Chapter 199: An encounter, challenging the strong

"Hiya!!!"

Listening to the students fighting behind him, Noah jogged into a woody path nearby. He assessed the situation from this vantage point. He couldn't help but feel speechless.

There is no one around Noah.

The reason is rather simple, the students avoided Noah like a plague the moment the event started. They ran so fast they escaped his field of vision in no time at all.

They don't want to be inside Noah's line of vision. Fighting Noah isn't on their to-do list.

Even a Rank III teacher got done in by Noah when he's still using human-level abilities. The Rank I students knew better than to challenge Noah to a fight.

Just like that, Noah ran by himself.

Granted, not all the students shirked away from a fight with Noah.

There are also hot-blooded young men and women among the students. There are those who think they can pull off the impossible with grit alone.

Ideally, that would be nice. Realistically, that didn't go so well for them.

These kids are just high school students who got Astar Marks recently. How are they supposed to win against Noah in a fight?

Noah wasted no time in sending the spunky students flying when they came rushing towards him.

With the Astar Mark's enhancement, getting kicked by Noah felt link somebody pinched them, it didn't really hurt them.

Noah is also aware there are other students with skills in combat-related arts such as Imari who trained in Kendo. There are also bona fide fighters like Tomoe who has been instructed in various martial arts.

These people are poised to take the leading ranks among the students of their years.

Naturally, these people also gravitated towards Noah because they wanted to test their skills or mettle against Noah. Some of them also wanted strong opponents to polish their skills.

Noah readied himself to take on these kinds of students.

Noah predicted that these capable students are not going to hide like the rest of the students. They also wanted to prevent a situation where they got hit by Noah if they ran ahead of Noah. Some of them are laying low behind him.

There are also students who scurried to lay down ambushes for Noah.

There are forests, sandy areas, and muddy swamps in the academy.

The different geography required different skill sets.

Noah reckons the elite students will strike the moment he enters their turfs.

Scutter

The trees moved, those movements aren't natural.

Noah stopped.

Swish

A silhouette jumped out from the shaking trees. The individual pounced on Noah like a hungry wolf. The ambusher landed a punch on Noah.

Before the attacker can get happy, the attacker's punch went through Noah's afterimage.

"An afterimage?!"

The attacker was shocked.

Slap

Somebody grabbed the attacker's foot.

"Crap!"

The attacker twisted around in an attempt to break free.

"Too slow!"

Noah pulled the attacker in for a quick fist smash. He raised his fist.

"Heerrryaa!!!"

Before Noah can land an attack, another sneak attacker descended from the sky. The newcomer attacked Noah with a right hook.

Noah stopped, he threw the attacker in his hand against the newcomer.

The two ambushers met in a collision

Bam

Two dull thuds reverberated.

Falling due to gravity, both attackers recovered midair. Steadying themselves before they hit the ground.

Noah identified the two attackers.

One of them is a short guy with glasses. He looked vicious and he gave off a mean vibe. However, it felt like he's just putting on a tough façade.

The second attacker is a tall guy with a kinder look than his partner. However, he's giving off a different kind of vibe than the other attacker, one can hardly miss him among the students.

These two guys are Noah's classmates.

The guy with the glasses is known as Torasaki Aoi.

The unassuming guy giving off a weird air is...

"Kokonoe Tooru."

Noah said his name.

Kokonoe rubbed his aching stomach, getting smacked with Aoi hurt.

He helplessly laughed.

"I didn't think it would be that easy."

"You idiot! That was super dumb!"

Aoi started berating his partner while rubbing his aching head.

"Did you have to yell when you attacked? It's like you're telling him to counter you!"

"So you wanted me to yell at the guy to let Aoi-kun go?"

Kokonoe didn't mind the rude remarks his partner threw in his direction. More like, he's used to this.

"Look, he let you go didn't he?"

"Yeah, and he straight-up humiliated us!"

Aoi roared.

"Why did I decide to become a duo with a dimwit like you?"

"Because we sat close to one another on the first day."

Kokonoe replied simply. His steely gaze is still on Noah.

"Anyway, are we going to keep the offense up? Aoi-kun?"

"Of course!"

Aoi pushed his glasses up.

"No matter who I fight, I won't lose!"

Aoi said while sporting a grim look. Clearly, he knows he isn't as invincible as he would like to be.

Kokonoe, on the other hand, looked at Noah with another kind of look.

That's the look of someone who looked forward to this fight. That's the look of someone who understood the loneliness of power.

Noah felt puzzled for a second. Then, he grinned.

"Kokonoe-san, Torasaki-san, this is a bit reckless for a greeting, no?"

"No! You're wrong."

Kokonoe still kept his guard up.

"We thought about this long and hard!"

"That's right!"

Aoi got into another fighting stance.

"You're going down, buddy!"

"Really?"

Noah took a relaxed stance. Compared to Kokonoe and Aoi, he's not taking this fight seriously.

"Try me."

Tooru and Aoi said nothing. Their expressions darkened.

"Hey, Tooru."

Aoi tensed up, his voice shook.

"You noticed it yet?"

"Yeah."

Tooru started sweating with a forced smile.

"I can't find a single break in his defense."

"What's the matter?"

Noah chortled.

"If you're not coming then here I come."

Tooru and Aoi exchanged a look. They made up their minds.

Victory to the swiftest!

Boom

Tooru and Aoi dashed forth.