Chapter CIII - The Council President (part 1)

It's Tuesday.

It's only seven in the morning.

And yet, my door is already getting knocked by people wanting to challenge...

Ugh, I guess this is the downside of becoming so famous? How the hell did they even find my room?

If this goes on, people are just going to keep knocking on my door. They won't stop harassing me at a personal level.

How should I solve this problem...?

Maybe I should... deal with all of them quickly?

Straight away, I took a bath and quickly cleaned up. I ignored the angry mob outside and simply focused on what I'm doing, and I managed to finish preparing quite quickly.

I wore my training suit yet again, then I went outside to meet with the challengers. We then head out to the gymnasium, where even more people are already waiting.

Whoever planned the challenges this morning... they sure as hell prepared. Starting from knocking on my door, all the way until the spectators up there.

The mastermind has to be someone in a high place, right?

After arriving at the arena, I walked straight to the middle without anyone ever telling me to. And seeing the main character walking towards the middle like this, everyone became aware that I'm willing to put all of this aside quickly.

But, they don't know what methods I'm thinking.

"Why don't all of you come at me all at once?"

I said aloud to the crowd of spectators that was above the arena, and also to the seniors on the arena itself. And certainly, none of them look pleased by what I just said.

"You know, fighting one by one is boring, and it took so much of our time. So, why not all of you come at once? That way, I can have more free time for myself later."

I said seriously to them, and they all really looked like they wanted to beat me up. So one by one, they entered the arena. And suddenly, I'm surrounded by a group of seniors.

I looked around and noticed their mean expressions. They are wearing their training suits, just like me, and they know very well that I'm not weak.

This should be fun.

"You better don't regret this!"

One of the female seniors said while charging up her lightning magic, and I noticed that it is at the Intermediate tier. It's quite common here at the academy, but such a level is probably rare to find at the Adventurer's Office.

"Just like before. Free magic, free battle, until one side can't fight anymore."

I explained while taking a stance, and I formed fists with my hands. All of them quickly activated their magic powers. A lot of them used body augmentation, body enchanting, as well as magical abilities, like fireballs and such.

They are all well trained. I can tell that they are indeed seniors, because they already got the basics down. First year students wouldn't be able to do augmentations so easily, unlike what they're doing.

I studied them one by one again, and I realized all of them are ready.

"Okay. Begin!"

"""HOAAAA!!!!!--"""

They all rushed forward together. They know I'm strong, and I know that this will be a challenge for me. 

But, I kept calm, and I used their numbers against them.

I dashed forward and attacked the group in front of me. When the front line seniors saw me moving towards them, I unleashed a little bit of my bloodlust at them. They all froze when I got near.

BAMM!!

BAMMM!!!

BLAARRRR!!!

Explosions after one another occurred as I swam through the ocean of angry students while dancing. They all used every type of attack on me, but my eyes can see through every single one.

A senior in front of me threw a giant fireball at me. I threw a fireball of my own, and they collided and exploded into a thick smoke. I leaped through the smoke and landed my foot on his face. 

BAKKK!!!!!

His body flew away and crashed on the walls.

I didn't stop there and continued feasting on the prey. One by one, the challengers got thrown out of the arena. Sometimes I threw a firebomb or two, throwing away five students at once.

After fifteen minutes of massacre, all the angry challengers are either down on the ground or decorated on the wall along with a crater.

I dusted my hands off and stared at the bodies of the students on the ground. They weren't dead, but they all looked lifeless.

"Fuh… I did it."

I mumbled to myself while studying the seniors that are deepened on the walls, and I can tell that some of them are already trying to crawl out. For sure, they can't fight anymore, but it's still surprising to see that some of them can still move after what just happened.

So, this is the level of the seniors in the academy...?

Truthfully, I'm very disappointed. None of them are at the level of a Yellow ranking adventurer, which is already a bad sign considering this academy was a very well known one.

Then again, all of them are probably pushovers. The real deal... has yet to make an appearance.

"You have caused quite a ruckus, here."

TAP!!

A person landed behind me after jumping down from the spectators seat. I turned around and noticed her grin firsthand. 

It's the head of the student council, Milly. Her attire looks the same as I remember her, and she's not wearing a training suit. But, the look on her face tells me something else.

