Strength, I have it too.

"Earth." The one called salamander said. 

"Fire." Dex answered. 

Now that each of them had mentioned their affinities, the fight could begin. 

Salamander did not even waste a single second, he twisted his body and aimed his leg out as he launched the first attack. 

Dex was unprepared as he assumed it would be one of those fights where opponents moved to opposite ends and then launched their attacks from there. The stomach ripping kick hit his ribs with a force and sent him flying backwards. His body fell into the chairs and he hit his head on a chair corner. 

He felt as if his body had been by a big truck carrying a ton of bricks. How strong was this guy? Dex had been under the impression that Brock Livingston was the strongest combat mage here but maybe he had been wrong. 

Apparently he had let slip the biggest lesson he had learned from his last life. Just because you do not know about the existence of other strong individuals does not mean they do not exist.

A small stream of blood trickled down his neck. Dex touched it and he laughed beneath his breath. 

Someone in the room hissed and others laughed boisterously. 

"I told you red, you are going to die here. That's not even forty percent of his strength." 

"You have one thousand eighteen points, do not put this villain system to shame." he heard in his mind. 

"Hey red, is that all you have? You should run back to the spell casters if you are this weak." Brock shouted at him.

Dex merely glanced at Brock and casually looked at his opponent who was approaching him with a predatory look in his eyes. The salamander wanted to drag him back to the ring.

"Maximize my strength." he told the system. 

"Eighty five points awarded to strength. Maximizing lowest strength levels, refresh, new level started." 

Strength: [0/1000]

Dex would have dwelled more on that but the Salamander grabbed his leg and flung him over his into the air like a ball. The other students stepped aside and his body fell against a wall. 

A loud cheering went around the room as the other students celebrated his misery. His body slid down slowly and Dex staggered as he got to his feet. 

His body did not hurt much from being banged around this time round but his head was woozy. He felt as if loud chipping birds were circling around him. He could also test blood in his mouth and he could feel a wound on his tongue.

The other students laughed and a few even high fived. Salamander raised his arms and roared. 

Dex did not know his identity but everyone here did. He was the first born son of the lord of the Sala clan. Naturally he was born to be outstanding among his peers. He had mastered the basics of turning his very bones into stone to crush his enemies to death. A small opponent like Dex was nothing more than a little lizard meant to be crushed at the bottom of his feet. 

"Are you giving up killer?" the teacher asked Dex. 

Even though he was now almost fully recovered from the wooziness, Dex glared at the teacher. What was with these people and the name calling. One was calling him red and another was calling him killer. 

"My name is Dex." he bit out. 

The teacher looked bored and he yawned. He said to Dex, "You earn the right to be called by your name if your initiation is successful. You are what we want to call you until you succeed. So, killer, are you giving up?" 

Salamander roared again and he moved decisively toward Dex. 

As soon as he reached, him, his hand physically changed and bulged, turning brown like dirt. He raised it , opened his mouth, yelled and threw a punch.

"Don't kill the kid." Brock yelled. 

Others in the room gasped as well and the teacher prepared himself to intervene. Salamander sometimes went beyond what was necessary. This was a test not a murder ground. 

Dex on the other hand was excited to test out his new strength and he welcomed the punch with a smile on his face, exposing his bloody teeth. His strength surged and he met salamander's punch with one of his own.

A crunching sound was heard and everyone assumed that Dex's arm was broken. 

The kid had really overestimated his own strength. How could he try to punch a hand that was in rock formation. It was like trying to punch the ground itself.

A mewling sound of obvious pain was heard and everyone assumed that it was coming from Dex's mouth. When they looked closer however, Dex was smiling. 

On closer observation, Salamander was cradling his arm with a pale face and a trembling body while Dex seemed to be completely fine.

"Shit." someone said.

"Get the pills." the teacher yelled. He hurried to Salamander's side and supported him, cradling his injured arm. 

"What the fuck?" someone asked.

Did they simply underestimate the new kid? How strong was he? Was he stronger than Salamander or did he get a lucky hit in? 

Salamander was the strongest after Brock. If the kid was stronger than Salamander then he would automatically become number two in the class. 

Or maybe he was even stronger than Brock. Was that even possible? But if he was so strong, how had Salamander tossed him around twice? 

Brock was one of the fastest to approach Dex. He turned him around and looked him up and down. No matter how he looked at it, the kid did not look like he had much strength. Where was the brawn and muscle? 

He looked at Dex curiously and asked, "You, red, how did you do that?"

Other students came closer or ached their necks to eavesdrop and hear his answer. 

"I am not you or red, my name is Dex." he replied. 

Brock folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "Red, you are really obsessed with hearing your name. Fine, Dex, how did you do that?"

Dex shrugged and said, "Strength, I have it too." 

"What kind of answer is that?" Brock asked him. 

"The only one you are going to get out of me." Dex answered. He looked at the teacher who was shoving a pill into Salamander's mouth and asked, "Does this mean I have passed?" 

"Oh." the teacher said and nodded. "Training starts at nine everyday in the training hall behind the herb hall. It's for one hour and then you do whatever you want." 

Dex smiled and turned around. He had accomplished his goal of coming to school for the day and he could now head back home a proud villain and plan the financial future of his family.