Logistics Department.
Everyone froze in place as if they had been hit by a Body Bind spell.
A tidal wave of shocked gazes instantly locked onto Asher.
*Gulp.*
The sound of nervous swallowing echoed through the silent hall.
*Gulp.
Gulp.*
People were swallowing hard all around the room.
Whether they were instructors for the Year Two Combat Prep, the Year One Training, or the Year Three Written Exam classes, everyone stared at each other with wide, disbelieving eyes!
Some looked so shocked their eyeballs were practically bulging out of their sockets.
Others rubbed their eyes vigorously, absolutely convinced they were hallucinating.
Their individual reactions varied, but the sheer, unadulterated shock painted across their faces was completely identical.
“I…
I didn’t see that wrong, did I?
Asher…
did Asher just attack?”
“Yeah…
you didn’t.
Drake really did just get slapped across the room.”
“He’s crazy!
Asher has completely lost his mind!
Is he seriously just burning everything down because he knows he’s going to get fired anyway?”
“What an idiot!
Offending Drake is even worse than offending Loke.
That guy is a petty snake.
Asher is doomed.
Someone go get the Director, things are about to get ugly!”
After the initial shock wore off, the hall descended into chaos.
Everyone agreed that Asher was about to suffer immensely.
But amidst the panic, no one noticed one crucial detail.
During Asher’s attack, Drake hadn’t even reacted!
“Asher, how dare you…
how dare you attack Instructor Drake?!”
“You’re dead!
You’re completely dead, Asher!
Even if you drop to your knees and beg for forgiveness now, it won’t save you!”
Drake’s two lackeys standing behind Asher stammered, their voices shaking.
They were utterly terrified by the sight of Asher violently backhanding Drake into the air.
Being the closest to the altercation, they should have had the clearest view.
But just a moment ago, neither of them had even seen Asher move.
Their vision had simply blurred, and by the time they blinked, Drake was already smashed against the floor.
“Shut up.”
Asher couldn’t even be bothered to deal with these two nameless grunts.
A faint, icy glow flickered in his cold eyes.
The two lackeys were just Year One Training Class instructors, only hovering around Tier Two, Level Eight or Nine.
With just a single glance from Asher—who was now sitting comfortably at Tier Three, Level Three—they felt like they had been plunged into a freezing abyss.
Their blood ran absolutely cold.
“*Cough, cough!
Gag!*”
A few meters away on the marble floor, Drake covered his mouth, coughing violently.
Seconds later, he spat out a bloody white tooth onto the ground.
As he slowly picked himself up, Drake’s face twisted into a mask of pure, ugly rage.
His right cheek was swollen incredibly high, a bright red handprint stamped across his skin clearer than a butcher’s brand on a slab of pork.
The swelling was so severe that his already beady right eye was squeezed shut into a narrow slit.
Overall, the right side of his face looked like the XL version of his left side.
“Asher, you damn— *hssss*…”
In his fury, Drake tried to scream, but the searing pain made him suck in several sharp breaths instead, his jaw trembling wildly.
However, compared to the burning agony in his cheek, the absolute humiliation stung far worse.
He never could have imagined that Asher—the guy he used to push around effortlessly—would dare to ambush him!
He always picked on powerless, spineless teachers and had never lost face like this.
Having been humiliated by Asher of all people, if he didn’t get his revenge right now, his reputation at the academy would be ruined forever!
Fighting through the pain, Drake craned his neck forward, his one good eye gleaming with venomous hatred.
“You dared to lay a hand on me…
No one can save you to—”
*Smack!*
Once again, before Drake could even finish his threat, another vicious backhand slammed directly into his left cheek.
Clearly, he hadn’t reacted to this one either.
With another crisp crack, Drake was sent flying through the air in a neat arc, slamming heavily into the ground in the exact same spot as before.
*Phew…
that feels better.*
Asher, a massive perfectionist in both his past life and his current one, felt a deep, satisfying sense of inner peace.
???
Numb!
Utterly numb!
The entire crowd was completely paralyzed!
At that moment, question marks were practically floating above the heads of almost everyone in the room.
*Seriously?
Another slap?
What is going on?!*
But this time, they weren’t just shocked by Asher’s audacity.
