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With his breath heavy, Mars's shoulders rocked up and down as he looked at the body of Silas slumped against the wall, his fist clenching as he raised it high, basking in the glory of his win. He turned around and walked back, his feet heavy as he returned to his squad, who were waiting for him with smiles all around.
"Hey, nice fight, man. Good work." Garrett gave a toothy grin to Mars.
"Yeah, good job!" Amy also sang praises of Mars's fight, happy to see him perform well.
"Well, you know, he gave me a little trouble, but the gallant warrior Mars never runs into true issues on the battlefield. Just minor setbacks on a leisurely stroll."
Rolling their eyes, they ignored Mars's antics as they bantered with him, all of them waiting for the rest of the matches to conclude.
-
One person, however, wasn't so happy to see the results of the fight.
On the other side of the arena, where the second years were all pulled together, an unusual sight could be seen. Damien sat upon a chair, regal in stature, donned in advanced training gear far better than what had been given to Arthur and his squad, his body lined with enchantments providing him major buffs and bonuses. But that was not what drew the eye. Instead, it was the young man Silas, whom Mars had just beaten, kneeling on the ground before him, his face red from a backhanded slap.
"You dare crawl back to me after losing? Do you know how much I spent on securing your service, just for you to lose to that feeble fool?"
"Damien, I had no idea he had grown so strong since…"
Smack!
"I don't care for your petty excuses. You lost. So zip it and return to that snake hole you crawled out of. I don't want to see your fucking face anymore."
Berating him one last time, Damien turned away and kicked Silas out, leaving him to weakly walk off. He had hardly any time to recover from his injuries, and now he had to bear the shame of being berated as he walked past all the second years snickering at him, the humiliation pinning itself to his soul. But that was the life of a hired gun that failed its job.
"My lord, was it really wise to parade the young man like that?" A servant behind Damien leaned in close and whispered in his ear as they watched Silas's back shrink away.
"Don't worry, Jeffrey. His family won't do anything to me after that. They both know losing to Mars, and losing in the first round, is unacceptable. Even if it is Mars. But that wasn't why I had to do it. I had to show my people here that I am not to be trifled with. And besides, the only one I truly want to crush is that damn Webb. The rest are just an added bonus. Tell me, were you able to get Vyros put up against him?"
"Yes, my lord," the butler replied.
"Good. Hopefully he can tire out that idiot and quench this stupid rumor of him being Silver tier. I refuse to believe he has any hope of talent. I want him crushed like the fucking ant he is."
Damien, venom dripping from his tongue, spat out all sorts of curses at Arthur as he clenched his fist and stared daggers at the holographic screen in front of him, while the cohort of men under his finger stood around and snickered along, all of them united under this one man to defeat a single person.
Arthur Webb.
-
With the rest of the fights concluding, there was a short intermission as the field was cleaned up by the campus mages, preparing the battlefield once again for another round of sixteen matches.
Arthur, watching it all, took a deep breath, as he already knew he would be next. Why? Oh, it was just a feeling, but ever since he broke into Silver tier, he'd had these distinct feelings of things about to happen. It was rather interesting, like he was more in tune with the world that surrounded him, the different parts of it that called on his name. Even right now, he could tell Damien was cursing his name out somewhere. At least he assumed he was, as he'd had a nagging feeling ever since Mars beat Silas. Maybe it was just general logical anticipation, but that was beside the point. What truly mattered was preparing for the chance to prove himself.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're ready to start the second bout of the first round! Numbers thirty three through sixty four, please make your way out to the field."
Standing up, Arthur, having been called, walked forward.
"Go get them, boss!" Mars called out to Arthur.
"Good luck out there, captain," Garrett said.
"You can do it, Arthur!" Amy also cheered.
Angela gave a stern nod of reaffirmation.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll be back before you notice."
With heavy steps Arthur walked out, ready for whatever he was about to face.
