“...”

Cain was somewhat shocked with George’s arrogance, seemed the big fella didn’t even put him in his eyes, unfortunately he was about to get a rude awakening. While Cain wasn’t a genius in research, he was a genius with his spear, and his strength was rising far faster than his research abilities were. Even his teacher Remy was starting to struggle to keep up with Cain when he suppressed his strength to the same level, and Remy was a well known spear master.

Cain and George quickly noted down their names on the sign up form before waiting. There were only a hand full of names on this list, mainly due to the fact that since this was an institution focused on genetic research, they didn’t put much attention on their combat abilities. The teacher led called up their names one by one, two students Cain had seen before once during orientation stood up on the arena and bowed to each other before engaging in combat.

Cain felt like their moves were full of flaws, there were plenty of moments where one could of taken the other down in a single movements had they noticed the opening, but they seemed so focused on their own performance, they didn’t pay much attention to their enemy. Eventually one of them managed to find a gap and knocked the other one down. Cain was nearly put to sleep by their lackluster performance, he hoped George would be better since he considered him his only real opponent at this event.

George was next, he used an axe that complimented his massive build, his opponent was suppressed by his momentum alone. George ended the fight in a single move, hence Cain didn’t have a chance to see his real abilities, Cain went on and easily finished off his opponent. Eventually it was only Cain and George left.

“Heh, just cause I’m your friend, doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you Cain”

“Don’t worry George, if you don’t go all out, I’m afraid this battle will end in a single move”

The stop their bickering and started their duel, Cain and George took completely different angles when it came to combat. Cain focused on precision, speed, and power, he waited for openings before striking like a snake, to finish his opponent in a single move. George however leveraged on his strength, swinging with full force each time, hoping to blow away his opponent. Suddenly George’s axe burst in speed, nearly catching Cain off guard.

“I’m surprised you forced me to use my gene Cain. You are a good opponent”

Cain was somewhat surprised, most students at this institution only had genes that affected their brain and offered no real combat ability, but george’s was different, it let him burst out with a massive amount of speed but it didn’t seem like he could use it to often, and each burst would be followed by a small frame of slowness. Cain capitalized on this weakness and managed to thrust his spear right under Georges chin during an opening, he stopped right before it entered flesh.

George had a bead of sweat roll of his forehead, had Cain moved a single step forward, George would be dead.

“I underestimated you heavily Cain, I didn’t realize you were such a combat fanatic, seems you’re skill in this is even greater than mine. I just hope you teach those kids at the other colleges that we aren’t weaklings over here”

“Naturally”

The teacher who was in charge of the event gave Cain a smile, it seemed like they may have a chance of entering the top ten this year, thought the teacher. For their school that hadn’t entered the top 10 in years, this would be an event to be remembered. What the teacher didn’t know however, was that Cain hadn’t even used his gene yet, and so top 10 may not be his limits.

The students who had failed looked at Cain with reverence, they were among the few students who actually had a passion for combat and enjoyed the experience, seeing Cain who was far stronger than them, they didn’t feel envy, instead they felt respect. Cain talked to a few of the students and gave them tips on how to improve their performances in the future, making their respect for him improve even more.

“Senior brother Cain is so strong, and kind to, not like those other geniuses who wouldn’t even bother to look our way”

“He’s also extremely handsome, I could look at Senior brother Cain and never get bored”

“Heh, what do looks matter? With Senior brothers strength alone he could get any woman he wanted”

The students had started calling him senior brother, usually one would only call those above their grade senior brother or sister, but strength was everything in this world, so naturally they called Cain senior brother as well. It was also a way to make themselves feel better about themselves, since by calling him senior it elevated his status and made it so they didn’t feel like they had to compare themselves to him anymore.

What Cain didn’t realize was that, from this little interaction, a fanclub dedicated to him would blossom into existence, and with each feat Cain performed it would get bigger and bigger, until everyone in the school knew Cain’s name.