My Special Ability is Growing Muscles

The night was quiet, too quiet.

Maybe Professor Elara had lied about the difficulty of the mission afterall.

From how the Professor painted the mission and the warning attached to the announcement of their first mission, the freshers expected to be plunged into carnage immediately and hence why most of them were so scared.

But in hindsight, maybe Professor Elara exaggerated the danger a bit.

Throughout the marathon march of the day as they escorted the caravan of supplies, the supply caravan didn't suffer any attack, not from beasts, and not from bandits either.

Yes, in the age of Awakened, not all of them were Heroes. There were also bandits in this age, the only difference being that most of them were also Awakened.

This was why apart from monsters attacking the supply caravans, the students also worried about bandits, but none of them came.

And night already came, yet still no danger.

The freshers had expected howls, roars, or at least the scrape of claws against the trees, but nothing came. The forest was just that… still and quiet.

The instructors' presence, each a bonafide C Rank Awakened stretched like an invisible barrier over the camp, protecting them from the unknown.

Even the creatures lurking in the forest kept their distance, instincts screaming at them not to approach due to the aura of the instructors.

And in that tranquil quiet, the students got the luxury of winding down after the long day of trek protecting the supply caravan.

A dozen campfires glowed faintly, casting warm light over the tents as laughter trickled out from knots of students, their earlier dread melting away.

Some passed around dried meat from their packs, others rubbed at their blistered heels with salves nobles carried in abundance.

And just like that, they no longer complained as they finally found comfort and leisure in the mission.

The danger of the mission seemed almost laughable now.

"Maybe this isn't so bad after all," a student muttered. "I mean, what did we expect? We're the elite students of Nexus Academy afterall".

"Haha, you're right, we're the best talents of the human domain!" Another added with a bright smile on his face.

"If every night is like this, we'll be back in a week with fat CP rewards".

A few chuckled, embers sparking into the air like carefree sparks of their optimism as they relaxed from the long day.

But not everyone laughed.

…

[Valek's POV]

On the edge of the firelight, Valek Drakar sat rigid, arms folded, his serpent-etched cloak draped around him like armor. The crackle of the fire irritated him, and the laughter grated against his ears, but he didn't complain.

Why? Because some of his followers also laughed among themselves, enjoying the peace and quiet of the night.

Staring at them coldly, he felt irritated. He wasn't thinking about the mission, neither was he wasn't thinking about monsters.

He was thinking about Kairo Vale, the slumrat.

Ever since that day, Valek changed. He tried to act like nothing changed, he was just as arrogant as usual, even more arrogant but only he knew the truth that after that day, life was never the same again.

Since that day, Kairo Vale became a face that consistently haunted his dreams. He couldn't stop thinking about him.

His jaw clenched, teeth grinding until his gums ached. The image of Kairo's fist flashing toward him replayed endlessly behind his eyes.

The roar of the crowd, the way his body hit the floor, the silence that followed, and him waking up in the clinic… these were memories forever embedded in his brain.

He would never forget them.

He had lived his whole life wrapped in certainty, certainty that he was superior, certainty that nobility meant strength, certainty that commoners existed only to kneel before people like him.

But that certainty had been shattered by one blow.

He secretly pressed a palm to his chest when his followers were not looking, nails digging into his shirt. "It was luck," he whispered, too low for anyone to hear. "A trick, that is what it was".

"He can't be stronger than me, he can't," he repeatedly muttered to himself.

And yet…

His eyes flicked to the opposite side of the camp where Kairo sat by his own fire with Mira at his side, laughing quietly at something she said.

His posture was relaxed, shoulders loose, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion yet still sharp. He looked like he belonged there.

Grrr!

He grounded his teeth.

That infuriated him more than the punch.

'How does a slumrat sit there like he's an equal? Like he's earned this?'

His fists curled as the Obsidian Serpent coiled faintly around his arm, a flicker of mana betraying his agitation.

He smothered it quickly before anyone noticed.

He told himself he hated Kairo, but beneath that hatred lay something darker… a gnawing awareness. Kairo fought with nothing but raw instinct, yet those instincts had been honed in places Valek had never touched.

Those instincts had been honed in hunger, survival, and the streets.

Before he knew it, he was obsessed with Kairo. Every single action that he made, he always sought validation from the slumborn rat directly or indirectly.

Kairo became a ghost that he could not quite get rid of.

'I was born into silk and steel', he thought bitterly. 'He was born into teeth and claws, and still he beat me'. He clenched his fists.

The thought hollowed him out; it left him restless.

That night, sleep did not come.

While the other freshers drifted off, some snoring, others murmuring, Valek lay awake, eyes fixed on the shadowed outline of Kairo across the camp.

Every twitch of his fingers, every shift of his posture, Valek noted, catalogued, and studied.

'What makes you different, slumrat?'

Before he knew it, he was even more obsessed with Kairo than he was obsessed with Adrain, the true golden goose.

Without knowing it, he was already beginning to place Kairo on the same pedestal that he placed Adrain on though he would never admit it.

Sometime later, the campfire's last sparks faded to the night, replaced by the pale gray wash of dawn. Still, Valek's eyes never left him.

And as the instructors stirred, rallying the students for Day 2 of their mission, Valek swore to himself in the silence of his heart.

"I'll break you, Kairo Vale".

"Even if it takes me one year, or ten. I'll break you, and I'll prove that nobility was never wrong."

But deep inside, a small voice whispered back.

'Or will you prove that nobility was always a lie?'

He shut his eyes tight, smothering the thought.

When he opened his eyes again, they were cold and full of arrogance and condescending pride.

With a loud blare, the horn call for morning assembly echoed through the trees.

The second day had begun.