Chapter 82: Chapter 82: The Rising Star Competition

The afternoon sun bled through the arched windows of the Academy, but for Isabella Frostbite, the light brought no warmth. She sat at her desk, her hands trembling as she stared at the stack of student files. Her lips still felt scorched, a phantom heat lingering where Adonis had pressed his mouth to hers.

She felt a deep, hollow pit of guilt in her stomach. What had she done? She was a senior instructor, a pillar of the institution, and she had allowed herself to be compromised by a boy, a student who was barely out of his teenage years.

​Every time she closed her eyes, she didn’t see the curriculum or the battle rosters. She saw the predatory violet light in his eyes.

She felt the iron strength of his grip on her waist. It was improper, it was dangerous, and by all the laws of the realm, it was a ruinous path.

Yet, when she touched her own lips, she couldn’t summon the willpower to regret the intimacy. She felt like a block of ice that had finally been shattered from the inside out.

​”I am a fool,” she whispered to the empty room, clutching her robes. “He is only a boy, and I am a teacher. This has to end.”

​But deep down she knew he was not just a boy. He was something far more ancient, something that possessed a charm she could no longer escape.

She knew that when she would see him on the battleground tommorow, her resolve would be tested once more. She prayed he would keep their secret, even as a part of her secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

—

​The next day , the Academy premises were transformed. The courtyard had been leveled into a series of massive, runic battle rings, each surrounded by enchanted barriers.

Thousands of students hummed with nervous excitement.

The Rising Star competition was the talk of the kingdom, and the stakes were higher than ever.

​Isabella took her place on the judges’ dais, her posture rigid, her face a mask of frost.

She refused to look toward the section where the Nova Class students gathered, but she could feel his presence. She could feel his gaze on her, heavy and knowing.

​”Students!” The Dean’s voice boomed across the grounds, magically amplified to reach every corner.

“The first round of the Rising Star competition begins now! May your skill be sharp and your resolve iron!”

​The matches started in a blur of Ether and steel. The students of the Nova Class, the elite of the elite, lived up to their reputations. They moved with a speed and precision that left the commoners gasping in awe.

​Princess Mariana took to the ring with an elegance that drew cheers from the entire stands. She didn’t use brute force, rather she danced around her opponent, her blade moving like a streak of sunlight.

With a gentle tap of her pommel against her opponent’s chest, she secured victory. She stood in the center of the arena, her pink hair catching the light, earning the love and admiration of every onlooker.

​Valentina, keeping her true power tightly leashed, fought with a calculated mediocrity.

She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, so she engaged in a prolonged, feigned struggle against a mid-tier swordsman before finally “winning” by a narrow margin.

She stepped out of the ring, her expression bored, and immediately made her way to the shadows where Adonis waited.

​”It was such a pathetic fight.,” Valentina whispered to Adonis. “I could have ended that fight in a heartbeat, but I played the part.”

​Adonis nodded, his eyes fixed on the arena. “Good. Keep them underestimating you.”

​Then came Logan, Adonis’s half-brother.

Logan entered the ring with a smug, arrogant grin, his armor polished to a mirror sheen.

He fought with a reckless, heavy-handed style that relied on his family’s wealth and stolen techniques. He managed to force his opponent out of bounds after a grueling struggle, ending the round panting and sweating. He stood tall, holding the 189th rank, and immediately looked toward the stands.

​”Where is he?” Logan muttered to his lackeys, his eyes scanning the crowd. “I want that bastard to see this. I want him to know that no matter how much he tries to crawl out of the mud, he will never stand on the same ground as a true Kingsbane.”

​Nearby, Millia stood beside Mariana, looking at Logan with disdain.

“He thinks he’s so impressive. If only he knew who he was dealing with.”

​Mariana placed a calm hand on Millia’s shoulder. “Let him have his moment. The higher he climbs, the harder the fall will be when Adonis finally decides to let the world see his true power.”

​The atmosphere in the arena grew stifling.

The crowd began to murmur. They were waiting for one name to be called. Everyone knew the story. the tragedy at the Kingsbane estate, the rumors of the “cursed” son. The Gratis Kingdom’s embassy representatives sat in the high stands, whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with cold expectation.

They wanted to see the boy humbled. They wanted to see the blood of the commoner broken in the dirt.

​Adonis finally stepped toward the center of the ring.

He didn’t carry a sword. He didn’t even look nervous. He walked with a slow, heavy gait that seemed to slow the movement of the air around him.

Soon, the chatter in the stands died down, replaced by a tense, eerie silence.

​Up on the judge’s dais, Isabella felt her heart skip a beat. She gripped the edge of her table so tightly that the wood began to groan under her fingers. She looked down at him, seeing the way the sunlight hit his dark hair, seeing the way he moved like a predator entering a pen of sheep.

​”He is going to do something reckless again.” she whispered, almost certain.

​Adonis stood in the center of the ring, waiting for his opponent. He didn’t look at the judges. He didn’t look at the crowd. He looked at Raid Calder and other commoner geniuses.

​”Today is the day they learn who’s capable of leading them.”

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