The Protagonist Already Knows

"AHHH!"

Over and over, I slammed my sword straight down at his exposed stomach and retrieved it, a bloody dent now on his body.

There was no thought in my head: it was like muscle memory, as natural as breathing.

Perhaps, in the past, I might have felt some pity or pause when hurting him, but...he was just a novel character.

It made things so much easier when I used that excuse.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Was I going too far?

No, what did it matter? This was the equivalent of stabbing a rock.

Blood spewed out of his mouth as he screamed in agony, lying on the ground while struggling to even breathe properly, his breath shaky and rapid.

He desperately attempted to block my sword with his trembling hands, but I simply slapped them away with my free left hand.

I raised my sword once again, its aim marked on the shining spot I saw on Zander’s stomach, but countless yells sounded from behind me, my attention shifting for a moment.

"SOMEONE STOP HIM!"

"CALL THE PROFESSOR!"

Panicked yells rang out among the students who had been so gleefully cheering at my future defeat.

If I were in that position, on the ground, being beaten to a pulp, would they have the same reaction?

I doubted it.

But, of course, it didn’t matter.

Because they were just novel characters pre-programmed by an author on how to act.

As I looked back down, I saw a small grey orb forming within his palm, slowly growing to the size of a baseball.

He reached the second stage of mana mastery?

His eyes betrayed a glimpse of hope as he tried his best to gaze at me so that I wouldn’t notice the sphere forming in his right hand.

I adjusted my sword’s trajectory.

In the next moment, the wooden sword pierced downward, the tip of my wooden dao meeting his metal-mana sphere.

But...alas, my sword was simply repelled by the mana sphere, sending me stumbling backward.

It seemed that, by a fluke last time, when I faced the serpent, I managed a perfect sword slash and then was able to cut through the plant-mana sphere as a result.

This time... my jabs and slashes were subpar, it seemed.

I clicked my tongue and raised my sword once again, slamming the blade against the side of his stomach.

"AHHHH!"

The mana sphere instantly dispersed as Zander’s body rolled to the side, his mouth spewing blood all over the ground.

His eyes slowly closed, his breath erratic and heavy, as I raised my sword again.

But before I could even aim, a yell sounded from behind me.

"ASH. THE SPAR IS OVER!"

As I turned around, I found Professor Sooyung striding through the crowd of students and approaching the two of us.

Two adults with white gowns immediately sprinted past me and knelt next to Zander’s body, their palms shining a light green as they tended to his body.

As I stepped away from the scene, looking at my wooden Dao, which was now unfortunately covered in his blood, I felt a sudden downward pressure on my shoulder.

Professor Sooyung suddenly whispered into my ear, her voice eerily calm.

"Follow me, student Ash."

She practically pulled me out of the crowd of students and dragged me out of the sparring area, all the silent gazes of the crowded students following us.

...

...

...

As we sat across from each other in her office, only a small table separating us, Professor Sooyung finally broke the heavy silence, a single word leaving her mouth.

"Why?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I just answered.

"He never forfeited the fight. If he had, I would have stopp-"

Professor Sooyung interrupted me angrily, practically yelling at me.

"HE WAS IN NO CONDITION TO CONTINUE FIGHTING!"

Letting out a deep sigh and looking down, Professor Sooyung continued.

"There were tens of spectators watching...do you have any idea how much trouble this could get you into?"

Genuinely confused, I paused for a moment before confidently saying.

"None."

"..."

Professor Sooyung silently gazed at me upon hearing my words, most likely because she knew I was right.

What was the school going to do?

I could ruin them if I just revealed the portal story. Especially since the Inter-Academy tournament was next week, a scandal like this could destroy the Sunken Pearl’s reputation as a whole.

The fact that the Dregs had been able to create a portal right above a classroom without any academy members noticing was a disgusting testament to their terrible security.

At that moment, Professor Sooyung leaned forward across the table, and before I could even react, her right hand flew forward at an incredible speed, gripping the bottom of my tie.

Not giving me even a moment to process things, she yanked me off my chair and onto the table by the tie, our faces now so close that I could feel the warm breath leaving her mouth.

My tie curled around my collar so hard that I struggled to breathe, as she looked at me...with a smile.

Her onyx-black eyes meeting mine, she said while gripping my tie.

"The academy might not be able to punish you. But I can. So don’t be so cocky."

Without any hesitation, she threw me back onto my chair and stood up, clasping her hands.

"Every Monday, after school, you’ll meet me in the coliseum. I’ll show you what it feels like to be on the other side of a beating. Perhaps, that’ll make you learn."

Desperately coughing and panting, taking my tie off completely, I leaned backward in the chair.

However, noticing her gaze land on me, I nodded my head and muttered in between coughs.

"*AHEM* Y-yes *AHEM.*"

Turning around and looking through a stack of papers, she simply added before pointing at the door.

"Now, don’t do anything else that would make me angry."

"..."

Staggering out of the room like a drunkard, I rubbed my neck and drank some water.