Paul stood before Ashoka, squeezing his wooden sword's handle as cold sweat ran down his face. His eyes kept darting around as he wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
He hadn't received so much attention ever since becoming a cadet at the Tower of Wisdom, which explained his restlessness.
After the collapse of his family, Paul became very timid and tried to attract as much attention as possible towards himself, maybe because of that, the current attention he was receiving felt very burdensome.
It was to the extent that the other spectating cadets could see Paul's soul escaping through his mouth already as the staredown with Ashoka continued.
Everyone couldn't help but think back on the words that Ashoka had told the coward.
You cannot survive in this world if you continue acting like that.
'Why did the Young Master tell me such things…?'
