At the Draegar family's cradle, every child was forced into the final evaluation test called the Pankration, a brutal fight with no rules, where students could be injured, crippled, or even killed. The instructors chose the opponents, and for years Zeke had always ended up facing the same bully, Leon Conrad. Leon stepped into the arena already laughing, because in the past he had always beaten Zeke until he begged for his life.
Everyone expected the same humiliation again. Even Zeke's cousins mocked him from the crowd, calling him useless for showing up after losing so badly before. But this time, something was different. When Leon patted Zeke on the head and called him inferior, Zeke immediately fixed Leon's mouth with his critical strike, sending him crashing to the ground before the match had even begun.
The instructor tried to scold him, but Zeke released a terrifying bloodlust and said that everyone should always be ready on the battlefield. It sent a chill down the instructor's spine. Leon got back up, trying to save his broken face. The instructor began the fight, and Leon immediately dashed in, trying to close the distance. When Zeke tried to counter, Leon dodged the attack, grabbed Zeke's legs and attempted a takedown.
It was the biggest mistake of his life, because his head started spinning and he had no idea what had happened. The instructor, watching from the edge of the arena, could not believe his eyes. Leon had tried to take Zeke down, and Zeke had kneed him so fast that he was out of his grasp before the hold could close. It made the instructor wonder whether this was still the same boy he knew. Leon was still shaken, but Zeke gave him no chance at all and put a kick into him.
Leon tried to toughen up and counter, but Zeke read his attack perfectly, grabbed his arm and slammed him down. When the dust settled, Zeke was on top of him like a menace, and he finished the job.
How had this boy become so strong? In his past life, he had been cast out. In the Draegar household he was the first failed awakener, and in the end he had been hunted down and killed. But before he died, the ancient relic he had found activated because of his will to survive, and the next thing he knew, he was in his room, looking at a strange system window.
Looking at the strange panel, he saw that he had received the ancient dragon's blessing and was already a healer. To confirm what the system said, he tried to use the ability, and it activated. He then remembered that in his past life he had only become a healer in his twenties, right after the ether hall was unlocked. To confirm his hunch, he tried to use his ether hall, and it was already open. He realised that his trained body no longer existed, but he had returned with his past skills and his memories. That was why he could now beat his bully.
Recognising some of his other bullies in the audience, he told them that if they had something to say, they should come down and say it. An aura formed around him as he spoke. Annoyed at what Zeke had just said, another of his cousins, Jakein Vertak, decided to choose Zeke as his next opponent. Zeke agreed to it, but let him know that he was not interested in fighting him alone, because the fight would be too boring.
Zeke confidently told Jakein's servant, Liam Stone, that he was free to join his master. Jakein angrily asked Zeke if he had just found a way to insult him, and Zeke added salt to the injury by saying yes. Jakein stepped furiously into the arena, and Liam followed him. The instructor urged Zeke to stay calm and to wait for instructions before making a move.
Deep down, Zeke was simply glad to be seeing Liam Stone again. In his past life, Liam had been known as the mercenary king. Back then, Liam had not received the benefits that other nobles got, because he was only a distant relative of Jakein. He begged to be allowed into the higher education of the academy, Valhalla, but in the end he joined the knight order of a small nation called Beringyon.
After the fall of Beringyon, he ended up becoming a mercenary. After so long in that life, he became a red knight and started his own company, Stone. Liam united the three largest mercenary groups, and because of this he was called the mercenary king. Because the empire hired the Stone mercenaries, Liam had no choice but to enter the continental wars, and since Zeke was a northerner, he had no choice but to face Liam on the battlefield.
However, Zeke believed that things could be different this time around. The instructor then started the battle, and Jakein came rushing at Zeke, but Zeke easily caught his punch. He stopped the attack without effort while reminding Jakein that he had already suggested he and his servant attack at the same time. Jakein still thought Zeke was messing around, and he threw a kick at him, but Zeke blocked the attack easily.
It turned out that Zeke had blocked the kick with his elbow, causing a load of pain in Jakein's leg. While Jakein was still trying to pull himself together, Zeke came after him. Jakein prepared to block the punch, but the punch was only a feint. Realising that Jakein was already focused on his fist, Zeke kicked him in the leg, and while he was still trying to balance, Zeke punched him in the chest, making him cough up blood.
Zeke looked like the devil reincarnate as he told Jakein that he alone was not enough, which was exactly why he had urged him to attack alongside his servant. Jakein crashed to the ground in pain and immediately screamed at Liam, telling him to kill Zeke. Liam, who looked older than his age and had an unimaginable reach, finally decided to join the fight.
Zeke worked out that he would lose his advantage if he allowed Liam to make the first move. Because of this, Zeke went after him, and he activated the slash skill. It let him unleash a barrage of attacks at Liam while also interfering with his sight. The students were shocked when they saw it, since they had never seen anything like it before.
Zeke was also aware that the instructor would be curious, since he was using a northern fist-fighting technique in the Midlands, a region that was supposed to be dominated by swordsmanship. However, Zeke was already feeling the blowback from using the skill, which showed just how weak his body was at this age. At the same time, he was worried about the giant standing in front of him.
Liam made no move, even with all the punches Zeke threw at him. He only stood where he was and took everything. Since Liam was keeping his guard up, Zeke worked out that he needed to take him out through it before his body finally reached its limit. Zeke cooked up a powerful punch and threw it at Liam.
But just as the punch was about to land, Liam shocked him by dodging it. Zeke was absolutely stunned by this, because Liam was not supposed to be able to see with his eyes, which meant Liam had some truly incredible sense. Before Zeke knew it, Liam had grabbed him, but Zeke refused to let himself be thrown around like that.
He wriggled his way around and activated the heightened sense skill to latch onto Liam's neck like a snake. Zeke maintained the chokehold in an attempt to starve Liam's brain of oxygen. He was pretty sure that no matter how strong Liam was, he would eventually pass out from it. However, Liam shocked him by putting pressure on him, which made him cough up blood.
Zeke could not believe he was going up against such a crazy opponent. But at the same time, he was excited to see which of them would come out on top. An intense battle of endurance played out between the two, leaving the students in a state of panic as they waited to see who would surrender first. In the end, Liam passed out from the terrible position Zeke had put him in, ultimately making Zeke the winner.