"Now that it's confirmed that I fill the requirements, let's start already, I'm kind of tired here and need to sleep.
"Y-Yes ?" stuttered Adrian after coming out of his daze due to Alex words.
All around them, chatters broke out, each focusing on the fact that the supposedly useless lord that they knew for years was suddenly at level 4.
"How did you help him attain this level ?" Questioned Victoria with a curious tone.
"Nothing. I had nothing to do with his current strength, but does it really matter to you ?" Asked Grace, squinting her eyes at Victoria and Robert.
"As a matter of fact, yes, it does matter not just for me but all of us. For all we know, he might have used something to push his strength past its limit, but we all know that things like that come with a price. If he becomes the head of our branch - which I doubt would happen - and then is caught up by the consequences of the thing that enhanced his strength, we will all become a laughingstock for allowing such a person to become the head of our branch," said Robert.
Many people nodded to his words, feeling that he was right.
"And what do you propose ?" Asked Grace calmly.
She wasn't an idiot; she knew perfectly well what Robert was getting at. Still, she asked, and as she thought, his proposition was to exclude Alex from the competition. Like earlier, many people supported him; however, this time there was a second group that was against such a thing.
This group claimed that no matter what method he used, Alex was still a member of the branch, and it wouldn't be right to exclude him. It was his right to participate, and no one can or should take it from him.
As the situation seemed to go out of control, Grace raised her hand, silencing everyone. Then she turned to Robert and asked:
"Can you prove that he used something to enhance his strength?"
Robert wanted to argue that Alex must have surely used something to enhance his strength, it was impossible to go from level 1 to level 4 In one year, but ultimately he just kept his mouth shut.
Even if he was sure that Alex used something to enhance his strength, as long as he couldn't prove it, then his argument was considered baseless.
"If you have nothing to prove that he used something to enhance his level, then shut the f*ck up and let us proceed to the competition" coldly said Grace.
She then glanced at Adrian and ordered, "continue".
"Okay" replied Adrian.
As he was about to continue, however, someone among the participants raised his hand.
"What do you want, Nox ?" Asked Adrian as he looked at Jonathan younger brother.
"I just wanted to know how things are going to happen now that Alexandre is here," said Nox with a charming smile.
It was after he mentioned it that everyone thought about it. At first, there were sixteen of them, so each person would have an opponent to fight. But now that Alex was here, they were seventeen, and there was one person that might not get an opponent.
"Indeed, it's tricky" agreed Adrian before continuing :
"I guess you didn't mention it for nothing, right? What do you propose ?"
"Grandpa Adrian knows me well," replied Nox with a smile, then continued, "My proposal is that Alexandre would have to earn his place within the members of the competition. It's his own fault for coming late even though the competition is held at his mansion."
Nox glanced at Alex, his smile fading, and said:
"If he wants to be in the competition, he would need to fight with one of the sixteen actual participants, if he wins, he will take the place of this participant and if he loses, then he would apologize towards all the participants while on his knees".
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting, if he does as you say, then he would have one battle more than any of us, where is the fairness in that, plus, he already looks tired if-"
"It's no one's fault if your brother decided to entertain his drunk friends last night, as for fairness, it should actually be us that should argue about fairness, it took all of us decades to attain our current level while your brother only took some drugs to enhance his level, yet, he is going to compete against the rest of us, where is the fairness in that ?" Questioned Nox.
"The reason why I'm proposing this, is to show him that he can take all the drugs or elixir that he wants, a trash like him won't-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Nox felt the gaze of someone powerful land on him.
"Nox, you are the youngest here while Alex is the oldest, you are in no position to show disrespect to him no matter what he does, mind your words" warned Adrian.
If there was anything that Adrian disliked, it was juniors showing disrespect towards their seniors.
"I apologize..." said Nox while slightly bowing towards Alex.
"...however, I still maintain my words. What I want to do is show Alexandre that even if he may have taken something to enhance his strength, it doesn't mean that he can brush shoulders with the rest of us. That's why I volunteer myself as his opponent," declared Nox.
Amelia scowled and wanted to reply to Nox but then she felt a strong arm pat her head.
"It's okay Amy" said Alex with a smile, then turned to Nox and said with a calm tone:
"I accept your duel; after all, as your senior, it's my duty to teach my junior a lesson if he is out of line."