The pressure coming from his body became noticeably much heavier than before. Looks like his pride finally shattered. Getting pushed back by someone with an F-rank mana compatibility in front of the entire arena must have felt humiliating.

Kyle’s face twisted angrily as he stared at me.

"You think dodging a few attacks and hitting me once makes you impressive?"

"No," I replied calmly, "But it definitely seems to upset you." I smirked.

That only made him angrier.

Mana surged around him before he suddenly disappeared from my sight.

’Shit, wasn’t he a strength type pokem-.. I mean user. Why is he so fast?’ I narrowed my pupils even with my 1st level Qi gathering realm prowess I couldn’t keep up with his speed.

’I need to end this fast or I might lose.’ The moment he appeared in front of me, his fist was already descending toward my face with enough force to distort the air slightly. I barely raised my arms in time to defend.

BOOM.

The impact sent me flying. Pain spread through both arms while my body flew several meters before finally stopping. The audience erupted with excitement.

"Whoa!"

"That punch was insane!"

"Kyle’s serious now!"

"That F rank is dead now."

I exhaled slowly while trying to get back up again. ’My whole body hurts. Damn it.’ I can feel that a few of my bones broke.

Meanwhile Kyle didn’t stop moving. The second I regained balance and stood up, he attacked again. Another punch followed by a kick, then another punch to my ribs.

Blood flew out of my mouth. The relentless assault from Kyle was slowly starting to make me lose consciousness. The bronze light around his body intensified every time he attacked, making each blow heavier than the last.

The only reason I wasn’t losing instantly was because qi had enhanced my body far beyond normal standards.

But slowly something strange started happening. The qi inside my body circulated through my meridians while my senses sharpened further with every beating I received.

Kyle’s movements started feeling easier to read. It almost felt like my body was adapting mid-combat.

Kyle rushed forward again before throwing a heavy punch directly toward my ribs.

This time I twisted sideways completely. The attack missed. Before he could recover, I stepped closer and struck his jaw.

Kyle couldn’t block in time, and the impact forced him backward slightly. Kyle clicked his tongue angrily before wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You’re really pissing me off."

"Shup up and fight you third rate villain."

"Shut up!"

Mana exploded around him again.

Daniel, somewhere in the audience, shouted loudly.

"Brother Ren, please survive!"

I almost laughed.

Then Kyle moved again, charging directly at me like a bull. His fist tore through the air toward my chest with terrifying force.

But this time I didn’t dodge. Instead, I inhaled slowly. I circulated qi towards my right arm. For a brief moment, everything around me felt strangely quiet.

Then, I stepped forward. Our fists collided directly.

BOOM.

A heavy shockwave burst outward across the arena floor. For a second, neither of us moved. Then Kyle’s expression changed.

Crack.

A faint cracking sound echoed from his arm.

The next second, his entire body flew backward before crashing outside of the arena floor and he lost consciousness.

Silence.

Absolute silence spread through the arena. Even those who weren’t interested at first were now watching the fight with focus. The instructor’s eyes widened slightly before declaring the result.

"...Winner: Ren Valecrest."

The arena exploded into noise instantly afterward.

"No way!"

"He actually won? An B-rank mana guy got defeated by that F-rank?!"

"How does an F-rank hit that hard?"

But before I could think further, a sharp pain spread through my meridians suddenly. My body stiffened slightly.

’...Right.’ I’d nearly exhausted my qi. Makes sense, this was my first real fight after all.

Looks like I still had a long way to go.

Meanwhile Daniel practically sprinted toward me and slammed to the ground the moment I stepped off the arena.

"You’re alive! And you actually won."

"Ouch.. it hurts." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"My bad. But no seriously, I thought Kyle was going to kill you halfway through!"

"He was actually going to kill me." I laughed.

Daniel stared at me for several seconds before lowering his voice.

"...How did you even win?"

Good question.

"I punched him harder than he punched me."

"...Just say that you don’t want to tell me."

Before our conversation continued, the holographic screens updated again.

Next Match Ren Valecrest vs Elena FrostveilDaniel looked horrified.

"...You’re fighting a monster this time." I looked toward the opposite preparation area quietly.

Silver hair fluttered in the air, a cold expression on her face, blue eyes - Elena Frostveil. One of the strongest students in this year’s batch and more importantly one of the heroines.

The instructor gestured toward the battle arena.

"Participants gather in the battle arena." I have to fight back to back again. My qi was nearly depleted. And fighting another top-ranked genius right now would be plain suicide and idiotic.

Fortunately, I wasn’t an idiot obsessed with pride. The moment I stepped onto the arena, I raised one hand and said. "I surrender."

Silence spread briefly. Then confusion exploded everywhere.

"Huh?"

"He surrendered?!"

"What was the point of the previous fight then?"

Elena herself blinked once before quietly calming the ice mana gathering around her fingers. She looked a bit disappointed. ’The fuck, did you wanted to bully a F-rank mana guy while being an A- rank.’

The instructor paused briefly before nodding.

"...Victory: Elena Frostveil."

Whispers spread throughout the arena immediately afterward.

Some people mocked me. Others called the previous fight luck.

I ignored all of them. Pride was useless. Survival mattered more to me. ’Survive now, win later.’ That was my motto.

By the time the examinations ended, the sun had already started setting beyond the academy skyline. I got placed in section E. That’s better than F.

The moment I reached home and opened the door, Luna immediately came running toward me at full speed.

"BWOTHER!"

A tiny silver blur crashed directly into my stomach.

"...Violence really runs in this family."

"You’re so late! Luna miswed you swo much."

"I was fighting for my life out there Luna. I even gave out a few punches." I started throwing some jabs in the air.

Her eyes widened instantly.

"You actually punched people?!"

"Of course. You should’ve seen me. I looked very cool then."

Luna looked unbelievably excited.

Meanwhile my mother walked over from the living room while my father lowered his newspaper.

"So?" my father asked. "How did the exam go my son?"

I paused briefly.

"I survived.. I got placed in section E."

"That bad?" my mother asked carefully.

"Hey, I at least won one fight." I said with a proud looked.

Luna gasped proudly.

"My brother is strong!"

"And then? What happened in the next match?" my father asked.

"I surrendered the next match."

"That’s actually smart," my father replied casually.

I blinked slightly. "You’re not disappointed?"

"You came home without serious injuries." He shrugged lightly. "That matters more."

’Thank God I drank a high grade healing potion before coming home. But for some reason— those words felt very warm.

That night, after everyone finally went to sleep, I sat cross-legged inside my room once more. The moment I began circulating qi again, I immediately noticed the difference.

It flowed smoother now. The combat earlier had stabilized my control naturally.

Hours passed quietly. Suddenly the qi inside my body surged violently and a system notification appeared.

[2nd Level Qi Gathering Realm achieved.][Quest Complete.]"Heck yeah, I leveled up!" I screamed.

"Shut up Ren. People with jobs are sleeping here." My mom’s voice came from across the room.

"Sorry, mom."

Rewards Distributed: Heaven Severing Sword Art — First Form, Storage Ring

The moment the reward appeared, a flood of information exploded into my mind.

I saw a figure standing beneath a black sky while holding a sword and splitting the heaven itself. Then the vision disappeared like it had never been there. I opened my eyes slowly while breathing heavily.

"...What the hell was that?"

At the same time, a black ring materialized quietly in front of me before dropping onto the floor. Must be the storage ring. I picked it up carefully. And hidden inside the ring was a sword. The same one that the figure had.