Novel Full Chapter 644: Her Confidence [1]
Chapter 644: Her Confidence [1]
Instructor Kade’s calm voice brought the crowd back to silence.
She turned to the side and gestured toward a tall stone pillar near the edge of the platform. At its top rested a glowing crystal orb that pulsed faintly with blue light. “The duel will take place within the academy’s Combat Space,” she explained. “Once both of you place your hands on this orb, you’ll be transferred inside. Everything inside is real but when damage accumulates to a certain degree, it brings you out.”
She did not continue on the implications of this and allowed them to figure it out themselves.
Kade’s gaze returned to Michael and Rynne. “Before entering, there’s one thing you both should understand clearly. Because Michael Norman lost his previous position by default and not through actual defeat, he retains the right to request a rematch at any time of his choosing. Similarly, if Rynne Halvane were ever to lose her rank through a default, this same condition would apply.”
“Only true defeat—a clean, decisive loss within combat—invokes the one-month challenge restriction,” Kade continued. “In that case, the losing party will not be able to reissue a challenge for thirty days. And if the lower-ranked individual wins”—her gaze briefly flicked to Michael—”the defeated party will be barred from challenging again for two months. Do you both understand?”
Michael nodded. “Understood.”
Rynne gave a calm, wordless nod of her own.
“Good.” Kade’s tone softened slightly. “Then we’ll proceed.”
She motioned toward the orb. “Place your hands on the pillar. Once you do, the formation will activate, and you’ll be transferred to the combat space.”
Michael stepped forward first, resting his hand lightly on the orb’s surface.
Rynne mirrored his movement on the opposite side.
The orb brightened, its light shifting from blue to white. The ground beneath their feet hummed as complex runes ignited across the arena floor.
“Match—begin,” Kade announced. In that instant, the light flared, swallowing both figures whole.
The next second, Michael and Rynne were gone.
In another part of the Combat Hall, Ryn sat with his arms folded, eyes fixed on the large screen that shimmered above the pillar. The display projected a live view of the duel inside the space, a feature originally meant for supervising instructors before it was later opened to the public for friendly matches between students that didn’t require an instructor to be present.
Through the screen, they could get an idea of what was happening inside the combat space. Without this display, they would have to rely on the default method of bringing the participants out only after one side was defeated.
In special cases, such as mutual destruction or unforeseen danger, the supervising student or instructor could intervene through the system and immediately extract both combatants.
Right now, Ryn’s expression was unreadable.
“Pretty tense, huh?” a voice drawled beside him.
Ryn’s jaw clenched. “Shut up, Kieran.”
The young man next to him—tall, with messy brown hair and an irritating smirk—chuckled lightly, unfazed by the venom in Ryn’s tone. “What? Can’t a guy talk? You seem awfully on edge. Nervous for your little sister?”
“I said shut up.”
Kieran leaned back lazily in his seat, completely ignoring the warning. “Come on, don’t glare at me like that. I’m just curious.”
Ryn didn’t reply, though a faint crackle of mana pulsed from him—a warning that made the nearby air hum faintly.
Kieran’s grin widened. “Relax. No need to get violent. I’m just wondering how it feels, you know—seeing your sister go against that mysterious Michael Norman. Heard he’s the new golden boy of the academy.”
The look Ryn gave him could have frozen fire. “Keep talking,” he said coldly, “and you’ll find out how it feels to wake up in the infirmary.”
Kieran laughed, though his body stiffened slightly. Despite his teasing, he wasn’t stupid. He knew the difference between irritation and killing intent—and Ryn’s presence now carried traces of the latter.
Still, that only made him more amused. “Touchy as ever,” he said, hands raised in mock surrender. “Guess the rumors were right then.”
Ryn’s gaze sharpened. “What rumors?”
“That you lost to that same first-year not long ago.” Kieran tilted his head, pretending to think. “Oh wait—was that supposed to be a secret?”
Ryn’s aura flared before vanishing in a blink. He exhaled slowly, suppressing the urge to draw his weapon right there. When he finally spoke, his tone was calm again—but dangerously calm. “You should be more careful with your mouth, Kieran.”
The other boy chuckled again but fell silent, though his eyes glimmered with mischief. He didn’t fear Ryn completely—but he respected his strength enough not to push too far.
Both of them turned their attention back to the screen.
Inside the projected image, Michael and Rynne stood within a vast, stone-lined arena that stretched beneath a crimson sky.The moment Michael entered the mysterious space, he wasted no time drawing his weapon.
At the same time, he activated several body fortification skills. Though confident in his strength, he wasn’t arrogant enough to underestimate his opponent. Believing Rynne couldn’t be a fool, he chose to go all out from the start.
Just as he was debating whether to summon one of his undead from the space within the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten in his soul—which he wasn’t against since his possession of Rank 3 undead was already an open secret—a massive fist suddenly appeared before his face, moving at an incredible speed.
Instinctively, Michael activated his movement skill and vanished from the spot.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion echoed through the area where he had stood a second earlier. Dust and debris scattered violently, and the air rippled from the shockwave.
Michael’s eyes narrowed as he steadied himself, a faint look of disbelief crossing his face.
That… didn’t seem normal.
When the dust finally cleared and he caught sight of Rynne, his expression twisted in surprise.
“So this… is an Armorer?” he muttered.
Classes were usually self-explanatory from their names.
Michael had expected an Armorer to be someone who created or enhanced armor—maybe a support-type combatant. Something along those lines.
But what he was seeing before him was nothing like that.