With a light gust of wind, a barely visible wisp of smoke appeared in front of Anna’s bedroom window.

Wolf peeked inside without assuming corporeal form. He seethed with fury, feeling like a volcano about to erupt.

He wanted to break Anna’s limbs, or implant Mandy’s memories into her mind. However, instead of the deranged shrew he expected to find, what greeted him was a young woman kneeling on the floor, her face buried into the mattress. Anna softly sobbed, cursing Wolf and the world’s collective of son-of-a-bitch heartless males.

Wolf stood there, staring blankly for several moments as his determination wavered, then completely disappeared.

She’s also a victim here, Wolf thought, as his incorporeal body floated in the air.

All of this was his fault, he realized. He could’ve handled the situation without creating such a huge incident. He could’ve come clean while they were returning from Mirkwood. Anna would’ve calmed down along the way. Mandy wouldn’t have suffered.

He could’ve taken responsibility for his actions, he could’ve broken up with Anna, he could’ve…

There’s no undoing the past, Wolf thought bitterly, trying to let go of his anger.

And yet, no matter how hard he tried, he felt like someone was constantly adding fuel to the bonfire of his fury. The more he tried to justify Anna, the greater his rage. Especially recalling how she shattered the potion bottle back then.

I practically gave her permission, he thought, dearly wanting to gnash the teeth he didn’t have at the moment. If there’s a person at fault here, it’s definitely me.

This realization only made Wolf feel angrier as he literally stormed off. There was nothing he could do to Anna. Not now. But he had no such qualms about psychopaths who did the deed.

Wolf madly zigzagged around the campus, thinking he would find the sadists faster than by preparing Scry, then spending a lot of time casting the spell.

The wisp of mist whizzed through the air this way and that until Wolf finally heard something, a familiar voice. A voice from Mandy’s memories.

He got closer to an academy-owned bar and saw a group of two dozen men gathered. Among them, Wolf recognized Mandy’s assailants.

“…and then the bitch bit Mike's junior. Luckily he had a healing potion, otherwise we could only send him to guard someone’s harem in Swordcrane.”

The speaker roared in laughter, as he told the story to anyone willing to hear it. Openly, in broad daylight. Wolf immediately recognized him as the ringleader of the gang.

“Brad, shut up with that already. You’ve told the same story five times in the last two hours. I should’ve snapped that slut’s damn neck. Bashing her teeth out and choking her until she fainted was too good for her,” Mike said with a bitter expression.

“Stop spouting nonsense.” Brad frowned. “This much we can get by without serious repercussions. But if we killed someone outside the dueling ring, we’d get fired from our teaching positions.”

The atmosphere turned tense for a moment, but then Wolf’s former classmate started shamelessly bragging, causing his seniors to laugh loudly.

At that point Wolf materialized, without bothering to go into the bar through the door.

“I challenge all of you whore-sons to a duel!” Wolf’s sudden shout caused the gathered men to jump from their seats.

“Gods, when did this crazy kid get here?” someone shouted as the entire establishment focused on Wolf.

“You’re challenging all of us? At the same time? By yourself?” The youngest among the group, surnamed Kailasa, started laughing. He didn’t bother one bit about hiding his hatred and ridicule. “Have you gone crazy from being made cuckold by so many real men? Damn idiot!”

The senior students and teachers joined in, ridiculing and insulting Wolf. All except one. This teaching assistant looked at Wolf half-drunk. Then he went pale and instantly sobered up.

The man backed away as if he had seen one of the fiery devils appear in front of him.

Wolf half-noticed the man’s odd reaction, but didn’t give a damn. He wasn’t one of the five. If he didn’t want to fight, that was fine too.

“You five inbred animals and whichever motherfucker is dumb enough to stand with you. All of you at the same time, along with your entire families. Now!” Wolf shouted, not giving a damn about the jeers.

No matter what nonsense these people spewed, as long as they didn’t mention his parents, they couldn’t make him any angrier.

Wolf didn’t even bother waiting for their answer. He turned around and left.

For a moment Jai Kailasa faltered, Wolf actually wanted to go through with the challenge. He was two entire Orders Wolf’s inferior. A moment later he realized that students of Fifth and Sixth Mage Order surrounded him, as well as teachers of Seventh and even Eighth Order. If any teacher fought Wolf one on one they would crush him like an ant.

“Sure, we accept,” Jai said with an exaggerated laugh.

Wolf didn’t say a word. He slammed the door open and headed towards the nearest dueling ring.

For a moment a stunned silence enveloped the tavern. Then the place exploded in shouts and boasts, followed by the squeaking and scraping of chairs against the floor.

Nearly all the gathered Mages hurried out, intent on teaching Wolf a lesson, some even muttering about maiming or killing the cocky youth.

