Weak Class of Anti-Hero Chapter 8: The Pit

I stayed on the floor for a mont, just long enough to catch my breath. My ankle still burned a little.

Park turned and left the arena to the congratulations of his friends. He didn’t give a second glance. I was already forgotten.

I got up, limping slightly. The humiliation was back, as familiar as an old scar. I was back at square one.

The teacher looked at , his face impassive.

"Your defense is interesting, Mr. Kang. Your weapon is unique. But it’s useless if you don’t have the fundantals. You’re slow. Your stamina is low. You don’t know how to fight."

Every word was a painful truth.

"Go back to the side," he ordered.

I returned to my spot next to Min-Soo. He didn’t look at with pity. He was watching with his usual analytical expression.

"His attack patterns were predictable," he murmured so only I could hear. "He always uses a projectile to force a dodge, then attacks in close combat. The problem isn’t your strategy. It’s your body. It can’t keep up."

I clenched my fists. He was right. My dagger might be able to erase Aura, but it couldn’t make faster or stronger. I was the weak link. It was .

The rest of the class was torture. The teacher made us do physical exercises. Push-ups, running, squats.

I lagged behind in everything. The other students, even the D-ranks, were all in much better physical condition than . Their bodies were already used to using Aura. Mine wasn’t.

When the class ended, I was soaked in sweat, my muscles aching. I was last, once again.

The dagger might be special, but it couldn’t do everything for . I had to change. Really change.

That evening, I didn’t go to the cafeteria. I wasn’t hungry.

I went straight back to my room and sat on my bed in silence. The defeat against Park replayed over and over in my head.

It wasn’t the defeat itself that bothered . It was how easily he had won. The gap between us was a chasm.

My dagger was an incredible weapon, I was sure of it now. But a legendary sword in the hands of a child is still a child’s weapon.

I had to get stronger. Not just my power. . My body.

I opened the academy’s interface. I went back to the digital library. But this ti, I didn’t search for information on Aura.

I typed: "Basic physical training program."

Dozens of programs appeared. I chose the simplest one, the one that required no equipnt.

I started right away.

Push-ups. Until my arms trembled and I collapsed on the floor.

Sit-ups. Until my muscles burned.

Squats. Until my legs refused to obey .

It was pathetic. I could only do a few repetitions before being completely exhausted. My body was weak, underdeveloped.

Panting, lying on the cold floor of my room, I stared at the ceiling.

This wouldn’t be enough. It would take months, years to catch up to the others at this rate. I didn’t have that kind of ti.

My mother didn’t have that kind of ti.

I needed a solution. A faster solution. A more drastic one.

And in this academy, drastic solutions always had a price. I just had to find out what it was and decide if I was willing to pay it.

The next day, I went back to practical combat class. And the day after that.

Every day, it was the sa story. The teacher had us do duels. And every day, I lost.

I lost to C-ranks. I lost to D-ranks.

My opponents changed, but the result was always the sa. They were faster, stronger, had more stamina. My dagger allowed to defend myself a little, to surprise them sotis, but it never lasted. I always ended up on the floor.

I beca the ideal training partner. The one everyone wanted to fight to test a new technique without risk. The official punching bag of the class.

The mockery started up again. More discreet than at first, but it was there. Whispers behind my back. Amused looks when I entered the gym.

Min-Soo continued to observe . In the evenings, he would explain what I had done wrong.

"You dodged left when his weight was on his right leg. It was obvious he was going to attack from that side."

"You panicked when he used his barrier. You should have attacked his base, not the barrier itself."

His advice was logical, but useless. My body didn’t react fast enough. My mind saw the opening, but my muscles wouldn’t follow.

And every evening, after classes, I would go back to my room and train until I was exhausted. The pain in my muscles had beco a constant companion. But the progress was slow. Too slow.

I knew I couldn’t go on like this. The gap wasn’t closing. It was widening.

One evening, as I was checking the mission board for another easy quest, an announcent caught my eye. It wasn’t in the quests section. It was in a hidden section, a sort of unofficial academy forum that Min-Soo had shown .

The title was simple:

"Need power fast? Enter the Pit."

The Pit. The na alone was a promise of danger.

Intrigued, I left my room to get so fresh air. I needed to think. I went up to the roof of the Gamma building. It was one of the only places I could be alone. The view wasn’t great; you could mostly see the other, more prestigious buildings.

I sat on the ledge, letting the cool night wind calm my thoughts a little.

"You co up here to escape the noise, too?"

A soft voice made jump. I turned around.

A young woman stood a few ters away. I recognized her imdiately. It was the girl from the Draft. The first one to go. The one with the ice lances. An A-rank.

She was even prettier up close. She had long black hair and calm eyes that seed to see everything. She didn’t look at with pity or mockery. Just with a quiet curiosity.

I didn’t say anything, just nodded.

She ca closer and sat down at a respectful distance. "I see you at practice a lot. You never give up, even though you lose every ti. It’s admirable."

Her words were sincere. It was the first ti anyone had said that to .

"You’re looking for a way to get faster, aren’t you?" she continued. "I saw what you were looking at on your terminal earlier. The Pit."

I tensed up. How did she know?

She smiled, a genuine smile, not a mocking one. "My power lets sense Aura residue. Your terminal has a very particular Aura signature on it right now. The one from that forum."

She looked at the lights of the academy. "The Pit is dangerous. They’re unofficial fights, no rules, in the deepest levels of the basent. It’s where people go to settle scores or to push themselves to their limits."

She turned to . "I was part of it, when I was starting out. It’s what helped get from B to A."

She took out her terminal. "My na is Yoo-Na. If you decide to go... and you get into trouble, contact . Maybe I can help."

I remained silent, surprised by her offer. An A-rank offering help to an F-rank? It was unthinkable.

Yoo-Na saved her contact in my terminal, then she stood up.

"Be careful, Kang Ji-Hoon. In the Pit, the only thing that matters is strength. And strength attracts attention. Not always the good kind."

With those words, she left, leaving alone on the roof with my thoughts and her newly registered contact.

The next day at lunch, I told Min-Soo about my encounter. I expected him to be impressed, or at least curious. But his expression hardened.

He put down his fork.

"Kang Yoo-Na? The Ice Princess?" he said, his tone more serious than ever. "Ji-Hoon, stay away from her."

"Why?" I asked, surprised by his reaction. "She was nice. She even offered to help ."

"Nobody at that level is ’nice,’ Ji-Hoon. Especially not her," Min-Soo retorted. "Yoo-Na isn’t just an A-rank. She’s part of the ’Ivory Circle.’ It’s the group of the most powerful and influential students in the academy. They’re untouchable. They don’t talk to people like us, unless they have a reason."

I frowned. "What reason?"

Min-Soo pushed up his glasses. His gaze was intense.

"I don’t know yet. But I know this: The Ivory Circle sees everything that happens in this school. They must have noticed your power, even if you lose your duels. They’re not approaching you out of kindness. They’re approaching you because you’re an anomaly. And anomalies are either studied or eliminated."

He picked up his fork again, but he wasn’t eating.

"Be careful," he repeated. "Her kindness could be a much more dangerous weapon than her ice lances."