"Calm down, my friend!"
Seeing Mel's condition, Edgan grabbed him firmly by the shoulder and gave a slight shake, but even this physical jolt couldn't shake the young boy as much as the ugly truths he had just learned.
"Isn't this the academy's territory? How can they just sit back and watch this kind of corruption and lawlessness?"
Mel's anger wouldn't die down; he looked for a logical reason to understand what was going on. At this point, Nalt had to jump in.
"Honestly, before the Leader of the Academy went into secluded meditation to focus on his cultivation, the noble families didn't dare act like this. But everything changed the second the Second Elder took total control. As the Head of the Martial Division, this guy has torn down every rule and tradition in his endless chase for money and resources!"
Having heard similar stories before, Mel calmed down a bit; the announcement echoing from the fighting ring in front of them helped with that too.
"Next match: Florin against Arnold!"
"Finally, my time to shine has arrived!"
Grabbing his beat-up weapon, the boy jumped onto the stage in one leap. In total contrast to the gloom that had taken over the group a minute ago, he looked bursting with energy and joy.
"Look at the sneaky bastard; see how he comes to life the second he gets an opponent his own size!"
Nalt spoke with a small smile, rolling up the sleeves of his old clothes to watch the fight.
Unlike the match he had run away from, Florin launched a fast attack on his opponent, and the young boy facing him proved just as tough. Blades clashed, their footwork wore down every inch of the ring, and the fierce fight between the two boys sent the crowd's tension through the roof.
The fight went on for about ten minutes, but Florin managed to take solid control over his opponent with every passing second. Finally, when Arnold's sword was sent flying out of his hand to hit the floor, the winner was obvious; Florin stood as the winner of this really exciting match.
After the referee's call, the winning youth walked over to his beaten opponent and patted his shoulder a few times. That was how a match between two fighters from the common ranks ended.
Florin jumped down from the ring as fast as he went up; his lips, which usually couldn't hide his two big front teeth, were stretched so wide they were barely visible.
"Well? Not a bad fight, was it?"
"It was great; your fight really fired up my martial spirit!"
As Edgan spoke, a bright joy shined in his eyes. It was obvious the handsome boy wasn't just giving empty praise, but speaking from the bottom of his heart.
After that, they started breaking down the match. Edgan pointed out a few details he noticed to Florin, while Mel listened with total focus.
"Mel, how do you love the martial arts this much? If I didn't know about your crazy talent in Botanical Science, I would've told you to switch paths!"
Seeing his friend's eager look, Nalt couldn't help making a joke. How could he possibly know that Mel had the strength to fight even Boss-class wild beasts in the outer forest?
"Because I lived in an isolated mountain village, everything is totally new to me; that's the only reason I'm so interested in these fights. Otherwise, no one could say I have any talent for it!"
When Mel spoke, Florin let out a deep sigh.
"Man, life isn't fair! Imagine how high I could climb if I had that body?"
The buck-toothed boy complained, judging Mel just by how he looked. What would he say if he found out what was really going on with those arms?
"Next match: Edgan against Drake!"
When the referee on the ring called the match, Florin spit on the dirt in pure disgust.
"Look at this; even when calling the match, he talks up the noble like he owns the ring!"
Unlike his friend, Edgan looked totally unbothered. Stepping out of the heavy crowd, he walked up to the ring with slow, calm steps.
When he stood in front of his opponent, he held his left hand out, resting his right hand—which held his sword—behind his back. His posture looked incredibly cool; as a gentle breeze blew the hair falling against his clothes, the girls gathered around the ring started to scream in excitement.
This scene clearly annoyed the noble boy standing across from him. His face turned redder by the second, and finally, unable to take it anymore, he started shouting.
"You've gotten way too cocky just because you won a couple of matches. Soon, you're going to taste the wrath of the broadsword, the prized heirloom of my family."
"In the heat of battle, accidents can happen at any time, and the sharpness of my broadsword is legendary. If you don't want to lose an arm or a leg, you can drop to your knees and surrender right now!"
Edgan didn't give a single reaction to his opponent's taunts; just bending the fingers of his extended hand, he motioned for the noble to come at him.
His casual attitude made the heavy-set noble boy's patience snap; letting out a loud battle cry, he launched his attack. The weapon he used was just as massive as its owner; it was really wide and had five iron rings near its handle.
When Drake swung his weapon, the weird ringing noise made by the metal rings on the blade echoed through the arena. Edgan stayed totally calm; he dodged the swing just by taking a single step back.
After that, stepping onto the broadsword that had almost buried itself into the floorboards with one foot, he delivered a crushing kick right to the noble boy's face with his other foot.
Another wave of screams erupted from the girls around the ring; they couldn't stay quiet after such a flawless and beautiful strike.
Coming right after the big talk he gave at the start of the match, this move acted like a literal slap to Drake's face.
Letting out a roar way louder than his first battle cry, he lunged forward again. This time, he went for a wide horizontal swing aimed at Edgan's waist.
His move packed a lot of raw power and speed, but Edgan, like he knew this exact strike was coming, did a perfect forward flip and landed a heavy blow to the noble boy's face with his heel.
The ringing of the metal rings on the broadsword mixed with the ugly crack of broken bone. Blood poured from Drake's nose like a waterfall.
When he reached up to check it, he realized his nose was broken too, but it was way too late; after waiting it out during the first strike, Edgan was now launching his own attack.
His sword hand stayed locked behind his back; using only his kicks, he unleashed a storm of hits on the big noble boy's body.
With every heavy hit, Drake was violently pushed back a step or two; so much so that the match, which had started on Edgan's side of the ring, was now ending all the way on the other side.
This was the result of a non-stop barrage of kicks. When the noble boy swayed unsteadily at the edge of the ring, right on the verge of falling over, a cheer of anticipation went up from the crowd.
It was obvious they wanted Edgan to end the show with a spectacular finish.