Arthur turned around and saw a female student with black hair and eyes, and her black robe stood out prominently among the crowd of students.
'If I remember correctly, this girl is one of the [Academy Committee] members I've seen in the cafeteria. What's her name again? Silvie?' Arthur thought.
"Hey, I asked you, who's behind all of this?" Silvie asked, staring at Arthur and the students around him.
Unconsciously, all the students stepped back, leaving Arthur standing alone.
"Is it you?" Silvie asked while gripping the hilt of her sheathed sword.
"If it is, so what?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Then come with me to the counselor's office now," Silvie said firmly.
"I refuse," Arthur replied flatly and boredly, then turned to leave.
"Stop," Silvie said as she drew her sword from its sheath.
Hearing the sound of the sword being drawn, Arthur turned back with cold eyes.
Arthur then drew his sword and said, "Do you know what it means to draw your sword and point it at your opponent?"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Are you planning to fight?" Silvie asked with an angry and annoyed expression, then coated her sword with [Mana].
As Silvie blinked, she saw that Arthur had already appeared in front of her.
'Fast!' Silvie thought, surprised by Arthur's speed, and quickly raised her sword to block his attack.
*TING
The two swords collided, producing sparks.
Silvie's eyes widened as she felt her hands tremble uncontrollably.
"In the Black family, pointing your sword at someone means you're challenging them to a life-and-death battle," Arthur said with a faint smile, but his eyes were cold and full of killing intent.
'He's just a first-year student, only 11 years old, but how is his strength slightly above mine? And why does he have such a sharp killing intent?' Silvie thought with a hint of panic in her eyes.
Silvie then kicked Arthur and did a backflip to retreat.
Arthur, having been kicked, also stepped back while maintaining his balance.
At the same time, Arthur and Silvie rushed forward and clashed swords again.
In just ten seconds, Arthur and Silvie had swung their swords dozens of times.
Each time their swords collided, Silvie grew more fearful of Arthur's strength.
'What kind of training did this kid go through in the Black family to have this level of swordsmanship and power at age 11?' Silvie thought while continuously swinging her sword.
"Not bad," Arthur said, tightening his grip on his sword. "Let's end this."
Seeing Arthur's final strike, Silvie also channeled most of her \[Mana] into her sword, and blades of wind began to swirl around it.
'She's coating her sword with wind magic? I might've underestimated the talent of the [Academy Committee].' Arthur thought.
Arthur and Silvie's swords clashed, creating a strong gust of wind that pushed some of the weaker students a few steps back.
"So this is the strength of a Black family bodyguard, and he's only 11 years old," one student murmured in astonishment.
After the strong wind subsided, all the students intently watched the battlefield.
*THUD
They saw Silvie's sword fall to the ground, her hands trembling uncontrollably, and her face filled with shock and disbelief.
'I… lost?' Silvie thought, staring at her sword on the ground and her trembling hands.
Arthur just scoffed coldly, sheathed his sword, and walked away from the garden.
However, just as Arthur took a few steps, a voice echoed across the garden once again.
"WHO DARES DO THIS?"
'Ugh. Another bug shows up one after another,' Arthur thought irritably.
Arthur turned around and saw three [Academy Committee] students—one male and two females—walking toward Silvie.
"Victor, Nana, Lily, what are you doing here?" Silvie asked.
Nana, a 1-meter-tall student with pink hair and eyes, pinched Silvie's waist, making her flinch.
"You reckless junior. Don't push yourself too hard. This is your first year in the [Academy Committee]. You should leave things like this to your seniors," Nana said.
"Nana's right, Silvie. If you can't handle it, just leave it to seniors like us," Lily said, a 154 cm tall girl with pale yellow hair. Strangely, Lily always kept her eyes closed, so very few people knew what her eyes looked like.
"Enough. Leave. It. To. Seniors," Victor said, a 165 cm tall student with black hair and eyes, and very noticeable eye bags.
'Is the [Academy Committee] full of weirdos? A tiny loli, a mysterious girl with closed eyes, and a guy who looks sleep-deprived,' Arthur thought.
"Senior..." Silvie said with emotional eyes.
"Alright. Just stand back and watch how your seniors handle this," Nana said with a big smile.
"Okay," Silvie replied and stepped back.
"So you're the [Nightmare Knight]," Nana said with a cold gaze, especially when she saw the silver tie on Arthur's uniform.
"Seems like I'm pretty famous," Arthur replied with a faint grin.
"Who doesn't know the mad dog next to Young Master Black?" Nana asked rhetorically.
"Nice compliment. Unfortunately, it's this mad dog who'll defeat you," Arthur replied, his grin widening, but his eyes remained cold and filled with killing intent.
"Whatever you are, whether [Nightmare Knight] or mad dog, I'll drag you to the counselor's office," Nana said.
"Try me," Arthur replied and dashed forward.
As Arthur took just a few steps, he suddenly felt a mountain crash onto his back.
'Gravity magic?' Arthur thought, slightly surprised.
Arthur raised his head and saw Victor staring at him. Despite his dead-fish eyes, Arthur could sense the seriousness in them.
After a moment of adaptation, Arthur managed to somewhat get used to the gravity pressing down on him.
He stood tall and took a defensive stance while cautiously observing his surroundings.
'Where are those two girls?' Arthur wondered.
Victor was surprised to see Arthur standing tall under his gravity spell.
'What kind of monster is he? A normal person would be kneeling under 7x gravity,' Victor thought and increased the gravity to 10x.
In an instant, Arthur felt the weight on his back grow even heavier, but it only caused him to bend slightly.
"You're quite impressive, junior."
Arthur heard Nana's voice and turned around. He saw ten Nanas running toward him at once.
'Clones? And how did she suddenly appear behind me?' Arthur thought and quickly swung his sword.
But before Arthur could swing, a vine suddenly sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his arm.
'What?'