The Retired Hero is an Extra

Meanwhile, Aileen just stood aside, deciding to watch the spectacle. She was not one to interfere as long as the person involved didn't mind it.

"What format do you want?" Ronan asked Jash, not wanting to appear as someone who tricked him.

"1v5, then 1v5, then 1v10?" Jash proposed, not caring much about it, but his words did stoke their pride and ego correctly.

"Hah! As if I need any help to deal with you," an arrogant elf scoffed, mocking the audacity of this human to propose such fights.

"For once, I agree with this long-eared bas–" a dwarf chimed in, but his words were cut off as someone shut his mouth.

"True, who needs anyone to take care of you?" a noble's son said, but all he got were looks of disdain.

It was clear that the three hadn't fought Jash personally as those who had clashed with him knew he might win despite the outrageous claims.

"You see, these guys don't like to team up like smart people, so why don't we join forces?" A staff-user said to the lightning martial artist.

"Hoh? An esteemed young master wants a commoner's help?" The lightning martial artist smiled, half-mockingly, half self-deprecating.

"Why not? You formed Aura at the same speed as us, no?" The staff user merely shrugged his shoulders.

It seemed as if he was the sneaky kind, the type to use every resource at his disposal to reach his goals.

"Let's cooperate," Grunghin, the dwarven prince, said reluctantly. His words surprised many, but the most affected were the dwarves and elves.

Though elves and dwarves didn't have an over-the-top chummy relationship, the two races were on relatively good terms and kept each other's interest in mind.

Thus, the elves knew Grunghin and had an idea about his personality, which didn't match his current appearance at all.

'Defeat is the biggest growth,' Jash mused, observing the show as if he were a third person in the scene himself.

Only after the students agreed among themselves to let the dissatisfied ones fight 1v1 first did Professor Ronan move.

"Any objections?" He asked, not wanting any problems during the results, and after confirming that both sides agreed, he began.

"There are three rules that you must keep in mind:

Number one, all of you will use practice weapons and must not target vital spots, nor inflict any lethal injury.

Number two, no use of mana.

Number three, you cannot attack an opponent who is on the ground."

After stating the rules clearly and ensuring everyone heard it loud and clear, he nodded to himself, "Ah, remember, this is purely a physical spar!"

He directly addressed them while taking out some strange yet sleek bracelets from his spatial ring as the students started to form a circle around Jash.

They weren't going to attack him at once, but they sure were limiting the sparring area.

'If he leaves this area, we will attack,' they thought collectively, wanting to give a good beating to Jash.

Jash, who was standing alone in the center of that circle, only smiled at their childish tactic.

But one thing that surprised him was Amael took a step back and said he'd only watch.

'Really now? What's he aiming for?' Jash wondered, lamenting his decision to mess up the plot.

If only he had been conservative and didn't completely overturn the plot, he would be able to make some guesses, but he couldn't do that now.

Little did he know that it wouldn't matter as both Amael and Helios were anomalies in their own right, at least in this life.

While he was thinking about all these things, Ronan carefully made everyone wear a mana-restricting bracelet, making it impossible to use mana.

Of course, it was only limited to the time they had these so-called mana-restricting bracelets on their wrists.

Once they felt their mana stop responding, each student chose a weapon of their choice, if they hadn't already.

Seeing their eager expression, Jash really wanted to roll his eyes as there was no need to worry with the presence of Aileen and Ronan.

Both were hunters that could stop the duel any second they wanted and Aileen didn't even need to move to stop the duel.

Just her SS-Rank pressure might suffocate them to death if she didn't control it well.

(Mana Restricting Bracelets)

(

Rank D

- Restricts mana usage for Mana Core below Early D-Rank)

Helios's system told him about the bracelets, but he couldn't care less, he was eager to fight Jash and get a grasp of his strength.

It was important to be aware of his strength and even be wary of his circumstances for the upcoming storm including Jash and his impending doom.

