The hall fell silent as Oliver's face carried his confusion about what happened. The prince, however, carried on without pause.
"The first flaw about our friend is his size, as it made him inflexible! He can't react or change the direction of an attack once it was thrown!" The prince said with the stern face of a teacher but his words made the crowd laugh.
Arthur sat there silently, looking at the stage with a dark mood. The taste of his sweets in his mouth lost all of its joy.
'Truly, humans are pathetic creatures.' Arthur clenched his hand under the table. 'They don't care to step on others for their own expense. These people are laughing, but why hasn't anyone thought of how Oliver would feel?'
Bullying was always like that. Once a target has been set, the rest of the group are either thrilled to humiliate him or relieved that it wasn't them. In the end, everyone is an accomplice. No one thinks about the target. In the grand picture, only one person was hurt.
"Are you alright, friend?" The prince asked worriedly as he held Oliver by the shoulder. "What's your name?"
His question seemed genuine since he didn't get Oliver's name earlier. Yet, there was no way he missed the name of someone from the noble circle. That's why his question, coupled with Oliver's staggering step, made the crowd laugh louder.
"I'm… Oliver Belford…" Oliver shook his head as he tried to wipe the blood off his nose.
"Oh dear, do you want to quit our guidance? It seems you can't handle it?" The prince asked with worry.
"There's no way a true awakener would cowering from a little bit of hardship!" Reinhold chimed in from below the crowd. The rest of the nobles chirped in agreement. Arthur saw that some shook their heads, but no one moved to stop what's about to come.
"No one said anything about cowering!" Oliver's nostrils flared as he tried to straighten his back, but he wavered a bit. "A true man, or woman, of course, would never shy away from learning. What is a bit of pain?! Prince Caleb, please!"
The fat young man stood heroically; his brown hair glued to his basketball head as a drop of sweat rolled down. Arthur couldn't say Oliver was handsome at that moment, but he was certainly the most attractive he had been.
However, what followed was pure tragedy. The prince clapped for his character and words as he began to deliver some guidance to him. Each one of them was followed by a contusion. Each one was followed by provocation and Oliver falling for that provocation.
At one point, many people couldn't handle keeping food in their mouths. Using the excuse of guidance, Caleb showed his sadistic tendencies in full glory. Of course, many of them blamed Oliver for not backing down.
Arthur shook his head. He didn't want to interfere, but this left a bad taste in his mouth. He stood up from his chair and silently made his way toward the stage. The noblemen began to notice him and they whispered to each other.
"Is there something you need, bastard?" Reinhold stood in his way with his arms crossed. Nera was sitting a distance away, so he didn't try to act all nice and polite.
"To seek guidance, of course." Arthur raised his hands in panic. "I admire my brother Oliver, and I wish to follow his example."
Reinhold's lips arched up in disdain as he gestured for Arthur to go ahead. Arthur thanked as he remembered this person's face in his mind just in case that he ever gets the chance to beat him up later.
As he made his way to the stage, Arthur ascended without pausing. Another guidance has just been delivered. He took out a napkin from his jacket's pocket, which the nobles kept for some reason, and held it to Oliver's bleeding nose.
Crouching down, Oliver turned to look at him with his bruised face. His skin has taken a dark shade of purple in many places. It was as if he couldn't recognize Arthur, or Alexie, in his confusion.
"I, Alexie Linan, have never seen such courage and heroism before." Arthur used this chance to further strengthen his presence in the capital. He said this as he placed his hand on Oliver's back, guiding him toward the stage's steps. "Allow me to take your place and learn as well, brother."
Even in his confusion, Oliver managed to act high and mighty as he nodded twice. He tried to pat Arthur's shoulder but he missed and ended up patting empty air.
"I'll allow you to bask in my glory, brother," Oliver said and Arthur suddenly had the urge to push him off stage. Under the eyes of Caleb, Arthur guided Oliver off stage before taking his place.
"Prince Caleb, please guide me as well!" Arthur bowed as he brought his left open palm to meet his fist.
