"Derek, what do you want?"
Looking at the boy blocking their path, Elias, who was walking beside Ryan, frowned slightly.
Ignoring Elias, Derek turned his cold gaze toward Ryan.
"What? You only dare to hide behind others?"
"What do you want?"
Ryan fixed his gaze on Derek, his expression turning slightly cold.
"Don't think I don't know that you only managed to pass the assessment because you took some kind of precious medicine."
Derek wore a mocking expression.
"That medicine must have been very expensive, right? I don't believe the Ashford family can keep supplying you with it. By the next assessment, you'll be exposed again!"
"That's none of your concern."
Ryan remained indifferent, while Elias, standing beside him, wore a strange expression.
Others might not know the truth, but Elias certainly did. Ryan's current strength had nothing to do with any medicine that enhanced his physical abilities, because the Silver Deer Blood he had given Ryan had been returned completely untouched.
"Do you dare to enter the arena with me?"
Seeing Ryan remain calm even after being "exposed," Derek felt as though he were being completely ignored, and his voice turned icy.
"Ryan, don't agree to it."
Hearing this, Elias was startled and quickly tried to dissuade him.
He had seen Derek's assessment results: 33 seconds in speed and 95 kilograms in strength. Although those results weren't among the very best, they were still better than Ryan's.
Naturally, Elias didn't have much confidence in Ryan's chances.
"Want to fight me in the arena?"
Ryan's expression turned cold.
The arena was where students of Aegis Martial Academy openly settled their conflicts, a tradition derived from formal duels between Blood Warriors.
Although academy rules prohibited deliberately killing or permanently maiming an opponent, accidents during duels were far from unheard of.
The original Ryan had died after suffering a serious head injury during his last arena battle with Derek.
Moreover, Ryan suspected that his death had not been a simple accident. Most likely, Derek had deliberately acted ruthlessly during that fight.
Derek sneered provocatively.
"What? You're afraid? If you—"
He didn't get the chance to finish.
"Alright. Let's fight in the arena."
Derek was visibly taken aback.
He had expected to need some effort to provoke Ryan into agreeing, yet the other party had accepted almost immediately.
"Ryan, you..."
Seeing Ryan accept Derek's challenge, anxiety immediately appeared on Elias's face, and he hurriedly tried to stop him.
"Great. It's settled, then. I'll go apply for the arena right now."
Having already recovered from his surprise, Derek gave Elias no opportunity to interfere.
Although he didn't understand why Ryan had agreed so easily, he was confident that defeating him wouldn't be difficult.
Naturally, he wasn't about to give Ryan a chance to change his mind.
"Ryan, you were too impulsive!"
Watching Derek hurry away to arrange the duel, Elias looked worried.
"I saw that guy's results during the assessment. His speed was 33 seconds, and his strength was 95 kilograms. Both are better than yours."
"Don't worry. His strength isn't much higher than mine. Besides, a duel isn't decided by strength and speed alone. Don't forget about my current spear technique."
Ryan shook his head as he explained.
"Right... your spear technique."
Thinking about Ryan's current spear technique, Elias's worries eased slightly.
Over the past few days, he had asked Ryan for advice on spear techniques and had personally witnessed how skilled Ryan had become.
His improvement was undeniable.
Ryan's spear technique had already been quite good before, but after receiving Aurelia's guidance, it seemed to have undergone a transformation and become even stronger.
In terms of spear technique alone, Elias felt that even Adrian Blackwood might not be a match for Ryan now.
Although Derek currently possessed greater raw physical ability than Ryan, it wasn't impossible for Ryan to defeat him once his superior spear technique was taken into account.
"Don't lose."
"Don't worry. I won't."
A cold smile appeared on Ryan's face.
Derek wanted to make a move against him, but Ryan had wanted to deal with Derek for some time as well.
Ever since he had taken over this body, Derek had been appearing every few days to provoke him, annoying Ryan to no end.
