Lianca looked at Orson and Litte, her mood clearly sour. Based on her self-assessment, she had been confident she would secure the top spot in the ranking matches and simply wait for others to come and challenge her.
But now, to her disbelief, someone had scored higher than her—and it was someone taught by Orson!
Thinking about it, her pride was deeply wounded, leaving her feeling as though she had been thoroughly humiliated.
She turned to Litte.
“Litte, you’re ranked first, right?”
“Yes,” Litte nodded.
“Alright, then I’m challenging you in the ranking matches!” Lianca said, pointing directly at Litte.
“Huh? Me?” Litte was taken aback.
“Yes. What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
“No, it’s just—”
“Stop hesitating! You’re supposed to be a noble,” Lianca said sharply before heading toward the academy gates. “I’ll see you at the training grounds. Don’t back out when the ranking matches start.”
“And you’d better defend that first-place position,” Lianca added with a cold huff as she walked off.
“Sorry about my sister’s rudeness, but I need to go as well.” Olivia apologized with a small bow to Orson and Litte before following Lianca.
—
“Litte, Lianca is a Tier 4 warrior. Are you sure about fighting her?” Orson asked softly after the sisters left.
“She’s probably the strongest among this year’s candidates. If you refuse her challenge, you could still enter with the second-highest rank.”
Orson wasn’t just concerned about Litte’s chances; he also wanted to prevent the conflict from souring their relationship.
“Orson, you taught me, didn’t you?” Litte looked at him.
“Mm.” Orson nodded.
“Then if I refuse, it’ll tarnish your reputation.”
“People will say, ‘Orson’s student only knows how to take shortcuts and avoid real challenges.’”
“That’s not necessarily—” Orson began but shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t care about reputation.”
“As long as you grow safely, that’s enough for me.”
“Orson, didn’t you teach me that flowers grown in a greenhouse never flourish? That’s why you sent me into the forest alone to face wild beasts.”
“And now, are you treating me like a fragile greenhouse flower again?”
“I... I just...” Orson trailed off, unsure how to respond. He sighed. “Fine. If this is your decision, I’ll respect it.”
“But be careful, Litte. A Tier 4 human is far more dangerous than a Tier 3 wolf king.”
“I know.” Litte smiled and pointed to her head. “It’s all about using my brain, right? I’m pretty good at that.”
“Alright.” Orson nodded, and the two headed to the training grounds together.
—
Compared to the massive crowd from yesterday, the training grounds were much quieter today.
Only 1,000 students remained, along with 100 supervising examiners.
Ranking matches started with the 800 candidates ranked by scores, followed by 200 nobles who had been directly recommended.
Usually, the initial matches involved the recommended students challenging the candidates.
Many of the recommended students were just as strong as the candidates. They simply chose not to take the exams, and since their families happened to have available slots, they were nominated instead.
These individuals often cared deeply about their rankings, so they would initially target suitable opponents to claim higher positions.
And then there were some recommended students who were simply here to accompany their masters, serving them during their studies. For these individuals, merely going through the motions of graduation—or even failing to graduate—was of little consequence.
—
As expected, once everyone was in place, the recommended students began challenging the candidates.
Most of these were minor warm-ups.
But the real main event came right at the start.
As the second-ranked student, Lianca challenged Litte, the first-ranked student.
To everyone’s surprise, Litte accepted.
Orson and Olivia sat in the audience, nervously watching their younger brother/sister’s battle.
Onstage, Lianca looked at Litte with disdain.
“I didn’t think you’d actually accept my challenge. I thought you were just a coward.”
“Fair warning—I’m a Tier 4 warrior. If I hit too hard during the fight, don’t blame me.”
Litte ignored her provocations.
She knew Lianca was trying to rile her up, hoping to exploit any emotional outburst as a weakness.
“Your tricks won’t work on me,” Litte said, shaking her head as she stared at Lianca.
“Oh, is that so?” Lianca lowered her head.
Before Litte could figure out what she was planning, Lianca suddenly drew her sword and thrust it toward her.
The ranking matches provided both students with academy-issued magical armor, which could block fatal attacks. The match ended when one student’s armor shattered.
Lianca’s speed was impressive. Even though Litte was already on guard, she was still half a beat too slow.
Fortunately, she had anticipated this and compensated for the speed difference, narrowly dodging Lianca’s thrust.
“Not bad reaction time,” Lianca remarked, transitioning seamlessly from a thrust to a slash.
Litte leaned back to avoid the slash and countered with her own strike.
Though she said nothing, her heart was brimming with anger.
Orson! How could you marry someone so arrogant, rude, and aggressive?
She poured all her frustration into her attacks, swinging her sword at Lianca with everything she had.
Lianca quickly parried, easily deflecting Litte’s blade before creating distance once more.
“You don’t seem to like me,” Lianca said, noticing the expression on Litte’s face. “Good. I don’t like you either.”
With that, the two clashed again.
Although Litte was only a Tier 3, her experience fighting wolves gave her an edge. Her strikes were relentless, and she managed to hold her own against Lianca.
Even Orson, watching from below, couldn’t help but feel impressed.
As expected of the protagonist. Fighting someone a tier above is as easy as breathing for him.
Thank goodness I never gave Litte a reason to target me. If he can fight a Tier 4 like Lianca now, what’s stopping him from surpassing me in the future?
That said, with Olivia sitting beside him, Orson couldn’t openly cheer for Litte. Instead, he resorted to polite compliments.
“Lianca is already a Tier 4 warrior at such a young age. Her future is undoubtedly bright.”
“Oh, not at all. Litte is the impressive one. He’s only just returned to the family and is already Tier 3. Plus, he’s holding his ground against a Tier 4 like Lianca. His talent is clearly superior.”
The two continued exchanging pleasantries, forgetting that just a year ago, in the same arena, they had fought each other as a Tier 6 and a Tier 5, a far more spectacular duel than the one unfolding before them now.