Just as Thora was about to crash hard onto the ground, she twisted midair in an impossible way and landed steadily on her feet. She slowly straightened up. A sharp pain shot through her chest, and she could almost feel her ribs trembling, as if they might crack! Her eyes fell on the man's fist, and her brows furrowed—a transmutation ability. This power was at least A-rank. Combined with his wolf power, no wonder she had taken such a heavy hit. "Thora! Let me go handle him! How dare he attack us!" Amie shouted angrily in her mind. Thora calmed her through their mind-link. "Not yet. Let's see what he wants first." The man stared in shock at Thora standing firm.In the Combat Institute, no one had ever been able to stay on their feet under his full-power punch! He studied Thora more closely and took a few steps forward, coming right up to her. Thora stared back calmly, watching him approach, even appearing almost completely unguarded. But in reality, every cell in her body, except when she was with Darius, was always ready for a fight. He looked down at her, grabbed her collar, and said in a low voice, "Freshman, don't get too cocky. At here, arrogance won't end well." Thora's eyes didn't flinch at all. Calm and steady, she stared right at him. He sneered and shoved her aside. He said, "If you've got the guts, go to the Nine Tower. I'll be waiting there." He warned her in a low voice, then turned and walked away. The students around cleared a path, no one daring to block him. Thora's gaze stayed cold, but she didn't seem affected. "Thora, are you okay? What's his problem, hitting you like that?" a freshman asked, clearly upset. An upperclassman nearby, who had been friendly with them, explained kindly, "That guy is the second-ranked student in our Combat Institute, called Ferro Steel. He can't stand new students showing off. Every year, if a freshman stands out, he'll step in to teach them a lesson. "The top-ranked students in each institute basically get a free pass for this kind of behavior. It's not just them—in every part of the academy, that's how the survival chain works for freshmen." He sighed a little. "But Thora, you're amazing. You actually withstood his punch. Usually, any freshman he hits ends up with broken bones or coughing up blood." Ferro Steel, huh? Thora raised an eyebrow as she straightened her clothes and made a note of the name. The Nine Tower was mentioned on the academy website. It was the only area in the academy run by students alone—not controlled by the academy. In reality, it was an arena with nine levels, from the first to the ninth floor. You could only move up a level by winning enough matches. There wasn't much info online about Nine Tower, but Thora knew it was a place where skill alone mattered. In the arena, any method was allowed. Knock your opponent down, and you win. Brutal and straightforward, with almost no limits. Ferro wanted to challenge her to Nine Tower, probably because he wanted to hit her without holding back. But Thora had no intention of going.As for returning his punch, it was only a matter of time. Right now, her focus was on climbing the academy's ranking. Freshmen wore the lowest-level grayish blue uniform. Above that, the colors went: light blue, standard blue, deep blue, violet-blue, and black-blue. Six ranks in total. A few days ago, Shirley, Tristan, and Ryan had already upgraded the color of their uniforms. If Thora kept wearing the grayish blue uniform, those guys would use her for laughs again. What surprised her a little was that she hadn't seen Lance much these past two days. Could it be that he had already finished his mission and left? Thora frowned. If he had gone through all the trouble to sneak in personally, the mission couldn't have been that easy. It wasn't Lance she really cared about. It was the person he was investigating. He mentioned that this person was very similar to her.