"Serves him right, bastard deserves it!!"
"Fair retribution for what he did to Naoi!!"
"The arrogant prick, he thinks just because he comes from a big clan, he's above us all."
"Well, he's not exactly wrong, only Sarah, who is similarly from a prominent family, can beat him."
Grumbles and snorts erupted in the section where the student had said these words, his surrounding classmates displeased with the bitter truth.
"I've always wanted to see him with a face like this. I trusted the princess, and she delivered."
Around them, the rest of the students conversed among themselves in silence till one of them spoke up loudly.
"Guys, if Sarah can beat Roy so badly, then how strong is she compared to us?"
Silence immediately engulfed the entire stand.
People's lips immediately went shut, some eyes widening as they realized the frightening gulf between them and someone who was their mate, and finally a long sigh broke the silence.
"What is the school waiting for? Let them send the two of them and that monster to the final year class. We don't need their constant reminder of our inferiority."
While the students looked for motivation to continue with their struggles in the academy, getting depressed about how much they had been left behind by their mates, down in the arena, Roy blankly stared up at the back of his departing opponent.
Right till the current moment, where he sat on his knees completely exhausted, his opponent hadn't gone on the attack.
Sarah had remained countering his blows, her countenance calm and confident while he continually tried to overcome her, channeling as much Idor as he could into his fists, hoping that his next attack would be the one to equal her.
Roy had held onto that hope until suddenly he collapsed to his knees, heavy breaths leaving his lips as a sharp pain went through his chest.
Sarah had stood by watching him, waiting for him to stand, but it was Bana who arrived and settled the situation.
"You've exhausted your Idor and are not far from death. Sarah is the winner."
Roy couldn't even complain. The rest of his classmates might not know, thinking he was just on his knees unable to come to terms with his defeat, but he could see it in the older woman's eyes—she knew he was currently paralyzed.
Her words of him being close to death were very possibly no joke. To his core, Roy could feel his being weakening.
"Don't try to fight it or your family would need to start looking for a new heir."
From the stands, Roy had seen the medical personnel in white coats enter the ring and carry out his defeated classmates; he had never imagined that he would be one of them.
"How?" he wondered to himself, looking at the departing female.
Roy knew his father; the man did not sugarcoat things. He had seen Roy's ability and called him a genius, one the clan had never seen.
Roy knew his father did not lie, so then what was Sarah? Why could he not even catch up?
"Am I not training enough? Why?"
"And that concludes this semester's first evaluation," Roy heard his teacher say as he was being carried out, but then a loud voice sounded from the stand.
"Mrs Stenson, I haven't been evaluated."
Roy's eyes just happened to land on the owner, his tempered fire blazing at the sight of one of his classmates.
Hans!!
Roy screamed to the heavens for justice as this name rang through his head, his mind scrambling at the thought of being seen like this by that certain individual.
The sight of Hans made Roy regret his decision to battle Sarah; he should have used his strength to destroy the pauper and wipe the stain off his name…
"Mrs Stenson, I haven't been evaluated."
The sight of Roy being taken out on a stretcher had distracted Nathan from the figure behind him, but then the boy spoke and immediately he put his plans to go console the defeated heir on hold.
Nathan, along with every other student, looked behind, staring at Hans who calmly stood looking down at the arena, their expressions difficult.
"Hans, it's good to see you're alright, but you're late, very late.
As part of your punishment, you would not be taking part in today's exercise."
The woman down in the arena spoke with no hesitation, her expression showing her choice had already been made long before now.
When their teacher behaved like this, all the students present knew it was a foregone matter, and that trying to change her mind would instead incur more punishment but surprisingly, their classmate did not relent.
"Mrs Stenson, please reconsider. You'll ruin me if you do this.
If you let me fight, I promise to bring out Sarah's full power."