"My my." Marisse fanned herself gracefully, though it did little to hide the smug smile tugging at her lips. "Such a perfect child. Truly, the heavens blessed me with an extraordinary son."

"Tch. Arrogant brat." Borric snorted. "He sees my son sitting here and still dares talk about winning the Proving?"

Marisse’s smile thinned slightly.

"The oversized gorilla you call a son couldn’t even dream of touching my Lucien."

"Oh please!" Borric barked a laugh. "That fat fudge nearly needed assistance climbing the arena stairs!"

Marisse’s gaze instantly turned dangerous.

"That’s enough, you two," Ociden interrupted calmly, subtly gesturing toward where Kastor sat above them. "Try to remember whose presence you’re currently embarrassing yourselves before."

"Tch."

"Hmph."

Marisse clicked her tongue softly but fell silent. Borric merely scoffed and looked away. The city lords fell silent.

Zephyrion silently watched Kaiden leave the coliseum with tightly gritted teeth.

"Poor Kaiden..." Fiona muttered beside him, pity flickering across her face.

But a moment later, her hands slowly tightened into fists as tension visibly crept into her expression. Zephyrion could practically see the thoughts racing through her mind.

If Kaiden had been defeated so easily... then what about her?

"...Calm down."

"...huh?"

Fiona turned toward him with slightly widened eyes.

Zephyrion met her gaze calmly.

"If you enter the arena already panicking, you’ve lost before the fight even starts," he said. "Stop thinking about losing and focus on the only thing that matters. Beating the person in front of you."

The tension in Fiona’s eyes visibly eased at his words. A moment later, she tightened her fists and gave a firm nod.

"Yes!"

The event continued as each candidate took turns entering the arena.

The loud, deafening cheers were mostly reserved for the battles involving the primary descendants of the high houses. Vaelor. Draven. Nedra. And even Kaelion.

Each of them overwhelmed their opponents with ease, earning thunderous applause from the crowd. Above, the city lords watched with visible satisfaction.

Still, it was unfortunate news for Zephyrion.

Like Lucien, each of them had revealed only a fraction of their rune arts during their battles, preventing him from fully grasping the intricacies of their house techniques. Regardless, Zephyrion remained undeterred. More opportunities would come.

"Kaelith Korrath. Konim Guro."

Kaelith was the last of the city lords’ descendants.

Zephyrion immediately noticed the obvious decline in cheers and excitement from the crowd. He could understand why.

From everything he knew, the boy was considered talentless and was treated poorly within House Korrath.

Zephyrion’s expectations immediately dropped to the bare minimum. Someone deemed talentless could hardly hope to inherit a house’s secret rune art, let alone wield it properly.

Last he heard, Kaelith was only at Mark Four. One needed at least Mark Five Independence to properly utilize advanced rune arts.

But the moment Kaelith stepped onto the arena, Zephyrion frowned faintly.

His chin was raised. His shoulders relaxed yet steady. His eyes calm and unwavering.

That wasn’t the bearing of someone considered useless.

Either he was foolishly overconfident... or—

’He’s hiding something.’

Either way, Zephyrion silently observed the battle.

Contrary to Zephyrion’s expectations, the battle became a long, drawn-out exchange filled with repeated back and forths.

Kaelith’s opponent was merely a Mark Four descendant from a mid-level house, yet Kaelith still appeared to struggle heavily against him.

Zephyrion could immediately understand why the boy was considered talentless throughout the South.

However, the longer the battle continued, the deeper Zephyrion’s frown became.

Instinctively, he poured his Will into Demorian’s rod.

The world around him gradually slowed. Runic symbols danced before his eyes, intertwining with the world itself.

He could see the runes flowing through the arena as attacks were launched and intercepted. More importantly, he saw the countless runes coiling around Kaelith’s body like golden chains.

At a glance, Zephyrion could tell those runes were not Kaelith’s own doing. Their sheer complexity alone far surpassed anything even he himself was currently capable of.

Zephyrion traced the source of the runes and discovered they originated from Kaelith’s chest.

’A relic.’

Zephyrion frowned briefly before dismissing the thought. If it truly were a relic, then the powerful figures watching above would have already noticed it. This was something else.

Suddenly, Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’An inheritance.’

It was practically Demorian’s rod all over again.

The old masters who once roamed the world often left behind inheritances in the form of relics. Such relics would usually bond with whoever discovered them. They were commonly known as Heirs.

Zephyrion had encountered Heirs during his time in the Order, but he had never personally obtained one himself.

’I see...’

Now the full picture was beginning to form. Since the inheritance had bonded with Kaelith, its power had essentially become his own.

Though people like Kastor would likely see through it instantly, Kaelith technically wasn’t breaking any rules.

Furthermore, judging by the intricacy of the runes, Zephyrion could confidently say the inheritance far surpassed even the city lords themselves.

That also explained why Kaelith had remained undiscovered despite being treated like trash for so long.

Zephyrion studied the runes carefully for several moments. Their sheer complexity made them difficult to fully decipher, yet he was still able to determine their purpose.

’He’s limiting himself.’

The runes were suppressing his overall output. His strength. His speed. Even the density of his metal aura.

Meaning... this wasn’t his true power.

Feeling the strain from maintaining the state for too long, Zephyrion released it.

Not long afterwards, the battle came to an end.

"Winner, Kaelith Korrath!"

The cheers that followed were noticeably weaker compared to the overwhelming reactions the other primary descendants had received.

Above, City Lord Darius Korrath clicked his tongue, a dark glare settling across his face at the sight of his son exhausted after struggling against a mere descendant from a mid-level house.

As Kaelith returned toward his seat, out of the millions watching, only Zephyrion’s eyes shone faintly.

Clearly... the boy was nowhere near as simple as people believed.

The next battles that drew Zephyrion’s attention were Lumi’s and Fiona’s.

The former ended in an effortless victory for Lumi. Zephyrion had instructed her to drag out the battle if her opponent was strong, but unfortunately for them, her opponent simply wasn’t strong enough. At least not in Lumi’s eyes.

The fight ended almost as quickly as it began.

Fiona’s battle, however, was filled with far more grit and effort. Unlike Kaiden, she hadn’t been matched against a descendant from a high house. Eventually, after a difficult struggle, she managed to emerge victorious.

Afterwards, the final battle of the round was announced.

"Zephyrion Calderalth. Marrien Vida."

Under the gazes of millions, Zephyrion calmly stepped onto the arena.