“Aahh!” The boy let out a pained scream, clutg his bleeding nose. “You’ve ruined my face!”

  Mikael rolled his eyes. “Oh, stop being a baby. I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

  He then leaned in, grabbing the boy’s head and murmuring in a voice low enough that only he could hear, “A me assure you, if we weren’t in the Academy, I’d have hurt you a lot more. So don’t bother me agaiime, I might not hold bad might actually break something.”

  The mena his to a shiver down the blue-haired boy’s spine. His face turned pale as he stammered, “I-I’ll go. I won’t bother you anymore.”

  Mikael gestured dismissively, signaling him to leave, and resumed his meal, unbothered by the stares from nearly the entire cafeteria. His stunt had attracted signifit attention, but he didn’t care.

  Internally, Mikael sighed. ‘I’ve probably just set off some ridiculous of events that’ll end with me exterminating his entire family. At least, that’s how it would py out in a cultivation world. This world might be different—who knows? Still, I o be cautious. Ohe first month of csses is over, the upper years will be allowed to i with the first-years, and this guy probably has an older brother in the fourth year who’ll e looking for trouble.’

  ‘For now, things are fine since each year is fio its own building, and they aren’t allowed in our se. But starti month, that’ll ge. I’m sure plenty of spoiled nobles won’t be happy about a oner being the stro first-year. So yeah, more fights are probably on the horizon.’

  A few tables away from Mikael, a trio from his css was eating and enjoying the drama.

  "I wouldn’t want to be him," said Lucas Henker, watg as the blue-haired noble crumpled after Mikael's krike. Lucas was a young man with brown hair, blue eyes, and a refined appearance. He was the younger brother of the heir to the Henker Duke family.

  Sitting beside him was a stunning young woman with blonde hair and golden eyes. She carried herself with a demeanor that was a mix of mischief and haughtiness as she sat o Lucas. She scoffed, “That Mikael acts like a thug, res to viole the first opportunity.”

  The woman, Aria Cliffborne, was the younger sister of the heir to the Marquess Cliffborne family and Lucas’s fiancée.

  Lucas chuckled lightly. "True, true, but he’s still strong enough to be wetting to know."

  Aria gave him a knowing gnce. "You just want to recruit him to work for your family."

  Lucas responded with a smirk but didn’t say a word.

  "B," Aria said, rolling her eyes before turning to Amelia, who was quietly the se. "And you, Amelia? What do you think about all this?"

  Amelia shifted her calm gaze from the se and replied evenly, "I find his rea reasonable. He rovoked and simply retaliated—that’s all."

  A sly smile crept across Aria’s face. "Oh, has our ‘princess’ found her charming prince?" She teased further. "If you want, I be your wingman."

  Amelia rolled her eyes, aced to her friend’s antics. "No, I’m not ied in him that way. I just want anht with him—and to win this time, that’s all."

  Aria nodded, already anticipating her response. "So, how did you end up losing to him? You never expined, and I’m curious."

  A reflective look crossed Amelia’s face before she began. "It was just the two of us in a small area. Before the fight started, he suggested we call a temporary truce to search the area and make sure the winner wouldn’t get ambushed afterward. I found it reasonable and agreed."

  "After searg, her of us found anyone. We regrouped and shared our findings. Sihere was no one else, he told me to back away so the fight could start properly. I was mildly surprised that he didn’t try to take advantage of being near me for a sneak attack. But he didn’t—and that’s why, even though I lost, I’m not angry about it. He fought honorably. If he’d ambushed me, I would’ve taken it much worse."

  She tinued, "Once we moved apart, the fight began. I mao keep him at bay with my arrows and even lightly injured him using my homing arrow to catch him off guard. But he was slightly faster than me and closed the distance. Whe close, he ed his attacks so effectively that I barely had a ce to defend myself. Eventually, he knocked me doointed his sword at mine, which sealed my defeat."

  "Oh, impressive," Aria said, her tone ced with excitement. She added, "Still, as good as he is now, he’ll iably fall behind. Miss Emily said it herself—higher ranks widen the gap between talents. Yenius talent will make you much strohan him in the long run, so there’s o worry about this loss."

  Amelia sighed. "I know. It’s just disappointing that what could’ve been a great rival for me will iably fall behind because of his limited talent. That’s why I want to beat him sooner rather than ter—before his talent slows him down."

  "Ah, Amelia, always so honorable," Aria teased. "But you should know he doesn’t stand a ce against us. All three of us have Genius-level talent, so yes, he’ll iably fall behind."

  Amelia’s voice turned colder. "I’ve already expined my reason."

  Aria raised her hands in surrender. "Don’t get mad at me over a oner!"

  With that, she shifted her attention back to her fiancé, Lucas, and began chatting with him. Meanwhile, when Amelia turned back toward Mikael’s table, she realized he had already left.

  During this time, Mikael finished his meal and made his way to the Academy’s trainiion. Ohere, he asked his bracelet, "What training options are avaible in this se?"

  "There are various options," the bracelet replied. "For example, the Virtual Training Pods allows users to fight against simuted eo gain bat experiehis costs 50 credits per hour. There is also body training equipment such as dumbbells, treadmills, and other fitness maes. These are free to use."

