Chapter 95: Second-Year Ambush
Zac lazily opened his eyes and saw all ten of them standing in front of him.
He immediately recognized the guy at the front.
It was the same second-year student whose hand he had broken in the market. A short sword hung from his waist, and his right hand looked completely healed now.
But the hatred in his eyes had not healed at all.
The second-year looked around the cave, noticing the scattered food lids, the stove, the cup, and the remains of herbs. Then he sneered.
"Enjoying a picnic, are we?"
Zac slowly looked over the group before his gaze finally settled on the one at the front. For a second, disappointment appeared on his face. "I thought it would be someone worth my time, but I guess life doesn’t always reward hope."
All the second-years stiffened.
Zac tilted his head slightly. "I didn’t expect it to be the same bitch who got his hand broken by me in public." He paused. "Man, that must have been humiliating."
Behind the second-year student, one of the attackers chuckled. "He’s as cocky as you said he would be."
The man who spoke held a saber in his hand. His Mana coated the blade in a thin layer, making the edge shimmer faintly under the cave light.
Another student beside him cracked his knuckles as stone-like scales formed over his arms. A third twisted a dagger between his fingers, his body half-hidden in the shadows.
Zac’s gaze passed over them one by one.
In truth, he was scanning each of their abilities.
"All ten are C-ranks with different weapons and abilities. But their potential seems very low, and their abilities are not well cultivated," Zac said inwardly.
[Do you even need to scan to see that? I can tell just by looking at their irregular breathing. Even their coating and Mana usage are low-level.]
Zac slowly stood up with his sword in hand.
"So, why are you all here?" he asked. "Did you also get punished and come here to take refuge from the snowstorm outside?"
The second-year student’s face twisted. "Quit acting like you don’t know."
Zac looked at him. "I really don’t. And your existence isn’t important enough for me to track."
The man’s jaw tightened. "This is what you get for humiliating me in public."
Zac blinked. "You came all the way here to kill me just because I punished you a little for what you did?"
The second-year shouted, "Who the hell are you to punish me?"
Zac lifted his hand and made a thoughtful gesture. "Your grandpa?"
A few of the attackers looked at him in confusion. One of them whispered, "What the hell is he saying?"
Zac shook his head. "No, sorry. That was my mistake." He looked back at the second-year. "I would never have a grandson like you. And even if I did, I’d probably vomit blood until I died."
Some of the attackers could not help but giggle.
The second-year’s face turned red with rage. "Stop giggling!"
He pointed his short sword at Zac and shouted, "Kill him!"
The ten attackers spread out at once.
They surrounded Zac in a half-circle, blocking the cave path behind them while leaving just enough room to move. Mana immediately rose from their bodies and coated their weapons and limbs.
And Zac clearly felt it.
Before opening his meridians, he might have only sensed a vague pressure from them. But now, he could perceive the flow around their bodies far more acutely.
Even though he did not practice the technique yet, he recognized it easily. Coating.
A faint earthen layer formed over one man’s fists. Wind spiraled around a spear user’s legs. Thin black mist gathered around the dagger user. A woman near the back lifted her hand, and small shards of ice formed between her fingers. Another carried a chain blade, its metal links humming with Mana.
Zac took all of it in with a calm gaze.
[Careful. Even though your physical strength surpasses theirs in every aspect, Mana can compensate for what they lack. Plus, they might have better skills than you.]
"I know," Zac replied inwardly. "It’s best if I finish them before they can hit me with those skills."
The second-year saw Zac’s silence and sneered. "I assume you opened all your meridians. The flith around your body already confirms it."
His smile widened.
"Good. At least now you can try to put up a little fight. But still, having Mana without knowing how to use it properly won’t save you."
"The only filth I see here is you." Zac instantly started circulating Mana through his meridians. It surged through him like ocean waves, purer and heavier than the mana of the second years.
The moment they felt it, several of their eyebrows twitched.
Zac raised his sword toward them. "Stop squeaking like pigs and come get butchered."
The second-year’s face darkened. "Let’s see how long you can keep that arrogance."
