"That bastard! What does he think of us, pushovers? Why do we need to do his errands?"

"We have no choice."

"Do you think so? We're just a rank below him. We're not some sort of servants that can be trampled with. However, I do agree, we're just errand boys for him. I feel humiliated because I'm a gifted person from Class-A, and yet, we're here making errands."

"Well, it's not like he's having us a hard time."

"You two. Stop fooling yourself. He's a bastard thorough and thorough. That fact won't change. Grrr, it irks me whenever he looks down on me! I want to strangle his face!"

In front of us, a group of four students is walking in our direction. They're first years like us. From the look of their faces, they're all infuriated upon catching sight of Erik who's beside me. Then, on the other hand, Erik was also expressing the same way towards them. It's mutual. I gently pushed Erik to the sides to avoid them and not cause a ruckus, but Erik doesn't seem to like the idea so he stopped in his tracks, confronting the four.

"Hey, you!"

"Yeah? Me?" I answered.

"No, the other guy. Are you free?" one of them mockingly asked.

"No, I'm not. We're just going back from class and needed to send our buddy over to our room. Look, he's asleep. So we're not going to accept that. Go ask someone else." Erik replied with a scowling look on his face.

He scoffs. "You? What's there to teach you, people? I don't even see the point of attending the class with your inept abilities."

I'm looking at the guy and Erik, going back and forth. "You know each other, Erik?"

"Yeah, and it's not a pleasant first meeting."

"That's not my fault. You poke your nose on someone's business. Rather than turning around and appreciating the sympathy that I've given to you by letting you go, you still had the courage to punch me in the face."

"How is it my fault? And how is it poking in someone's business? You approached us first. That's clearly your own fault. And for your information, you deserve it." Erik scoffed.

"Who are you to say that straight to my face? You inept bastard." He rolls his sleeve as he approaches us with a smile. "Want another beating?"

"I hardly call it a beating since your face is worse than mine, last time."

"No, it was you."

"No, it was you."

"You're lucky because there are few people that time and I wasn't able to use my strength against you. Be grateful, you useless piece of shit. Keep talking with that foul-tongue of yours and see what will happen to you if you try that again. I'll fucking cut that long hair of yours, bastard." His mana erupted.

At the sideline, I'm watching the two exchanging words with each other. It's easy to understand that this guy who approached us had a grudge against Erik. However, the question is, what's the cause? Why did Erik punch him? Questions are circulating around my head. It was too spicy to ignore it, especially when the always composed Erik became heated over someone. It's the first time seeing him acting this way.

"Hm... This is interesting to watch." I muttered.

As for the guy, who approached us, his appearance looks normal... That's one way to describe him. The same could be said for the three around him. They all have the same distinct three crystals embedded within their foreheads. My initial thought is, would be it plausible to extract the crystal without feeling pain? Or are they from a tribe because their overall appearance resembles a human?

"I'll welcome you to try it." Erik dropped Lars on the ground and his mana erupted too. He took his unusual stance. "Come on, try me."

Before things escalate, I stood in front of Erik. "How about cool things down? We're standing on the school ground which means unauthorized fights are prohibited. I'm pretty sure you're a smart person, right?" Regardless of his arrogant attitude, he's a pretty composed guy, unlike the people I encountered before.

"Tsk." He's unpleased. "If there are witnesses. Since there are no students strolling around here, it's safe to say we can just take you two. Sorry dude, we can't afford to let your mouth run and ruin our credits. Blame it to your friend." He condescendingly grins at me. He took the first step which Erik also answered by doing the same thing.

Or not... At that moment, I was left confused. "Hm... Are you all going to gang up on us, de—"

Erik and that person engaged in a fight. But Erik had the upper hand, as Erik caught him off-guard. Erik punched him right straight into the center of his chest, sending him flying. The person next to the guy that Erik attacked, reacted and threw a punch into Erik. Surprisingly, Erik didn't attempt to dodge the punch, but rather accept it and he was able to return it by attacking the area below the armpit.

"Aaagh...!" The man fell to his knees, clutching over his arm in pain.

Erik didn't show any hesitation and kicked him right into his face, consequently followed by a crunch sound. I'm watching all of it transpire from behind while carrying Lars on my shoulders and with my mouth hanging open, flabbergasted. As for the rest of the group, the two of them to be exact, they stood there and witnessed their two friends get obliterated by a single person.

"Come on, I'll take you two too." Erik provoked the remaining two.

"Wow, what a badass thing to say," I remarked.

However, it's far from over, as the person that Erik sent flying earlier was back on his feet. He threw a spit of blood in the ground. "Nice punch."

