The Return of the Indifferent King

Standing before the campus of the most prestigious academy in Bryxton city was Ace, a former student was said to be dead by the heir of the Kadz family, Leo Kadz.

Every third year student directed their gaze towards Ace, partially recognizing him to be the former King of Indifference.

Some even told their juniors and seniors about the boy who looked like the King of Indifference, but none voiced it out.

Some noticed the dangerous aura the boy exuded, and some stayed out of way due to his reputation as the most merciless King of all time.

Having maintained his position using fear, that much was obvious. However, what he didn't expect was the fact that people thought Leo and Lily had supposedly killed Ace to steal his position.

That meant Lily was still the #1 King.

Looking forward to meeting her in battle to test his strength, he headed towards his dorm, which was Dormitory A.

Since the Dormitory War decided the person's dorms for the rest of the year, it wouldn't change even if someone died in that school year.

Inside Dormitory A, he looked at the mesmerizing sight of the enormous room he was given.

Putting away his stuff, he sat down on a chair that creaked every time it was touched. It was probably because of the dust and termites.

Now, Ace had to find Leo.

He wanted to know who the top Kings were so that he could steal their positions.

He quickly headed to the Public Training Room, where he would find the lanky-armed individual who had tried saving him.

He wanted to thank him for that.

Eventually he stopped at the door, afraid to open it.

Despite his raw strength being numerous others of the same age or rank, his communication skills were garbage.

This, in turn, contributed to the distance created between him and his family during his previous life.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to see the lanky-armed individual training… as always.

Only, his breathing was more ragged and his stance was polished.

His martials arts had risen to an extent where they could be considered to have transcended human level.

Well, every person who had awakened mana had transcended the human level.

His blonde hair was still brushed back, as usual.

Ace smiled faintly, noticing the massive improvements in Leo's strength and technique.

He thought of a joke to tell, but couldn't think of anything, so he just said Leo's name.

"Leo…"

Leo heard the voice and turned his head violently towards the direction it came from.

Immediately, his eyes widened, and filled with tears.

He quickly used his hands to wipe them, but his hands couldn't hide the redness from his face.

"Ace…?"

He said, hoping it wasn't a dream.

Nodding slightly, he used [Blitz Step] to approach Leo and flick him on the forehead.

"What was that for?"

He asked as he rubbed his forehead, which had turned red due to the blood rushing over.

"Wanted to prove you weren't dreaming."

"Dumbass."

"You're the one who lost my corpse to those two strangers."

Suddenly, as if remembering Ace should have been dead, his eyes widened once again.

"You…didn't realize I was dead?"

His face turned red, but from embarrassment instead of joy or surprise.

"No."

"You're stupider than I thought. Now, could you tell me about the current top five Kings of the academy?"

"No, you tell me how you survived… death?"

"How about this… You tell me who the Kings are, and then I tell you how I survived… death."

"Alright. So, I'm the #1 King, King of Bravery."

Ace suddenly choked on his saliva as he coughed uncontrollably, his eyes humongous due to surprise.

He had never expect the lanky-armed individual to become the #1 King.

Of course, Leo had become stronger than the original timeline when Ace died, but… he had gotten motivation due to the latter's death?

"Ah, you're so kind, Ace."

Leo said sarcastically as he turned away, pretending to be a tsundere.

"All right, All right. Who's in the top five."

"Lily is second, Melissa is third, Carl is fourth, and a guy named Patronus is fifth."

Ace's eyes narrowed to slits as he heard the name, 'Patronus'.

'Looks like the OTF are getting into action.'

"Now, you tell me how you survived."

"Ah, right. Okay, so those two shady guys were divine beings."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Say something, idiot."

"What do you want me to say? 'Oh nice, Ace. You got saved by divine beings? What were they, Celestials!?'"

"Actually, one of them was a Celestial. But, we'll talk about that later."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head anywhere?"

"Let's go outside."

Bonk!

*

*

*

"Are you sure about this?"

Leo asked, gritting his teeth.

Ace and Leo were currently outside the dorms, on the campus of the academy.

There was a huge crowd gathered around Ace and Leo, cheering for the latter's victory.

Ace had proposed a battle between him and Leo, resulting in rumors spreading throughout the academy.

Leo had never been challenged like this. The only person who would dare challenge him was Lily, but even that was rare.

Leo knew that Ace had the accomplishments and strength to compete, but the others did not.

Even Leo believed Ace to be weaker than him, since the former had been training for twice the amount as before after the latter's death.

Ace could see Lily in the corner, watching the battle with a singular raised eyebrow.

Melissa was busy charming everyone in the crowd, causing them to fall in love with her.

Carl was watching the scene with an indifferent expression.

Between the five Kings that were actually relevant, four of them were here, along with a former King.

However, Patronus wasn't.

Many believed this to be because Patronus had been mysterious ever since he entered the academy.

However, Ace knew the truth about the matter.

Despite knowing the true purpose of the OTF and Anatropi, he obviously couldn't tell anyone since the knowledge had been acquired through his previous life.

He suddenly heard some students murmur about how a mighty being resurrected Ace.

Partially, that was true.