  "In addition to maes, items are also avaible for purchase or rent to aid in training. For insta is possible to purchase a puzzle desigo improve trol for 500 credits. However, the purchase is only valid for the duration of the student’s stay at the Academy, after which the item must be returned. Alternatively, items be rented—for example, the trol-enhang puzzle is avaible to rent for 10 credits per hour."

  "For a full list of avaible facilities and items, please see the menu below."

  Mikael took some time to review the list and was surprised by the quality of the services provided.

  He decided to rent a Virtual Training Pod to practice his new fighting style against simuted enemies.

  He arrived in a chamber that was a room filled with multiple pods, all sleek and blue, resembling something straight out of a sce fiovie. Mikael approached a nearby pod and paid for one hour of use. He wao test the experience first and po book more time if it met his expectations.

  A meical voinounced, "Payment firmed."

  As the words echoed, the pod opened. Mikael y down on its surprisingly fortable interior. Moments ter, the lid closed automatically, and the interior was bathed in a soft blue light.

  Suddenly, peared to be an advanced VR helmet desded from the ceiling, suspended by cables. Mikael didn’t hesitate and pced the helmet on his head.

  As soon as he did, a strange sensation coursed through his body. In the moment, his surroundings ged pletely, and he found himself standing on his feet in an endless white space.

  The realistisation of teleportatio Mikael impressed. He murmured to himself, "Wow. If I didn’t already know this was a virtual space, I’d genuinely believe I was teleported. It feels exactly like being in my real body, except for this faint, instinctive sehat something isn’t quite right."

  After taking a moment to adjust, he gnced around and noticed a small settings i in the er of his vision. Curious, he reached out with his finger and tapped it, causing a s to materialize before him.

  {Settings

  World Setting: White Space, Forest, Cave…

  World Settings Details: Luminosity, Temperature, Gravity…

  Eype: Human, Goblin, Kobold…

  Enemy Strength…

  Enemy Number…

  …

  }

  Mikael whistled, impressed by the numerous settings he could ize. He ged the setting to "Forest," and within seds, his surroundings transformed into a vibrant woodnd that was almost indistinguishable from a real forest.

  After taking in his surroundings, he ahe Virtual Training Chamber, " I figure the settings using my voistead of adjusting everything manually?"

  A meical AI voice responded, "That is possible. Please describe your preferred figuration, and I will implement it."

  "I’d like two swords sharp enough to cut through E-rank monsters, but they should also be iructible."

  "Dohe voice replied, and two steel swords materialized in front of Mikael.

  Satisfied, Mikael gripped the swords and tinued, "Now, I’d like to fight enemies in waves. For each wave, I want the surroundings to ge. The number of enemies and their strength should vary, but with an increasing trend after each wave. Initially, the challenge should be something an average E+ rank warrior could handle solo."

  "Preferenoted. The first wave will begin in 3... 2... 1... 0."

  As the tdown ended, Mikael suddenly appeared in a scorg desert, the intense heat making him sweat the moment he arrived. Ign the temperature, he sed his surroundings, expeg an immi attack. After all, that’s exactly what he had requested.

  {Wave 1 charged. Enemy: 3 Human E Rank Warriors.}

  Mikael barely had time to read the s that appeared before him when he suddenly heard voices.

  "Guys, let’s kill this man, and then we go home and enjoy the rewards for the month!" a voice shouted.

  "YEAH!"

  "Sure."

  Turning towards the voices, Mikael spotted three men full steel armor envelopped by aura cloak rushing at him. The one in the ter wielded a mace, while the two oher side carried a sword and a spear, respectively.

  Mikael barely had time to envelop himself in his aura cloak and create an aura thread ected to the sword in his left hand before the three oppos were upon him.

  Unprepared, he quickly backed away as the man with the mace attacked.‘I’m faster—not by much, but just a little faster!’ he noted internally. With that realizatioossed the sword in his left hand into the air.

  The three men were startled by his a but quickly dismissed it, not seeing the nearly invisible aura thread eg his hand to the floating sword.

  Mikael sidestepped the mace attack from the man in the ter and terattacked with a ssh. Unfortunately, before his bde could nd, he had to leap into the air to avoid simultaneous strikes from the spear and sword wielders fnking him. While airborne, he gestured downward with his index finger.

  The sword he had tossed earlier, still h mid-air, suddenly shot toward the head of the man with the mace like a rocket.

  The man barely had time to look up and mutter, "Fu—"

  K

  The sword pierced through his aura cloak and smmed into his helmet with a deafening g. While the strike didn’t breach the solid steel armor, the forocked him to the ground at high speed.

  "CAELEN!" screamed the spearman, rushing to his fallen ally’s side and momentarily fetting Mikael’s presence.

  Mikael seized the opportunity, engaging the swordsman in close bat. His superior swordsmanship quickly overwhelmed his oppo, though the swordsman’s armor mitigated any severe injuries.

  Meanwhile, Mikael didn’t fet about the other two enemies. Using his aura-threaded sword, he unched an attack at the kneeling spearman.

  Boom

  The flying sword narrowly missed its mark, a testament to Mikael’s inexperieh the teique. The spearman, startled by the near miss, refocused his attention otle and mao dodge subsequent attempts as the sword attempted to attack from its nding spot in the crater.

  Rejoining the fight, the spearman turhe tide against Mikael, who now faced a two-versus-one sario. While Mikael tried to use his flying sword for support, the enemies quickly adapted, evading his predictable strikes.