The sudden turn of events wasn't something that anyone could've predicted.

Be it those from the Aurora Empire, and those from Haven.

Opening her eyes, Aoife's gaze fell on Kaelion who stood at the center of the arena with several dozen magic circles behind him. The very air felt thick around him and at a glance, Aoife could feel immense pressure coming off of him.

'He's strong.'

That was something that she already knew.

But,

.....She didn't know it was to this extent.

"Judging from the density of the mana he's giving out, he's probably very close to Tier 4, perhaps even reached it."

Leon's voice reached her from the side.

Listening to what he had to say, Aoife slowly nodded her head. She could feel it too.

He was definitely not someone that she could beat without giving it her all. And even then, there was no guarantee that she'd win.

Bang!

Startling her out of her thoughts was a certain noise that came from the arena grounds.

Turning her head, she pursed her lips.

"The first round is over! The winner is Kaelion Mandrale from the Aurora Empire!"

The fight lasted no longer than a couple of seconds.

At that moment, the arena grounds were quiet. Neither one spoke as they stared at the figure that stood in the middle without a care for the world.

"..Should I go?"

Leon fiddled with the hilt of his sword.

He was itching to go. And just as he was about to, Aoife raised her hand and stopped him.

"No."

".No?"

Leon looked at Aoife in confusion.

But then, as if he could read her thoughts, he frowned.

"Are you planning on having him continue so that we can tire him out?"

"Yes."

Aoife replied indifferently while looking at the other cadets who sat alongside her.

"This is the best chance that we have at beating him and everyone else from the other Empire "

".."

Leon stood quietly without saying a word.

He wanted to disagree but found himself unable to. Realistically speaking, this was indeed the best option for them.

It was a risky option.

Losing would certainly affect the morale of the cadets, but at the same time, if they were to pull through and beat the strongest member of the Aurora Empire, then they'd be able to gain momentum for the upcoming Summit.

'There's also them.'

Leon glanced towards the other side, where the other members of the Aurora Empire sat.

Two people in particular stood out to him.

Aiden Rothwild, and Jessica K. Puffton.

Besides Kealion, they were the two people that they needed to watch out for.

Thinking about their strength, Leon pursed his lips and nodded his head.

"Alright. I'll listen to you."

***

On the other side,

"This is boring. Why did he decide to go ahead and participate?"

A young girl with short brown hair lazily sat on her seat while she stared at Kaelion who stood at the center of the arena platform.

Staring at her nails, her eyes paused on a certain figure that stood on the opposite side.

Her lips pursed with interest.

"He's pretty handsome. Still, he looks pretty beatable."

"..What's the point of thinking of whether you can beat him or not?"

Aiden spoke from next to her as he stared at Kaelion.

"That guy will probably make quick work of everyone. We will likely not get a chance to do anything."

"What a pity."

Jessica lowered her head in disappointment.

Then, as if recalling something, she snickered.

"But what about you? How are you doing?"

"What about me?"

Aiden frowned while staring at Jessica who continued to snicker.

"Don't act like you don't know. Everyone here has seen you cry in the canteen. Kek, did you miss home that much."

"Shut up."

Aiden glared at her while turning his attention back to Kaelion. At the same time, he crossed his arms while his expression frosted over.

"I can't see the bastard who did that to me. Those cowards probably wanted to play some dirty tricks in order to affect my mentality."

His teeth clenched tightly.

"They're lucky Kaelion took over. Otherwise"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning behind his words was clear.

Jessica stared from the side and held both sides of her shoulders.

"Oh~ Goosebumps."

Yet again, she started to snicker.

Aiden looked at her for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Kaelion.

Bang!

"The tenth round is over! The winner is Kaelion Mandrale from the Aurora Empire!"

It had only been several minutes since the exchange had started, and they were already on the tenth round.

"Huam."

Yawns could be heard from the other cadets.

The fights were quick, with little chance for his opponents to do anything. They were understandably bored.

"Tsk."

Aiden clicked his tongue.

"These boring matches will probably continue until the last few matches."

The intent behind those from Haven was clear.

Waste Kaelion's stamina and finish him off at the end.

There was only one flaw with this strategy.

Kaelion

His stamina was his strongest suit. This tactic was a futile strategy.

"Heh."

Smirking slightly, he looked up to stare at the Black Star.

