Chapter 150: Don’t Be Too Arrogant

“What, trying to take revenge?” Rod smiled faintly at Niels’ appearance and asked coldly.
“Nay…t…Ro…d, I’ll kill you!” The words spat out one by one as Niels suddenly rushed at Knight Rod, delivering a punch straight to his head.
“Niels…” Those who stood with him couldn’t help but shout in alarm. They didn’t know much about the others, but they knew Niels all too well—he was a guy who relied on his family’s influence to bully the weak. He was good at bullying the weak, but against a truly strong opponent, everyone knew exactly how worthless he was. It had been nearly two years since he entered the Holy Light Academy, and with the third year approaching and the exam for promotion to the second year looming, how could he even aspire to become a Silver Warrior when he hadn’t reached the level of a Bronze Warrior yet? Everyone thought he would be eliminated from the Holy Light Academy during the second-year exam. And now, this very person was actually attacking Knight Rod?
As for who Knight Rod was, they knew full well—he was someone who could compete on par with Viski, a genius seen only once in a thousand years in the Holy Light Academy and even across the continent. Another so-called genius, someone who could defeat his opponents in a single move during the continental martial arts competitions, leaving them unable to react or defend. One could easily imagine his strength! By provoking such a person, wasn’t Niels simply seeking his own death?
Perhaps they could ignore Niels and care nothing about his life or death, but they had to remember that they were his so-called friends. If Knight Rod turned his anger on them, that would be a real problem.
“Trying to stop a train with one’s arms—overestimating one’s own strength.” Rod’s expression didn’t change at all as he watched Niels charge at him. With a disdainful sneer, he let out a cold hum. The moment Niels’ fist was about to hit his face, Rod suddenly darted aside, avoiding the seemingly weak punch. Then, with lightning speed, he spun and kicked Niels in the buttocks.
With a dull thud, Niels flew backward like a ball, landing face-first on the floor with a loud crash, accompanied by his screams and the astonished gasps of the students around him.

I don’t know who couldn’t help but laugh. When I turned around, I saw that all the other students were also trying hard to hold back their laughter. Their faces turned red from straining to keep from smiling. Looking at Nils’s embarrassed state, they showed no concern or sympathy—instead, they all had gloating expressions. It was clear that Nils had caused a lot of trouble in the academy and had earned everyone’s resentment.

“Want revenge? You’re not ready yet. You’d better think first about why I treated you that way!” With a cold snort, Rod glanced at Nils on the ground and left coldly with the boy he had saved.

“Nait Rod, you… wait!” Watching Nait Rod walk away, Nils on the ground roared angrily with red eyes. Then, under everyone’s strange and mocking gazes, he angrily got up and brushed off the dust from his clothes. “What are you all staring at? Are you bored with life?” With that, he stormed off in anger.

“Hmph, just relying on his family background—how arrogant!” As Nils walked away, the other students behind him began to complain among themselves. Everyone only dared to hate Nils but not speak out. At that moment, they hoped there would be more people like Nait Rod to punish such a spoiled brat severely.

…

“Are you Nait Rod? I’m Claire. Thank you for what you did today…” Following Rod as they left that place, the two walked side by side along the academy’s paths. The boy saved by Rod finally spoke. His voice was so low that it was hard to hear without paying close attention.

“No need to thank me. If you don’t want to be bullied, make yourself strong. Reach the pinnacle of the world and control the lives of others. Another option is to have enough strength so that no one can bully you!” Without turning around, Rod continued walking and spoke indifferently.

Hearing Rod’s words, the boy was slightly stunned. He looked up at Nait Rod walking ahead, his expression complex. Under the moonlight, his delicate face appeared pure and fair, with well-proportioned features and a cute appearance. It was hard to imagine him looking pitiful with even a hint of dust on his face. It was a shame Rod didn’t turn around to look.

A moment later, perhaps having understood what Rod had said, a glimmer appeared in his eyes, and a faint smile touched his lips. His thin lips made him look even more attractive.

It was precisely this that later caused him a great deal of trouble.

