Eternal Freedom's Ascension

Chapter 184: At the end of the day...

After Gaga’s match against Ashley, every other duel for the day seemed dull.

In the hearts of the students, Gaga instantly became a monster on the same level as Kaiser Solace of Class-E.

Although, unlike the golden-eyed youth, Kaiser had never displayed his strength publicly. Therefore, a lot of people doubted he would even be able to handle Gaga’s overwhelming raw power.

As the last battle for the day ended, Hazel turned to look at Kaiser, only to be surprised.

’He’s asleep?’

Wasn’t he the one who asked her to watch all these duels and note down the abilities of the other students? Why was he sleeping then?

A sigh escaped her lips, and she took a look at his sleeping face.

’It looks... peaceful.’

She turned away, looking at the long list of student names and abilities on her phone.

Her eyes lingered on one. The Class-B anomaly, Gaga.

Remembering the devastating abilities he showed while battling Ashley, Hazel felt herself shudder.

’For a Rank 1 Awakened to posses such power... what the hell is his ability?’

The boy only fought once, and his opponent hadn’t been able to force him to reveal any trump card.

’That force... could it be his ability?’

It was highly possible, but there was no evidence. She could only write down what she had observed during the battle.

Looking at the scoreboard, her heart dropped.

It had been updated, and the cumulative scores for the classes were shown.

Class-A - 34 pts

Class-B - 53 pts

Class-C - 29 pts

Class-D - 28 pts

Class-E - 19 pts

Just as she expected, Class-E was already dead last from the first day. Austin’s Class-D’s performance was surprising, as they seemed to be heavily competing with Apollo’s Class-C.

’Class-B...’

Hazel’s eyes darkened, looking at that class’s high points.

’They were made Class-A for a reason, and I can tell... they’re going to become Class-A after this evaluation.’

"You shouldn’t focus on them for now. You aren’t even qualified to compete with them."

Hearing Kaiser’s bored voice, she flinched.

"When did you wake up?"

He blinked, then shook his head. "Wake? I merely shut my eyes. The duels were all uninteresting."

Watching colorless humans battle each other stirred no interest in him.

Hazel gave him a weirded look, then looked at the scoreboards again.

"Wait. How do you know I was thinking about Class-B?"

Kaiser simply shrugged and stood. "The focus of your retina isn’t hard to deduce."

His heels clicked softly against the ground as he walked away.

"Huh..."

Hazel deadpanned, massaging her eyebrows gently.

............

Walking down the street to the dormitory, Kaiser slowed his pace slightly.

The sun was already setting, and the upperclassmen were still not back on campus. The streets were almost empty, with a few first-years moving around.

’Boring.’

Kaiser stopped. His gaze lifted to the tall tree lines by the roadside, then to the facility buildings scattered in the distance.

’Everything here... is restrictive. Too restrictive.’

At first, he had been willing to at least observe. After all, the Patriarch had specifically recommended this academy and even helped him apply.

Now, after spending months in the academy, Kaiser felt the school’s training system for Awakened was too... boring.

Students were expected to compete in each special evaluation while aiming for the goal of becoming Class-A.

It was a good system—especially with the balance of academics and combat orientation.

Still, it wasn’t good enough.

’A little fix should help.’

Glancing at the limiter locked around his wrist, Kaiser’s eyes turned cold.

’A playground where everything is fair will not bring the children maximum enjoyment.’

The limiter... should be broken.

However, not by violence. But by a systematic series of events that would force the school authorities to abolish their own system.

Bringing a palm over his face, Kaiser closed his eyes and sighed wearily.

’I apologize in advance, Chairman Jonathan. It will be a bit chaotic in this semester.’

The school was about to experience an upheaval.

...............

Meanwhile, a few minutes after the students were released and allowed to return to the dormitory, Apollo left the arena with his gang, a clear target in his mind.

They stalked the student from a distance, gradually tailing him until he stopped.

The boy stood alone, his arms crossed as they surrounded him.

Finally, he looked straight at Apollo and spoke.

"Just four of you came to admire my magnificence? What happened to your other classmates?"

The other three students were baffled with his words, but Apollo merely smiled.

"Magnificence? You have quite some pride." He took two steps forward. "Has anyone ever told you how repulsing you are, Sebastian?"

The golden-haired youth wasn’t angered by those words. Instead, he looked at Apollo with pity.

"Ah... your eyes could not withstand my brilliance."

