EVIL SYSTEM

Tepei moved across the field, trying to dodge the enemy team's attacks while staying out of the way of his teammates' spells.

The crowd went wild every time a spell hit a participant.

Ben raised his eyebrows, feeling both impressed and disappointed at the same time.

Impressed by the sheer number of spells being cast—spells he'd never seen before appeared on the stage.

But at the same time, they were poorly used or just thrown around like some kind of dodgeball game.

Or so he thought until he saw the top schools fight.

Drakthar University vs. Ignarok University.

Even when the referee gave the signal to start, neither side launched an attack.

Drakthar's team stood watching with their arms crossed while the Dragon Raider walked slowly toward the other university.

Everyone was on edge with every step the Dragon Raider took.

"Don't be cowards, he's just a human," shouted the leader of Ignarok University.

He charged at the Dragon Raider, and his other nine teammates followed.

What followed was literally a massacre, though no one died.

The Dragon Raider was dressed in a slick outfit—black pants and shirt with a red jacket on top.

He kept his hands in his pockets, as if he wasn't being attacked by ten enemies at once.

The first to strike was Ignarok's captain. Crossing his arms over his chest, he took a deep breath and roared.

"Fire Breath!" A powerful burst of flames shot from his mouth, engulfing the entire half of the stadium occupied by Drakthar.

The flames were so intense that Drakthar's vice-captain had to raise an ice shield to protect her teammates.

Her white hair swayed in the wind, and her cold expression soured slightly.

Though she wasn't among the top ten most powerful, Olivia Powell could put up a good fight and even beat some of them.

"That's enough," Aaron's voice came from behind Ignarok's team.

The team members turned, incredulous, and saw the Dragon Raider standing there, his face stoic, hands still in his pockets, staring at them.

"You never let me have any fun," he said, vanishing from everyone's sight and reappearing beside one of Ignarok's students.

"Nothing personal." Aaron barely shrugged his shoulder, and the blow sent the kid rocketing out of the stadium, crashing into the wall.

"You!" The kid's teammate noticed Aaron's presence and tried to attack, but Aaron calmly spun around and sent him flying with a kick.

The kid raised his hands to shield his chest, but that only got both his arms broken in the process.

"Two down," Aaron said with a sigh. "Why do you always take the fun out of things?"

Aaron locked eyes with Olivia, who stared back without a hint of fear, and he could only sigh again.

The ground in front of him shifted strangely, and two earthen spears shot up out of nowhere.

Sidestepping, he dodged the spears with extreme ease. He vanished again, and another kid went flying with a scream.

No matter what spell they threw at him, he dodged it effortlessly. No matter what defense they put up—be it their arms, elements, or even reinforced stone walls—they were shattered in a second, and the caster was sent soaring.

The only one left from Ignarok University was the captain, who frantically searched for Aaron's presence after he'd sent his last teammate flying.

He scoured the entire field but couldn't find him.

"Flying?" He looked up to see an unbelievable sight.

Aaron was standing on top of his own head, and he hadn't even noticed.

Rage surged through him, and he infused his fist with fire magic while pushing his Tiger Fist martial art to its limit.

Many in the audience were shocked by the Ignarok captain's capabilities.

His figure was engulfed in flames, and he let out a deep roar as he tried to strike Aaron.

To everyone's surprise, Aaron didn't dodge the attack. He took the hit head-on, the blow landing square in his chest.

The stadium held its breath as a loud thud echoed through the arena.

But Aaron didn't budge. The shirt on his chest was burned and tattered, but beneath it, his chiseled chest was completely unscathed.

Not a bruise, not a trace of a burn.

He was entirely unharmed!

The Ignarok captain, on the other hand, clutched his hand in shock and pain.

His fingers and wrist were broken in a bizarre way.

"What the hell is your body made of?" the captain asked, his face twisted in disbelief.

"Heh," Aaron just laughed and delivered a kick that sent him out of the field.

The Dragon Raider had single-handedly wiped out an elite university ranked among the top 20 in the country and ten intermediate mages—all without using his elements and with his hands in his pockets.

The stadium erupted in excitement, chanting his name as screens across the arena and the nation showed his confident smile and relaxed demeanor.

His spectacular performance left everyone in Venezia watching the tournament utterly stunned. But it also left the other universities across the country deeply worried and apprehensive.

"How far does his power go?" asked a participant, praying they wouldn't have to face Drakthar in the next round.

Others, however, were thrilled at the idea of fighting him.

Kael Draven felt his blood boil at the thought of facing him. Dimitri Prieto flexed his muscles and shadowboxed the air, sending small gusts of wind that rattled his teammates.

Blue Samurai stayed silent, but his hand gently gripped the sheath of his sword.

Among the crowd of competitors, Ben clicked his tongue and glared at Aaron with disdain.

He didn't like the guy—he couldn't stand him. That perfect, pretty smile, that tall, toned body, that flawless face… He just couldn't take it.

The guy hadn't done anything to him; they'd never even spoken.

But Ben felt he could never like, admire, or respect him.

The following matches continued as expected, with the best proving why they were the best.

Though Ben enjoyed watching their battles, he couldn't shake the itch he'd gotten from seeing that smug Dragon Raider.

The worst part was that from here, he could see Judy cheering for the guy with all her might, even more than for her own brother.

[Rubicon University vs. Florencia University]

Ben stood up, buzzing with excitement, ready to blow off some steam against the Florencia University kids.

"Look at this!" one of the Florencia University guys swaggered to the center of the stage, not caring much about being attacked by Rubicon's students. "This is supposed to be a tournament between universities, not high schoolers. What's wrong with your school? Can't even muster one decent, talented student?"

His words struck at Rubicon's pride, but they were words they couldn't refute.

Rubicon was the only university in the nation that accepted every student who couldn't get into other schools.

Their principles were the noblest among all universities.

*We accept everyone because everyone deserves a second chance.*

This fact earned them the reputation of being "the garbage university."

Over the years, Rubicon had surprised at tournaments by showcasing promising students who were later poached by other universities. On the flip side, some years they brought some of the worst teams ever seen.

A public university where the poor and weak gathered.

"We won't even need my whole university to fight," the guy said, rubbing his fists with a grin. "I'm enough to take out trash like you."

Laughter from the stadium joined the guy's cackle, sapping the already disheartened Rubicon students of any will to fight.

Ben let out an audible sigh and walked to the center of the stage, hands in his pockets. In an exaggerated strut, he puffed out his chest and held his gaze high and aloof.

He was doing his best Dragon Raider impression.

He reached the guy and looked at him like he was a walking joke.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" the guy asked, laughing.

Ben didn't answer. He crouched slightly and swept his left leg up. Before the guy could react, Ben's leg whipped forward, slamming into his right leg.

*Crack!*

The sharp sound of a bone breaking echoed through the stadium.

*Argh!*

The guy screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground, clutching his leg, which, instead of bending backward, now bent forward.

It was a scene as cruel as it was unsettling. Many people closed their eyes at the sight of the guy's leg, while others watched with morbid curiosity.

But Ben didn't stop there. In front of thousands of people and recorded live in real time, he shattered the guy's other leg with a kick and began pummeling him all over his body, careful not to injure him too severely but inflicting a hell of a lot of pain.

Just like the Dragon Raider, he kept his hands in his pockets.

He looked toward the competitors' area where the Dragon Raider stood and grinned, sending the guy flying out of the stadium field with a final blow.

"Now only nine to go!"