First Step [5]

While I was fixing the red tie that had gotten a bit crooked after Wyll had pushed me into the wall, I was keeping an intent eye on the exchange between the two men in front of me.

'Looks like they know each other?'

Wyll's fists were tightly clenched as his gaze sent daggers towards the unexpected guest, who in turn simply looked at Wyll with confidence.

In the end, Will was the first one to open his mouth, unable to bear the tension any longer. Unfortunately for him, he was also unable to keep the slight tinge of nervousness from coloring the tone of his words.

"What do you want Cerus? This has nothing to do with you."

'Oh, so his name is Cerus? That's a good name!'

Taking yet another step forward, making his fiery red hair flicker a bit, Cerus had seemingly no intention of stepping down.

"Nothing to do with me? You're wrong. Sullying the name of the Academy by acting like a delinquent and bullying the weak absolutely has something to do with me!"

Unlike Wyll's slightly raspy and rough voice, Cerus' voice was clear and, to an extent, somewhat beautiful.

"You...!"

The staring contest began once more, with both of them knowing that whoever broke eye contact first would be labeled as the loser of the non-physical battle between them.

"Tch!"

Yet, even while knowing that, Wyll was still the first to Crack after what seemed like an eternity to everyone, except for me for whom it seemed like multiple eternities.

Ultimately, Wyll simply turned to me with hatred burning in his eyes.

"Don't think you're saved, fucker... Cerus won't be able to save you next time...!"

And with those words, with everyone looking at him, he finally went back into the crowd, finding his place within the small clique that I had seen him in previously.

At the same time, Cerus' serious face eased up a bit as he came up to me with a slight smile on his face.

"Are you okay?"

It was pretty surprising to me as I was already plenty tall, but when I turned to Cerus to answer him I noticed that I had to slightly raise my head to look him in the eyes.

"I'm fine."

Releasing a small sigh of relief, the intensity of his smile increased as he stretched out a hand toward me which I didn't hesitate to shake.

"I'm Cerus."

"Ray."

This was it, this person was definitely the one I had been looking for and managed to lure out by playing along with Wyll's whims.

'A strong leader who is overly protective of his surroundings. There is no doubt that he will be a prominent figure in the future.'

Releasing our grips on each other's hands, Cerus was just about to open his mouth to say something again as another voice rang out, the higher pitch signaling that it likely didn't belong to a man.

"Cerus! Are you stirring up trouble again?!"

Out of the crowd, which had now more or less lost interest in whatever was going on here in the back of the room, another unexpected guest showed up.

A woman with shoulder-length, brown hair and a somewhat immature but cute face ran up to us but as she saw me, she quickly grabbed ahold of Cerus' arm and gave me an intense stare.

"Who is this..."

'What a cold look.'

It didn't take a genius to understand that Cerus and the girl were already very familiar with each other, likely either being lovers or very long-time friends.

"Celine, this is Ray. And I wasn't stirring up any trouble, in fact, I was..."

"I don't like his eyes. They are creepy."

'Agh!'

My body almost doubled over almost as if I had taken a clean liver punch to my gut, but I managed to keep standing tall despite Celine's harsh words.

In her defense, it wasn't the first time that people had commented on my eyes and the way I looked at people. An unfortunate side effect of making sure that I kept my eyes focused at all times was that people often thought that I had "intense" eyes or, as Celine said, "creepy" eyes. So I honestly didn't mind all that much, even if it was very unexpected.

Cerus on the other hand raised his free hand in a reproaching manner.

"Hey, don't be rude Celine! Even if his eyes are a bit... unique... that's still no reason to say it out loud!"

"But it's true! Look at them..."

As the two of them were talking with each other and as they were so incredibly slow to me, I had plenty of time to once again organize the information I had obtained.

In the end, there was honestly just one thing I truly cared about, and that was the man named Cerus.

Because to me, he was someone who would very likely walk a path that was very interesting to me.

In a meritocratic society, which I assumed was very prominent in this world, it was incredibly unlikely that a weak person would become a leader and therefore also unlikely that they would wander the path of becoming someone great.

Cerus, on the other hand, seemed to be perfect for a meritocratic environment. Not only was he strong but he appeared to have a very solid sense of responsibility, something that was needed to become even stronger.

A fact that made me unable to stop myself, no matter how stupid I knew it was.

"... but he didn't do anything wrong! It was Wyll who..."

"I want to fight you."

Cerus and Celine went silent, both of them looking at me like they couldn't believe what I had just said. But after a second passed, it finally dawned on them that they hadn't misheard. And Celine was the first to react by taking a step forward, her innocent face filled with annoyance.

"Are you an idiot? Don't you know who Cerus is? He is the..."

Sadly for her, Cerus put his arm in front of her, showing that he wouldn't allow her to butt in.

"I understand. I also hope that we will get the chance to fight in the future. Celine, let's go."

"Cerus?! What are you... hey, wait for me!"

And with that, they left and entered the crowd leaving me alone with my thoughts.

'I really am an idiot, aren't I? But... I don't regret it.'

It wasn't as if I didn't realize that I probably didn't stand a chance against Cerus if he even had a fraction of the strength I thought he had. But it would also be foolish not to announce my challenge to the one I believed to carry the belt!

'Right now, he is the champion!'

Even if boxing didn't exist in this world, there was no doubt in my mind that there existed "champions", individuals who stood above the rest based on pure physical and mental prowess.

And Cerus was one of those people, at least in the context of the freshmen.

Turning my sights upward at the far-away ceiling filled with bright lights, I couldn't stop a smile from forming on my face.

Who doesn't love a storyline where the weak underdog somehow manages to clutch out upsets over and over again, slowly clawing their way to the top?

'Goddess... thanks again. For giving me this opportunity!'

*Thunk!*

The room instantly went dark as the lights were turned off, and for a moment, we were all engulfed in darkness.

That is until a headlight shone upon the stage where an old man wearing a gray suit was standing, his bald head contrasted by the large, bushy beard of white that was connected to his chin. All of this was supported by a small but elegant cane made out of some kind of black wood.

Although I imagined that his smaller stature was a product of his age, his body still carried the lingering scent of someone powerful. Something that was further reinforced as he spoke into the microphone that had been set up on the podium in front of him.

"Welcome, freshmen of the Academy of Heroes. I am Garudo Stoneheart, principal of the academy."

'Another strong name...'

Inspecting the principal, I had a feeling that at some point in time, he had also been wearing the belt. No, I was sure of it. Because otherwise he wouldn't have said this;

"Don't be content that you managed to get here. Getting to attend the academy is nothing but the first step on a very long journey to become a Hero. And most of you will never become one. Most of you will fall, and you won't have the bravery and courage to keep on going!"

Tension filled the air as we all listened to the old man's words, with some being more affected than others.

"However... for those who will keep getting to their feet, for those that will continue running even when their legs are numb, and for those that will not close their eyes even after being awake for days upon days..."

The principal lifted the small cane slightly off the stage floor only to carefully letting it fall, making a *Pak!* sound.

'Hmm?'

*BOOM!*

The small old man suddenly started burning with pure yellow energy, his beard swaying due to the winds it created. A lot of people fell to their knees from nothing but the pressure he exuded, and while my body was somehow managing to hold on, my mind did not.

'What the fuck is going on?!'

As my mind was in turmoil trying to comprehend the absurd spectacle in front of me, the principal gave a wry smile as he opened his mouth again.

"This... is your sanctuary!"