At first glance it may seem like Sicarius's hands were caught in Crock's mouth, however, in reality, Sicarius was gripping Crock's jaws tight. Only when the gigantic screen hanging above the room focused on Sicarius's hands did the crowd realize this.
Needless to say, they were shocked, even more when Sicarius began to pull apart Crock's mouth.
"What the!?" Prince uttered, "I thought he was powerless! Isn't that super strength!"
"Oh trust me if I didn't know Sicarius I would think that too. That strength comes from nothing but physical exercise." Venus explained, "Even if I know it's true it's still hard to believe."
"Just how much training did he have to go through?" Layla said with her mouth agape and eyebrows scrunched together, "That's just crazy!"
"Crazy is definitely the word to describe Sicarius." Princess said, "That guy is obsessed with being the strongest."
Crock felt like he was being gripped by metal clamps. The pain was becoming unbearable. Quickly, a tail sprung out from his behind and he swung it at Sicarius with a strong force capable of smashing heads into mush.
And yet to Sicarius it was nothing. With seemingly no effort Sicarius kicked away Crock's tail before lifting him by the jaw and throwing him across the platform.
Prince, Emilia, and Layla had no more words to describe the shock they were feeling.
"We spar with that monster every day!" Venus boasted,
Crock in the midst of the battle had landed harshly along the cold floor. In a second he propelled himself upward with his tail before glaring at Sicarius. But now, in his eyes were caution.
"You lied!" Crock yelled, his voice having a tinge of a roar laced into it, "You said you didn't have powers!"
"I don't," Sicarius replied,
"Don't bullshit me!" Crock roared as he charged once again.
It was a simple matter to dodge for Sicarius. He simply had to jump over the wild beast, before twisting in mid-air to execute an axe kick smashing down the top of Crock's head. Crock sank below the floor, seemingly embedded within the very ground itself.
Sicarius landed gracefully beside Crock who was on the floor, and upon seeing that Crock was gathering the strength to stand, yanked him by the tail and proceeded to smash him on the ground over and over until Crock passed out.
"What the fuck?"
"Shit man," Another student, "Didn't he say he was the combat instructor now."
"We're screwed."
Most of the students agreed with the sentiments of these students, however, Prince, and Emilia didn't. Although they may have been shocked at Sicarius's ability this didn't mean they were scared of him, in fact, on their faces were expressions of resolve. It seemed as if they wanted to challenge Sicarius, to see how they would fare against him and to see whether they could learn anything from him. He was, after all, the combat instructor now.
Seemingly just in time, the bell that signaled the end of the lunch period rang throughout the tower.
"That's the end of it!" Sicarius yelled, "Go back to your classes, and those that have Combat Survival class stay behind!"
The crowd quickly dispersed into hushed whispering groups that quickly left the sparring grounds. Left behind were a total of a 99 students including Venus, Princess, and their friends. Venus and Princess had begun taking classes ever since they had powers, therefore they were known among the tower and knew a lot of people in the tower. Sicarius on the other hand knew no one at all but them. But that didn't really matter to Sicarius.
"Everyone here is to be named in numbers that are according to ability. If you do not like your number you must prove that you deserve a better one through battle. My name is Carius Gray, and I will be your combat instructor." Sicarius announced, "The numbers assigned to each of you will be assigned through a spar with me. Are there any volunteers?"
"I thought his name was Sicarius?" Prince whispered,
"It isn't," Princess mumbled,
"Then why is he called Sicarius?" Layla asked,
"It's because it means--AHH!" Venus said before being lifted off the floor and into Sicarius's shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
"We have our volunteer!" Sicarius said as he threw Venus to the center of the sparring grounds.
Thus began the ranking battles for the assigning of numbers. The first battle ended in Sicarius's win. Although intense, without assistance, Venus had difficulties defeating Sicarius.
"Good fight, you're number 1 until I deem someone else deserves to be."
