On the other hand, Luca just sat patiently as Instructor Max finished his grand speech about choosing opponents wisely.
It was an oddly intense speech with more dramatic pauses and persuasion than necessary.
But Luca, ever the dutiful student, nodded along attentively, completely missing the thinly veiled attempts to push the other students to target him.
The class, however, was not as clueless.
Every other student refused to move.
Not because they were afraid of losing their dueling opportunity—but because they were afraid of dying inside.
Not physically, no. But mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—and in all ways that mattered.
In fact, most of them were praying that Luca wouldn’t randomly choose them for this duel.
Which was what fueled the frenzy of finding someone to duel with.
As in anyone.
Anyone but the baby-faced freshman!
And so, an unnatural silence fell upon the class as they returned from this scuffle of blindly choosing the closest victim—the fastest ones being those closest to Luca.
Instructor Max scowled, and the students could already see the gears turning in the instructor’s head as that scowl turned into a wry smile.
"Very well," he said, scanning the room with a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Since the numbers don’t add up, and someone would need an opponent—"
His gaze settled directly on Luca.
"—I’ll do the honors and instruct you myself. But of course, that is if it’s okay with you?"
The students collectively held their breath.
Luca, completely unbothered and actually touched, smiled.
"Oh! Thank you, Instructor Max! I really appreciate the opportunity!"
The entire class flinched.
Max’s eye twitched. What opportunity?! This was supposed to be his opportunity to put this brat in his place!
In fact, his invitation alone made a few students shiver as it barely sounded covert! It was clearly just something he was saying for the class lecture recording!
Shouldn’t he be shaking in his boots right now?!
But no, this insufferable little noble brat was... was thanking him?
Or was he really that stupid?
The older man forced a smirk. "I hope you’re ready, Cadet Kyros."
Luca, ever the eager student, nodded before responding.
"I’ll do my best, Sir! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for this!"
The students grimaced.
He’s done for.
___
Instructor Max didn’t even wait a day. He immediately herded everyone towards the training grounds like livestock ready for slaughter.
The atmosphere inside the arena was strangely tense.
Students filed into the spectator stands, whispering among themselves. In reality, this should’ve been a class-only affair, but the instructor made a show of it by talking as loudly as he could as they walked through the students in the middle of training.
In his opinion, this kid would only learn if he learned his lesson in front of as many people as possible.
And he immediately felt validated once the duels commenced.
Instructor Max was already unimpressed.
The moment Luca’s mecha stepped onto the field, he scoffed.
It was a gold and black medium-class model, sleek and clearly expensive. The kind of mecha a pampered noble brat would use—all show, no substance.
Max smirked.
Typical.
So this was how Luca compensated for his C-rank spiritual power.
He had probably thrown money at the problem until it went away.
The self-proclaimed expert had seen it a hundred times before. Over-reliance on premium tech.
No real skill.
His fingers itched to expose it.
He was going to break this kid’s mecha down until all that expensive hardware couldn’t save him.
What Max didn’t know—what he would have known if he had ever bothered to watch Luca’s fights—was that this particular mecha had been personally modified.
And not for show.
Luca painstakingly used his funds for his favorite precision tools.
This wasn’t just a mecha.
This was a dismantler.
Or a money-saving researcher, as one little chipmunk would lovingly refer to it.
And the delusional instructor had just walked into a live dissection.
The countdown started.
3...
2...
1...
Instructor Max lunged forward, confident that his brute force would overwhelm the delicate, noble-engineered frame before him.
He would crush this bumbling idiot’s confidence first—then his mecha.
But the said student?
Luca simply stepped aside.
To be fair, it wasn’t that the Instructor was too slow. Luca’s visual resonance just happened to be natural. And he could clearly see that move, which should’ve been a good one had it been used on anyone else.
The instructor’s swing hit nothing but air.
Then—
*CLANK!*
Max’s mecha stumbled.
Warning lights flared across his dashboard.
[Right arm: Detached.]
His right arm was gone.
"What—?!"
The flabbergasted instructor whipped his head around in disbelief.
And Luca tilted his head.
"..."
That was not his intended outcome.
If anything, he just wanted to see what professional-grade mechas actually looked like and wanted to start with the arm.
Oops.
"Oh! Sorry, Instructor! Your mecha’s joints were a bit loose! I barely had to apply any force at all!" Hollered the panicked student who was really out to look at that fancy-looking arm attachment.
*CLANK!*
[Left arm: Detached.]
*CLANK!*
[Right leg: Disengaged.]
Luca fought to dismantle, well, research.
*CLANK!*
[Left leg: Removed].
[CRITICAL ERROR]
[WARNING]
[CRITICAL ERROR]
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