Even if Derek hadn't taken the initiative this time, Ryan would eventually have found an opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Now that Derek had voluntarily stepped forward, things couldn't have worked out better.
"Hurry over to the arena! There's going to be a match!"
"An arena match? That sounds interesting. Who's fighting?"
"It seems to be a guy named Ryan and another guy named Derek."
Classes had only recently ended, and many students had yet to leave the training grounds when news of the upcoming arena match began to spread.
They immediately rushed toward the arena in excitement.
"An arena match? And one of them is Ryan?"
Adrian Blackwood, who had been preparing to leave the training grounds, stopped.
After hesitating for a moment, he also headed toward the arena.
If it had been anyone else, he probably wouldn't have bothered joining the crowd, but Ryan's name caught his attention.
He wanted to see for himself just how good the spear technique praised by Aurelia really was.
One of Aegis Martial Academy's arenas consisted of a raised platform about a meter above the ground, paved with stone slabs and covering more than a thousand square meters.
By the time Ryan arrived, a large crowd had already gathered around it.
Students stared toward the arena with curiosity, while some impatiently shouted from the crowd.
"Let's get started!"
"Hurry up! Are they fighting or not?"
Academy life was usually monotonous and repetitive, so whenever someone provided a little excitement through an arena duel, the students naturally weren't going to miss it.
"That's the guy you're challenging?"
"Yes, Young Master Victor."
On the opposite side of the arena, Derek stood beside another young man with the respectful attitude of a subordinate.
The young man was dressed in plate armor.
Unlike the brigandine armor normally worn by academy students, his equipment consisted of carefully fitted metal plates protecting the most important parts of his body.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, and both its defensive ability and overall quality were clearly far superior to the standard equipment issued by the academy.
Armor of this quality was extremely expensive.
Only students from the wealthiest founding families and major Blood Warrior families could casually afford such equipment.
The young man was Victor Langford.
The Langford family was one of Greyhaven City's old and powerful Blood Warrior families, possessing foundations and influence far beyond those of ordinary wealthy households.
"Just go ahead and do it. I'll deal with anything that happens afterward."
Victor glanced at Ryan disdainfully before speaking in a casual tone.
Derek's face immediately lit up with joy.
"Thank you, Young Master Victor."
When Derek raised his head and met Ryan's gaze again, his eyes were filled with cold hostility.
Although Aegis Martial Academy had rules prohibiting death or permanent maiming during arena matches, there were always ways to work around such restrictions.
After all, this was a duel.
Accidents could happen.
And when an injury occurred, there was often considerable room to argue over whether it had truly been accidental.
"Ryan, how about we call this off?"
Elias looked worriedly toward Victor, who was standing beside Derek.
Although he couldn't hear what the two were discussing, his instincts told him that it couldn't be anything good.
"No need. Whatever they're planning, as long as I win, their schemes won't matter."
Ryan had also seen Derek speaking with Victor Langford.
However, he wasn't particularly worried.
With so many students watching the duel, there was little room for anyone to openly interfere with the fairness of the match.
As long as the fight itself remained fair, Ryan saw no problem.
He was confident that he could defeat Derek.
"Young Master Adrian, I didn't expect you to come."
When Adrian entered the arena area, several students immediately recognized him, and a few hurried forward to greet him in a flattering manner.
"I'm only a little curious about that student named Ryan."
Adrian spoke coldly.
The student trying to curry favor with him didn't seem bothered by his distant attitude and continued shamelessly.
"Young Master Adrian must have come to see Ryan because of Lady Aurelia, right? Although Ryan received guidance from Lady Aurelia, I think he's in serious trouble today. He might suffer quite badly."
"What do you mean?"
Adrian asked with a slight frown.
"Young Master Adrian, look at the guy standing beside Victor Langford. That's Ryan's opponent. It's obvious they're planning something."
"Tamper with the match?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
He had heard that arena matches could sometimes be manipulated, but he had never personally witnessed such a thing.