Chapter 138: Tournament [6]

Alarion’s eyes moved to Alden. He smiled, and it was genuinely warm.

"The cadet who demonstrated the greatest overall improvement throughout this week, and the strongest combined performance, is Alden."

He let it settle for a moment.

"Therefore, Alden is hereby granted the official rank of Spire."

One beat of silence passed before the hall erupted.

The Ten Spires began clapping from the upper platform. Theodore grinned. Isabella applauded with quiet precision.

Ulvakor threw his fist into the air from the Windsky section. "THAT’S ANOTHER ONE FOR WINDSKY!"

Down in the cadet section, Leon was the first one standing. "THAT’S OUR ALDEN!"

Roselle was already smiling bright. "Honestly, after what he did to Adrian? I’m not surprised at all."

Nicholas clapped and nodded. "Not surprised either."

Claire’s eyes were on Alden in the arena. ’He’s still as incredible as ever,’ she thought, and then caught herself, cheeks going warm, and looked away quickly. Not yet.

Seris clapped softly from her seat. The smile on her lips was the small, genuine kind, the one without any performance in it.

Alden stood in the center of the hall while all of this happened around him.

He didn’t smile.

His expression had not changed since the fight ended. Cold and still, his eyes on the four Supreme Lords above him. Specifically on Aurora. Specifically on the look still sitting behind her composed face.

He turned to Alarion.

"I refuse."

The hall went silent so fast it felt like something had been switched off.

Not the natural quiet between announcements. Something heavier. The specific silence of a room where several hundred people have had the same breath stolen at the same moment and haven’t gotten it back yet.

Nicholas froze with his hands still partially together from the applause. Roselle’s smile was gone. Leon had stopped mid-cheer, standing with his mouth slightly open, staring at Alden’s back.

Up in the Windsky section, Ulvakor’s raised fist came down slowly.

"What?!"

Theodore said nothing, but his eyes had narrowed into the careful look of someone recalculating.

’He refused the position... Why?’

There was something about Alden that Theodore simply could not fathom. The boy possessed literally everything a warrior needed to rise to the absolute peak. Monstrous strength, unfathomable potential, and selected as a Spire from the Supreme Lords themselves. Yet, with a single phrase, he had willingly thrown away the ultimate honor every cadet bled for.

’What exactly are you thinking, Alden?’

Alarion looked at Alden with an expression that was not quite confusion. More like a man hearing a word he recognized but not in the expected order. "You refuse?"

"Yes."

"You are certain."

"Yes."

Alarion studied him for a moment.

Alden glanced upward. At the four thrones. At Aurora with her composed face and the killing intent that had been in her eyes. At Constantine.

’Why would I want to be a Spire?’

He knew what Spires were. He had built the concept of them from scratch in a document. They were powerful. They were respected. They stood at the peak of what a human fighter could achieve within this world’s framework.

They also served directly under the four Supreme Lords who were sitting in front of him right now.

High-ranking knights was a more honest description. Not free agents or independent authorities. Extensions of the Assembly system, answerable to the people on those thrones.

And the people on those thrones were hiding something about him that one of them had really decided was enough to try to kill him over. Whatever they knew, whatever they were hiding or keeping or holding, he had no idea about it. Joining himself fully into their direct command before he knew what that really meant felt like the exact kind of choice that could not be changed later.

Alarion held his gaze for a long moment. Then gave a single firm nod. "Very well."

He turned back to the hall.

"Since Cadet Alden has declined the title, the position of Spire will be awarded to the second-best performer of this week’s tournament."

Several people in the cadet section straightened immediately.

Adrian’s chest puffed out. His confident expression was back, comfortable and satisfied.

Leon leaned back on his seat. "Yeah, who else would it be after seeing all those insane matches?"

Cecilia crossed her arms with the expression of someone steeling themselves for bad news. "Please don’t be that guy." She glanced toward Adrian, then toward Nicholas. "Honestly, I’d be happier if it went to the third-best."

Roselle bit back a smile. "You have to admit Adrian performed incredibly well throughout the bracket."

"I know," Cecilia said, clearly not enjoying the admission. "I didn’t say I was happy about it."

Nicholas gave a modest, somewhat awkward smile. "He beat me before I could properly react. That’s a fair win. I’m not making excuses for it."

Adrian’s smile had expanded to the width of his entire face. He placed both hands on his hips and surveyed his peers with the specific energy of someone preparing to accept what they’ve always known was coming. "See? At least some people can recognize incredible natural talent when they watch it."

Cecilia’s expression answered this without words.

"Following Alden." Alarion’s voice cut through the side conversations.

Adrian’s smile stopped moving.

Alarion scrolled at the screen in front of him. "The second-best performer of this week’s tournament." He paused. "Is Leon Evercrest."

A heavy, total silence settled over the vast hall.

Adrian’s jaw dropped.

Cecilia froze mid-breath, her mouth slightly open.

Nicholas’s eyes went wide in a way they almost never did. Roselle’s head turned so fast toward Leon that it should have made a sound. Claire’s composed expression cracked completely open.

Seris raised one eyebrow with what appeared to be genuine surprise.

Leon himself had gone completely still.

He was still sitting in his seat. His hand was raised halfway, pointing at his own chest, trembling slightly at the wrist.

He looked at the finger. Then at Alarion. Then at the finger again.

"M-Me?!"