The Mech Lord

[Talk about coincidence-nya…] Aiden muttered with a sigh and Leo couldn't help but agree with him. He looked at Christina walking into the stadium and then proceeding to pick her training weapon.

This wasn't going to end well.

People were already making gossip and now the two of them were here together, it would be a mess.

'Let's just ignore, people will understand that the rumors are false that way..' Leo decided on it.

[What about Princess-nya?]

'She shouldn't be a fool. I am sure she would think that we are trying to hide it.' Leo convinced himself and Aiden. There was no way he was going to do anything stupid for this guy.

After Christina, there was a steady stream of people walking in. It seemed there were more than two sections here.

'Hmmn..he is here as well..'

Christina on the other side seemed to have noticed Leo as well. But, her gaze only lasted at him for a second. She had already gotten used to ignoring the rumors as it had already been a week.

She wanted to once again apologize to Leo about the incident before, but there was no way she was going to do it here in front of everyone. It would be adding fuel to the flames.

Christina ignored Leo and proceeded towards Rebecca with a smile on her face. They were cousins after all. It would be odd if they didn't know each other.

Rebecca didn't seem to be holding anything against Christina as well.

Their group seemed to be clearly having a happy chat. Seeing this, Leo finally sighed in relief. It seemed there wasn't anything to worry about.

The people around slowly seemed to have lost their interest as well and went on to focus on their own stuff.

As Leo was standing there talking with Harry, he suddenly felt a chill rising up his spine.

[That b*stard is here-nya.] Aiden muttered in a grave tone. [Graylock…]

Leo turned his head to glance at the entrance and sure enough. A group of students entered the place being led by a guy who was a few inches taller than Leo. He had straight brown hair tied into a ponytail with slightly tan skin. He had a lean physique with compact muscles that could be seen over his uniform.

He was the second son of the Graylock family, Duke Graylock.

Behind him was a group, most likely his circle of friends. And among them was a face that both Leo and Aiden were not forgetting. The guy with green hair and pupils.

He was Sun Ellington.

The only person who was aware of Aiden leaving Gloria back then. And, Leo was suspecting him to be the culprit who had possibly leaked the information to Aiden's enemies.

"It's been a while, were you hiding from me?" Duke didn't put anyone in his eyes but came straight towards Leo. It seemed he had noticed him from the very moment that he entered the place.

[Let me handle this-nya.] Aiden immediately decided to hold Leo's reins and make him his puppet once again.

"What do you want now, Duke? Was the Expedition not fun enough? You want to give it a go?" Leo looked at the guy with calm eyes, but he was breaking in sweat internally.

'Why in hell are you challenging him?!!'

[Shut up and follow me! Maintain that calm look, and make it a bit cold on the next line-nya.] Aiden commanded.

"You still never change! I heard that you lost your memory. But it seems there is some gap in my knowledge." The guy smiled with a curious look on his face. He really was surprised when he heard about the incident involving Aiden. He thought that the creep was finally done for, who would have thought that he was still kicking.

"Why don't you try and see it?" Leo looked at him with a cold look in his eyes.

"Did you forget the number of times I have beaten you? You are no longer my match. But, I sure can arrange someone for you." Duke smiled before turning around and looking at Rebecca, "Princess are you still making him your training partner? If yes, would you mind lending him to me for a bit?"

[This guy is still nasty as ever-nya.] Aiden's words were filled with killing intent. He really wanted to kill this guy.

'Is he really that bad?' Leo on the other hand was a bit confused. He could see that this Duke was a jerk, but he didn't seem as bad as Aiden made him out to be. But again, remembering Aiden's monologue, Leo retracted his thoughts. Maybe he had yet to see the guy's worst side.

Everyone looked towards Rebecca, and she gave Leo a glance.

"There is no such thing as a designated partner. It's his wish if he wants to accept your challenge."

'Damn! Do I have to fight now! You got me in trouble!' Leo lamented in pain.

[Did you forget your aim?] Arthur's voice rang in his head, and he immediately shut his mouth up.

[Tell him, Arthur-nya!] Aiden supported. [You even have that arm of yours now. It's time to return to my old ways. Don't tell me you forgot our resolution-nya?]

