Chapter 238: Humbling Chapter 238: Humbling As Shub’s hands closed in, Lily snapped into motion. She extended her left arm and caught his fist mid-air, just before it could strike her chest. "Bastard!" Lily spat through clenched teeth. She knew exactly where his hands were going. Before Shub could even process what had happened, Lily twisted his arm inward, forcibly turning the elbow joint against its natural direction. His eyes widened in shock— —and Lily’s right hand came down like a hammer. Crack! A sharp, sickening sound rang out as the joint shattered, his arm locking at a grotesque 90-degree angle. "ARHHHHH!" Shub screamed. He had never expected the so-called weak girl to react so fast—nor in such a vicious, decisive manner. Lily didn’t stop. Her fist slammed straight into his face. BAM! His nose crumpled instantly. Shub was sent tumbling backward, crashing to the ground as blood sprayed freely, a few teeth skittering across the floor. "Call Miho or me that again," Lily said coldly, looming over him, "and I’ll personally make sure to pull your tongue out." "Instructor?" she scoffed. "Ptui." She didn’t actually spit—it would’ve made her look low-class—but the disdain in her expression was humiliating enough. "Let’s go, Miho," Lily said, turning away. "And never tolerate this kind of bullshit. Action should be taken immediately—just like I did." Miho nodded sharply, committing every word to memory, casting one last fleeting glance at the fallen instructor before skittering away with Lily like an innocent kitten. "Y-you...!" Shub snarled, clutching his broken nose, blood seeping between his fingers. "Raising hands on an instructor?! Your life is ruined!" Then he noticed it. Several people around them were filming. "D-delete that!" he screamed, panic bleeding into his rage. "If I see any video online, I’ll personally ruin your lives!" No one listened. Shub’s expression twisted into something ugly as veins bulged across his forehead. Just as he was about to lash out again, footsteps approached from behind. --- When Lily returned to the territory, she immediately told Leo about the incident. He listened quietly—then nodded in approval. "You did the right thing," he said. He even went further, showing her how to use the recording function on her phone properly. Evidence mattered. Especially now. Since Photoshop didn’t exist in this world yet, video recordings were perfect, irrefutable proof. While Lily explained everything again to Miho, Leo found himself musing. I could actually make a Photoshop app... He had learned some coding back on Earth and had watched a fair share of app-development videos. And now, with his enhanced brain, everything felt as clear as a photographic memory. After that, he had Lily consume 1 petal. Miho couldn’t—she had taken one recently. When Miho shared details about her matches, Leon praised her sincerely, causing her cheeks to flush. That was when she suddenly recalled something. She remembered going to stop Leon—and then waking up back in her shed. Which meant... He carried me back. Princess carry...? Miho violently shook her head. What am I thinking?! she scolded herself, mortified. Seeing her face turn red, Leon frowned slightly. "Are you sick?" he asked. "You look a bit red..." "Eh?! N-no! I’m fine!" Miho blurted out before rushing straight back to her shed. And just like that, Phase 1 of the competition began to pass. Unsurprisingly, no one challenged Leo, Lily, or Leon. Their trial scores acted like a natural deterrent. As for Miho, things became harder from day 3 onward. Students with High 2-star beasts started appearing. Though Miho herself was also a High 2-star, her lack of experience made the fights far more difficult. By the end of the phase, she had accumulated 5 clean wins, 2 narrow wins, 2 narrow losses, and 1 clean loss. The near-death experiences inside the arena proved invaluable. After being forcefully teleported out for the first time, she had grown unusually quiet—prompting Lily to step in and lift her spirits. With subtle teasing and encouragement from Leon, she gradually returned to normal. Her final CRP score stood at 68 out of 100, with 867 seconds of total battle time. As for Tier-2 students, Ronan had practically monopolised the 11th position—9 clean wins and 1 narrow win, earning a CRP of 97. He was fully determined to advance to Tier 1 in the next stage. Among Tier-1 students, after Lyra Noctis challenged Tavian, a few brave contenders followed suit—but none succeeded. Sera then challenged the 6th-ranked student and won, securing the 6th rank herself. With that, she no longer needed to fight in Phase 2. Others followed similar patterns. Only the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th-ranked students continued issuing challenges upward—to the 1st, 5th, and 6th positions. It was clear no one wanted to sit at the lower end of Tier 1 and risk dropping brackets for Tier-2 rewards. Rules for Tier-1 were changed again; instead of 10% rule, it was decided that positions from 7 to 10 from Tier 1 would challenge 11 to 14 from Tier 2, to keep it fun. --- Firecrackers echoed across the academy as 6th January arrived—the end of Phase 1 and the beginning of Phase 2. This was the only phase where bracket jumps occurred. Excitement buzzed through the academy. Everyone wanted to be in the top 10% to challenge upward. At the same time, fear lingered—no one wanted to fall into the bottom 10%, the so-called leftovers of a bracket, where challengers could be unpredictably strong for them to fall in brackets. As rankings were finalized, every fresher received a notification. Ting! --- >Name: Miho >Previous Rank: 1468 >CRP: 68, 867 seconds >New Rank: 890 >You do not meet the requirement to participate in the 2nd Phase. >Good Score, keep striving for more. --- Moments later, Leo and the others received theirs. --- >Name: Leo >Previous Rank: 2 >New Rank: 2 >You don’t need to participate in the 2nd Phase. >Excellent Performance. You are the future of Humanity. Always strive for the best! Miho looked dejected upon realizing she couldn’t advance further. But Lily suddenly noticed something while scrolling through the rankings. "Miho, look!" Lily said quickly. "Alric ranked lower than you." That did it. Seeing Alric at Rank 897, 7 positions below her, Miho’s spirits lifted immediately. Now, it was finally time to witness true Tier-1 matches. Previously, students had fought conservatively—preserving rank wasn’t necessary when they would be in the same bracket. But now, with the real risk of bracket drops and loss of rewards, everyone would fight seriously. But as they sat down to watch matches of higher-end Tier-3(51 - 95 ranking students) challenging with the lower end of Tier-2(42 - 50 ranking students), Leo suddenly received a distress signal from Howl. --- A/N: The competing students will be all 42 to 95, among these, the student with the most CRP that ranks from 42 to 50, will effectively be in tier-2(11 - 50). Some students, previously ranked in Tier 2, may retain their rank(remain in 42 to 50), while others may fall(50 to 95). While some students previously ranked in Tier 3(51 - 95, total count is till 500 students, but upper end is just till 95), may rise in ranking(come betwenn 42 - 50) and advance their tiers