The formidable superhuman walked through the dimly lit halls of the academy building, murmurs rising here and there from students who saw him pass.
Everyone gossiped at the sight of him.
Bragging about his strength, or mocking the Top Ten for their incapabilities.
Valon was unconcerned. He pocketed his hands into the soft cushions of his pockets and moved without care, turning and twisting down the halls until he finally reached a building where there were little to no students present.
He reached it, but instead of walking straight into the building, he did something quite strange.
He did not proceed to enter the building.
Instead, he went around it, walking closely along its exterior as though surveying its body while pretending not to pay it any attention.
Then, finally, he reached the back of the building, where there was a small garden fenced by a brick wall.
There was no one present there aside from the abominable fighter at the moment.
At this, he paused, stopping his movements to stare at the garden. The flowers swayed gently in the breeze, while the bushes shuffled softly, almost as though the quiet scenery offered him some sort of solace.
And then...
"You are late."
Valon shifted his gaze towards the building.
There stood a boy his age, reclined against the wall of the building. He was black in complexion, tall, with short white hair roughened and forming waves along his forehead. His red eyes stared down at Valon as he watched in silence.
Valon finally replied, grimacing.
"I was busy."
The black boy raised a brow and tilted his neck slightly.
"Do you need to be reminded of your place?"
Valon growled, his fingers digging into his palm as he wrenched the words from his mouth.
"No... Sir Elden."
A smirk formed across Elden’s face, and then he nodded.
"What’s your report?"
Valon lingered for a moment before speaking.
"I did well to defeat three of the Top Ten, however... I was unable to engage Thors Godfrey."
Elden pulled back slightly, startled by Valon’s somber expression.
Then he laughed.
"—Holy, seven hells, don’t tell me the mighty Valon is actually interested in someone... I thought you were nothing but a disgusting dog."
Valon growled but dared not say a single word. All he could do was bite at his lips and glare at Elden.
"You will get your chance at a rematch with him very soon if everything goes to plan."
Elden paused, his smirk widening slightly.
"But I am curious. Why do you want to battle Godfrey?"
Valon sneered and then thrust a hand into the air.
The air shuddered.
An invisible force of wind tore through the garden, ripping apart everything in its path. Bushes were carved through, flowers were violently scattered, and the tranquil garden was left in a mess of shredded leaves and petals as the force finally reached the massive stone wall at the end.
"I have to meet him again, to know why."
Elden chuckled.
"I see. I’ll make sure I put in a good word for you. After all..."
His red eyes narrowed as his smirk deepened.
"I am the one that pulls his strings."
Thors nestled on his bed, his hands tucked into themselves as he thought about how the day had turned out.
The encounter with Valon, the rest of the Top Ten, Seoul being hospitalized, and...
Thors’ expression wilted even further as he turned to stare at the information displayed on his watch.
"Power has been questioned around the First Years about your strength. As a Top Ten member, you are required to make yourself available on the third day of next week to defend your spot in the Top Ten against challengers."
Thors grunted at the information he had read.
It was as Layla had explained. They would most likely be taken out of their Top Ten spots. The original question was how?
But that question had been answered now.
"A tournament between the Top Ten and students that dare to challenge us..."
Thors could only imagine how many "Valon" types of students were out there among the First Years, students who would come for his rank without hesitation.
And for that, he needed to be prepared.
His charisma had increased a little from blocking Valon’s attack in the fields...
Still, that wasn’t enough for Thors.
He wanted to be strong.
Strong enough to live the life he wanted and not have to cave to the force of anyone.
And with how strong Valon had been...
’No, I can’t be satisfied with my current progress... It’s true that I have gotten far stronger than I ever have in my entire life,’ his best friend Kaely would say the same.
Yet...
’The fact that there is someone out there far more powerful than I am... I don’t have the leisure to grow so slowly, not as a Top Ten... And not if I want to keep being in this spot.’
For the kind of strength Thors was in desperate need of, there was only one place that could give it to him.
The dungeon.
Thors summoned the system and commanded it to give him information on the dungeon.
It lingered for a moment before a notification popped right before his eyes.
[Level Two Dungeon: A far more perilous place than the first dungeon, with more powerful and uncountable foes.]
[Warning: To complete this dungeon might take a very long time. Are you sure you want to proceed now?]
[The unknown is interested in your choice.]
Thors remained silent.
He rubbed the back of his neck and then sighed.
Was he really ready to enter the dungeon?
Thors asked himself again and again...
Then, finally, after a while of thought, he answered.
But before he could open his mouth to speak, the door swung open with a loud creak.
And in came rushing a boy, his footsteps heavy and resounding throughout the entire room, so loud that Thors wouldn’t have been able to ignore them even if he wanted to.
The boy was breathing heavily as he made his way up to Thors’ bed before collapsing onto his knees, his upper body crumbling onto Thors’ bed.
"T—Thors!"
Thors did not react.
He simply stared at the boy, recognizing him as his second roommate.
The one who had been criticizing both him and Seoul throughout their stay together.
A brief silence washed over the room as nothing was said between the two. Thors simply watched as the boy did his best to stabilize his breathing.
Then, after that, he finally brought his head up and stared at Thors.
"I overheard a few students talking, and learned Bishop plans to kill Seoul while he is hospitalized tonight."
"..."
Another awkward silence passed by.
Thors simply stared into the boy’s eyes, his expression remaining frozen.
Then he spoke...
"Your name is Elden, right?"
Elden was flabbergasted at Thors’ words to him.
Where had this come from all of a sudden?
"I don’t understand...?" Elden muttered, his voice low and shaky. "Aren’t you worried about Seoul? Bishop plans on killing him."
Still, Thors’ expression did not falter.
He only stared into Elden’s eyes as though looking through the facade of this fox.
Elden, at this point, knew something was very wrong.
’If it is what I think it is... I’ll have no choice but to neutralize him here and now.’
His fingers slowly curled into fists.
Whatever happened next depended entirely on Thors’ next action.