"Hah... hah..."
Amon was breathing heavily after the spar he just had with one of his classmates.
It was Monday morning, and as usual, the sparring class was being held in the training arena. Fortunately for Amon, this ti he was matched against one of the weaker students. The fight wasn’t too difficult, and he even managed to give his opponent a tough ti.
Still, in the end, Amon lost.
’I was close to winning,’ he thought while biting his lip in frustration.
His opponent was Liam, a lower-ranking noble who often mocked Amon for being a commoner. Liam had a bad habit of sneering behind his back, spreading little insults, and looking down on him whenever he got the chance.
Now that sa Liam was sitting on the floor, panting just as heavily as Amon after their match. His face was red, sweat dripping down his forehead.
"So much arrogance for being only this powerful," Amon muttered under his breath, staring at him.
Liam lifted his head, his tired expression fading as soon as he saw Amon’s face. His breathing was still ragged, but an arrogant smile crawled onto his lips.
"Oh... hah... commoner," he said between breaths, "did you finally understand your place after being defeated by... ?"
Amon almost laughed on the spot. The boy was gasping for air, practically on the verge of collapsing, and yet still had the nerve to act as though he had crushed Amon with ease.
Suppressing his laughter, Amon simply gave him a bright smile.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he said with a casual laugh before walking out of the arena without another glance.
Liam’s smile instantly dropped. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he watched Amon leave so cheerfully, as though he hadn’t even been affected by the loss.
Amon, anwhile, walked toward the corner where Marcus was standing alone. Unlike most of the other students, Marcus didn’t mingle much during sparring class. He stood away from the crowd, arms crossed, watching quietly.
"Marcus, you win again!" Amon said with a grin. "I guess, other than Seraphina, no one can defeat you."
Those words struck a nerve.
Marcus’s expression imdiately darkened. His violet hair seed to bristle as he turned to glare at Amon.
"What did you just say? That she can defeat ?" Marcus scoffed. "Listen here, commoner, that match was a mistake last ti. She only won because of luck. I am stronger than her."
Amon, of course, only smiled more brightly at seeing his reaction.
"Big words coming from the second-ranked student. Fufufu," he chuckled.
"You—you shut up, bastard! Just you wait. Next ti, I’ll be the one who defeats her!" Marcus snapped back, his voice sharp with irritation.
That only made Amon laugh harder.
"Hahahaha!"
Not far away, Seraphina and Eliana had been watching the exchange with interest. The elf, with her platinum-blonde hair and ever-mischievous tone, approached with a playful smile.
"What’s going on here~?" Eliana asked curiously, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
Seraphina silently stood beside her, her golden hair falling freely around her shoulders. Though her face remained calm and stoic as always, her eyes betrayed her curiosity.
Marcus, seeing the two girls approaching, quickly looked away with a loud hmph, trying to hide his irritation.
"Oh, it’s nothing," Amon said with a sly grin. "Just soone talking nonsense about being the strongest and claiming he can defeat Seraphina."
Eliana instantly understood who he was referring to, and her smile widened.
"Hehe, sure, I believe him~ He can definitely defeat her," she teased.
Her words only fueled Marcus’s anger further. His fists clenched at his sides, his face heating up with embarrassnt and frustration.
"You guys shouldn’t talk like that," Seraphina suddenly intervened. Her tone was calm, her face expressionless, but there was a sharp edge in her voice.
Marcus turned back toward them, his pride stung.
"Just you wait! I’ll be first rank before long," he declared with determination, his voice loud enough for others around them to hear.
Amon chuckled, still enjoying the sight of Marcus’s flustered face.
"Yes, yes, I believe in you, my friend."
"I’m not your friend, commoner!" Marcus shot back imdiately.
Before Amon could reply, the booming voice of Professor Asher echoed across the arena.
"The winner is Arnold Livingstone!"
The announcent silenced the arena for a brief mont. Then, gasps of shock and murmurs spread through the students.
"What?!"
"Arnold... won?"
Even Amon and his group, who had been busy teasing each other, turned their attention to the arena.
There, standing tall with a calm, indifferent look, was Arnold Bigod.
Arnold was a boy with dark blue hair, belonging to the prestigious marquis family, the Bigod. Despite his noble background, he had always been known as the family’s weakest child—a good-for-nothing compared to his siblings. Even among the academy’s students, his na was associated with diocrity.
Yet, now, he had just defeated Richard, the seventh-ranked student in their class.
Richard wasn’t on the sa level as the top students like Seraphina or Marcus, but he was still considered one of the stronger ones. The fact that Arnold had beaten him was shocking.
Standing at around 180 cm tall with a well-built body, Arnold didn’t look like the frail, thin boy everyone rembered. His movents during the match had been sharp and controlled, and his swordplay had seed entirely different from his usual clumsy self.
Arnold gave no sign of excitent or arrogance. He simply turned away and walked off the stage silently, as though winning ant nothing to him.
The murmurs among the students grew louder.
"What just happened? How did he win?"
"No way! He’s supposed to be useless!"
"But didn’t you see how he moved? He looked completely different!"
Amon tilted his head, amusent flickering in his eyes. "Was he always this strong?"
Seraphina shook her head. "No. He wasn’t. I’ve t him at family banquets before. He was always known to be weak compared to his siblings.He was also quite weak looking"
Eliana frowned thoughtfully. "But he didn’t look weak just now. That fight didn’t seem fake at all."
Marcus crossed his arms, his brows furrowed. "I saw him so months ago. Our family head had business eting with the Bigods, so I was there. During that ti, I saw him. He was training at the ti, and to be honest, he was pathetic. Thin, frail, no talent at all. But now he look diiferent and strong."
Amon and others were quite surprised that Arnold had changed so much in just so months.
"He was that bad?" Amon asked, surprised.
"He was still better than you, commoner," Marcus sneered.
"Tsk. Bastard," Amon clicked his tongue in annoyance.
This ti, however, Marcus didn’t seem offended. Instead, he smirked, clearly enjoying Amon’s irritated face.
"Well, at least soone is getting stronger," Eliana said cheerfully. Then she tilted her head toward Amon with a teasing smile. "When will you beco strong, Amon?"
"Just you wait," Amon replied firmly. "In so months... or maybe years... I’ll be strong."
There was a long pause in his words, making Eliana giggle.
"Dream on, commoner. Even after a decade, you won’t be stronger than . Kukuku," Marcus joined in, laughing and mocking him.
Now, the target of their teasing had shifted from Marcus to Amon. Eliana and Marcus continued to poke fun at him, enjoying his frustrated expressions, while Seraphina quietly tried to help him out of the one-sided bullying.
In their own strange way, the four of them were becoming more familiar with each other—closer than before.
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