On the surface, this challenge was purely of physical strength, but putting more thought into it, one's experience and familiarity with their weapon was also a major factor.

However, the 20 students believed that they could tire out Jash, if not outright defeat him, though none would admit to having such a line of thought.

Only Amael seemed to sense their thoughts and murmured under his breath, "Preposterous."

No one could hear his low voice, so he didn't really care, wanting to get a good grasp of their forthcoming situation.

Although it wasn't immediately upon them, there was always the chance of the events being pulled to the front due to the changes.

Similar to them, Jash had long known about it yet held back from ranking up.

And he currently felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins at the thought of the living targets being delivered to him alongside 2500 YP.

It was as if someone had given charcoal just in time during winter, or he would freeze to death.

Looking around, he casually swung the training sword to get adjusted to the weight of the weapon and only stopped after feeling the weight settle comfortably in his grip.

"Three...

Two...

One...

START!!"

Ronan shouted and the proud elf was the first one to dash towards Jash, the order of 1v1 fights being already decided.

Just as everyone was expecting a good fight or Jash struggling to tank a few hits, all they saw was the elf being pushed back.

Despite being the one who attacked, he got pushed back while Jash just stood in place, only using one hand to use his sword.

Naturally, Jash's casual stance as if he didn't even take note of the elf infuriated the latter.

—CLANG!

And then again, the elf dashed at Jash, this time using the blade to attack with full force... or at least it appeared so.

Just as Jash moved his sword to block the attack, the elf lowered his center of gravity and swung the blade sharply at Jash's legs.

—CLINK!

Yet all it met was the flat of Jash's sword as if it was too predictable, starling him for a second which Jash used to kick him away.

Due to the extreme force he used, and Jash holding firm while blocking instead of deflecting or retaliating, the elf lost his balance.

In just that moment, a forceful kick landed on his stomach, making him shriek before a drop of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Not only was he surprised but everyone watching the fight was dumbfounded as it didn't make sense at all.

'Did I go a bit too far?' Jash thought, a bit embarrassed at failing to control his strength properly.

Jash originally intended to hone his battle instinct using the fights but... this fight was just too plain for him, prompting him to end it early.

If only he knew the kind of psychological shadow he gave the guy... Jash would just lament the loss of a potential whetstone.

'But he was too weak, so it's not like he will be able to help me all,' Jash could only console himself this way.

"Next!" Jash shouted, wanting to find another scapegoat and controlling his strength better this time.

Only then will others think they can defeat him and keep coming like this.

'Fooling one's opponent is the most important,' he mused, unabashed in front of everyone's looks and speculating whispers.

"Maybe he used all his strength and took the guy by surprise," someone whispered and the person next to them couldn't help but agree.

"Maybe that guy was just weak?" another student commented doubtfully.

It was not like they were friends or knew each and everyone so they could only guess, and if someone knew him, that person ought to have spoken.

Yet no one did, so the next contestant went forward, a little shaky but determined to win.

Holding a spear in his hand, the boy lunged at Jash, striking his spear towards Jash's torso.

Even with his mana restricted, Jash was no pushover, having trained his body more than his mana and his past life battle experience aiding him.

It made things a lot easier for him as fighting came naturally to him and he didn't have to learn some kind of combat art or form.

And to prove his instincts, he had already ducked and spun on his spot, delivering a roundhouse kick to the spearmen at his thigh.

"Arghhh," cried the spearmen as his hands holding the spear shaft loosened uncontrollably.

In that short window, Jash used his sword to strike the back of the spear to uplift the spear and break the spearman's balance.

But he had already seen his predecessor loose so easily, there was no way he was going down disgracefully like that guy.

With a proud smile on his face, he twirled the rotating spear, forcing its body to invert, pointing its tip at Jash's sword.

A flicker of surprise and contentment flashed in Jash's eyes as his lips curled upward unconsciously.

'Interesting,' he thought before his eyes calmed down, 'But not much.'