"What do you mean? You were the one who told me to take him seriously!"
"You slaughtered him," he said with a deadpan expression.
She looked away guiltily. "I didn't think it would be that one-sided."
He was about to say more, but he held off because he spotted something going on in one of the other arenas. Derek had walked onto the field, about to begin his very first match of the tournament, and Julius wanted to watch.
***
He was quite surprised by how many people suddenly showed up. There were already a good amount of people who were there to watch the fights, but for some reason a large influx of spectators started to flow in.
Soon, they were boxed in by big groups of people.
"Are they all here to watch Derek?" He asked, talking a little bit loudly over the sound of the noisy crowd.
Lily nodded her head and had a big smirk on her face.
"Oh yeah. A ton of people are here to watch him. Most of them had not seen Derek fight for an entire year. If not for some bad luck last year, he would have most likely been in the top sixteen. I suspect that a good number of them are very interested in seeing how much progress he made during this past year. There is also the part where he is the heir of a very powerful House."
"It's not like he is going to be joining another organization after school, though, right?"
She chuckled. "Of course not. But that doesn't mean people aren't curious about the future Duke Zenith."
Aubrey scoffed from his other side. "It also helps the girls at school love him," she said while glancing around the seats.
He frowned and looked around as well. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a weirdly large ratio of women to men. Then he shifted his gaze down to where Derek was standing across from another fourth year.
He had to admit that Derek was quite a handsome guy. Tall, strong, with model-like features. What woman wouldn't find him attractive?
"I can see that," he eventually muttered to Lily's amusement, if her chuckle was any sign.
He smiled lightly at her before paying attention to the fight that was about to begin.
Derek held his spear with his right hand and stood quite relaxed while staring at his opponent. Julius then turned to examine the other boy.
The first thing he spotted was that he was not looking very confident at all. The other fourth year was holding onto a two-handed sword, but unlike the calm Derek, he was visibly twitching his hand and had a pinched expression on his face, one would expect from one who had already lost.
Julius felt bad for the guy. It was just really bad luck to be pitted against Derek in his very first match. Not only that, but practically half the school was here watching it.
He could not imagine the other guy's emotions at the moment.
"Kick his ass, Derek!"
He turned to look at Aubrey, who had her hands cupped to her mouth, and gave her an exasperated shake of his head. She truly had no shame.
When the official began the fight, Julius was glad to see that the guy didn't freeze in fear. Derek's opponent dashed forward with a very noteworthy show of speed, heading straight toward Derek.
It was a very similar skill to [Flash Step] and allowed the other guy to cross the distance in a matter of moments. His sword was already in motion, cutting down toward Derek with some kind of skill that radiated a sense of sharpness.
Julius would not be surprised to learn that this guy had a Sharpness Concept of his own.
Unfortunately, speed was not something the guy would beat Derek in. After all, Derek had a perfect lightning affinity, and people were about to be shown just how potent this affinity was before their very eyes.
Julius watched as Derek sidestepped the sword with ease, lightning flickering around his body. Then, Derek bashed the shaft of his spear into the other student's chest. The force of the impact blasted the other student off his feet and sent him tumbling to the ground.
While Julius could perceive both of their movements, he doubted everyone in the arena could. The weaker ones probably only saw a quick flash of lightning before seeing Derek's opponent fly off into the dirt.
Julius had to admit that Derek was still one of the fastest Tier 3s he had come across. That assassin girl he fought on the plains was quite powerful and fast in her own right. She didn't have the same level of explosiveness and acceleration as Derek.
It wasn't just that either. But he knew that Derek wasn't close to using his full strength. He had seen some of the spars between Edgar and him before he had gotten transported away. Derek had been faster than this during that time.
He also expected that in the time he had been gone, Derek had improved his speed.
Unlike Aubrey, Derek didn't seem to want to destroy his opponent without giving him a chance to fight back. He allowed the other student to stand back up, not taking advantage of the situation.
That didn't mean the other guy had a chance. Derek proceeded to beat the other boy without looking the least bit ruffled. The only time Julius saw Derek actually try was when the other student tried to use his Concept to pressure Derek.
The way the other fourth year used his Concept seemed a bit… clumsy, but there was a fair bit of willpower backing it, so it was still quite effective.
Still, Derek easily handled it without batting an eye and won quickly afterward.
Although not quite as… passionately as Aubrey, Julius cheered alongside the two of them, happy that his friend won his fight. And while it had been expected, it didn't detract from the accomplishment. It merely showed that his friends were quite impressive in their own right.