He placed a palm over his chest.

"What an unfortunate thing. You have my sincere condolence."

Apollo’s lips twitched, and he shook his head.

"You’re really something annoying."

Pushing aside his own hair that dangled before his eyes, Apollo gave him a hard stare.

"I was thinking about how to make this special evaluation favorable to my class..."

He pulled out a pair of brass knuckles from his pockets, then wore them on both hands.

"... then I thought about weakening every strong opponent who already had a battle today. Not your usual fair strategy, I’d say."

The other three, Thyla, Sermin, and Alexander, all took fighting stances, ready to engage him.

Frowning faintly, Sebastian checked his wristwatch.

"Hmm. I only have five minutes to spare. Let’s see how much you can admire me during this period."

Hearing that comment, Apollo’s smile became forced.

’This guy... is he really that confident? Or it’s just a bluff? And this place we are... there is absolutely no surveillance.’

Sebastian had intentionally led them to a blindspot.

’Well, I’ll have to thank him later.’

As the tension peaked, Thyla dove in first. She took two huge steps towards Sebastian, then aimed a kick at his neck.

The boy casually blocked her attack, even pushing her leg away.

Thyla didn’t let up and followed with another kick to his face.

This time, Sebastian stepped back, dodging the attack carefully.

Sermin suddenly appeared behind him, his hands aiming for his shoulders to grapple him.

However, Sebastian was faster. He grabbed the boy’s wrists before he could touch him, then flipped him over, smacking him on the ground.

Bam!

"Ahk..."

The boy groaned in pain, meanwhile Sebastian shifted his focus to Alexander.

The pink-haired boy calmly approached him, his left hand hung at his side stiffly. It seemed he was still unwell from his battle with Logan.

As he threw a punch with his right hand, Sebastian raised his own hand to block.

Suddenly, the right fist was retracted—a feint.

Alexander’s stiff arm suddenly snapped up, shooting for the golden-haired boy’s chin.

"Ah..."

Sebastian blinked in surprise, then grabbed the boy’s wrist.

Thyla tried to kick at him from behind, but he simply moved aside and led Alexander’s punch to hit Thyla’s ankle.

The girl gasped in pain, crumpling to the ground immediately.

Meanwhile, Sebastian placed a palm on Alexander’s stomach, then flipped him over, smacking him to the ground beside Sermin.

Apollo stood and watched everything coldly, his purple eyes not leaving Sebastian for once.

’His fighting style...’

Closing his eyes briefly, he snapped them open, then shot at Sebastian.

He began with straight punches, fast and precise.

Sebastian weaved through them, taking several steps back to maintain a safe distance.

However, Apollo pressed on relentlessly.

He kept throwing his fists, aiming at Sebastian’s face. Then, he abruptly switched.

Dropping low, he aimed his fist at Sebastian’s midsection.

The golden-haired boy noticed immediately and pressed down on the wrist with both of his hands.

Apollo reacted immediately, throwing his other hand straight at Sebastian’s lowered head.

At the last moment, they boy tilted his head, causing Apollo’s strikes to hit nothing but strands of gold hair.

The boy’s purple eyes sharpened.

His fist which was beside Sebastian’s head suddenly opened up, and he grabbed a handful of his gold hair.

"Hah?"

Sebastian’s eyes widened, surprised. He would go that low?

Holding the hair tightly, Apollo yanked Sebastian forward and aimed a punch at his solar plexus.

Sebastian willingly took two steps forward to avoid feeling any pain on his head, then swatted aside Apollo’s fist.

However, the purple-haired delinquent wasn’t even fazed.

Now in close proximity with each other, he simply headbutted Sebastian.

Bang.

The two separated, with Apollo instinctively releasing Sebastian’s hair.

His eyes spun as he took two unsteady steps backwards.

As a former delinquent, Apollo had headbutted many of his enemies during fights, and believed in the strength of his own skull.

Today, however, he was outclassed.

’That head...’

Staring at Sebastian’s neat forehead, Apollo’s pupils shrank.

Perfectly balanced, Sebastian checked his watch, and looked at Apollo’s expression.

"Seems like you’ve finally realized."

Smiling, he brought out a comb and adjusted his hairstyle.

"Your five minutes is up. Now, if you’ll excuse me... I have to go."

Sebastian turned around and left, with no one making a move to stop him.

Alexander tried to give a chase, but Apollo merely shook his head.

"That’s enough. We’re done with him."