"You are?" Prince Caleb tilted his head in questioning.
"The son of Linan, Alexie. I come from Vernia kingdom." Arthur introduced loudly and the prince nodded as if recognizing him.
"Are you sure you want to take your friend's place, Alexie?" Prince Caleb asked as he adjusted his sleeve. "You might not have the same courage as him."
Courage as in foolishness, Arthur hoped he wasn't the same. Well, maybe he was. After all, what was he doing in this place, surrounded by strangers and enemies? Why was he standing in the place of a stranger he just met?
"Let me guide you then." The Prince gestured with his hand and Arthur looked at him silently.
'Yup, it's because I hate this bastard.'
Arthur stretched his arms as he took his stance. Well, his stance was taught to him by Master Ronin, who introduced it as a basic stance for hand-to-hand combat. He never actually needed it, since he didn't fight against humans barehanded before.
"There's a lot of guidance to give, it seems." The Prince mocked and the crowd laughed. It seems that Arthur's stance was even below average, which was expected. He has never practiced this, after all.
However, his body was different from normal.
Arthur took the first step and punched with his right hand. The prince, just like with Oliver, redirected it downward and elbowed at Arthur's face.
Now, the thing about Arthur was that his stats were too close to each other. He was an all-rounded person. If someone was strong, then they're probably less agile, less preceptive, or less enduring.
He saw the prince's elbow come his way but he didn't dodge. He blocked it using his left palm before counterattacking with an undercut.
Arthur felt pain in his stomach before he was sent flying off the stage. The prince kicked him in his abdomen and he didn't resist. He allowed himself to fall off stage where he rolled on the ground.
"Woah, I couldn't even see your movements, your highness!" Arthur said in genuine amazement as he dusted off his clothing. The prince glared at him from above the stage as Arthur bowed again. "Thank you for the guidance! I'll need to digest what you have taught me!"
The funny this was that the prince didn't even say anything. Arthur went toward his table where he sat beside the bruised Oliver.
The hall was silent as they couldn't understand what had just happened. The prince said a few words about allowing them to take a break before they resumed.
"You didn't learn enough, brother!" Oliver's face was a lot better and it seems he drank a potion to heal his wounds. Arthur's mouth twitched as he sat next to him.
"I learned just enough," Arthur answered with a smile. "His Highness is truly powerful."
"That's right! I felt so as well deeply," Oliver nodded his head haughtily. "However, you left the stage after one blow. You can't call that the way of true warriors!"
"Well, the prince looked tired," Arthur said as he picked up his sweets. He stuffed one into his mouth and enjoyed the sweetness of it. Maybe it was the sweetness of payback, he didn't know.
"Nonsense, the prince can't be tired after only that much!" Oliver's jowls jiggled. He looked at Arthur like he was looking at a fool. "The Prince is a Vetus-ranker. Even if he didn't use mana, he can't be tired from such a spar."
"Well, are you sure?" Arthur said as he looked at the prince descending the stage.
His foot missed one of the steps and he tripped down the stairs before being caught by one of his lackeys. From his seat, Arthur couldn't see it clearly, but he knew the prince had a hard time standing up.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" Someone from the crowd asked worriedly. The prince waved his hand and nodded.
"It's only that I'm still tired from the Tower's Ranking, that is all." Prince Caleb answered. "I shouldn't have overdone it with my guidance, but how can I leave my lovely juniors like that?"
"Your Highness is too kind!" A girl squeaked and Arthur shook his head inwardly. The prince looked in his direction and Arthur stuffed more sweets as he talked to Oliver.
He had sent an undercut punch in the prince's direction before he was thrown off-stage. Despite it not connecting completely, he had managed to brush his jaws. With Arthur's strength, it was only expected to disturb the prince's sensory senses.
Prince Caleb also didn't use his full strength to attack Arthur who had threatened him. Arthur, on the other hand, used all of his strength in that attack.
'It seems we're destined to be enemies, no matter what identity I carry.' Arthur sighed inwardly as he listened to Oliver blather for the rest of the evening.
