Victor stood beside Luke, hand clasped behind his back and chest out. Kate and Feena both glared at him.
Victor turned toward them, their eyes met, and he flashed them a smile. Kate fumed at him. Zara, beside her, rolled her eyes. She warned, "Kate, don't get involved in unnecessary conflict."
Kate snapped, "But he is getting on my nerves."
Zara sighed and whispered, "You were the one who got involved with him. He doesn't even know your name."
Kate's eyebrows furrowed. Thinking back, she remembered where this all started. Her face turned red as memory flashed before her eyes. She shook her head and glared at him again. She muttered, "I'll teach you a lesson."
Zara, hearing her words, sighed in defeat.
Feena in the Golden faction didn't hold resentment toward Victor. She was looking at him curiously; she felt something different from Victor. It incited her werewolf side. She can't think of anything that can affect her beast side and cloud her judgment.
She has been trained from her childhood to control the animal inside her. She belongs to a tribe that embraces their werewolf nature but doesn't lose their true self to the madness of the beast.
But in front of him, she lost control, and it was the first time she felt helpless against her beast nature. She wanted to pounce on him and, at the same time, tear him into pieces.
"I have to know what he is hiding; it can be dangerous in the future," Feena muttered under her breath.
Vladiyus came back to the blue faction. His legs were trembling, and his chest burned as he gasped for air. His clothes were soaked in sweat. Despite all of that, he kept himself upright.
Mona glanced at him, her face neutral, "Let's have another match. Who wants to fight now?"
No one raised their hand. Mona scanned the crowd for a few seconds and then announced. "No problem, if you don't want to volunteer, I'll choose myself."
"Vladiyus and Luke come up on the stage." She announced with a smirk.
Vladiyus's smile widened. He watched Luke and cracked his knuckles, moving on the stage.
Luke's eyes trembled, and he flinched, taking a few steps back. Victor looked at him, confused, "Are you afraid of him?"
Luke's stiff neck turned toward him, and broken words escaped from his trembling lips, "Y-Yes… he …is one of the nobles from the capital."
Victor became more confused at Luke's statement. Luke stepped toward the stage with trembling legs.
'I have to just dodge like Victor, yes. 'Luke made a plan in his mind, and his shivering subsided a little.
Luke stood against Vladiyus, the gorilla of the Noble Gladiator family. Vladiyus was 6'5 feet tall, with a muscular build resembling a gorilla. Vladiyus smiled at him and in his thick voice he stated, "Hello Luke, my hands have been itching for quite some time."
Luke stepped back a little, his eyes flickering, back soaking in sweat.
Vladiyus' smile widened, and he strode onward. Mona stood between the two and glanced at both.
She yelled, stepping back, "Begin!"
Vladiyus lunged at Luke.
Luke, with trembling eyes and a clenched fist, ducked low, dodging the punch.
Swoosh!
Vladiyus pulled his punch back and sneered at him, "Good, Good!"
Luke stood up, taking one step backward, his leg muscles taut and ready to run away at any moment.
Vladiyus pounced again with the same wide-open punch.
Luke's expression brightened, his lips twitched, forming a smile, 'I can dodge this.'
He crouched low again.
A kick came dashing toward his face.
Bam!
It bashed his face, and he slid backward. The warm blood trickled from the broken nose; his eyes filled with tears as he clenched his nose.
"Hahahaha, you think I'm that stupid?" Vladiyus laughed, his thick voice echoing clear in the murmurs and laughs of the crowd.
Victor's eyes narrowed as he observed everyone from the Golden and blue faction laughing at Luke. He glanced back at his two dwarf companions, who were gritting their teeth.
"Why did those two groups act this way?" Victor asked them in confusion.
Both dwarves turned towards him and sighed, "You're a Human, so you don't have much knowledge of the black faction in the military Academy. You can say we're outcasts."
Victor's fingernails dug into the palm and gave a nod to the dwarf, turning to the stage.
Bam!
Bam!
Vladiyus was sitting on Luke's chest and pummeling him. The groans and screams of Luke sounded in the hall.
"Stop! Stop!" Victor yelled, moving onto the stage.
Gasps echoed in the crowd, with whispers and snickers buzzing in the hall.
Mona frowned at Victor's action. 'No one had the guts to intervene. These dwarves and elves need to understand the harsh reality of war.'
"What are you doing? This is training, not a battleground." Victor entered the arena and yelled at Mona. Mona looked at him with crossed arms, not even flinching a little.
Victor gritted his teeth and moved toward Vladiyus, who was still pummeling Luke mercilessly.
Bam!
Point point-blank punch was hurled from the side, pushing Vladiyus aside.
Victor crouched down and examined Luke. His face was filled with blood, his nose and several teeth broken.
"What the hell are you doing!" Vladiyus screamed and lunged toward Victor.
Victor easily dodged his wide punch.
Bam!
He pivoted on his hips and punched Vladiyus in his stomach with all his strength.
Vladiyus went skidding on the ground and stopped by the ropes of the stage.
Ropes creaked with weight and tossed him back on the floor.
Thud!
Blood oozed from his mouth as he clutched his abdomen with hitched breath. Victor didn't turn back; he supported Luke on his shoulders and walked out of the hall.
"Where are you going? Did you ask me, your superior, for permission?" Mona shouted at Victor. He didn't glance back and kept moving. "You are not a superior, you are a bully, and you revel in the suffering of the cadets." A loud sound echoed in the weapon hall as Victor left.
A wave of shocked murmurs passed through the crowd as they looked at Mona with clear doubt in their eyes.
Mona frowned. Her jaw clenched, and she seethed, "You are a fool to offend me." She muttered under her breath.
Feena's eyes narrowed, and she also went after Victor. And most of the Golden faction followed her.
Mona's eyes widened, and she bellowed, "What do you think you're doing?"
Feena stopped midway and turned toward her. "We werewolves are proud warriors. Teacher and student relationship for us is sacred."
Kate frowned. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't. Zara was stopped by her too. Zara glared at her, "Let me go, Kate." She whispered.
Kate shook her head and whispered back, "We blue faction, can't leave. First Lieutenant Mona is from the blue faction and part of the great Amryl Family."
"So?" Zara growled
Kate shook her head and exhaled, "We Blue Faction can't offend the Amryl Family."
Zara's eyes widened, and she gazed at the back of the golden faction.