Chapter 107: Kevin Dreadmere
There were just a few minutes left before the class started, but more than half of the seats in the classroom were still empty.
It was mainly because not all the commoners who might possess traits were in Class A yet.
In the original timeline, it took William around two or three months to become a Star Warrior after joining the academy.
His trait had also awakened when he became a Star Warrior, so he was transferred to Class A after two or three months once the academy started.
Similarly, there were still many commoners who might possess traits but had not yet awakened them because they had not become Star Warriors. Once they became Star Warriors and awakened their traits, they would be transferred to Class A.
In the original timeline, when Liam, Sophia, and Brown were transferred out of Class A after a month’s assessment because they hadn’t made much progress during that month, they were transferred to Class C.
It was the class William had been admitted to in the beginning and also the class where he met them for the first time.
Later, when he became a Star Warrior and awakened his trait, he was transferred to Class A. But after a month, when he didn’t show much progress, he was once again transferred back to Class C.
The main reason neither of them was able to make much progress was because of their lack of resources and good techniques.
Of course, there were also many commoners in Class A who made good progress and were successfully able to stay in the Class A.
But about 95% of these commoners were people who joined a noble’s faction, while only five percent were independent people who had good luck and somehow managed to obtain enough resources to make progress.
From what William remembered, including nobles and commoners, there would be around 55 or 60 students in Class A throughout the year, including those who had not yet awakened their traits and would join Class A later.
Out of those 55 to 60 people, about 20 would join the faction of the Dreadmere Family.
It was also one of the five Duke Families of the kingdom.
As the memories of the original timeline flashed through William’s mind, he looked at the cold-faced young man who had just entered the classroom.
Kevin Dreadmere!
More importantly, unlike Noah, Edrin, and Maya, whose identities were simply that they belonged to Duke Families, Kevin had already been announced as the heir of the Dreadmere Family and would become the next Duke in the future.
The reason Kevin was successfully able to take the position of heir at such a young age, despite a noble family having many candidates for the position, was mainly because of his Perfect Grade Aether Affinity and Legendary Grade Trait that he had awakened.
Having Perfect Grade Aether Affinity was already rare, and on top of that, he had awakened a Legendary Grade Trait, which was even harder to come by.
As such, he was immediately announced as the next heir of the family to further increase his family’s prestige.
In fact, it was also because he had the title of Heir that most of the people from Class A joined his faction.
Joining his faction was essentially the same as joining the faction of the next Duke. It was like a golden opportunity for most people, as working for someone who was destined to become a Duke was a dream come true for many.
As soon as Kevin stepped inside the classroom, his footsteps couldn’t help but pause as his gaze swept over the four benches in front.
Normally, the four benches in front had always been occupied by the Silvercrest, Ebonhart, Dreadmere, and Stormvale Families, the four Duke Families.
As for the Morvain Family, which was also a Duke Family, they never sent anyone from their family to the academy, so there had always been only four benches in the front row.
But as he looked, Kevin saw all four benches in the front row were already occupied, and a frown appeared on his face.
Kevin was around 175 cm tall and had dark black hair. Unlike most of the nobles, he had light wheat-colored skin and a pair of ocean-blue eyes.
His gaze swept over Edrin, Maya, and Noah, and he recognized all three of them.
But when his gaze rested on William and Liam at the front left corner, his eyes narrowed.
Just as he was wondering who those two were, a noble student who was sitting in the middle row toward the back stood up and quickly approached him.
He whispered something into Kevin’s ear, and the expression on Kevin’s face gradually turned even colder.
Without saying a word, he walked toward William and Liam.
When Edrin and Maya saw Kevin’s expression, a hint of anticipation couldn’t help but appear in their eyes.
The other students in the class noticed Kevin, and seeing that his eyes were fixed on William and Liam’s seats, they immediately understood what was going to happen next.
Noah frowned when he saw Kevin walking over with a dark expression but remained silent and didn’t say anything.
