No one could have ever guessed the outcome of the spar.
Even after the match was over, Nox couldn't believe what had happened.
While Noah was sparring against Asher and other opponents, Nox carefully analysed him. In all four of his previous matches, Noah hadn't used his mana. He moved around only when it was absolutely necessary. There were no fancy skills or powerful abilities. All the wins he got untill then were solely due to the timing and brute strength of his attacks.
Given that Noah's rank was in the 1100s and the fact that he had no special skill, Nox was certain that Noah was either unable to use mana or it was too weak to be of any use.
Although he wasn't able to gather much information on Noah's background, he believed there to be a certain amount of truth behind the slanderous remarks. Noah looked nothing like the Duke nor the first princess, be it the colour of their hair or their facial features.
As the decisive time for selecting the candidate for the throne neared, the Noah that suddenly appeared now could be a possible replacement from the Wyte house.
If physical strength was all he had to worry about Noah, there wasn't any reason for him to waste this opportunity. All he had to do was overpower Noah with his speed.
However strong his opponent was, that strength was only concerning if it reached him.
The moment he pulled the sword out of nowhere to block his attack, Nox felt the need to reanalyze his opponent.
Although Nox didn't have experience with actual assassinations yet, he knew the importance of quick judgement. Re-evaluating the possibility of Noah possessing a personal weapon with space-related abilities, Nox made his next move aiming for Noah's blindspot outside the reach of that sword.
But before he could complete his attack, the spar took a 180. Was it the moment when the shield appeared on his back or when the layer of ice formed on his feet, locking him in place or when the blue flames covered Noah's sword, Nox wasn't sure. His hasty judgement cost him the match.
It was a mistake to underestimate him. Looking back, although there were a few instances, he felt he should have stopped underestimating him when he saw the blue flames that covered Noah's sword.
The stronger the spirit one contracted with, the harder it was to form a contract.
The blue flames that covered his sword proved that he had already formed a contract with the Wyte dragon spirit.
The power held by the users of the Wyte dragon spirit was known throughout the continent. Emilia Wyte, the eldest princess of the Wyte house was known as a prodigy to have contracted with a Wyte dragon spirit at only 12 years of age.
If Emilia Wyte was a prodigy then what was Noah… Nox couldn't help but think.
"Good spar."
Stopping his thought process was Noah who held out his hand.
".."
Unable to accept Noah's hand, Nox got up and proceeded to exit the arena while Noah followed behind him silently.
====
Five wins sounded good enough. It was enough to prevent others from slandering and enough to garner interest from others.
As he walked to the audience stand he could feel the gazes of the other students strongly on him. Fear, confusion and envy. The face of his classmates said this. The students who spoke against him earlier kept quiet. It wasn't quite the reaction Noah was expecting, but seeing Kyle's and Atlanna's expressions he decided to win the others one by one soon.
As the next match started, Noah decided to pay close attention. He didn't want to miss the chance to observe other talents like Nox.
Kyle was the next most prominent talent. As a merchant, he never directly participated in the revolt, so there was no information about his combat ability.
As Kyle's turn finally came, he entered the arena carrying two handguns.
In EtherWorld, guns and other firearms were mainly used by soldiers and non-combatants who weren't able to handle mana.
Unlike a bow, guns were much easier to learn and use. But amongst the strongest sharpshooters, gun users were considered weak as the bullet had a limit on the amount of mana it could carry. If too much mana was concentrated in the bullet, it would break and explode even before it was shot, unlike an arrow.
Adding to that was the cost of maintenance and ammunition one had to pay.
This was one of the reasons why Noah took the path of the sword after experimenting with different weapons in EtherWorld.
Unlike Kyle his opponent armed himself with a shield and sword they took from the common equipment room.
The result was a one-sided loss for Kyle. His opponent charged toward him, covering themself with the shield. While he was able to quickly damage his opponent's shield, it wasn't fast enough. Once the distance closed, he wasn't able to shake away from his opponent. With a single hit, Kyle lost.
After Kyle's match, what caught Noah's attention was Rihaan's. When he stood in the arena lazily and defenceless, his opponent charged straight at him with full speed.
Without any defence, the match should have ended within a few hits with Rihaan's defeat. But contrary to everyone's expectations, his opponent never stopped charging. Even after they closed the distance, their legs continued to push forward until they exited the arena themself resulting in an out-of-bounds loss.
If they couldn't feel the fluctuations of mana and his opponent's facial expressions, others would have thought he was lucky to match with an idiot. After watching him fall outside, Rihaan silently walked back towards the audience stand.
The remaining matches continued until Atlanna was the only student left.
As the rules dictated that the new challenger can nominate a person who had either won their previous spar or hadn't participated yet, no one wanted to willingly have a spar against Atlanna who was considered the strongest in the class.
It wasn't cowardice. It was just a rational acknowledgement of their skill level. There wasn't a point in participating in a spar they were sure to lose only to risk losing evaluation points in Norman's class and upsetting the upper nobility circle.
Walking to the centre of the arena, Atlanna smiled playfully, "have you recovered enough for one more spar, Prince Noah?"