Overwhelming Firepower

Alexander, who had heard of the many stories and rumors about the noble sons, understood that they were no different from anybody else.

They had those who were awkward, like Cael, those who were free-spirited like Ryan, those who upheld their noble beliefs like Nina, and, of course, there were also those with bad attitudes like the ones in front of him.

He did not like to use violence and would prefer to deal with this through conversation, but if they insist, he would need to educate them using force.

”And if I refuse?”

The noble student’s smile stiffened. For a moment, none of the four spoke. They had expected Alexander to lower his head, apologize, or at least look nervous. They did not expect him to answer back so calmly.

The student standing at the front slowly narrowed his eyes. ”Then we will have to teach you where you stand.”

Alexander assessed the strength of the four present, and despite not knowing how many mantles they had, he did not feel like he could lose.

”Since you gave me your advice, I guess it is fair to give you advice as well. If you try to do anything to me, I assure you, the four of you will not win.”

For a moment, the four noble students stared at Alexander as if they had heard something unbelievable. Then the student standing at the front laughed.

It was not a loud laugh. It was short, cold, and filled with disbelief. ”You really think highly of yourself.”

Alexander shook his head. ”No, I don’t think highly or little of myself. I’m simply telling the truth.”

The noble student’s expression turned colder. ”I have had enough of your chattering. This is your final chance. Do as you’re told and don’t bother Lady Nina and Lady Catherine. Just stick with your lousy commoner friend.”

The moment Alexander heard those words, his expression changed. He could tolerate being insulted. In fact, he was planning to get hit a few times to make them relieve some stress, before beating them up.

Yet these people insulted his friend; they insulted Mina. Alexander’s eyes slowly became colder.

The noble student standing in front of him noticed the change and frowned. For some reason, the commoner who had looked calm a moment ago suddenly felt different.

Alexander looked at the four noble students and spoke, ”You can insult me all you want. I do not really care, but do not insult my friends!”

”Hmph, then what are you going to do about it, commoner?”

Alexander did not answer immediately. His hand did not move toward his sword. He did not raise his fist. He did not even step forward.

Instead, he simply looked at the noble student in silence. Alexander then sighed as he spoke. ”You people are nothing like the nobles describe in books. You don’t show any noble quality about you. All I see are petty, immature children. Doing anything to you makes me feel like I have stooped to your level. Since you have already said what you wanted to say, I’m leaving. Good day to you all.”

After saying his piece, Alexander no longer bothered with the four and took a step forward. That was when the noble student standing at the front finally lost his patience.

To him, Alexander turning away was worse than being insulted.

If Alexander had shouted back, then he could have called him crude. If Alexander had attacked first, then he could have called him violent.

If Alexander had lowered his head, then everything would have ended the way he wanted. But Alexander had simply judged them, dismissed them, and tried to leave.

That was a humiliation a noble like him should never suffer from a commoner.

”Who said you could leave?”

Alexander stopped walking. ”I did.”

The noble student’s face twisted. ”You really do not understand your position.”

”I understand it well enough, do you?” Alexander replied.

The noble student’s expression turned ugly.

Those words struck exactly where it hurt. The four of them had chosen this hallway because there were no other students nearby. They had waited until Alexander was alone. They had surrounded him because they believed numbers would be enough.

To them, this was supposed to be simple. A commoner would be frightened. A commoner would lower his head. A commoner would understand that he had stepped too close to people above him.

Yet Alexander had not only refused, but he had also looked at them as if they were the ones who did not understand anything.

That humiliation burned hotter than reason. The noble student at the front finally moved. His hand shot toward Alexander’s collar, intending to grab him and slam him against the wall.

Alexander’s eyes sharpened. The speed at which the student moved was too slow. If Alexander wanted to, he could have struck first, but, of course, that was not his way.

Instead, he took half a step to the side, and Alexander evaded the incoming attack. Without even touching the other party and simply evading, Alexander made the noble student stumble forward, which just added to his shame.

The other noble students tried to catch Alexander, but their movements lacked coordination and were too linear. After Lucen’s training, Alexander found that they were too slow to do anything to him.

He simply dodged their attacks as he continued moving forward, as if they weren’t even there. This just made the four noble students even angrier than before. Alexander was making a fool of themselves.

The noble student at the front realized that as well. His face reddened, and the faint aura around his body began to flare. The other three followed soon after. Their pride had already been wounded too much for them to stop calmly.

’So they’re just at the first mantle. Yeah, I guess they haven’t improved that much since coming here.’

Alexander also showed his aura mantle. It was deep blue like the ocean, and it formed two mantles.

Seeing the scene before them, the four noble children grit their teeth and stopped. Alexander was one mantle above them. This just made them even more frustrated, angry, and extremely jealous.

”It doesn’t matter even if you’re one mantle above us; we have the advantage in numbers.”

Alexander looked at the four of them and sighed. He did not bother answering them and continued walking forward while dodging their faster attacks.

The four nobles did not notice that they had already walked quite a distance and were sweating profusely. They also did not notice that there were already other students looking at them.

To the other students, the situation looked strange. Four noble students surrounded Alexander while attacking from different directions, yet Alexander continued walking forward as if he were taking a simple stroll through the hallway.

He did not strike back. He did not shout. He just kept on walking while evading each strike. A punch passed beside his face. Alexander tilted his head.

A kick came for his leg. Alexander stepped over it. One student tried to grab his shoulder from behind. Alexander turned slightly, and the hand only caught empty air.

The more this continued, the uglier the expressions of the four nobles became. They were not merely failing to defeat Alexander. They were failing to touch him. It was at that moment that they noticed that other students were looking at them.

The four stopped attacking, not knowing what to do. Not only was it shameful of them to attack four against one, but it was against the rules of the academy for any student to fight outside of a duel.

They might get expelled. That would mean they’ll go home in disgrace, worst-case scenario, that might get disowned.

While the four were thinking of what to do, Alexander suddenly bowed his head and spoke in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear.

”Thank you for helping me train.”

The second the other students heard what Alexander said, they were surprised but quickly accepted that excuse.

The four nobles were confused as to why Alexander would bother to help them and looked with startled expressions. As the other students were now ignoring them, Alexander came close and whispered something to the four of them.

”I hope you take my advice seriously next time and stop intimidating other students using your statuses. Instead of doing this, how about focusing on training instead?” Alexander gave his heartfelt advice. Without waiting for their response, Alexander turned around and continued walking to his dorm room.

The four nobles stood in place, unable to say anything.

They had expected a commoner to be easy to crush, yet Alexander had not even treated them like enemies.

He had avoided them, protected them from punishment, and left without asking for anything in return. That made the humiliation worse.

One of them clenched his fists. ”Why?...”

Alexander did not look back. To him, fighting them seriously had never been necessary. They simply were not worth it.