Parallel Memory
chapter-178

"RANK-C!"

For a moment, they couldn't believe what they were sensing. Rank-C was something only a genius student could achieve and there were only about 15 students who managed to reach it in this tournament.

They carefully examined Zero who was looking very scary right now. They know everyone who has reached Rank-C and Zero was not included in that list.

Zero has also not appeared in any of the previous tournaments. With Zero's strength, they believed that he would have been able to compete in last year's tournament.

So, the conclusion they came up with was that Zero was a new student which sounded more ridiculous than knowing their opponent was Rank-C.

A Rank-C first year! There was one student that had done that in the history of humanity and that person was Hiro Ernest. The Rising Dragon is believed to have incredible talent with him breaking many records.

But they looked at Zero's face and noticed that he was nowhere as handsome as portrayed in the picture ( Hiro's picture), not that Zero was unattractive but Hiro Ernest was handsome beyond normal standards.

Not to mention, they clearly remember Hiro having black eyes rather than green eyes.

Thus, the conclusion that they came to was that the enemy they have provoked is an incredibly talented first-year student at Ace Academy who is comparable to Hiro.

( Another Monster!!)

They already felt depressed when they heard that Hiro Ernest, who is just First-year, has reached Rank-C. In their school, even the most talented student didn't reach that rank in the history of their school.

Not to mention that most of their professors were at that rank. As a result, when they learned that a First-year student had reached the same rank as their professor, they could not help feeling jealous.

They realize the difference between an ordinary person and those destined to achieve greatness.

Now, in front of them, there was another gifted student that had similar power to their professor. They couldn't take that anymore and were having a mental breakdown.

The one who was most depressed was Fiay Zaio who had provoked Zero. He didn't expect an unknown student from Ace Academy to be so strong. He was cursing the person responsible for collecting intel.

( How come we didn't know about such a powerful character? They should have done their work properly. )

Fiay Zaio could only curse at the person responsible for collecting the information as well as at his luck. Why did he have to encounter such a monster?

They all looked at Zero and waited for him to decide what to do with them. Right now they were powerless and could only hope that Zero showed some kind of mercy.

"It would be best that you stay put if you don't want to end up like him!"

Zero said, pointing at the person that he knocked out.

His voice was the same as before but in the ears of those students, it looks like a demon king is threatening them.

-GULP!

They all immediately nodded.

"Good! You should have all listened to me from the start. Now, hand over the tokens!"

"Ummm… S-Sir!"

Fiay opened his mouth.

"Yes?"

"Please, can you retract your mana aura? We can't move!"

Fiay Zaio struggled to speak. Not only because of the oppressive mana aura but also because of the fear of offending Zero.

But he had to since he and his friends were suffering under Zero's mana aura. They also couldn't move their hands to take out the tokens which were demanded by Zero.

Realizing what Fiay Zaio meant, he suppressed his mana aura.

Immediately after Zero stopped oppressing them with mana auras, they felt as if the giant mountain pressing them had disappeared, and they soon relaxed their bodies.

They were still tense in front of Zero but without the mana aura, they didn't fear Zero as much as they did earlier.

"Thank you Sir for showing us mercy!"

"Thank you Sir for showing us mercy!"

They all respectfully bowed to Zero. They were not angry at Zero for suppressing them, instead, they were grateful that they were spared, at least for now.

They were not in the least ashamed of bowing to a junior. Even their professors, whom they hold in high regard, are at the same rank as Zero.

In a world where strength determines everything, what is respected is not age but strength. Since Zero was as powerful as their professors, they had to respect him in the same way.

"Okay, Okay. Now hand over the tokens!"

Zero was not in the least interested in being respected or anything. He wanted to quickly find other participants and get the tokens.

"Here, Sir!"

Fiay Zaio collected the tokens from his friend and also from the guy who was knocked out by Zero. With a smile on his face, he handed the tokens to Zero.

"GOOD!"

Zero said excitedly.

With tokens in his hand, his worry was gone. From one encounter, he managed to get more than half of the required tokens. He only needed four more, which he thought would be simple if he met with a group like Fiay Zaio.

Fiay Zaio would be crying if he knew what Zero was thinking. For him, meeting Zero was the worst thing that could have happened to him. Zero was very powerful but unknown.

At least, if they encountered other strong students like Lisanna, they would probably avoid them. But Zero seemed just like a normal student except for the fact that he is from Ace Academy.

Fiay Zaio and his friends remained motionless. They didn't dare ask anything to Zero who could end them in one move. They just anxiously waited for Zero to let them off.

"Okay, you guys go and do your things!"

Zero said after feeling awkward being stared at by those four.

The four immediately beamed with happiness. They were relieved that Zero didn't do anything to them.

Only one of them was knocked out which is not a big deal. They regretted having five of their tokens taken but at least they could redeem themselves by stealing the tokens from other students.

( Let's get out of here before this monster changes his mind! )

They looked at each face and nodded, apparently having the same thought.