BXBX NOVEL Chapter 130: Challenges
\'Where\'s everybody?\' Cedric asked himself as he saw the deserted rooms.
Because of the difference in their schedules, it\'s to be expected that some people will stay behind the dorms. Cedric has gotten used to this since their academic year began but right now, there\'s nobody there.
"Weird." Cedric slowed down in his tracks and opened his messages to see if he missed something. And as it turned out, he did.
**
Captain_Chukles (11:34 pm): Hey guys! Instructor Orion told me earlier that tomorrow marks our first month at the Academy. Remember when he said that we could challenge each other to change the rankings? Well, we can start doing that tomorrow.
He said that this already started on the 1st of this month but we were doing our Hell Dives so he postponed his reminders. Now that most of us cleared our task (at least the majority of us should be), we can begin with the challenges.
The venue will be the Arcane Arena, the same one we used during the Freshmen Welcoming Party. If some of you are interested, just send an official challenge to your target. If the other party accepts, you will be scheduled for a match. Sir Orion also said that the rankings will automatically update itself so we can do this on our own.
Oh, each person could only issue a challenge 3 times and they cannot be used on the same person. Once that\'s used up, you\'d have to wait until the next one before challenging somebody again. Accepting a challenge however is limitless, so whether you want to go nuts or just do the bare minimum, depends on you.
That\'s all I have. Good night everybody!
**
"...ah, I see. So it\'s that time already huh?" Cedric mused to himself as he arrived at his dorm.
To be fair, it\'s his fault for ignoring the notifications from this chat however, it\'s not completely his fault, after all, he\'s too focused on his activities.
"I guess everyone\'s at the arena right now, huh?"
Blinking to himself, Cedric released his field of senses to its maximum, which reached all the way to the Arcane Arena. And just as he expected, they\'re indeed there, and the matches are ongoing as well.
As he ate some snacks, he returned his attention to his e-mails and discovered that, surprisingly, he received a challenge from his batchmates.
"Oh?" Cedric raised a brow.
He checked them out and saw that there were three people who challenged him. One was someone named Anton Frederick.
"Anton Frederick." Cedric hummed to himself. "If I remember it correctly, he\'s not someone from the Top 10. Let\'s see...ah! He\'s at the 30th place."
"Oh, I remember him. He\'s the stupid guy who held himself back during the exam!" Cedric exclaimed.
Cedric paid attention to the participants of the Entrance Exam so he had some memories of Anton. This guy hid most of his abilities during the Entrance Exam for some reason.
His true strength wasn\'t all that impressive, to be honest. It is nowhere near sufficient to reach the Top 10, yet he still hid it.
Cedric wasn\'t trying to be a hypocrite here since he too hid most of his strength, but he has a valid reason to do that. Plus, even with what little he displayed, he still managed to reach the 1st place with a considerable gap compared to the 2nd place.
Anton\'s way of hiding his meager strength sounded ridiculous to him, and that\'s the only reason why it made an impression on him. But well, he can\'t judge too much since he doesn\'t know the real reason behind Anton\'s actions.
As for the other two who challenged him, they\'re none other than Isabella and Garrick.
"Since I\'m in the 1st place, it wouldn\'t make sense for me to challenge someone. After all, I only needed to defend my position and I could still enjoy these benefits."
Paying attention to his field of senses briefly, he sighed and got up from his seat.
"...but I can\'t ignore these challenges either. Oh well, let\'s how much they improved then."
****
The Arcane Arena wasn\'t that far from the Freshmen Dorm. It didn\'t take long before Cedric himself arrived there.
Since he already scouted the area before he even got here, he already knew where to go. Even if he didn\'t, it wouldn\'t matter since he has already been here before.
His batchmates were so busy paying attention to the fight above that they completely disregarded his presence. Not that Cedric mind that at all. He blended into his surroundings and found himself a seat to watch the matches.
As expected, the battles were fierce. He could sense the determination to prove something from the participants.
This was because some of them felt discontented about the current rankings. They worked hard during the entrance exams and their final ranking was a disappointment.
They have no problems with the 1st to 3rd place because the disparity was clear. Beyond that however, is what bothers them. They couldn\'t express their opinions since they couldn\'t challenge the decision of the Academy. But since they were given a chance to change that, of course they were eager to prove themselves.
"Haaa!"
"Take this!"
"Fall, damn it!"
"Yield for me!"
Determined shouts and grunts echoed across the venue. Matches occurred simultaneously since the Arena was big enough to accommodate them.
Cedric kept watching while remaining inauspicious. He smirked as he saw the improvement of his batchmates. Yeah, only a month passed since their matriculation but their improvements were already impressive.
One by one, the matches ended. Cedric noticed the shuffling of the current rankings. Those who won their match were only a handful so the changes weren\'t drastic. The winners celebrated while the losers could only lament their fate.
Once most of the challenges were over, the energy within the arena dropped for a bit. Cedric smiled at this and decided to accept Anton\'s challenge this time.
**
Anton frowned as he waited. Most of the matches were already done and it\'s starting to get boring.
At the back of his mind, he wondered if that guy - Cedric, even saw his e-mail. He struck him as someone who has a one-track mind.
He has been observing him, you see. Ever since Anton saw Cedric\'s performance during the Entrance Exam, he already started paying attention to him.
Anton didn\'t do it like a stalker though, that\'s just creepy. He did it from a distance and not obsessively because he had other things to do.
Just like him, Anton could somehow tell that Cedric was holding back during the Entrance Exam as well as during his match at the Freshmen Welcoming Party.
Surely he has his reasons, but Anton couldn\'t help but be curious, just how much is he hiding?
\'Did he even know that this is happening today? That guy...he\'s such a busybody!\' Anton sighed inwardly.
It was then that he suddenly received a notice from his System, telling him that his opponent accepted his challenge and was now urging him to go up the arena.
Anton was so surprised that he suddenly stood up. He looked everywhere but he couldn\'t spot the guy at all. He felt confused and his system kept urging him to go up the arena.
Grunting, he reluctantly does so. He went up the stage, feeling a bit anxious deep down.
As soon as he got up and stood on the stage however, he shivered and suddenly sensed him.
Seemingly materializing out of thin air, Cedric stood before him, staring straight at his soul, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Unknowingly, Anton started sweating.
\'Shit, what the fuck was I thinking?\' He thought to himself.
Nevertheless, it\'s too late for regrets now. He\'s already in for this ride and there\'s no going back. He took a deep breath and assumed a stance while measuring Cedric\'s bland reaction.
\'It feels like I\'m being stared at by an ancient beast. I can\'t afford to hold back here.\' Anton told himself.
The countdown for the match echoed in his ears and Anton mentally prepared himself. He released his full strength, surprising most of his batchmates but not Cedric.
His opponent didn\'t look fazed at all. He didn\'t even take out his weapon, which displeased Anton since he felt like his foe was looking down on him too much.
\'I\'m really curious if you had the strength to back up your complacency.\' Anton thought to himself.
\'3...2...1! FIGHT!\'
"RAAAAGGH!!!"
With a mighty shout, Anton put his everything into his strike. Everything started slowing down for him because of his sharp focus.
It\'s because of this state that Anton saw it clearer than anybody else. Cedric waited until he was close enough before bringing his hands together to...clap.
Pa!
After that, Anton could only recall being in pain before passing out.