As soon as Arthur agreed to the duel, a giant ring ford around them. It was an array in the academy, preventing other students from interfering.
"If I fight back, I guess you'll also carry on with your threats?" Arthur was silent before a smile ford on his mouth. "Are you asking to be beaten without fighting back?"
"You can fight back, but I don't know what might happen to her." Trevor unbuttoned his sleeves. "Even though I have confidence in taking you down, I want you to know the difference between our statuses."
The students began noticing what was going on and a crowd slowly ford. A one-minute countdown appeared in the middle of the ring until the duel started.
Arthur looked at Trevor silently as the black knight appeared behind him. He wanted to find a way out of this, but he didn't have the ti to take action.
"Alexie!"
Arthur glanced at the crowd and found that Jonah had arrived as well. He scanned the present people and found Rae also glaring at him with piercing eyes.
"You don't your friend to feel bad, do you?" Trevor smiled, talking in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear it. "Make sure you put on your finest act, Bastard."
The shadows started to gather and scatter as Arthur felt Ruki's rage. They threatened to attack even without Arthur's command.
'Let kill him, My Lord.' Ruki's voice was furious, which made Arthur's heart feel warm. However, he commanded her to stand back.
The countdown reached zero in no ti. As soon as it did, the knight appeared in front of Arthur. He raised his hands as the knight slashed his away. His arms turned tallic before they collided with the sword, making Arthur fly away like a broken kite.
He rolled on the ground with his sleeves torn through, blood dripping. Before he could stand up on his own, Trevor appeared in front of him and kicked him in the stomach, making him fly upward.
The knight was there to strike him down toward the ground. His body slamd to the ground leaving a crater with himself in the middle.
"Alexie! Just surrender!" Oliver was banging on the ring's barrier as he shouted. Arthur was conscious enough to hear him, but he couldn't surrender just yet.
He tried to defend himself as the attacks rained on him. His body received injuries upon injuries until he couldn't stand up anymore. Trevor stood in front of him with a smug and victorious expression on his face.
"You should surrender unless you want to die." He said in a prideful stance as if he didn't want to hurt Arthur further. Arthur glanced at him and mouthed out the words.
"I... Surrender."
The ring broke apart as soon as he said the words and he received a notification of losing the duel. Trevor walked away and the crowd parted.
"Are you alright?" Jonah and Oliver rushed to pick him up and he nodded. They walked toward the infirmary as the crowd looked at them with mixed feelings.
'Coward.'
Rae whispered as they passed by her, enough for Arthur's perception to pick it up. He was taken toward the infirmary where he was given potions to heal him up. He was admitted to stay overnight while the others went back to their rooms.
"Why didn't you fight back?"
In the darkroom where he was resting, waiting for his wounds to heal, Reece The Cat appeared and asked him. It jumped on his bed and snuggled beside him.
"He threatened to hurt Jonah's sister," Arthur answered calmly. "It was the right thing to do."
"I see," Reece was quiet before answering. "You did well."
"I shouldn't have antagonized him, to begin with." Arthur sighed. "These people wouldn't stop on anything to restore their pride."
"It takes courage to fight for one's sake," Reece said in a lancholic voice. "But greater courage to avoid fighting for others. You did the right thing."
"Maybe."
"Aren't you angry?" Reece asked with doubt. "You have the right to be."
"Anger isn't going to solve anything, contact Sier and tell him to protect Jonah's family for ."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I'll wait." Arthur got up. "Everything has gone well. I have a conflict with more than one noble and I showed potential. It's ti to be kidnapped."
"What about Trevor?"
"He got his revenge. He won't do anything for the ti being."
Reece nodded and the two spent the night like that. Arthur's wounds began to heal and he was discharged by early morning.
They had theory classes that day. As soon as he arrived, everyone looked at him. Even though it was his dorm, their gazes weren't that friendly or concerned.
"Why didn't you fight back, coward?" The red hair noble, who had gone against Jonah at that ti, stood up and glared at him. "Not only you made us lose face, but they also get points for their dorm."
'Is that the reason they are pissed at ?' Arthur blinked his eyes. 'I guess we were only a group in na, never in heart.' He shook his head and went to his seat without answering.
While he was waiting for the lectures to start, Arthur started browsing through the community. There were many posts about what happened yesterday, mainly by the Nightfall dorm gloating students.
Soone sat next to him and Arthur raised his head to see who it was. Oliver was eating a burger so early in the morning and he offered one to Arthur.
"Are you alright now, brother? You need to eat sothing. I also went to the infirmary when I collapsed after the ten laps. Their food sucks."
"No, I'm fine." Arthur waved his hand with a smile. "Are you sure you want to sit here? I guess a lot of people hate for not fighting back yesterday."
"Screw them." Oliver gulped down his food. "These people can't tell the difference between a good fart and a bad one."
Arthur assud this was either an insult to them or him, but he convinced himself Oliver was trying to complint him. In the corner of his eyes, Arthur saw two people enter the lecture hall as well.
Jonah was accompanied by Alia as he walked in. He looked around and paused when he saw Arthur. He started walking toward him before Alia pulled his arm and whispered sothing.
Jonah paused and looked at her with hesitation. He then turned away and sat elsewhere with Alia.
"That vermin." Oliver spat.
"No, he did the right thing." Arthur smiled. "If others saw him with , they would think I was a leech. The hate would have multiplied."
"Aha," Oliver rolled his eyes. "If that was his concern, then he should stand up to you when that happens."
Arthur smiled and didn't say anything. The lecture started and so did the routine of his life.
***
A week passed quickly after that incident. As Arthur would have expected, he was shunned by the others except for Jonah and Oliver. The first ti Jonah ignored Arthur, he ca to his room later on and apologized.
He said that he didn't want to bring more trouble for Arthur. He was right and that's what he had asked from Jonah the first ti they were together.
After that, Oliver and Jonah would spend ti at Arthur's room every night either playing or simply gossiping.
As for his relationship with the others, it was worse than he had anticipated. He would hear people calling him a coward or a leech as he went on the usual.
Their practical class that day was the sa as the weak before, only with their roles reversed. In the end, the Nightfall team won by constructing a giant barrier around the flag with a prolonged battle of attrition.
The rest of the weak was uneventful and Arthur began to see improvents in his control over his body. He had chosen the Daggers Art until he gains enough Legacy Points to buy a better one.
Rae started ignoring him too as if her interest in him has been extinguished. She still held her part of the deal and protected Sarah, who called him a week later to tell him that she had found sothing.
As Arthur left his lecture hall, he saw Trevor and the rest of the Nightfall team walking in the field. Unlike them, their Arts training was today.
After that day, Trevor ignored him. He got a ssage from Sier saying that Jonah's younger sister was in a foster ho, sick and bedridden. That's probably why Jonah was taking the Magical dicine, to find a way to heal his sister.
His eting with Sarah was later that night, so he decided to head outside the city for a while before he ca back. He went to the city twice that week to purchase materials that might act as a replacent for the Phoenix's Tears. Herbs, ores, and anything that was related to the rune Ancient Armor.
By the ti he reached the library, it was already nightti. Arthur looked around for Sarah but she wasn't there. After a while, soone entered the library in a hurry.
Arthur was confused when he saw Jonah instead of Sarah. His face was pale and rushed toward Arthur as soon as he spotted him.
"What's wrong?" Arthur asked with a frown.
"Sothing bad happened. I don't know if it's bad, but its aftermath is bad." Jonah was taking deep breathes. Arthur asked him to calm down.
"Tell what happened first."
"It's Trevor." Jonah breathed out. "He's dead."
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