Having mapped the reactions of the major groups, Alex turned away from the political talk and focused on the sparring floor.
The controlled aura he had carried since crossing the threshold remained locked in place.
The Bloodworth section, the Winterfang officers, the Abyss retainers, all of them had been measured and filed.
Valerius’s smirk still sat somewhere in the back of his awareness, but it no longer required immediate attention.
The real work of the morning waited in the center of the hall, and every extra second spent on political noise was a second wasted.
The three Level 10 recruits were already standing ready near Instructor Theron.
They stood in a loose line just outside the largest sparring circle, weapons held at rest but not relaxed.
Theron stood slightly in front of them, speaking in a low, tight voice that did not carry to the observation platforms.
Whatever he was saying, the message was clear from the way the three recruits held themselves.
Their shoulders were rigid.
Their eyes flicked toward the packed spectator areas and then back to the floor.
Theron was warning them in the only language that mattered under this many watching eyes.
If they embarrassed him in front of this audience, in front of Abyss, Winterfang, and Bloodworth all present at once, they would regret it for a long time afterward.
All three recruits looked tense.
Alex continued walking toward them at the same measured pace.
Zara remained half a step behind, the Viper’s Spine box still held steady in her hands.
The hall watched them.
The three recruits were:
Kael Veyne, the water user.
Broad-shouldered for his age, with the kind of solid stance that suggested he preferred to control space rather than chase it. A
short spear rested in his right hand, the tip angled slightly downward.
Dorian Shade, the shadow user.
Leaner than the other two, darker eyes, and a quiet stillness that did not quite match the tension in his jaw.
A pair of short blades sat sheathed at his hips.
Of the three, he was the one watching Alex with the most careful attention, as if he had already decided that underestimating the Third Prince would be a mistake.
Rylan Frost, the wind user.
Tallest of the group, light on his feet even while standing still.
A long, flexible blade hung at his side.
His gaze kept drifting toward the observation platforms, as if the weight of the audience was already pressing on him harder than the fight itself.
As Alex approached, everyone bowed.
The motion was correct and unified.
Theron stepped slightly to the side so that the path into the circle remained open.
His expression was tightly controlled, the face of a man who had spent the last day managing a crowd he never asked for and was now about to supervise a match that could go wrong in front of half the palace’s watching eyes.
"Your Highness," Theron said.
"Which of them do you wish to face?"
Alex stopped at the edge of the circle and answered calmly.
"All three."
The hall went silent for a full beat.
The words landed cleanly and without emphasis, yet the effect was immediate.
Theron’s eyes widened.
Several people on the Winterfang platforms shifted in their seats.
A low ripple of movement passed through the Abyss section.
Even the Bloodworth retainers, who had been watching with cool detachment, leaned forward slightly.
Somewhere near the back of the hall a quiet intake of breath was audible in the sudden quiet.
Theron recovered first.
"All three," he repeated, as if confirming he had heard correctly.
"Your Highness, are you certain?"
Through the open bond Zara’s voice arrived clean and direct.
’Alex, are you sure about this?’
Alex replied through the same channel without looking at her.
’You already know what I can do with the Shadow Element...’
He left the rest unfinished.
Zara already understood the gap between the public perception of a Level 0 Third Prince and the reality of the dual skills he had locked in during the forest training.
The bond carried the quiet certainty behind the decision more clearly than any spoken explanation could have.
She did not press further.
Theron was still waiting for a verbal answer.
"Your Highness," he said again, voice carefully neutral.
"The Level 10 recruits are scheduled for deployment evaluation after this cycle."
"Facing all three at once is... irregular."
"The gap in formal progression and elemental control is significant."
"Do you wish to reconsider the terms?"
Whispered comments rose from the Winterfang section almost immediately.
The words were not loud, but in the held quiet of the hall they carried farther than the speakers intended.
Spectacles of doubt.
Quiet questions about whether the boy understood what a three-on-one against trained element users actually meant at this level.
A few sharper voices suggesting that confidence was one thing and arrogance another, and that the line between the two was about to be tested in public.
From the Bloodworth side the remarks were quieter and more cutting.
They were spoken low, almost under the breath, yet still clear enough for many of the high-rankers present to catch every word.
The fame had finally gone to the boy’s head.
He had spent too long winning against weaker opponents and had started believing the exaggerated stories people told about him in the capital streets.
A Level 0 challenging three Level 10s at once was not courage.
It was the kind of mistake that ended with a public correction and a long, uncomfortable silence afterward.
The Abyss group looked worried.
Several of the younger retainers exchanged glances.
A couple of the older ones kept their expressions carefully blank.
No one from the Abyss section spoke against the decision out loud.
They remembered Vespera.
They remembered Eclipse.
Whatever private concern they carried about the Third Prince stepping into a three-on-one against element users, they held their tongues and simply watched.
The household would not be the first to show doubt.
Alex confirmed he was sure.
"I am certain," he said.
The same calm, controlled tone he had used since entering the hall.
"All three."
Theron held his gaze for another second.
There was nothing more he could say without directly challenging the Third Prince in front of the entire assembled audience.
The instructor gave a short, tight nod and turned to the three recruits.
His voice dropped to a level that did not carry to the platforms.
The recruits straightened under the attention.
Kael’s grip on his spear tightened.
Dorian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Rylan exhaled once through his nose and rolled his shoulders.
Alex remained at the edge of the circle, the controlled aura unbroken, waiting for the next piece of the morning to fall into place.
The hall was still watching.
The message had been delivered in front of every household that mattered.
Now the only thing left was the result.
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End of Chapter 136: All Three
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