But, Larry and Akash's appearances heavily contradicted that.

"Yes, I'm sure. After coming back to Bryxton city, I need my position back. You've held on to it for way too long."

"Dream on. The position fits me like books fit into shelves."

Cringing, he unsheathed his blade, reducing the glow that suggested it was a Demigod rank blade.

However, a fragment of the feeling still remained. The students gasped as they gazed at the mesmerizing sight of the blade.

"I remember the time when you clobbered me over a D Rank Artifact."

"You realize that if I hadn't controlled my mana after the blade shattered, you wouldn't be alive right now?"

Gritting his teeth, he activated [Berserker], causing red veins to pop out of his skin.

This show of strength caused the students to gasp in fear or in reverence.

Then, he activated [Self Fire-Affinity - A].

Following that, he activated [Horned Bull Footwork].

After he finished preparing, he patiently waited for Ace to finish his preparations, but Ace never started.

"Are you going to prepare?"

"I don't need preparation?"

"You realize you died from a D+ Rank red ogre, right?"

"And you were too scared to engage in battle, so you stayed to the side. Could you have done any better?"

This shut Leo up, as several surprised gazes were directed towards him.

He was always the one who insulted others and no one dared to oppose him… except Lily.

But, another King of the Jungle had appeared now.

"Moreover, I was only E Rank back then."

"I was, too. Despite that, I took it down, while you died."

Several gasps were heard once again.

"Right. You joined the battle after I had several spine injuries. Moreover, all you did was punch the red ogre once, and our combined strength beat the ogre. You didn't suffer any damage whatsoever from that battle."

"Can we stop talking about this?"

"All right."

Both of them stayed quiet as a student stepped up to indicate the initiation of the battle.

Lily stayed to the side, hoping Ace would lose.

She didn't wanna drop to third place.

However, she could assassinate Ace, unlike Leo, who had his family backing him.

So, this could be considered a good thing.

However, the return of Ace was already a bad thing, so…

The student who acted as the referee began counting down.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Begin!"

As soon as he uttered those words, Leo disappeared from his previous spot.

However, Ace didn't move an inch.

As he stayed still as a statue, it perplexed the spectators on what kind of strategy he was using.

However, he wasn't relying on a strategy at all.

He was confident in his strength, and believed he could easily sweep the floor with Leo.

Bam!

Boom!

The sounds of Leo appearing and disappearing from view could be heard by the spectators, but Ace could see all of his movements and perceive them in a split second.

He knew what Leo was going to do before the latter knew it himself.

Finally, Leo became frustrated, and decided to end it with a punch.

"[Hand-To-Hand Combat]."

"[Giant's Strength]."

Leo's fist swelled as it became larger than a hot-air balloon floating midair.

His fist was infused with C Rank mana, directly proportionate to his overall rank.

Moreover, his fist had been imbued with the powers of [Hand-To-Hand Combat] and [Giant's Strength].

It was enough to rival the brute strength of a C+ Rank individual, or maybe even a B- Rank individual.

Usually, one would think that the Kadz family had a big role in the rapid increase of Leo's strength.

However, in reality, the Kadz Family had not done a thing.

All of it was done by Leo himself, and the Kadz Family had not supported him at all.

Despite this, his routine had been to attend class, train, attend class, train, and so on.

As his fist was imbued with all his power, he used [Horned Bull Footwork] to charge at Ace, hoping to crush him limb by limb.

Although he didn't have such a personality, the [Berserker] skill altered his thoughts so that only negative ones entered his mind.

The spectators' eyes widened as they saw Leo charging towards Ace with such a powerful attack.

Even so, Ace stood still.

Some first and second years screamed at Ace for being stupid, but it felt like their words didn't reach him.

Boom!

The fist collided with Ace's body, and dust filled the area, obstructing the spectators' view.

However, what they didn't know was that Ace purposefully created the dust using [Blitz Step] to hide his actions.

As the dust cleared up, the spectators fell on their knees as some even fainted.

What they saw was too much to process.

Ace was holding up his index finger, and was stopping a fist ten times bigger than himself.

Leo's eyes had already turned lifeless, and even Lily was visibly shaken by the recent development.

Despite how strong Ace was in the past, the combative strength he displayed by blocking Leo's strongest attack with a finger was too much to process, even for Lily.

Leo's [Berserker] skill deactivated as he fell to his knees, his eyes dull.

Ace had been reinstated as the #1 King after defeating the previous #1 with just one finger.

Moreover, he had done so with an indifferent expression on his face.

He secretly praised the [Indifference] skill for helping maintain his reputation, and help in battles where severe injuries are permitted, such as the battle with the red ogre.

Despite hundreds of injuries, he had not lost composure in that battle.

Moreover, he had smiled during his last seconds due to not feeling an expression of despair.

Rather, at that moment, he felt ecstatic.

Death was something that made him feel ecstatic.

As Ace left the grounds, he felt pity for Leo, who had lost to him for the third time. No, was it the fourth time?

At this point, he wasn't sure.

*

*

*

"First I clobber him, and now he invites me to coffee."

After Ace had defeated Leo in a duel, the latter had invited the former to a cafe.

