CHAPTER 66 — THE ONE THEY THOUGHT WAS WEAK

THE FALLEN LIGHT — SEASON II

CHAPTER 66 — THE ONE THEY THOUGHT WAS WEAK

Eleven days passed. There was only one day left before the start of the inter-class arena tournament. In every corner of the academy, the tournament was the main topic of conversation. Students in the hallways debated potential matchups and compared the strongest fighters from the three classes. 1-A's biggest advantage was obvious to everyone: Percy Grant, Clara, Arthur Green, and William Hart were all in the same class. Whenever expected top-twenty contenders were discussed, those four names were placed at the very top of the list almost without debate. Nathaniel's name, however, appeared on no list at all. Noticeable as it was, neither Percy nor Clara tried to set the record straight. Because every single day after classes, Nathaniel had come to join them. The three of them would lock themselves in the same training ground—sometimes engaging in hand-to-hand combat, sometimes using magic, and sometimes practicing movement drills for hours without throwing a single attack. Nathaniel no longer hesitated at the door to ask for help; he walked straight in and asked which exercise they would start with. A few days in, he had even begun objecting to the training regimen.

"Could we skip fighting Clara today?" he had asked once.

Percy had looked at him. "Why?"

"You healed my left arm twelve times yesterday."

"We'll use your right arm today."

Nathaniel had gone quiet for a few seconds before turning to Clara.

"Both of you are insane."

Clara had taken a combat stance.

"Stop talking."

Since the training sessions were tailored to Nathaniel's needs, Percy and Clara's own pace of advancement could technically be considered slowed. Both were aware of this. Correcting Nathaniel's mistakes, demonstrating the same attack over and over, and developing training methods suited to his evolving perception consumed a serious amount of time. Yet neither of them minded. They liked Nathaniel far more than they could have realized in his absence. Furthermore, Nathaniel had not remained merely someone who received help. As he began to read probabilities, his unusual movements forced Percy and Clara out of their customary patterns. Where Nathaniel used to flee randomly out of fear, he now consciously moved toward the direction that looked most dangerous, slipping through the unsealed gaps of an attack and counterattacking from angles he couldn't even explain himself. By the end of the eleventh day, he had reached Core 11. However, the real change was not his level. Nathaniel no longer read probabilities solely from completed actions. He did not wait for an arm to swing, for a foot to press against the ground, or for eyes to look in a specific direction. He could sense minute changes in the oxygen levels of the surrounding air, the points where air compressed, and the fluctuations caused by Orin density. Before a person moved forward, they compressed the air ahead of them. Before a magic sphere formed, it altered the surrounding Orin and temperature. Before a sword was swung, the atmospheric pressure in its path was disrupted. None of these were absolute enough to foretell the future with certainty. But Nathaniel did not rely on a single sign. He stacked oxygen density, temperature changes, Orin flow, and the opponent's body movements on top of one another. Then, from among all those small possibilities, he selected the action with the highest probability of occurring. Percy had not given this a name. Nathaniel had. [Probability Field]. The moment Clara heard the name, she objected.

"You didn't come up with that."

Nathaniel answered proudly:

"I came up with the name."

"Percy taught you."

"The creator of the idea and the owner of the naming rights can be different people."

Percy intervened:

"I think it's a good name."

Nathaniel looked at Clara as if he had won a glorious victory. And in the very next drill, Clara launched thirty magic spheres at him.

During the final training session before the tournament, Nathaniel was dodging an attack sequence created by Percy in the middle of the arena. Percy was not using actual fire, only forming low-density Orin spheres. Some of the spheres moved at a steady speed, some accelerated as they approached Nathaniel, and others turned in unexpected directions. Nathaniel was no longer looking at the attacks. His eyes were open, but they were not focusing on any specific point. Expanding his vision across the entire domain, he monitored the shifts between objects rather than the individual objects themselves. Right before one of the spheres accelerated, he stepped sideways. Realizing the attack behind him was about to change direction, he ducked and slid under a third sphere. Not a single one of the twelve attacks Percy launched touched him. Nathaniel stood up straight.

"Is that all?"

Percy paused for a moment. Then he smiled. Nathaniel's face fell. "Why are you smiling?" Thirty spheres materialized around Percy.

"Wait, wait! I was joking!"

