02. Rank
02. Rank
"I said murder is prohibited, didn't I? Why can't you guys understand that? Are you all a bunch of retards?"
Duung!
Just before Bari could smash Eleonore's face, Yu Ina with her icy expression soared through the sky and approached.
With a casual wave of her hand, Bari and Eleonore were flung far apart, and Yu Ina planted herself right in the middle.
"I'll let it slide this time, but next time, even the slightest hint of it and you're disqualified immediately. Got it?"
"..."
Bari grudgingly nodded and retracted her arm.
"That goes for all of you. Sparring isn't dueling. Attacking an opponent who's already combat-incapable means automatic disqualification."
With that, she pointed at me... no, at Bari, declaring the winner.
Eleonore was carted off to the infirmary, and Bari and I walked to the edge of the training ground.
There, the glares of a couple of bratty enemy eyes stabbed at me like daggers—no need to look, obviously the Elf guys.
"You really went and did a number on Eleonore, huh?"
The winner of the prior match, Pantre, blocked my path entirely and growled.
"Yeah."
Too annoying to deal with properly, so I brushed him off casually and sidestepped.
Naturally, he flipped out and charged, but Bari blocked him, and Pantre—who'd been flushing red yelling 'Oh yeah? You bitch!'—got booted aside by Yu Ina for "interfering."
Poor guy.
"S-sorry!"
You'd think he'd be pissed, but since Yu Ina's Noblesse, he groveled like crazy.
Where'd all that attitude he was flashing at me go? Even after getting kicked, that face.
No, I'd heard about it. The rough racial hierarchy in this world.
The Chief Instructor had explained it in detail.
If you compare the relations between the Advanced 5 Races to the classic fantasy class system (actually like China and Korea's historical ranks) known as the "Five Ranks of Ennoblement," then Dwarf and Elf are like knight to baronet level.
Demon race is viscount to earl.
You might think Noblesse is marquess or duke at that point, but nope.
Noblesse are treated almost like kings, and Dragonia are like Holy Roman Empire popes or something.
So, puny Elf nobodies at knight-to-baronet level have no choice but to crawl on their bellies before the kingly Noblesse.
What about humans?
Yeah. Livestock.
Anyway, it makes sense given the setup, but... still pathetic, y'know? Total buzzkill.
"Next. Matthew Tweed, Rihana, come out."
+++
"Hmm..."
A room with an overall clean yet antique design.
The furniture scattered here and there was all crafted with artisan care, even the vases made of top-grade porcelain.
This was also Ha Yeon-seo's office as Chief Instructor, where she sometimes crashed.
Right now, she had the curtains and windows flung wide, gazing down at the training ground.
"That much was expected."
Propping her chin, her indifferent gaze showed no hint of enjoyment—just dutifully watching with a blank face.
And that made sense, since she could see opponents' potential.
Anything quantified can be calculated precisely.
Of course, it's not everything, but with solid judgment backed by experience, predicting wins and losses for rookies fresh into A-rank was child's play.
So the first two matches went exactly as she predicted.
A Dwarf forfeiting to a Demon race member was par for the course,
And a fire Elf with overwhelming specs dominating a relatively weaker water Elf was obvious too.
Now the real issue: human versus Elf.
More precisely, the human's doll versus the Elf.
She didn't care what antics that cocky, clueless human pulled—she had zero interest. But the doll? That piqued her curiosity.
She'd planned these matches for this very reason.
"Next one, huh."
Finally, the boring bits were over, and her attention locked in.
Training ground center.
The human and doll striding confidently toward it.
The human took a gauntlet from the doll, then began wrapping his entire body in full plate armor.
"...What's that? An Artifact?"
Such gear wasn't rare—pretty common, actually.
But according to Yu Ina, this human only used science, and the science she knew was barely at the unstable gunpowder explosion stage. Nowhere near automating something like that.
But it didn't feel like an Artifact—no mana signature—and it wasn't Nobling power either.
Truly bizarre.
Just like his doll—a weird contraption.
"That doll's definitely something."
A doll that could arm not just itself but its owner too.
Now its fight was about to start.
The armored human might step up, but he was still just human, so the doll would have to handle it eventually. Elves weren't something a human could beat.
Sure enough, the doll stepped forward.
In seconds, it thrust both arms out and started hosing something down.
Intense whooshing reached even this distant spot, and the training ground erupted like mini volcanoes—smoke and flames as it got shredded.
An attack form she'd never seen.
"What the hell is that?"
Intriguing, but not that powerful. At least not to a Noblesse like her.
As expected, the Elf woman dodged leisurely. Sheer volume, but not enough to seriously hurt a higher race.
"Lethal against a human maybe... but meaningless against an Elf."
Just this level, huh.
She was starting to feel disappointed when the doll pulled its arms back.
Then it vanished.
"? What?"
Even she, a Noblesse, couldn't track it visually.
No, her eyes caught it.
But her brain couldn't process fast enough.
In the blink of an eye, the Elf woman had lost an arm, staggered back a couple steps,
Then tilted over in a flash.
"..."
Yeah.
This is the level needed to hold a Noblesse's interest—for a doll.
Ha Yeon-seo's lips twisted oddly.
And then the Elf charged the human, only to get blocked by the doll again.
Overwhelming victory.
A mere Elf wasn't even a proper opponent.
+++
"Beastkin, if you grasp your place and bow your head even now, I'll forgive your insolent words."
The moment they hit the training ground, Tweed clenched his fists and growled.
Hm.
But for some reason, I had a feeling Rihana would win.
