It did not take long. In a short fifteen minutes, a crowd of new cadets had rushed into the Battle Arena, marking the first time that most of them were there. They all took their places on the mezzanine floor, studying Nero and trying to guess how strong he really was.
Most of them guessed that he would be a pretty good fighter. It did not take much to pair his overwhelming performance on the first day with his extremely confident challenge and then come to the conclusion that he was confident in his own abilities. However, pretty good was not good enough to deter them.
As Kolaris, and especially as Kolaris who had harboured the ambition to join the army and lead soldiers, they were not afraid of a challenge, nor were they intimidated by strong opponents. If that alone was enough to intimidate them then they would have never made it to KMA to begin with!
Nero was also looking forward to the fight. Alongside establishing his dominance, Nero aimed to use the Crucible challenge as a way to build friendships and connections. It was not necessary that he build strong connections with everyone he meets, but at least leaving behind a strong, and hopefully positive impression was good enough for now.
Soon enough, the one who accepted his challenge had appeared. He was a cadet from Demeter battalion, and was one of the few who had the strongest performance on the first day. His blonde hair, green eyes and somewhat tanned skin made him look both formidable and handsome - only adding to the intense gaze with which he was studying Nero.
Although he had accepted the challenge, he did not intend to treat this like an easy fight. In fact, he would treat Nero as if he were the most formidable foe he’d ever fought!
"Are you both aware of the rules?" the referee asked as they both stepped onto the fighting arena. Seeing that both of them nodded, he stepped back.
Although this was only a physical fight, weapons could also be used though it had to be a weapon provided by the battle arena. Most, however, did not choose to use weapons. It was too easy for a fight with weapons to result in serious injury, so it became somewhat of a norm to fight without one.
"I hope you can live up to your reputation," the blonde cadet said to Nero as he got into position.
Nero resisted the urge to smirk dismissively. He had to remind himself not to provoke others needlessly.
"Let’s see if I can live up to your expectation," he responded, avoiding taunting him.
The referee began the match and stepped back, while Nero and the blonde cadet quickly approached one another. Based on his speed and body movement, Nero could already guess the level of his opponents skill. If Nero wished, then he could beat him easily.
It was not just a matter of skill, or power. Nero had a lot more experience, and it was obvious to him from the very start.
He could tell that his opponent had only ever fought in a training environment, safe and secure. He had not faced the rigors of a real battlefield, and that was what made all the difference. Of course, he could just be baiting Nero into making a move, and if that was the case he would be the best actor Nero had ever come across.
It did not matter. Nero had no intentions of attaining an outstanding win. Instead, a satisfying fight that lasted a minute or so would reduce any shock to the opponent’s ego, and still allow him the prestige of the win.
Most of the observers could not tell at all, for in their eyes the fight between Nero and the blonde cadet was an intense one. Without weapons, they had to get very close to fight, and each attack required a corresponding response, whether it was a block, dodge or counter.
At that distance, the slightest mistake could change the whole fight, so they watched intensely as Nero seemed to barely dodge his opponents attacks while launching a few attacks of his own.
Only the referee, used to watching such fights everyday, could tell that Nero was much too relaxed for the situation he seemed to be in. Thus, after a minute passed, when Nero suddenly took advantage of his opponents impatience and tripped him before putting him in a lock, the referee was not surprised at all. While he could not ascertain Nero’s actual combat level, it was at least certain that he had been in control throughout the fight.
"Not bad, but I’ll get you tomorrow for sure!" the cadet said, feeling like the match could have easily gone in his favour.
"I’m open to spar any time, but I intend on challenging a new cadet tomorrow," responded Nero as he got up, feeling like he had just gotten a slight warm up. "With so many cadets in our semester, I want to see what everyone has to offer."
The blonde cadet felt stifled, yet he could not argue. He could not help but feel that he was so close to winning. It could have easily been his win if he had only just...
Nero felt pleased to know that his plan was developing well, but from the side of his eye he caught sight of Silas and looked over. It seemed like Silas had found Andrew, but this time Andrew refused to accept Silas’ challenge.
"Excuse me while I take care of something," said Nero before stepping aside. He made a mental note to be slightly more convincing in his wins from now on, lest people begin to think he was lucky.
Nero put on a soft, welcoming smile as he walked up to Silas, reminding himself that he was here to make friends and connections - not enemies. It would be best to resolve this without aggravating the situation too much .
"Get lost Silas, I don’t have time for you anymore," Andrew said, retaining none of the friendliness he originally used to feign when attempting to take his help. "You’ve already wasted a month of my time. If you’re that desperate for a beating, go find someone else."
Silas had both his fists clenched as he stood in front of Andrew, and he wanted nothing more than to leave. Yet he kept reminding himself of Nero’s words. If he didn’t toughen up, he wouldn’t even know how he died!
"Just tell me if you accept my challenge or not," Silas said through gritted teeth, forcing himself to sound tough.
"I refuse," he said with a scoff. "You think I’m afraid of refusing your challenge? It’s not going to accept a challenge from someone who’s lost to me so many days in a row. You think that’ll affect my evaluation? It won’t."
Andrew was extremely irritated with Silas, regretting all the time he wasted with him. He had wasted so many days, and now he was stuck in this strange situation that he didn’t want to be in. Just as he was thinking of how to get rid of Silas, who was following him no matter where he went, his sight fell onto Nero who was walking up to him with a weird smile on his face.
"Did you put him up to this? You want me to apologise to him or something?" he asked, feeling agitated. "Well this is a military academy, not a play area. He can only blame himself if he was dumb enough to continue accepting my challenges and getting beaten up. Heck, he could have just accepted my request and all of this would never have happened."
Nero, who walked up to Andrew, could not help but nod.
"I agree with you completely - his own actions led him to the situation he has to face today. As it happens, the same is true of you," he said in an informative tone, as educating a small child. "Heck, you can just accept my next request, and all of this can be over, and you won’t need to deal with Silas bothering you anymore."
Andrew looked at Nero warily, feeling like there was some kind of trap waiting for him. At the same time, Nero’s polite tone agitated him immensely, feeling like he was being looked down on.
"You know, I’m a fresh cadet so I can’t really challenge you to a Crucible challenge, but there’s no rules stopping us from sparring. What do you say? Let’s spar. If you win, all of this will be over, and Silas won’t bother you again. But if I win, you have to keep fighting Silas until I say so. What do you say?"
Suddenly, he felt like his prayers had been answered. He’d been restraining his urge to slap the annoying new cadet, not even imagining that he would challenge him to a spar. Although spars actually weren’t too common, since there was no real benefit, it wasn’t as if it was forbidden.
"Fine. You’re on," Andrew said, smiling back at Nero. He glanced at Silas as well. Once he was done with the new cadet, he’d fight Silas for good measure. It was best to put these two in their place.