Chapter 4: The Ambush

Lucas Vance had just survived the most grueling experience of his life—forced exercise.

And what was his reward?

A good night's sleep.

Or at least, that was the plan.

But unfortunately, a group of jealous upperclassmen had something much more… painful in mind.

Lucas trudged down the academy hallway, barely keeping his eyes open.

His actual goal?

Raid the academy kitchen.

His excuse if he got caught?

"Sleepwalking."

But as he approached the dormitory, something felt… off.

The usual flickering torches had been extinguished. The normally noisy hallways were dead silent.

Lucas scratched his head. "Weird. Did everyone die or something?"

Then he shrugged. Not his problem.

As he took another step—

WHOOSH!

A trap rope snapped up, yanking him into the air!

"Ah, crap," Lucas muttered, hanging upside down.

From the shadows, seven upperclassmen warriors stepped forward.

At the center of them all stood Dante Ravencroft, a top-ranked student known for his vicious combat skills.

"So, this is the legendary 'Strongest Sloth'?" Dante sneered.

Lucas blinked. "Uh… who?"

Dante's eye twitched. "You."

"Oh. Cool."

Dante smirked. "You embarrassed Brutus. You humiliated Cedric. And now, we're going to teach you your place."

Lucas sighed. "Why is everyone so dramatic here? Can't we just settle things over food?"

One of Dante's goons cracked his knuckles. "Let's see if you can sleep through this, you lazy bastard."

Lucas blinked. "Wait, hold up—"

They all attacked at once.

Lucas, still hanging upside down, muttered, "Man, this sucks."

Then, without warning—

He fell asleep.

One of the thugs lunged—

Lucas twitched mid-snore, swinging in the air, dodging the attack by pure accident.

Another student struck—

Lucas's unconscious reflexes kicked in, and he twisted in his sleep—delivering a perfect spinning kick to the attacker's face.

A third tried to grab him—

Lucas, completely unaware, flopped over, his arm smacking the guy so hard that he crashed into a wall.

BAM!

WHACK!

CRASH!

One by one, the upperclassmen collapsed.

Dante watched in horror as Lucas—still fast asleep—took down his entire squad without even knowing.

"This… this is a joke, right?" Dante whispered.

Lucas let out a loud snore.

Dante gritted his teeth. "Tch. No more games."

Dante wasn't just some random upperclassman—he had a hidden ability.

He raised his hand, and suddenly—

The torches flickered back to life.

Shadows twisted and stretched around him, forming clawed hands.

"I was going to save this for the tournament," Dante muttered, shadow energy swirling around his body.

"But I think I'll make an exception for you."

His shadowy hands lashed out, grabbing Lucas by the neck.

Lucas woke up.

"Dude. Not cool."

Dante smirked. "Finally awake, huh? Good. I want you to feel this."

Lucas yawned. "Nah."

Then he leaned back—and went back to sleep.

Dante's eye twitched. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Lucas's body swayed forward in his sleep, accidentally headbutting Dante.

CRACK!

Dante staggered back. His concentration broke, and the shadow hands vanished.

Lucas, still barely conscious, mumbled, "Shh… I'm dreaming about grilled steak…"

And then he collapsed onto Dante.

BOOM!

Dante's body slammed into the ground.

As Lucas peacefully snored on top of a defeated Dante, footsteps echoed down the hall.

Instructor Roderick appeared, arms crossed.

Beside him?

The Headmaster.

"…What happened here?" the old man asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dante, barely able to breathe, wheezed, "H-he… h-he's a monster."

Roderick smirked. "So let me get this straight. You and your little gang tried to ambush Lucas… and you all got wrecked?"

Dante gritted his teeth. "IT WASN'T NORMAL! HE—"

Roderick cut him off. "Save it. You upperclassmen knew the academy rules. No after-hours fighting."

Dante paled. "Wait, but—"

The Headmaster's eyes gleamed. "Punishment is in order."

Lucas snored loudly.

The Headmaster sighed. "And someone… wake that boy up."

---

By the time the academy woke up, the entire school was buzzing.

Rumors spread like wildfire:

Lucas Vance had defeated an entire squad of upperclassmen—including Dante Ravencroft—IN HIS SLEEP.

And now?

Dante was assigned three weeks of janitor duty.

Lucas, on the other hand, was given…

A free meal coupon.

Lucas held the coupon in his hands the next morning, staring at it like it was a divine artifact.

Claire groaned. "You're telling me you accidentally defeated a shadow-wielding warrior, got him in trouble, and got rewarded for it?"

Lucas grinned. "Some people call it 'luck.' I call it 'destiny.'"

Claire rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

Lucas patted his stomach. "Come on, let's get breakfast. I suddenly feel hungry."

Claire sighed. "You always feel hungry."

And with that, the legend of the Academy's Strongest Sloth continued.

---

End of Chapter 4.