Realizing they had the backing of the Soberto family, the C-rank lackey nodded sharply. He and two others immediately channeled their mana and lunged forward, unleashing their offensive skills directly at Aron.

One of the C-ranks lackey clenched his fist, and instantly it transformed into solid metal. He threw a heavy punch directly at Aron.

But just as the blow was about to land, he saw a chilling, unknown smile appeared on Aron's face.

The next second, his metal fist hit nothing but empty air.

Aron didn't even bother using any flashy skills. He simply vanished and reappeared like a ghost behind the attacker.

With a casual but incredibly precise kick, he sent the C-rank lackey flying. The lackey crashed hard onto the pavement several meters away and didn't get back up.

Everyone stood completely dumbfounded. Dravis snapped out of his shock and shouted at the rest,

"Pay attention! I don't know how he did that, but his movements are too fast to catch!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Aron materialized in front of a D-rank. And then a single brutal punch landed to the gut and the guy crumpled, clutching his stomach and collapsing to the ground, completely incapacitated.

The remaining two C-ranks were a ranged fighter with a skill called Fire Shots, and a heavy hammer user, the same guy who had questioned Dravis's kill order moments ago. Aron didn't pay any attention to them at all.

The ranged attacker activated his skill. Twenty blazing fire arrows materialized in the air around him, instantly locking onto Aron. Aron just grinned back at him.

Seeing that terrifying smile, the guy suddenly felt that something was very, very wrong.

And then the slaughter began.

Aron deliberately used the homing arrows to eliminate the remaining D-ranks one by one.

He would flash directly in front of a lackey, forcing the fire arrows to sharply change it's trajectory and lock onto his new position. Then, just as the fiery arrows closed in, Aron would deliver a swift punch and vanish into thin air.

Unable to dodge, the stunned lackey would take the full brunt of his own ally's Fire Shots and hit the ground violently.

In the blink of an eye, the crowd was decimated. Now only the two C-ranks, Dravis, and a single trembling D-rank were left standing.

The hammer user suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Be careful! He's behind...!"

But before he could finish his sentence, and without the final D-rank guy even realizing what was happening, Aron materialized right behind him.

With a single devastating kick, the D-rank's body was sent dragging across the rough alley ground, landing several meters away in a broken heap.

Aron's combat instincts were absolutely terrifying. Forged in the bloody battleground of the Great War against the Vortex monsters, his battle awareness was light-years beyond these pampered academy students.

Against these newbies, this wasn't even a fight. It was barely a warm-up.

The hammer guy looked at Aron in absolute horror. From the start until now, Aron hadn't used a single skill. Relying purely on raw stats, he had rendered ten of them completely useless.

A weird smile lingered on Aron's face as he asked, "Are you going to come to me, or do I need to come to you myself ?"

The fire archer grew furious. Gritting his teeth he immediately launched another twenty shots of arrows, completely draining his mana dry.

Huffing in exhaustion, he genuinely believed this barrage would be enough to kill Aron.

But reality was cruel. He watched with horrified eyes as the fire arrows frantically chased Aron.

At first the distance was close, but then Aron suddenly increased his speed, leaving the pursuing arrows further and further behind.

Suddenly Aron smiled directly at the archer. Meanwhile, the hammer guy was still frozen in fear.

Dravis, watching from behind, gritted his teeth and viciously kicked the hammer user.

"What are you staring at?! I can still see his movements... Just kill him!"

The hammer user immediately snapped into focus. His agility was nowhere near Aron's, so he positioned himself defensively near the fire archer. But in that exact moment, Aron abruptly materialized right behind the archer.

Before anyone could react, Aron delivered a brutal kick to the archer's back. The guy stumbled forward, completely losing his balance and breaking his concentration.

He lost control over his homing shots, and the very next second, the barrage of twenty fire arrows curved around and slammed directly into his own body.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

With a massive, agonizing scream, he crashed to the ground, lying completely motionless. He had been defeated by his own skill.

The hammer user frantically looked around but couldn't find Aron anywhere. Suddenly he felt a sharp gust of wind brush past his ears.

