This time, instead of walking back to his seat in the stands, Alex stayed in the changing room.
The finals would be starting soon, and his opponent was the asshole who defeated Tessa.
He meditated to recoup mana—he had been given thirty minutes to do so.
Outside, the number of spectators didn't increase; it decreased.
It seemed contradictory—this was supposed to be the best fight of the exam.
But commoners didn't care about the outcome when the finalists were Alex and Tessa, neither of whom they particularly liked.
Nobles, on the other hand—unless they were truly into combat, like Mirelle—cared even less. Their presence in the academy was for social prestige, not martial displays.
So the arena grew emptier by the minute.
Tessa and Scarlett watched from above.
"Do you think he'll win easily?" Tessa asked.
"Yes. Alex already knows what his opponent can do, even with artifacts. With his combat intelligence, it's highly unlikely he'll fall for any tricks," Scarlett answered.
Alex was on another level compared to the students.
But it hadn't always been like this. The power he wielded now came from training that disregarded his own safety and well-being. One could only imagine the mental resilience forged through that.
"Honestly, where did he even come from?" Scarlett asked. She had never known—she'd never asked, and he rarely spoke about himself.
"Well, both he and Marc were orphans. He buried him at Perrin's Gate—at least that's what I gathered the day he hired the carriage back," Tessa replied.
"An orphan? Then how did he even become a mage?" Scarlett asked again.
Only now did she realize how little she knew about her own student.
"That I don't know," Tessa said honestly. She wanted to know more about him, but didn't want to get her hopes high before asking the question.
As the girls traded bits of information and shifted to unrelated topics, Tessa suddenly paused.
"It seems the time to begin has already passed, yet no one is in the arena. What's happening?"
"Yeah, I've noticed. I have no idea either," Scarlett replied.
Curiosity gnawed at them.
'Maybe something happened to one of the participants,' Scarlett thought, though she hoped Alex was fine.
Meanwhile, in the changing room opposite of the arena from Alex's, a heated discussion was underway.
"I don't care, do something!" a voice snapped.
"We can't—you still have to fight. His violation only applied to the last match," the referee pleaded.
Arven didn't want to fight Alex. He knew he couldn't win. Even Dorren had the floor mopped with his face, and Arven had barely defeated Tessa with an artifact.
"We can't let a commoner win the fight test. Where would that leave the academy?" a noble-class professor argued.
"What am I supposed to do? We had a chance to disqualify him for speaking to his teacher in the arena, but Dorren said he didn't mind and fought him anyway!" the referee snapped.
"So? Say he needs consent from every participant to fight with an advantage," the professor shot back.
"Is that even possible? It was never announced."
The referee hesitated. He had to obey nobles, but his reputation was on the line.
"Say it was a ruling we reached after the fight because this situation had never happened before. No more questions. Go," the professor ordered.
'Haah, fuck me,' the referee thought, but he complied.
Back in the arena, Alex and Arven were summoned.
They approached and stood before the referee.
"Alex, I have to announce that you are disqualified," the referee said suddenly.
"What?" Alex asked, confused.
"What!?" Tessa shouted from the stands.
"What did I even do?" Alex pressed. He'd been itching for this fight, and now he was simply dismissed?
"After extensive discussion, we concluded you need consent from every fighter to continue competing. Arven refused, so you can't proceed to fight with an advantage," the referee explained smoothly.
"Wow. It almost doesn't sound like some bullshit you just made up on the spot. Bravo. But that advantage was from the last fight—I've been resting until now," Alex said flatly.
"Take it like a man, Alex. You broke the rules, deal with it," Arven poked at him with a smug smile.
"Shut up. A bitch who backs out of a fight doesn't get to call himself a man, pussy." Alex replied instantly.
Arven was mad, but he had no comeback—he didn't want to fight him after all.
"Enough, both of you," the referee snapped. "The decision is final. I didn't decide anything; I'm just carrying out orders. You can file a complaint with the principal."
"I declare Arven Drayden the victor, concluding the test," he announced.
"What a load of shit!" students shouted. They'd been waiting for the final fight, only for it to end in politics and excuses.
"So anticlimactic," Mirelle muttered, turning to leave.
There was nothing else to see. The academy would never allow a commoner to win—especially in the fighting exam, that would be disastrous for the reputation.
Scarlett was silent—disappointed.
For the first time, a commoner reached the finals, and he was disqualified because nobles couldn't stomach losing. Of the top fifty, forty-eight were nobles, yet Alex was the one punished for winning.
This decision cemented her resolve to leave the academy.
'I'll deal with my family, even if that means giving up my title. I refuse to be grouped with people like them.'
She remembered Alex's words and considered leaving the continent altogether.
Tessa wasn't angry—she knew Alex didn't care much about the result.
She was nervous. With the crowd dispersing, the moment she had been waiting for arrived.
As she saw Alex leave, she stood and followed him, bracing herself.
He exited through the door, thoughtful, and she caught up.
Outside, he was waiting.
"Hey," he greeted, casual as always.
"Hello. Do you have a moment? I want to talk," she said.
"Sure. I also have something to say, but in private," he replied.
She nodded, and they walked to a more secluded place.
Alex turned, about to speak, but Tessa spoke first.
"Tell me, Alex… do you still plan to kill Bren Alderfell?"