Chris and Tom, who were the last two remaining bullies, kept their gazes fixed on Thors. Neither of them had a completely terrified expression, doing their best to hide their fear.
But no matter how hard they tried, it still showed.
The slight trembling of their bodies.
The nervous shifting of their feet.
The way their eyes occasionally flickered towards Garrick, who was still clutching his shattered hand.
They were afraid.
[Charisma has increased by one]
[5x has been applied]
Thors could feel his body instantly brimming with more strength.
The increase was immediate.
It spread through his body like a warm current, filling his muscles with a sudden surge of vitality. His senses sharpened ever so slightly, and even his breathing seemed to become lighter.
"You bastard!" Chris yelled with the bravest voice he could muster.
Then he charged.
His footing was quick as he rushed forward.
He raised a hand high, and cold blue energy began charging within it.
The temperature around him seemed to drop.
Thin traces of frost crawled across the floor beneath his feet as the energy condensed around his palm, growing brighter and denser with every passing second.
Then, as he came into range, he thrust his hand forward.
Fwoosh!
The energy erupted.
Constructs of ice, sharp as spears, shot towards Thors in a violent barrage.
Thors did not flinch.
He simply darted to the right, his body moving with an almost casual smoothness as each of the ice shards flew past him.
One grazed the edge of his clothing.
Another shattered against the wall behind him.
A third passed so close to his face that he felt the freezing air it carried.
But not a single one touched him.
Chris did not stop there.
He sent another.
Then another.
And another.
The attacks came in rapid succession, each one launched with enough force to seriously injure an ordinary student.
But Thors easily weaved through every one.
He shifted his shoulders.
Twisted his waist.
Ducked beneath one.
Then stepped sideways to avoid another.
His movements were so precise that it almost looked as though he already knew where each attack would land.
Ducking under each one, he even used his hands to catch several of the shards mid-air before they could reach him at extraordinary speed.
Crack!
The ice shattered between his fingers.
Another came.
Thors caught it.
Crack!
Another.
Caught.
Shattered.
He continued advancing.
And with every successful evasion, Thors moved nearer and nearer to Chris.
Chris’ eyes widened.
His breathing became rougher.
His confidence began to collapse.
He fired another volley desperately, but Thors simply moved through the storm of ice as though it were nothing more than a light rain.
Until finally...
He reached the boy.
Chris barely had enough time to react.
Thors’ hands shot forward and grabbed both of Chris’ wrists.
The boy’s expression changed instantly.
"Wait—"
Squeeze.
Crack!
Chris screamed at the top of his lungs.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
His body convulsed violently.
His knees buckled beneath him, and he dropped to the floor before crumbling onto his side as Thors calmly let go of him.
His broken wrists trembled uncontrollably.
Thors looked down at him without much expression.
"Weak."
[Charisma has increased.]
Thors’ eyes shifted towards the last bully.
Tom.
He trembled in his stance.
His hands were raised in a sorry battle stance, but the position lacked any real confidence.
He bit down on his lips and held his gaze firmly on Thors to the best of his ability.
Clearly doing his best to hide his fear.
But Thors could see it.
He could see the sweat gathering on Tom’s forehead.
He could see the faint trembling of his fingers.
He could see the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously.
At this, Thors raised his hand and pointed his palm towards the boy.
Tom’s eyes widened.
Then...
Fwoom!
A surge of golden, ethereal light formed before Thors’ palm.
The light twisted and gathered together, becoming brighter and more concentrated until the entire hallway was illuminated by its radiance.
Then it left his palm.
A beam of golden lightning.
BOOM!
The lightning struck its target with devastating force.
A deafening explosion occurred at the point of impact, sending a violent shockwave through the hallway.
Tom’s body was thrown backwards, his feet leaving the ground for a brief moment before he crashed heavily onto the floor.
He remained there, stunned.
His mouth shook.
Slowly, his gaze turned towards the wall by his side.
The once ordinary wall had been scorched black.
Obsidian-like.
A deep, jagged trench had been gouged into it where the golden lightning had struck, smoke slowly rising from the damaged surface.
Tom stared at it.
His pupils trembled.
’If that beam had struck me instead...’
No doubt, he would be hospitalized for days.
Maybe even longer.
He slowly glanced back at Thors.
’So this was the power of a Top Ten...’
Thors took another long stare at Tom.
The boy instinctively stiffened.
But Thors simply turned around.
"Take your friends to the infirmary."
He then yawned, stretched, and began walking off as though nothing had happened.
Tom stared in bewilderment as he watched the figure of the Top Ten disappear down the halls.
The sound of Thors’ footsteps gradually became quieter.
Until eventually...
Nothing.
Meanwhile, the bullied boy who had grabbed onto Thors earlier rose to his feet and walked over to his other partner.
He picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.
The two began moving past the dazed Tom to exit the hall.
His partner groaned at every slight movement, then, with a tired voice, he spoke.
"That Top Ten... What was his name again?"
The other boy turned back for a moment before glancing at his partner and forcing a smile.
"I think his name was Thors Godfrey."
Meanwhile;
It was dark.
Immensely so.
So much so that the darkness seemed almost as though it were a physical surface itself.
It surrounded everything.
It swallowed every trace of light.
Almost hypnotizing, as though it existed yet did not.
As though even the concept of space itself had been consumed by the darkness.
With the only source of light in this surreal darkness being a dull holographic screen sprawled across the wall.
The screen flickered quietly.
On it was a depiction of Thors as he fought against the three bullies.
Every movement.
Every attack.
Every brutal display of strength.
After the video played, it shifted back to when Thors had originally touched the crystal.
The scene replayed once more.
And then finally...
A voice came echoing through the darkness.
Cold.
Slothful.
Almost completely devoid of emotion.
"Keep a closer watch on him."
There were two people in the room.
One was buried deep within the darkness, seated upon a silver throne that seemed to stand out only slightly against the blackness surrounding it.
The other stood closely beside the holographic screen.
The faint blue light from the display illuminated only the frame of his body and the uniform of the academy.
The boy nodded and turned away to leave the room.
But then...
He paused.
His hand remained on the door for a moment.
Then, silently, he turned back to face the silver throne.
He stared into the darkness where the mysterious man sat.
Then he asked in a clearly questioning tone,
"You know, I don’t ask much before taking orders from you, sir. But might I ask, what is the reason for your interest in him?"
The man on the silver throne smiled at his question.
He didn’t immediately answer.
Instead, he allowed the question to linger in the darkness for a few moments, creating an uncomfortable silence between them.
Then he finally replied.
"The final test of the Academy entrance exam is the selection method we created to find one of his kind..."
His voice carried a strange weight.
"And finally, after how many years, we finally have not just one..."
He paused.
"But several of them."
The other man tilted his head slightly, unable to fully comprehend what this man meant.
"Several...?"
At this, the man on the silver throne laughed.
A low, unsettling laugh that echoed through the darkness.
"Wait and see, Number 18."
His voice became slightly more excited.
"A Great Superhuman Era is about to begin."
Number 18...
Or by his given name, Elden.
He paused for a moment.
His eyes remained fixed upon the silver throne as he thought through the statement a few times.
A Great Superhuman Era.
The words repeated within his mind.
What exactly did that mean?
He didn’t know.
But he knew better than to question the man any further.
Finally, Elden turned and walked away.
His footsteps slowly disappeared into the darkness.
And once he was gone...
The man upon the silver throne remained seated in silence.
Watching the frozen image of Thors on the holographic screen.
A faint smile remained on his face.
"And thus it begins."