'I didn't..' Leo replied in a heavy tone.

[Good then-nya.]

'Why do I feel like you just didn't wanted to step back in front of these guy?' Leo asked with a monotonous tone.

[It's not like that-nya]

It was a lie, he had just remembered about their resolution and threw it in there.

"Who here wants to fight the legend of our Academy? Remember, he still has tons of points?" Duke asked with his arms folded and there were immediately a lot of people raising their hands up.

"Hmmn…you were Lv 5 before leaving right? I won't go hard on you then…" He selected the person with the second lowest level in the class after Leo.

The guy was two heads shorter than Leo with green skin and a crooked face. He held a short dagger in his hand and was looking all prepared.

It was a Goblin named Pako, a Lvl 6 Awake.

"Hahaha!! I got the jackpot!" The guy seemed to be celebrating his victory already.

"Tsk..Pako got lucky.."

"Damn Pako! He won't be last this time in the rankings I guess.."

People grumbled in complaint but no one went against the decision. It seemed Duke had built some reputation among the students. It was not a surprise though, he had performed considerably well in the last Academy Youth League.

'Why does he think you were Lv 5?' Leo asked in confusion. He clearly remembers that Aiden had once told him that he used to be Lv 10.

[I was hiding my strength-nya.]

[It was so that they would hold back in the fight and I wouldn't die. It was necessary then, but not anymore. It's time for you to show them my worth.]

"What's going on here?"

The Instructor finally arrived, he was another old bald retired military guy with a scary looking face.

He was Ethan Raraski.

The man was only two ranks below a Marshal in his Prime days in the military. One could imagine just what it would have been like.

The students immediately quietened down and stood straight. It seemed that man had established his terror among the students.

"It's nothing Instructor, we were just preparing for a bout with points on the line." Pako, the goblin, spoke with a grin on his face as he pointed at Aiden.

"Is it?" The Instructor looked at Leo with a frown. He had been asked by Professor Benard to go easy on him as according to his family, Aiden had just been allowed a Prosthetic arm.

Leo nodded, looking at the instructor.

'Well, if the person in question isn't afraid. There is no reason for me to be.' Ethan laughed inwardly, "Fine then, I will preside over and be the referee."

"As for other students, the people who want to train can proceed ahead and form a pair. And, for those who want to watch, you are free to do so. Observation is another important aspect of battle."

With that they were given 5 minutes of preparation time.

"Are you sure about it?" Harry suddenly asked Leo.

"I couldn't have avoided it forever." Leo shook his head. It was a military school. Just how long could he have stayed away from fighting not to mention, a breakthrough wasn't coming without putting in any effort.

…

Soon, the time arrived and for some reason there were students from other classes coming in to watch the fight as well.

The news surely traveled fast.

[You really managed to gather more attention in the short time that I was absent-nya.]

Leo had no idea about it. But, it was surely his action that had made people interested about him. And, people were also curious to see how he would do after the accident. Whether his skills would be affected or not. Not to mention, they had seen him using a kick for the first time and it was a terrifying move.

So, people were genuinely interested to see how this was about to go down.

…

"Who do you think will win?"

Serina turned her head behind to see the Zelf and Tor behind her.

These two were the odd pixie and Minotaur duo of their class.

"He has always lost, I don't have high hopes honestly…" Serina shook her head before giving a glance to Rebecca. But, the girl just sat there staring at the field.

"Didn't he knocked out a Lv 10 guy with a kick before?" Christina suddenly asks. She remembered seeing a video before.

Serina looked at the girl and frowned a bit. She already had heard a few things from Rebecca.

It seemed Rebecca had approached her as well for truth and Christina had obviously denied it saying that it was a misunderstanding. But, then Rebecca heard her father and Serina's father talking about matching Christina and Aiden who were keeping their relationship secret.

This made her suspect that Christina had lied. In the end, she approached Leo for answers and then the thing that happened was obvious.

So for Christina, she was neither aware about her father and Emperor's plan nor was she aware about Aiden declaring her as the love of his life.

It was totally normal if she thought that everything was fine.