Abuse of Power (5)

There were eight dorms in the inner disciple area.

Although it was never made official, it had become common knowledge that the instructors had arranged the rooms based on the disciples' talents and current cultivation. The farther the building was from the entrance of the area, the higher the quality of the residents become.

The first building, where William resided, was mostly prepared for new batches of disciples in their first year. It wasn't uncommon for the instructors to ask the residents to move to the other buildings after their talent had been properly assessed.

With his strength, the third prince was qualified to reside in the deeper part of the dorm area. However, he had declined to move, instead making the second building his permanent residence during his stay in the academy.

After a couple of years, it could be said that the disciples in the second building had been drawn to his side. It was his faction's stronghold.

The third prince had reserved the topmost floor, the fifth, for his personal use. He had demolished a part of the housing, creating an empty area overlooking the lobby that he had converted into a lounge. After finishing his morning practice, he would always stay there until midday, when he would start his meditation.

He sat arrogantly on the couch with his eyes closed. A female disciple was keeping company by his side, feeding him fruits from time to time, while four youths stood nearby, keeping watch in case there was a sudden threat.

The tranquil atmosphere was abruptly broken by a loud shriek from below.

"I said, you can't! The third prince isn't accepting vis- guah!"

An explosive crack followed shortly after.

And then another.

Something was happening downstairs!

"What is it?" The third prince lazily opened his eyes, irritated that someone had the gall to disturb his rest.

"We'll look it up-!"

At that moment, a boy in white disciple robe was thrown into the air like mere sandbag. He made an arc downward, crashing on the balcony with a loud thud. There was a relief shaped like a fist on his chest.

The heck?!

Shrieks and yell continued to ring in the dorm. However, even that would pass. The noise had finally died down, but it only made the youths gulped.

Is it... over?

Suddenly, they were struck by a tremendous pressure.

From the direction of the staircase appeared a terrifying aura. The milky-white light spread out like wings of the death god himself, nearly causing their knees to buckle.

Slowly, the owner of said aura made his appearance, starting from the head. The revelation had left the youths agape.

T-that boy!

Wasn't that the boy that their Prince had told them to harass?!

If they remembered correctly, he was still in the middle rank of qi condensation stage! They were around the same level! How did a single kid like that managed to scare them silly like this?!

"Well, if it's not the good ol' William. How can This Prince help you?"

The third prince had taken a glance down. His underlings in the lower floor had been decimated, every single one of the knocked out of their life. Even though there weren't many people around this time, he'd still had to fight through at least fifty disciples!

"Cut the nonsense! You coward! If you have problem with me, then come directly at me! Don't involve my friends!"

William roared, his eyes bloodshot. This entire time, he hadn't took the youths surrounding the third prince any glance. His murderous gaze was locked on the prince alone.

And yet, the target of his aggression didn't even flinch.

"Oh?"

A smirk appeared on the prince's face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about~"

Oh, but he did. He really, really did.

Those mocking eyes were proof enough!

"JONATHAN HARWELL! YOU BASTARD!!!"

With one strong leap, William rushed forth, desiring nothing more than turning that hateful prince into a bloody pulp.

"Insulting a prince, you have a death wish! Get him!"

The youths guarding the prince had finally snapped out of their fear. Manifesting their aura, they rushed toward William, intending to block him from getting closer to their prince.

William clicked his tongue. His aura, which had been spread thin, began to consolidate around his body, becoming more opaque. Crossing his arms in front of his face, he didn't slow down his pace upon the incoming opponents. Instead, he sped up even more.

The youths were preparing to swing their qi-infused fists at him. They realized a bit too late that William's aura had disappeared from his body. Instead, they were focusing in front of his crossed arms, forming a thick, watershed-shaped membrane.

"Damnit, s-spread out-!"

It was too late.

With breakneck speed, William crashed onto the first youth. Since the four was grouped tightly together, the rest of the youths were also pushed back by the one in front of them.

