What followed did not resemble a duel in any structural sense.The staffs connected twice before Grace dropped hers entirely and grabbed Maria's hair, which caused Maria to drop her own staff and grab Grace's hair in retaliation, and the two Level 8 magical practitioners — each capable of Holy Light constructs and Druidic energy manipulation that the academy's instructors had praised in formal evaluations — engaged in the kind of conflict that required no professional training whatsoever.The female spectators in the stands produced a collective groan of secondhand embarrassment that had the quality of people watching their own dignity be represented poorly.The male spectators produced a different collective noise.Their girlfriends immediately and uniformly produced a third collective noise directed at the male spectators, accompanied by physical punctuation of varying intensity.Marco watched the arena floor with the expression of a man receiving information he hadn't requested and

Marco made the decision at the barrage's eighth fireball.He planted both feet and pulled the skill from the place it lived — not in his Fighting Spirit pathways, not in the warrior's technical knowledge, but in the Lionheart structure that Dragon Blood had crystallized and the Grand Melee's sustained combat pressure had brought closer to the surface.Intimidation was a Second Transition ability.The academy's classification system placed Second Transition skills at Level 15 minimum for standard practice. Marco was Level 11 with Dragon Blood density running under a Level 10 classification and a Lionheart bloodline operating underneath everything.He opened his mouth.The sound that came out was not the full Lionheart Roar — that had taken down a Level 11 Water Marsh Beast and cleared four square kilometers of forest. This was its controlled application, the technique version, the warrior's battlefield skill that used the same physiological basis but directed it with precision rather t

"Sofia."The voice came from behind them.Both of them stopped. Marco lowered his arms. Sofia straightened, and the transition from furious to composed happened in 1.3 seconds, which was impressively fast even for her.Isabella Cross stood twenty feet away, dressed in Green Tower formal layers, the silver-streaked hair pulled back, the grey eyes moving from Sofia to Marco with the assessment of someone who had arrived at a specific moment by intention rather than accident."Leave us," she said to Sofia.Sofia looked at her aunt. Then at Marco. Then back at Isabella with the expression of someone who wanted to ask a question and had correctly identified that now was not the time.She left.Isabella watched her go. Then she walked toward Marco with the measured pace of someone who had organized their words before arriving.She stopped six feet from him and looked at him with the grey eyes that were doing the complicated thing but had it well-controlled today."The emperor knows," she sa

The flaming comet hurtled toward Marco with terrifying speed. Heat waves distorted the air around Brutus's blazing form.Then Marco did something nobody expected.He hurled his greatsword away.The massive blade spun through the air, clattering against the arena floor twenty feet to his left."What is he doing?!" Principal Davidson shrieked, his face draining of color.Sofia's hands flew to her mouth. "Marco, no!"The charging fireball—Brutus—suddenly skidded to a halt. The flames around the beast's body flickered and died.Brutus's massive head swiveled toward the fallen sword.His tail began to wag."Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Jake muttered from the sidelines.Brutus bounded toward the weapon like an excited puppy, all aggression forgotten. He grabbed the greatsword's hilt in his massive jaws and trotted back to Marco, tongue lolling.The arena erupted in confused laughter.Marco's lips curled into a smirk. "Good boy."He reached out and patted Brutus's enormous head.The mom

"What?" Marco blinked."This is..." She gasped between giggles. "This is absolutely insane. My father's going to lose his mind.""You're not upset?"Sofia wiped tears from her eyes. "Oh, I'm upset. But Maximus is already cooked. What's done is done." She picked up her chopsticks again. "Might as well not waste good meat."She took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "Besides... it really is delicious."Lorenzo's tension visibly eased. "Young Miss has a practical mindset.""Practical?" Sofia's smile turned wicked. "I'm just thinking about how Father always spoiled that dog more than me. This is almost satisfying."Marco shook his head, grinning despite himself. "You're terrifying sometimes.""You're just now realizing?"Back at the arena, the afternoon matches continued without them.A muscular figure stepped onto the platform—Rocco, the Magic Fighter representative. His shaved head gleamed under the sunlight, and intricate tattoos covered both arms.His opponent, a Level 11 Knight nam