Chapter 129 Competition Final

Lucas stood in front of Matheo with a smile not only on his mask. He felt amazing, it was a feeling that was very difficult to describe. Some kind of fulfillment fueled his every action, he could barely stand still. Looking at Matheo he immediately knew why he was being challenged. His cocky stance and posture said enough about his arrogance.

Dressed in expensive and lavish clothing, Lucas could tell that just his vest probably costed more than all the money he had ever had combined. Matheo brushed his hair back, like Lucas, his golden locks attracted a lot of attention.

"Conrad, in your self-righteousness you have humiliated others with dirty tricks and schemes. I have challenged you to show the world once more that we have been chosen for a reason. Nobles and commoners have existed in balance with each other for times immemorial, if there was a better system, it would've presented itself already.

With you going out of your way to go against the world as we know it would categorize you as an anarchist. It's my righteous duty to put you back into your place so that all commoners realize that they are meant to be under us for a reason!"

Lucas wasn't paying that much attention to what Matheo was saying, in his head he had already won. Although the creepy grin behind his mask didn't stop him from having a bit of fun.

"So you're saying that you just want to win against me, that's all that matters? By putting me down you would prove that our current system is the only possible one?"

"For someone of a lower rank you're quite smart. You're not as stupid as the other farmsteads or ignorant servants at least."

"I see, then what about the challenge?"

"The rules say that you're the one who gets to choose the challenge, or has your naturally incompetent brain already forgotten that? For once, you get to have a choice, so make it carefully. You can pick anything, it won't matter."

Lucas knew all too well that what Matheo said was true, although that didn't mean he liked it. The challenge wouldn't matter since Lucas could tell that Matheo was almost at Rank 2, he just needed a single step to become the strongest of all the students. Lucas would lose, no matter what, but did Matheo think Lucas didn't take that into account?

From the tests to the competition now, Lucas had been nonstop analyzing his surroundings and opponents.

If there was anything Lucas was confident in it was his own reasoning power and critical thinking. Hence, he asked the military if there was a way to invalidate someone's aura, but he only got a few clues and another project he could work on, which he didn't have the time for. If there was an easy method to remove Matheo's aura, he would try something out.

Without that chance though, he could only opt for the next best thing.

"It seems you are truly someone who wants to right the wrongs, it's very rare seeing someone fight for such a noble cause.", the words Lucas said shouldn't have been said by him. He was practically going against himself, approving what Matheo said. Even he faltered for a second before affirming it.

"Correct, although not many nobles would step up to the plate, my family has been known as peacekeepers and are a pillar of this country! Without us there would be no safety or peace!"

Lucas wanted to laugh so hard, but had to keep it in, his face couldn't stop his emotions from spilling out, but luckily his masked kept it hidden.

"I see, truly noble, then let's have an actual fight. I'll bet a single point!"

"Yes, a fight is.. what!?"

"What's wrong? As a selfless fighter you just want to protect the current values and keep the peace, right? Then let's fight! Host, please announce the start!"

Matheo wanted to protest, but the host had already taken the floor. The host was a noble himself, but he, like many others in the crowd, found it hilarious to see someone fall for such an obvious trap. Schadenfreude was a powerful thing among the nobles.

"Let's get this next round started! Have you all placed your bets yet? Then let's go ahead and start in 3, 2, 1...Fight!"

Matheo disliked the way things were going, but he could prove himself to be just if he defeated Lucas with his overwhelming power.

"I surrender."

Lucas held both his hands up before Matheo could even look at him.

"I acknowledge you. Your magnificent power and intelligence are clearly meant to lead the country, there is truly no equal!", Lucas announced before returning to his seat.

"We're not done he..!"

"And there you have it folks, what a heated fight that was! Let's move on to the next duel, Matheo please make way."

The schadenfreude wasn't only present within the nobles anymore, the commoners and even the military couldn't help but chuckle at what transpired. Some nobles thought that Lucas went a little too far, especially the ones that backed Matheo's family. Like he said, they were an extremely important family, but now they had become the laughingstock of the entire school. Not only Lucas, but Matheo would hear from them again.

The only thing Lucas had was his anonymity, nobody actually knew what he looked like, so as long as he could escape from the school unnoticed, he would be hidden once more. Sadly, if they really wanted to they could find his identity without any problems. A family with enough power to groom their son to Rank 2 without any issue says enough. Asking a teacher for all his information and tracking him wasn't going to be much harder.

Lucas had achieved his goal, he was in first place and got rid of Eliot and Matheo. Eliot couldn't make a comeback and Matheo had already challenged him once. There were no more spectacular students left except one, Asta. All the others saw the fight with Eliot and knew it was a lost cause fighting against him.

