"That’s weird!"
Just as John stood in the designated prep area below the stage, flanked by Elena and a stoic Ricky, a sharp voice cut through the roar of the crowd. "They picked the one who unlocked his strength attribute to fight against Cissel... That’s weird!"
John turned, as did the other two, to look at their leading teacher, Nikolas. The professor was squinting at the opposing team’s spot with a look of genuine confusion.
"Why is it weird?" John asked, keeping his voice steady. He paused, glancing toward the central stage. "By logic, soone else should have started. Not our speedy Cissel."
Nikolas cast a aningful look over John’s face before his eyes drifted to Ricky. He seed to be weighing the hints John threw at him.
"He asked to be replaced, and I decided Cissel was the best candidate for the opening match," John added quickly, throwing Ricky a bone and giving him so face in front of the teacher. He hoped this subtle validation would continue to cent their growing rapport.
"So he is going second?" Nikolas asked, his curiosity piqued by the unconventional lineup John had submitted.
"No, it’s Luke," John replied. He paused for dramatic effect before adding, "Ricky is going to fight our hardest battle—the third one!"
"Oh, I see," Nikolas murmured. As an experienced teacher who had led dozens of competition teams, the logic began to click for him. "That explains it then... Good choice, by the way. Cissel can easily secure the first win with her speed, and I’m sure Ricky will win his crucial match. It balances the team’s montum."
Just before John could respond to further capitalise on his setup, the referee signalled the start. The fight between Cissel and her massive opponent began, instantly pulling everyone’s attention to the raised platform.
Just from one look, anyone could tell that her opponent had unlocked his attributes—specifically Strength. His build was double the size of Cissel’s, and Cissel wasn’t a small girl by any ans. His muscles were bulging to the point of looking unnatural, pulsating with a raw power that made him look like a man who had lived his entire life inside a gym.
"I’d say this match won’t last more than a few minutes," Nikolas noted after Cissel and her opponent exchanged their first few blows. The sound of their impact was like a whip cracking against a stone wall. "Where is Luke? I can’t see him anywhere!"
"Here, sir," Luke’s voice suddenly erupted out of nowhere.
ntioning the devil himself, Luke appeared from a distance. He was walking in a stiff, awkward manner that made even Nikolas raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"What happened to you?!" Nikolas shouted, his voice dropping. "Did soone hurt you before your match? You look like you’ve been through a blender!"
"Oh, I’m just a bit... Nervous," Luke’s response was uncharacteristically weak and unsteady. He wouldn’t et anyone’s eyes, and his face was still a pale shade of his forr self. Nikolas inwardly sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly as he realised the liability Luke had beco.
"It was a brilliant move to place Ricky for the third match," Nikolas said out of the blue. He turned around, giving John a firm thumb-up, before planting a heavy hand on Ricky’s shoulder. "I know it’s too much to ask, but the fate of this competition now rests on your shoulders, Ricky. You’re the anchor of our team’s overall performance."
’That’s it!’ John’s eyes flashed with imnse excitent.
"Don’t worry, sir, he is the most capable person for this job!" John added, throwing more fuel onto the fire. He waited for the spark of validation to explode within Ricky’s ego. He didn’t have to wait long.
[Ding! Your Familiarity has increased with Ricky!]
[Ding! Ricky Familiarity level: Friendly]
[Ding! Congratulations! You have achieved more than the minimum requirent for your Quest!]
[Ding! Your overall Reward assessnt has increased!]
’Bingo!’ John clicked his tongue to resist the urge to turn toward Nikolas and give the man a hug. His timing of saying that phrase was simply brilliant in John’s eyes!
A sudden, deafening cheer erupted from the crowd, drowning out his thoughts. On the stage, Cissel had blurred past her opponent, her hand moving like a knife, and landed precisely at his throat before he could even react to her movent.
The attack hit the student out of nowhere, making his eyes bulge, his face reddened, then falling like a bag of stones on the ground, losing his consciousness.