Kevin stopped in front of William and Liam and looked at them with narrowed eyes.
"Move."
He spoke in a cold voice, and a powerful aura emanated from him, pressing down on William and Liam.
Liam frowned slightly as he felt uncomfortable under Kevin’s aura, who was already very close to reaching the peak of the Star Warrior Realm.
But not even a second later, the pressure he was feeling completely disappeared, and a voice full of disdain reached his ears.
"Who are you trying to scare with your puppy aura?"
Liam turned his head and saw that William had stood up at some point and was looking at Kevin with disdain.
Edrin, Noah, and Maya were surprised when they saw that William was completely unaffected by Kevin’s aura as among all the students in their class, Kevin’s level was one of the highest.
The smile on Edrin’s face flattened slightly when he saw this, and a serious look appeared in his eyes.
Kevin was also surprised by William’s reaction, but his focus was on a completely different thing.
’Puppy aura...’
He seemed to find something funny about the words, and his lips curled upward slightly, though the smile was far from happy.
"Do you know who I am?"
Hearing Kevin’s question, William’s lips also curled upward slightly, and he spoke in a low voice.
"Does my face look like that of someone who gives a shit about who you are?"
The cold smile on Kevin’s face didn’t disappear, but suddenly, his hand moved at lightning speed.
"Be car—"
Liam’s expression changed when he saw this, and he quickly tried to warn William.
However, before he could—
Bang!
A booming sound echoed, and Kevin’s hand, which was just a few centimeters away from William’s face, was grabbed by a firm hand.
"I didn’t expect the famous heir of the Dreadmere Family to be a trash coward who likes to sneak attack..."
As William spoke, he pressed Kevin’s hand with even more strength and a painful look appeared on Kevin’s face.
"Let go."
Kevin said and tried to pull back his hand. But to his shock, Kevin found that he couldn’t pull his hand free from William’s grasp.
William looked at Kevin coldly and leaned forward slightly.
"You are lucky that we are currently in the classroom. If it had been outside..."
Kevin’s face contracted in pain as he felt like his bones were about to be crushed.
"...some broken bones would have been the least of your concerns."
William let go of Kevin’s hand, and everyone noticed that his palm was completely red, with deep fingerprints left on it.
A look of shock appeared on everyone’s faces, and they looked at William with astonishment.
Especially Maya, Edrin, and Noah, who knew Kevin’s strength.
"You bas—"
"I know you didn’t use any Aether Energy, skills, or anything else since it’s forbidden to use them inside the classroom, and you think I just took advantage of my strong physical body..."
William interrupted before Kevin could speak.
"Then how about this? Let’s have a fight in the challenge arena after the class. If you win, I will sit at the back from now on. But if I win, this seat will belong to me."
The words Kevin was about to speak got stuck in his mouth, and he gave William a deep look.
"Fine. You better bring someone with you because after the match, you won’t be able to walk back on your own."
William simply smiled at Kevin’s words and sat down with a nonchalant look, as if nothing had happened.
Kevin looked at William with a dark expression before turning around.
He took a look at other seats in the front and after a moment, simply left the classroom.
The entire classroom turned dead silent as everyone was still shocked by what had just happened.
’His reaction speed when he stopped Kevin’s attack just now...’
Edrin’s eyes narrowed slightly, and a calculative look appeared in his eyes. ’This guy is definitely not normal.’
Maya was also surprised by the earlier event.
But after hearing that William was planning to fight against Kevin after class, she couldn’t help but give him a look of disdain, as she knew how strong Kevin was.
She had sparred against him in the past and had lost, so she knew his strength very well.
Noah, on the other hand, thought for a moment before reminding William.
"Be careful. Kevin is not weak."
William was surprised upon hearing Noah’s words and nodded.
"Thanks for the reminder. I will be careful."
He looked at the podium at the front and rested his chin on his palm.
’My dear Vivian, you better keep your word. If not, I will be in a lot of trouble for messing with so many nobles at once.’