The attacks launched simultaneously. Nathaniel's scream echoed through the entire training ground. Half an hour later, he was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling and questioning why he was still alive. Percy sat at the edge of the arena, jotting down notes on Nathaniel's mistakes. Clara quietly walked over to Percy's side. First she looked at Nathaniel on the floor, then at the pages in front of Percy. Percy wasn't just writing down Nathaniel's mistakes. There were names of other students on those pages. The duels, attacks, known elements, and combat habits of the students in 1-B and 1-C were listed one by one. Percy had engraved every single match open to public viewing into his mind. Now, he was presenting those movements to Nathaniel with subtle modifications. Without realizing it, Nathaniel had fought almost everyone he could potentially encounter in the tournament. Clara looked over Percy's shoulder at the papers. The triple-spear attack used by a student from 1-B was identical to the sphere formation Percy had directed at Nathaniel yesterday. The sudden directional shift of one of 1-C's fastest students had been incorporated into Nathaniel's morning hand-to-hand drill. Even the Orin Strike Charlotte used at close range had been integrated into the program in a modified form. Clara leaned toward Percy's ear.

"You're cheating."

Percy raised his head to look at her. Clara giggled.

"You're making him memorize everyone else's moves from the other classes, but Nathaniel doesn't even know it."

Percy smiled too.

"I'm not making him memorize them. I'm showing him the possibilities he might face."

"That's called cheating."

"The tournament rules don't prohibit studying your opponents' previous matches."

"They don't have a single match of Nathaniel's to study."

Percy's smile widened a bit more.

"That's not my problem."

Lying on the floor, Nathaniel raised his head.

"What are you two whispering about?"

Percy closed his notebook.

"Tomorrow's weather forecast."

Nathaniel stared at the ceiling.

"We're fighting indoors."

"Which is why it won't be a problem."

Nathaniel thought about that for a moment. Then he let his head drop back to the floor.

"I give up trying to understand you two."

The next morning, Holar Jun and Eleanor met them in front of the academy. The three had gathered to head to the main arena before the tournament began. A few meters away, Nathaniel was practicing movements on his own; Clara was adjusting the sleeves of her uniform; and Percy was reviewing the tournament cards. As Eleanor approached them, she watched Nathaniel.

"So?" she asked. "How do you think Nathaniel will do?"

Clara didn't hesitate for a moment.

"I think he could make it into the top ten."

Percy looked up from the cards. "I agree. Everything depends on him now." Nathaniel looked at them from a distance.

"Can I join the conversation about myself?"

All three acted as if they hadn't heard him. Holar's eyes turned to Clara.

"What about you?"

Clara answered with complete confidence:

"I'm aiming for top ten."

Percy's eyebrows raised slightly.

"Hmm... Is that so?"

Clara turned to him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Percy folded his tournament card and spoke with an utterly serious expression:

"Weren't you going to catch up to me? You said 'for now.' Are you really going to settle for just top ten?"

Clara's eyes narrowed.

"Where are you going to rank?"

Percy shrugged.

"I don't know. Anyone who fights well and reads the situation correctly has a chance of beating anyone else."

Holar stroked his beard.

"Excessive humility also inflates one's ego."

Percy turned to him. "I'm not doing that. Nor am I praising myself to the heavens. I'm on the ground, and as long as we don't do something absurd like flying, I'll stay here. Since we can't fly, there's no problem."

Holar went quiet for a moment. Eleanor looked at him. Because Percy had turned back to Clara at that moment, he didn't notice the brief shift in their expressions.

Clara laughed. "Just wait. I'll catch up to you. One day, I will definitely beat you."

Percy reached out his hand to her.

"I know, princess."

Looking at the offered hand, Clara frowned.

"Percy, I'm serious."

The playful expression on Percy's face vanished. As he looked into Clara's eyes, his voice turned equally serious.

"I wasn't lying just to make you happy either. You really will. I said it because that's what I believe." After studying Clara for a few seconds, he tilted his head slightly. "But judging by your seriousness, is the real issue Arthur?"

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The look in Clara's eyes changed.

"I haven't forgotten what he did to me in the arena."

Percy smiled. "You'll show him." Clara clenched her fist.

"I will."

"Of course. You're the girl I like and the [Daughter of Light]. I accept nothing less."

Clara froze for a moment. Before Percy could understand why she had gone silent, Clara ran forward, leaped onto his back, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Percy caught his balance at the last second and held her on his back. Clara hid her face behind his shoulder.

"I feel terrible. Carry me."

All the relaxed ease on Percy's face vanished instantly.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Should I use Heal?"

Clara was laughing internally.

"No. Carrying me is enough."

Without a second thought, Percy slipped his arms under her legs.

"Alright."

Eleanor couldn't hold back her laughter as she watched them. Leaning toward Holar, she whispered in a low voice:

"I think Arthur might actually be right."

Holar Jun burst out laughing as well. With Clara on his back, Percy turned his head toward the two of them.

"I HEARD THAT!"

Holar and Eleanor's laughter grew even louder. Because Clara's face was hidden behind Percy's shoulder, nobody could see that she was laughing too. Nathaniel watched them all with his hands on his hips.

