[OPENING WEAPON'S STATS]
WEAPON NAME: Liam Morningstar
WEAPON TYPE: HUMAN
LEVEL: BASIC GRADE
STRENGHT: 5
SPEED: 8
AGILITY: 6
ENDURANCE: 14
INTELLIGENCE: 12
+ATTRIBUTE
—NONE
SKILL POINTS: 10
Hmm? My stats are lower than I thought and I only have 10 skill points.
Which stats should I increase?
I'll need to boost my speed if I'm going to stand a chance against him. I'll also need to increase my strength to inflict any damage.
[ENHANCEMENT]
+-----+
Strength 5->10
Speed 8->13
+-----+
I had more or less figured out the metrics for the points system. It was honestly quite simple. The improvement per point was based on the previous amount of points I had—it was all relative.
For example, my strength was at 5, but using enhancement brought it up to 10, which meant my strength doubled. If I wanted to double my strength from what it currently was, I'd need to bring it up to 20.
This also meant that the point value dropped the higher my stat was. So, if my strength was at 100, I'd need another 100 to double it, which was a far cry from the 5 points I needed to double my strength when it was at 5.
Yuan stood over me, spear in hand. For a second, I was confused, but then I remembered.
That's right. He said he was going to take a limb.
BANG!
Just then, gates opened around us; it was the men in black. They came to retrieve the applicants I had injured. They paid us no mind and proceeded to grab the injured before leaving.
I must commend them; they looked like they were trying their best not to get in our way. Though it felt absolutely ridiculous, what kind of school lets its applicants severely injure one another?
I had heard about the hundreds of legal cases piled up against them, but now I was just beginning to understand it—
"Are you daydreaming?" Yuan looked at me with a confused expression. "Whatever."
He raised his spear into the air and brought it down with full force. I kicked his feet casually, derailing the path of the blade. It landed right beside my head. I didn't skip a beat, in an instant I was back on my feet, I made sure to savor the ridiculous look on his face as the metal guard on my knee impacted directly on the bridge of his nose.
CLANG!!
From my experience, getting hit in the nose wasn't fun at all. When my father did it, I lost my vision entirely, and then the dizziness set in.
I didn't give him the chance to recover; instead, I used the opportunity to take out the most annoying weapon he had—his voice. I heard what sounded like a crack when my fist hit his throat. If I'm not mistaken, that was two broken bones but still his watch remained silent.
The stubborn bastard wasn't giving up. It was like he was trying to spite me with his resilience, but I couldn't care less. A mundane task like this didn't grant me any fulfillment. No matter how tough you act, violence shows you who you really are.
It's a way of life, a currency with limitless value. For all my father's faults, he wielded violence spectacularly; I always admired him for it. What failed him in the end was that he couldn't handle violence being directed at himself.
"AURAAHH!!"
He threw a tantrum, hacking at me wildly with his spear. I sidestepped his attacks; his movements were perfectly clear to me, I delivered a blow to his stomach, I could feel my fist caving in his rid cage.
Bone number three.
His legs crumbled as he fell to the ground, coughing up blood hysterically.
"Koff, koff… you enjoying yourself? Koff, koff… I can barely talk."
"And yet you won't shut up."
"Stop!" one of his followers called out. He was holding Luna as a hostage while the others circled around me.
I ignored them, turned my attention back to Yuan, crouching in front of him. He had no choice but to steer into my mask.
"What is your goal here? Why create a faction in the first place?"
He looked at me as if I had asked a dumb question.
"Why else? To be on top. I deserve a place among the best."
I think I understood what he was saying.
"You were planning to go to war against the other factions, weren't you?"
He gave disturbing smile with his bloodied teeth. Of course he was; power-hungry idiots were all the same.
"What about you?" he asked. "What's your goal in all this?"
My goal?
"I plan on thinning the herd. There were 500 of us on this island, and the school will only accept 200. That means more than half the applicants will not be accepted."
"So that's your real goal?"
Partly, yes, but if I spent all my time here taking out applicants, I would be giving up the real gold—the points I get from killing monsters.
"You ask if I wanted to join your faction, but I would prefer a newer arrangement: a partnership between the two of us."
He gave an amused chuckle.
"You want a partnership with me? Why?"
"As I said, to thin the herd. If it weren't for the different factions being formed, it would be a free-for-all, and I reckon the number of applicants would've been cut in half on the first day. But now, each faction will be fighting so that their side wins. If that happens and one side does win, with majority of its members being accepted into the school, it means the majority of the first years will be under one leader."
If that happens, I would be at risk since I wasn't part of any faction. Being an outcast sucked, and it wasn't how I planned on spending my four years in high school. The solution…
"We need to make sure there is an even playing field and thin the herd on all sides."
"I like how you refer to brutally assaulting people as thinning the herd, hah!" he laughed, amused.
"It's natural selection."
"Except there is nothing natural about it. I have a feeling this school year is going to be a lot of fun. It's a dea—"
"Another thing, I want you to keep the option of me joining your faction on the table."
If things turn sour and I ended up being resented for whatever reason, I'd rather not be left high and dry. This guy was at the bottom of the food chain, and I had to struggle to beat him. Frankly put, I wasn't in any condition to pick fights with anyone.
He looked at me, confused, before he finally made up his mind.
"Fine, but if that happens, it means you're basically signing yourself away to the devil. Deal?"
"Deal."
This arrangement worked out for him too since it meant that while his faction was growing, the others would be decreasing. While I was talking to Yuan, I noticed something: his throat was fully healed, and his deformed nose had completely reconstructed. My guess was that his system granted him some sort of regeneration ability.
Now that everything had concluded, I took Luna by the hand, scooped up the bag of supplies, and headed off.
"Hey!! You can't just take that!!"