The open challenge was issued by the Ace of the first-years.
And unsurprisingly, it was accepted.
All Cadets ranking from eleven to twenty — all ten of them in total — stepped forward furiously and decided to answer Samael’s egoistical provocations.
It was understandable. Their pride was hurt.
They already didn’t believe that guy deserved the title of Ace, and now he was pulling a stunt like this?!
A single challenge was one thing.
But to stand before the class and act as if none of them were worth his time? That was a declaration of war.
Quite literally!
“You arrogant bastard—!”
“You think you can take all of us?”
“Hope that mouth of yours works as well as your fists, you fucker!”
A storm of tension brewed in the hall. The onlookers, who had been caught between awe and shock, were now buzzing with anticipation.
Some of them were throwing insults and booing, some of them were whispering excitedly, and some were just watching in stunned silence.
After a few minutes, three professors and a few members of the disciplinary committee arrived at the scene.
A couple of official formalities were hastily completed, and then, as if the Academy itself decided to throw fuel onto the fire, the duel was officially sanctioned.
The announcement hit like a thunderclap.
[Public Broadcast: Official First-Year Duel for the title of Ace – Samael Kaizer Theosbane vs. Rank 11-20 Cadets]
Across the Ascent Isles, holo-screens lit up. Cafeterias, dorm lobbies, training centers — everywhere, the fight was being aired live.
Hundreds of camera drones filled the sky, ready to capture the first title match of the first-years.
And just like that… there was no backing down now.
•••
Training Field 7 was chosen as the official arena for the match.
Each participant was given twenty to thirty minutes to prepare themselves before heading down to the soon-to-be battlefield.
Within minutes, the crowd had grown. The arena was packed, overflowing with people.
Hundreds of first-year Cadets decided to ditch their optional and elective courses to witness this title match firsthand.
And those who were stuck in mandatory classes were still going to watch by streaming the fight live on the Academy’s website.
Even a lot of upperclassmen had taken an interest, either watching from the stands or through the live localized telecast.
Most of the senior Cadets in attendance were second-years who hadn’t been deployed to Ishtara, whether due to injuries or other personal reasons.
Since they were all free and had nothing better to do, they made their way here.
A few third-years were mixed into the crowd as well, though most were only present to assist the faculty members in overseeing the match.
It was on them to ensure that no one got themselves killed in this utterly pointless brawl today.
Among the many faces in the audience was Vince Cleverly. His usual playful demeanor was absent, replaced instead by intense curiosity.
His keen gray eyes swept over the arena with calculated coldness as the gears in his mind turned.
Interesting.
This whole situation was… interesting.
Over the past few days, he had pulled every connection he had in the Western Safe-Zone to dig up as much information on Samael Theosbane as possible.
And what he found was not at all what he’d expected.
The youngest son of the Theosbane family was, for lack of a better word, a dumbass.
He was an entitled, spoiled brat with unresolved daddy issues and a deep dislike for authority.
A delinquent. A trash person. A stain on society.
That’s what he was supposed to be.
But one day, just before coming to the Academy, he suddenly changed. He confronted his father, did well in the Interview, and won the Evaluation Exam to become the Ace.
Yet, his personality was still not much different than before considering how badly he continued to treat people around him. Like that rage-bait of a speech he gave during the orientation. Or how he claimed to be above everyone just today!
In fact, if anything, he seemed to have become even more self-absorbed and narcissistic now.
But that’s exactly what was troubling Vince.
Despite his ego and theatrics, the Samael he personally met wasn’t acting like an idiot. Far from it.
He was much sharper than he was letting on.
Everything he did had a purpose.
Vince had seen enough swindlers, crooks, and conmen in his life to recognize when someone was running a game.
And right now, the so-called spoiled brat was playing everyone like a fiddle.
This open challenge? It wasn’t just arrogance — it was a calculated move.
But why?
Vince tapped his fingers against his arm, eyes narrowing. His gut told him that Samael wasn’t doing this just to prove himself better.
No, there was something else at play here.
Something bigger.
There were many reasons for it.
First, he had already guessed that it was Samael himself who indirectly paid Vince to spread all those rumors about him.
That achieved two objectives.
It gave Samael a blackmail chip to use against Vince, even though it was he who created that situation to begin with.
