Inside one of the many rooms of the arena, a certain space lay beneath the stands. A waiting room of sorts for those who were part of a special occasion. The room was crowded and bustled with activity, even though there were only five competitors from each side. The reason being, most of the students inside were nobles. Naturally, they were assigned personal attendants by their parents to tend to their every need, and it is one of the jobs of these servants to make their masters as comfortable as possible so they can fight at their optimum condition. Hiyon Ifnal, one of the young masters in the room, noticed a student sitting by the corner alone. Seeing as he was the only one with not even one servant in tow, it could only mean one thing. Hiyon, being the first son of a Viscount, was spoiled rotten by his parents. From an early age, the difference between a noble and a commoner was hammered down to him by his father while his mother taught him not to associate with them, seeing them as no different from livestock. Little wonder that he grew up worse than them. A sheathed sword rested upon the student’s shoulder who seemed to be asleep as his head was hung low. Hiyon casually approached the student with a smug look on his face, thinking that he could relieve some stress after his loss earlier.

“Hey, you! Who told you that you could sleep here, huh!? This isn’t the infirmary!”

Although technically it was the resting room for competitors before and after their battle, Hiyon strode forth regardless, confident that what he was doing was completely justified as he is a noble. Not some dirty commoner much like the one he’s approaching. His servants started whispering to one another behind him as they braced themselves for the coming tragedy. All they could do was watch the unlucky student with pity. 

“Hey!! I’m talking to y–”

!!

Suddenly, a sharp breeze passed by the bridge of his nose as he stood face to face with the edge of the sword. It wasn’t unsheathed, yet he felt his nose throb as fresh blood seeped from the newly opened wound. The room clamored with concerned mutterings as they watched the young man cover up his nose, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

“Hn? Is it my turn yet?”

The student yawned as he rubbed his eyes and looked towards the source of the noise that woke him up. Below, a fellow student knelt on the ground, breathing heavily as he held his face. Behind him, various looks of surprise, concern, and fear, painted the faces of everyone that met his gaze, as if they were staring at a crime scene.

“Eh?”

As he scanned his surroundings, he noticed his outstretched hand holding the sheathed blade pointed directly above the kneeling student. Though it took a moment, he finally understood what was going on as he noticed dark crimson stains on the ground and more of the liquid dripping from the student’s hand.

“A-are ya alright?” 

He hurriedly knelt alongside the student with a concerned expression on his face.

“I-I am so, so sorry about this! I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“You… bastard…”

Bloodshot eyes, filled with rage, stared at him as the kneeling Hiyon violently stood up. 

“L-look, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to harm ya. Here, I’ll let ya hit me back! Sounds fair?”

He frantically put his hands behind his back and stood ramrod straight, facing Hiyon whose bloody nose had yet to cease. He approached one of the servants who trembled as he yelled out his orders to her. The servant hurriedly withdrew a towel from a nearby bag and handed it to Hiyon who forcefully took it from her, covering his nose with it. 

“How dare you… a mere plebeian, wound my flawless face!?”

He furiously brought his fist down on the defenseless student's cheek. A dull thud could be heard by those standing near them as the noble hit the student’s face. Some of the servants winced as they watched, painfully aware of just how heavy-handed their master is and felt sorry for the boy. 

“Good punch… ya practice martial arts or something?”

The servants gasped in surprise to see the student grinning, even though he just took a full-powered punch with his face. Their master never holds back and the force he exerts could break a person's nose easily, which is why they could not believe their eyes. 

“W-wha…”

Needless to say, the one most dumbstruck was Hiyon himself. Despite being a student of the mystic arts, he had confidence in his strength as he trained his body. Although he loves his father, he did not care for his slovenly appearance and unsightly gut borne from years of drinking the finest of alcohols. In order to avoid turning into such an atrocity, Hiyon endeavored to commit to a healthy exercise and it was at that point of time that he discovered his new hobby which he liked to call, “Tenderizing” which sometimes brought servants to the brink of death. For most of the course of his life, Hiyon had never seen anyone withstand his punches. Until today.

“Great! So we’re even now, right?”

The student slammed his free hand on Hiyon’s back. A stinging pain soon followed once the hand made contact, making Hiyon flinch. The student paid him no mind and kept smiling even as Hiyon stared daggers at him. 

“Mr. Lofit? Is Mr. Lofit here?”

Amidst the commotion, a bespectacled woman who looked to be in her late teens, entered the room, scanning the students for someone. 

“Here! I’m Lofit, Trey Lofit!”

Trey raised his hand and approached her.

“Great, you’re going up next! Please be ready.”

“Ooh, finally! I’ve been waiting!”

Trey’s smile furthered as he learned of the news. He cracked his knuckles and prepared to leave the room.

“How dare you make fun of me… you damn commoner!!!”

Hiyon, still fuming from what happened, suddenly ran towards Trey with his fist raised. The organizing staff noticed it late and was about to open her mouth to warn Trey. 

(“Perfect, there’s no way he can brace himself for this!”)

Hiyon smiled as he put his entire weight into that single punch. He couldn’t care less whether or not it would kill Trey. After all, it was his fault for mocking a noble. 

“Eh?”

Trey suddenly vanished from sight like a ghost. 

“Guh!?”

In the next instant, Hiyon’s sight tilted upwards as an unknown object touched his chin and sent him flying in the air.

“If yer going to use a surprise attack, ya gotta shut your trap! Sheesh... and I just apologized too. I didn't mean to hurt ya.”

Trey, with his fist poised in front of him, sent Hiyon flying with an uppercut, knocking him out cold on the ground. In the next moment, the color drained from his face as he realized what he had just done.

“Ah-”

He turned to look at the lady who called for him and saw her, slack-jawed while staring at the unconscious Hiyon.

“A-am I disqualified now?” Trey asked with a grim expression on his face.

“W-well, usually this would be grounds for disqualification, but… you clearly acted in self-defense. I-it should be fine, I think?” The lady shifted her glasses with a worried face as she replied.

“Y-ya think?”

“Y-yeah, it’ll be fine! Probably… Anyway! We have to get you to the stage! Please follow me!”

The lady gestured for Trey to follow her. Trey gave a concerned look and bowed before leaving the sprawled Hiyon to be attended to by his servants.