Chapter 79: Confrontation

A few days later, Ethan and Lila were on their way to the lecture hall about to have their first class.

Tournament was closing in... you could practically feel it in the air. Many students went out early to train, others stayed out late. The rest of them were running theories about who would be fighting who on the day of the tournament.

In a way, Ethan disliked how filled the halls and school grounds were getting recently as he could barely find time to train with his undead without having all eyes on him.

Somewhere down the halls, someone laughed too loud about the possible matchups and another openly wondered how restricted class students were going to cope.

Lila walked close enough that her hand brushed his every few steps and when they turned towards the last corner leading to their classws’ door, they stopped dead in their tracks.

Frosty leaned against the wall in ordinary academy clad in a customised dark uniform. The white shirt underneath clung to her form and tiny ice flakes formed on the unbuttoned dark blazer dark. The crest was bold on the chest and her blue streaked hair fell loose around her shoulders.

Ethan studied her side profile and saw that she looked a lot younger than you would expect from a third year.

His gaze moved to Aria watching her rigid posture with a raised eyebrow...

The moment Frosty’s eyes found him, the atmosphere changed completely.

"There," Frosty said, not loud, but clear enough for him to hear. "That’s him isn’t it? You placed second under an F rank Necromancer who happened to come back with a Devil-class story attached, and instead of doing anything about it, you’re wearing second place like it’s some kind of award."

Aria’s jaw tightened. "That’s... that’non for your business."

"Evaluation results became everyone’s business the moment it got plastered on that bulletin board." Frosty’s gaze flicked to Ethan again, completely ignoring the annoyed expression on his face. "The students know about it. The teachers know about. The upper years know about it. You got beat by a necromancer that was not even trying."

Ethan frowned. Somehow, he was caught in the argument between two people he had never interacted with in the middle of the doorway.

He looked at Frosty again. Why did a third year care this much about Aria’s results in the first place. It would have made a lot more sense if she was just expressing how disappointed she was that Aria didn’t come out on top but this had a kind of personal heat to it— like she was somehow offended by it.

"But I cleared three chambers," Aria said in defense. "Collected five full sacs and had the most kills. He waa carried by his group the entire run. At least put that into consideration. I really did do my best. They just got lucky."

"And you’re just giving excuses." Frosty’s voice stayed even, and somehow that made it harsher. "You think this is what they wanted?"

Aria gripped her forearm. "That’s not—"

"You’re too relaxed here," Frosty cut in, her voice sharp. "You think pulling an SS ranked ability will keep you on top forever? You have the talent, you have the time. But you refuse to take the initiative. You only buckle up and try to make things better when it no longer counts..."

Lila’s brows knit, and Ethan raised another annoyed eyebrow.

"You haven’t changed a bit," Frosty continued. "You still bite the inside of your cheek when you’re about to say something stupid in public, and you still believe that when you’re on top, it’s supposed to stay that way."

The corridor had gone fully silent by now as we everyone watched the scene unfold in front of them.

Aria clenched her fist, hard enough that Ethan sensed a faint drop in temperature.

He stepped in before things got ugly. "Uhhh i don’t know what’s happening, but you’re in the way. I really need to get to class."

Frosty’s eyes snapped towards him. "This has nothing to do with you."

"It doesn’t. But you’re in the way..."

Frosty’s eyebrows twitched as she opened her mouth to speak but decided against it. She turned to Aria one last time:

"The tournament’s less than a month from now. You can use then to make up for it."

She left down the corridor in silence, her waist swaying with each step. Ethan watched her go and sighed, but when he turned, Aria spoke in a cold, flat tone...

"I didn’t need your help."

The irritation landed exactly how he would expect from her, and he replied before she could get another word out. "I wasn’t helping you. I was trying to get to class."

He walked past her and entered with Lila following behind him. While he moved to his seat, he recalled how he had been dragged into the argument. Being a restricted student meant people treated you either as a tool or a stain. He was no exception...

He scoffed. She could have just walked in though. She really didn’t have to put on a show about not needing his help...

Even if she wanted to say that, there was no need to be arrogant about it.

Tch... popular people and a their pride.

When he took his seat, Professor Crane walked in and set her tablet down on the podium.

"Tournament rules have dropped," Crane said, and when she did, the hall went completely silent.

"The rules will be sent to your devices as of this minute, and we will go through will go through them before you open your mouths to complain."

Just as she finished speaking, every phone in the halls buzzed at once.

Ethan took out his phone and saw a pdf titled. [MCA Tournament Rules] pasted on the top of the screen.

The hall immediately descended into a wave of murmurs and when Crane noticed, she spoke again. "I see you’ve all recieved it," she said, "we will begin..."