They were even more confused as to why Drake didn’t dodge!
It literally looked like he had stretched his neck out just waiting to get slapped.
Wasn’t he being a bit too cooperative?
Most people were completely baffled, but a few of the sharper Year Two Combat Prep instructors narrowed their eyes, realizing the terrifying truth.
Drake hadn’t chosen not to dodge; he simply hadn’t been able to react in time!
“*Cough, cough!* You…
*cough!
Gag!*”
Drake staggered to his feet again, quickly spitting out another bloody tooth with a wet *clack*.
Naturally, his left cheek was now swollen just as high as his right, his left eye squeezed equally shut.
But Asher frowned deeply.
His sharp eyes noticed that the swelling on Drake’s left cheek wasn’t perfectly symmetrical with the right!
*My hands are itching so badly,* Asher thought, feeling like ants were crawling under his skin.
“Aaagh!
You bastahd!
Die!”
Lisping through the bloody gaps in his teeth, Drake lost his mind in a fit of absolute, blinding rage.
He was way past thinking about how Asher had managed to hit him twice.
Right now, only one thought consumed his brain: brutally tear Asher apart!
*Boom!*
Flooding his body with magic, Drake unleashed the full power of his Tier Three, Level Three cultivation.
“C-Class Enhancement Magic, **[Iron-Spine Boar]**?” Asher canceled **[Insight]**, an incredibly weird expression crossing his face as he dragged out his words.
“Buddy, slaughtering pigs is what I do best!”
…
*Smack!*
The fight ended very quickly.
Charging forward with all his might, Drake was once again backhanded across the room by Asher.
But this time, Asher didn’t give him a single second to breathe.
“You asked for twenty slaps earlier.
There are eighteen left.”
Planting his foot firmly on Drake’s chest, Asher flashed a wicked grin and started swinging left and right!
*Smack!*
*Smack!*
*Smack!*
The crisp, cracking sounds echoed like a string of firecrackers, accompanied by Asher’s quiet muttering.
“Oops, left side’s a bit too high.”
“Ah, now the right side’s too high.”
…
*Smack!*
After the eighteenth slap rang out, both cheeks finally swelled to the exact same height—mostly because they physically couldn’t swell any further.
“*Phew*…
Perfect.”
Asher felt great.
Drake, on the other hand, had rolled his eyes back into his skull and completely passed out.
‘So this is the suppression effect a B-Class Magic has over a C-Class.’ Staring down at the unconscious Drake, a flash of realization crossed Asher’s eyes.
Even though he and Drake were both at Tier Three, Level Three, the hierarchical suppression of their magic classes meant Asher hadn’t even needed to exert any real effort.
In fact, he had the distinct feeling he could easily take on three Drakes at once!
“Oh, right.
One more thing.”
As if suddenly remembering something, Asher slowly turned and strolled back toward the logistics counter.
The instructors waiting in line frantically scrambled out of his way.
“W-What is it, Instructor Asher?” The logistics administrator’s attitude had taken a complete 180, his expression vastly more enthusiastic—and terrified—than before.
‘Just as I thought.
Power really is the only thing that talks,’ Asher chuckled internally.
He then pointed a finger over at Drake.
“Instructor Drake hasn’t collected his class’s resources yet, right?
He’s injured right now, so I’ll collect them on his behalf.”
The entire hall went dead silent.
The atmosphere froze solid, and quite a few people couldn’t stop their mouths from twitching.
*Collecting them on his behalf?
Wow, how incredibly thoughtful of you!*
“Instructor Asher…
this is…” The administrator looked completely torn.
“Hm?” Asher narrowed his eyes.
“No problem at all!
Here are Instructor Drake’s resources for the month.
Please take them!” Feeling the faint, murderous aura radiating from Asher, the administrator frantically packed the items into a bag.
Slinging the bag over his shoulder—which was noticeably several times heavier than his own—Asher flashed a wide grin.
“Then I’ll thank you on Instructor Drake’s behalf.”
Leaving those words behind, he turned around.
Under the bizarre, bewildered gazes of everyone in the room, he casually stepped over Drake’s unconscious body and swaggered out of the hall.