Zero System: World's Only Classless Hunter

Chapter 6

The echoing clatter of broom bristles against marble was the only sound left in the grand arena.

Eldon kept sweeping.

He paid no attention to Valen’s trembling finger or the rising heat radiating off the noble student's fine robes.

Three years of cleaning duty had taught Eldon one thing: noble students loved to hear themselves talk, but they hated being ignored even more.

"Hey! Are you deaf, statusless trash?" Valen barked, taking three aggressive strides across the polished floor.

Valen was twelve levels deep into his Fire Warrior build.

His golden tunic bore the proud double-flame badge of the upper crest, and his heavy leather boots left wet, muddy tracks across the freshly swept floor.

He stopped three feet away from Eldon, pointing a finger directly at Eldon's nose.

"I asked you a question," Valen sneered.

"A piece of Ironwood doesn't just shatter like that. You used a forbidden mana weapon, didn't you? A servant like you could clean for ten lifetimes and never pay off twenty gold pieces of academy property."

Eldon stopped his broom.

He didn't look up, his eyes staying fixed on the wet muddy prints Valen had just made on the floor.

"The wood was already dry-rotted from magic testing," Eldon said calmly, his voice flat and even.

"I was sweeping up the debris before the night inspector arrived."

"Don't talk back to me!" Valen roared, his face flushing dark red.

He hated how cool and unbothered the cleaner looked.

Most commoners trembled when a Level 12 noble raised his voice.

But Eldon stood there like a stone wall, holding his wooden broom with calm, relaxed posture.

Valen sneered, pulling a heavy silver coin purse from his belt and tossing it onto the wet floor near Eldon's boots.

"Drop to your knees and apologize," Valen ordered, crossing his arms.

"Clean the mud off my boots with your bare hands, say 'I am a worthless cripple,' and maybe I won't report your vandalism to the headmaster. If you refuse, I'll use my fire skills to burn your only pair of shoes right off your feet."

Eldon didn't glance at the coin purse. He didn't drop to his knees.

He simply raised his broom, dipped the bristles back into his bucket of dirty washing water, and began sweeping the floor again, deliberately working around Valen’s boots as if the noble were nothing more than a stone pillar.

"You... you dirty little servant!" Valen’s restraint snapped completely.

In a rage, Valen raised his right fist, calling upon his System interface.

[Skill: Flame Punch Activated]

A bright orange flare erupted around Valen's right hand.

The heat made the air shiver, turning the damp room hot and dry in an instant.

The System took over Valen's motor control, locking his body into the forced, linear stance of [Flame Punch].

With the auto-aim script driving him forward,

Valen rocketed across the distance in a straight line, aiming a scorching fist straight at Eldon’s face.

To a normal student, the attack was a fast, blinding streak of fire.

To Eldon, it was a joke.

Eldon didn't panic. He didn't even draw back his shoulders.

He waited through the fraction of a second while Valen's skill animation locked into place.

Right as the flaming fist was an inch away from his nose, Eldon took one fluid step to the left.

The scorching heat passed harmlessly through empty air, singeing only a few loose strands of Eldon's dark hair.

Before Valen could finish the skill's forced follow-through animation, Eldon slid the long wooden handle of his wet broom between Valen's rushing ankles.

TRIP!

Valen's momentum worked completely against him. With his legs locked straight by the System's auto-movement, he couldn't adjust his balance.

His ankles hit the sturdy wooden broom handle like a brick wall.

SPLASH!

Valen flew through the air, flipping forward, and slammed face-first into the huge, wooden wash bucket.

Dirty, soapy water erupted in every direction.

The flaming spell fizzled out with a sad hiss, leaving behind a foul smell of wet fabric and burnt soap.

Valen lay sprawled out on the wet floor, his expensive golden tunic soaked in grey sludge and his face buried in filthy water.

Eldon casually retrieved his broom, shook off the excess water, and set it against the stone wall.

"You missed a spot," Eldon said quietly.

A moment of dead silence hung over the arena.

Then, the water in the puddle began to bubble.

Valen pushed himself up on his hands and knees, sputtering and coughing up soapy water.

His pristine hair was plastered across his forehead, dripping with sludge.

His face was no longer just red—it was purple with absolute, uncontrollable humiliation.

"I'll kill you..." Valen rasped, his voice shaking with psychotic fury.

He reached into his leather belt, ignoring his System skills entirely, and pulled out a long, razor-sharp steel dagger.

The silver blade glinted under the dim torchlight as Valen scrambled to his feet, lunging blindly toward Eldon's throat.

"I will slaughter you right here, you worthless trash!"