The roar of the crowd still echoed in my ears after the punching test ended. Out of the 229 that started, only 129 of us remained. The arena floor was littered with the disappointed faces of those who failed to break the 500 mark, and the rest of us were ushered back into the center. My fists still tingled from the impact of the dummy, but my heart was racing with anticipation but truth be told I only used my strength I didn't use my skills I wonder if I could have reached 2,000.
Then he stepped forward.
Professor Boros Kael.
Up close, he looked nothing like the professors I'd seen before. His hair was long and unkempt, strands falling over half-lidded eyes. His beard was wild, as if he hadn't shaved or cared in years. His robe was wrinkled, stained at the sleeves, and his whole aura screamed of someone who would rather be sleeping in the back of a tavern.
And yet—when he spoke, the air in the entire arena grew heavy.
"This test isn't about fists or flashy techniques," he said, his voice low, rough, almost bored. "Strength without resolve is meaningless. Will without backbone is laughable. So let's see which of you actually deserve to step into an academy."
He raised a hand lazily, like a man swatting at flies. The instant his palm opened, something invisible spread across the arena.
It hit me like a mountain had fallen on my chest.
The ground trembled as if gravity itself had been rewritten. My knees buckled. My breath hitched in my throat. For a moment I couldn't move, couldn't think—every instinct screamed at me to kneel, to crawl, to give up.
Bloodlust.
It wasn't just pressure. It was a wave of killing intent, primal and suffocating, so thick it felt like drowning,I could have actived Fearless Tenacity but I wanted to see how far I have grown.
Screams echoed around me. Students collapsed instantly, falling to their knees, clutching their chests as if their hearts were being crushed. Some fainted on the spot. Others vomited, tears streaming down their faces. The weaker ones didn't even last ten seconds before being dragged out by medical staff.
I gritted my teeth, forcing my legs to stay upright.
Move… breathe… don't give in.
My body shook violently, but I remembered the void—the Alpha Hound's eyes, the Mantis King's shadow looming over me. I had faced death before. Compared to that, this was suffocating, yes… but not enough to break me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Rex. His whole body trembled, sweat pouring down his face, but he dug his nails into his palm and hissed through clenched teeth. "I… I won't fall!"
Denji, of course, stood like a mountain. His arms were folded, his eyes calm, almost amused. If Boros Kael's bloodlust was a storm, Denji looked like he was enjoying the breeze.
Minutes dragged by like hours. Every second felt like an eternity. Students kept dropping until only a fraction remained. My lungs burned, but I forced myself to take a single step forward, staring straight at Boros. My legs screamed, my vision blurred, but I didn't bow. I wouldn't.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the crushing weight vanished.
The silence that followed was deafening. It was like the whole world had exhaled. My knees gave out for a moment, and I caught myself, panting hard.
Boros Kael yawned. Actually yawned. Then he scratched his beard and looked at us with sleepy eyes.
"Pathetic," he muttered, his voice carrying easily across the stunned arena. "Half of you almost broke down from just twenty percent. If this little taste almost killed you, don't expect to last long in Libra Academy."
Gasps rippled through the crowd—twenty percent? That wasn't even his full power?
Students whispered in disbelief. If twenty percent could eliminate a hundred people, what would his full force do?
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, chest still heaving. Around me, only about 129 had remained standing. From the original 229, exactly a hundred had been eliminated in that one test.
Boros glanced at us once more, bored as ever, and waved his hand. "Next test. Get ready. The real fights are about to begin."
My hands tightened into fists. My body was still trembling, but my heart blazed with excitement. If this was just the second test… how insane would the battles be?