“Alright, I’m going back first. Try to avoid people like Niels in the future—he’s not a good person!” Before he knew it, he had reached the door of his dormitory. With a sigh, he turned to look at the boy behind him, who was head down, fiddling with the corner of his clothes, looking like a little girl. He didn’t know what the boy was thinking, and Rod wasn’t interested in finding out. If he hadn’t happened to pass by, he definitely wouldn’t have cared about this matter. Seeing that the boy was still lost in thought, Rod gave a helpless smile, thinking he was talking to a fool. He simply ignored the boy and headed upstairs.

It seemed the boy only realized Rod had left at that moment. He looked up at Rod’s retreating figure and watched as he entered the dormitory. Biting his lip as if mustering courage, he called out, “I’ll remember what you said!”

Hearing the voice behind him, Rod’s lips curled into a smile. He turned to look at the boy, who stood in the cool breeze, waved his hand, and continued walking forward.

It wasn’t until Rod’s figure disappeared from sight and a cool breeze blew past that the boy came back to his senses. He looked around at the night sky, withdrew his dreamy gaze, smiled bitterly, and turned to walk back, acting cautiously as if afraid of being followed.

……

Back in his dormitory, sitting on the bed, Rod felt a severe headache. It seemed that ever since he returned to the capital, problems kept piling up one after another. Now he had run into his old enemy Niels again—life was becoming increasingly complicated. With this thought, he smiled bitterly, realizing just how difficult life could be.

After some reflection, remembering that a tough match awaited them the next day, he took a deep breath and decided to start practicing.

Practicing at night had become a necessity for him. Since becoming a Silver Warrior, he could completely abandon sleep and rest, relying on practice to replenish his energy, which made him enjoy it immensely. His pursuit of strength had turned into an obsessive obsession.

Another night passed quickly in practice. Early in the morning, after settling everything, Rod headed to Training Ground No. 1. After a day of rest, even more intense matches were to take place there. Drawing of lots would determine the groups in the morning, followed by competition in the afternoon to select the teams that would advance to the finals. There would be two days of rest before the finals on the third day! In other words, today’s drawing and matches were of crucial importance.

Upon arriving at the training ground, although it was quite early, it was already packed with trainees, including those from Qingliu Academy. Though they had been eliminated, they stayed behind. After all, on the day following the finals, the leaders of various countries on the continent would hold a secret meeting to discuss the resurgence of the demon and vampire races. This was something Knightrod had learned from the dean as well.

After scanning the area, he wasn’t disappointed and quickly found his teammates in the rest area. He went over to them, and seeing their smiling faces as they discussed something, Rod couldn’t help but ask what was going on.

Rod’s appearance drew unusual looks from everyone, including the trainees outside. Kiro and the others burst into laughter. Only after further questioning did the puzzled Rod find out that the entire incident involving Nils that had caused quite a stir in the capital, along with what happened last night, had reached everyone’s ears. Now, almost the whole academy was aware of it.

With a sigh and a helpless smile, Rod finally understood why his arrival had caused such a reaction.

“Rod, not bad, uh… but you need to be careful with that guy Nils. He’s narrow-minded. It could get troublesome if he tries to take revenge on you in the capital~!” After laughing, Kiro seriously warned him. After all, Knightrod was alone in the capital, while the Nils family was powerful. Taking revenge would indeed be troublesome.

“What’s there to fear? Can the Nils family really turn the world upside down? The capital isn’t theirs, and the empire even less so. Don’t worry. As long as I, Anderson, am here, he won’t dare mess around! Besides, Alice is still here, along with Lucia. Surely the Porter family and Marshal Okaz can handle them!” Anderson said cheerfully. Living in the capital, they certainly didn’t have any good feelings toward Nils.

Time passed quickly during their conversation. Before long, under the leadership of Dean Cenrich, the grouping ceremony began. With a mix of tension and worry, everyone gathered in front of the podium. After listening to a long speech, they anxiously watched as the grouping process started.

Especially when Kiro’s master, the old dean—the head of Holy Light Academy and one of the organizers—along with the other two elders, was about to announce the results after drawing lots, everyone pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word, waiting eagerly for the outcome!