29 A 'Mere' Combat Class (3)

The crowd stood with bated breath as within the dome stood 'him,' a mysterious figure who had shown up from nowhere, someone who had been the talk of the school since the first day, someone with a family so powerful that the whole world knew of their existence, someone for whom the crowd had high expectations.

Unfortunately, they were sorely mistaken because the same figure they were looking at was Bellator. His palms sweated as he tightly gripped his sword, his heartbeat like distant drums thumped loudly.

Standing across from Bellator was his opponent, a black-haired individual with an aloof appearance; the look of disinterest in his eyes was proof of his confidence.

["Begin"] The AI blared, its monotonous voice causing the crowd to erupt with cheers as they gazed intently.

Though nothing happened, Bellator stood still, surveying his opponent for any movements, but it seemed like he was pissed.

"Hey, is this a joke?" his voice echoed throughout the arena, causing the crowd to watch in shock.

"You put me, the 25th rank student, against the last-ranked student. Do you think I'm a joke?" His voice blared through the arena, his expression a mix of anger and disappointment.

"I could finish off this guy with one hit, and you call that a fight," he continued, his arrogance clearly being accentuated by his words.

'Is he looking down on me?' Bellator thought, witnessing his opponent's claims, his anger growing.

"Jack, just fight," a deep voice boomed from outside the arena, the anger palpable as Jack's homeroom teacher spoke.

"Tch," knowing he couldn't disobey his teacher, Jack, with a cocky look in his eyes, dropped his sword.

"Huuhhh," collective gasps filled the arena as the crowd watched the spectacle; dropping your weapon purposefully in front of your opponent was one of the most disgraceful things someone could do with their opponent.

"He's toying with him," Lumenia noted, watching the fight.

"He's always been like that, purposefully putting others down to make himself look better," Julius answered, used to Jack's personality.

"He wants to increase his popularity by using the Arctic name. If he can defeat someone from the Arctic family, his own popularity will increase," Seraphina added, noticing Jack's intentions.

"Isn't he scared of the backlash? I'm sure the Arctics won't stand for one of their children being toyed with," Felix explained.

"He's a bastard child; the Arctics probably won't care about him unless he possesses immense potential," Julius added, his gaze also intently locked on the fight.

Not knowing the customs of the new world he inhabited, Bellator didn't know the significance of Jack dropping his weapon.

A grin plastered itself on Jack's face as his body catapulted towards Bellator; earth covered his fist as multiple projectiles hurled towards Bellator.

The projectiles were fast, leaving Bellator barely any room to dodge. As the first projectile headed towards him, Bellator ducked the Earth spike, barely missing his face.

Though that wasn't enough as dozens of other projectiles aimed for his figure. Managing to dodge another one, all Bellator's luck seemed to have been used up.

As eight Earth spikes embedded themselves into his body, blood spurted out his mouth as he immediately dropped to his knees, his vision went hazy.

'It hurts,' Bellator thought, his eyes threatening to close.

[500 Damage received by Class D]

"I'm not done yet," a cold voice echoed, even as Bellator's body threatened to faint; a punch was thrown towards his face, sending his body flying into the air.

[150 Damage received by Class]

"Is that all the Arctics can do?" Jack said, laughing.

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised. This is all you can do, after all; you're just a bastard child," Jack whispered in Bellator's ear, relishing his anguished screams.

The crowd roared, not caring about Bellator's battered body as they all watched excited.

"I see you're trying to take the easy way out by fainting. You won't rest until I allow you to rest," Jack said, his face morphing into sick pleasure as the thrill from beating Bellator rushed through his body.

Grabbing Bellator's head, he repeatedly bashed it against the hard concrete floor, causing Bellator's face to swell as a few of his teeth went flying.

'It hurts.' Gazing at the crowd, Bellator could see the sheer excitement from the crowd, their maliciousness flowing through the air as even the teachers, the ones who should have called off the match by now, watched uninterested.

"Hey, isn't this enough now? He's clearly lost," Vespera said angrily.

"Unless the AI announces the fight is over, they will continue," the homeroom teacher of B class replied, a grin plastered on his face as he watched.

"He's just a kid," Vespera responded pissed.

"A kid who joined Limitless Academy. If he can't even handle this much pain, he should just drop out," he responded.

'It hurts... why me... why did I get sent here? It would've been easier to die,' Bellator thought as Jack kept beating his tired body.

'Why me? What did I do to deserve this?' Bellator thought, his mind slowly deteriorating.

All Bellator could hear was Jack's laugh as a crazy smile was on his face.

'I should just kill him...' This thought entered Bellator's mind, threatening to consume him.

'Kill Him'

'Kill Him'

Unknown voices echoed within Bellator's mind as an unknown phenomenon occurred.

Snow started falling, touching both Bellator's and Jack's bodies.

'The snow feels nice,' Bellator thought, feeling an unnaturally high affinity with the snow descending on him.

The crowd watched with bated breath as an unknown phenomenon took over the arena.

"Is he..." Felix said before being cut off.

"Yes, he's awakening his Bloodline," Seraphina said, watching the spectacle unfold.

Vespera's eyes threatened to jump out of their sockets as she watched.

'The Arctic Bloodline, he's awakening,' Vespera thought, shocked.

Hidden amongst the spectators, a figure watched as a smile etched itself on his face.

"Welcome to the family, little brother," Lucius said, watching Bellator awaken.