Due to Joyce's arrogant words and actions, it was no longer a casual sparring.
Some things are better if they are kept in the dark and shouldn't be spoken in the open. With the President's reputation on the line, Lucas had to throw away his easygoing attitude.
Since it had come to this, Lucas could also use this opportunity to showcase his loyalty, scoring a few bonus points in her eyes.
Joyce took a big leap, putting all his weight forward and lowering his body to stab forward at Lucas.
Lucas sidestepped and prodded his sword at the edge seeing Joyce full of openings.
CLANG!
'What?'
Joyce frowned as Lucas was not pushed back.
After correcting his posture, Joyce swung his sword with all its might.
Everyone expected Lucas to be subdued after a few bouts as Lucas took the blows head-on.
All of them wanted Lucas to lose and cheer for Joyce as it was a matter of the bet but thanks to Joyce's words, they all shrink back, keeping their lips tightly shut.
However...
Lucas broke everyone's expectations.
Helena closed her lips in disbelief. She found the scene astonishingly familiar. From her understanding, Lucas might look easy going but his demeanor changes when someone pisses him off.
CLANG! CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!
Ripples split out in the air spreading around.
The breeze created from the clash ruffled Lucas's hair, as he moved his hands blocking everything that was thrown at him.
Surprisingly, Lucas stood rooted in his place. Each time Joyce attacked his hands began to tingle more and more.
For Joyce, it felt like hitting a hard stone or striking an iron wall, unable to make a dent in it.
'What the hell is this...'
Joyce started to panic.
He even crossed swords with Lucas, starting to press him down using his body weight.
However, Lucas was not pushed back in the slightest. Lucas's arms were also hurting, if one looked carefully one could see a slight tremble in his arms. Unlike Joyce, it was just Lucas good at enduring pain.
As clashes went on, Lucas started to move.
Stepping forward, he started pushing back Joyce. Joyce might be stronger in terms of strength but under Harris's training, Lucas's efficiency and mana control were enough to cover that gap.
Joyce was overpowered by Lucas's strength whose cuts became sharper and fiercer.
'Why are you so strong? You should be a weak weasel so why?'
Trying to ease the tingling pain, he leaped forward again.
Putting down his weight, holding his sword with both his hands, Joyce slammed his sword down on Lucas with all his might.
And Lucas didn't avoid it either but hit hard.
KWANG!
A sword shot back after the collision. Joyce groaned in pain and stepped back holding his throbbing wrist.
The moment the sword flew back, the result was already decided but...
Lucas spat out a word that rang like thunder.
"Pick it up..."
"What.....?"
Joyce stared at Lucas's face.
Pick up the sword again?
It was like giving him another chance.
The subtle meaning hidden behind Lucas's words crushed his pride.
"You will regret it, "Joyce spat out, grinding his teeth, and then picked up the sword again with a reddened face.
He raised his arms but it was shaking.
Even though he was humiliated, he can't run away.
Joyce, who had hardly adjusted himself, was taken by surprise seeing Lucas leaving behind after images appeared before him, making him unable to react properly.
"Kyakkk!"
Approaching him, Lucas slashed his sword down straight at Joyce's neck without any hesitation.
KANG!
With a scream, Joyce backed away and raised his sword to block but in doing so his sword flew out again and fell.
A faint crackle was heard.
"Arghhhhh!"
Joyce's hand almost bent and he rolled in pain again. His wrist was swollen and the ligament was torn off.
Still, it was not over.
Picking out the sword, Lucas threw it toward Joyce like throwing the trash.
"Pick it up."
Joyce looked up at Lucas.
"Damn...Da...."
Joyce choked up seeing those terrifying gazes lacking the tiniest bit of empathy.
It was a cold and emotionless gaze as if he was nothing but an insect in front of him.
A suffocating pressure burdened him.
It was only then he realized that he provoked the wrong person.
Holding his aching wrist, he tried to stop his body from trembling and finally shouted.
"I los…"
BANG!
Before he could finish his sentence, Lucas slammed his knee on his face.
"Khmmmm!"Joyce toppled onto the ground.
Groaning in pain, he held his nose trying to stop the loss of blood.
"I am lost. I accept defeat."Joyce cried out.
In response to his declaration of surrender, Lucas finally put down his sword.
Lucas crouched down and gave one last word of advice in a low voice that was heard by no one except Joyce.
"Don't waste your time taking revenge, rather you should try to protect yourself from the master you serve. What are the consequences of discarded pieces you should know better than anyone else?"
Immediately, Joyce's face went white imagining the consequence of losing.
After that, Lucas leaves the area after getting his tailcoat and parts with the crowd under numerous gazes without looking back.
..........
"Everybody listen up, I hope you had fun and enjoyed your recent days without any worry but now it's over."
CLAP!
Miss Ami's clap reverberated like a thunderbolt warning them about an upcoming crisis.
Taking a moment to glance around, Ami dropped the bomb.
"Your first-semester exam will be held this month."
