Eren cursed his luck again while plastering a smile on his face to meet his so-called combat buddy. The protagonist also had his signature cheerful air around him that the butcher hated so much.

"Yo, Eren Idril. Nice to finally meet you, man. I have heard a lot about you.

You are doing great in the ranking war it seems. And I also heard that you've broken through the liquid stage of the F-rank after coming to LA.

They say that you had help from Adapt Levine. But making people help you is also a form of strength in my eyes. I'm looking forward to working with you and learning from you."

'Where does this airhead get so much energy from to speak to a total stranger like this?'

Eren had this thought right after Ken stopped talking. Ken was also a talker but not like Ramy. Ramy's speeches were laced with sarcasm and wits. But Ken's speeches oozed self-importance and judgmentalism.

And the worst was that the protagonist was clueless about his manners and pompous behaviours. It looked like he had considered everything he did and said as something natural and just. At least Ramy knew how he came across as a person.

But all that didn't deter the butcher from coming up with perfunctory words to reply to Ken:

"Aah! What a surprise to meet one and only Ken Riverine from the earl house of Riverine. The pleasure's mine, the pleasure's mine. Hope we can serve our apprenticeship well and learn from each other.

********************

Frankly, Eren didn't want to deal with Ken just yet. He was superior to him in every way. Plus, his background was not something to be scoffed at. The guy was a ticking time bomb if someone with ordinary background decided to go against him.

The butcher had thought that snatching Ken's opportunity from him would be enough to deal a blow to him while keeping his distance in check from the justice freak. But naturally, he had underestimated the guy's downright plot-armour luck.

Ken had not only bounced back from his injuries dealt by the senior students but he and his earl family also came out on top in his political battle with Roody Orton and his viscount father.

The Riverine earldom wasn't to be taken lightly. It pressurised Roody Orton's father from its various sources so much that the latter was forced to relent from his position in the royal court.

Now Roody Orton's father was only a viscount. And a weakened one at that, due to his sudden absence from the royal court. of course, viscount Orton blamed his son Roody for making him take the fight he couldn't finish.

As a result, Roody's gigantic support from his family was cut off. Now he had to struggle like a commoner in the academy. It wasn't that Roody was lazy in his studies and efforts to gain Merps. But the family's support had always helped him.

Losing that was akin to creating a hindrance in Roody's path. The Roody household had a rude habit of blaming their mistakes on someone else it seemed. because Roody too blamed Ken for his misfortune.

But that was not all. By now, Roody and the other senior students who had targeted Ken for his "rude" behaviour had realized that they were set up by someone else.

And their act of "making a better man out of Ken" had harshly backfired on all of them in some way or the other. Now all the victims of this incident were looking for the real culprit who they had met and talked with that day inside Besanc's hall.

Roody had decided that first, he would find the guy who had pretended to be Ken that day and use him as a punching bag for days on end to vent his frustration. Then, he would target Ken in silence and settle his scores with the guy as well.

But the culprit too wasn't feeling too good either at this time. Maybe all those curses spoken in abundance by his victims had finally landed on him.

****************

"Ken here wants to be a weaponless martial arts expert. And he has chosen the path of a first saint. His elemental affinity is earth and his innate nature is tenaciousness.

In a way, he is a perfect counter to you.

Since I'm an expert in punching daggers, I can of course teach him the basics about the path of a fist saint. And you both will be able to sharpen your skills against each other by participating in practice duels under my observations.

I want you to polish your skills to the best of your abilities during these few days. We will soon leave for our outside mission and you will follow me as my apprentices.

But before I proceed further with my plan, I want to ask. Ken, with your element and calibre, you can be a stellar tank or an unyielding berserker. So why are you choosing the path of a fist saint particularly?"

Marla threw a question at Ken about the choice of his path. Eren couldn't hold himself from making a serious face. That is because he knew Ken was going to spew rainbows out of his mouth with his answer:

"Adapt Marla, I thank you for caring about my future and well-being. And I'm also grateful for allowing me to respond to your apprenticeship offer this late.

The reason I want to be a fist saint is that they don't use weapons in their fight. They fight with their bare hands and that is something I've always admired about them the most.

Blunt force attacks won't be as lethal as the injuries inflicted by the weapons. And I I want to avoid killing anyone if I can. I would defeat my opponent fair and square and then force them to find errors in their ways.

I believe if given enough time, even the vilest of evil can be made to change its ways."

Ken looked at Eren after he said that. He saw a serious-looking butcher and thought that the former was impressed by his thoughts and way of handling things. The protagonist was again pleased with himself for making another friend in his path towards greatness.

But Marla found Ken's naiveness to be cute. Although she didn't agree with his views, she did find some trace amount of logic in them. That's why she didn't try to correct her second apprentice's approach to the ranking journey anymore.