Apart from the tavern staff, the only person left behind was a Mage in his late twenties. The man had a confused expression, his mouth half open, as he considered whether to follow the mob.

He paid everyone’s tab before gingerly leaving the establishment and walking towards the dueling ring. Even though he’d lost some money, he’d gotten a decent enough excuse for lagging behind just enough not to take part.

***

Wolf walked forward with a grim face. His knuckles were white from how hard he clenched his hands.

Behind him the crowd from the tavern split into two groups. One group hurried and overtook Wolf, while the other followed behind, without hastening their steps. The former group had some twenty-odd people, all of which wanted to fight with Wolf. The latter group were idlers and tavern patrons intent on watching a show.

A short while later, Wolf entered the ring. He paid no mind to the crowd behind his back. He only had one aim.

“Ready?” Wolf asked the gathered scumbags, while casting Subtle Lethargy.

He’d already cast Subtle Swiftness on the way over. Wolf intentionally walked and spoke slower to conceal the clues of the spell. He’d also canceled Featherweight. In combat, the extra hundred kilos were very useful. Wolf’s enemies failed to notice anything amiss.

“Everyone, this commoner brat offended—” Brad shouted, turning away from Wolf. But before he could finish the sentence, his speech slowed down. “—my niece’s daughter.”

Brad wanted to gather an even larger crowd. He wanted to drive a wedge between Wolf and Anna. His little niece wanted her daughter to break up with the beggar, and this incident might not be enough.

Brad had to humiliate Wolf and make him hate Anna. But even without Margaret’s letter asking him to find trouble with Wolf, there were others who supported Brad from the shadows. In fact, most of the people who joined him to beat up Wolf were there with an ulterior motive and at the behest of their families.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Brad asked, but suddenly heard a series of thuds and whooshing sounds behind him, followed by high-pitched pained screams.

The middle-aged Mage turned around. More than half his mates from the tavern lay prone on the ground. They bled, their faces bashed in. Some were out cold, others groaned, holding their faces or heads as blood flowed between their fingers.

Despite his diminutive stature, Wolf towered above the bleeding men as he moved like a blur. He smacked a Mage on the nose with a thick staff.

The weapon tore through the air so fast that Brad saw nothing but a blur.

A moment later the middle-aged Mage drew a deep breath as he awakened his senses.

The thick staff collided with Steve’s jaw. Blood sprayed from the man’s mouth. His jaw went slack, then he crumpled.

Brad realized that Wolf actually held a boar-hunting spear. The youth swung it left and right with inhuman speed, using it as an improvised staff.

What the hell is going on? Brad wondered, as a string of questions flooded his mind.

Why was Wolf moving so fast? This was a magical duel, where did the chanting and magic go? By the time Brad regained his wits, only he and the four men who went to Mandy’s flat still stood.

The other four were just like him. They were stiff, watching the unbelievable sight before them.

After a moment, Brad’s head cleared up. He wanted to shout surrender, but to his horror found that his body wouldn’t move. He felt like the only thing that could move were his eyes, but even they were frozen.

Brad couldn’t look away. He couldn’t close his eyes. He clearly saw the terrified looks of those four as Wolf leisurely approached the Kailasa kid and the heavy spear vanished.

Wolf’s hand moved like a viper. He grabbed the boy’s crotch and completely ignoring the pleading look he clenched his hand and then ripped off a handful of flesh.

The victim couldn’t scream, couldn’t even move. His breathing grew ragged as sweat and tears streamed down his face. Jai fainted while still standing.

Unexpectedly, Mike screamed and started running. His blind panic was so strong that it overpowered the magical paralysis gripping him.

But, before he managed three steps, Wolf was upon him.

He slapped the fleeing man’s face with all his might. With a sickening sound the jaw broke as a shower of teeth flew from Mike’s face. Wolf struck three more times, completely shattering Mike’s jaw, deforming his face beyond recognition.

The man flew though the air, trying to shout surrender, but nothing apart from wet gurgling sounds came from his mouth.

His limp body fell to the ground where he fainted, but Wolf showed him no mercy even though he was out cold. The avatar of fury calmly walked over and turned Mike into a eunuch.

Then he turned towards another target. Wolf’s face twisted, revealing much deeper hatred than what he felt towards Jai and Mike.

Wolf ran towards him as a javelin appeared in his hand. A moment later he viciously slammed it up Nale’s ass, butt end first.

Nale’s eyes went wide, but another javelin appeared in Wolf’s hand and this time he struck the twenty-five-year-old Mage from the front.

“It’s a shame to only penetrate one hole,” he growled, then spat at the man’s face and started pummeling him with savage hatred.

The brutal scenes shocked the onlookers. What happened before them really was an extreme beat-down, just as they had expected. It’s just that the roles were reversed. In less than ten seconds, Wolf demolished a group of twenty people. He even savagely maimed and tortured them in front of a crowd like it was perfectly normal.

