After that fight, Violet, her face still flushed with anger, immediately dragged me to her office. Along the way, I could feel the horrified stares of my classmates as we passed.

Inside Violet's office, she stood behind her desk with her arms locked tightly.

"Adam, what you did in the arena today is completely unacceptable!" her voice echoed through the quiet room. "Attacking an opponent who has already surrendered is a violation of the most basic combat ethics!"

I simply sat in the chair across from her, hands folded on my lap. Deep inside, I didn't care at all about her scolding. Yes, I knew it broke the rules. Yes, I knew it wasn't ethical. But after years of being tortured, humiliated, and treated like garbage by them, seeing the look of horror and fear on their faces today felt… worth it.

No. It wasn't enough.

Violet let out a long sigh, then pulled out a sheet of paper from her desk drawer. "Because of your actions, I'm forced to give you a formal warning letter and deduct fifty training points from you for today."

She looked at me sharply. "This is your warning, Adam. If it happens again, I won't just deduct your points, I'll remove you from my class."

I stood, gave her a brief nod, then turned and left her office without saying a single word.

The moment I stepped out of the administration building, my mind began racing. After what happened, there would definitely be consequences. Yukie and her group would come looking for me.

They would confront me—or more accurately, interrogate me—about the drastic change in my behavior, then torture me like before just to remind me of my place.

But I couldn't let that happen. Seeing Yukie earlier, meeting her cold stare that still sent chills down my spine—if they came for me and started tormenting me again, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. And if I fought back with my full power now, with [Time Stop] and the rest of my cheat skills…

'I'll destroy them,' my heart whispered coldly. And it wasn't time for that. Not yet. And it wasn't my plan. I wanted them to suffer slowly, the same way they made me suffer.

So I decided not to return to class. Better to avoid them for now rather than be provoked into doing something premature. I still had a grand plan for all of them, and that required time and careful preparation.

The academy corridors stretched like a silent maze after training hours. I walked toward the place I used to hide from them. Ironic—now I wasn't going there to hide, but to keep my anger from exploding again.

When I turned toward the back area of the training building, the smell of cigarette smoke greeted me immediately.

There, sitting lazily on a concrete railing with a casual yet elegant posture, was Arianna.

Her red hair billowed like wild flames brushed by a gentle breeze. Her eyes looked half-bored, half-intimidating. Her uniform hung loosely at the chest area, exposing a line of pale skin that contrasted sharply with her fiery hair. In her left hand, a lit cigarette glowed faintly, the smoke trailing slowly upward.

Around her, five of her subordinates stood like high-end thugs—laughing, teasing, flexing muscles that weren't impressive at all.

I stopped for a moment, and disgust rose in my chest.

Arianna turned—probably hearing my footsteps—and her first reaction almost made me laugh.

Her fiery red eyes widened, then her face turned bright red in an instant. Not just surprised… but startled.

"Adam…?" she whispered softly, almost inaudibly.

Yeah, she clearly had no idea I returned today.

The five men beside her turned too, looking me up and down like I was some defective product. Once they recognized my face, their expressions twisted into disgust and annoyance.

They still remembered the incident in the bathroom not long ago. Though because I used [Time Stop] at the time, they never knew I was the one who beat them unconscious. To them, I was still the weak, disposable outcast who deserved mockery.

"Hey, look who showed up," one of them sneered. "The trash finally had the guts to show his face again."

Another chimed in. "Look at how he's staring at us. He should be crawling when he walks past us."

I ignored their words, giving them only a sideways glance full of contempt. That alone made them even angrier.

"You're getting cocky, huh?" another snapped. "Still remember the lesson we gave you last time?"

One of them, a big guy with bulging muscles, stepped forward, trying to intimidate me. "This time I'll make sure you learn something real—"

He didn't finish his sentence. With a swift motion, I caught his incoming fist, twisted his arm with a simple technique, and threw him into the wall. His body hit it with a loud thud and he collapsed, unmoving.

The other five froze as if their brains stopped working. Arianna also froze, her cigarette almost slipping from her fingers.

The remaining men exchanged looks, clearly unable to comprehend how the academy's most famous loser just dropped their strongest member so easily. Their mocking expressions twisted into confusion.

"That… that had to be a fluke!" one of them tried to reassure himself.

They then charged at me all at once—a big mistake. I moved between them with a speed they never expected. A punch to the solar plexus folded the first one. A side kick toppled the second. An elbow to the jaw knocked out the third. And the last took a fist straight to the nose that sent him sprawling.

In mere seconds, all five were on the ground unconscious.

I briefly activated [Eye of Desire], every one of them was just a Rank C Awakener. No wonder they were so easy to defeat.

The Fire Queen was still frozen in place, her cigarette half-burned, her gaze locked onto me. I now stood directly in front of Arianna, who remained still, her face flushed with embarrassment, anger, and… something else.

I looked into her eyes and spoke calmly, quietly, with complete dominance.

"Pet… you just stood there while your master was attacked by your subordinates?"

The word—pet—hit her like a direct blow to the heart.

Arianna froze.

[Arianna's Sexual Arousal increased to 20 (+1)]

And in the next second, I saw it clearly on her face: a faint tremor. A deeper blush rising along her cheeks. Her red eyes widening for a moment before narrowing.

As if that word touched something she never realized was there.

Arianna shook her head hard, her face turning even redder.

"Y-You jerk! Don't… don't call me that!" she protested, her voice shaky despite her attempt to sound firm.

I stepped closer, a faint smirk forming on my lips.

"Do you really dislike it?" I teased, my voice low and deliberate. "Back then, in the bathroom, you barked at me so obediently."

Hearing my words, Arianna's face turned even redder. She looked like she wanted to deny it, but the words seemed stuck in her throat.

"I… I didn't—"

I didn't wait for her response. I took another step forward, closing the distance between us to just a few centimeters. I raised my hand and firmly cupped her cheek. Her skin was warm and soft.

"Listen carefully," I said, my voice low, leaving no room for argument, each word heavy with intent. "I don't like my pet wandering around with pathetic men like them."

My eyes flicked briefly toward the unconscious men on the ground, then locked onto Arianna's wide eyes.

"You belong to me."

My fingers trailed down, brushing her chin, her neck, tracing the line of her jaw to her collarbone. My touch was firm, claiming. Arianna gasped, her breath catching, but she didn't pull away.

"Instead of pretending to be the master of trash who can't even defend themselves, wouldn't it be better to be my pet instead?"

[Arianna's Sexual Arousal increased to 21 (+1)]

In her red eyes, I could see emotions swirling chaotically.

My hand pressed slightly against her collarbone. "I won't repeat this warning. If I see you with them or with any other man, I'll make sure you remember who owns you in a way you'll never forget."

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