Chapter 79: Ranked Fighters
The Pit members and Wolf were having next to no trouble dealing with the students. They had to be a bit more careful due to the equipment being used, but the students were clearly rough around the edges when it came to actual combat.
At certain moments, the weapons turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help, with a noticeable bit of hesitation accompanying each swing.
And then there was Wolf himself. He could sense the exact moment any of his members were in trouble, and his presence alone was enough to make an approaching group of students back off.
He stood still for a moment, analyzing the situation with sharp eyes, his focus cutting straight through the crowd of students.
"Hmm... all of these students, they’re F-ranks. I was hoping for E-ranks so our people could get a bit more experience," Wolf muttered under his breath.
"There you go again, with your game talk," Sandra said, casually kicking a student in the back of the face. "You know, if there wasn’t some substance to it, I’d say you were completely crazy. So go on, tell me, which ones have caught your eye?"
The Pit was a group that specialized in fighting-based jobs, and part of Wolf’s role as leader was identifying which opponents were worth paying attention to.
That way, he could analyze which ones his people should take on, and which ones he needed to deal with personally. To do that, he’d developed a system. A system that was near perfect. A system that, so far, had never failed him.
Just like in a game, he would rank his opponents using letters. Each person would have an overall ranking, but other factors, like speed, strength, or technique, might receive separate ratings.
For the general public, the kind of people who had never been in a fight in their lives, he gave them a rank of U. That stood for Unrankable .
As for the students they were up against now, he had assigned them an F rank, the lowest possible ranking he could think of.
Most of the Pit members, he would classify as D-rank fighters. A few of them maybe dipped into E-rank territory. That was why they weren’t having any trouble facing off against the students.
However, there were a few among the students who caught his attention. Ones he determined were above F rank.
"The one fighting the kid in the green tracksuit," Wolf said quietly.
The person he was referring to was Joe, who was going up against Ko.
Ko was relentless, landing hard kicks that struck Joe in the legs every time. Somehow, Joe managed to stay standing, though he looked like he was barely holding it together. He kept throwing punches, but none of them were landing.
"His opponent’s an E-rank. So, a little better than the others... but the green one?"
Still getting hammered by the kicks, Joe suddenly raised both of his hands.
"Ko, you damn fool! The number of times I had to laugh at your stupid jokes!"
Joe charged forward.
Ko went to deliver another powerful kick, but because of Joe’s sudden push forward, he couldn’t connect at the full force he’d intended.
Joe then took a swing and nailed Ko clean on the chin. It wasn’t just a lucky hit, he followed up instantly, his fists flying as flashes of his training sessions with Steven surged in his mind.
Money... money... money! In Joe’s eyes, Ko’s head had transformed into Mit’s, and he unleashed hit after hit without holding back. When he finally stopped, Ko dropped to the ground, completely unconscious.
"The thing is, the green kid is ranked E as well. Looks like he’s only just reached that level though, and his opponent underestimated him way too much," Wolf said with a smile. "As for the other delinquents you need to worry about..."
"There’s that guy with the knives. The way he handles them is no joke. I’d rank him a D."
The person Wolf was talking about was Snide.
"And as for the other big student... I’ve got a feeling he’s a Rank C. That one’s more based on my intuition."
Sandra raised an eyebrow. She was honestly impressed. She knew just how accurate Wolf’s ranking system was. So if he was giving students these kinds of rankings, especially as high as a C, it meant they were on par with some of the street gang members they’d fought before.
"And what about their leader? The one our client’s about to face? And the ones who are facing each other now?" Sandra asked.
Dipter and Max still appeared locked in an intense stare-down, stuck in what looked like a silent conversation.
He noticed Steven and Jay both poised to strike at any second, but so far, the only real clash happening was between Snide and Aron.
Aron was using the baton, skillfully knocking away the two daggers flying at him from either side.
He was blocking them well, but Snide was just as fast. Then, without warning, Snide hurled one of the knives straight at him.
Aron shifted to the side, letting the blade sail past, and immediately returned to fending off the incoming barrage.
"It’s hard to say," Wolf answered, eyes still locked on the fight. "I can’t evaluate them properly if I haven’t seen them go all out. If we’re talking about Dipter... he feels like a Rank B, which is why Max might have a tough time taking him down."
"Right, and since you rank yourself as a Rank A, I guess that means you’d have no trouble dealing with that kid?" Sandra replied, rolling her eyes.
"Of course," Wolf said with a smirk. "But there’s one person I can’t get a read on at all, no matter how hard I try... and it’s him."
Wolf was carefully watching the ongoing battle between Snide and Aron.
Aron was moving fast, smashing anything that got near him while also keeping up with Snide’s relentless onslaught.
"Come on! Come on!" Snide shouted. "Let me land a perfect hit! I need another one, just like the one I got on Max!"
As soon as those words left Snide’s mouth, Aron remembered walking behind Max up the stairs... and the bloodstain he’d seen on Max’s shoulder.
Right then, Snide threw another knife toward Aron. He moved to the side to avoid it, but this time, he held out his hand and caught the handle mid-air.
His eyes were filled with fury as he locked his gaze directly onto Snide.
"You... were the one that hurt him?" Aron asked.
The smile on Wolf’s face crept wider as he watched the scene unfold. Now he was starting to get a clearer picture.
"I knew it... I knew something was up. That one... that one is an S-class."