Their balance began to crumble. Before they could regain their footing, William pushed open his arms, blasting the youths away. The sheer force of his qi effortlessly knocked them away to the sides, their formation crumbling like a house of cards.

The road was clear. Only him and the third prince remained.

The prince was watching his men getting tossed aside with an amused expression. He turned to the girl by his side, who was trembling pitifully, and then caressed her cheek.

"Sorry, I'll have you go down for your safety."

"Eh?"

The girl blinked several times, not sure of what the prince had meant. Suddenly, she felt the prince's aura surrounding her. With the flick of his finger, the girl was thrown out of the balcony.

"You-!"

"What? You want to involve the poor girl in this?"

William stole a glance down. The girl was totally fine. It seemed that the prince's aura had cushioned her fall completely. She just looked a bit dazed after the experience.

Assured of her safety, William turned his attention back to Jonathan. Before he could start, the third prince had beaten him to it.

"William, This Prince is genuinely impressed. How about coming under This Prince's banner? This Prince needs people like you the most."

William spit on the ground right beside the prince.

"In your dreams, you scheming bastard!"

Jonathan shook his head, pretending that he was hurt. His smile, however, never lost its thick layer of mockery.

"Such a heavy accusation. I'm just a poor disciple trying my hardest to cultivate. I have no idea about what you're talking about~"

It wasn't even a lie anymore, it was just a blatant insult to William's intelligence.

"You bastard!"

Enraged, William grabbed the prince by the collar, and then hoisted him up.

"You send people to harass me! You dare to hurt my friends! You even tried to hurt your own brother! Even when we've done nothing to you! You're garbage, you know that? Garbage!"

"So what?"

The smile on Jonathan's face abruptly disappeared, replaced with a thin line.

For a moment, William was dumbstruck.

"If I'm a garbage, then what? What do you want, then? Punch me? Hurt me back? Or maybe..."

He narrowed his eyes. There was a sharpness inside that could be compared with a tempered blade.

"...Do you want to kill me?"

Killing intent. It was a genuine killing intent!

Under that intense gaze, William's hands shook. He'd never thought that far. In his anger, he had rushed here without thinking.

Indeed, he had no idea what he'd wanted to do next.

Did he want to hurt the prince back? Perhaps, but to be honest, that wasn't the first thing in his mind. He'd just wanted him to stop harassing his friends, to leave them in peace. Then again, how could he force the prince to do that?

...Kill him?

"I... I..."

"...Pathetic."

Jonathan grabbed the hands gripping on his collar. And then, his aura burst forth, boosting his strength multiple-folds. With ease, he broke free from William's grasp, and then pushed the boy back.

"Just a hot-headed fool. I'm disappointed, William!"

The aura around his hands shaped themselves into beast-like claws. He swung the claws at William, producing a sharp, ripping noise as the claws left behind trails of light in the air.

William side-stepped to the right, avoiding the claws just before they could reach him. Even so, the trails of qi didn't stop. They kept on slicing downward until they landed onto the hardwood floor, which subsequently exploded into a cloud of dust.

"Is the difference between our cultivation stages just a joke to you? The higher your cultivation stage, the higher the density of pure, refined qi in your body. This difference increases exponentially even for ranks in the same stage! And here you are, challenging an opponent one full stage above yours?"

'Are you an idiot?'

Jonathan's aura changed once again, this time rising like clouds on his back. They began to condense into eight spear-like shapes floating above his head.

"This, is the power of a foundation establishment stage practitioner! Today, I'll be sure to instill this horror to your very bones!"

With the flick of his finger, one of the spears shot itself at William like a released arrow.

Still shrouded within the cloud of dust, William couldn't see them clearly. However, instinct could tell that something dangerous was coming his way. His dantian furiously rotated qi around his meridian, manifesting his aura to defend against the spears.

Defend... with his aura, he might be able to do it.

However...

