Stronger Devours the Weaker Aura

Streaks of blood-hued hair coated the small face of the massive guy. Standing from his seat, his domineering height of 190 cm looked down upon Arthur, his arms crossed as he exuded a terrifying aura.

Suffocating the room, the students at the forefront dried their throats from terror.

Michael slapped his face as he sluggishly strode toward Arthur. The aura impeded his body.

'This... It's an aura of SS-grade!', Michael excreted beads of sweat.

Amidst the terrifying aura, only the young woman retained her calm demeanor.

Michael felt eternity descend on him, struggling his way toward Arthur.

'I have to save him, no matter what.'

However, his worries were brushed aside as he witnessed the expression of Arthur.

Meeting the massive guy's glare, Arthur straightened his posture with the incessant assault of the SS-grade aura, hovering over his torso and creeping toward his head, enticing a mild dizziness.

Michael felt his knees losing strength being inches away from the source.

Gazing at Arthur, a grin slithering on his face, Michael was baffled before a sudden unleashing of aura further the suffocation in the room.

Michael fell on his knee, his face was pale.

Other students who awakened A-grade and below similarly held their throats, chasing their ragged breath.

"Did you just call me an idiot?", Wyatt, the massive guy muttered. Threats and annoyance lingered in his voice.

Indifferent, Arthur inched closer, sparking further annoyance to Wyatt.

He was planning to release more of his aura but the chilly voice of a woman pervaded the air, making Wyatt instantly withdraw his aura.

"Cease your aura, now, Wyatt.", the beautiful woman seated in the middle of the room, muttered.

Her black hair was lustrous with skin same tinge as snow. Her slender figure and jade-like beauty glimmered under the shafts of daylight permeating the room.

She is Olivia, the daughter of the prestigious SS-grade Overgeared Queen.

'The Overgeared Queen will die in the upcoming tribulations. I don't know the reason but I heard it was a natural cause like a disease.', Arthur pondered.

The Overgeared Queen had a brimming potential. Her power to extort an item's full potential and equip items beyond common sense made her a prospect-strong individual if she didn't perish in the early tribulations.

'I should scout her to my guild.', Arthur already had her on his list to scout.

Also, at the top of his list was the serene young woman, Olivia.

In Academia, there were two individuals above A grade, namely Wyatt and Olivia who were both SS-grade.

Arthur attended school for this reason. He couldn't miss out on an SS-grade talent such as Olivia.

As for Wyatt, his name wasn't etched in Arthur's list.

Another great plan was reserved for Wyatt...

'I will plunder his skill.', Arthur grinned

---

Wyatt used to be the jokester in the room. He was filled with vibrance that everyone grew fond of him.

However.

Two years ago, Wyatt grew distant from others. He sat in the rear part, quietly dawdling for the end of classes. His change grew each day to the point that no hint of his previous vibrant and jokester self was left.

And then

A year ago

Wyatt entered at the age of 18.

Along with his awakening began his extortion of wealth from others.

Everyone speculated that he was a youth in his rebellious phase, after all, he, who was the son of a renowned SS-grade awakened, couldn't extort others for financial issues.

He was never short of money.

Thus, every student involved inferred that he was doing it just for fun.

It was not unusual for a fresh awakened to abuse his newly found power. Wyatt must have gotten obsessed with his SS-grade strength.

Still, his bullying was restrained to money extortion and threats using his aura. He never committed physical harm.

Arthur, who was naive and timid was a perfect plaything for Wyatt.

Arthur suffered for a year now.

'But that was the past me. I've regressed and have power now.', he pondered.

Glancing at Wyatt, Arthur couldn't feel an ounce of fiend energy lurking.

'It seems that he hasn't encountered a fiend group around this time yet.'

At the end of the third challenge, Wyatt was consumed by his power, losing his sanity. He became a puppet of the fiend guild, rising to become its 7 core members.

While he was yet to bud, Arthur aimed to pluck this pollutant early on.

'I bet that he has a good power.', Arthur couldn't wait to plunder his skill.

But, he had to contain his greed for a while.

"Withdrawing your aura now? Had you gone senile?", Arthur snickered as he then assisted Michael who knelt beside him, strength leaving the latter's body.

Michael heaved deep breaths as the suffocation finally ceased.

Wyatt, irked by Arthur's beaming attitude, was in disbelief at how Arthur withstood his aura.

'Did he awaken last night?'

Aiming to test his assumption, Wyatt extended a sliver of his aura, pricking toward Arthur.

In disbelief, a stronger and more lethal aura secreted out of Arthur's body, devouring Wyatt's frightened aura.

At last, the door swung open as the professor entered the room.

"See you after the class, Wyatt!", Arthur grinned.

-----

Upon counseling Wyatt and Arthur for a while, the class proceeded as usual.

The students pulled out their lunch boxes from their inventories, munching as their general classes wrapped up.

The education system entails general and otherworldly classes, held in the morning and afternoon, respectively.

General courses include four core subject areas; English, math, science, and social studies. Otherworldly courses tackle new extraterrestrial areas such as monster decoding, tribulation history, introduction to magic, and practical lessons.

Academia students disdain general classes. Albeit essential, these lessons didn't spur excitement to these students.

The cafeteria resided on the 5th floor of the building, making it a struggle for the students on the 10th floor. With that, they had packed their lunch boxes, comprising of nourishments provided by their respective prosperous parents.

Arthur sat in his seat as he similarly pulled out his lunch box from his suitcase. He was playing as unawakened thus he couldn't reveal his inventory yet.

The meal contained afritada viand from an A-grade monster and rice grown in an A-grade dungeon. His drinks were also a high-grade potion that restored fatigue and increased mana capacity, dropped by an A-grade monster.

As the sole heir, this sort of meal was a norm.

Arthur specifically requested the potion. Despite being wasted for an unawakened, Echo willingly agreed with Arthur's request.

Having finished their meal, Arthur sipped on the potion and then glanced at Olivia who was wiping food bits on her lips.

Her gestures were minimal and reserved, making the onlookers crave whatever food he consumed.

Truth be told, the young women at the forefront peeked through their peripheral view, taking note of Olivia's meal course.

'The secret to her beauty!', they exclaimed.

Arthur waited till Olivia concluded her meal and then muttered.

"Olivia right? Join my guild.", Arthur brazenly scouted