Considering typical interspecies gaps, a Demon race like Tweed should win easily, but...
"Somehow feels like Rihana's gonna take it, right?"
Bari nodded silently.
She thought Rihana would win too, apparently.
"You sure talk a lot. Sorry, but you don't look strong at all? Kinda cute, actually~ Should big sis spank that Gungdi ass? Hohoho."
Rihana taunted the stone-faced Tweed and cackled.
Tweed's face twisted savagely in response.
Alright, who's gonna win? Still think Tweed pulls it with racial superiority?
"You... I'll kill you...!"
"Oh my, didn't they say murder's prohibited like a million times? Didn't you hear?"
"Shut up!!"
Kuaaa.
Before "begin" was even called, Tweed charged first.
Thought the instructor might stop him, but nope—she just watched impassively as she returned.
"Damn humans... damn Beastkin bitch! None of you have any manners!!"
As Tweed rushed in, dark murky stuff billowed around him.
That must be the Demonic Energy Demon race folks use.
"I don't even need magic against Beastkin trash...!"
The swelling Demonic Energy contracted in a flash, gathering in his right fist, then shot out like a laser with his thrust.
Kuaaa!
A massive Demonic Energy blob hurtling with fierce whooshes and shockwaves, ready to swallow Rihana whole.
But she still hadn't moved a muscle.
"Bari, what if that hits? Think this'd break?"
"That level's no issue. The Elf's superheat was riskier, honestly."
"Gotcha."
Elf superheat—Pantre's, I guess.
Yeah, that heat was pretty dangerous. Hot stuff.
"Hey, braindead Demon. Thing I hate most is punks like you with no skills relying on daddy's name to act tough."
Right before the black energy blast(?) direct-hit, Rihana casually looked up, clasped her hands together, and shoved them straight into the Demonic Energy mass.
Sounds kinda funny, but literally—plunged right in.
And the result?
Pung!
The mighty Demonic Energy burst pathetically.
Rihana, unscathed of course.
"What...?"
"There's a ton in this world you don't know about. Think us Outer Races are always gonna stay at the bottom?"
For the first time, Rihana bared her savage fangs and kicked off the ground, charging.
Insane speed.
Not quite Eleonore-with-spirit-in-legs level, but damn fast.
"Guh!"
Tweed dodged frantically, wrapping himself in Demonic Energy. But...
Ppeok-!
A clean, straight kick nailed his cheek.
Think that cracked a few teeth—such a satisfying strike.
"Instantly delivered 120 tons of impact to the cheek. If you took that, Sihwan-nim, concussion would be the least of it—your head'd be gone."
"...I've got the Suit."
"Current Suit couldn't handle it. No more aggro from you, got it."
"Tch."
These guys are straight-up monster outliers. Even rushed with limited resources... this is a proper Power Suit.
"Hell, 120 tons from one kick? That even possible?"
"A well-trained normal human martial artist can output about 1 ton per kick. If Beastkin body specs are 100x human, not impossible. Earth beasts already hit multiples of human power anyway. Factor in Otherworld's unique energies, stat systems, etc., and it's not that weird."
Hm... alright. Still, 120 tons per kick feels excessive.
"More impressive is the Demon race body tanking that barehanded. Your body reinforcement's a must, Sihwan-nim."
Fair...
Teeth probably flew, but Tweed's still fine. Wiping blood, glaring daggers.
"You bitch...!"
"Quit with the 'bitch' crap? Makes me wanna go feral and bite your throat."
"Hmph. Beastly as expected. Not a shred of dignity in your speech."
"Wow, you lecturing dignity? That's like Lee Si-hwan preaching manners."
Ryu Si-hwan, idiot.
"Tweed! Quit embarrassing the Demon race and wrap it up!!"
Sasha's swinging her arm dramatically from the side, half-joking tone.
No matter how you slice it, they're buddies denying it?
"Hmph. Don't need to be told...!"
Thukak!
Suddenly, his aura exploded.
The black energy around Tweed—Demonic Energy—burst out like a bomb, filling a 10-meter radius in dark fog.
"Think that changes anything?"
This time Rihana charged first.
Blazing speed.
"Puppy doesn't fear the tiger, huh? Perfect fit. I'll show you exactly what happens when an Outer Race dares challenge a Demon ra—,"
"Shut up... knee strike!"
"Guek!"
Rihana burst into the fog mid-sentence, grabbed Tweed's face, and slammed her knee up.
Real impact this time—his face caved slightly, bloodied mess.
Less Beastkin brawl, more straight MMA...
As I thought that, Rihana's nails extended long, slashing red lines across both his arms.
Kwaang!
Sensing danger, Tweed exploded his energy and retreated.
The dangling arms hit the ground.
"Ahaha! What's that look~? Great Demon race lord's a no-armed cripple now~."
Rihana didn't pursue, just mocked him.
Such simple attacks, yet the mighty Demon race folded way too easy.
Where'd all that Demonic Energy explosion go?
"You bitch...!"
Tweed glared at Rihana, blood dripping from his shoulders, spirit unbroken.
If anything, more alive—burning with intent to make her death gruesome.
"To think I have to show my magic to mere Beastkin trash... utterly humiliating. But hey, sometimes it's fun. Teaching rude punks their place."
Still chatty as ever, Tweed's lips moved, chanting something.
"Hey Tweed, you're embarrassing yourself—quit it?"
Puhwak!
But he did nothing.
Sasha's black something pierced his side.
"Why... why...?"
Plop.
Full of questions, Tweed collapsed.