Leo leaned his chin on his palm, his eyes tracking the two figures as they clashed across the floor.

It had been ten minutes since Professor Helene signaled the start of the duel. In the stands, the gossip about Leo’s supposed love life had finally died down, replaced by loud cheers as the crowd got sucked into the intensity of the duel.

Alice was sitting to Leo’s left. She had spotted the group after the match started and pushed through the rows to join them. Her wild red hair was untamed, and her sharp amber eyes were fixed on the ring below.

On Leo’s right sat Roan, quietly watching the arena floor, his long silver hair falling past his shoulders.

Leo shifted his gaze across the front rows to check on the rest of the group. Not far from them, Amelia and Nyra were watching with serious expressions.

A bit further down, Riven sat with his ash-blonde hair perfectly styled, his steel-red eyes locked on the fight. Caster leaned forward beside him, his messy brown hair sticking up as his hazel eyes darted across the arena.

Lyssaria was seated nearby with Riven and Caster, her silver-blonde hair braided back, her jade-green eyes fixed on the match.

Beside her, Elisabeth sat still, her silver-white hair catching the light, her deep violet eyes unreadable. Next to Elisabeth, Cordelia and Julia were whispering to each other, their faces still slightly pink from the earlier embarrassment of the loud stadium entrance.

Leo looked back down at the ring.

The fight was fierce, far from a one-sided beating. Arthur was matching her block for block, his sword cutting heavy paths through the air. He did a clean, three-step fake, spinning his blade to catch Seris from the left side.

Seris leaned her upper body back by an inch, letting the gold blade pass in front of her nose before her own sword snapped forward, the loud ring of steel echoing as she blocked the strike and forced him to reset his stance.

"But..." Leo murmured, his voice turning serious. "He is losing."

Roan looked down at the ring, nodding slowly. "Yeah. He’s losing."

"It is not just because of the gap in their ranks," Leo said, his eyes narrowing as he watched Seris’s smooth movements. "It is the experience. There is no way for Arthur to close that kind of gap right now. Plus, Seris is not exactly a normal student."

Others in the stadium just saw a highly talented second-year Primus, but Leo knew the hidden reality.

Seris was the Apostle of the Moon Goddess. Just like Arthur, she possessed an SSS-rank core and walked an Origin-rank path — the Lunar Apostle Path. It was the highest tier of path rank.

"Arthur is at Expert High, just like us..." Leo said out loud, his eyes tracking the fast exchange of blows below.

"But Seris is already Master Mid, nearly reaching Master High. The gap in rank and her past combat experience means the match will end in her favor. Arthur must have realized it within the first thirty seconds. He knows he cannot win this match. He is pushing himself against his limit to see how far he can go."

Roan nodded. "Sounds exactly like the type of stubborn thing he would do, just like you."

Down in the announcer’s box, Cynthia’s voice boomed through the speakers, her tone full of real excitement. "An amazing show from our first-year challenger! Arthur was showing great spirit, pushing the second-year top student to her limits! But Seris’s defense remained solid!"

The crowd roared, the sound shaking the stone pillars. Leo shook his head a little, blocking out the noise as the focus shifted down to the arena floor.

_

Arthur’s lungs burned. Every breath felt like breathing hot ash.

Left. Right. Overhead.

His mind worked at triple speed, driven by his Light and Sword powers. To Arthur, the sword was not just a weapon. It was an extension of his own senses. Guided by his sword power, he could feel the path of Seris’s blade before it arrived, letting his sword meet hers in a shower of sparks.

Neither of them was using flashy moves or deadly attacks. This was a pure test of sword fighting, footwork, and basic mana reinforcement. A contest of fundamentals, where a single mistake meant defeat.

But knowing a strike was coming didn’t mean his body could keep up forever against a Master-rank opponent.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Arthur did not let himself fall into a purely defensive stance. He knew the moment he stopped attacking, the match would end. Stepping into a low shadow, he used his gold light power, bursting forward with a fast thrust aimed at her chest.

Seris blocked the thrust with a sharp, heavy move of her blade, the metal screeching as she slid past his guard and drove a cold palm strike hard into Arthur’s stomach.

"Gah!"

Arthur coughed, his vision blurring for a second as the cold hit forced him back. But instead of falling, he gritted his teeth, locked his boots into the dirt, and swung his sword upward in a fast, desperate arc.

Clang!

Seris’s sword came down like a hammer, hitting his blade and forcing it down into the dirt.

Arthur panted, his golden eyes staring through his messy hair at her calm face. He was learning. With every block and heavy hit, his body was taking in the rhythm of a true top fighter. He could feel his own sword skill growing, breaking through walls that normal training could never reach.

But it was not enough. The mountain he had to climb was still too high. He had to keep going, keep pushing, keep climbing.

Seris looked at him, her red eyes steady. She did not look proud. She was just... there. Like a wall of solid ice that did not care how hard he hit it.

Arthur raised his sword again, his gold light flaring one last time for a final charge. He ran forward, his blade turning into a beam of light as he used everything he had left.

Seris finally used the true depth of her lunar power.

With a bright flash, a cold wave of silver light burst from her blade. The force of the icy silver wave did not touch Arthur’s skin, but it hit his sword directly, breaking his gold light and knocking the weapon out of his numb fingers.

The sword spun through the air, sticking deep into the stone wall of the arena.

Arthur froze, his empty hands trembling. The cold edge of Seris’s silver steel blade was resting gently against the side of his neck.

"Match over," Professor Helene’s voice cut through the ringing in Arthur’s ears. She stepped between them, her gray eyes signaling the end. "Winner: Seris Lunaria."

The stadium burst into noise. The senior students cheered for their top student, while the first-years clapped for Arthur bravery, holding out for over ten minutes in a high-level sword fight against her.

Cynthia’s voice rang through the speakers. "And there we have it! A great finish! Seris keeps her spot, but let us give a big hand to Arthur for a fight that will be talked about for weeks!"

Arthur stood there for a second, his chest heaving as he took a deep breath. The heavy pressure was gone the moment Seris put her sword away. She gave him a short, polite nod.

Arthur smiled a little, fully expecting this result. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the wave of experience that had just settled into his core, before opening them and bowing to her. "Thank you for the lesson," he said honestly.

Seris turned and started walking back toward the second-year tunnel without a word.

Arthur watched her go for a second before turning around. He walked over to the stone wall, pulled his sword out, and put it away. The crowd was still cheering, many starting to stand up to leave.

But Arthur wasn’t done.

He walked back to the center of the ring, his golden eyes moving away from the crowd and locking onto the front row of the balcony.

Leo, who was just about to stand up, stopped.

Down in the bright light of the pit, Arthur raised his right hand, pointing the tip of his sheathed sword straight up at Leo. A bright, confident smile broke across his tired, bruised face.

"Leo!" Arthur’s voice rang out, clear and loud enough to cut through the noise of the crowd. "Let us fight! I challenge you for the rank of Primus!"

Up in the stands, Leo blinked, his hand still resting on the armrest.

"...Huh?"