The veteran looked at everyone, sighing dejectedly. He seemed calm, despite so many weapons pointed at him.
He calmly began walking towards one of the rookies, who was holding a spear.
"I wish I could teach this using only words, but it seems I'll have to demonstrate in practice what I was trying to explain."
The rookie tried to strike with the spearhead, but the weapon was stopped by just two fingers of the veteran, who effortlessly held the spearhead.
"No matter how strong you are, or how much you've prepared, if it's your first day in Holy War, then you're still just a weak child."
He landed a powerful punch on the rookie, sending his head slamming into the ground and bouncing unconscious in seconds.
A female rookie tried to strike him with a sword, but the veteran dodged the thrust with a powerful spinning jump that ended with a kick to the rookie's face. The kick was strong enough to send her crashing into another rookie, knocking them both down.
The veteran stood still, waiting for the next one to act, and several rookies advanced all at once, each carrying their own weapon.
The veteran didn't even blink; he skillfully took them all down without even being touched, and it didn't take long for each one to fall to the ground.
Everyone was terrified; he, alone and with his bare hands, had taken down all those who insisted on trying to hit him. He looked around with a superior smile at all the rookies.
"So, you lost the confidence to face me?! Continuing what I was saying before being interrupted… in Holy War we live by the law of the strongest, those who have power and strength control things, while the rest just accept it!"
A great commotion circulated among the freshmen; everyone was scared. This seemed like something out of an action movie script that my younger brother loves.
"Just to make it clear to everyone who wants to run away after seeing what I did, it's impossible to escape 'Holy War'! The place is completely guarded, if you're caught trying to leave you'll be sent straight to detention. And believe me when I say so, it's much worse there than here."
I didn't understand anything, I just wanted to find a way out of here. But looking around, I saw that my escape routes were scarce; we were in a large corridor with white cement walls, the veterans were exactly on the stairs leading out of the corridor.
The only option I had was to jump the wall, but I had my backpack and suitcase with me; there was no way I could jump with them.
I heard some students behind me getting alarmed; it seemed someone was moving through the crowd. It was difficult to understand what was happening; everyone seemed impressed by who was moving among them.
Then it finally passed by me. I saw a boy who seemed shorter than me. He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest over it, and pants of the same color.
His shoes were thick and dark, so well polished they seemed to shine. His skin was pale, and his long, black hair was combed back. Below his eyes were large, deep dark circles, showing a look of tiredness and discouragement.
Two things stood out about him: the first was the iron baseball bat he was leaning against his shoulders. The second was the unbelievable fact that he was literally sliding across the ground.
His feet, clad only in shoes, were in contact with the ground, and strangely, he was gliding across the floor as if he were skateboarding without a skateboard.
I was incredulous at what I was seeing; he seemed to have wheels on his feet. This boy simply pushed his way through the crowd and stood facing the veteran.
The two were staring fiercely at each other, ready to attack. It was like seeing two wild beasts ready to fight. The veteran looked closely at the strange newcomer.
The freshman walked calmly towards the veteran. Just a few meters away, the newcomer flashed a confident smile at the older man.
"Are you strong?"
The newcomer asked somewhat self-assuredly, irritating the veteran.
"What did you just say?"
The younger man sighed dejectedly. This again angered his veteran; the two were still staring furiously at each other.
"I'm asking if you're considered strong here in 'Holy War.' I want to know the standard of strength in this place."
The veteran was angry, but still remained calm in front of someone who was clearly very arrogant. He was used to dealing with this kind of youthful arrogance.
Meanwhile, the rookie seemed to be testing him; the confidence in his manner and speech was quite clear. Even with completely different attitudes, one thing was the same for both of them: they underestimated each other.
"It's a blow to my pride to admit this, but I only have the bare minimum of strength to live decently in this place. I'm nothing impressive or special."
The veteran alone was someone who could stop arrows with his hand and knock people unconscious with a punch. If that's the bare minimum of strength, then what kind of monster lives here?
Almost everyone was startled by the veteran's statement, and understandably so. What kind of monstrous boss is this "Holy War"?
Everyone except the rookie, his dark, confident eyes staring at the veteran. It was difficult to understand his expression, but it was clear what was going through his mind.
Then he made sure to demonstrate what was going through his mind.
He laughed.
He laughed as much as he could.
Suddenly, all the sounds in the place became quieter to amplify the newcomer's laughter.
Everyone was surprised by his reaction. Every freshman here was terrified by the idea of what we might find in this place, but he laughed as if it were all a pleasant joke.
"If this is the minimum to live decently here... then I think I'll be quite successful in this place!"