"Fufufufu."

  "Your demon is just a doll? So are you pnning to kill mystical creatures or invite them to py?" said a rge man with a buzz cut who stood at the very front of the line.

  "You’d better sleep in your room. The outside world is too cruel for you, buddy," said a man whose arms were covered in tattoos.

  "Hey, don’t mock him! He didn’t come here to fight, he came to entertain us," another student chimed in.

  At first, the students' and Wirtz's ughter was soft, but after a few more insults, it grew louder and louder.

  At that moment, Jyu felt ashamed for being belittled by them. Yet on the other hand, his blood boiled with anger that had filled his entire body. As a young man who rarely thought things through, Jyu did something reckless instead. Boldly, he challenged all the students in that training ground.

  "Oh, so you’re underestimating me! Then let’s show our strength," Jyu said, casting a sharp gre at all the students.

  In his memory, Jyu possessed a bck sword. In an instant, he summoned it. The bck katana was now in his grasp, ready to be drawn against the enemies before him.

  Everyone’s eyes widened when Jyu pulled out his bck sword. Wirtz, who stood beside him, immediately shot him a sharp look and quickly grabbed Jyu’s wrist to stop him from doing something even more reckless.

  "Stop all of you! This is a training ground, not a pce to kill each other."

  Suddenly, the buzz-cut man who had first mocked Jyu stepped forward. "It’s fine, Master Wirtz. Let me test the strength of this nerdy brat."

  Wirtz let out an annoyed snort, as if resigning himself to this chaos. "Fine! But there are rules. No weapons allowed, and the first person to nd a hit wins."

  "No problem!" Jyu said as he stored his bck katana away again.

  "Okay!" said the buzz-cut man, whose name was Lucas.

  Now, all the students formed a circle, creating an arena for the fight between Jyu and Lucas. The two stood proudly in the centre along with their respective demons. Lucas had a demon that looked incredibly strong—a white ape about two meters tall. Its body was muscur and packed with bulging muscles, with sharp fangs ready to tear apart its opponent.

  Jyu was not afraid at all, but the problem was that he had never trained with Kuma. So he didn’t truly know how to use Kuma’s power effectively. On top of that, this fight forbade weapons, meaning Jyu’s chances of winning were even slimmer. If he were allowed to use his bck sword, Jyu was confident he could defeat Lucas.

  "Grrr." Kuma’s growl broke Jyu’s confusion. The doll demon seemed to signal that Jyu had nothing to fear.

  "You’re right, Kuma. We won’t lose!" Jyu whispered to his demon.

  Jyu assumed that Lucas’s demon was not much different from Kuma. That white ape demon surely couldn’t fight from long range, which meant close combat was inevitable.

  The fight began.

  "Kuma, smash that disgusting monkey!" Jyu shouted.

  Kuma, who had been standing in front of Jyu, briefly turned his head. A second ter, his face showed anger, and he dashed forward quickly to charge at his enemy.

  "Hahahaha!"

  Lucas and the other students burst into loud ughter when they saw Kuma running. The way Kuma ran was truly funny, like a four-year-old child sprinting awkwardly.

  But Lucas showed no mercy, even if his opponent was just a doll. In an instant, his demon shot forward and delivered a kick that struck Kuma’s face. The doll demon was sent flying high into the air and out of the arena.

  "Kumaa!" Jyu shouted in panic. He ran toward the back to chase after Kuma, but was blocked by the barricade that the other students had formed.

  "If you step out, you lose," said Wirtz, who was acting as the referee.

  Jyu stopped in his tracks. He looked furious at what had happened to Kuma. He refused to back down and intended to retaliate against the white ape’s attack.

  "Fine! Now your opponent is me," he said confidently.

  Jyu walked slowly toward the white ape demon. He kept moving his fingers and arms, as if warming up.

  "End this quickly!" Lucas ordered his demon.

  Suddenly, the white ape demon moved like lightning, so fast that its motion was invisible to the eye. Jyu had no chance to dodge. In an instant, a fist nded in his stomach, sending him flying until he smmed hard against the ground. Jyu felt excruciating pain, and fresh blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

  "The fight is over. The winner is Lucas," Wirtz decred.

  ---

  Jyu knew that his demon’s power was at the Supreme level, but after experiencing that humiliation, he felt the urge to hide it. Jyu intended to surprise everyone one day by revealing that he was a superstar. This situation made him grow even more closed off from others.

  "You shouldn’t have done something that reckless. For now, Lucas is not your match," Wirtz said while treating Jyu’s wounds.

  "I was only defending Kuma’s pride and my own," Jyu expined.

  "Suit yourself! You’re a new student here, so you’ll train separately from the others. Go meet Master Felix on the fourth floor."

  In truth, the gathering at the training ground earlier had been meant as an introduction for Jyu and a graduation ceremony for several students, including Lucas. That meant Lucas was a student who had received extensive training and was considered worthy of maintaining the world's bance. It also meant his strength had already surpassed Jyu’s. It made sense that Jyu had been defeated so easily.

  As a new student, Jyu had to undergo basic training under Master Felix. There, he would gain knowledge of the human world, the spirit realm, mystical creatures, and the demon power system.

  When Jyu’s body began to recover, and the pain in his stomach gradually subsided, he headed to the fourth floor. As the elevator doors opened, Jyu was greeted by a corridor with several rooms on both sides. He immediately walked down the hall to search for Master Felix’s room.

  There were four rge rooms here, each door bearing the name of its occupant. The first belonged to Master Jenna, the second to Master Richie, the third to Master Pirro, and the fourth to Master Felix.

  Jyu immediately entered. Master Felix appeared to be busy reading a book.

  "Good morning, Master!"

  Instantly, Master Felix closed his book and looked at Jyu with a serious gaze.

  "Next time, knock before you enter," he said firmly.

  Standing before Jyu was an older man whose hair had turned completely white. His face was full of wrinkles, yet his aura was terrifying, indicating that his strength was far beyond that of everyone else in the DV Army.

  Jyu felt quite frightened. "Please forgive me, Master!"

  "What is your name?"

  "Jyu! My name is Jyu!" he answered with a trembling voice.

  At that very moment, Master Felix’s expression softened.

  "Oh, so you’re the one named Jyu. I’ve been waiting for you."