194 LIFE AND DEATH CONTRACT
Damen blinked. "What the hell is that?"
Zairgid sighed. "It's the student ranking system. Duels decide who gets the best resources—sponsorships, research access, credits, all that… things we don't need…. But others do."
"But I didn't even join any ranking," Damen said, clearly annoyed.
Zairgid checked his datapad. His face went pale. "Uh… apparently, you're ranked number ten. Among the strongest in the university."
Damen frowned. "What? When did that happen?"
Zairgid shrugged. "Beats me. But you must've pissed someone off. And the suspects… are many."
"This is going to be endless," Damen muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I won't have a moment's peace."
Zairgid smirked. "Then just do what you always do… beat them all into the hospital. Don't tell me you've gone soft?"
Damen shot him a glare. "Me? Soft? Never."
He flexed his arm dramatically, and Zairgid rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, though," Zairgid said, checking his holo-screen. "You've already got a dozen written challenges in your school chat. Word's spreading fast. Everyone wants a piece of you."
Damen groaned. "Great. The price of fame."
He looked around at the wrecked apartment, the overturned furniture and smoke stains.
"Here's what we'll do. We'll head to New Owl. Your nurses can clean up this dump while I pretend not to exist."
Zairgid grinned. "Running away, huh?"
"I'm just too tired to deal with these scums now," Damen corrected. "Let the challengers stew for a while. The longer they wait, the more fun it'll be when I finally show up."
Zairgid laughed. "Fine by me. I never say no to a party."
The two friends left the ruined apartment behind, their laughter echoing down the corridor… while the digital notifications of new duel requests kept piling up one after another on Damen's student chat.
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[New Owl]
"I heard you made a mess again at the university. What have you done this time?" Dorin asked, leaning back on the lounge chair with a glass of frostwine in hand.
Damen didn't even look at her. "Pulled a professor into the air," he said casually. "Almost killed him."
Dorin nearly spat her drink. "What?!"
But Damen's attention was elsewhere.
Through the tall glass windows overlooking the club's dance floor, his eyes scanned the crowd. He wasn't here to dance…he was updating his "mining list."
Silver City was crawling with powerful meta-humans. Even Rank Bs were common here, and a few auras he sensed were far above that—Rank BBBs, even As.
"Melrose City really was a farm compared to this place," he murmured to himself.
"What?" Dorin asked, her brow raised.
He shrugged. "Nothing."
She gave him a knowing look. "You're a troublemaker, you know that?"
"What the hell is this university ranking thing anyway?" Damen said, turning toward the group. "I've been getting a flood of duel challenges all day."
"You already got that?" Lander blinked in disbelief. "You've only been there one day!"
"Can I kill them?" Damen asked flatly.
Everyone groaned.
"No," Lander said firmly. "You cannot kill them. And don't underestimate them either. Most of those students are heirs of major families…trained since childhood to rule this city."
Liorea, scrolling through her holo-pad, chimed in. "Yeah, I checked the message boards. The top ten ranked students include Rank BBBs… and even a few Rank As."
Damen turned sharply. "There are Rank As among the students?"
"See?" Dorin said, smirking. "Now you're worried."
"Worried?" Damen grinned. "No…. Curious, maybe."
"Not gonna reply to the challengers, Big Brother?" Kail asked, half-grinning.
Damen leaned back in his chair. "What do you suggest?" he said, turning to Liorea … the sinister brain of the group.
She smirked. "Raise the wager. They'll choke."
Zairgid chuckled. "Classic move. He pulled the same stunt back in high school. Won millions."
Damen snorted. "Yeah, but this time, money's not enough to make 'em piss their pants."
He cracked his knuckles and started typing on his student ID chat.
"Challenge me? Sure. But get an Amnesty from the Court for a Life-and-Death duel first. I'm not wasting time with the courts when I bloody kill you wimps."
The group watched as the feed exploded. Students spammed the chat — insults, curses, memes. Everyone had something to say, but no one had the guts to click "accept".