He desperately dodged to the side, and a fist scraped past, missing his skin by mere centimeters.

The burly guy breathed heavily. If he had been a single second slower, that punch would have caved his face in. He then saw Aron casually standing a few meters away.

Aron chuckled lightly. "You're a C-rank at the absolute peak of your strength. I can't win against you using only C-rank power, right?"

The very next second, he vanished from his spot and threw a terrifying punch straight at the heavy fighter.

The guy roared, swinging his massive metal hammer to meet Aron's bare hand head-on. The weapon and the fist collided.

BOOM!

CRACK!

The heavy metal hammer cracked right down the middle. The C-rank guy stared at Aron in utter disbelief.

"How... how did you do that?!"

Aron didn't say a word. He simply drove his knee directly into the man's stomach. The guy gagged, dropping to his knees as he clutched his gut in excruciating pain. His ruined hammer hit the ground and shattered completely.

Before the heavy fighter could recover, Aron delivered a ruthless follow-up punch that sent him flying backward. He landed several meters away and didn't get back up.

Aron calmly dusted off his fists and finally turned his gaze back to Dravis.

"Now that the minions are out of the way... why don't we start?"

Dravis gulped hard, his eyes darting frantically around the narrow alley. Scattered across just a few meters, all twelve of his lackeys were sprawled on the ground.

Not a single one was in any condition to fight anymore.

Dravis gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with fiery rage. He had personally handpicked these lackeys for their strength and loyalty, and now every single one of them had lost to a little F-rank orphan!

Just what kind of freakish fighting technique was that?

In his delusional mind, since Aron hadn't visibly activated any skills, he convinced himself Aron was just slightly strong because of some bizarre martial art and high agility.

He must have dumped every single stat point into agility, Dravis rationalized to himself.

Sneering, Dravis raised his hand. A flash of light erupted from his finger as he drew a sharp, gleaming sword from his Space Ring.

Space Rings were technological marvels created by human scientists after reverse-engineering rare materials harvested from the Vortexes.

This particular B-rank ring boasted a massive interior space of 100 cubic meters, allowing Dravis to carry an entire arsenal wherever he went.

He smiled maniacally at Aron.

"You have no idea how much I hate you... You dared to disrespect me in front of my own servants? How dare you!"

As he channeled his mana, his sword began to shine, humming with the internal power of his B-rank skill, Sword Dance.

Seeing this, Aron's expression turned dead serious. Although he could win against Dravis just by using his B-rank power, but he'll also get injuries if he faced that sword strike head on.

So now there is only one option left. He immediately murmured in his head, 'Enhance!'

Without him even realizing it, his irises flared with a brilliant, piercing gold.

Instantly, time and space came to an absolute halt. The wind stopped blowing. Dravis froze mid-breath, his shining sword suspended motionless in the air.

Aron's vision violently shifted, ripping him out of the alleyway and plunging him into a completely different dimension. He was standing in an endless expanse of pure, blinding white.

Suddenly a mysterious figure dressed in flowing robes materialized in front of him, holding a simple, unadorned sword.

The figure began to move. It wasn't just a martial art. It was an extraordinary, otherworldly sword dance. Aron watched, completely mesmerized.

The strikes, the footwork, the flow of the blade, every single movement was so utterly perfect and profound that it left Aron speechless. He simply stood in silence, absorbing the visual masterpiece.

After about five minutes, the figure stopped. He pointed his sword toward the empty void and slashed.

Riiiiiiip!

The white sky was cut clean open like a canvas. Through the massive rift, Aron saw an entirely different world. It was a realm of unimaginable majesty, filled with towering ancient sects and grand pagodas that pierced the clouds.

"I am a sword cultivator, a sovereign of this world," the figure's ancient voice echoed in front. 

"But the things you see outside... they are just a fragment of my memory. None of it exists anymore."

Suddenly the scene through the rift twisted into a nightmare. Aron's eyes turned completely cold. It was the exact same devastation he had witnessed during Earth's Calamity.