"They must be realizing their situation just about now. I wonder what they're going to do now. Are they going to still waste more stamina, or are they finally going to fight?"

Aiden would be more than happy if they continued like this. At the end of the day, he didn't think they'd lose.

.And once Haven did lose, the reality of the situation would sink in on every one of them, forcing them to lose all semblance of morale.

That thought made Aiden smile as he stared at Kaelion's back.

'You know what to do.'

***

It stood tall and on all fours.

Its fangs were long and sharp, and the pressure alone could suppress anything that was within its vicinity.

Kaelion had once stood before this creature.

He could recall all the details about the experience.

But in particular, if there was one thing he could never forget, it was its gaze. For that was the first and last time he had ever experienced it.

Fear.

"The twelfth round is over! The winner is Kaelion Mandrale from the Aurora Empire!"

'Has he still not shown up?'

Hearing the professor announce the result of the match, Kaelion looked around. He could still see no trace of the cadet he had seen in the canteen.

As such, he felt disappointed.

'From his uniform, he was a first-year. How come he isn't here? Is he still hiding?'

Or was what he had seen fake? Could it be that it had all been fruit of his own imagination, and what had happened had nothing to do with the cadet but Aiden?

At first, Kaelion was confident that what he had seen that day was real, but now? He wasn't so sure anymore.

Perhaps, he had really been imagining things.

"Haa"

He let out a long breath at the thought.

.His emotions started to boil, and anger started to rise from deep within his chest. That was when he turned his attention towards the cadets from Haven.

There were eight left.

His stamina was still almost full, and he hardly had broken a sweat from all the fights he had.

That went to show how low their level was.

'Let's get this over with.'

Seeing the serious expressions on the faces of the cadets from Haven, Kaelion grew even more annoyed.

It was for that reason that he came up with a decision,

"All of you, come fight me together."

"..!?"

"Uh?!"

His words startled everyone present.

Be it those from his side, or the Professors.

But Kaelion didn't care. He wanted to get this over with. He was wasting his time here.

Since he could not get what he wanted, he just wanted to finish everything in one go and head back to his room.

"I"

He was just about to speak again when a single clap echoed throughout.

Clap!

It was soft, and yet, it rang loudly within Kaelion's mind.

Startled, Kaelion looked in the direction of where the clap sounded but found that there was no one.

Clap!

The clap sounded again.

It spread evenly throughout every corner of the arena grounds. The strangest part of it all was the fact that he seemed to be the only one who had noticed the clapping.

Kaelion felt a certain sensation run through his body when he realized it.

Chills.

It was chills.

"H-hoo."

His chest trembled unevenly as he struggled to keep himself composed.

Clap...! Clap!

The claps continued, this time growing faster and louder.

"Ukh...!"

Clap, Clap, Clap

The claps grew more and more frantic, and Kealion found himself a familiar sensation running through every inch of his body.

He started to struggle to breathe.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face at the same time.

Clap! Clap...!

The beat of his heart quickened, and he started to lose control of his legs.

He wasn't sure what was happening, but as he looked around, he could see the weird looks he was receiving from the people around him.

'W-what's going on...?'

Kaelion continued to look around in panic.

The source...

He needed to find the source of the sound.

And,

"Ah...!"

He found it.

Sitting by the far end of the arena was a familiar-looking cadet.

With his bangs covering his face, he sat with a relaxed look. His gaze was locked on him, and with his legs spread open and his back leaning back, he clapped in his direction.

Clap, clap, clap...!

His claps continued, and Kaelion felt himself lose his breath.

At that very moment, he was reminded of the distant past. Reminded of a certain emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time, and he slowly brought his hand towards his chest.

"Haa..."

Something.

Something was starting to eat at his heart.

It was slowly consuming his mind, making it hard for him to think properly.

"Haa... Haa..."

His breathing grew more rampant, and just when he thought the sensation would continue, everything stopped.

From the claps to the sensation eating at his chest.

"...."

Everything had grown quiet.

It was eerily quiet, and for a brief moment, Kealion could hear the sound of his own heartbeat.

....It was fast.

So fast...

That silence, however, was soon broken by a certain voice.

"Was this how he did it...?"

Kaelion shuddered at the sound of his voice.

And then,

With just a blink, everything returned to normal and the figure disappeared.

....It was as if he had never been there in the first place.

And,

That was when Kaelion finally understood what he had been feeling.

Fear.

He had finally felt it again.