Chapter 76: Fighting Exam (2)

Fighting his way up, the strength of his sparring partners increased considerably.

But that didn’t change much. By the time night was about to descend upon them, he had just won his second-to-last round.

He would be fighting in the final, and his opponent would most likely be the Diamond student from the other class.

The crowd had also started growing again, with even more students from other classes watching the final few rounds.

Someone had even started betting on who was going to win and had already made a small fortune from one of the nobles.

Steven thought about betting too, but his wallet was telling him he should think about it once more before starving for the rest of the month.

And betting on yourself or your opponent wasn’t allowed either.

"Those damn scammers. Who do they think they are? Who do they think they are?" he whispered to himself.

He still had nearly half an hour before the final fight started due to some complications with a wounded student who had to receive extreme medical treatment.

But they seemed to have stabilized the student pretty easily. So instead of worrying about his well-being, Steven was able to spy on some students talking nearby.

"Have you seen what this poor guy had to endure just because of this noble bastard?" one of them spoke, but was quickly shushed by another.

"Don’t speak too loudly, or he might hear you... We don’t want to be the next in line after he’s finished with Steven." His voice was filled with fear as he tried to warn her.

But it was already too late. Steven could feel a powerful mana presence quickly approaching them.

"What were you guys talking about?" a deep, dark voice echoed from behind them as a giant hand grabbed the guy’s shoulder.

"No... Nothing, Mr. Qwenz." The young man tried to free himself from Qwenz’s grip, but he was unsuccessful.

"Oh, really?" Qwenz spoke while picking up the student with one hand. "I thought I heard you two talking about me."

Steven inspected the giant he had seen a few times at the second table. He was easily over two meters tall and built like a boulder, his uniform looking as if it had been made for babies rather than a human being.

His sleeves were ripped open, revealing a few tattoos underneath, some of which looked years old.

As his second hand reached towards the female student, Steven flashed forward and stepped between them.

Grabbing Qwenz’s hand mid-grab, he confused the giant, whose head slowly turned towards Steven, his gaze filled with arrogance. "Who do we have here? Steven Bright, the bastard of Hell."

The words felt like a direct strike to his soul as Steven tightened his grip.

But the giant only laughed at him.

"And who might you be? I can’t recall everyone from the second table. I’m so sorry," Steven answered as the giant finally let go of the students.

The giant’s hands were shaking with rage, his arm stuck in midair as he seemed to be debating whether he should attack Steven in front of everyone watching.

It didn’t take long for a giant crowd to gather around the two of them. Some were already yelling at them to start the fight early and end it all right there.

But Steven remained relaxed, staring up at the giant, his headband blocking the giant from even seeing his eyes.

His grip was already strong enough to crush iron into dust, but the man didn’t even flinch. It even seemed as if he were enjoying the challenge Steven had given him.

As the tension in the air grew and the screams of the people became louder, Steven knew the giant’s patience was running low. He was about to explode.

"Stop it, both of you."

A powerful voice pierced the air. Steven recognized it as their elderly teacher, who was already running towards them.

Letting go of Qwenz’s hand, Steven could see slight blue marks slowly forming where he had grabbed him.

As their teacher finally arrived, grabbing both of them by their wrists, Steven gave her an empty glare. "I said, ’Stop. Now move away.’" she spoke, her voice creaking with age.

Giving the giant one last fierce glance, Steven stepped backwards, quickly turning around as the teacher let go of him. "We will see each other in the ring."

Steven could feel the giant trying to move forward, preparing to attack him from behind, but he was stopped by the strict glance of their teacher."Don’t even think about running away from the fake Diamond! It’ll only hurt more that way!" Qwenz yelled towards him, his voice filled with rage.

Walking past the crowd of students, who easily let him pass, Steven instantly made his way towards the training grounds.

Sitting down on the bench used by the fighters to prepare for their matches, he placed the wristband from June to the side.

He would fight this guy without the need for any weapon and show him who the true monster was as he cracked his fingers loudly.

Waiting for the fight to start, he could hear Qwenz arguing from across the entire arena, followed by another student’s scream.

He had probably tried to attack another student who had disagreed with him in any way.

Pulling the headband from his head, Steven used it to bind his left arm behind his body, leaving only his right arm able to fight.

With the sun shining down on the giant golden bell, he watched as his teacher returned to her position and raised her hand. With a quick strike, she hit the bell.

Its sound echoed through the arena, and with a small earthquake, Qwenz jumped into the arena.

As the ground shook, Steven simply walked forward as if nothing had happened, slowly entering through his side directly opposite his enemy.

Revealing himself to Qwenz, Steven watched as the giant’s face started turning red.

"What’s wrong? Have you eaten too many tomatoes?"