Nero was ready to give his utmost. Naturally, it was not Andrew that required his utmost, but his own state of mind. There was no shortage of people who had told him to reign in his arrogance and anger, and to stop provoking enemies everywhere he went, so that was his goal.
Thus, as he stepped up to face Andrew, he was entirely focused on making sure he didn’t cross any lines. Yet, to his immense surprise, no matter what Andrew did, or what he said, he could not evoke an emotional response from Nero.
Even Nero himself had not been expecting such a thing. Andrew had been beating Silas up for a month, yet when he thought about that, it did not anger him. His words, his arrogance, his dismissal of Silas did not anger Nero either, nor did the way he looked down on Nero.
It was not that he did not care for Silas - instead he saw things from a different perspective now. He no longer wanted nor needed to befriend Silas, defending him as a way to build friendship. Instead, he would prefer if Silas became strong enough to survive even the most difficult situations. What was the point of building a network if a single ambush was all it took for someone from his network to die?
Whether he considered Silas a friend, or someone who was useful, the point was the same - he needed to grow stronger. Thus, he was no longer infuriated, but just wanted to use this as an opportunity to get Silas to realise the folly of weakness.
As for Andrew’s derisive expression while he looked at Nero? It meant even less. Nero realised that he could easily see through Andrew - his thoughts, his motives, his actions. He realised that in his eyes, Andrew was akin to a child.
Children could be irritating sometimes, yes, but it was unreasonable to be truly angry with a child. They were too young to know better.
Thus, as Nero stood opposite to Andrew on the battle arena, the taunting words Andrew said fell upon deaf ears. To Nero, it was the same as if Andrew had said nothing at all.
With this new, more mature thought process, Nero focused on Andrew. While he did not want to create enemies, he also could not be a push over. He would do his best to properly educate Andrew - for his own sake.
"Begin," said the referee before stepping back. In truth, he should not have allowed even a spar between Nero and Andrew. While it was not expressly forbidden, it was frowned upon as it had been used to bully new cadets in the past. However, it was still not banned because they decided that cadets need to have an enduring spirit, and cannot be kept protected from all dangers.
Thus, referees were usually told to discourage such spars. However, having seen Nero’s previous fight, he did not think he would get bullied too badly, and decided to allow it directly. However, neither he, nor anyone else was prepared for what unfolded.
Andrew rushed towards Nero, ready to attack him, yet Nero did not even adopt a proper stance. As soon as Andrew came close, he slid his right foot forward, suddenly breaking through Andrew’s defense, and slapped him casually across the face.
The suddenness of the slap, alongside Nero’s extended leg, caused Andrew to lose his balance and trip over. In truth, Nero hadn’t used much strength at all. The slap had more sound than strength behind it - yet it shocked all those who were watching.
"Well then, allow me to begin your education," Nero said very seriously, as if addressing a small child. His tone, combined with the fact that he was standing above the fallen Andrew really did make it seem like... Nero genuinely thought he was instructing a child!
Andrew was too shocked to even react properly, his eyes bulging out as he tried to grasp what had just happened.
"You are a cadet in KMA, training to become an officer. In the future, you will lead soldiers and missions, and lives will be in your hands. That means as soon as now, you need to get in the habit of properly evaluating your actions and their repercussions."
Everyone looked at Nero oddly - especially the cadets from Enlil. The past few days with Nero, besides his abnormal strength, he seemed entirely normal. So why was he behaving so oddly now?
"Let’s start with analysing your interactions with Silas," Nero continued, ignoring the gazes. "You may have asked him politely for his help in the beginning, but as soon as he rejected you started bullying him. I get it - maybe in whatever backwater high school you were in, bullying worked for you. But the situation there and here are drastically different. Let’s analyse the difference, and the result."
Andrew finally recovered from his shock, and suddenly pushed himself to his feet, unable to tolerate the humiliation of being talked down to like this. With an angry scream he attacked Nero, yet it was for naught. Nero easily grabbed Andrew’s hands and put him inside a lock so that he couldn’t attack at all! He tried to kick him, but Nero just used his own legs to block his kicks, all the while continuing to talk.
"Previuosly if you bullied someone, the worst they could do was fight you back, or tell the teachers. Depending on your own background and your targets, that may or may not work out in your favour. Or maybe you were highly selective in your targets, only bullying those with a meek personality, who were unlikely to retaliate or report you.
"In KMA, the situation is different. You bullied Silas, but there was nothing he could do. Reporting you wouldn’t work as everything you did was allowed by the rules. Now, that may feel like you got away with it, but what did it do in truth?
"Not only did you not get the help you wanted, you made an enemy out of a very skilled artisan who will likely inherit many unique card recipes, basically locking yourself out of getting access to those. Not to mention, you ruined your reputation."
Seeing that the lock had not been broken for 10 seconds without reaching a resolution, the referee stepped in to get Nero release the lock and restart the fight. It was all very standard.
Andrew felt humiliated, but also angry and confused. What the hell was happening?
However, he was not dumb. If he got selected to KMA, it was because he had skill. He realised that Nero was a lot more skilled than him, and this time became a lot more cautious in his attack.
Nero, however, effortlessly dodged all the attacks and continued to talk meanwhile.
"Now typically in a bullying case that would be the end of it, but in this case Silas had some friends, and now he called for backup. So now, not only are you in a situation where you’ve already lost a lot, you now also have to deal with additional enemies and obstacles. Do you understand now why the tactic of bullying is worthless?
"Of course, in a tactical situation where you want the target to react, it may make sense. But in a real life scenario, you’re just making enemies for yourself for nothing. I advise that, in the future, if you’re ever leading some soldiers, don’t try something like this as you will make enemies for yourself and them. Only do it if you plan on killing your target after the objective is met."
Andrew suddenly became frustrated, and used all of his strength to throw a punch, hoping that the sudden speed and strength would catch Nero off guard and hit him. It did not work. Instead, Nero simply slapped him once more and moved to the side.
"Now you may be thinking that I’m employing the same tactic of bullying, but you would be wrong. You see, unlike you, I have the moral high ground, so when I target you, barring an incident where my actions go too far, everything I do will be considered justified. No one will think I’m a bully - they’ll only think you deserve it."
Andrew couldn’t take it anymore. The sheer ease with which Nero was handling him, not to mention his repeated slapping, was the most humiliating thing he’d ever suffered.
"Shut up and fight will you!" he roared as he tried to tackle Nero. He hoped that once he got a hold of Nero, he wouldn’t be able to dodge anymore. Unfortunately for him, that was not how things turned out.
Nero simply complied to his request, landing a firm punch on his face, throwing him aside. Of course, he still didn’t use much strength. His goal was not to hurt Andrew - not yet. He was just making Andrew’s situation abundantly clear to him so that he would be more open to Nero’s suggestions moving forward.