The arena buzzed with excitement after Luna's swift victory.
Students throughout the stands were still talking about what they had just witnessed. Some were impressed by her clean, effortless technique. Others quietly thanked their luck that they weren't the one standing across from her in the first round.
Three seconds.
That was all it took.
Even the instructors looked satisfied with the display of control and precision.
Aaron sat calmly in his seat while the next few matches played out on the arena floor. A warrior overpowered a mage with raw strength. An archer barely edged out a dagger user in a close fight. Some matches dragged on for minutes. Others ended in the blink of an eye.
The tournament was moving fast.
Beside him, Rei leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes glued to the giant display screen hanging above the arena. He kept scanning the scrolling names over and over.
"Brother Aaron…"
Aaron didn't look away from the floor.
"Yes?"
Rei swallowed hard.
"My name hasn't come up yet."
Aaron nodded.
"That just means it will."
Rei rubbed his hands together nervously.
"…I know."
He stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.
"But what if my opponent is someone terrifying?"
Aaron thought about it for a second.
"That would be unfortunate."
Rei turned to stare at him.
"Your words bring me zero comfort."
At that exact moment, the display screen flickered again.
New names locked into place.
**Match 7**
**Rei Lang**
**vs**
**Gabby Stone**
Rei froze.
Then he slowly turned toward Aaron, face pale.
"…Brother Aaron."
Aaron gave him a small nod.
"That's you."
Rei took a deep breath, the breath of a man accepting his fate.
"…It's happening."
Aaron stood up and patted his shoulder once.
"Go."
Rei stared at him, almost pleading. "You're not going to say something encouraging?"
Aaron thought about it genuinely.
"Try not to get beaten too badly."
Rei stared at him in silence for a long moment.
"…I regret our friendship."
Despite the dramatic complaint, he still stood up and walked toward the arena entrance. The crowd murmured as his name appeared on the screen.
"Isn't that the guy who confessed to Kang Yue earlier?"
"Yeah…"
"He got rejected pretty hard."
"Poor guy."
Rei pretended not to hear them.
Inside his head, however, he was screaming.
*Why does my life always turn into a public performance?*
He stepped through the gate and onto the polished combat platform. Sunlight reflected off the stone floor beneath his boots. Across the arena, the opposite gate opened and a thin young man with short black hair and a confident smirk walked out.
The screen displayed his information.
**Gabby Stone**
**Class: D-Rank Blade Fighter**
Gabby rested a short curved blade on his shoulder and looked Rei up and down.
"A Scout?" His tone sounded mildly surprised. Then he laughed. "Looks like I got lucky."
Rei's eyebrow twitched.
From the stands, Aaron watched quietly.
The arbiter instructor stepped between them.
"Participants. Prepare."
Gabby spun his blade casually.
Rei adjusted the straps on his light armor.
Unlike heavy warriors, Scout-type classes relied on speed, perception, and battlefield awareness. Their strength came from positioning and timing, not raw power.
The arbiter raised his hand.
"Begin!"
The moment the signal dropped, Gabby lunged forward, blade flashing toward Rei's shoulder.
"Too slow!"
Rei barely dodged sideways, the blade cutting through empty air. The crowd murmured.
"Good reflexes."
"But Scouts aren't strong in direct combat."
Gabby attacked again, his blade sweeping horizontally toward Rei's ribs. Rei stepped back quickly and the strike missed by inches. Gabby grinned.
"You can dodge well. But can you actually attack?"
Rei frowned. That was exactly the problem.
Yet he had trained for this.
He took a slow breath, then suddenly rushed forward.
Gabby looked surprised. "Oh?"
Rei feinted left. Gabby reacted instantly, swinging toward the expected direction. But Rei twisted mid-step, slipping right instead. Scout movement techniques were built for unpredictable footwork. Before Gabby could adjust, Rei's fist slammed into his shoulder.
THUD!
Gabby staggered. The crowd gasped. Rei's eyes widened slightly.
*It worked?!*
Gabby recovered quickly and came back faster, blade whistling through the air in rapid succession. Rei was pushed into retreat, the strikes growing sharper with each exchange. One cut grazed his sleeve. Another nearly reached his chest. In the stands, Rei's heartbeat grew loud in his own ears.
*I'm going to lose…*
Gabby laughed. "You're fast, but that's all!" He raised his blade for a heavy downward strike.
Then Rei noticed something. Gabby's stance. His balance. His center of gravity shifted too far forward on powerful attacks. A small weakness, but a real one. Scout instincts locked onto it immediately.
When the blade came down, Rei didn't retreat. He stepped forward. Gabby's eyes widened.
"Idiot!"
But Rei's body twisted sideways and the blade missed entirely. At the same moment, his leg swept low across the ground.
THUMP!
Gabby lost his footing and hit the arena floor hard. Before he could recover, Rei was on top of him, fist hovering above his face. Both fighters went still.
The arbiter stepped forward. "Stop!"
Silence fell across the arena. The arbiter raised his hand.
"Winner. Rei Lang."
Rei didn't move for a moment. Then realization hit him.
"…I won?"
The crowd broke into laughter and applause, several students looking genuinely caught off guard.
"Did the Scout just win?"
"Not bad."
"He actually fought pretty well."
Rei climbed slowly to his feet, legs trembling slightly beneath him, but his face split into a wide grin. From the stands, Aaron clapped at a measured, deliberate pace. Rei found him immediately and held his gaze with an expression that needed no words.
*Did you see that?!*
The display screen above the arena flickered and updated. The whispers spread before most people had finished reading it.
"Kang Yue!"
"The Radiant Archer!"
"Her match is next!"
Aaron looked up calmly at the screen.
**Match 8 — Kang Yue vs Leon Dang**