Suddenly a proctor appeared out of nowhere. “Halt! You’re violating school rules!”

“Which one?” Wolf erupted with anger.

The sudden appearance of the Mage Academy official didn’t even slow him down. He turned towards his next victim, the unquenchable fury blazing in his chest.

“In the arena—” the proctor started, but then faltered.

The dueling ring had only two rules. No intentional killing, and no fighting after the match had ended. To end the match everyone on one side had to be unconscious or clearly state their surrender. These were the loopholes nobles used to kill or break promising commoner students. Suddenly, it was a commoner doing the breaking.

Wolf hadn’t killed anyone yet, and nobody shouted that they surrender, for one reason or another.

“Piss off,” Wolf shouted and continued maiming the remaining Mages. In his fury he’d beat up a full-blown professor, let alone a measly proctor trying to interfere with his revenge.

Wolf delivered a few more blows, heavily injuring all five perpetrators. Suddenly an old man in official-looking robes materialized outside of the arena. Then he walked into the ring with a carefree smile.

The proctor could’ve done so as well, but entering that ring was the same as setting himself up for a beating. The old man was unfazed. In fact, he wished Wolf would engage him.

“I believe that’s about enough exercise for today,” the old secretary said calmly, not showing any aggressiveness towards Wolf.

“The Headmaster wishes to speak with you,” Richard continued after a slight pause. “Oh, right, I believe congratulations are in order. The way you demonstrated Wordless and Motionless Swiftness and Lethargy earned you a promotion into a Sixth Order Mage. Then, successfully demonstrating Paralyze Masses in front of so many witnesses, earned you an official promotion to Seventh Order.”

The secretary’s voice was flat and even. He promoted Wolf twice without batting an eye. Meanwhile, the crowd’s minds reeled.

Even more strangely, Richard moved over to Brad and impassively yanked the javelin out of his ass before throwing it away and letting it clatter on the paved ground.

Huh? Congratulations? Invited for a conversation? Is that bastard protecting these maniacs? Wolf glanced at the two dozen ruined men lying in blood-puddles. If he’s protecting them, then he’s not doing that good of a job. But why does he want to see me then?

“You want me to visit the Headmaster?” Wolf asked after several moments of oppressive silence.

Even though he wasn’t in his clearest state of mind, Wolf knew that the Headmaster of the Mage Academy was roughly on his father’s level when Archibald was at his peak. Fighting him would be a tough fight in the best-case scenario and probably no different from suicide.

Even this geezer gave Wolf some pressure, let alone the man who could send him out on errands.

“Headmaster wishes to see you. I’m just inviting you in his name. Now, follow me, if you please.” Richard replied flatly as he watched the javelin roll on the ground with schadenfreude.

Then the air around Wolf’s ear quivered a bit.

“Do you wish to use that Merge With Wind you have active and get promoted to Eighth Order, or would you prefer us to use our feet to get to the Headmaster’s office?” The wind whispered in Richard’s voice, even though the man’s mouth remained closed.

Wolf’s eyes narrowed. Suddenly, he had a feeling that he was being watched ever since first casting that spell. Unfortunately, his mind wasn’t quite clear and he couldn’t confirm it.

“I’ll walk. Right after you.” Wolf politely motioned Richard to lead the way.

The secretary didn’t care and turned around to lead the way. As soon as the two of them stepped out of the ring Richard started talking in a hushed voice only Wolf could hear.

“My name is Richard by the way,” he subvocalized. “Thanks for letting my good-for-nothing grandnephew off the hook back at the pub.”

Inwardly, the old man felt amazed by his own foresight yet again.

He'd told all members of the Alexandria family not to provoke Wolf. He even hung Wolf’s portraits all around the estate just in case, and even made a proclamation that he would disown anyone finding trouble with Wolf, striking their name from the family tree. If he hadn’t done this, little Owen could’ve ended up with a concussion.

As for little Owen, he stared at the bloody arena in silence.

More than a year ago, the family’s patriarch issued a notice for everyone over the age of seven to memorize Wolf’s face. He ordered everyone to treat Wolf politely whenever they saw him, or just walk away without causing trouble.

Back then Owen thought his ancestor had gone mad. Now, he stood in the crowd with a pale face and a slack jaw.

Inwardly he thanked the gods, praying for the ancestor’s health and long life. Without the proclamation to not offend this demon in human skin, Owen might have been one of those crumpled messes lying in pools of blood.

Owen bowed to the ancestor in the most sincere filial display of his life. Now he understood why this old man had complete authority within the family, and why he could do whatever he believed was right, including killing and disowning people.

Richard completely ignored the grateful youth. He was on duty, and his job was to lead this vicious young man to meet the insane old crackpot. Deep down he wondered how this whole affair would end and whether he should prepare some popcorn before the show began.