"I can take all of you out safely through the portal. That is, if you give me permission to do so," I said, my voice firm and my expression serious.

"Do you have a plan in mind, Mr. Raj?" Payal asked, raising an eyebrow.

I gave a slight nod with my arms folded.

"Explain your plan first," Payal said. "Then we will decide whether to give you permission or not."

"The plan is simple, really."

I pointed towards the dormant goblins on the ceiling as I announced, "I will kill all of them and pave the path forward."

For a moment, both Payal and Ashish remained silent, processing what an E-Rank Awakener like me was even saying.

Payal was about to say something, but suddenly Dhruva stepped in, grabbing me by the collar.

"Say that again, you E-Ranked bastard!" Dhruva barked. "You want us to follow trash like you to our certain death? Even Instructor Ashish, who is a seasoned warrior, got injured. What makes you think you can kill these monsters?"

"Whose fault was that?"

"What?"

"Whose fault was it that Instructor Ashish got injured?" I asked, grabbing the wrist that was holding onto my collar.

"Wh-what did you just say, bastard!?" Dhruva muttered, the veins in his eyes burning red with anger.

Without even putting in much effort, I removed his hand while he gritted his teeth, using all his strength, yet failing to stop me.

"Instructors, do you accept my proposal or not?" I asked, completely ignoring Dhruva.

"Sorry, Raj, but we—"

"We need some time to discuss," Ashish said, cutting Payal mid-sentence.

"Alright," I shrugged, moving back to the rear.

"Why would they even need time to think?" a young man from Dhruva's group whispered. "His proposal was so ridiculous that I thought Instructor Payal might even slap him across the face, yet they asked for time to discuss."

"Tsk! It's just because he is the younger brother of Blood Demon, so the instructors don't want to offend him," another beside him muttered. "They must be thinking of a way to reject his proposal without offending him."

"Hmm, that makes sense, yet it's so frustrating. Brother Dhruva even fought at the front, while that Raj remained at the very rear of the group. Still, the instructors are giving him so much respect and didn't even step up when he insulted Brother Dhruva."

Dhruva's lackeys kept talking behind my back, their words adding oil to the fire of anger burning inside Dhruva.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Payal asked Ashish in a low voice, "Why did you stop me from rejecting his offer?"

"I don't think that kid was being sarcastic when he offered to help us," Ashish replied before asking, "Do you know how he managed to enter this orientation despite not filling out the admission form?"

"I only received the information that he would be coming as well. I assumed it was because Blood Demon pulled some strings since we are entering the gate of his territory."

Ashish shook his head, denying her assumption.

"Although Blood Demon is very influential, he cannot meddle with the affairs of the academy. There is only one person who can bend the unbending rules of the National Awakener Academy."

Payal's eyes widened, and she instinctively let out a suppressed gasp.

"Y-you mean…"

"What you are thinking is correct. The principal informed me that he received a call from the chairman of the Awakener's Association, wanting us to let Raj Singh join the orientation."

"Th-that's insane!" Payal's hand flew to her mouth in shock. "How could Raj even manage to have a connection with the honorable chairman?"

"I'm not aware of that. There are rumors that after the battle between Sword King and Blood Demon ended, Raj left the stadium with the chairman in his helicopter."

His statement stunned the heck out of Payal, which made me wonder if the world didn't know about the relationship between Sister Aisha and Uncle Reyaan.

After a brief pause to let Payal digest this shocking information, Ashish continued, "There was one peculiar thing the chairman specifically mentioned in his call to the principal. Strangely, he wanted Raj to solo fight the boss of this gate."

"Huh!? But why?"

"I don't know how the higher-ups think. I had decided to let Raj handle the boss monster of the dungeon; alas, we never got the chance. But if the strongest Awakener of our country had that confidence in him, then there must be something unique about this kid."

"If what you are saying is true, then we mustn't let him fight at any cost. If anything happens to that kid, we will not only suffer the wrath of Blood Demon but also that of the chairman of the Awakener's Association."

"So that's what they decided," I sighed inwardly, clicking my tongue.

After a couple of minutes, the duo called me to the front.

"Umm… Mr. Raj, I'm glad that you decided to help us, but as instructors, we cannot let our students risk their lives—"

"With all due respect, Instructor Payal, I'm not your student since I haven't joined the academy yet," I said, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Th-that arrogant bastard…" Dhruva muttered from behind, which I obviously chose to ignore as I continued, "If you are really that skeptical about my abilities, then you may keep Instructor Ashish close to me so he can protect me if something—which obviously won't—does happen."

Before she could respond, that annoying idiot stepped in again.

"You want to show off your meager skills using Instructor Ashish as your shield!" Dhruva shouted, though this time he kept his hands under control.

After releasing a stressed sigh, Payal agreed to let me fight at the front.

Her acceptance drew death stares from Dhruva's group, exaggerated gasps from the group of girls, while the young man in the hoodie didn't react at all.

"Instructor Payal, how could you put our fate in the hands of an E-Ranked trash!?" Dhruva shouted.

However, before he could protest any further, I had already taken a step forward, letting more than a hundred goblins bolt towards us.

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