Stephen stood in front of the twenty students gathered before him and spoke in a cold voice that everyone could hear.
"Anyone who doesn't want to train can leave now."
Miles and the other students heard what Stephen said, and some hesitation appeared on their faces.
Some of the students thought that this would only be a waste of time, while others felt conflicted. They believed that training under this student, whom they knew nothing about except his name, might be a waste of time. But they also thought that if he could make the Mad Dog and David Fabian follow his orders, then perhaps he had some skill, or maybe he was simply better at teaching.
As for the girls, it seemed they hadn't heard what Stephen said and had no intention of leaving the headquarters.
Well, it seemed their attention was focused on Stephen's face.
(Author / Damn ittttt, leave my son alooooone 😾 I think I'm going to become sexist against women. Tsk tsk.)
Max was calmly looking at Stephen. He had no intention of leaving. Max thought that Stephen and Nathan's previous words had somehow affected him, and instinctively, he felt that the best place for him right now was beside them because they ignited something in his heart.
.....
In the end, no one left the headquarters.
Stephen looked at them for a moment, then his gaze fell on Nathan and he spoke.
"Nathan, I'll start with you."
Nathan raised his eyebrows and then smiled.
"Yes, boss~"
Stephen frowned at the word "boss," but he ignored it and spoke to Nathan.
"Let's fight using only physical strength."
The students looked at Stephen strangely. The physical strength lesson was something they had already taken before, so why did he want to start with it? And where did he get the strength and courage to fight Nathan? Had he lost his mind?!
David was also among the spectators. He didn't want to interfere for now, so he simply let things play out.
Nathan nodded and stood in front of Stephen.
"Okay."
Stephen nodded at Nathan and then spoke.
"You attack first."
Nathan smiled playfully, then suddenly dashed toward Stephen at high speed and threw his fist toward Stephen's face.
Stephen looked at Nathan's movement, which appeared slow to him, with a calm expression.
As Nathan's fist approached Stephen's face, Stephen did not even blink at its approach. Instead, his focus was on every small movement Nathan made with his body.
Stephen noticed the movement of Nathan's shoulder, which seemed to subtly move backward, and noticed Nathan's waist move slightly upward. He easily recognized Nathan's next move.
Nathan quickly pulled his fist back, knowing that such a weak punch would not hit Stephen. So, at the last moment, he changed his attack and raised his right leg to strike Stephen in the stomach.
But Stephen stepped backward, then moved his hand and grabbed Nathan's leg by the knee. He pulled it forward, causing Nathan to lose his balance.
Stephen took advantage of Nathan's loss of balance and threw a punch toward Nathan's face, hitting him and causing him to fall onto his back on the floor.
Nathan stared at the ceiling above him in shock, then felt something warm running down his mouth.
Nathan raised his hand and touched the warm substance, only to find that it was blood coming from his nose.
Nathan laughed in amusement, sat up, then looked at Stephen.
"Don't tell me you're going to train us like this?"
"I feel like you just wanted to hit me."
Stephen looked calmly at Nathan.
'Well, that might be true.'
All the students present stared at Stephen in shock. They still couldn't comprehend what they had just seen.
How could a lower-ranked student defeat a student several ranks above him with only two moves?!
Stephen spoke in a calm voice that everyone could hear.
"Raising your leg in front of your enemy is a major mistake. It's like creating a weak point for yourself."
"It's better to kick someone from behind or from below."
Nathan thought for a moment, then nodded.
Stephen spoke.
"Now, let's begin the first step of training."
"Everyone, run twenty laps around the hall."
Everyone's mouths dropped open in shock as they looked at Stephen with an expression that clearly said, Are you kidding?!
The hall was one thousand meters in area, and running around it was extremely exhausting, especially for these students, most of whom clearly skipped physical training and relied entirely on their mana abilities without putting in any physical effort.
Nathan looked at Stephen in protest.
"Wait, why is this considered the first training exercise? Then what about me fighting you just now?!"
"I thought we were going to start with a spar."
Stephen looked coldly at Nathan and spoke.
"Didn't you want me to train you?"
"Then just do what I tell you."
Nathan looked at Stephen and felt that he might have made the biggest mistake of his life. He could only smile stiffly.
'He hit me on purpose, not as part of the training...'
At first, Stephen had wanted to give the students a simple introduction about himself since he would be training them.
So, he showed a little of his fighting ability by fighting the strongest person here, so these students wouldn't underestimate him or even try to disrespect him.
Stephen had decided that in the combat test that would begin in a few days, he would raise his ranking to the top twenty among the students.
But now... he had to act like a true leader of this small gang.
And to begin doing that, he first had to show his strength and earn their respect.
Stephen looked coldly at the students.
"Start."
Some hesitation appeared on the students' faces. Only Max calmly looked at Stephen, then clenched his fist and became the first person to start jogging.
The students looked at him, then looked at each other before beginning to jog after him.
Stephen nodded in relief when everyone started running, then turned his gaze toward Nathan.
Nathan looked at him, then could only shrug and stand up before starting to jog with them.
There was still one person who had not started jogging, so Stephen turned his gaze toward the boy with the arrogant expression sitting in a noble posture on the bench.
He looked like someone of high status looking down at them from one of those seats reserved for important figures watching a performance.
Stephen didn't care about David's arrogant appearance, as he had grown accustomed to seeing it over the past few days. Although that appearance disappeared whenever Nathan provoked David, leaving behind nothing but anger, even so... David would still remain a noble and spoiled young man from a wealthy family.
David frowned at Stephen's gaze and looked at him.
"What?"
Stephen raised an eyebrow and gestured toward David, telling him to start jogging as well.
David looked at the students who were jogging, then looked back at Stephen.
"What do you want?"
Stephen looked at him for a moment, then sighed and spoke.
"Start jogging too."
A look of disgust appeared on David's face.
"Meee?!"
Stephen patiently nodded his head.
When David saw Stephen's nod, he gave him a look that said, Are you serious? Then he turned his face away from Stephen, ignoring him.
Stephen calmly looked at David. Then an idea came to his mind.
Stephen turned his head away from David and muttered in a voice David could hear.
"If I tell Old Man Carlos that his grandson refuses to train, he'll be sa—"
Before Stephen could finish his words, he heard someone grinding his teeth. David quickly stood up and started jogging.
Stephen smiled slightly when he saw this.
....
After making them complete the twenty laps, Stephen also made them do some other exercises, causing them to lose their breath and concentration from exhaustion.
The best among them was David in the physical exercises, followed by Max, then Nathan and Miles, followed by a girl named Luana. As for the rest... they could be considered extremely ordinary. They didn't even seem like Awakened.
But with a few days of training, they would improve even more. After that, Stephen would give them some advice suited to their abilities.
Everyone was lying on the floor from exhaustion, even Nathan and David.
Four hours had passed, but they had been hell for the students lying on the floor.
Stephen looked at them like the Grim Reaper who was about to take their souls and spoke to them.
"If you don't show up for training tomorrow..."
"You'll be kicked out of the gang."
The students lying on the floor froze and breathed heavily upon hearing this.
Some of them had wanted to escape after these exercises, so it was nice that they would only be expelled if they didn't show up for training tomorrow.
Stephen turned around, left them, and walked out.
As soon as he left, Nathan got up from the floor and looked at the students with a smile.
"Whoever gets kicked out of the Bone Breakers gang will become the common enemy of everyone in the Bone Breakers."
"...."
"...."
"...."
"...."
The students nearly cried after hearing this, as they felt like they had been imprisoned in an isolated place, and anyone who escaped would be killed.
Who would want to become the enemy of David Fabian and Nathan Anderson?
Only a madman.