Chapter 5. Monstrous Talent

Two academy instructors arrived, Mathias and Misa. 60 cadets were in the arena, sitting in a circle with two cadets in the center to fight each other later.

"Hey, Noah. You might need this!" insulted Caleb, the best cadet in the class who constantly bullied Noah.

Caleb threw a wooden sword at Noah, which Noah immediately grabbed with his right hand. All the cadets laughed loudly; they couldn't wait to see Noah fight with the wooden sword.

"Since Noah has arrived, how about the first battle between Noah and Talon?" Mathias suggested.

Misa couldn't argue because Mathias would be the referee in this sparring match. A fight that Misa didn't think was fair, the weakest against the strongest. Noah, known as the weakest cadet in the academy, is against Talon, who is known as the strongest cadet and the future successor to Ares in The Legion's Elite Unit.

"Talon will destroy him in one strike!"

Noah had expected it. The 58 cadets in the arena fully supported Talon. Not a single one wanted to support Noah.

Their cruel insults, scorn, and ridicule towards Noah made Noah furious and annoyed. His eyes closed as he tried to take a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Natasha. I had to protect my pride," Noah whispered.

His right hand began to remove the wooden sword. This surprised everyone, even Mathias and Misa, who watched what Noah was about to do.

"What are the rules, Instructor Mathias?" asked Talon.

"The fight begins on my signal. You are free to use any power, whether elemental magic or talent. The winner will be determined when the opponent surrenders or dies," Mathias explained.

"Is it clear?" asked Mathias, and Talon and Noah nodded in agreement.

Noah and Talon jumped back, taking a significant distance so that both could prepare their strength. Mathias turned to the side, asking Noah to take back his wooden sword.

"That's not necessary!" declared Noah, confident in his decision not to use the wooden sword.

"It's up to you. I'm not responsible if you die."

Mathias' hand shot up, signaling the match was about to begin. Mathias' hand came down quickly. Talon had already prepared his magic and charged straight ahead, targeting Noah's body.

Noah managed to run in a circle to avoid Talon's magic attack. Some students laughed loudly, realizing Noah was helpless against Talon.

"Keep running, loser!"

Several students shouted the same thing, asking Noah to keep running without stopping. However, they all never knew that Noah was actually preparing something.

[Blood Manipulation Talent!]

[Skill 3: Spiked Blood Pit]

Noah bit the tip of his index finger, letting his own blood flow through his fingers and down onto the arena floor. The amount was increasing, and the cadets who saw it began to worry, as did the instructors.

Following the skill description of Noah's third skill, the blood from Noah's body would continue to flow towards the Talon's feet and create a large pit of blood with a rancid odor.

"Wh-What is this?" asked Talon, panicking.

"What is that? What power is that?!" Mathias couldn't hide his shock at finding Talon on top of a circular blood pit, the blood being supplied from Noah's injured right finger.

Misa could only gape in shock, never knowing that Noah had such an ability.

"I-Isn't that blood?"

"What's Noah doing?"

Freya made a big face. Her guess was correct; Noah had a talent, and the aura's color surrounding Noah's body was exactly the same as the blood's characteristics.

"What are you doing?!" asked Talon, panicking.

"This will make you limp for a while!" declared Noah, the hand where his finger was injured instantly clenched into a fist.

An explosion occurred in the blood pit, not creating a blast of fire but an explosion of blood that pierced Talon's body. Talon's body bounced off Noah's crowd control circle, thrown with his uniform stained blood red.

Right after doing so, the blood flow that had formed the pit began to be drawn back into Noah's body like it had never happened before. Talon crouched down, his breath ragged with small puncture wounds all over his bleeding body.

"STOP!" shouted Mathias, not wanting Talon to die.

[Blood Manipulation Talent!]

[Skill 1: Blood Absorption]

Dragonlance formed again from Noah's blood. The young man continued to speed forward to end Talon's life. For Noah, killing Talon was the same as restoring Noah's pride, which had been shattered by the cadets' ridicule.

"Die!" declared Noah, shrouded in anger.

[Light Control Talent!]

[Skill 1: Light of Divine Justice]

Natasha, who had been secretly watching Noah since his arrival from the Legion base, began to unleash the skills of her talent. The woman dashed lightning-fast into the arena to block Noah's dragonlance.

"M-Miss Natasha?!" startled Misa and the other cadets.

"Take it easy, Noah! I expected your temper to be unstable," Natasha replied, glaring at Noah.

"I need to kill him! I need to restore my pride! I'm sick of being scorned!" snapped Noah, shouting in front of Natasha.

Natasha squinted her eyes and watched intently as Noah's eyes started to take the effects of his blood manipulation, turning completely crimson.

The woman immediately punched Noah hard in the solar plexus, making Noah groan in pain and instantly faint from Natasha's blow.

The situation was gradually conducive. Misa walked over to Talon, who was pale-faced with fear at the horror of Noah's power.

"T-That's terrible power!" complained Mathias.

"I told you, he's the strongest of all the cadets at the academy."

Natasha deactivated her talent and took Noah to the infirmary for treatment. Misa, who was curious, took Talon to the same room as Natasha brought Noah.

"What exactly happened? Why does Noah have such a monstrous talent? Is it because he killed a beast?" asked Misa, speaking to Natasha after arriving at the infirmary.

The Legion member could only remain silent, seeing Noah's incredible inner potential. Noah's ingenuity was not to be underestimated either; the young man could master his talent skills well.

"I can't tell you," Natasha replied, turning coldly to Misa.

"Most importantly, you must never make him angry or humiliated again. He might kill everyone if his temper gets out of hand," Natasha explained, asking Misa.

"I-I can do it. Let me help you look after Noah here," Misa requested.

Natasha continued to stare at Misa intently; there was no ambitious look in Misa's eyes. Natasha let out a long breath, and it seemed like she could give Misa the responsibility for Noah's time at the academy.

"Can you do it? You have to take care of him because, after this incident, many will hate and fear him," Natasha emphasized.

Misa smiled as she nodded slowly, "I'm sure I can."