Despite him being slow in the head, he couldn't be this stupid, could he?

Had he damaged too few of his nerve cells after he shattered his blade?

As he got ready, he pondered over why he decided to go and meet Leo at the cafe.

Was it because Ace considered him a friend?

Was it out of pity?

No, he would never feel pity for Leo.

As he exited his dorm, he was greeted by the familiar appearance of a light-brown haired girl.

"Hey, Melissa."

He greeted her for the first time in his two lives, expecting a nod in response.

However, what he got was…

"Hey, are you heading to the cafe Leo mentioned?"

"Yeah, are you heading there too?"

"Yeah. He called me there as well. I wonder what he wants."

"I know, right?"

As they exited the school campus, they decided to walk together, since none of them were using a car to get there.

"So, how did you come back from the dead? Did you meet Hades?"

"Uh, no. I did meet some divine beings, though."

"Cool!"

It was clear as day to Ace that Melissa was trying to charm him, instead of trying to maintain a conversation.

Her reputation as the King of Charms wasn't for naught, at least.

Many people who looked at her lost their minds because of her beauty, paired with her skill [Charm - B], paired with the technique her mother taught her.

Ace knew that her mother was from the Charm Tribe itself, specializing in charming men.

They practiced a technique that complemented their beauty, causing men to lust over them like hungry dogs.

Despite that, Ace wasn't fazed by her charms.

Firstly, his rank was higher.

Secondly, he just wasn't interested.

Sure, he liked women, but Melissa?

Nope.

'Ugh, why isn't he being charmed? Is my skill not working?'

She wondered as her expression darkened a little.

However, it was gone in less than a second.

"You can stop trying to charm me, Melissa. And, your mother's charm technique won't work either."

He assured her, kicking a pebble in the process.

Hearing his words, Melissa couldn't help but be stunned.

'W–What!? How would he know about mother's ch–arm technique!?'

"How do you know about her technique?"

She asked, her tone filled with malice.

However, Ace just shrugged lightly.

"I have my connections. Moreover, unlike Principal Felix and Lily, you don't carry guards around with you."

"What're you gonna do, kidnap me?"

"What would I do kidnapping a 16 year old girl?"

Melissa rolled her eyes, clearly not amused by his unfunny joke.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Despite his assurance, Melissa kept eyeing him suspiciously during their walk towards the cafe, which had a signboard above it.

[John's Cafe]

Not paying any attention to it, however, he entered the cafe.

What he saw before him blew his mind.

"John!?"

He was stunned to see the white-haired dwarf-like human making coffee for his customers.

Despite his appearance, it looked like he was very skilled in hand-eye coordination.

That was to be expected, however, since he was a master blacksmith.

"Ah, Ace! I heard you died!"

John exclaimed as he came forward and hugged Ace, squishing him until he was pulp.

"Uh, yeah…"

"Ace, you know this guy?"

Melissa asked, perplexed by their relationship.

"Uh, yea. He used to be a blacksmith back in the day."

"Ah, what's that weapon over there, Ace?"

John asked, confused by what weapon he was carrying.

"We'll talk later, alright?"

"Alright."

Leaving John behind, Ace and Melissa headed towards where Leo was sitting.

However, what they didn't expect to see was a blonde-haired girl sitting next to him, sipping on an espresso.

"Lily?"

Ace asked, perplexed by what was going on.

Lily turned towards Ace, revealing a faint scowl before turning it into a gentle smile.

However, that did not go unnoticed by the latter.

"Ah, Ace, Melissa."

Leo greeted them, motioning for them to sit.

As they sat down, however, they immediately choked on their saliva due to what they heard come out of Leo's mouth.

"You want the top five Kings to be the only ones participating in the Inter-Academy Tournament!?"

Melissa raised her voice, as Leo tried to quiet her down

"No! Well, yes."

He said with a casual smile before sipping on his cappuccino.

"And why is that?"

"Don't you get it? Ever since Earth became a hub for other species from different planets, different Academies have gotten really strong. There is a four year gap between each Tournament, which means some people who graduated from Academy 07 or any other academy may not have a chance to participate. Now, since other species vary greatly in strength, I believe we need our elites to perform for our academy, in turn maintaining its ranking, which is #1."

As everyone processed Leo's words, which sounded awkward coming from such a brute, they considered the possibility.

"I agree with Leo."

Lily instantly said, believing her point to be 'Survival of the fittest'.

"Although I agree with Leo, this isn't even remotely related to the 'Survival of the Fittest.'"

Ace nodded his head in agreement, but pointed out Lily's mistake as well, stirring her anger towards him.

Leo praised himself inwardly for having succeeded in getting the point across.

"The problem is, however, the fourth year students."

Melissa added. Of course, her words meant that she agreed as well.

"Leave them to me. There's a reason why I prefer to maintain my reputation through fear."

Ace said as he calmly sipped a cappuccino which John had just kept on his table, free of charge.

"Do you know that guy?"

"Yeah, he used to be a blacksmith."

"Did he make you an artifact?"

"It's a complicated story. Anyway, the Tournament is in six days."