Return Of The Strongest Player

"For the next battle, Jake Garcia will be engaging in a battle with Arthur Solace!"

Since both names were not well-known, the crowd's reaction was mediocre at best. No one cheered like they had for Felix and Sarah. And, even though their battle had been incredibly climactic, many people did not understand the outcome.

Some were indignant at Sarah's loss, while others were confused. Some cheered for Felix... mostly the girls.

"Yay, big brother's fighting!" Lily cheered, having awoken from her deep slumber. She rubbed her eyes in a cute manner, attracting attention from nearby people.

Arthur patted her head before bidding farewell to his parents. He then descended down to the arena. Many stared at him, wondering who he was. Arthur was a commoner, and not many knew him.

In Arcadia, the only people Arthur knew were Alisha, Jamie, and Professor Noxicle. He had a negative relationship with all of them, which made them unlikely to spread information about him to their peers.

Once he arrived at the arena, the announcer escorted him to the middle.

At that moment, Jake emerged from the opposite side, causing the girls to cheer in sheer elation.

"May I ask who Jake Garcia is?" Arthur asked the announcer, who was heading back to his position. The announcer stared at Arthur, wondering if he was being serious. After confirming he wasn't being sarcastic, the announcer sighed.

"Have you been living under a rock?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Jake Garcia is the tenth son, the youngest, of the Garcia Family. I'm sure you know who the Garcias are, right?"

When Arthur shook his head in denial, the announcer sighed once again.

"The Garcias are one of the most influential families in Arcadia, alongside the Ainsworth family and a few others. Beware of them, as most of them are prideful, arrogant, and downright condescending to others."

"You seem to dislike them," Arthur pointed out, to which the announcer nodded tearfully.

"I wanted to be a professional dancer," said the announcer. "The Ainsworth family forced me into being an announcer... fuck them."

"That's... peculiar."

"Shut up and fight," the announcer replied in indignation before stomping off. Arthur shook his head before calmly observing his opponent. The girls seemed to squeal as they caught sight of him.

With dirty-blonde, pushed back hair and pure black clothing, he seemed quite intimidating. Also, his expression was incredibly solemn, unbecoming of a young master of one of the most famous families.

'Is he not one of those arrogant types?' Arthur wondered, tilting his head slightly while observing his appearance. From what he saw, Jake Garcia was quite composed, and his eyes seemed to be observing Arthur.

"Jake Garcia... nice to meet you," Jake introduced himself before greeting Arthur. His words were genuine, and there wasn't a single hint of disdain behind them.

"Arthur Solace," Arthur responded. Then, the dirty-blonde-haired man closed in to shake Arthur's hand, which the latter reciprocated, albeit a bit hesitantly. "You're much different than what I've heard about you."

The announcer introduced the Garcia family as a prideful and arrogant family. However, their tenth son seemed to be quite well-mannered.

"My family has a bad reputation within society," said Jake, shrugging frivolously. "It's mostly due to my father's ignorance towards the thoughts of others. He's quite the prideful man and tends to stick by his own morals."

"I see," Arthur responded, nodding. "I suggest you distance your hand from your pocket, otherwise things will get nasty too soon."

Jake raised an eyebrow before nodding. He had slowly been moving his hand towards his pocket during the course of the conversation, but the crimson-eyed man had noticed regardless of his attempt to mask it.

"I assume you're from outside Arcadia, correct?" Jake inquired.

"Indeed," replied Arthur. "I came to Arcadia to apply at the academy."

"We should get this battle started," Jake suggested. "We can talk while we fight. You seem like an interesting guy."

"I can't say the same for you," replied Arthur. "You're much less interesting than I anticipated. But that's also a good thing, I presume."

"Your words are harsh, yet your tone isn't. You're... weird."

"I assume you meant that as a compliment."

"I did."

An awkward silence descended upon the arena, and as the two combatants locked eyes, they both disappeared from their locations. A gust of wind formed due to the sheer speed they both moved at.

Boom!

As their weapons collided, a deafening sound was produced.

"Go Jake!"

"Destroy that kid!"

"Jake! I love you!"

"Marry me, Jake!"

Jake didn't bat an eye, and simply unleashed a barrage of strikes at Arthur, who evaded every single one cleanly.

"You're quite popular, I must admit," said Arthur, swinging his longsword vertically while aiming at Jake's nose. The latter moved his head back before deflecting the strike using his own longsword.

"Mere parasites," replied Jake stoically, sidestepping to avoid another strike from the crimson-eyed man.

"That's harsh."

"But isn't it true?" Jake asked rhetorically. "Imagine being chased by women you find utterly disgusting all day. And when you insult them, they blush and act like you're playing hard to get. It's fucking annoying."

Arthur chuckled, recalling his days as the Lord of Sins. He was popular, yet no one dared to approach him directly. He was aware of his influence and popularity, but he never mentioned it to anyone.

His situation was quite a lot different than Jake's, yet he couldn't help but relate.

Clang!

As their longswords collided, another deafening sound was produced. They backed away instantly before closing in again. The pattern repeated multiple times until the two returned to delivering regular strikes.

Mana filled the atmosphere, and the two squeezed their reserves.

"You're strong," Jake commented, raising an eyebrow after realizing they seemed to be evenly matched.

"So are you," replied Arthur in a rather emotionless tone.

"We seem to be evenly matched," said Jake, closing in for a strike. He swung his longsword horizontally, attempting to slice Arthur's torso in half.

A few seconds of silence passed before Arthur clicked his tongue.

"No, we're not."