remember anyone strong named Miguel Xolo.

This is because Miguel didn't fight Lucas, who only aimed for the top20. Miguel occupied the 32nd place in the school ranking.

Seeing that Arlo had no intention of leaving him alone, Lucas stared at him in confusion.

"What else do you want!?"

"Ahem...nothing, I just thought you'd have a more...spontaneous reaction?"

"It's just a fight, it would be weird if he continued not to be interested in rank."

Seeing that Lucas was ignoring him again, Arlo rolled his eyes and got up from the chair next to his boss.

If it was in an ordinary situation, he couldn't be in the training wing of one of the rank 10, but as his boss was one of them, he didn't have any problem.

"I thought you were curious about your skill." Arlo turned his back on Lucas and stretched his body. "After all, your fights are very popular thanks to your skill."

"Anyway, he's on his third fight in a row, and he's fighting a rank 20."

Lucas was still ignoring Arlo, it wasn't on purpose. Lucas was in a bottleneck of strength, and his master told him to find out for himself how to break that bottleneck.

If Dreyden had a problem with the theory behind magical energy, Lucas had a problem with his mana.

Especially when your 'master' is lazy about teaching you how to use your mana properly.

"I think you should go see the fight." His master's husky voice rang in his head.

"You don't think anything, be quiet." Lucas grumbled grudgingly, tired of his master's orders that he refused to train him.

However, Lucas found the sudden silence of his master strange. Being a king-level demon, Lucas had grown accustomed to his master's curiosity.

After all, he lived a long time in the past, and he was very curious to see how the world and the species developed over the years.

"If you're going to watch it, I'll train you."

"What!? Are you serious!?"

"Yea."

Lucas was suddenly happy with his master's agreement, however, now he was a little apprehensive.

His master, who never changes his mind, was now going back on his decision?

That made him stop on his way out of his exclusive training room.

"Why do you want to see him fight so badly?" His voice cracked a little as several thoughts crossed his mind.

It had only been a few months since he'd found the demon hiding in her necklace and made a contract with him. But even trying his best, Lucas still hasn't gotten out of the 'approval' state.

Being flooded with the feeling of adoration from others, this made him feel even more insecure about his master's decision.

And this was the first time he'd expressed curiosity about someone and not something.

'Maybe... Is that why he glows white? Why is there a chance of him stealing my master from me?'

He didn't know Dreyden's strength, but he felt danger floating around him. The looks Dreyden gave him as if they were watching a show and always seeing something interesting.

'Okay, I'll see for myself what's special about him.'

*******

Dreyden vs Julien.

I entered the arena up the stairs. In the first fight, I was really nervous with the different looks I got.

Especially in my second fight when the crowd that was watching to see me grew exponentially.

I decided to go with the ability to copy hits, I could mask the celestial library if necessary.

"You're pretty arrogant. Just because you beat those scumbags with ease, you think you can face me!?"

The natural ego of an A-class... Or is it the typical conversation of a third-rate villain?

'naah... He wasn't even mentioned in the novel, he's not a minor villain, it must be the ego of a class A talking'.

Julien has a level 6 skill. I've been watching his fights a lot to understand his skill.

His ability consists of creating clones of himself. From what I could observe with the eyes of truth, the clones seem to have less magic energy than the original, and with each clone it decreases.

So maybe your stats also decrease for each clone.

I stared at him in silence for a few seconds before going on guard.

'I'm not sure if action and reaction will work in this fight, but at least I can test it out.'

I thought, grinning from ear to ear and saying, "After all, you're very weak."

I smiled when I saw him grit his teeth. The match judge, noting the tense air, quickly intruded.

He raised his hand and shouted, "Start!"