The Imperial Academy was in a huge commotion on that morning. The trash fighting against the 3rd ranked cultivator... would have Jacob destroyed him or would have Arslan turned the tide of the battle in his favor and left anyone astonished? Every outer disciple was excited to witness that fight as word of it already spread everywhere, due to Jacob and Troy publicizing it. Most of them hoped for Arslan's defeat.
Inside the Reception Hall, the receptionist wrote the new cultivation level Arslan achieved right near his name on the big board containing every disciple's level. It was made in order to allow every disciple challenged or willing to challenge someone what cultivation level the other disciples had. Other than that, the bloodline level of each outer disciple was also written. Arslan didn't have a bloodline, so that space near his name was empty. It was just basic information though, as the cultivation and bloodline levels and didn't mean everything. In fact, the techniques learnt weren't shown on that board.
After that, Arslan signed the paper where he confirmed his will to accept Jacob's challenge and came out of the Reception Hall.
As he headed towards the arena where all the regularized battles were fought, he could notice an important flow of disciples going in the same direction. In front of him, a boy was standing without moving while watching Arslan,
"John! I didn't expect you to come too." Arslan said surprised while quickening the pace of his walk to reach him faster. He was already accustomed to John's presence and felt more comfortable speaking to him.
"Arslan! How could I miss such an important event?" He said while smiling and getting closer to Arslan. As he was at an inch of distance from him, he neared his mouth to Arslan's right ear,
"My friend, is there something you need help with?"
By being suddenly so serious, John startled Arslan, who was used to seeing him always carefree. In a second he realized that John wasn't that simple of a person,
"I-I have it under control..." Arslan got serious too. Both of them looked at each other with the corner of their right eyes.
"Are you sure? I may be not so strong to beat Jacob but-" John got interrupted by Arslan.
"Don't worry... I'll make sure he remembers this day." Arslan's fierce glare made John understand that Jacob did something outrageous for Arslan if Arslan himself is so willing to fight him. Arslan would have avoided a fight if he could, but, seeing how angered he was, John thought it had something to do with his sister.
Then John made a step back,
"If you say so, I can just watch. But if you need help, don't hesitate to ask. I have never been a courageous person, but, for a friend, I would even get a beating without thinking twice." John said as he smiled and turned his back to Arslan, walking away.
'Friends eh? The same word she said at that time...' Arslan thought as he watched John heading towards the arena,
"Thanks!" He said aloud to reach John's ears.
John turned his head and smiled back waving his right hand,
"Go to win this!"
'For sure...' Arslan thought as he began focusing on what he had to do. He took a deep breath, 'Let's go.' And he went to the arena.
It was quite big and could keep all the outer disciples on the stone bleachers built all around the arena. On one side there was Elder Song, who was the elder in charge of all internal disputes of the disciples, like the past Martial Competition. He looked at Arslan, who was climbing the stairs of the arena without getting distracted by all the cheers for Jacob that could be heard from the bleachers. Jacob was already on the ring, waiting for his opponent to come.
As Arslan did the last step of the stairs, he could see Jacob's confidence in his eyes and body position. He had his arms folded and a sure smile on his face.
'Mh, he looks so confident...' Arslan thought as he watched him with an expressionless face. His Crimson eyes stared at his opponent, while the disciples around the ring screamed and insulted him.
"Finally, we will see Arslan crawling on the ground!!!!"
"Let's see now if you really are a middle-stage Earth-level!!"
"You don't deserve to stay in this Academy!!"
Troy watched the scene from the side of the ring opposite to Elder Song's with Cindy near him, while smiling with his hands in his pocket, as he usually did when he felt confident.
"Arslan, Arslan... if you are scared you are still on time to ask for my forgiveness. If you bow down and stay there for ten minutes I might allow you to leave on your legs!" Jacob said while laughing together with the crowd, who was getting more and more excited.
Arslan made a deep breath while closing his eyes and reopening them again,
"Jacob... You will remember this day for the rest of your life."
At that moment, Arslan showed to everyone what the aura of a middle-stage Earth-level should have been. No one talked anymore, not even Jacob, whose face changed from confident to worried in a matter of seconds. Arslan was surrounded by his darkness, which made a whirlwind 5 meters tall and three meters large. The only 2 things piercing through that thick fog were Arslan's crimson eyes,
"Now, you'll know what the price to pay for endangering my sister is." Arslan said with a deep voice that made the surrounding air shiver.
Jacob's legs were trembling and Troy and Cindy stopped smiling as they couldn't deny that Arslan was not the trash they knew anymore.
"This f*cker... just how strong did he become?!" Troy said while gritting his teeth,
"I don't know if Jacob can have a chance against this. My mother was right. Arslan's power is the worst calamity that ever happened to our family!" His eyes were wide open as he told these words aloud without thinking.
"Now... let's start." Arslan said as he was ready for the battle.