And it also damaged his reputation just enough for the top Cadets to start undermining him.
Vince remembered his father once told him about different laws of power he read somewhere.
One of which stated that you should guard your reputation no matter the cost because so much depends on it.
A good reputation can help you win allies, gain trust, and create opportunities.
A bad reputation can damage your credibility, create enemies, and limit opportunities.
However, after years of dealing with all sorts of people, Vince understood a more nuanced truth—
Reputation is just another tool in your arsenal. A controlled bad reputation could be just as powerful as a good one.
And Samael… he was using that principle to perfection.
He was making himself look like an arrogant fool, a deranged lunatic, an easy target, someone the others wanted to take down.
And in doing so, he was drawing them all in by letting them drop their guard.
The top-ranked Cadets resented him. The lower-ranked ones hated him. The whole first-year batch was watching his every move.
And now, thanks to this duel, every single first-year and even some upperclassmen were paying attention to him.
And only him.
Every Cadet in the top eleven to twenty belonged to either of the two factions. So, if he defeated them today, he would cement himself as undisputed.
After today, challenging him would be suicidal.
Not to mention, after his win, he would be able to indirectly control the factions without officially being their leader, since no one would ever act out without considering him.
Leon and Reiner would still be the leaders of their factions — the kings on the board… but Samael would be the hand moving them.
That was why he set everything up.
That brilliant bastard.
Vince almost wanted to be angry. It had been a long time since he was used into someone else’s plan like that… but he also couldn’t help but appreciate the sheer simplicity of this ingenious plan.
However, there was more to it.
While coming to that conclusion, Vince also noticed something else.
In the last few weeks, especially right before Samael and his Squad went on their first assigned mission to Ishtara, the intensity of confrontations between the noble and commoner factions noticeably increased.
Minor clashes, heated debates, and challenges between both sides grew more frequent.
It was subtle at the start of the batch — nothing more than a few verbal jabs and social posturing. But ever since the Team Test, the confrontations escalated like dry tinder catching fire.
And the tension was at an all-time high when he was away on his mission, as if waiting to snap the moment he returned… just like it did.
It almost felt as if someone else was fanning the flames.
Someone else was making the two factions fight each other more and more until the situation boiled into outright chaos.
There was another mastermind… moving the unsuspecting pawns on an invisible chessboard.
Vince frowned, and then he sighed. “Ahh, this is too much.”
He made a mental note to stay away from Samael and whatever power game he was playing in the future.
After all, he came to the academy to enjoy his late teen years, swindling people, winning gambles, and making money, instead of getting dragged into messes that didn’t even profit him.
As he was thinking that, a sudden voice shook him awake from his right, loud and laced with over-exaggerated enthusiasm.
“Hey, guys! Welcome to my channel! Today, I’m going live from the Academy to show you all a title match between our Ace and some of the top Cadets in an all versus one!”
Vince scowled, then looked to his right. There, he saw a young man with wavy hair, light brown like the color of his eyes, smiling like an idiot while talking to his phone’s camera.
Vince recognized that man as Ray Warner, the second-best Cadet in the batch.
Around him, some girls were practically jumping up and down in excitement. Was he famous? Maybe they were his fans?
Vince didn’t know. He didn’t have much of a social media presence.
Meanwhile, Ray continued talking to his camera, “Don’t go anywhere! But if you have to go, check out my other most recent challenge video, ‘Can I survive in the wilderness for ten days with a spoon?’ and tell me how you like it in the comments!”
Vince blinked. Then turned away to leave.
Right then, Samael entered the arena, and everyone present erupted with different kinds of reactions.
But Vince didn’t care. He already knew the result of this match.
Samael was going to win.
Most of the people here might have chosen to forget the fact that Samael was strong, but he didn’t.
He couldn’t blame these people.
After all, it was human nature to start believing what they wanted to believe despite what was right in front of their eyes.
The psychological term for it was cognitive dissonance.
But they’ll remember today.
“Hmm,” he mused. “Maybe I should start a betting pool before I go.”
Yeah, that was a great idea.
Why shouldn’t he reap profit from this?
So, that’s what he did.
He started a betting pool.
Most people obviously placed their bets against Samael.
And by the end of it, he was going to make big bucks.