Chapter 150: Thanks for telling

The entire class went silent, as everyone observed Noah re-entering the stage.

Blood leaked from his mouth, but Noah stood tall nonetheless, showing no signs of backing down.

The silence went on for a while, before—

"I think that was enough of a demonstration."

The instructor spoke as he looked at Noah and analysed the latter’s condition.

"Giving you all lessons in one day isn’t going to help much, so let’s take it slow, shall we?"

Though Zenur had asked it as a question, it was more like a final instruction with no room for argument.

Noah, who was about to speak, closed his mouth, as Zenur’s words were specifically meant for him.

"Though if there is another candidate, I can consider extending the demonstration a bit further."

At Zenur’s words, every head turned in my direction.

An instant reaction.

The instructor too was now looking at me.

I returned his stare with utmost respect, but made no effort to even consider fighting him.

There was no actual reason for me to fight him, as this didn’t have any real effect on my academic scores or other parameters.

There was no real need to overextend my body without any possible returns.

"Kael, will you be my partner for a while?"

Seeing that I showed no reaction to his previous stare, Zenur took it upon himself to mention me in particular.

Though his wording felt a bit odd, coupled with the smile on his face.

"No, thanks."

I politely declined the invitation.

Zenur, seeing my firm rejection, kept looking at me for a while.

"I can still fight?"

It was Noah’s voice that made the instructor shift his gaze from me.

"It’s alright. You should learn to take care of your body and not overextend it unless necessary. That is also a principle of becoming an elite fighter."

Saying that, Zenur took the notepad in his hand and began scribbling some words in it.

Seeing that the instructor had completely dropped the idea of continuing the spar, Noah looked around for a moment before heading in my direction, or heading towards Alicia in particular.

"That was brilliant!"

Alicia’s praise reached my ears, as Noah took a seat beside her.

"Thanks, I guess. Though I seemed to have lost badly."

Noah replied, looking at the instructor, who still had his head down.

"For your information, he is an instructor at Namda, so I think it’s natural for him to be stronger than students, and a first-year student at that."

Alicia’s argument was sound, but as I looked at Noah’s face, I could see that he was unsatisfied with the outcome.

Alicia might not have known Noah for long, but I certainly did.

He was someone who didn’t like being defeated in the slightest.

One could argue that it’s perfectly natural to feel such an emotion, as no person could ever like the feeling of losing to their opponent.

But—

Noah’s case was a bit extreme.

No matter how strong his opponent was, Noah always believed himself to be the best.

So even if it was the Gods who defeated him, Noah would still feel bitter.

One could just imagine the level of his fighting spirit.

The typical protagonist thing.

"Yeah... Maybe, you are right."

Noah replied after a long pause.

"Maybe? It’s a fact. What’s there to think so much about?"

Though Alicia might have thought that she was comforting Noah, I could tell that it was having the exact opposite effect.

Each of her words might have felt like daggers to Noah, dismantling his pride with every moment that passed between the two.

"You looked cool."

Seeing that Noah’s mood was still down, Alicia placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear.

Though sitting close to her, all of us heard the words.

"T-That... Thank you!"

Noah blushed a little at Alicia’s statement, but soon composed himself to speak the words.

"They look good together."

Diana commented next to my ear.

Seeing that I didn’t react, she nudged me with her elbow.

"What do you think?"

"I don’t care."

My reply was short, but brutally honest.

As I was looking at Diana, I could see her eyes wavering upon hearing my answer.

Diana didn’t avert her gaze from me, as she continued to look into my eyes, her mind searching for the right words to speak.

"She is your sister, Kael."

After a long pause, Diana spoke, her voice softer than before, though I could feel a faint tremor at the end.

"Thanks for telling me."

That was the only thing I could say at the moment.

The memories of the entire Frost family always felt distant to me. There was no real connection between us, leaving aside the fact that I was currently inhabiting the body of a Frost.

So except for the blood that we shared, there was no reason for me to think about them.

"Kael."

Diana just muttered my name, as she couldn’t find any other words to say, seeing my indifference in regard to Alicia.

"Alright! Attention, everyone."

Zenur’s voice made all of us turn our heads to look at him.

"I have prepared the general criteria on which I will be evaluating your combat prowess."

"Damn! No one told us about being evaluated."

"I don’t even know a thing about fighting with hands. I use a spear, for God’s sake."

"Me too!"

"I use bows, man! How could I fight with my body? This guy is..."

Murmurs broke out among the students, as many feared that this evaluation would be considered in their academic scores.

Zenur took a pause, seeing the panic among the students. From the shaking of his head, the instructor seemed to be disappointed in the behaviour of the students.

"You don’t have to worry, as this will not be included in your academic scores. I am recording it so that I get a fair idea about your strengths and weaknesses."

On the instructor’s clarification, the students finally calmed down.

Sigh.

Many times, I had nearly forgotten that all these students were still kids.