Talon frowned.

Two minutes have passed since the tenth match between the Fallen Sword Prince and the C-ranker, Genevieve, began.

Yet, no one had scored.

The instructor couldn't help but be disappointed at Daru, who suddenly shifted to an aggressive fighting style this time.

There have been more than twenty chances for him to score a point.

But after inconsistent yet brilliant setups, he wouldn't strike at the opening he created, proceeding to aim at other, illogical spots instead that would allow Genevieve to recover.

'Maybe this was why he usually stuck to a defensive, counter-heavy fighting style?' was the only explanation Talon could think of.

It was like that one time he was teased over and over again by his wife in bed, and the urge to coach Daru to attack at the openings the young man had so excellently created was intensifying by the second.

Unfortunately, he was forced to watch the same bullshit for three more minutes, and his heart was already so heavy by the time the accursed F-ranker earned his first point.

Only due to Genevieve's exhaustion did the next two points come in succession within the next minute.

The Fallen Sword Prince had won again.

Normally, a 3-0 victory was considered dominant, but this one was considered extremely sloppy by Talon.

He felt more frustrated at the winner than the loser.

And it wasn't only him who was displeased by the long, boring match where the renowned F-ranker had been consistently at an advantage but failed to capitalize on it every time.

The goon squad had shouted so many mocking remarks that they almost ran out.

As for Sylphina and her B-ranker lackeys, they were glad that the delusional sword prince who had always dared talk back to them was finally exposed, though they couldn't deny that there were times they found themselves rooting for him.

They just wanted him to strike at the darned glaring openings that he somehow couldn't see!

Daru's rather disappointing performance today overwrote everyone's memories of his win two weeks ago, and the cloud of confusion about his skill level had "finally" vanished.

The so-called Sword Prince of Ashton High was indeed a fraud who was only good at defense.

This created the illusion that he was a dark horse who could go toe to toe with the best, when in reality, he didn't have the slightest bit of talent in offense and was only attacking randomly, relying on his superior physique to win.

He was a genius, all right…although not in swordsmanship, but in deception!

Daru Finnley was a challenge to defeat, but he wasn't a dangerous opponent.

One just had to be patient and have a lot of stamina.

The most fitting description of him was now spreading throughout the class: turtle.

Only two people among everyone present in the sixth training field, who paid attention to his match, truly understood what happened.

Snowflower wasn't disappointed one bit, fully seeing through everything.

She couldn't help but think that, contrary to his snobbish and somewhat cold exterior, Daru was quite the warm guy.

In the dueling space, the two competitors shook hands with each other, and one of them whispered in a shy manner to the other:

"T-Thank you for your guidance."

Daru smiled and firmly shook Genevieve's hands, happy to help.

"You're welcome."

With a rather silent exchange that no one except the two heard, Daru turned and returned to his seat, unbothered by the mocking gazes.

The second round of the class representative selection tournament then proceeded.

As expected, False Witness, Silver Serpent, Lionbreaker, and Sylphina proceeded to the next round.

Since there were nineteen participants left after two rounds, six of the lowest rankers remaining had an extra qualifying round.

It was rather unjust that they had to win twice in one day just to qualify when everyone else proceeded to the third round after just a single victory.

But what could they do?

They were low-rankers, and they could only consider themselves lucky enough to even be given a chance to showcase their skills in front of Sylphina and the high-rankers—people who might be their ticket to joining a famous guild.

They could only make it to the less-renowned ones otherwise.

In those kinds, contracts are so bad that they would have to work themselves to the bone if they wanted to earn enough money to give their families an above-average lifestyle.

People like Nutter and Taro were lucky that Crownbloom even picked them up for shady tasks in novice zones.

And so, after the second round, the elimination matches began.

It was far more competitive and exciting than everyone expected, as the lower-rankers didn't want to be the ones to be eliminated.

They were clearly doing their best to perform in front of the high-rankers.

After all, there was also a small chance that the ones from other classes would be the ones to recommend them instead of their classmates.

Three unfortunate souls were still eliminated in the end, though, finally completing the top sixteen.

Instructor Talon posted the matchups for the next round before class ended.

Naturally, everyone went and checked, quite excited to know who would be fighting whom.

Only Daru and three D-rankers remained of the low-rankers, as mostly C-rankers and above had proceeded to the top sixteen.

Inevitably, they were the ones who would be fed to the wolves.

Daru and the other three would have to upset one of the four expected semi-finalists and knock them out of the tournament early if they wanted to advance.

Soon enough, as everyone's brains comprehended the matchups, they burst into enthusiastic hubbub.

Almost every fight was spicy as hell!

Aside from C-rankers now being forced to take each other out, the Fallen Sword Prince was finally matched with someone they believed his turtle-like style would crumble against: Bao Parker, also known as Silver Serpent

It was a battle between a speedy, cunning aggressor and a defensive technique specialist.

Finally, the lucky Cinderella run of the delusionally audacious Daru Finnley would end in two weeks!

They could only imagine his humiliating defeat at the hands of the B-ranker, who hated him to the bone because of his outrageous comments about Fairy Sylphina's swordsmanship on the first day.

Sure enough, the moment Silver Serpent saw the matchup, his brows curved upwards, and then he burst into uproarious laughter.

He looked for his opponent, wanting to give him a few taunting words

However, Daru was already training with Snowflower, as though it didn't matter to him who his next opponent was.

Everyone instantly knew what Silver Serpent was up to, but the moment their eyes caught up to where the B-ranker was looking, they couldn't help but laugh in secret at his hesitation.

In the end, Sylphina's lackey couldn't find the courage to walk up to Daru and fire away with his mouth, fearing he would displease the fairy beside the guy.

Silver Serpent clenched his fists.

'Just you wait…Two weeks from now, I'll humiliate you in front of Snowflower and wake her up for good...'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.