Clank!
My house door swung open, and to my surprise, Maria, Pamela, and Jane stood there with their phones in hand. Their eyes were wide, like they had just seen a ghost.
"What is it?" I had to ask.
I was used to these three running away at the sight of me, but today they took the initiative to approach. How could I not be curious?
"Yo—you beat Alex Briggs?!" Pamela stuttered while yelling at the same time.
The noise she made was disturbing—I had to frown.
"Yeah. What about it?" I shrugged, but then froze as a thought crossed my mind.
"How do you know?" I blurted out without hesitation.
Without saying a word, all three ran forward and shoved their phones in my face. I wasn't used to this kind of technology, but it was a recorded video of the fight—and it already had 7.9 million views?
That's more than the population of New York, meaning people from other parts of the world were watching too.
What was crazier was that the fight had happened only about twenty to thirty minutes ago, yet so many people had already seen it.
The Briggs family is a big deal globally. Its patriarch is one of the most powerful humans alive. It's only natural that the video blew up, the voice said, sounding unsurprised.
"I see," I muttered as the girls withdrew their phones.
Honestly, I didn't think those kids would post the videos online. Weren't they scared of the so-called Big Four families everyone had been hyping since I got here?
"I knew you were strong, but I didn't think you were this strong!" Jane was practically bouncing with excitement, as if she had been the one who won the fight.
"Gosh, I can't believe we get to serve the next big thing!" Pamela's face turned red with excitement.
"You must be hungry—we'll prepare you something to eat!" Maria screamed.
Not waiting for my response, the three of them zoomed off, leaving me confused. I had never seen people so excited to be someone's servant.
But who was I to complain?
Shaking my head, I shut the door behind me and headed straight to my room. After taking a quick shower, I stood in front of the mirror, gazing at my naked body.
The fist and palm prints were gone, but the memories of the fight were still fresh in my mind. I realized my greatest flaw was my lack of combat experience and technique.
I had only won because the gap in strength and speed between Alex and me was too great.
"In the face of absolute power, all forms of technique and trickery are useless," I muttered. "But do I really have absolute power?"
A day would come when I'd meet someone on par with me—or even greater. At that moment, the deciding factor would be technique.
What happens then?
That would most likely be my last day on Earth.
[Don't beat yourself up. You are only ten years old, and you just gained these powers a few days ago. In my opinion, you're doing pretty well for a newbie.]
For some reason, I felt comforted by those words. Not because I thought the voice cared about me, but because I could sense the emptiness in its tone—just like mine.
We were both void of emotions and wouldn't give compliments unless they were deserved.
"Thank you," I responded with a dry nod.
Pushing my worries aside, I began searching through the clothing rack for something casual to wear.
The academy actually offers martial arts classes, but most guardians tend to ignore them because they require effort and diligence, the voice said. I frowned while picking out plain gray sweatpants.
"If I'm correct, there will be a lot of physical training involved, so it's only natural for people who have lived in comfort their whole lives to avoid it," I shrugged, pulling the pants on.
They were like empty shells with nothing to offer except the ability they were born with. That's why they would never be able to beat me in any aspect of life.
[Comfort is a slow poison. It silently kills resilience and resolve.]
"Suffering builds strength and character… without it, growth is impossible." I nodded, completely agreeing with the voice.
Exiting the dressing room, I headed straight for my bed and lay down with my eyes glued to the ceiling. The aroma of grilled chicken was already seeping into the room, but I was more interested in something else.
"Don't you think it's time to tell me about yourself?" I asked. There was a long silence before the voice responded.
[I am Lyxor, the second prince of the Xenovian race.] Lyxor's response was brief, and it wasn't what I was looking for.
"Is that it?" I wasn't impressed.
A small frown formed on my face, but Lyxor clearly didn't care.
[As much as I would love to tell you more, it's best we wait for the right time.]
"This again?" I scoffed.
Unfortunately, I couldn't force Lyxor to speak. At least I got a name out of this—it was better than thinking of him as just another nameless voice.
Sitting up, I couldn't help but look out the window. It was barely noon, and I already felt worn out. That fight had drained me both physically and mentally. Thankfully, the only class we'd had today was combat, meaning everyone got a turn at fighting and improving their skills.
I was free for the rest of the day.
[This is the part where you hit the library to gather as much knowledge as you can,] Lyxor advised.
"Yeah, but not yet." Shaking my head, I lay back down. "I worked at the mines every day of the week for over a year. I want to rest a bit longer."
Saying that, I shut my eyes before Lyxor could respond.
[Sure… sure… it won't hurt to take the week off,] Lyxor said.