Kaiser's expression remained unchanged, still bored.
"Heh—hehe. You're a smart one kid. I didn't expect you to catch on."
The driver chuckled, then stepped out of the car. From the shadows of the alley, several men dressed in black cloak stepped out, surrounding the car.
'...5,6,7,8. Alright.'
Kaiser counted them, then stepped out of the car. He leaned on the car's body, eyeing the men with unnerving focus like a passerby watching a scene.
The driver, now talkative, spread his arms and laughed.
"Kid, the world is dirtier than you think. You must be a rich kid, sheltered since you were born, right?"
Kaiser nodded, playing along. It wasn't a full lie. He was a rich kid, true. But sheltered?
'Heh...'
"Oh. Sorry boy, the world is cruel. But don't worry, we also don't want to hurt you. Just give us your credit card and tell us the pin code and we'll let you go. Okay?"
The driver said comfortingly as if urging him to cooperate with them.
Beside him, one of the masked guys spoke, his voice thick and gruff.
"It doesn't work that way, Zone. The kid is probably Awakened and is itching to test his strength. It's better to beat senses into him."
The driver, addressed as Zone, looked uncomfortable with the idea. "Hey, shouldn't we just let him go once he surrenders his card?"
"Shut up, Zone. I make decisions." The gruffly man snapped back.
Unwilling to listen to their charade any longer, Kaiser spoke.
"Yare, yare. Are you guys playing good cop and bad cop? Sorry to tell you, but your acting skills are below average."
He said this without a hint of scorn in his eyes, as if he were truly giving a review.
Both the driver and the gruffly man paused, then looked at him weirdly. They realized something was wrong. The young man was too calm, as if he never saw them as threats.
"Heh~ We're awakened too y'know. And not new ones. Silva." The gruffly man called one of the others to attack him. The awakened named Silva stepped forward, a pair of silver gloves materialized on his fists and he attacked.
Whoosh!
The wind howled from the force of his punch, yet—
Kaiser took a single step to the back, letting Silva's punch miss him by an inch.
'Oh?'
Thinking he made a rookie mistake, Silva got more serious and struck at the young man with lethal intent.
Sensing the threat from the attack, Kaiser sidestepped again then elbowed Silva in his solar plexus.
The guy crumpled to the ground, wheezing in pain.
"What?" The gruffly man was surprised, and he nodded at the others.
Instead of giving Kaiser a chance to take them down one by one, it was better to quickly overwhelm him.
Unfazed, Kaiser flourished under their combined assault. He allowed his intuition to guide him, dodging dangerous attacks and ignoring feints. He even caused a bit of chaos, lightly pushing them so they crashed into each other or blocked each other's attack.
As the driver and gruffly man watched the fight, their expressions grew increasingly serious.
From what they could see, the blue-eyed young man wasn't even stressing himself. It was like he was playing with a group of kids, nudging them around so they injured each other without his direct interference.
Before they knew it, all the seven men had collapsed atop each other, not a single one conscious. They had all gotten beat up by each other's punches and kicks till they went unconscious.
Kaiser raised his head and gazed at the remaining two, a sharp glint in his icy eyes.
'Yare, yare. Those two would undoubtedly use their abilities. Looks like I have to get serious.'
He raised his hands, curling his fingers slightly. He hopped twice, dancing on his toes from side to side as the duo came close, then struck.
A whip kick to the head sent Zone staggering. Thankfully, he had blocked in time and avoided his neck snapping. The other man, Vyrus, grew wary and instantly activated his ability. He threw a punch, straight and predictable.
Kaiser dodged—yet, the punch struck. It wasn't like a physical contact, but the force of the attack still struck him like he never dodged.
He felt pain flare on the shoulder, brief but undeniable. He clicked his tongue, and muttered. "Abilities are truly strange."
"Vyrus! Why are you using your ability?! You'll alert the local security!" Zone complained, re-entering the fight. Once the passersby sensed the flow of spirit essence, they'd undoubtedly report to the authorities.
Vyrus looked convinced he'd done the right thing. "We can't beat this kid without our abilities. So let's quickly deal with this."
Zone gritted his teeth, then nodded. He also activated his ability.
Smoke escaped his body and covered the alley, reducing visibility.
'Oh? His ability is quite tasteless.'
Kaiser remarked, disappointed by the ability. Crude smoke couldn't limit his 'eyes'.
He ducked Zone's sneak attack and grabbed Vyrus' wrists. With all his strength, the pulled the gruffly man toward himself, and kneed him in the stomach.
The man folded, eyes bulging as spittle and water sprayed from his mouth. Then holding his stomach in deep pains, he joined his group on the ground.
Turning to the shocked driver, Kaiser offered a chilling smile.
Bam!
A punch knocked the man to the ground, his nose broken and bleeding.
'Yare, yare. I can't just knock him unconscious. I still need someone to drive me. Oh well~'
Seconds later, screams erupted from the alley for a minute, stunning the passersby before everything went quiet.
A minute later, a black car rode out from the alley, ignoring the stares of the onlookers and drove away.
When the local awakened security arrived, they only met a heap of unconscious, still-groaning, men and a letter that read: 'You might want to change your car engines'.
....
Kaiser sat at the back of the car, totally relaxed. He didn't even glance at the driver who was in a sorry state.
Despite Zone's composed look, his eyes were hollow. Whatever Kaiser done to him in that alley… it broke something fundamental inside the man.
Ten minutes later, they arrived before the hotel Kaiser had booked and he stepped out with his backpack, not even bothering to look at the driver again.
In the lobby, he collected his keys from the receptionist, and took the elevators upstairs to his room.
"Mn. Not bad."
He nodded. Although the hotel was C-Rank, it was still standard with a bit of luxury.
Tired from his journey to the empire and his affair with the awakened thugs, he lay on the bed after a quick shower.
Ping!
His phone notification made him pick it up. The mail he received read:
|Dear Cadet,
You have been admitted by the Pegasus Will Awakened Academy and is required to enroll on the 10th of January, 0265. Please arrive at the sea port before 9:00 AM to avoid missing the ship transport to the academy grounds. Thank you and congratulations.|
'Yare, yare. These guys are truly meticulous. So the written test and physical appraisal was a ruse. From the moment of application, they'd already selected the students who would be admitted.'
Kaiser rolled his eyes, then dropped the phone. Since his father had asked him, he would go. He was also quite interested in highschool life, after all.
'Will I be able to experience an ordinary school life?'