The tension around them grew thicker, then a girl sitting close by spoke, her tone light, almost playful, but there was something sly behind it. "I saw your girl talking to Luke yesterday."
That made something in Holden shift, his jaw tightened slightly, his fingers pressing faintly against the armrest. Slowly, his gaze moved again this time toward Lethis.
She was sitting a distance away, calm as ever, and right at that moment, she smiled, it was small. Simple, but it was directed at Luke, holden saw it.
And his expression darkened, after lethis said hi to Luke and Ethan she turned her face forward and the smile instantly disappeared, "If I don't defeat you today Luke, I'll have to try by all means possible."
Not too far away, another group had been watching everything unfold, Orion's group.
Jamie stood with her arms crossed, her eyes fixed on Holden's side, irritation clear on her face. "When are we going to have a proper fight with them?" she asked. "They've taken too much space that is meant to be ours already."
Orion who was beside her, calm as always, his arms folded across his chest. He didn't answer immediately. "…You already know why," he finally said.
Jamie frowned slightly. "Say it."
Orion exhaled lightly. "Holden's family is powerful and wealthy same as the Gibbons family…" his eyes shifted briefly toward Lethis, "…they're the richest and strongest in this academy."
He paused before continuing. "My family comes third."
Jamie clicked her tongue in annoyance. "So that's why they keep pushing her toward him."
Orion nodded slightly. "He's forcing it, she doesn't like him." His gaze moved again, this time landing on Luke… then Quinn. "I think Holden already hates those two," he said.
Jamie smirked faintly. "Then why don't we recruit them?"
Orion didn't hesitate, his answer came immediately. "That won't happen."
Jamie raised a brow. "Why?"
Orion's eyes stayed on Luke, his expression turning colder. "…Because I don't like him either." referring to Luke
---
At another corner of the hall, Karl stood quietly, watching everything, his eyes were locked on Luke. "…That guy," he muttered under his breath. "He's everywhere now." His lips curled slightly in irritation. "I hate him."
His gaze slowly shifted toward Holden's group. "If I want to deal with him without any trouble…" he thought, "…then I need to be on their side." He watched them carefully.
But none of them even looked his way, not once, he didn't exist to them. Holden didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, his attention was still on Lethis, Karl's eyes darkened. "…What do they even see in her?" he muttered quietly.
His jaw tightened as his thoughts twisted. "…Maybe I can use her to make him recruit me." The idea formed slowly but clearly in his mind.
"If I get close to her… I can get into Holden's group." His expression turned colder, his gaze fixed on Lethis now.
He had always hated lethis for taking his place like he thought she did, because their parents showed more attention and care towards her instead of him.
From a young age, everything had always revolved around her. Lethis. The one with talent, the one with overwhelming potential, the one their parents couldn't stop praising.
And him? He was always compared, always second even though he was the eldest, aways lacking and he thought she hated him too and took his place on purpose.
He remembered the way they looked at him, not with anger, not even with disappointment sometimes, just… indifference, like he wasn't worth much, like no matter what he did, it would never be enough.
Then they would look at her, with pride, with expectation, with that same admiration that he never received.
Jealousy had grown inside him for years, quiet and poisonous, and now… it was worse, even here, she stood above him, even here, people looked at her first, his eyes hardened. "…If we ever get matched in this duel," he said under his breath, "…I won't hold back."
"You're on everyone's mouth now, Luke." Ethan said it quietly, but there was excitement in his voice.
Luke didn't reply because he already knew because of the obvious stares he got, the whispers, the attention, it hadn't stopped since morning.
Some were curious, some were impressed… and some were just waiting for him to fail, he didn't know why they only hated him and not Quinn, he came first too.
Luke leaned back slightly on his seat, his expression calm, like none of it mattered, then George stepped forward, his presence alone was enough to silence the entire hall.
"We'll begin the pairings now," he said, his voice steady and clear. "This will be the freshmen challenge." A pause. "The first matches will be between E-rank and D-rank students. Those who lose…" his eyes moved across the crowd, "…will be disqualified."
The tension in the air increased immediately. "For those ranks," George continued, "Give it your all"
With that, he began calling names, one after another, students stepped forward, the fights started quickly, some ended in seconds, others lasted a bit longer.
But the result was always the same, one winner, one disqualified, no second chances..The number of the freshmen kept reducing.
Luke watched quietly, his eyes following the matches without much reaction. He wasn't interested in most of them. The gap in strength was clear, Then..."Ethan." Luke's gaze shifted.
Ethan stood up immediately, his expression tightening slightly.
"And…Dorrah" George called another name, a C-rank student, for a moment, hesitation showed on his face, Luke spoke.
"Don't fret," he said calmly. "You can win." Ethan looked at him. Luke's expression didn't change. "…If you give it your best." A second passed.
Then Ethan nodded. "…Yeah." He turned and walked backwards and he saw the stairs and descended down the building and walked towards a hallway that led to the arena.
The moment he stepped into it, the noise of the crowd faded behind him, then he stepped out, into the arena. The ground was wide, open, and slightly cracked from previous fights.
A man stood at the side, arms folded, his eyes sharp as he observed both participants, he was the one overseeing the match now, Ethan stood on one side, his opponent stood opposite, she was calm and confident.
The man raised his hand slightly. "Begin." Both of them moved at the same time. "Summon." Energy gathered and their summons appeared.