The man's gaze turned to the bulky guy, and his interest rose even more than it had for Aeren. He had thought Aeren might possess an artifact that allowed him to resist without struggling, but the bulky guy had knelt down yet still had the power to stand—the man could see his struggle.
The man stared at the bulky guy and laughed. "HAHAHAHAHA! Good, good." He looked at the leader, then gazed at the woman and said, "Alice, prove your worth."
Alice looked at the bulky guy with an irritated expression, then glanced at Aeren and asked, "Do you also want proof of anything?"
Aeren stared at Alice and said, "No, I'm fine."
Alice looked at Aeren and said, "You know your place, huh. Not like someone else." She turned back to the bulky guy.
The bulky guy continued staring at Alice. When he looked at Aeren, he felt danger—not from his appearance, but from his speech. It was as if Aeren had no emotion, no pride, or no feeling in his words.
He shook his head, looked back at Alice, and wanted to destroy her no matter what.
He had been beaten nearly to death because he hadn't followed her orders.
But afterward, he learned that in this world, the strongest rule and the weakest beg. So he decided to become strong.
Somehow, he discovered something others hadn't be seen and was sent to the Prison of Dungeon. In the dungeon, he defeated everyone and became the strongest prisoner, respected by all around him.
Alice saw his stare.
She released her mana from her pressure and released everyone. She moved to face the bulky guy as a smile emerged on her face.
The man looked at the leader and said, "Raid, judge them."
Raid stood up from his position, stepped forward, and reached where the two opponents faced each other.
Raid looked at both of them, and they looked back at him.
Everyone distanced themselves.
And they started whispering among their self:
"What do you think? Who's going to win?"
"Hmm, I think Roan has a chance of winning."
"You idiot! Didn't you feel her mana pressure? She's definitely going to win."
Everyone nodded, then their eyes went to Aeren, who was staying with them and listening.
One of the prisoners asked another, "Who is he?"
The other also looked at Aeren and said, "Yeah, man. He didn't even feel pressure from her."
A third prisoner looked at him with denial and said, "Maybe he has an artifact—that's why he wasn't pressured by anyone."
The first prisoner agreed and said, "That's why he rejected her offer. Or he might be waiting to show us his mighty power."
The second prisoner said, "Hmm, yeah. He only looks 15 or 16. What could he even do?"
All the prisoners nodded and believed in their version of reality while denying the reality.
Aeren didn't say a single word to explain anything or prove to others that he was something more.
But among the prisoners, one was staring at him with a suspicious look. He didn't join the other conversations and only trusted his instincts—and his instincts told him nothing at all. That made Aeren more dangerous than the others.
He looked at the man on the throne, and his instincts told him that running anywhere would be useless—they were all in the palm of his hand, and he could kill anyone. Then he looked at Aeren again and felt nothing—no danger, no fear, not even mana. It was like he was just a normal human from any corner of the world. But going from the academy to the Prison of Dungeon meant only one thing: he was dangerous. That's why the academy had sent him to prison.
He wasn't an idiot who would deny everything around him. Aeren wasn't right—his very existence felt odd.
Did that mean Aeren was more dangerous than the man on the throne? If yes, then why wasn't he doing anything? If he was stronger than the man on the throne, he could take anything he wanted from here.
But if not, then why had the academy sent him to the Prison of Dungeon? Had he done something, or had he just seen something that put the kingdom in danger?
He sighed inwardly and thought, I need information about him, or maybe I'm touching on something that endangers me.
Both Aeren and the man on the throne noticed his glance. The man was impressed by his wariness as he looked at Aeren and thought, What is he? My instincts want to kill him and take everything from him.
The man on the throne didn't know what he wanted to take from Aeren, but his thought never lied to him. What if Aeren only had artifacts that hid his form or mana? Then it would be useless to him. But his instincts told him those things wouldn't be useless.
He ignored his inner greed and looked at Alice and Roan in their positions.
Aeren glanced at the man on the throne and thought, Did he sense something? Hmm, did he sense that I'm not human at all?
He looked at the man on the throne again and thought, I once thought that being a 'knowledge monster' was useless, but it has benefits. My understanding increases, and I can easily absorb knowledge around me with different levels of comprehension.
Aeren nodded inwardly and began watching Roan and Alice as they took their stances, ready to fight.
Alice stared at Roan and said, "Hey, fatty. If you give up now, I'll make you second in command and forgive you. I'll make the weird guy third in command. How about it?"
Roan stared back at Alice and said, "No. I don't need your pity. I'm going to show you there's always someone better than you."
Alice laughed at him and said, "HAHAHAHAHAHAH! What are you going to show me, you fucking fatty?"
Roan heard her serious tone and felt something surge in his body—not fear, but excitement. It had been a while since he'd felt this excitement. He looked at Alice and said, "I've always wanted to beat you from the beginning. I wanted to meet you to show you how it feels to be useless against power."
Alice stared at him and said, "What are you spouting like an idiot? You're nothing but trash living in a trash bin."
Raid glanced at both of them and explained the simple rule: there were no rules. Then he shouted loudly:
"Begin!"
Alice and Roan stared at each other. As soon as the signal came, they waited. Both had smiles on their faces as they looked at each other, but neither attacked yet.
Everyone watched them in silence, not understanding what they were doing—just standing in place.