Everyone who was at the training ground just looked at Zane and Alex as they argue. Alex then just drew his sword to challenge Zane.
"I don’t like people like you," Alex said, taking a few steps back.
Zane just sighed while shaking his head, looking down. "Fine, I will give you what you wish for," Zane said while turning and looking at him.
"HUH.....are they going to fight? This is going to be interesting," Kane asked, standing up from his chair.
"Well, even if Alex is the strongest student, I do not think he can defeat a monster like Zane," Primrose said while looking at Zane and Alex on the stage.
While this was happening, Eveline was just finishing her training and was heading to take a shower when she met students running towards the training ground where the trial was happening, and met Elena and Leon heading there too.
"Elena, where are you guys rushing to?" Eveline asked while wiping some sweat from her face.
"Huh, didn’t you hear that Zane is fighting in the trials to enter the continental competition for this year?" Leon asked as they approached where Eveline was.
"No, yesterday he said he is not interested in the competition," she explained.
"Well, according to people, he is fighting the strongest student in the academy right now, so everyone is heading there," Elena said.
"I see. Well, you guys can go ahead, I am going to take a shower," Eveline said and started to head to the dormitories.
"Huh, that’s weird," Elena said.
"What’s weird?" Leon asked while walking.
"If Zane didn’t want to participate in this competition, then why is he taking the trial?" Elena asked as she caught up with Leon’s pace.
"Maybe it’s an order from above. After all, Father knows that Zane is stronger than most of the students here," Leon explained as they passed the Tower barrier.
"Huh, are you trying to say the King wants Zane to participate in this competition? But why?" Elena asked.
"Maybe there is something going on in this competition that many people don’t know," Leon said while increasing his walking pace.
’Why would Zane change his mind out of nowhere? Is it that there was an order from the King? Even though Zane is strong, this is dangerous. I will have to go and ask him why he changed his mind,’ Eveline thought as she entered her room.
Back at the trial, Zane and Alex had started their fight, but the fight was one-sided as Zane was just dodging Alex’s attacks with ease without even taking his hands out of his pockets.
"Am I seeing things or what? Zane is just dodging Alex’s attacks with his hands in his pockets. Is he crazy?" Kane asked with a shocked expression on his face.
’Tch... this kid is just dodging my attacks effortlessly and with his hands in his pockets. I am going to kill him,’ Alex thought as he jumped backwards.
"What’s wrong? Why are you backing down? I thought you wanted to fight me one-on-one, so why are you jumping back?" Zane asked as a small smile appeared on his face.
"If you think you are strong, why haven’t you attacked me yet?" Alex asked, pointing his sword at Zane.
"Huh, you want me to attack you? I don’t think you will survive if I choose to attack you like you were doing," Zane said while his gaze locked on Alex.
"What makes you think I will not survive?" Alex asked.
Zane then breathed out, shaking his head. "I don’t like showing off, but I’ll let you test why I don’t like it," Zane said while activating his dark blade.
FWOOOSH!
The activation of his sword alone made a shockwave that made Alex cover his eyes.
’Just by activating his sword alone, it’s making me tremble a little. What kind of training do these guys from Dark Tower go through?’ Alex thought while gritting his teeth.
"Here I come. I hope you are ready," Zane said and shot towards Alex.
’Where is he? Where is he?’ Alex thought while looking around.
"Up here, big guy!" Zane shouted while in mid-air.
Alex then raised his sword to block Zane’s attack, AND THEN.....
BOOOOOOOOOM!
Zane’s attack collided with Alex’s sword and made a huge shockwave that made everyone cover their faces, and even Elena and Leon, who were about to enter the training ground, felt the wave and energy coming from the stage.
"Woah, this mana signature... this is Zane," Leon said while stopping in his tracks.
"Yeah, there is no other person," Elena said while passing Leon, who was standing in front of her.
’Damn, this guy is a monster. If I continue like this, I will die,’ Alex thought while gritting his teeth and trying to balance as the attack was heavy for him and the ground started cracking beneath his feet.
HUUUUUUUH....
BOOOOOM!
Alex then jumped aside, leaving Zane hitting the ground and breaking the stage into two as smoke erupted.
’That was close. If he didn’t slow down there, I would have been cut down by now,’ Alex thought while looking at the dust as it cleared.
"What are you looking for, big guy?" Zane’s voice echoed from behind as his sword touched Alex’s neck.
"When did you get here?" Alex asked, turning back while raising his hands and leaving his sword on the ground.
"The moment I hit the ground," Zane said while putting his sword away and starting to walk down from the stage. "For your own good, this is just a fraction of what I can do, so don’t put me on your level."
’Did he just say that this power he demonstrated is just a fraction of his power? Then how strong is he?’ Alex thought while staring at Zane as he was going to where Primrose and Kane were sitting.
What did he just see? Alex was defeated with one attack, and this guy is saying that was just a fraction of his power.
"Do you still want to fight this guy, huh, John?" Grace asked, looking at John, who was still in shock from what he had just watched.
"Nope, I am fine. I have watched enough," John said while sitting back on the chair and picking up his cup of tea.
"He is now much stronger than we expected," Hannah said, looking at Zane as he was sitting in his chair.
"Why are you surprised? If he wanted to, he could fight every student here and defeat them with ease," the Principal said while touching his beard.
"What do you mean? I only know of his training in the Demon Mountain. Are there other details that many officials don’t know?" Hannah asked.
"Isn’t it obvious? Do you think the King would just tell him to enter the competition without full knowledge about him? After all, I heard he once defeated a monster wave by just raising his hand alone," the Principal explained, and the students who were by his side were terrified after hearing what he said.
’This guy can defeat a monster wave just by raising his hand alone? What kind of a monster is he?’ the students thought at the same time and started to shake while their eyes were wide open and locked on Zane as he was looking down.
"Zane, why didn’t you tell us you were going to be participating in the competition?" Elena asked as they approached Zane.
"Huh, you guys? What are you doing here?" Zane asked while standing up.
"Well, we just heard that there is a freshman participating in the continental competition trial named Zane, and we knew it was you," Leon explained.
"I see. By the way, have you seen Eveline?" Zane asked while sitting down in his chair.
"Yeah, we met her coming from training. Also, you should at least tell her to tone it down when it comes to training. Since that freshman competition, she has been training most of the time," Elena suggested while greeting Primrose and Kane, who were by his side.
"That’s true. Ever since you guys fought, my little sister has become way too focused on training, and you know it’s your fault, right, Zane?" Primrose said while turning her head and looking at Zane.
"I know. Do you think I am the kind of person who ignores things like that? But she does not listen when I tell her, so I am going to do it the hard way," Zane said, looking at the stage as other students were fighting.
"The hard way? What do you mean?" Elena asked.
"I know my woman, so leave it to me," Zane said while standing up and leaving the training ground, as he had qualified to enter the competition by defeating a qualified student.
"What do you think he is going to do?" Kane asked.
"We don’t know either. We never spend much time with Zane, so we don’t know what he is thinking," Leon said, looking at Zane as he passed the entrance of the training ground.