The sound of hurried footsteps and murmured laughter died the instant the bully’s air was cut off.
"You dumb—bitch! I’m going t—urgh!" he choked, eyes bulging as his hands clawed desperately at the iron grip around his throat. His legs dangled uselessly, toes scraping the floor as Aaron held him aloft like a ragdoll.
No one had seen him move. One second, Aaron was lounging in his seat, looking almost bored. The next, the bully was up in the air, flailing.
"When a senior goes off the rails..." Aaron’s voice was calm, almost conversational, as if explaining a simple fact. His lips curved into a harmless, pleasant smile—though in that moment, it looked anything but harmless. "It’s the duty of the smarter junior to correct his senior’s... wrongdoings. Don’t you think?"
The bully’s breath hitched. That smile wasn’t friendly—it was the smile of someone who could and would snap him in half without a second thought.
"Urgh... Let... let me go... you will... regret... this—" His words broke apart between gasps for air.
"That’s where you’re wrong," Aaron replied, still smiling as if the conversation was casual banter over tea. "None of my seniors can make me regret anything. I’m stronger than all of you."
With that, he gave a casual flick of his arm. The bully’s body slammed into the wall with a sickening thud, plaster cracking under the impact. The boy crumpled, unconscious before he even hit the floor.
Aaron’s wristwatch vibrated against his skin. The standard issue device—given the moment he’d entered the school—linked to his phone and tracked Ragnarok points. A new notification flashed across the display. His points had jumped... by a lot.
He glanced at it, then smirked. "Hmm. Bullies with money they can’t spend. How pitiful." He turned, throwing a grin over his shoulder at Alice. "Well, Alice... if you’ll excuse me, I, the vampire hunter Van Helsing, have nature’s duty to attend to."
Alice raised a brow, folding her arms. "So you plan to hunt them by yourself?"
"Yes," Aaron replied matter-of-factly as he strolled toward the door. "The seniors will keep acting arrogantly, thinking they can push us around. I think it’s about time we had... a little introduction between both parties. Just so they know who they’re messing with."
Her lips curved in amusement. "Well... I don’t think I should miss out on that fun." She fell into step behind him, the glint in her eyes matching his.
Meanwhile, in another part of campus, tension brewed.
"Michael. Is the plan underway? Or are you about to disappoint me?" Edwin’s voice was a low growl, his gaze locked on Michael’s face as if trying to peel away every layer to get to the truth.
"Working on it," Michael said smoothly. "He’ll be facing some of my friends for now. I want to use their fights to get information on Aaron and Alice... so I can deal with them properly when the time’s right."
Edwin leaned in just enough to make the threat in his tone drip like poison. "Good. Know this—if you fail... I’ll crush you with my own hands, Michael. Don’t disappoint me."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and left, leaving Michael alone with the faint echo of his footsteps. Michael’s eyes narrowed. Edwin couldn’t step in directly—too messy, too many consequences. That was why he was leaving it to Michael. Someone he didn’t trust... but had no choice but to rely on.
Somewhere else, chaos reigned.
"Run! Run for your lives! Aaron’s coming!"
A senior’s panicked voice carried down the hall, sending others scattering like leaves in a storm. The harmless-looking fresher they’d thought they could push around had turned out to be... brutal. Every sophomore who’d challenged him had been dismantled—humiliated and beaten in ways that left no room for pride.
"What’s up with the freshers this year?!" another senior shouted, dodging down a corridor. "How could the school let two monsters in?!"
The unlucky one who hadn’t managed to escape stood trembling, cornered between Aaron and Alice.
"Before I change my mind and beat the hell out of you," Aaron said, his tone almost lazy, "tell me where the other seniors are."
After he and Alice had each taken down ten seniors, word had spread. Most now avoided them like the plague, targeting other freshers instead—but the moment they spotted Aaron or Alice’s silhouette, they bolted. The "pretty devils," as they’d been dubbed, were bad luck incarnate.
"I don’t know, I swear! We split up! I was just... unlucky to get caught!" the senior stammered, shaking so hard his teeth nearly chattered.
"Unlucky? No, no, no... you’re far from unlucky," Aaron said with mock sympathy. "If anything, you’re lucky. You ran into two freshers loaded with points you could’ve beaten up for easy gains." He smiled.
The senior paled. "I’m sorry! You can have my points, just... don’t hurt me."
Aaron’s face twisted in irritation. "Stop acting spineless. You’re making this boring." With a sharp motion, he slammed the senior’s head into the ground until the boy went limp.
"This is no fun," Aaron muttered as he turned away.
"Where are you going?" Alice asked, matching his pace.
"These guys won’t cut it. Too weak," he said bluntly. "Not their fault, really—this is a third-rate university. If I want to send a message, I need to go after the big dog instead of these spineless chickens."
"And by ’big dog’...?" she prompted.
"Bingo. Michael," Aaron said with a glint in his eyes. "Heard he was the winner of the last event as a fresher. I want to see how strong he is. Plus, I’ve got this thing about the Blessed. I always want to fight them."
"You know you can’t hurt a Blessed, right?" Alice reminded him.
Aaron grinned. "We’ll see. I think I can. Just need to confirm it for myself."
They followed the faint trace of Michael’s scent—memorized from when they’d shared a table earlier—until they arrived at the university training ground. Two sophomores stood guard at the exit.
"Wow... Michael loves attention, huh?" Aaron said, already guessing why Michael was there.
He wasn’t concerned. If anything, he was eager.
"Aaron Highborn," one of the guards sneered. "Michael’s inside, waiting for you. I hope you’re ready to get your ass handed to you. Don’t think you can beat him."
Aaron’s nose wrinkled in mock disgust. "Eew. Bragging about your classmate while you play doorman? That’s low." He chuckled and walked past.
"Calm down, Jay," the other guard interrupted, grabbing his arm. "Remember what Michael said—not to fight them. You know the consequences if we go against his word."
Aaron caught the exchange and smirked. "Hoh... seems Michael’s got every one of his classmates trained to fear him." His steps didn’t falter. The thought of testing that reputation only made him look forward to the coming fight more.