"He's much stronger and more ruthless than I thought!"

Relaxing on her chair while observing the ongoing fight between Art and Cheshire, Principal Cassie muttered to herself.

She was pretty confused as to why they were fighting, but it was entertaining enough that she didn't want to intervene—and also harmless enough for her not to do so.

Here in this academy, sparring matches weren't uncommon. Even those between students and lecturers weren't rare occurrences. As a matter of fact, a few lecturers had a rule that if any of their students could defeat them in a fight, they could pass their class without even attending lectures. Professor Levi, the P.E. instructor, was one who greatly exercised this regulation.

A while back, when he had made that statement, a few arrogant younglings tried—but they all ended up in the hospital. So, a scenario where a student passed a class by defeating a lecturer was unheard of in her academy. However, it had occurred once among one of the Four Pillars, Excalibur Training Institute (ETI), where a first-year had skipped a whole grade after challenging the strongest lecturer among the first-years.

"As expected, his strength seems to fluctuate."

Muttering to herself, she watched as the other observer of their fight, Ellie, suddenly appeared between the two combatants and blocked both strikes with two sabers.

"He could have knocked her away."

Seeing how, right as the elf appeared, Art killed off the aura in his strike, Cassie smiled.

Art was a weird one... a weird mistake of hers. He wasn't supposed to be a teacher here, but now here he was.

"The fluctuation of his strength is intriguing. I wonder if he's a unique skill holder."

Unique skill holders were a set of exceptional beings who had abilities to alter the world without the aid of mana or aura. In short, they were people with genuine superpowers—but they were rare.

"It seems I'll have to do another background check on him again."

Raising her hands to stretch, she mused, wondering how to go about that.

---

"Please."

Coming to my senses, I saw the petite, pink-haired elf Ellie blocking my sword, preventing it from hacking into Cheshire, who, worn out, had collapsed onto her knees, her wavering gaze blurry.

"Will you take her place?"

Tilting my head, I asked the elf, who, upon hearing my words, bit her lips. She had been observing the fight, so she would know she was no match for me now—but...

"I will... She's proven she can use aura, so she's done. Now, it's my turn."

Standing before me as if shielding Cheshire from my gaze, she spoke, lacking in confidence but still determined.

"You're right. So, she can leave, since she now understands her place."

Cheshire's shoulders stiffened at my condemning words, causing her to burst into tears.

This had been the result I wanted. For years, she'd lived with an inferiority complex, always hiding it under a façade. Until she broke that façade and accepted her fate, she would never grow. She'd remain static and soon disappear, fading out of importance.

I didn't want that. I wanted to create a scenario where all the cast could shine—even the side characters.

I wanted to be the system for those who lacked it. Just as it had nurtured me to grow, so too did I want the cast to grow—even if I had to take on unpleasant roles sometimes.

"Cheshire, you heard him... You can go."

Ellie stuttered a bit, but in the end, her point was made: Cheshire was no longer needed here.

Still sobbing, she rose up, her face drenched in tears—tears caused by me.

"I'll make you pay."

Leaving behind a warning directed at me, she ran out of the sparring hall, her cries soon growing distant.

"I guess we're done here."

Once she had left, I retrieved my sword, my face loosening up from acting cold all this time.

Ellie knitted her brows, displeased by my sudden change.

"You're a despicable human being!" she snapped.

"..."

"You used your authority as a teacher to bully a student."

"..." I said nothing.

"You're trash of the lowest kind. A bastard that bullies his students. I hate you."

Every word stung. I felt like trash—but it made sense. After all, the one I'd learned this from was also trash.

Villier had been my main inspiration for this. He had made me feel useless, powerless, and filled with uncontrolled fear during my training. But I had transformed that fear into determination—determination to survive and one day make him pay for that day. That determination, along with the system, had made me stronger and more willful. And I was sure Cheshire's experience now would do the same for her.

I couldn't make all the cast like me now. No matter what, I'd come across those with troublesome personalities, and to combat that, I needed to adapt—for that was my greatest quality.

There were threats out there, things I couldn't predict, and for that, I needed to make the cast strong—either through admiration or hate.

Trish's twisted obsession with me made her unstable, but she could be manipulated easily when it came to me. I could either forcefully strengthen her by dancing to her tune and promising her something in return as long as she grew strong—or I could provide her a rival.

With the reward strategy, she would only grow to see me. But with the rival plan, she'd learn to see more than just me and would socialize more.

So, luring her in with the bait that defeating Valeria would get her a fight with me, I was building a foundation for their friendship.

She had taken the bait and, beyond my expectations, had even come in contact with Val before I'd anticipated. For now, I knew she wouldn't make her move and would merely observe Val to gauge her strength. Once she was certain of her victory, she would strike—and I was sure it would be during the Rank Games. And there, I would stage the setting for their growth.

As for Ellie...

"I won't fight you—but no sleeping in class."

Walking past her, I warned, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her clench her fists.

"Good... She hates me..."

With that, I'd successfully made two main cast members my enemies. One would grow for vengeance, while the other—I intended to let warm up to me.

It was going to take a good while before my seed bore fruit, but I could envision the harvest period. And I must say, I hope I have talent in farming—or else my future would be bleak.

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