"And the winner is... Cissel of Year One!" the announcer bood.
Just before he could inwardly celebrate, the comntator suddenly announced Cissel’s victory. John didn’t see exactly how the fight went, and truthfully, he didn’t care. He had known the mont her opponent was revealed to be a strength-based student that her victory was already secured in his pocket.
"Next fight starts in a minute!" the comntator bellowed, and the collective gaze of the arena shifted toward Luke, who suddenly shivered so violently his teeth rattled.
"Don’t worry," Cissel said, descending the nearby stairs with light, effortless steps. She looked remarkably fresh, not even a single hair out of place. "It’s easier than our training sessions! They aren’t nearly as aggressive as John."
For a brief mont, her win in the opening match seed to have lightened her mood, revealing a side of her she usually kept locked behind iron gates. Yet, the second she reached the bottom and stood by the group, she regressed back into her ice-cold persona, her face becoming a mask of indifference once more.
"It’s the student who unlocked his speed attribute!" Nikolas said suddenly, peering at the next student stepping onto the stage. He went silent for a mont before breaking out into boisterous laughter. "Good job, John! Great job, actually! You ssed with their plans and let them burn their strongest two assets early on! Hahaha!"
Seeing his teacher in such a great mood made John smile unconsciously. It was a rare sight to see the disciplined teacher so jovial. At the sa ti, Ricky and Cissel both stood with pride and satisfied looks over their faces, respectively, basking in the secondary glow of their teacher’s praise.
"Of course, we are going to lose this match." Nikolas stopped laughing, but even though he said sothing objectively terrible like that, he still held a wide, confident smile. "But like this, the next three matches are guaranteed for us. We’ll end up having four points out of five! A crushing victory for the freshn!"
John inwardly agreed with what his teacher just said. He watched with a wince as Luke essentially turned into a human punching bag for the speedy student. It was a one-sided slaughter.
Luke didn’t even land a single strike before losing consciousness, eventually exiting the stage on a floating stretcher, looking more like a pile of laundry than a fighter.
"The winner is Year Two!" the comntator announced, stating the obvious. "Next match starts in a minute!"
"Good luck," John said, looking at Ricky. "Don’t overdo it. We need you fresh for the team battles."
"Hehehe," Ricky let out a rare, low chuckle, laughing evilly at what John just said. He was clearly relishing the thought of finally showing off his full power. Cissel didn’t miss this mont, giving John a weird, suspicious glance.
’What? Yes, I was toying with all of you. What will you do about it?’ As his quest for familiarity had reached its threshold, John didn’t feel the imdiate need to keep playing the role of the humble, conciliatory friend.
He t her sharp gaze with a cold, knowing one of his own, causing her to be startled and look away—the first ti she had ever retreated from a visual confrontation with him!
"It’s the third student," Nikolas said, his tone turning serious. "He is the one rumoured to have his abilities unlocked already! Let’s watch and see, as he is the secret weapon of the Year Two class!"
Nikolas’ words imdiately drew John’s attention to the stage. Ricky stood across from a student who didn’t look much different from him—well-grood, arrogant, and clearly from a high-status family. Seeing this made John unable to control a small, cynical smile.
’I can’t believe they even have a copy of that bastard in their class!’ He waited with bated breath for the fight to start, eager to see what type of special ability the student unlocked. However, just as the referee raised the starting flag, the opponent suddenly raised his hand and shouted:
"I forfeit!"
"What?!!"
The exclamation erupted from almost everyone sitting inside the arena. Everyone had expected a high-level clash between two elites, yet the third student was retreating before the first blow could even be thrown.
"This one..." John’s eyes narrowed as he watched Ricky’s opponent calmly step down from the stage without a hint of sha. "He wants to hide his ability until the team match. He’s sacrificing an individual point to keep us in the dark. He isn’t an easy opponent at all!"
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