"Of course!" Seeing the difficult position his homeroom teacher was in, Fly readily agreed.
This was the Dean of the freshman year, after all. He would have to deal with him for a long time to come; there was no need to escalate the conflict right from the start.
Besides, the Dean was still a leader of the school. Even if he wanted to get even for Jett, he wouldn't dare do anything too outrageous under the school's regulations.
Mr. Carter was stunned to see Fly agree so readily. He had been racking his brain for an excuse to get them out of this, but he never expected the kid to just casually accept.
"Fly, you..." Mr. Carter started to say, but Fly cut him off.
"It's alright, Mr. Carter, don't worry! Trust me!" Fly patted his chest and gave his teacher a look brimming with confidence.
Dean Sterling smiled. "Well, since Fly has agreed, there's no need for you to say anything more, Mr. Carter."
With things having reached this point, there was nothing more Mr. Carter could do. He shot a glare at Mr. Ironside and let out a long, frustrated sigh.
Mr. Ironside, in turn, flashed a triumphant look back at him, as if to say: That's what you get for letting your student injure mine. Now we've got a real show to watch, don't we?
In truth, it was Mr. Ironside who had asked Dean Sterling to come along for support. Since his own student, Jett, had been the one to provoke the fight and had ultimately lost, he was in the wrong both emotionally and logically. So, he had called upon the Dean, hoping to salvage some of his lost pride.
As for Dean Sterling, he was genuinely curious as to how Fly, who had just received a cockroach as his Beast Totem, had managed to break through the defenses of Jett's Spinosaurus. Thus, he had decided to come along.
"However..." a voice interjected. To everyone's surprise, Fly didn't immediately prepare to demonstrate his skill. "...you can't just look at my Skill for free."
As he spoke, Fly raised a single finger. "One thousand credits. How about it?"
Mr. Carter: "Huh???"
Mr. Ironside: "Huh???"
Dean Sterling: "Huh???"
For a moment, the faces of all three men were adorned with massive question marks.
You've got to be kidding!
Of the three of them, one was his homeroom teacher, and another was the Dean of his entire year.
Since when did a student's demonstration of a Skill come with a price tag?
"Sigh..."
Seeing the teachers' astonished expressions, Fly let out a helpless sigh. "My family is of modest means, not at all like Jett's wealthy household. In the future, my studies, my training, purchasing new Skills, even my living expensesâthey all add up. I'm not trying to sell you a sob story. I'm just genuinely poor."
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
To learn new Skills, one had to spend money.
If his power level increased but he couldn't acquire a suitable Skill, he could still potentially lose to a weaker warrior who possessed a more powerful ability.
Many students who originally had the potential to enter top-tier Martial Academies often fell behind their less talented but wealthier peers in their final year simply because their families couldn't afford powerful Skills. They would end up graduating with mediocre results, unable to pursue further studies, and eventually fade into obscurity.
In this world, Fly's family was not well-off. To avoid that fate, he had to resort to such measures.
No one is born a lover of money. It was just a way to secure a better future for himself.
"What you're saying... actually makes sense." Mr. Carter was at a loss for words. Although he could see the holes in Fly's little speech, the underlying logic was sound. Might as well consider it supporting my student, he thought.
He pulled out his phone and transferred a thousand credits to Fly.
Seeing this, Dean Sterling didn't say much either. He simply took out his own phone and transferred a thousand credits as well. How could the Dean of a prestigious high school possibly be short on cash?
But watching Mr. Carter and Dean Sterling meekly pay up, Mr. Ironside was having none of it.
"Carter, your student is going too far!" he roared. "He injured my student, and now I, his teacher, have to pay just to see his Skill? Are you trying to bully an honest man?!"
"In that case, Mr. Ironside, you're welcome to wait here. I'm not forcing you to watch," Fly said, his tone perfectly polite.
"You!" Seeing Fly's calm demeanor, Mr. Ironside nearly exploded with rage. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
But with Fly acting so civil, it was difficult for him to truly lash out.
As the saying goes, you don't slap a smiling face.
Besides, Mr. Ironside was genuinely curious about the Skill that had allowed Fly to pierce through the defense of Jett's 'Aegis of the Stegosaur'.
Moreover, since both Mr. Carter and the esteemed Dean Sterling had already paid, what made him so special?
Defeated, Mr. Ironside grumpily paid the fee.
"Well then, Fly. Shall we begin?" Dean Sterling took out his Totem Beast and sent a duel invitation.
"Of course." Fly accepted.
A flash of golden light later, Fly found himself once again on the virtual battleground.
This time, however, it was a private room.
Just like in a video game, duel rooms could be set to public or private. In a private battleground, the host could invite specific individuals to spectate. That was how Mr. Carter and Mr. Ironside were also able to enter and watch the match.
Fly noticed that this battleground was identical to the one Jett had created. Beneath his feet was a vast grassland, a murmuring stream flowed in the distance, and beyond that lay a forest and snow-capped mountains.
"This is the same place where you defeated Jett, isn't it? Now, right here, do it to me again," said Dean Sterling.
"Don't hold back. Because even at full power, you won't be able to break my defense." With those words, the Dean revealed his own Beast Totem.
Behind him, the massive mirage of a beetle slowly materialized.
But this was unlike any beetle found in nature. Its back was covered in a thick, turtle-like shell, and its head sported a pair of pincer-like mandibles made of steel. Faint, golden arcs of electricity crackled around its body.
What is that?
"Be careful, Fly!" Mr. Carter shouted from the sidelines. "The Dean's Beast Totem is a Mythical Speciesâthe Thunder-warden Beetle!"
A Mythical Species?!
No wonder Dean Sterling had been called a prodigy in his student days, and no wonder he had become the Dean of Star City High at such a young age.
The Mythical Species was the rarest and most precious category of Beast Totem. Ordinary Totem Beastsâincluding the Primal Speciesâwere all based on creatures that actually existed. But the Mythical Species was completely different. They were created from human imagination, creatures that had no counterpart in the real world.
This meant that their power could practically ignore the common laws of nature.
The sheer strength of a Mythical Species Beast Totem was almost unimaginable.
But far from being worried, Fly actually smiled.
Heh heh, so what if it's a Mythical Species?
Isn't the 'Thunder-warden Beetle' still just an 'insect'?
And as long as it's an insect, it falls under my jurisdiction!
Because I am the one who possesses the Insect Fusion System!