'Only defending won't let me win!'

And so, he dashed forward!

By the time he burst out of the dust cloud, the first spear had almost reached him, just a fist away from stabbing through his face.

In response, he raised his hands, pouring more qi on his palms, and then caught the spear!

"Guh- what?!"

The spear refused to stop. Even though it looked thin, the spear felt as if it was carrying the momentum of a violent storm. Rather than stopping it, William's feet were dragged backward as he got pushed by the inexplicable force.

"Rrrraaaah!"

He hadn't given up yet! If he couldn't stop it... then he'd just deflect it instead!

Slightly turning his body to the side, William rotated his hands, slowly dragging the spear's trajectory to his left. When he felt that it was enough, he finally let go, leaving the spear to fly toward a nearby wall. The impact broke a huge hole on the wall.

"You-!"

Jonathan clicked his tongue. This time, he shot two spears at the same time.

"Come!"

William changed his tactic. This time, he retracted the aura from his bodies, focusing only on his legs and his arms. The aura around his arms were spread a bit wider, forming a pair of makeshift shields. As two spears approached him at the same time, he tilted the shield ever so slightly, just enough so that the tip of the spears would touch the shields at an angle.

A sickening grinding noise rang through, accompanied by spraying sparks. The spears shaved a portion of his qi shield, but they were successfully deflected!

At the same time, William crouched down, letting energy build up in his legs.

"I see that you want to do this the hard way! Then, This Prince shall oblige!"

The rest of the spears shot out at the same time, cutting through the air with even greater speed than before

However, William had finished his own preparation.

His legs blasted him forward, approaching the spears head-on. Twisting his body mid-air, he dodged the first, and then deflected the second one. When the third one arrived, he didn't deflect it like before.

Instead, he punched down.

Using the resultant force of the impact, he propelled his body upward, bypassing the fourth and the fifth spear entirely.

"Jonathan!!"

Like a meteor, his fist, glowing brightly from his concentrated qi, clashed onto the third prince's defensive aura. The impact created a loud, ringing noise that shook the entirety of the building.

"Gah!"

Jonathan didn't expect his attack to be this heavy. Even though his aura wasn't broken through, he had been dragged back by the sheer force. His insides felt like they were trembling all over.

"How dare you!!"

In an instant, spears made of condensed qi manifested around William's suspended body. Their density was a far cry from the previous eight spears, but at the moment, William had concentrated his entire aura into his fist. He had left his body wide open.

The spears stabbed into William's flesh without mercy, assaulting him with pain. He fell to his knees, his body now riddled with small, bloodied holes.

However...

"Haaah!"

In that small window of time when Jonathan had lowered his guard, William's other fist swung right at his face. The amount of qi stored in that punch wasn't less than before! No, perhaps it was even stronger!

The resistance from Jonathan's aura disappeared in an instant as it had been broken through. The punch connected with his cheek, sending him flying.

"Agh...!"

Jonathan could taste blood pooling in his mouth.

Pain. It had been so long ever since he had tasted real pain like this.

No, even before that...

'That guy... does he have a death wish? He didn't use his aura to defend himself? Even just a bit?!'

Foolish.

Such foolishness...!

"Fine! If you don't value your life anymore, then This Prince won't let you suffer any longer!"

Expending the last bit of his qi, he manifested hundreds of spears above William, threatening to turn him into a pincushion.

It was at that moment that a shadow leaped up the railing and embraced William from behind, shielding him.

"Third brother, that's enough."

"Tch...!"

The spears fell like rain. They stabbed through the wooden floor, leaving behind numerous holes. However, the people at the middle were unharmed. The spears had only made a circle around them.

After suffering his wounds, as well as expending his qi, William was in a daze. He couldn't make head or tail about the current situation. However, the person holding him surely felt familiar...

A name quickly popped up in his mind.

"...Elias...?"

"Hmmhm. It's me, you fool."

He was then given a royal knock on the head.