After speaking, he charged forward going head-to-head which Erik welcomed with open arms. They began throwing punches against each other. I've been observing their fight keenly in case Erik's opponent attempts to use his spirit power, but from how it is going for them, he doesn't seem to have any intention of doing so. As for the other two remainings, one person hurriedly assisted the one person that Erik knocked out earlier, and as for the other guy, he's not showing signs of joining the fight or he's just hesitating because I can see his eyes glancing to my direction from time to time.

Why am I not helping Erik? The answer is simple. This is a personal conflict between Erik and them, and I'm not a part of it, plus he doesn't seem to need my help. Erik was just playing around. I can see it in his eyes that he's enjoying this moment. And his fight was also a good thing for me since I can learn a thing or two in the fight.

Erik was getting hit from left to right, mostly everywhere, but his tenacity was overwhelming for someone even like me. On the other side of the spectrum, his opponent was also receiving tons amounts of attacks from Erik, a naive person would clearly see that Erik was winning the fight, one-sidedly.

On top of everything else, it may look like he's just receiving those attacks recklessly, but I've noticed that Erik will make these subtle tiny movements when he's about to receive the punch, following it with a counter-attack to his opponent. As if he's deliberately letting himself get hit. It's certainly reckless, but there's more to it than meets the eyes. One thing's certain, Erik's mana was more potent than his opponent. Moreover, despite the hits that he received, there are no bruises or anything on his face.

Noticing the guys from earlier that's been hesitating, began moving forward. I teleported between him and the other guy who was assisting the one on the ground.

"Don't worry, I'll stop them." I patted him from behind with a friendly smile.

I scared them out of their wits. It was quite hilarious when I saw the blood on their faces drained instantly. I forced myself to not burst into laughter.

'I should do this more often.' I thought.

In the midst of their battle, I teleported at the center and caught their fists with ease. Erik and the guy were surprised by my sudden interference. Above all of that, the guy was trying to push forward his fist by pouring his mana into it, but it was not enough for him to overpower me. It felt like a toddler trying its best to overwhelm me.

I heave a sigh. "If you want to fight, challenge the person into a duel. We have a system entirely built for duels between students. Geez, I thought you were one of the smart people, but you're clearly not."

All of them just realized what I'm talking about. They fell into silence because of it and from the looks of their faces, they didn't seem to mind at all nor have any care of the punishment. Erik himself lowered his hand calmly. Then on the opposite side, the person whom I don't know his name was still fuming in anger and attempted to threaten me with his gaze, pushing his fist against me.

"Ru—"

Before the guy could even open his mouth, I cut him off by reciprocating the one that he sent to me. "Anyway, nice meeting you three, unknown schoolmates of ours. Glad to meet you three." I squeezed it, almost destroying his bones.

"Aaaaah...!" He screamed in pain.

"We have someone that's in dire of needing a rest. Back off, already. Don't try me." I coldly said.

After hearing my words, they immediately back off. "I'm glad you all understand. Let's go, Erik."

"Brace yourself." I picked up Lars and grabbed Erik on the back of his neck. While on my way to pick up Lars' sleeping soundly on the ground, a glimpse of a familiar person caught my eyes from the distance. It's too far, but I saw a man and a woman next to each other. The man had black hair... He's someone I know, but I can't recognize him from this far away.

"Why are you grabbing my neck?"

"So we can leave here faster."

"Faster?"

[Shifting Point]

I teleported myself, Erik, and Lars somewhere near our dormitory. Erik lost his balance and fell to the ground. Erik can't help himself vomit on the ground. "Buaaaah! What happened! Bueeeh! Krgggh... Buaaah! I'm going to die! The world is upside-down! Bueeeh!"

"Hey, are you okay? Uh... Sorry? I should've told you first hand before doing that." I kneel down to stroke his back, accidentally dropping Lars to the ground. I didn't expect Erik would react this way because the other people whom I teleported before didn't have an absurd reaction.

"Hey, Erik, are you okay? Erik? Oiii, Erik! Bear with me, man! Shit, I'm so sorry! I didn't expect this to happen! Oh heavens, I need to bring you to the hospital."

"No! Don't ever bring me! I'll resent you if you try to bring me there!" Erik shouted, pulling the hem of my shirt. The resentful gaze on his eyes was apparent when he looked me in the eyes while shouting those words to me.

"O-Okay..."

After Erik stopped vomiting, he fell unconscious. So now, I'm carrying two people on my shoulders. I naturally garnered attention from my fellow male students who were peacefully going back to their dorms. Some of them already knew my face and what I did before, so they looked at me horrified. In their eyes, they're probably assuming that I'm the person responsible for knocking this two out. Well, half of it was true since I'm at fault for what happened with Erik.

I lay the two on their own beds. Afterward, I shower myself to get rid of the reeking smell of my sweat and the smell of Erik's vomit. Because after this, I'll be heading out to try and find Professor Eukla. As I got myself out of the showers, I saw Erik sitting on his bed, resting his head on the palm of his hand.