He didn't stop walking.
He heard four people walking behind him. Another person was on his left, moving around the stone arch. He did the math without looking. There were five of them. Maybe six.
He got to the center of the courtyard before they closed the exits.
They all looked older than him. Second-years, he guessed, from the way they carried themselves. They spread out without rushing, taking positions at the exits and along the courtyard wall.
The guy in front was tall and broad, with spiky hair and the body of someone who had been training since birth. He had a ring on two fingers that Holden recognized from the supply catalog as a minor impact amplifier.
He crossed his arms and looked at Holden like he had already won.
"Voss," he said.
"Yeah," Holden responded.
"Good evaluation today." The tone was conversational. "Fifty thousand credits. That's impressive for a first year student ."
Holden stayed silent.
"Here's the thing," the tall one continued. "The Prime Zone has a lot of bills for repairs and security. There's a fee for first-year students placed there." He turned his head slightly. "Twelve thousand covers it for the first six months."
"That's not a real thing," Holden said.
"Of course, it is."
"No," Holden said. "There's no maintenance fee for Prime Zone residents. I read the enrollment documents twice."
The tall one's expression slightly changed, rethinking how to talk to Holden to get what he wanted.
"Think of it as a goodwill contribution," he said. "To Draven's student association. For your own benefit."
Holden looked at the five of them.
He thought about the credit token he earned from the evaluation and the ward he was going to get for Maeve's door.
He found the situation frustrating and knew he had no choice than to deal with it.
"Alright, i'd give you the credits," he said.
The tall one relaxed his body, looking pleased. He thought things were going exactly how he had planned.
Then Holden moved.
Whoooosh.
He used the full power of his ultimate Gale-step technique . He was moving faster than the eye can follow. One moment Holden was standing in front of them, and the next, he was gone.
It took a moment for the tall guy to notice he was gone.
He didn't even have time to react before he was hit.
Holden struck a sensitive spot under his ear.
The tall guy dropped to the ground instantly.
THUD
One of the guys at the back turned around when he heard the first guy fall.
Whoosh.
In just two steps, Holden hit him in the stomach with his palm. He hit a sensitive nerve, and all the air left the man's lungs at once.
The two at the exits moved at the same time.
Holden was already between them by the time they moved.
Whoosh.
Thud. Thud.
He hit them both almost at the same time, His Gale step technique making him move from one target to the other in a smooth motion. He hit specific spots on their bodies that would knock them out quickly without causing any injuries.
Both of them dropped to the floor.
One of them wanted to pull out his gun. He was staring at his friends on the floor, then at the first-year standing in the middle of it all.
His hand came off the weapon.
Smart choice.
Holden walked toward him and he stepped back instantly. His brain realized how dangerous Holden really was.
Holden walked to the exit.
The afternoon sun was still shining hot, and the rest of the school was busy as usual.
The system screen appeared at the corner of his vision.
[Combat Victory: 5 Cultivator opponents incapacitated.]
[Kill Points Awarded: +250 KP.] [Total KP: 300.]
He looked at the number.
Defeating cultivators yields KP. He hadn't known that until right now.
He was thinking about the wards he was going to get for Maeve's door when he heard a sound.
A single, slow clap.
He stopped walking.
The clap stopped.
Holden turned around to see who it was.
Someone was standing at the back of the courtyard, in the shadow of the archway.
He looked like an older student, maybe in his second or third year. One could tell he had trained in a special way because his shoulders were so thick and strong.
Holden noticed the metal gauntlets on the man's hands. They went all the way up to his forearms and had a weird, glowing energy flickering on its surface. This didn't look cheap. It was the kind of expensive gear you find in high-level catalogs.
The man stepped out and looked at Holden calmly. Even though he had just seen Holden beat five people in seconds, he wasn't scared at all. He was still acting like he was the one in control.
"Not bad," he said.
"For a first-year."