The crowd’s mood changed in that very instance and all Ms. Wang did was sneer at every single one of the students there present. ‘How can we beat a monster like him?’  ‘Won’t we die by just getting close to him?’

“How amusing. Nothing comes close to having these many students grinding their own gears while thinking for the correct answer to a problem of this magnitude.” Ms. Wang said, not being able to obscure her obvious smug smile.

Liena and Rai, who were still standing next to the elder, couldn’t help but be impressed and alarmed by the display of such emotions from a woman of her age. The three of them had known each other for many years at that point, and yet it was the first time the young ones witnessed this side of their teacher.

“Will the students be okay, Teacher Wang? Isn’t Rai a bit too much for them to handle?”, Liena asked, letting her distress become apparent. She was well aware that the students had just witnessed Rai’s power firsthand, which would make fighting Rai that more difficult.

“That would normally be the case, indeed, but it should go without saying that Rai will not use any ability of any kind on any of the students or himself, for that matter.” the teacher said aloud, allowing for the students to hear what had just been said.

“Uh… Ms. Wang, with all due respect… I don’t think I, alone, can handle thousands of people without using any Arts, let alone unarmed, even if they are all an untrained bunch.”, Rai said, still not knowing how to react to Ms. Wang’s sudden statement. 

“Grab a stick or something, Mr. Rai. Or would you prefer to be punished in a more traditional way?”, the glaring teacher mumbled, not planning on giving Rai any room for negotiation.

‘Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary! I don’t want to provoke this maniac any further… I swear all the women in this academy have their fair share of missing screws or something!’ is what Rai thought, but he decided to simply reply with an “Understood!” while giving a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, mutely displaying his dissatisfaction.

 “Now get going before the students invade the stage.”

Rai gave Ms. Wang one last look, as if trying to escape the pinch he had just been put in, and then glanced at Liena, as if looking for support of any kind, but both decided not to say a thing as to not get involved with the situation that belonged to Rai and Rai alone, leaving the boy’s fate to the Heavens, once again.

“I see how it is.”, said Rai while laughing out loud. “Don’t blame me for getting rough with your ‘dear students’, Ms. Wang.”, he said in a condescending tone.

“Cocky brat.”, answered Ms. Wang while smiling in a way no sane person would consider normal. Just what was up with this formerly unshown side of the woman?

With all goodbyes having been concluded, Rai decided to turn his face towards the crowd and give the new faces one quick appraisal, resembling an apathetic king who looked at his men fully aware of their impending deaths at the hands of a far more capable enemy.

‘Well then…’

Removing his obsidian-colored gown, one that he carried with pride as it represented how far he had managed to come as a young fighter despite all his other limitations, the boy was left with a wardrobe that would have mistaken him for a bum had he not had such an athletic build. All preparations had been completed and all that was left was to face the starving practitioners.

He jumped off the stage and landed right in front of the first layer of students, causing them to instinctively leap back and slowly form a circle around him as Rai walked farther forward, leaving behind the small crater that had formed below his nimble feet. Having reached a spot he believed to be perfect for the occasion, he decided to start stretching, showing, even if purely on a superficial level, his indifference towards every one of the people surrounding him. 

“Hurry things up, youngsters. This old man does not have a lot of time left, after all.” Rai grunted while hunching his back, locking eyes with some of the students who still remained too scared to do anything to him despite the obvious mockery.

‘I don’t really see anyone who might be a threat in here… seeing things from this angle makes it so much harder, too... At any rate, none of them seem to be willing to make a move… Arh! What a headache!’, Rai thought, following a click of his tongue that carried the frustration he had just pent up due to the unfair position he had been put in. Although he went through the effort of putting up a convincing front, he remained irked at his elder and Liena for forcing him to go through such a taxing assignment, not pondering where his feelings stood in all of this.

Rai, though, did not take long to arrive at an ultimate decision, one that Ms. Wang could not help but chortle at: ‘If none of these fools are willing to come to me, then I will just have to go at them first!’