"Paul, is that you?" Stan asked in shock.
A tall, sturdy middle-aged man removed his mask from the right side of the crowd, bowing his head to Stan. "Greetings, guildmaster."
Stan stared at Paul blankly, then at the remaining men inside the arena ground. "Harry, you rascal! They are all Adventurers. Paul is an S-Class, for crying out loud!" Stan shouted at Harry, visibly shaking with anger.
"Not only him, guild master," another middle-aged, tall, and well-built man spoke in a deep voice from the left side of the crowd.
Fred, the headmaster, was speechless. He looked at Harry, who was still laughing loudly, in utter frustration.
After a few seconds, Harry stood up panting and entered the arena. Turning back to the stands, he began speaking, causing more than a couple of female support staff and teachers to fall unconscious.
"Let me reveal the real identities of the remaining men here. These are all A-Class and B-Class Adventurers for our guild. There are exactly 70 of them. And yes, as Williams clearly said, they were using real weapons.
Williams here marked 30 of them with a small scratch, and Alan marked 40 of them without even a scratch.
"My disciples win this contest," Harry beamed.
Everyone in the stands remained in disbelief. It took over a minute for the masters to gradually accept the reality one by one. Eventually, everyone stood up, starting to clap. The adventurers inside the ground also joined in, creating a tumultuous applause that resonated through the arena as if it were a full house.
"Sword Master... Weapon Master..." the boys started hearing these praises from the crowd repeatedly.
Both Alan and Williams bowed to the masters and their opponents with a grin. However, when they looked at their roommates, their grins faltered. The four boys were still in disbelief. After a few more seconds, noticing Alan and Williams' concerned gazes, they smiled and started clapping along with everyone else.
The entire drama took more than an hour to unfold. After the applause died down, Harry continued, "I believe everyone here now knows why I took these two as my personal disciples? And no, they are not Sword Masters or Weapon Masters yet... But they will be by the time they complete their training curriculum with me," Harry announced proudly.
"Alan, Williams, you can take your friends and go to the dining hall. It's almost dinner time now. Boys, let's keep this event within the few of us here," Harry said, dismissing them.
The four boys got up, nodded in agreement, bowed to the masters, and walked outside the master's training grounds with Alan and Williams.
An awkward silence enveloped the group when Dave suddenly voiced what everyone was thinking at that moment.
"Al, Will, even though I'm learning Arts and music, I've always been fascinated with weapons. Could you... could you two..." He hesitated, took a deep breath, and said in a single breath, "could you two help me learn combat arts and weapon skills, please? I beg you."
"Me too, guys," Chris looked expectant. "Me too, me too," both Ben and Bob also started pleading.
Both Alan and Williams felt relieved in a way. They thought after their performance that day, their friends might become distant out of fear or reverence. That didn't happen, and for that, both were really happy.
But now they faced a new challenge – the task of training them. "Okay, everyone. Let's have our dinner first and sleep early tonight. If anyone still has the same determination and enthusiasm, we will definitely help you," Williams said, making everyone nod their heads with smiles on their faces.
Dinner that night was a joyful affair. They took their plates, piled up the food, and started eating while chatting.
As they enjoyed their meal, Matron Rose entered the dining hall, spotted the boys, took two extra plates, filled them with food, and approached their table.
She placed the plates on the table, wearing a warm smile. "Eat well, children. It's not good to sleep on an empty stomach." A few students nearby were surprised by this scene, as they had never seen Matron Rose serve food to anyone. Even the two girls who had cursed the boys the previous day sat nearby, witnessing the scene, but remained silent without uttering a single word or displaying any unpleasant expressions this time. "A lesson well learned."
All six of them returned to their dormitory, engaged in some small talk, and peacefully drifted off to sleep.
This serene night sealed their fates as true friends. Even as they embarked on different paths and pursued their own journeys in life, they remained the best of friends forever.