Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

The 'Freshmen Welcoming Party' took place in the Arcane Arena just as they expected.

Feeling pressured, the majority of the Freshmen attended it despite not wanting to. They didn't want to be targeted by their seniors so they thought it'd be better to swallow this treatment for now rather than be ostracized for the rest of the academic year.

As expected of their seniors, they were clearly a cut above the rest. Their strength was obvious just by looking at their bodies. The majority of those who attended were Sophomores but there were also some Seniors here and there.

The poor freshmen though...they looked like lost chicks who accidentally wandered off deep into a jungle. They huddled together as if their backs were against the wall.

"Come on, guys! Loosen up, will you? We're not going to bite you...unless you're into that." One of the female sophomores winked at the boys, clearly teasing them.

And by their reactions, that seems to have worked, but only to a handful of boys from the freshmen side.

"Relax, Noobs." A gruff-looking senior grinned at them, "This party is for you, so just enjoy it."

'Enjoy, my foot!' Majority of the freshmen exclaimed inwardly in response to his words.

Sadly, none of them were brave enough to refute him directly since they were afraid of escalating their situation.

"Yeah, look at that kid over there. Be like him." One of the sophomores commented, causing the crowd's attention to shift.

They turned to Garrick who's currently wolfing down meals like he hasn't eaten for weeks. He cared not about the attention of his peers nor what they think of his rather unsavory behavior, his focus was solely on the food and drinks in front of him.

Not far from him, there's also the ever-so-unapproachable Isabella. Her glacial beauty definitely attracted some of the senior students but due to her snobbish behavior, they don't know how to properly approach her without risking their balls.

"You guys, I think I have an idea to make this party more lively!" One of the Senior Students exclaimed as if he just thought of a fantastic idea.

'Oh dear, here it comes.' Some of the freshmen muttered to themselves.

"How about we do some exercise, eh? Nothing too serious, just a little spar. Us older students versus the Freshmen. Don't worry, we will lower our strengths to your level to make it fair."

Some of the older students showed a pensive expression like they were considering the guy's proposal, which was clearly fake since this was their aim in the first place.

As for the freshmen, they felt their stomachs sinking, of course, there were others who barely felt anything since they were already expecting this.

"Come on! It's gonna be fun, I promise! I am a firm believer that letting out some aggression is the best way for us to forge stronger bonds. Besides, this is a great learning experience for you Freshmen. You would rarely see so many of us in one place, so it's your best chance to ask us for some tips!"

"..." the new students remained silent even after his 'convincing' speech.

"How about it? Come on! Don't be a scrooge you guys, let's have some fun! Don't tell me you're scared of us."

It was an obvious attempt at provocation. The freshmen knew this, yet some couldn't help but feel irked at the guy's expression. They knew they shouldn't fall for such an obvious trap but there seemed to be some mysterious force urging them to do so.

"Can you elaborate more on the rules of the sparring?" One of the freshmen, someone not from the top 10 even, bravely stepped forward, unable to ignore the provocation.

The instigator smiled brightly upon seeing the freshmen took the bait so he hurriedly explained:

"Like I said earlier, it's just a sparring. We will seal our strength to match yours and we'll fight. No killing or maiming. We, older students, will cover the cost of injuries incurred by both sides."

"To make it even more favorable to you, we'll only send 10 from our side to face your entire batch. You may choose who you want to fight from our side too! As a bonus, if you manage to defeat someone from our side, we'll reward the winner with APs! You should already know how valuable those are by now, right?"

"...and what if we lose?" The same guy asked.

"Then, nothing..." the instigator shrugged. "Frankly, you all have nothing of value to us. As we said earlier, this party is for you people. If we become closer after this, then that's more than enough for us!"

Really, this guy was extremely convincing. He knows what words to say to rile up the crowd. Some of the freshmen are actually second-guessing their nature because of this. Of course, there will always be those who won't believe that their intentions are clear that easily. However, it's already enough for a handful of freshmen to do so.

"...so? How about it? Are you game?"

"I'm game!" The brave freshman nodded, speaking for himself only.

However, since someone already dared to take a step forward and accept the challenge, the rest followed, either because of peer pressure or just plain desire to see just how big the gap was between them and the older students.

Seeing this, the instigator smiled even wider. He sneakily glanced at his side where another older student was sitting and he saw that his friend clearly approved of his methods.

"Alright, since you all are in! Let's begin! Those who are willing to advise our freshmen, please step forward!" He said towards his fellow older students.

There were exactly ten people who stood up and walked towards the arena. If it weren't for the freshmen's heightened emotions, they would've noticed that this was a blatant clue that this was staged.

Again, there were exactly ten people who came forward from the opposite side. It couldn't be more obvious than that.

The Arcane Arena was large and advanced enough to allow multiple battles to occur at once. Once the older students stepped up the stage, the instigator turned to the freshmen and asked:

"This is a great chance for you guys, so who's going first? Step forward and declare who you want to challenge."

The brave student stepped forward under everyone's expectations and said: "I want to go first, and I want to challenge this Senior over here."

He pointed at the fifth person on the stage who met him with a firm gaze.

Inwardly, the instigator laughed at the freshman's choice but he didn't dare to show it. Instead, he nodded and gestured for him to come up the stage so that the battle could commence.

"Are both parties ready?" He asked both of them, and after receiving a positive reply, he exclaimed: "Well then, begin!"

The brave freshman wasted no time. With a sword in hand gleaming with a steel-like sheen, he rushed forward to engage with the enemy.

He closed the distance pretty quickly but was met with a steady opposition. To the freshman's shock, his foe received his full-powered charge without any strain at all.

"...good strength. Not enough though. Again!" His foe commented and pushed him back, causing the brave freshmen to skid a few meters back.

Gritting his teeth, the brave freshman poured more energy into his sword and executed the Sword Technique that made him famous in his home city.

"Empyrean Flash!" He exclaimed before releasing a blinding brilliance that illuminated the arena.

With a surprising burst of speed, he disappeared from their view, turning into a streak of light that carried incredible momentum as well.

Unfortunately, much to the freshman's dismay, this attack failed to do anything against his foe who calmly raised his sword and parried the attack like it was some random wind.

"Keugh!" The brave freshman flew back, clashing with the protective barrier of the arena with blood seeping from his mouth.

"That sword technique is leagues above your skill level. With your meager understanding of the sword, using it against an experienced foe is suicidal." His foe calmly chided him, greatly injuring not only his body but also his pride.

The brave freshman coughed out blood but he wasn't severely injured, he had experienced something worse so he would survive this. His wounded pride, on the other hand, was uncertain.

"Your energy control sucks, your fundamental skills are almost non-existent, and you're incredibly stubborn as well. Change your weapon into something blunt and heavy instead, I don't think you'd have a future with the Sword. Oh, and you lost, by the way."

After saying that, his foe turned around and went back to his place. The brave freshman felt crestfallen by what happened. He lost in such an embarrassing and miserable way too.

All of his bravado was for naught, his foe just basically proved that he's all talk.

A friend of his climbed up the stage to help him up and take him away from the judgemental gazes of the crowd. And just like that, the fight between the Freshmen and the older students got off to a very sour and depressing start...

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