Only Asta stood a chance in beating Lucas, but to everyone's surprise he never challenged Lucas. Even Lucas himself was shocked to see Asta stay neutral. He had planned to surrender to Asta since he would still stay in first place even if he gave 10% of his points away, but that wasn't even necessary.

It bothered Lucas a bit to see someone act out of his expectations. After so much work he thought he had everyone in the palm of his hands, but some still escaped it. There was always a big possibility of someone acting differently than what he calculated, but there was no downside for Asta to try and challenge him.

Asta could lose a bunch of points, and he would still be in third place, so he would be safe to test it out, yet he didn't. Lucas tried to figure out Asta's motive during what was left of the competition, he wasn't challenged anymore, so he had ample time to think.

To him, humans acted out of 2 possible causes, benefit or emotional impulse. The first was easy to understand, if someone gained the opportunity to do something and could benefit in any form, there was a high chance of that person doing it. The other was an emotional drive. An angry person would throw reason to the wind to satiate that feeling.

Besides those two main causes, there was a third. Someone like him who tried to think of the bigger picture. If he lost the first fight to win the remaining two, he would achieve a higher success in the end. This also came from the cause of benefits, but it included a higher playing field. Things weren't as simple as black and white.

Since Lucas didn't think Asta was someone who acted out of emotion, he was scared of what was to come. There was a variable in his plan that did what it wanted to, this unclear future made him tap his legs.

Time slowly passed for Lucas as he started to think from different perspectives. Losing track of time, the final duel passed, looking at the scoreboard he wasn't all that surprised. He was relieved there was no action from Asta, but that unease kept nagging him.

Conrad - 1 - 12060

Matheo - 2 - 8403

Asta - 3 - 7645

...

Both Asta and Matheo gained a few more points due to some arrogant nobles and commoners who thought they would win. Lucas speculated that Matheo even bribed some to give up a bunch of their points in return for some monetary reward to close the gap with Lucas. Sadly, that gap was too big to fill.

While Lucas did use the friction between nobles and commoners to his advantage, he himself wasn't really that emotional about it. It was a great excuse to use, but he himself thought that all humans were the same. He grew up in a very small village and had seen enough corruption and the dark side of humanity that he didn't think different of the nobles.

To him every human had the potential to be good or evil, it was the environment that shaped it and the person's belief that made conflict happen in the first place.

The award ceremony was perhaps the most annoying thing Lucas had to experience today. He just had to stand there and bask in the light of glory, he was glad his mask kept his annoyed look hidden from the crowd.

It didn't take long before Lucas went back home, or more accurately said, Elam's cabin. He had gained a lot from the competition, the rewards were above his expectations, but he didn't understand what everything he had gotten did.

Hiking back up the mountain he couldn't feel anyone pursuing him, but he was practically certain that there was someone after him. Lucas wanted to improve his detection skills, but there was no time to work it. He still had many other projects that needed his attention first.

He almost reached the cabin only to realize how little the surrounding weather impacted him. The first time he came here he had to push to even find Elam's cabin, yet now he barely felt anything. He couldn't explain why, but the snowstorm felt dangerous.

Entering the cabin he was greeted with a slow clap.

"What a spectacle, congratulations.", Elam and the guest professor were both present. It was the first time Lucas saw both of them at the same time, and he really couldn't see them as friends. One was formally dressed with white gloves standing straight up looking or analyzing Lucas while Elam was slouched on the couch enjoying the softness of the blanket around him.

Even though Lucas hadn't said anything, both Elam and his friend already knew everything. Elam didn't hold back on celebrating his victory in the most energy reserved way possible, a wave of his hand and a few words were draining enough.

"I would also like to congratulate you, sadly, you have both surprised and disappointed me."

"You said that if I got first place you would give me the key to get to Rank 2. Didn't I achieve it?"

"You did, but not in the way I wanted you to. Not once have you used Dark magic despite me lecturing you the day prior, why?"

"Does it matter? I'm not knowledgeable enough on Dark magic to use it combined with my other spells."

"Your incompetence isn't my problem. The reason I taught you about Dark magic wasn't only because I wanted to warn you about its weaknesses, but to motivate you to find practical uses for it."

"I only had a single day."

"And yet you decided to waste your time on figuring out a plan to scheme your way to the top instead of creating new offensive spells that would obliterate your opponents. How you spend your time isn't up to me, but I know there are better uses."

"Still, even if I didn't create a plan, I didn't have enough time to experiment to create new spells. These things take time."

"Do you think so? I've taught geniuses all over this world and more. I've had students that came up with theories that far outreached my own intelligence. Furthermore, I've had students that, while lower in rank than me almost defeated me. I've had students that were like you, intelligence over strength, but if we had to compare you wouldn't stand even the slightest chance.

Tell me, why do you think I wanted you to use Dark magic?"