As he emerged into the arena, the sky blared down on him, the sun glaring off his skin as it shone its radiant heat over him, the roar of the crowd rumbling all around. It was an exhilarating feeling, one that even he couldn't help but let get his blood boiling.
"Ladies and gentlemen, would you look at that! Walking out onto the center field, it's him, the rumor himself, Arthur Webb!"
"The dark horse in the flesh, Jonathan! Now we finally get to see whether there's any truth to all that talk, or if the Webb name is all he's carrying out there."
"Silver tier or silver tongue, folks, we're about to find out!"
'This is quite the atmosphere.'
Arthur let the thought settle as he walked forth, his stride steady against the ground, here to do one thing. To completely destroy his opponent.
His opponent stood tall across from him, similar in height to Arthur but built more muscular, with dark black hair and brown training gear not unlike his own. But the enchantment on his chest plate, even from a distance, Arthur could tell there was something special about it.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the fabled Arthur Webb. I must give applause. You've become quite the rumor." The man's voice echoed throughout the arena, coated in sarcasm as he sang praises of Arthur, but the look in his eyes said he truly didn't feel it, nor did the inflection of his voice. Instead, the smug look on his face told a deeper story.
"You know, I've been hearing this rumor about you being some Silver tier, but that doesn't seem to be actually true, no? I can hardly feel anything from you standing here. You just look like a simple, lonely fool. A fool who decided to go against Lord Damien's wishes. Especially since you're from that damn Webb family. How dare you think you're part of nobility like the rest of us? You're just the son of a lowly baron, not even the rightful heir to the title. Just the son of a common whore and a barbaric father who knows nothing but war and killing, no etiquette and no true skills. No wonder your family was cast out to the border. You all deserve to be killed by those damn Abyssians."
"You done yet?" Arthur simply replied.
"No. No, I'm not done." The man crouched as he dropped into an attack stance. "I'm not done until I beat you black and blue and you apologize."
"Apologize for what, exactly?"
"Apologize for standing against Lord Damien's wishes, the true nobility of this kingdom. Unlike you, son of a common whore."
"Well, don't worry. Because when the son of a common whore beats you, nobody will care about who I am. Just exactly how much of a failure you are."
"May the fight commence!"
And just as Arthur finished his words, the announcer began the fight. Vyros immediately sprang forward, his body coiling with rapid strength as he grew in size, instantly becoming as large as a bear, his muscles expanding as a red hue infected them, doping him up as he charged forward, his fist clenched with mana swirling around it.
But Arthur just stood there.
Beneath the Coliseum, the squad crowded around the holographic image on the wall, watching the hulking mass of red muscle barrel toward their captain, who hadn't so much as shifted his stance.
"Move, Arthur! Dodge!" Amy yelled at the hologram, nervousness cracking her face, even knowing he couldn't hear a word of it down here.
"Relax. The boss knows what he's doing," Mars said, hands behind his back in a relaxed manner, as if he already knew his boss had this taken care of.
"Yeah, but I'm still worried for him. Because, you know, he's our captain, and if he loses it looks bad on us. Oh, whatever. Angela, what tier is this guy anyway?" Amy turned and asked, unable to remember everybody's cultivation levels, with only Angela seeming to have a keen sense for such things and numbers.
"Peak Bronze, which is about half a step away from the Silver wall. And he also seems to have some type of enchantment on his chest plate. I think it's amplifying his output on top of it, pushing him into a quasi Silver tier."
"Quasi Silver tier? That isn't fair. And isn't he, like, rank fifty six or something?" Garrett said, frowning at the screen.
"Guys, stop worrying. Boss has this taken care of. Who cares if a rank fifty six is peak Bronze? It doesn't matter, because he's had this in the bag from the start." Mars, seeing the somewhat tense attitude from Garrett and Amy, helped to quelch it, as he already knew there was no way Arthur was going to lose.
And as if on cue, from the holographic image, Mars watched as Vyros's fist was already about to hit Arthur's face, the smirk on Vyros cunning like a man who had already won.
But then, all of a sudden, with a snap of a finger, everything changed.