Five seconds.
Six bodies lay scattered across the courtyard floor, groaning, dizzy, utterly stunned.
A ripple of shock passed through the surroundings.
Conversations halted.
Students walking past stopped mid-step. A crowd formed almost instantly.
"What the—?"
"Did you see that?"
"Who… who did this?"
"It happened so fast…"
"Wait, look! Is that William Dawncrest!?"
"Someone beat William!?"
"No way! Who's the guy standing there?"
"The handsome one…I think... I think that's Elion!"
"Elion? The last-ranked? The talentless loser!?"
"You're joking."
"No, look! It is him!"
"Oh my god…"
William stared at the crowd, face paling. Their whispers hit harder than any blow.
I… I've been humiliated? ME? WILLIAM DAWNCREST?
His face twisted with pure rage.
"You—"His voice cracked. Then sharpened.
The realization burned through him like acid.
"You're dead!" he hissed at Elion, who only stood there calmly, looking down at them as if they were bugs wriggling after a light rain.