After a few minutes, the noise died down.
Just like that there remained only silence.
Zairgid whistled. "Damn. You nailed 'em. Those wimps folded fast."
Damen smirked. "Talk's cheap. Dying's not so."
Then he turned to Kail. "I need a favor. Get me an amnesty from the court for a life duel."
Kail blinked. "Wait, there is an actual thing like that?"
Liorea's lips curved. "There is. Rare …. but legal."
"Perfect." Damen's grin widened as he typed again.
"I, Damen Dark, officially challenge the Top Nine of this university to a duel to the death. Amnesty filed and certified and enclosed with seals. Come on over to seal it."
He attached the court-approved document …. bold, official, and impossible to ignore.
Then he leaned back, folding his arms with a lazy smile.
"Let's see who's got balls big enough to die trying."
------
The next morning Damen walked onto campus like he owned the pavement.
People parted around him as if he carried the plague, their whispers, sideways glances, faces gone pale.
Word was out: Damen Dark was a lunatic who'd filed for a life-and-death amnesty over ranking fights. Even the Top Ten kept their distance; their positions were safe, their incentives to fight him to death were nil.
Why bleed for his drama, even if they could defeat Damen Dark? It would only boost his ratings in the student chat.
"That boy!!!", Liric spat.
Professor Liric looked like he'd swallowed a bullet. His plan to bait the seniors into teaching Damen a lesson had fizzled; nobody wanted to get into the mess.
Then a voice cut through the classroom.
"You …. Damen Dark! How dare you covet my sister-in-law?"
Heads turned immediately and a ripple of murmurs went around.
"That's Rey Nuralith, the campus troublemaker. Always fishing for fights."
"See what happens when the bully meets Damen Dark?" someone muttered. "Not everyone's easy to bully."
"Idiot, who's your sister-in-law?" Damen asked, not even looking up.
"Eryn Veyran. She's betrothed to my brother Carl. You've been… cheating with her." Rey's chest puffed as he stepped forward, his jaw tight.
Damen was informed of the engagement by Eryn, but she didn't agree to it. That's why Rey came to give him trouble.
Damen's smile was lazy. "So?"
"Stay away from her," Rey warned.
Damen shrugged. "What if I say no?"
Rey cracked his knuckles. "Then I'll make you pay."
Damen held up a hand and stopped him like he was shooing a fly. "Have you confirmed the amnesty yet?"
"What amnesty?" Rey spluttered.
Zairgid, always one step ahead, projected a hologram of a crisp, official-looking court order floating between them. "Affirm it, and it's a life-and-death duel. Do you accept?" Zairgid's grin was all teeth.
Rey's bravado thinned.
He'd never seen anyone brandish one of those documents in person. "What…?"
"Go ask your lawyers before you come back," Damen said, already turning away. "I'll wait."
Rey hesitated, the classroom buzzing as the message landed hard: this wasn't playground trash talk.
This Damen Dark was legal, official, and dangerously real.
-----
Before the day was over, someone stepped into Damen's class …. calm, collected, and wearing the confidence of a top dog.
The room went quiet.
It was the Ninth Rank on the university ranking board.
"You have a document for me to sign?" he asked, his voice steady but sharp enough to slice through the silence.
Damen's eyes lit up, a slow grin spreading across his face.
"Finally, someone with the guts," he said.
With a flick of his wrist, a holo-window unfolded above his desk — the official Court Amnesty for a Life-and-Death Duel gleaming like a blade in digital light.
The ranked student didn't hesitate. He pressed his palm against the interface…. his meta-signature pulsed across the screen in silver arcs.
A sharp tone confirmed it — "Contract affirmed and filed."
The air in the room grew heavier, thick with disbelief and adrenaline. Students gasped.
Someone whispered, "Did he actually accepted…a life and death duel"
Another muttered, "That's a death contract. There's no backing out from it."
Damen leaned back in his chair, a half-smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Good," he said softly. "At least one of you got balls."
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