System's POV

Roland had to admit that he still underestimated Zion even after the latter had won his match against Rianna.

His way of thinking was simple.

Whenever Roland and Rianna sparred, the one who always won was him. With this in his subconscious, he didn't think much of the thirteen-year-old's victory over Shana's sister.

He had targeted the teenage boy's right arm earlier as a show of mercy, but that seemed to have been a mistake.

So now, he intended to redeem himself by going all out.

The overwhelming surge of strength that he was feeling right now wasn't new to him.

There had been cases when this ability of his was passively triggered, and it was typically whenever he faced off against strong monsters.

Roland didn't have any control over it because it came and went whenever the situation called for it.

Frankly, he wished that he could use it at will, but since he couldn't, he used it to the fullest whenever it activated.

Seeing the confident smirk of the teenage boy who was at least four years younger than him made him seethe in anger.

As if wanting to taunt him more, his opponent gestured with his gloves and said the words that made him feel as if a string had snapped inside of his head.

"Come, son," Thirteen said in a teasing tone. "I'll teach you how to Dougie."

With a roar filled with anger, Roland charged forward with only one goal, and one goal only.

Teach the brat in front of him a lesson and make him understand that there were people whom he shouldn't anger no matter what.

The spectators watching the battle also understood that Roland was now finally serious, making Diana, the Crusader of the Hero Party, as well as Derek, ready themselves to intervene.

They would stop the match just in case Roland truly lost control of himself and could potentially give Zion irredeemable injuries.

Ten minutes later…

Thirteen sighed before looking up at the ceiling of the training room.

'Damn, that felt good,' Thirteen thought as he basked in the afterglow of his victory.

Roland was lying down a few meters away from him with a bruised and battered face, making the thirteen-year-old feel a great sense of happiness in his heart.

There was a strong itch deep inside the very core that he had kept for the past thousands of years.

Beat the crap out of any Heroes who stood in his Host's and his way.

And now, a part of that goal had been achieved, proven by the sight of the unconscious young man a few meters away from him, who had received a one-sided beating from him.

"Shana, go and heal him," Thirteen said, making everyone in the training room regain their composure.

"O-Okay," Shana replied before walking toward her unconscious comrade, who was still handsome despite the injuries that he received from Thirteen.

While Shana was healing Roland, another young man appeared in front of Thirteen and held his hand.

"Can I call you Master?" Derek said with a determined look on his face. "Please, teach me the way."

"You want to know Da Wae?" Thirteen arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I want to know, The Way," Derek nodded his head firmly, while still holding the teenage boy's gloved hand.

"Sure," Thirteen replied. "I'll train you a bit. I have time until the Winter Solstice."

"Thank you, Master!" Derek said happily.

Diana looked at the Swordsman of their party with a conflicted gaze. However, she also felt that learning a thing or two from the person who defeated Roland wouldn't be such a bad idea.

The result of the battle earlier was truly unexpected.

Despite the power up that Roland possessed, Thirteen was still able to read his moves like a book, and counterattacked perfectly.

Roland was strong. Even Thirteen had to admit that. However, he was still young and inexperienced.

A fledgling Hero was nothing in the eyes of the System of Cannon Fodders.

He had personally trained Taiga when he was in Solterra, and despite the Tigerkin being stronger than him, he still managed to rise above him in battle.

This was also the reason why Taiga no longer challenged his authority—Beastkins were a race who recognized and followed the strong.

Only those whom they believed were stronger than them were worthy of their allegiance.

Also, Thirteen might be a Rookie, but his strength was that of a Master.

With Roland being an Initiate, a Rank lower than his strength's equivalent rank, the result was within his calculations.

However, he could only beat Roland now.

Once the hero stepped into the Master or Grandmaster Rank, even Thirteen would have a very hard time against him, for that was the point when Heroes underwent their awakening.

Because of this, he decided to "teach" Roland a lesson now and put a seed in his heart. Even if the hero managed to beat Thirteen in the future, he would subconsciously think that it was only because he had increased his rank.

A Master fighting against a Rookie was something people looked down upon.

Roland would never get the satisfaction of winning against Thirteen after he became Master.

Although it was a bit underhanded on his part, Thirteen had planted a heart demon on the Hero's heart.

A heart demon that he wouldn't be able to erase so easily unless he could win a battle against Thirteen with fair conditions.

As Derek shook Thirteen's hand, Remi noticed the faint discomfort in her brother's body language.

As someone who had been paying close attention to her brother, she was able to catch some of these things, so she hurriedly walked toward him.

She then gently took off his gloves from his right hand and confirmed her suspicion.

"Brother…" Remi said as she looked at the bloody bandage that protected her brother's hand.

"It's fine, Remi," Thirteen replied. "Shana is here, so she can heal it after she's done healing her friend."

Derek and Diana, who also saw the bloodied bandage, realized that at the end of the day, Zion was still truly a Rookie.

He had to fight tooth and nail in order to win against Roland.

His hands getting injured was the consequence of facing off against the Hero, who was several ranks above his own.

"Don't remove the bandage for now," Diana said as she held the teenage boy's right hand. "Although my healing ability isn't as strong as Shana's, I can still give you first aid."

Thirteen nodded. "Thank you."

A faint green glow wrapped around Diana's hand as she used her healing magic to heal the boy's injury.

Remi, on the other hand, gently pried off the glove from her brother's other hand.

Just like she expected, the bondage was also bloody, which made her feel a pain in her chest.

For some reason, seeing her kind, dependable, and loving brother getting hurt made her feel hurt as well.

Suddenly, she and Thirteen heard a familiar shout behind them.

"Ei!"

"Ei!"

"Ei!"

Rhia, who had decided to take revenge for her brother, was kicking Roland's leg.

But after kicking the unconscious hero three times, she held her foot and cried.

"Wuwuwu!" Rhia cried. "Hurt! Foot hurts! He hurt foot!"

Uncle Boo and Albion glared at the fallen Hero who had hurt their precious Rhia.

The two didn't even need to talk to each other and prepared to beat the crap out of the unconscious hero.

They were monsters who didn't mind kicking people when they were down, especially the unconscious Hero who made their little Rhia cry.