He laughed coldly and said, "Don’t kill him immediately. I want to see him on his knees, begging me for his life."
Seeing that all of them were ready to attack, Zac released lightning across his sword and body. At the same time, he activated 4x Overdrive.
Power instantly flooded through him, multiplying his strength, speed, reflexes, physical attributes, and mana output all at once.
Unlike before, the strain was far lower thanks to his newly opened meridians.
The cave flashed with lightning. Zac looked at them calmly and said,
"Ready."
The one with the saber moved first.
His blade was coated in a thin layer of Mana as he stepped forward and slashed toward Zac’s neck. His movement was clean, swift, and perfectly practiced.
Instead of blocking, Zac tilted his head slightly, and the blade missed him by less than an inch. Before the attacker could recover, Zac’s sword flashed upward.
Lightning tore through the air, and the saber wielder’s arm flew off first.
His eyes widened in shock, but before he could even scream from the pain, Zac took one step forward and cut through his chest in a clean vertical slash.
His body split apart and dropped to both sides. Blood and organs spilled across the ground, soaking the red stone floor even redder.
[+1 C-rank human killed.]
Watching that, the remaining nine second-years froze in terror. Not a single sound could be heard.
Zac tilted his head slightly. "Do you all need an invitation?"
The second-year whose hand had been broken in the market immediately shouted, "Everyone, attack at once! Don’t give him any chance!"
The stone-armed student charged from the left, both fists covered in thick earth-element Mana. At the same time, the dagger user vanished into the shadows, and the woman with the ice ability released sharp shards of ice toward Zac’s legs, trying to immobilize him.
Zac released lightning from his body like a dome. The moment the ice shards came into contact with the lightning, they melted away instantly.
The woman’s eyes widened.
On the other side, Zac raised his sword and met the stone-armed student’s fist head-on.
Clang!
The impact rang out like metal striking metal. The attacker’s eyes widened when his Mana coating cracked.
Zac immediately twisted his wrist. Lightning surged along the blade and entered the man’s arm.
The sudden electric shock stiffened his body for half a second, and half a second was more than enough. Zac kicked his knee inward, breaking his stance, then drove his sword straight through his throat, killing him instantly.
Blood splashed across the stone floor.
Just then, the dagger user appeared behind Zac out of nowhere.
Black mist covered the dagger as it stabbed toward Zac’s spine.
Zac sensed his presence at the last moment and shifted his body. The dagger scraped past his side, cutting his uniform but barely touching his skin.
The attacker tried to retreat back into the shadows immediately, but Zac’s left hand caught his wrist. "Too slow."
Lightning burst from Zac’s palm.
The dagger user tried to use Mana to resist the lightning. Seeing that it was not enough to finish him instantly, Zac tightened his grip and smashed him into the cave wall with pure physical strength.
The dagger user crashed against the wall and fell to the floor, vomiting blood.
Zac slowly walked toward him and stomped down.
Crack!
His foot crushed the man’s head against the floor, shattering his skull.
Suddenly, Zac sensed something flying toward his side; without even turning around, he caught an ice shard with his bare hand.
The woman stared at him in disbelief. "How is this possible?"
Zac crushed the ice shard in his grip. "Your ice isn’t cold enough."
Then he threw his lightning-covered sword with all his force aiming for the woman. The blade tore through the air like a silver thunderbolt.
Because of shock and fear, the woman forgot to maintain her coating. The sword instantly pierced her abdomen and dragged her backward, pinning her to the wall behind her.
[Amateurs,] the System said. [They can’t even maintain clear senses. Just seeing three of their partners die made them piss their courage away.]
[+3 C-rank human killed.]
[+1 Level up.]
Zac turned around and looked at the remaining six. His gaze was calm, but his voice carried something colder than anger.
"I’m really trying, you know," the remaining second-years stood frozen in place.
"I was once a good guy. And even though I promised myself that I would become selfish and live only for myself, I still thought I could keep a little bit of that good self from my past."
Zac’s eyes moved over them one by one. "But why are you all making me the bad guy?"
He took a slow step forward.
"It really pains my heart to see all of you getting killed."