WHAP!!!
A loud slapping noise echoed across the ground floor, causing everyone in the lounge to drop their jaws in surprise.
The sight was quite unbelievable, a total opposite of what they were expecting. Ivan, the one who received a backhand slap from me, staggered back, feeling the sharp sting on his cheek as he winced.
As for his blow, I dodged it easily while responding with that slap. As a result, his assault didn’t work at all.
‘I wasn’t going to resort to violence since that would be immature…’
Plus, we were being watched, so there was a chance that violence would attract an unknown penalty. However, I had been patient enough to ensure there were unquestionable justifications for my action.
One, Ivan stole my lunch.
Two, he threatened me.
Three, he struck first.
Using these three factors as a basis, there was no way I could be shackled by the fear of any punishment.
In fact, I was well within my rights to attack. And attack I would!
‘Brace yourself, Ivan Smith…’
Ivan, after recoiling from the shocking hit I gave to his now reddened cheek glared at me with surprise and anger.
“You little shit! How dare you!” He burst out.
‘Um… what was I supposed to do? Let you hit me instead?’
The injured pride of Ivan began manifesting as he gave heavy breaths. His eyes bulged, nearly out of their sockets and I could tell he had most likely never gotten such treatment from anyone.
“Hey, brat! Apologize to Ivan!”
“What do you think you are?”
“It’s just lunch!”
The minions behind Ivan shouted at me, all eyeing me with animosity, totally different from the amused expressions from earlier.
“I’ll make you regret this!” He tightened his fist.
‘So he’s going for another hit, uh? I should take the initiative, then.’
WHOOOOSHH
In a flash, I vanished from where I stood and appeared before Ivan using high-speed movements.
“W-wha-?!”
Before he could react in shock after seeing about appear before him, I gave another backhand slap on his other cheek, causing his head to flail in the opposite direction.
WHAP!
“Gurgh!” He groaned in pain, staggering backward again.
‘What an embarrassment… he’s coating himself with mana and can’t even handle a normal hit from me…’ My thoughts trailed.
Ivan lunged at me in fury, trying to catch me off guard as I thought for a moment. The loud noise he made gave him away as I sharply looked up and dodged the powerful blow he launched.
The vibrating air caused by this mana shook my hair as they missed. I returned the favor by slapping him once again on his stinging cheeks, giving him two hits in succession.
WHAP!
WHAP!
I was too tired to actually fight this guy seriously. Even if I did, there was no point. He was too weak.
My stomach was biting me seriously, but I endured. It would be over soon anyway.
“Argh!” He coughed, taking more staggering steps backward.
At this point, his back rested on the wall close to the door that led to the entrance of our apartment.
I stood a few meters from him, noticing his cheeks were already swollen to a nice degree. It made him appear to be a puffed animal, accentuating his roughish face.
“Ivan, come one. Teach this little shit a lesson.”
“He’s feeling cocky already, just because you’re going easy on him!”
“You little shit! Ivan’s gonna mess you up real good!”
From Ivan’s conflicted expression when hearing those words, I could tell that he was already taking this fight seriously. His pride was on the line, after all.
Suddenly, I began hearing hurried footsteps and whispers coming from all across the apartment. From the sound of things, many people were on their way here.
A broad grin nearly formed on my face, but I restricted myself. I wasn’t going to reveal anything.
It didn’t take long for Ivan, and the rest of his crew to notice… that everyone in their rooms had made their way to the stairs to see what was going on in the lounge.
“What’s this?!”
“Ivan is fighting with someone?!”
“H-hold on, isn’t that… Jared Leonard?!”
Hushed sounds and muffled comments permeated the room as a cluster of crowds watched from the stairs and tried to get a view of what was going on.
Since I was directly backing the stairs, none of them could really see my face, just my view from behind. As for Ivan, he had a swollen face and had already covered his body with mana.
Things weren’t looking good for him.
“Oi, oi, is Ivan actually going so far against Jared?”
“He’s even using mana! Isn’t that against the rules of this place?”
“What? No! Didn’t you check the regulations? There’s no mention of fights.”
“That means… we’ll actually get to see something interesting.”
“Who do you think will win?”
“Ivan, of course! The guy is a beast!”
“Didn’t you see Jared’s performance in the second test though?”
“Pfft, please. That must have been cheating. He’s only a white Core! Ivan is close to the peak of Yellow Core.”
They kept talking and arguing among themselves, unconsciously increasing the tempo of their voices.
“Look what you’ve caused, Ivan. All I wanted was my lunch.” I sighed, giving him a tired expression.
He growled at me, giving a more menacing look. The boy was well aware that he was to blame for all of this, but he had come too far to turn back now.
“You… I’ll teach you a lesson. You shouldn’t have defied me.”
Raising his hand, he loosened his fist. I was surprised since I expected more pointless swings and jabs from the moron.
“” He chanted.
Instantly, flames began appearing in his hand. The bright amber light sparked and burst forth, birthing a dancing ball of flames on his hand, as large as a person’s head.
Everyone gasped in surprise. Even I had to take a step back in surprise.
‘He’s going to use magic? Really?!’
“Hehehe…” His voice took a deep, darker undertone.
The expression he gave showed a hint of danger and I could tell he had reached a point where he saw me as simply an enemy that needed to be eliminated.
“You’ve brought this upon yourself, Jared…”
H
The flames flickered and seemed to grow bigger in size as he began advancing toward me.
“…Now burn!”