Michael didn't really want to join any competition at first, however, Kaleb provoked him way too much.
Not only did he show off his skills by foolishly releasing an arrow in the buffet – where people, including Michael, were busy enjoying their food– but Kaleb had gone a step ahead and made Michael lose his appetite. That was the worst.
Kaleb deserved a beating for that!
"What kind of competition do you want to hold?" Niklas Liekhoven asked Kaleb as he made his way to the crowd of people around the young man.
Niklas disliked Kaleb right from the moment he entered the auditorium. So what if he was a Zenovia? What did it matter? Kaleb was just an unawakened kid in front of him!
"It is pretty simple," Kaleb said calmly and confidently, "I want us to compete with each other using our archery skills."
"Since some of us are awakened, you'll only embarrass yourself when you lose bitterly later," Niklas responded in a cold and mocking tone.
Kaleb raised one of his eyebrows before he gave a nonchalant shrug.
"If I lose it means that I have to train more, that's it."
Niklas glared at Kaleb, but he didn't mock him any further. He would let his archery skills speak up for him!
"I will join your little competition!" Niklas declared, which was followed by several other people stepping forward and joining the competition as well.
More than a dozen had joined when Michael reached the crowd.
"I'll join as well," Michael announced calmly.
He understood that it wouldn't be good if his emotions were all over the place. Archery required him to calm down and become one with tranquility.
"You? Your Archery skills are a mess! Weren't you barely in the top ten of the class?" Niklas asked mockingly before he rubbed salt in the wound by adding, "You shouldn't embarrass yourself. Just sit back and continue eating, hog."
This time, it was Michael's eyebrow that rose. Michael had been consistently ranked 8th in almost all practical classes. Not only did he become eight intentionally, but it was not even a bad rank to be.
After the first semester when he had been attacked by everyone for becoming a top student in most subjects, Michael tried hard not to be first.
If he gave his utmost, he would have been much higher in the ranking. Wasn't it obvious that he was holding back by staying in the bottom ranking in most subjects, whether it was theory or practical subjects?
Michael glanced through the crowd to gauge the reaction of his other former classmates, but all of them had a reaction similar to Niklas. Nobody expected anything from him. He was just an unwanted extra in their opinion.
'Good thing that I came today. It's about time to wipe the smiles off their faces!' Michael murmured to himself before he turned to Kaleb.
He stared loathingly at the young man for making him lose his appetite, "I will join."
Kaleb gave him a small nod, but he was a bit confused.
Why was this young man so angry with him? It was not as if he did something inhumane. Wasn't it just a competition?
However, after looking at the expressions of the other guys who had been rushing over to join the competition as well, understanding dawned upon Kaleb.
They were all angry that he had attracted the attention of all the girls at the afterparty!
Nonetheless, Kaleb stared at Michael for a few more seconds. He heard a few insults that were thrown at Michael and began to frown.
"Why are they acting like 5-year-old children after their Barbie doll was taken from them? This guy is clearly unbothered about the insults thrown at him, so he must be used to this behavior already," Kaleb whispered in Jasmine's ear.
He thought about it an added, "Did he, or his family offend one of these clowns?"
Jasmine diverted her attention from her friends and looked over to see Michael being bombarded with insults and bullied by the others.
"He was not in my class, but I heard that Michael Fang is an easy target. He has no background and somehow managed to get into the Elite Class. His class taught Michael a lesson after the first semester because he thought that being in the Elite Class means that he is a bigshot now. I heard that he is a coward. You can just ignore him," She explained nonchalantly before intimately caressing his cheek.
Kaleb planted a kiss on her lips before his attention was pulled back to the guys who groaned after seeing the couple's public display of affection.
He accepted everyone's participation in the competition since it would be more interesting with more people, but he never looked at Michael again.
Ten minutes later everyone interested in the competition had joined.
Kaleb clapped his hands twice to draw everyone's attention to him.
"Now that everyone has joined the competition, let me explain a few basic rules of the competition," He said calmly.
"It is pretty simple. We will use the auditorium as our playground. First, someone shoots a target or makes a call directly. Afterward, the others will move to the same starting position before they'll hit the same target, repeating their predecessor's action. That means…" Kaleb took a pause and retrieved an arrow, nocked it on the bowstring of his foldable bow, and pulled the bowstring back.
A moment later, he aimed and released the arrow. It pierced the apple of the spit-roasted pig once again.
"That means, everyone will have to hit the apple of the spit-roasted pig. Once everyone hits the target, the next one in the row can choose the next target. It's pretty simple, isn't it?" Kaleb finished the explanation with a faint smile while bathing in the cheers and squeals of the girls next to him.
Jasmine looked at Kaleb with a blush and stepped forward. She wove her arms around his left arm and smiled even brighter as she looked back at the cheering girls, who were also the newest members of Kaleb's fan club.
'The rules are pretty simple, but the execution can be quite difficult,' Michael thought as he looked around to see what kind of targets he should choose for this challenge.
He heard insulting comments around him but ignored them mostly.
'How can I get back at Kaleb, and these idiots at the same time?' Michael wondered.
Showing off his archery skills would, at most, shock everyone. That was not enough.
Michael thought about it for a while, and his expression lit up when a great idea flashed through his mind.
"Is this competition even fun without a bet?" He asked in a light-hearted tone.
His voice was low but loud enough for everyone to hear. The guys turned to Michael before they burst into laughter.
They laughed so much that their eyes watered and they could barely breathe anymore.
Tears trickled down the corners of their eyes and they pointed at Michael while continuing to laugh, openly ridiculing him again.
Niklas and the others were the first to stop laughing. They looked at each other and grinned devilishly.
"How much do you want to bet, Mr Fang? Is 10$ fine with you, or is that too much for you to handle? How about 5$ then?" Niklas asked while another one joined the taunting.
"Maybe 5$ is also too much. How about we make a different bet?" He said while looking at the third guy, who cleared his throat.
"How about the loser has to remove their clothes and walk home naked?" The third guy proposed, and the entire group around Niklas began to cackle hysterically.
The girls frowned when they heard what their former classmate said, and even Kaleb couldn't help but squint his eyes in disgust.
However, he noticed that Michael was unfazed and even had a small smirk on his face.
'Did he just smile?' Kaleb asked himself, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him.
"How about I bet an Epic Artifact?"
Michael manifested Tigerfang out of thin air before he showed his possession for everyone to gawk at.
"Who dares to bet with me?!"
**
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