My Special Ability is Growing Muscles

BOOM!

The impact of Kairo's punch reverberated like thunder.

And for the first time, the monster staggered back!

The Orc Warlord reeled from Kairo's thunderous punch, bone plates cracking like shattered stone. And finally, the look in its eyes changed as it acknowledged the brats that dared intrude into its domain for the first time.

The Orc Warlord was not the only one who reacted.

"…!" Adrain, Valek, and Selene stared with wide eyes.

Unlike the other students who had some distance between them, they were in the heat of the action and saw everything transpire.

One question rang in Adrain's head. 'That power… can I generate something like that?'

Another question rang in his head. 'Can I survive it if I'm on the end of that?'

'And that movement technique…'

For the first time, the look he gave Kairo changed. The closer he got to him, the more he realized just how abnormal his special ability was.

'I've never seen an E Rank hit that hard, not to talk of an E- Rank!'

Valek had a complicated look in his eyes, while Selene's eyes glowed in delight as their odds of surviving just increased.

Then, the hall quaked as the Orc Warlord roared, fully acknowledging them now as it took another step forward, but Kairo's fists already flashed before it could swing its axe…

BOOM!

It staggered again, and the others lashed out.

They chained their attacks, swarming the Orc Warlord in a barrage as its offensive finally faltered. But even when being overwhelmed, still it stood, still it swung, and every strike was still heavy enough to keep them on their toes.

Adrain's golden eyes blazed, threads of time spiraling around his fists.

He dashed forward as Chrono-Shift blurred his form, shifting his fists 2 seconds into the future as it collided with the Warlord's jaw in a devastating strike!

Time seemed to ripple seconds backward and forward at once every time he struck, disorienting the Undead Orc Warlord.

The monster staggered.

Selene's eyes sparkled as she took advantage, her phantoms surging and darting in to obscure its vision and distract it even more, each flicker of moonveil sorcery twisting the air around its swings.

But even as the battle raged, Valek felt it… the gap.

With Kairo now E- Rank, he and Adrain became the main force sustaining the pressure on the Orc Warlord.

He and Selene? They became support.

Every lash of his blood chains shattered against the Warlord's armor; every strike of his serpent barely slowed it. Next to Adrain's temporal precision and Kairo's explosive surge, he was a shadow, an afterthought.

'Am I… a burden?' The thought was poison to his mind.

For as long as Valek Drakar could remember, he was destined for dominance.

Son of a Diamond Guild Master, heir to the Blood Tyrant line, Obsidian Serpent coiled in his veins since birth. He was not meant to kneel, never beneath nobles, and never beneath a slumrat.

But here he was, his pride in tatters, his rage curdling.

Maybe his thoughts were immature, maybe this was not the right moments for these thoughts, but Valek was 16. He was immature.

The Warlord roared, swinging its axe in a horizontal sweep.

Adrain leapt back, Selene's veil cracked, but Kairo darted forward again, his muscles blurring with another Flex Surge as he chained his skills and art together in a devastating combo that broke through the Warlord's defense.

His fists clashed against the axe's shaft, diverting the blow. For one flicker of a moment, Kairo stood like a titan.

And Valek finally snapped.

"NO!"

He screamed as blood erupted from his pores, not wounds, rather a crimson torrent that coiled around him in a storm.

His serpent shrieked, its obsidian scales fracturing and reforming as a larger, blacker, and deadlier entity even as it drank the blood. His chains no longer cracked like whips, instead, they began writhing like living veins.

The system chimed.

DING!

~----~

[Congratulations! You have advanced to E- Rank.]

[Stat Threshold Crossed.]

[Passive Vampirism Enhanced.]

[Blood Tyrant Awakens: Bloodforge (Basic Form).]

>You can now condense spilled blood into temporary constructs like spikes, armor, or shackles. Durability is tied to vitality.

…

[System Remark: The serpent finally bares its fangs.]

~----~

Valek's eyes glowed crimson, fangs bared as he felt power course through him. "I will NOT be overshadowed!" He snarled as his mana density rose to new heights.

The others hadn't fully digested Kairo's sudden rank up when Valek did the same, shocking every witness.

The Warlord didn't dally this time, it struck again.

Adrain reacted fast as he froze time for a fraction longer than before, threads biting deeper. Kairo blurred into motion, his fists smashing into bone.

Selene's veil cloaked their movements, supporting their charge, her illusions slicing confusion into the monster's rotting mind.

And Valek? He was unleashed.

BZZZ!

His chains lashed out, not to restrain, but to pierce. Blood spikes erupted from his body, pinning the Warlord's leg. His serpent lunged, sinking fangs into the Warlord's chest and this time, they penetrated bone.

The Warlord howled, its defense faltering.

As they saw this, their eyes lit up and together, they pressed.

Adrain warped its swings with Chrono-Shift, his Celestial Dominion now dealing damage through the wounds that Kairo and Valek already opened on the body of the Undead Orc Warlord.

Kairo shattered its guard with his impeccable timing, as his two weeks' hand to hand combat lessons blossomed in real combat.

Valek bound the Warlord's legs, slowing it down while Selene veiled their combat rhythm, weaving illusions to mask every strike.

The Warlord struggled to follow their rhythm.

This was their first time fighting together. The synergy was still raw and unrefined, but it was enough now.

Adrain's fists flashed golden, Kairo's muscles bulged, Flex Surge hurling him like a battering ram, while Valek's serpent constricted, blood-forged shackles binding the axe-hand.

And then all three struck at once.

KABOOM!

The Warlord's chest cracked open in an explosion of light, muscle, and blood-forged steel and then, it collapsed with a thunderous crash, dust and bone scattering across the ruin.

For a heartbeat, the ruin was silent.

Kairo stared into the blood-red eyes of the Undead Warlord in its last moments, and he saw something beyond just the ravenous hunger of an Undead.

Its eyes squinted in an emotion that felt like… relief?

The Orc Warlord finally died as its eyes grew dim.

Then, slowly, students across the battlefield turned. They were battered, bruised, and wounded, but still, they stared at the four of them together.

'Monsters!' Was the only thought that rang in their head.

The 4 of them were children just like them, freshers just like them… yet they had just slain a D- Rank Undead Warlord!

Mira gasped with wide eyes, her sweat-streaked hair clinging to her face.

Her lips trembled. "They… they actually did it."

Kairo staggered back, his chest heaving, sweat dripping down his arms. Beside him, Valek's crimson aura dimmed, his serpent shrinking as bloodchains collapsed into mist.

Kairo stared at him, then he smirked. "Maybe you're not half bad afterall".

Valek snorted.

Beside them, Adrain's eyes dulled, the golden glow fading, while Selene's veil fluttered out like dying moonlight.

They were standing, and the Warlord wasn't.

They won.

The Captains arrived seconds later, talk about rotten timing. Captain Helios's blades dripped with the blood of the other D Rank.

One glance at the fallen Warlord told them everything.

One of the C Rank Captains whispered in disbelief. "They actually did it! I thought they'll just stall it," he looked at the time limit they set in disbelief.

In the end, they didn't had to intervene at all.

No one answered the instructors.