"I can hear the battles all the way from my dorm, you know?"

"Uhm… Sorry?"

The girls dormitory is all the way on the other side of the academy, since the gymnasium is right behind the lab building. It's quite far away, and for the explosions to be heard all the way from there… I must have caused quite the rumble this early morning.

Although, technically it was the acts of the seniors, but all in the sake of attacking me. I am also at fault for pissing them off.

"How about this...?"

Milly asked as she slowly lowered her posture, forming a combat stance that I'm very familiar with.

Oh…

"Since you have been so naughty…"

She reopened her sharp eyes and stared straight into my soul. Immediately, I know that I'm about to be punished by the student council president.

"I… will be the one to teach you a lesson."

The students on the ground around us quickly realized what's going on, and they all cleared out of the way. The ones outside the arena, including the spectators on the second floor, all turned wild seeing Milly preparing for combat.

And seeing their reactions, I can tell that what is happening is quite unusual. As such, I should act like I don't understand.

"Eh, Lady Milly, I don't--"

"What's wrong? Spooked out? Just for your information, at my year's final semester battle, I placed third in the ranking."

Wow. That's…

"Unpredictable? How do you think I got the head of the student council position?"

Not just unpredictable. It's simply not what I was thinking about. I just wasn't sure that we should be fighting.

Milly is… like a friend to me. She's one of the only ones in this academy who I've truly talked with. I don't want to beat her up…

"If you're hesitating, then forget it. To tell you the truth, I've been itching to challenge you as well when I saw you fight. It's something that's been on my mind for so long, and I hope you can respect my wishes."

Milly explained her wishes to me, and I can understand why she asks such things.

I'm strong. To anyone in the academy, I'm a very strong challenger who can definitely be a learning figure for them. Simply by challenging me, I'm certain that all of these seniors learned good and bad things about themselves.

And Milly, while she is very different from all those seniors, she is just the same. She wants to learn and grow as well.

As such, I shouldn't reject her request. Besides, she is actually the one I've been wanting to show up for so long.

The 'real deal' that I've been so excited to see.

"All right... Then, let us enjoy this as much as possible."

A wide grin formed on my face as I took on a fighting stance as well. If she is as good as she says, then I mustn't let my guard down.

Come to think about it, back at the first evening I got here, Alame was quite scared of her when she came. For someone to be that scared, I guess she really is strong.

The two of us stared at one another as our grins got wider. We know very well that the both of us are special among the students, so this battle will be interesting for us… and for everyone.

"L-Look at that! The council president is challenging!"

"It's about time the pros are coming down!"

The crowd around us all added their own comments. They all turned crazy from seeing the council president challenging me, and they know very well that Milly isn't weak.

Looks like the academy really looks up to her. 

"All right, get ready, girls!"

Somehow, Plauren came out of nowhere from within the crowd. He stood on the side of the arena, lifting his hand up and preparing the countdown.

How did this guy just come out of nowhere, every single time? I thought he's an ice mage?

"Get ready!!"

After Plauren's call, Milly and I traded glares again. A soft smirk formed on our faces, excited to face the events coming towards us.

"Get set!... Go!!!"

ZZRRRTT!!!!!!

The council president made the first move. Her ability is nature magic, and in an instant, she called forth multiple gigantic roots from the ground. 

The roots appeared from the ground after breaking open the floor, and they quickly slither towards me to grab my body. Once all my limbs got tied up, I became immobilized.

ZZRRRRRRRTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!

She didn't stop. More and more giant roots appeared around me and started to close me off, slowly forming into a giant tree.

Then... nothing happens.

My body was completely gone inside the tree. Milly stared at the tree very confusedly, because nothing was happening even after ten seconds had passed.

"Do you think she's dead?"

"No way dude! Didn't you see how she beat up nearly fifty seniors at once??"

The crowd started to question some things. Some of them became worried that I somehow died, while others know very well how strong I am.

Well, I can't say for sure that I even got hurt from these.

FWUUMM!!!!!!!!!

The tree roots are starting to burn. And since it wasn't just a normal fire, the fire burns much quicker. 

It's an intermediate tier fire, the red fire.