The fights that were taking place were only between second categories, as most of the third category cadets had been sent to the outskirts as reinforcements.
Nathan watched each fight carefully, focusing on all four of them at the same time. Learning was not just about acting, but also about observing, so he did not miss the details of the various combat styles of the cadets, who used different weapons.
After leaving the realm, Nathan lost his greatsword during the battle against Faye, but Syril gave him the katana he had left behind. Remembering those moments when he suffered because he did not have a good weapon, Nathan decided never to go anywhere without his sword again.
While he was still watching the fights, a cadet from the group of organizers approached him.
"This is the list of opponents"
Nathan frowned at the cadet and received the list.
"Aren't you the ones who are supposed to organize the fights? Why are you showing me the list?"
The cadet scratched his head and laughed slightly embarrassed.
"Well, you'll understand when you look at the list"
Nathan shifted his gaze to the list and was speechless.
'You're pretty popular...' Amelia whispered inside his head.
On the list, there were at least almost 100 names of different cadets who wanted to fight against him. There were a few first-category ones, and the vast majority were second-category, but there were no third-category ones.
Nathan was surprised by the number of people who wanted to fight against him. He had expected quite a few... but not that many.
He was also not surprised that there were no third category cadets who wanted to fight him at the moment.
Of the few who were still in the facility, they had a pride to maintain and would not be looking for a fight against someone of a lower category than themselves.
Nathan smiled slightly.
'Let's see how long they last with that thought'
For a couple of minutes, Nathan read the list and the names of the cadets on it. Besides the name, there was also some information about the cadets, such as the weapon they used, and the number of wins, draws and losses.
Most of the cadets had a fairly balanced average between wins and losses, while some excelled slightly more in wins than in losses.
Nathan focused on those, so the list was narrowed down to just 20 cadets, from which he simply chose a random one to fight against.
Among the 20 cadets, there were all kinds of weapons, so that Nathan could experiment with fighting against different styles.
He handed the blade back to the cadet, who nodded when he saw who he had chosen as his opponent.
Almost five minutes later, the fights were over, and Nathan waited patiently for his turn. Usually, it was necessary to wait a few combats before it was finally one's turn, but Nathan was surprised when the cadet told him it was his turn.
'Is this what it feels like to have preference?'
Nathan hadn't asked for it, but his unearned popularity had helped,
Rising from the bleachers, Nathan walked down to his assigned arena and waited in the center for his opponent to arrive.
'And all this just for wearing a mask...'
Then a young cadet entered the arena and Nathan watched him silently.
'Jarm Dennis, he uses a battle axe and has a record of 25 wins, 7 draws and 12 losses'
The young man had a build similar to his own and carried the battle axe on his back and had a serious look on his face, but he couldn't hide the anticipation he felt.
'Well... let's see how strong you are'
Nathan unsheathed his sword feeling nostalgic after two months of not using his katana.
As the two waited, another cadet stood at the edge of the arena and shouted to the crowd.
"The next match will be between Cadet Nathan and Cadet Dennis"
Applause, laughter, and murmurs could be heard throughout the place.
"The use of technique and essence is allowed, the only limitation is deadly attacks"
Nathan clicked his tongue internally.
He had accustomed to a much wider and unbridled style of combat using his premonitions of death as a way of predicting his opponents moves and catching them off guard, but now he would have to adapt to fighting like someone normally would.
'You're the weird one...'
Nathan ignored Amelia's thoughts as he waited for the cadet's signal to start the fight.
Cadet Dennis also seemed eager to get started, so the other cadet didn't delay and lowering the hand he was holding up, started the fight.
Dennis did not delay and attacked Nathan by swinging his axe vertically, then Nathan dodged to the side and attacked him as well.
The movements of both were fluid and agile, trying to find any opening in their opponent. Even so, Nathan felt that somehow his movements were still a bit clumsy, but nothing that would prevent him from winning the fight.
Nathan was used to training with Syril, Dilliard and before that with Boreas, so it was normal for him to face opponents who were faster and more powerful than he was.
Dennis was not bad, but Nathan realized that his level was higher than that of the cadet.
Deflecting the battle axe with his katana, Nathan tried to cut the cadet's chest, then a faint silver armor appeared on his chest and his katana rebounded.
Nathan was slightly surprised to see the ethereal armor covering the cadet's chest.
'Interesting technique...'
Nathan stepped back and the cadet took advantage of this to attack him again.
Throughout the entire fight, Nathan hadn't used his technique, and he didn't plan to use it during all the combats. After all, he was training to learn how to deal with different human opponents. It was of no use to him if his opponents fought with fear in their midst, making his training less fruitful.
For a couple of minutes Nathan repeatedly dodged and attacked the cadet's body, but each time his attacks were stopped by the silver armor.
However, he noticed that with each attack, slight cracks appeared on the surface of the armor.
Slightly increasing the flow of essence into his arms, Nathan deflected an attack and gave another attack to the armor, which reached its limit and fractured.
With no time to react, the cadet stopped when the edge of Nathan's sword lightly touched his neck.
Smiling bitterly, the cadet threw up his hands.
"It's my loss"
Nathan stood still for a few moments before withdrawing his sword. It was then that the other cadet approached them and raised his hand pointing to Nathan's side,
"Victory goes to Cadet Nathan!"
The crowd cheered their victory, then Nathan walked over to Cadet Dennis and extended his hand.
"That was a good fight"
The cadet was silent for a couple of seconds with an indifferent expression, then sighed and smiled slightly returning the handshake.
"Apparently the rumors are not unfounded. Thank you for the opportunity"
Nathan looked a little surprised, not knowing what to say.
"Ah... yeah, sure"
Saying that, Nathan walked back to the bleachers and sat down leaving his sword beside him. Suddenly, he felt someone sit down next to him and looked at Syril who was carrying a bag with several skewers of meat.
"I didn't think you were going to take part in the fights"
Nathan looked at her as she ate and sighed.
"Well, it's a good way to train"
Syril swallowed a piece of meat and looked at him.
"Am I not good enough for you?"
Ignoring the double-entendre question, Nathan looked at the new fights that were about to begin and denied.
"No, I need to experience more. At least until I get used to adapting to all kinds of combat"
Looking at him with a frown, Syril sighed and also denied darkly.
"That wasn't the kind of answer I was looking for"