The moment Instructor Glenn finished speaking, the quiet courtyard erupted into movement. Students rushed toward the registration tables near the combat arena entrance, excited voices filling the air as they pushed forward, eager to secure their place in the tournament.
"This is our chance!"
"Top Ten rewards are already amazing!"
"But the champion reward… that's insane."
"Regional Elite Academy…"
Even the usually composed students could not hide the anticipation burning behind their eyes.
At the edge of the courtyard, Rei swallowed nervously, glancing between Aaron and the surging crowd.
"…Brother Aaron."
Aaron glanced at him.
"Yes?"
"Are you seriously going to join?"
Aaron smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Rei looked conflicted, scratching the back of his head as he searched for the right words. "I mean… I believe you're strong. Yet the tournament will have monsters like Zheng Luic." He said the name with a particular weight, as though simply speaking it aloud was enough to make his point.
"The Stormblade Swordsman?"
Rei nodded vigorously. "That guy is already Level 15. He's basically the tournament favorite before it's even started."
Aaron shrugged casually, his gaze drifting toward the arena.
"That sounds interesting."
Rei stared at him for a long moment.
"Brother Aaron… you're way too calm."
Just then, a small disturbance rippled near the entrance as the crowd's chatter shifted into hushed whispers.
"He's here."
"Zheng Luic…"
A tall young man walked toward the registration table with an unhurried stride, his dark combat uniform catching the faint morning breeze. The long sword across his back gleamed under the sunlight, its blade polished to a mirror sheen. Zheng's expression was completely still as he picked up the pen and wrote his name on the sheet. No hesitation. No excitement. Only the quiet, unshakeable confidence of someone who had never once doubted the outcome.
Several students watched with open admiration.
"That's the future champion."
"No doubt."
Meanwhile, another figure approached from the opposite side of the courtyard. Silver-blue hair shimmered beneath the morning light, and a frost spear rested with practiced ease in her hand, its crystalline tip catching the sun in pale flashes. The surrounding students instinctively parted as Luna passed through, the faint chill of her presence enough to create space without a single word. She calmly added her name to the registration sheet, her handwriting clean and precise. Then, for just a moment, her gaze lifted and crossed the distance of the courtyard.
It landed on Aaron.
The two of them held the look briefly, neither speaking. Yet something passed between them, a silent understanding that made the air feel a little heavier. Luna stepped aside without expression, leaving the table open.
Rei stayed close as Aaron finally walked toward the registration desk, his voice dropping to a low whisper.
"…People are watching."
"They always do."
As Aaron reached the table, the instructor overseeing registration looked up with a pen already in hand.
"Name."
"Aaron Emegrey."
The instructor paused for just a fraction of a second, his pen hovering above the page. The name tugged at something familiar, though he could not quite place it. He wrote it down without a word. Behind them, the whispers had already started spreading outward through the crowd like cracks through ice.
"That's him."
"The Laborer."
"The one from the rumors."
Zheng, who had lingered near the edge of the registration area, turned slightly. His gaze settled on Aaron with calm, measured interest, the way a seasoned fighter sizes up something worth paying attention to. For a brief moment, the two of them simply looked at each other across the short distance between them.
Zheng smiled faintly.
"Good. Looks like the rumors weren't enough to scare you away."
"I'm not easily scared."
Zheng let out a quiet, unhurried chuckle, as though he had heard many people say those exact words before. "I hope that's true." However, his eyes lingered a second longer, sharp and assessing. "See you in the arena, Laborer."
Then he turned and walked away, his footsteps calm and even against the stone ground.
Rei exhaled slowly beside Aaron, the breath leaving him like he had been holding it the entire time.
"…Brother Aaron."
"Yes?"
"You just attracted the attention of the strongest guy in the academy."
Aaron said nothing for a moment. His gaze moved past Rei and settled on the towering stone walls of the combat arena rising at the heart of the courtyard, its weathered surface carved with the names of past champions. A faint glimmer of anticipation stirred behind his eyes.
"That's the whole point of a tournament."
Behind him, the registration list continued to fill with names, one after another, each one a fighter with their own reasons for stepping forward. And tomorrow, when the first bell rang out across the arena, none of those reasons would matter.
Only results would.