Author's POV
The Physical Combat arena was a pit of cold concrete and lingering sweat. As the newcomers walked in, the seasoned students—members of the Black Blood Gang and the Devil God Warriors—leaned against the walls, smirking. They saw Jay's bright smile and small frame and smelled easy prey.
"Line up," the instructor barked. "Introduce yourselves before we see if you bleed as well as you talk."
Jay stepped forward first, beaming. "Hi! I'm Jay-jay! I like sweets, my friends, and I really hope we can all be friends!"
The room erupted in mocking laughter. "Friends? This is Hell University, brat!" a scarred member of the Black Blood Gang sneered.
Then came Keifer. "Mark Keifer Watson," he said, his voice like a slamming tomb door. "Touch her, and you'll find out why I'm here."
The laughter died down as the sparring began.
One by one, the "newbies" took the mat. The room went silent as Ci-N took down a senior twice his size using nothing but pressure points and physics.
Percy fought with a lazy, arrogant grace that left his opponent gasping.
But it was Keifer who truly shocked them.
A massive member of the Black Blood Gang, fueled by ego, lunged at Keifer with a brass knuckle. Keifer didn't even blink.
He dodged the strike with surgical precision and landed a shattering punch directly into the man's jaw.
The sound of bone breaking echoed. The gang member collapsed, spitting out a spray of dark, crimson blood that splattered across the grey concrete.
Jay's eyes went wide. The sight of the fresh blood triggered the familiar, suffocating panic.
Before she could spiral, Percy and Freya moved in perfect synchronization, stepping in front of her. Percy covered her eyes with his palm while Freya pulled her into a hug.
"Don't look, Jay-jay. Look at me," Freya whispered urgently.
The fight was over. Keifer ignored the stunned silence of the class and walked straight to Jay. He gently pried Percy's hand away and took Jay's face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he muttered, his thumb brushing her cheek. "I ended it as fast as I could. You're okay. I'm here."
Jay took a shaky breath, nodding as she leaned into his touch. Within seconds, her resilient spirit bounced back.
The room was still reeling from Keifer's brutality when a high-ranking member of the Black Blood Gang, a girl, stepped forward. She was lean, covered in scars, and held a serrated combat knife.
"The bodyguard is impressive," girl spat, pointing the blade at Jay. "But let's see if the 'little princess' can do anything besides hide in his chest. Or is she just dead weight?"
Keifer's entire body went rigid, his eyes turning a murderous shade of black. He started to step forward, but Jay placed a hand on his arm.
"It's okay, Keifer," Jay said. Her voice wasn't bubbly anymore; it was calm—frighteningly calm. "She called me a princess. I have to show her my crown."
Jay stepped onto the mat. The crowd jeered, expecting a quick slaughter. Nicky lunged with a lethal slash aimed at Jay's throat.
In a blur of motion that even Ace struggled to follow from the balcony, Jay dropped low. She didn't just dodge; she moved like a predator. She grabbed her wrist, twisted it until the bone popped, and used the girl's own momentum to slam her face-first into the concrete.
But Jay wasn't done. As the girl tried to scramble up, Jay delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to her ribs, followed by a flurry of strikes so fast they sounded like drumbeats.
The final blow was a palm strike to the chin that sent her flying backward, blood spraying from her split lip across the floor
Jay stood over her, her chest heaving, her eyes momentarily cold and sharp. The "Mutya" had disappeared, replaced by a warrior.
Then, the sight of the blood on the floor hit her.
The adrenaline crashed. Jay's hands began to tremble. She stared at the red stains, her breath coming in ragged gasps as the blood trauma took hold.
Keifer didn't even wait for the whistle. He sprinted onto the mat, and immediately throwing his jacket over the blood spill to hide it from her sight, amd pulled Jay into a tight embrace. "Don't look, Jay-jay! It's gone. It's okay," he whispered, shielding her friend's eyes.
Up on the balcony, Ace and Zein were leaned over the railing, stunned.
"She's a monster in a fight," Zein whispered, her heart racing. "But she's so fragile afterward. Ace... she's just like us, isn't she? Breaking herself to survive."
Ace watched as Keifer pushed past everyone to get to Jay. "She's more dangerous than us, Zein," Ace replied, his voice low. "Because she has something to lose, and people who will burn this school down to keep her safe."
Keifer tucked her head under his chin, his large hands shaking slightly as he held her. "You did great, Jay. You're okay. I've got you," he murmured into her hair, his possessiveness flaring as he glared at the rest of the class, daring them to even look at her.
After a few minutes, Jay took a shaky breath and pulled back just enough to look at him. "I got her, didn't I?" she whispered with a tiny, weak smile.
"You destroyed her, Jay-jay," Keifer said, his voice full of pride.
Feeling her strength return, Jay looked up and saw Ace watching. She broke away from Keifer's grip and jogged—still a bit wobbly—toward the Supremo
"Hey! Thunder-Puff!" she called out. Ace actually flinched at the name. Jay reached him and, without warning, grabbed his hand and dropped a small, strawberry-flavored lollipop into his palm. "That was a scary fight. You looked worried. Eat this, it makes the 'grumpy' go away."
Ace looked at the pink candy, then at the girl who had just decimated a gang leader. He felt a strange tug in his chest—a protective instinct he usually only felt for Zein.
"You're a strange girl, Jasper Jean," Ace said, actually closing his fingers over the lollipop.
Zein laughed, stepping beside them and putting an arm around Jay. "Welcome to the inner circle, Jay. I think you just became the only person in Hell University who can make the Supremo blush."
Zein walked up, smiling warmly. "Come on, Jay. Let me introduce you to Matt, Vanessa, and the rest of the group. If we're going to survive the next Bloody Night, we should probably do it together."
As the two groups merged, the atmosphere of Hell University shifted. For the first time, it didn't feel like a prison—it felt like a battlefield where they finally had an army