That got the crowd’s attention.

  Wrye pointed at Andes, then Alos. “Go down to the fifth floor and fight the fourth-floor boss.”

  “An exhibition?” Alos snorted. “For what?” He glared at me. “This brat has nothing I want.” He gestured at his team. “And there’s no way my team can beat Trent Vowler’s.” He shook his head. “No.”

  “We don’t have Savyn or Rals.” Andes glanced around to see how the admission would be taken by the crowd. “So we can’t even field a full team, plus…” He shrugged. “Our teacher isn’t here, so we can’t go in the Dungeon.”

  “So what I’m hearing is that the two of you want to complain and make fun of someone, but when it comes time to step up, you both admit he’s better than you.” The ivory man ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. “That’s disgraceful.”

  “He can’t even field his full team!” Andes pointed at the three women behind me. “He’s down two! So it was a bogus challenge to begin with!”

  Someone in the crowd booed, which kicked off a wave of jeers.

  “HEY!” Alos bellowed. Once people calmed down, the Minotaur straightened. “This freshmeat has caused problems for my team.” He pointed at me.

  I tried not to be insulted by the slang term for a first-year student.

  “He came over to make more trouble and I’m simply telling him to get lost.” Alos glared at me, then turned to face the crowd. “There was never any claim to be better than him.” He pointed at Andes. “That was all the runt.”

  I couldn’t stop the smirk that tugged at the corners of my lips.

  All eyes in the cafeteria turned to the silver man from my hometown.

  “I mean, if our whole team was here…” Andes sputtered. He looked around his table, then at me. “We can do it tomorrow!”

  I hesitated as the focus shifted to me. I couldn’t tell them that we didn’t have RIx or that we were leaving again once we grabbed some food. But I knew I couldn’t refuse, so I leaned into the bluff.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “I’ve already beat you once and like Alos said, if there’s nothing for me to gain, then there’s no reason to do it.” I turned to the Minotaur. “You, on the other hand, have decided to insult my friends, my wife, and my capabilities.” I did my best to glare at him. “You either owe me an apology and can step aside while I talk to Jovena, or you can duel Miel.”

  Steam puffed out of the Minotaur’s nostrils as he bristled. He eyed my mother-in-law and I could see the gears shifting behind his eyes as he calculated whether or not he could win.

  “Whatever.” The bullman stepped out of my way. “It’s not like these kids can win this year anyway.” He reached out to grab me as I walked by. “But—”

  Miel caught the Minotaur’s arm and held it tight. Her red eyes narrowed. “Don’t touch him.”

  Alos tried to pull back his arm, but it wouldn’t budge. Vindication mixed with fear as he realized that he’d made the right call. “I was only going to tell him that he takes the girl next year. If he doesn’t want to trade, that’s fine, but I’m not teaching someone who wants to be on a different team.”

  I nodded at Miel. “It’s okay.” I turned to the teacher as she released him. “I promise that she’ll do better.”

  “Don’t care.” Alos pulled his arm back and rubbed it with his other hand. “You can take her or not, but I’m cutting her as soon as we lose the prelims.”

  I watched as he stormed off, my head running through the possibilities of what I could do. Getting expelled from one of the academies was a really big negative mark. The Nobles would avoid you and most Adventurer groups wouldn’t take you on, especially since you wouldn’t have the levels to do even the basics. If she wanted to keep going into the Dungeon, she’d have to either join the Temple school in Tres or farm the fourth floor by herself to build up levels, which was dangerous.

  The other students scooted away from the table and followed after their teacher, leaving Jovena by herself. The rest of the crowd turned away, some giving audible displeasure that there hadn’t been a fight.

  Wrye walked behind me as I sat down next to the defeated woman. “You guys need some food?”

  “I’ll go get some.” Justia pulled on her girlfriend’s arm. “Aelin, come on!”

  “But—” Aelin barely resisted as Justia dragged her away from the table. “The harem!”

  I shook my head as Ether sat down on my left.

  Wrye patted me on the shoulder. “I’ve been trying to look out for her, but Alos doesn’t like people meddling with his team and I’ve got my own studies.” He shook his head. “Sorry I didn’t do a better job.”

  “It’s fine.” I honestly hadn’t been expecting much and his breaking in and offering a duel had helped to diffuse the situation. “I’m about to head back out, but we should be back soon.”

  Jovena’s shoulders sagged at the news. “You’re leaving again?”

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