"Nox!" "Nox!" "Nox!"

The crowd of first years cheered the moment he stepped up the platform.

It was a weird feeling really, as Nox wasn't used to being the center of attention. Well, attention had been on him all this while, but the crowd hadn't been screaming his name.

Even though it was weird, he didn't hate it. It was different from the attention he had on him when he first arrived at the city.

Then, it felt like disgust, but now?

They actually did like him?

With a sigh, Nox's grip around Morpho tightened, he wouldn't admit it, but this felt pretty good.

"And for the final battle of today," the announcer's voice cut through the wave of cheers, "we have Nox, one of the three dark horses of the first years and he's up against Calewin, a third year who has been a star throughout the tournament."

Calewin calmly walked to the platform and the crowd immediately got rowdier, especially the second and third years.

Contrary to their reaction though, Calewin's face and was filled with boredom or was it that he was just sleepy.

Either way, he didn't seem the least bit bothered about the fact that the person he was about to face was a first year that had handled second and third years with relative ease.

Still, there was a bit of glimmer in his eyes when they landed on Nox before they got replaced by their tired selves again.

The noble's sky box though, was filled with interest in the two fighters.

"The Calewin kid also has no last name," the head of one of the noble families muttered, "that means he currently has no affiliation."

"And he seems to have no intention to have one either," Nathaniel Burns said with a small smile on his face as the other nobles turned to him.

"Why do you say that?" The Bellshot family patriarch asked with a small frown on his face.

"I looked into him," Nathaniel turned to him with a smile, "and it seems he has been approached one too many times with each ending in his rejection."

"Maybe that's because he hasn't been offer what he wants just yet?" The Bellshot's patriarch said as he turned to the platform where both Nox and Calewin stood, "everyone folds in the face of a good enough offer."

"Maybe," Nathaniel shook his head as also turned towards the Arena, "maybe not, but you're welcome to try and recruit him."

The Bellshot family patriarch looked at him again, this time with a frown but he didn't say anything.

The Burns family's first son was known for his genius as much as he was known for his cunning tendencies.

There was no way he would let go of such a talent this easily.

That meant, either the talent wasn't worth it, which, by Calewin's display so far, he definitely was worth it.

Or maybe Nathaniel knew something, they didn't. Either way, the Bellshot's will try and bring those two monsters to their side.

After all, with the frequent rift breaks, Eclipsed sieges and the evolution of the Eclipsed, something the general public knew nothing of just yet, having such monsters by their side will definitely come in handy.

Especially with the predicted power shift, the family with the most guard dogs will be the only ones surviving.

***

Back in the arena, Nox looked at his opponent's tired demeanor with a frown.

He wasn't frowning at the fact that Calewin seemed too relaxed for their fight, but rather, at the fact that he couldn't sense an ounce of SE from him.

Which was strange.

Ever since he discovered that he could sense SE, there hadn't been an opponent he couldn't sense SE from.

Whether it was minimal or like Astra's...well, there was one other exception to this...the headmistress.

But Nox just chucked that up to the fact that the headmistress was leagues above him, hell, even Astra calls her a monster, so it never occurred as strange that he couldn't sense her SE.

But now, there definitely was something different about this third year.

"I saw your one move spar," a tired voice interrupted his thoughts as he turned to his opponent, "how did you manage to pull the SE out of the opponent's suit?"

Nox's frown got deeper, he was pretty sure that he had moved fast enough for no one to notice during that spar.

But he guessed he was wrong.

"Don't worry," Calewin said with a tired yawn as he waved his hand before him, "you can keep your secrets if you want."

"Contestants, prepare for battle," the announcer suddenly said and the two immediately took battle stances.

"Three."

Well, Nox was mostly the only one who took a battle stance with Morpho in the form of fingerless gloves.

He would prefer getting close enough during the fight to see if he truly sensed no SE from his opponent or if he was just good at hiding it.

"Two."

Calewin, on the other hand, stood without a care in the world, or at least that's what the crowd read from his current stance.

In truth, Calewin was extremely excited about the opponent he was about to face. He was sure that this would be entertaining, unlike the previous opponents he was up against.

"One! Begin!"

The moment those words reached Nox's ears, he was already gone.

His boots lit up as he launched himself forward, sending a punch to test his opponent's reaction.

Calewin neither stepped back, nor dodged in any exaggerated way, he simply tilted his upper body to the side, Nox's fist passing so close it brushed a strand of his hair.

"Hm," Calewin hummed, eyes half lidded. "You're faster than I expected."

Nox didn't answer, instead his other hand followed immediately, elbow driving in, knee rising to cut off any retreat, he was done testing.

Only problem was, each one of his attacks missed.

Calewin flowed through the assault like water slipping through fingers, body swaying just enough to avoid impact, feet never leaving the same small circle he had created for himself.

He let out another yawn as he looked at Nox before,

BOOM!

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