"...."
A moment of silence prevailed followed by loud chatter spreading around.
"What?"
"Why?"
"This is too soon."
"Since there are two exams, should it not be conducted in the middle of the year?"
"Oh Gosh! I haven't even settled down and have had my fill of fun in the club..."The students stopped in the middle, hearing a loud cry.
"Who said that?"
A sharp cold crisp voice echoed.
The students closed their lips and looked ahead to see Miss Ami glancing at them with bloodied eyes. Her stare gave them the illusion of a demoness staring at them, making their soul leave their body.
"Hey, you...."
As soon as Ami pointed, the students sitting beside that person moved aside.
"It's over."
They already burnt incense for that person.
"Insolent...Which club did you join?"
"Clubs are a place that accelerates your growth, helps to build your personality, and lets you interact with your seniors who look after you and guide you."
"Just which club is that? Instead of helping juniors with their improvements, the club is wasting time goofing around. Which club is that?"
Previously there were various factions in which groups of nobles banded together to fight one another and waste time on meaningless things creating trouble and bullying the weaker ones. But after Julian became President, she cut all of these factions which also decreased the sphere of influence of the noble heirs in the academy.
Now, hearing about a club similar to those factions, Ami naturally was not going to let this go.
Hearing Ami's angry shout, they looked at the boy in pity and gave a salute.
'Bye, Bye, comrade. You were a brave soul but your bravery is going to get you killed and your fellow brothers.'
The boy in question started to sweat profusely.
Ami did not let the matter calm down until the boy named the club.
"I wanted to join that club but the odds were not in my favor."
Lucas stared at the person who whispered in his ears.
"Which club is it? The student's expression seems exaggerated," Lucas asked, giving Parth a skeptical glance.
"Man Of Culture Club."
"What?"
"It is a club that holds speeches and important discussion sessions. As per the contents, boys should know better than anyone else."Parth replied winking Lucas.
Lucas's eyes twitched uncontrollably making him wonder if Parth was joking or not.
"Let's put this aside, how are you doing Mr.Secretary?"
CRACK!
Parth heard a cracking sound somewhere but could not find the source.
The pen in Lucas's hand snapped as Parth's question rubbed salt over his wounds.
"It's good," Lucas answered, gnashing his teeth while screaming internally.
'Good my foot. The first day I entered, I almost died after being buried under a mountain of paper works. After finishing this, I have to stand for hours beside the Princess and wait for her to go through.'
'Do you know the pain?'
'Standing beside a universe toppling beauty and behaving as a saint. Every time I look at her, I fear losing my third leg. And all of this happening because you disgusting piece of shit..'
Parth might not be good at reading facial expressions, despite this, he could feel that Lucas was crushing his whole 14 generations.
"Hmm...Lucas, don't be angry. Too much anger makes one uglier.."
"You..."Lucas wanted to curse but stopped seeing Miss Ami shouting again.
"Enough, let me get to the point," Ami shouted after giving someone an earful.
"About your query, there will be a tournament inside the Academy around September or perhaps October."
"Today is July 12...A few days from now, you will be having your written exam. The exact date will be announced this week."
"After the written exam, you will be sent on a mission. Your performance in it will be graded."
The word mission drew everyone's attention.
"As you know, from the second year you are obliged to achieve a monthly quota by doing some mission."
"For prior experience, you will be assigned to the mission now. The list of tasks for the mission will be found on the mission board. You can choose a suitable one for yourself."
"If you find any complication, report it to PSB and then to the academy's dedicated helpline for the mission. If they assess that the difficulty of the mission is beyond your level, then you will be exempted from it and this will be handed over to a suitable authority."
Ami pausing for a moment, advised.
"Remember one thing, you can do a solo mission or form your group to finish the things but I advise you to work as a team so that the chances of averting danger increases."
Ami, finishing her speech, waited for the subsequent question.
"Miss, will there be a change in rank after this?"A student asked.
"No" Ami refuted sharply.
"The greatest opportunity to turn around the rank is the yearly tournament."
"Your every activity and performance is recorded, and observed by us. By the end of the year, your ranks will be changed based on your performance. Even currently, most of your performance is recorded. But, from the result of the Tournament, you can already guess the winners as unofficial top rankers.''
"Written exams and practical tests will not have an immediate effect on your ranks but steadily, it will help you to rise in rank. From the second year, The AP that you will get will be based on the points."
Ami pursued her lips and smiled"You will see a huge turnaround in ranks after the tournament. So, start preparing now if you don't want to be left in the dust. The top 10 rankers will get many privileges.''
Lucas shook his head hearing this. The reason for not changing the ranks is a gimmick of the Vice-Principal. Many would be drunk in power and when the ranks would be altered, face-slapping scenes would be seen all around.
Those who think they are superior and laze around just because they have a strong family backing and a good background would find themselves in a deep pit of misery after the ranks are announced at the end.
Charles who fell to rank 6 at the end of the year and went insane is a perfect example of this.
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