"The Forty-Eighth Neophyte Sentinel is Rosette Er Cloud, Daughter of the Cloud Upper Nobility from the Suum Cuique Kingdom." The White-haired beauty walked onto the stage and curtsied. She didn't smile and kept a neutral expression.
"The Forty-Ninth Neophyte sentinel is Niel Armstrength."
"Last but not least, Fiftieth Neophyte Sentinel is Daniel. My disciple, as well as the disciple of my son."
Shock! Absolute shock!
The crowd quickly began to whisper amongst itself.
"No way, the Hearthfire, and Myriad Specter have a disciple‽ He doesn't even have a family name!"
"There's got to be a reason some commoner is their disciple. I demand I spot!"
"Sit down you hooligan, you keep talking out of your ass I'ma fight you! What's wrong with being a commoner?"
"That's right buttface, you should be more ashamed of the fact that you are of Nobility and are still sitting here as a spectator!!"
...
As Daniel walked towards the very center of the stage, he had a thought. "A man never kneels, and never bows." Contrary to social etiquette, Daniel simply raised his fist to thump against his chest and nodded toward the crowd. Quickly lining up next to everyone else.
Hearthfire and Enfred both chuckled inside but were quite happy that their disciple didn't bow to anyone.
The crowd was quickly reignited but soon quieted down after the Hearthfire raised his hand.
"The matches will begin from the first and fiftieth Neophyte to the second and forty-ninth Neophyte, and so on and so forth."
Daniel's eyes widened. 'This bastard is making me fight first‽'
"Neophyte Sentinels, please take two steps back. Contestants, please step forward."
Daniel walked towards the right side of the circle, as he faced the prince of Illumina. The prince in question also did the same, all whilst he wore a carefree smile on his face.
"I do not understand why you have become the disciple of the two pillars of the Myriad Sentinel Academy, but I would like to see what kind of qualifications a commoner like you has for obtaining such a position."
The crowd was immediately split by the Prince's statement. The commoner populous was irritated and glum, while the Nobility as well as the Royalty of each country simply stayed quiet. They too wanted to understand.
Anger and irritation. Daniel had many times faced bullying in school. Whether it was for his high academic achievements or his athletic ability, or even his popularity with the girls of his school, the bullies would always find something to pester him about.
'When was the last time someone actually tried to do this exact same thing to me? Eighth grade?'
"I really don't like dealing with people like you, irrelevant in the grand scheme of things yet act as if the world revolved around them."
"Oh? Those are some sharp words coming from a commoner with no family name, don't you think?" The prince smirked as he took a fighting stance.
"Funny, most good for nothings spew so much shit out of their mouth that their ass feels left out. You have a family who has worked hard to earn their place in the world and the fact that you fail to recognize your insignificance and zero contribution to their cause truly amuses me."
Daniel's gaze was sarcastically sympathetic, simply playing tit for tat.
The prince's face contorted in anger as he gritted his teeth. The referee understood that their little dialogue had ended, and thus proceeded to start the match.
"May the duel of Fates, Begin!"
...
The prince ran at Daniel with his full strength, cocking back his fist he threw it towards Daniel's face.
'Is he slow? Or am I just quick?'
After the Battles he participated in to survive, he was so used to fighting opponents faster and stronger than him that it seemed the prince who received the best of the best, was weak.
Daniel shifted his body back to the right, letting the arrogant prince fly past him. Daniel quickly grabbed the back of the prince's head and smashed against the hard stone stage. A resounding crack echoed flesh met stone.
Everyone was shocked. The Royalty of Illumina stood up in shock. The Nobility dropped their jaws as their eyes widened.
Daniel lifted the prince's head by his hair, observing him to see if he would continue to fight.
The prince opened his eyes, anger filled his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He attempted to punch Daniel in the face, but before he could do that, Daniel slammed him into the stone floor once more. This time the stone tile cracked.
The stage was made from materials that were similar to concrete, but we can't forget that humans in this world are much stronger than those on Earth.
Daniel threw the barely conscious prince across the stage, where he rolled for a few feet before stopping.
'What's... Going on?' Daniel could feel the rage he felt during the village massacre resurface as he instinctively reacted to the prince's threat.
Daniel looked at his hands, which were trembling slightly. His blood felt like lava. He felt afraid.
The suit he wore reacted to his feeling of danger and covered him. Daniel's breathing grew haggard as he tried to get a grip on himself.
"You want to fucking play like that you filthy scum‽" Daniel turned to look at the prince who had stood up at some point, blood flowing from his nose and forehead.
"Activate." The prince spoke with a grim tone. A completely white suit of armor covered him. A stark contrast to Daniel's Black Armor.
Enfred was about to step forward, for the battle would quickly be too chaotic, but Hearthfire placed a hand on his shoulder.
Shaking his head, Hearthfire spoke softly. "Don't interfere, he does not understand his power yet. He'll need to fight a difficult fight in order to overcome. Else he will be left with nothing."
Enfred sighed. He turned to look at the stage.
Without saying a word, Daniel and the prince walked toward each other.
One felt angry, and the other felt rage.