After Jule collapsed and lay motionless on the ground, like a lifeless body, the icy aura around Knox slowly faded.
The cold moonlight that had filled the arena just moments ago vanished, as if it had never existed.
Knox's expression softened. The sharp, frozen look disappeared, replaced by his usual easygoing smile.
The referee, who had frozen because of the astonishing fight in front of him, was woken up, as if Knox's sunny expression managed to melt that lingering shock.
Then, without even looking at the screen showing Knox and Jule's HP, he raised his hand.
"Winner, Class A, Knox Aznable!"
Then, an applause was heard.
To be exact, three people suddenly clapped at the same time.
Jane.
Lorain.
And unexpectedly… Serene.
For a brief moment, the three of them glanced at each other, as if confirming who had clapped together.
Especially Lorain.
She truly wanted to see who had the audacity to not let her be the only one to start the applause for Knox.
When she looked at Jane, she wasn't surprised at all. She simply gave a small nod. Jane applauding Knox was nothing unusual.
But then—
Lorain shifted her gaze to the last person.
At the same time, that person had just finished glancing at Jane… and their eyes met.
"..."
"..."
It was Serene.
Inside her mind, Lorain snapped.
This %*@%#$!
Serene only looked back at her with a faint smile. Somehow, that smile made it even more provoking.
For a brief moment, a spark formed between them.
But before it could escalate, a wave of applause and cheers erupted from the audience, drowning everything out and forcing the tension to fade.
Meanwhile, on the professors side, some looked surprised, some looked awed, and one of them even smiled like a yandere.
Bahil.
"Hehe, magnificent! To think, a first year managed to make some kind of domain! This will be even more amazing if he use curse!" said Bahil with a creepy laugh.
Hong Feng nodded, clearly interested.
"Truly amazing. That sword style is strong, deadly, and beautiful. I want to know its name."
Aaron then spoke, his tone unusually serious.
"…With this kind of firepower, I'm sure. No, I'm 200 percent sure. Knox Aznable is already the strongest of his year."
And just like that, Knox gained another nickname.
The Strongest First-Year of Batch 329.
***
Now, only the midterms remained.
The weekend, in particular, was hell.
With Knox leading the study, Group 8's session went extremely smooth. Smooth like Nefer's thig—cough, I mean, smooth like silk.
Not to mention, with Group 7 joining, and Lorain as well, the study group became big enough to open a small class.
Because of the study vibes, Knox decided to change his outfit into a teacher's outfit. A shirt, black pants, black shoes, and rimmed glasses.
But somehow, instead of helping, this outfit made the girls' attention shift completely away from the book or the whiteboard… and straight onto Knox.
Some of them froze.
And a certain childhood friend clutched her chest, as if she was about to have a heart attack.
Fortunately, after taking a few breaths, they managed to come back to life and regain their focus.
And then it was studying.
Studying.
Studying.
The weekend passed in a flash, and the midterms began.
There were eight subjects, with two exams per day. Each exam lasted two hours.
And so—
"Freedom!"
With the final exams, Defense Against Holiness and Magical Combat, completed on the last day, the bell rang, signaling the end of the test.
At that moment, all the students burst into joyous cheers and threw their hands up into the air.
"Wow, that was really tough."
"You all worked hard."
While they were talking about how hard the exams had been, Cindy suddenly made a suggestion.
"How about we all go somewhere together this weekend?"
"I'm going to sleep."
"I said let's go hang out, Merida. Knox, what about you?"
At Claudia's question, Knox shook his head with a faint, bitter smile.
"I'm sorry, but… I don't think we'll have time to go out."
"Come on, the exams are finally over."
Knox glanced around, then quietly raised his hand and cast a barrier.
Seeing that, the Group 8 members immediately realized he was about to say something important and straightened their posture.
"There will be an Island Survival Assessment for all first-year students next week."
"…What?!"
With an innocent face, Knox lied as naturally as breathing.
"This is information I managed to gather and confirm. Kizen's staff have already been conducting a survival evaluation on an island owned by Kizen. The teaching assistants and their henchmen have also started preparing for it. I even confirmed that some of the professors for the later classes have already made vacation plans."
Then Knox continued, "You have to survive for four days on that island."
"…F-Four days?"
Merida shuddered and rubbed her shoulders.
"Once you're on the island, you're responsible for your own food and shelter, and you need to hunt monsters to earn points. You can even fight other students to steal their points. And of course, in true Kizen fashion, the lowest scorers get expelled."
"Ah…"
Claudia and Merida trembled, both showing uneasy reactions.
Meanwhile, Cindy's eyes sparkled brightly.
"Ohh, that actually sounds pretty fun!"
Cindy, on the contrary, looked completely interested.
Then Claudia asked, "Knox, it's not that I doubt you, but… is there any more information?"
Knox nodded.
"Of course."
"First off, they say the assistants have been secretly taking out Tongpads from storage."
Tongpads were devices students wore on their arms during large-scale evaluations like the Island Survival Assessment. They were used to track points and other data.
"And starting two days ago, the entire teleportation team from Kizen HQ came to the school and began a large-scale setup. They also brought in a huge amount of magic circle materials from Rochester."
Knox paused for a moment, then continued,
"Some professors even made vacation reservations for next week. But there are still classes scheduled, so why would they suddenly take time off?"
He gave a small smile. "The answer's obvious, right?"
The believable details of Knox's explanation left everyone stunned.
Knox crossed his arms and puffed out his chest slightly, clearly satisfied.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Cindy, Claudia, and even Merida gave him a round of applause.
Then Cindy leaned forward, eyes still shining.
"So… what do we need to prepare?"
Knox didn't hesitate. "Don't expect Kizen to let us bring a bunch of items from outside."
He paused for a moment, then said it clearly,
"So right now, the most important thing is… survival skills."
"Huh?"
"You know. Building shelters, starting fires, hunting and butchering, identifying edible herbs."
Silence.
Claudia and Merida's expressions darkened almost instantly.
"R-Right… we might have to… eat monsters…"
Claudia forced out a stiff response, but even she couldn't hide the tension in her voice.
Merida looked even worse. Her face had gone pale.
"…Can't we just not eat for a few days?"
Knox shook his head.
"That's easier said than done. If you're starving, you won't have the strength to deal with monsters… or other students."
He glanced at them.
"If you want to survive, you'll have to eat."
Meanwhile—
"…Ah, this is going to be so fun."
Cindy's face lit up with pure excitement.
Claudia and Merida slowly turned to look at her, their expressions the same.
Like they were looking at something rare.
Knox noticed that, then gave a small nod.
"Indeed. This will be interesting… and fun!"