Venus was too tired to reply so she simply went to the side back with the others before sitting down to rest. A gentle glow of divine power enveloped her that seemed to accelerate the regeneration of her stamina and minor bruises.
"Next challenger can attack anytime they want," Sicarius muttered as he cleaned his ears,
Hearing this Princess charged at him, forming a sword of shadow in her palm as she slashed. After a short spar, she found herself slapped to submission. Sicarius tossed her to the side beside Venus.
"Good, but not enough to be number 1 so you're 2." Sicarius said, "Next."
"Venus, can you heal me too." Princess requested with both cheeks swollen from Sicarius's slaps.
Venus nodded with a giggle before encasing Princess in divine power. Princess released a sigh of relaxation as she slumped on the floor.
The next one that attacked was Emilia. Emilia had the power of time manipulation, however, she could only apply it intrinsically. This meant she had accelerated speed that could almost rival Sicarius's own, and yet her punches were as light as a feather. She was only quick, and that was why Sicarius made quick work of her.
All Sicarius had to do was slap her once.
Her powers have the potential to be great, but now she was of no use. She ended up needing healing from Venus beside Princess.
"3rd, next!"
Next up was Prince. This boy was a smart one, and that was what made him rather cautious of even getting near Sicarius.
"To first assess the enemy is smart. if you think you can fight then fight smartly, if not then just retreat." Sicarius said, "But you aren't retreating, therefore, you're doing nothing but presenting yourself to an enemy."
As the words left his mouth, Sicarius charged towards Prince with incredible speed. Prince reacted quickly, and from his palm, a ray of violet mana shot forward as he jumped. With the force from the blast, Prince flew back a few meters, creating distance between him and Sicarius.
"That's wise, "Sicarius said as he dodged the mana blast. Once he dodge he bolted towards Prince with outstanding speed, "But you can't keep running forever."
Dodging more mana blasts Sicarius neared Prince at a rapid pace. "You can not be forced on the defensive. Being forced to defend is simply going along with the enemies pace. You have to push back with offense."
Seeing Sicarius almost in front of him, Prince clenched his teeth and blasted backwards as he jumped. The force propelled him forwards with both legs raised forwards aimed at Sicarius.
Sicarius in a split second turned sideways and punched Prince in the gut causing Prince to tumble and roll on the floor from momentum. Prince remained on the floor groaning and rolling which caused Sicarius to drag him to the side.
"Nice attempt at strategy, sadly, it wasn't enough but better than the Emilia so now your 3rd." Sicarius said as he left Prince besides the others he defeated.
"Venus, can you heal me too" Prince requested between groans of pain, " He really doesn't pull any punches."
"Alright but healing all of you guys is starting to tire me too." Venus mumbled, "Layla get your fight over with so you can help me with the healing."
"I'm not going to fight." Layla said as she paced towards Venus and the others, "I'm more of a supporter than a fighter."
"Understandable." Sicarius nodded, "But an enemy won't care about that will they?"
"Wha-" Layla began to speak however Sicarius quickly held her by her leg and threw her to the middle.
Sicarius expected her to land on the floor with a loud thud instead what he heard was fluttering. He looked up and there Layla was with her white dress dancing in the wind as the angel wings behind her back kept her in the air.
The angelic Layla was looking at Sicarius looking much more like a devil than an angel with how she was glaring at him.
"I said I wasn't going to fight!" Layla yelled,
Sicarius merely stared at her for a second before kicking off his shoe in the air. He caught it in his hands, looked at Layla who was now confused along with mad. Then the sound of a heavy thud followed as Sicarius's shoe bounced off of her head.
Layla instantly started to fall, she fell straight into a shoeless Sicarius's arms. He paced towards Prince and the others where Sicarius set Layla down before speaking.
"Did you all forget that we have a war to fight? Do you guys think that anyone wants to go to war? Do you think that you can just refuse to fight? Remember, we are training for war, and in war no one is safe from combat."
Sicarius put on his shoe before facing the remaining students, some visibly intimidated, "Now, who's next?"