A week had passed since Nox sparred with Astra, and he had somehow become something of a celebrity.

Even among the second years, hence his current predicament.

"I heard you're strong enough to keep up with Ascended Dawn," a second year combat division student stood before him with his arms crossed. "How about a spar with me."

Nox stared at him for a while before sighing, ever since his spar with Astra, he had been receiving sparring challenges like this.

Most were easily avoided, but others were persistent, as they insisted on challenging him everytime they spotted him.

Now accepting their challenges wasn't a big deal, but he knew doing that would only lead to some kind of challenge marathon, as every single student would try to see if they could beat him.

On the other hand, if he just kept ignoring them, then they might see him as a coward and back off...

Which he very much preferred.

So he looked at the student before him and shook his head, "I'll pass."

The student blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.

"…You'll pass?" he repeated, a vein twitching on his forehead.

"Yeah," Nox said simply, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. "I'm busy."

A couple of nearby students slowed their steps as they curiously approached, wondering what was going on, and soon enough, a small crowd had formed.

Something that Nox hated, since they were all staring at him.

"Busy with what?" the second year scoffed. "Hiding?"

There it was.

Nox resisted the urge to sigh again. He'd heard that line more times this week than he cared to count.

"If you're scared, just say so," the student continued, his voice loud enough to draw a small crowd. "I mean, sparring with Ascended Dawn once doesn't make you—"

Nox stopped walking, his golden eyes settled on the second year with so much calm that it was unsettling.

"Look," Nox said evenly, "I didn't ask to be 'that guy.' I didn't ask for the rumors, and I definitely didn't ask for people to line up like it's some tournament arc."

A few students snorted at his words, but he didn't pay them any mind.

The second year frowned. "So what, you think you're above us now?"

He looked at the second year for a while, only now noticing that he was the second person that he had observed to be shorter than him.

"Others? Probably not, but you? Most definitely," he said...or rather, was tempted to say but he knew that it would help this situation in no way.

So he just sighed and said, "no, I believe I'm the lowest of the low, after all, I'm from the slums."

Surprise was evident on the faces of most of the students gathered around since they only knew Nox as either the crazy hoarder or the boy who managed to survive in a tier 4 rift for a whole month.

Only the few that had seen him when he first arrived with Astra, out in the city weren't surprised...well, the ones that could still recognize him anyway since he looked completely different.

Nox turned to walk away since there were no classes today and the headmistress requested a favor from him.

But the second year student was unsatisfied and muttered, "should've expected you to be a loser, just like the Burns you chose to hang out with."

Nox stopped, the smart thing to do was to keep walking, they would probably class him as a coward without a spine and the challenges would stop coming.

Exactly as he wanted.

So why the hell was he turning back? He wasn't the type to care too much about what was being said, so why was he getting pissed at the fact that Cass was mentioned.

No, he knew why.

He had seen Cass's expression during the result announcement, he had seen exactly how hard Cass was trying for him to be looking down on.

The second year was still wearing that smug expression, arms crossed, clearly thinking he had struck a nerve and he had. Just not in the way he expected.

"What?" The second year student said, his confidence evident in his voice, "are you going to do something about my words?"

Nox stared at him for a long moment before smiling, "you wanted a spar right?"

"Of course," the second year student said.

"Then we'll have a spar," Nox said, "but I'm allowed only a single move, if you manage to survive that move, then it's my loss."

"But if I win," Nox walked a bit closer, looking down at the student, "then you'll personally apologize to my friend for your words."

"That's arrogant…" "He's asking to get embarrassed." "Against a second year?"

The student grinned. "You sure you're not underestimating me?"

"Very sure," Nox replied.

There was a small pause between the two.

"…Alright," the second year said, rolling his shoulders. "Don't cry when you lose."

"Don't worry," Nox said with a smile on his face, "I don't intend to lose."

***

A few minutes after, the two found themselves in an empty training room and one of the students was overseeing the match.

Rumor that Nox had finally accepted a sparring challenge had spread faster than one could think and before they knew it, the training room was full of students.

With the turn up, one would think it was an official match.

Bets were even placed on who would win, with eighty percent of the students betting on the second year student.

"Aight, time to make some creds," Devon who was also standing in the training room with Cass and Linda, said.

He called for the student collecting the bets before transferring over five hundred credits to him.

"Who are you betting on?" The kid asked a bit surprised at the amount of credits he was betting.

"I'll go all in on Nox," Devon said with a grin.

"You sure," the student asked, "I know the odds for him is high but he's facing a second year."

"Man, I ain't bettin' 'cause the odds good," he said, waving his wrist so the transfer finished. "I'm bettin' 'cause I know that fool."

The student blinked. "You're that confident?"

"Confident?" Devon snorted. "Nah. I'm certain."

Across from him, the second-year student rolled his neck and summoned his solar tech, which was an entire suit, one which quickly wrapped around him.

"Rules are simple," the overseeing student announced nervously. "One move from Nox. Match starts when both parties are ready."

The second-year smirked. "Don't blink, freshman. You might just miss your chance."

"Begin!"

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