"I've been working myself to death for eleven days, and on the morning of the tournament, the topic of conversation is still Percy and Clara."

Eleanor looked at him.

"Are you ready?"

Nathaniel turned toward the high walls of the main arena. The complaining look on his face vanished within seconds.

"I'm ready."

The main arena was packed to capacity. The first-year student matches were not considered one of the academy's largest events. Even so, the stands were not occupied solely by families. Upperclassmen had come to gauge the level of the newcomers, teachers to spot talented kids early, and alumni to watch promising students. In the center of the arena were three large sections. Each section was separated by barriers so that matches could take place simultaneously. In the initial ranking rounds, all forty-eight students would fight multiple times, and a temporary ranking would be formed based on win counts and performance. The 1-A students settled into their designated waiting area. Arthur silently observed the arena, while William read the matchup list in his hand. Marcus observed the students from rival classes; Ethan and Daniel discussed potential matchups. Sophia and Amelia looked at the stands with excitement, while Lucas, Theodore, Elias, Noah, and Adrian inspected the arena barriers. Charlotte, meanwhile, was waiting for her first match to be announced. Nathaniel stood slightly behind the group. A few students who saw him smirked.

"If we get Nathaniel in the first round, it'll be an easy win."

"He was Core 9, right?"

"I think so."

"The kid who was constantly screaming at camp."

Nathaniel heard every single word. Yet he didn't turn to look at any of them. Neither Percy nor Clara let on that they had heard either. William lowered his matchup paper and looked at Nathaniel. He didn't yet know that Nathaniel had reached Core 11. Percy and Clara hadn't told anyone about his progress. Nor had Nathaniel trained with the other students in the class over the last eleven days. Wycliffe stepped in front of the waiting area.

"The first matchups are being announced."

The voice of the arena official filled the entire venue. After the names for the first two areas were read, they moved to the third match.

"Arena Three, first match! Charlotte from Class 1-A!"

Charlotte stood up. Giving her classmates a reassuring smile, she headed toward the arena entrance. The official's voice boomed once more:

"Her opponent, also from Class 1-A, Nathaniel!"

A brief silence fell over the waiting area. Nathaniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Charlotte turned around and looked at him.

"Unlucky draw."

Nathaniel opened his eyes. "For me?" Charlotte smiled. "For both of us. I wouldn't have wanted to face someone from our own class in the first match." Nathaniel nodded.

"Me neither."

Together, they walked out into the arena. When Nathaniel's name was announced, there wasn't much of a reaction from the stands. Those who knew him mostly recognized him for his funny antics, his screaming at camp, or for being the kid constantly causing trouble around Percy. Charlotte, on the other hand, was the class healer. She was ahead of her peers in healing capabilities, and she was widely considered superior to Nathaniel in hand-to-hand combat as well. William folded his matchup paper.

"Charlotte wins."

Arthur looked at him. "Are you that certain?"

"Based on known abilities, yes. Charlotte's level is higher, her Orin control is better, and her hand-to-hand training is more structured."

Marcus noticed that neither Percy nor Clara had said a word.

"Why are you two staying quiet?"

Percy looked toward the arena.

"The match is starting."

Charlotte and Nathaniel took their places opposite each other. The referee first checked both of them, then the barriers.

"Are you ready?"

Charlotte raised her hands.

"Ready."

Nathaniel's arms hung at his sides.

"Ready."

Charlotte looked at him one last time.

"Nathaniel, don't get me wrong, but it might be better if you leave the first attack to me. I can control it. If you take too much damage, I'll heal you right away."

A few students in the stands chuckled. The customary smile appeared on Nathaniel's face.

"Thank you."

The referee raised his arm.

"Begin!"

Charlotte lunged forward. She was fast. She intended to end the match quickly without keeping Nathaniel on his feet for long. Pushing off the ground with her right foot, she closed the distance and directed her palm, reinforced with Orin, toward Nathaniel's chest. The strike failed to connect. Before Charlotte even extended her arm, Nathaniel had taken half a step to the side. Charlotte's palm cut through empty air. Nathaniel didn't counterattack. He simply passed by her side. Charlotte spun around quickly. Nathaniel was once again several meters in front of her. The laughter in the stands quieted down. Charlotte attacked a second time. This time, instead of striking directly, she cut off the left side where Nathaniel might dodge. Raising her right hand to strike, she formed a small Orin sphere with her left hand. Nathaniel didn't retreat. He passed to Charlotte's right. The Orin sphere slammed into the empty space behind Nathaniel. Charlotte's brows furrowed.

"Coincidence."

Nathaniel didn't answer. Clara crossed her arms. The slight smile on Percy's face grew wider. Charlotte increased her speed on her third attack. First she feinted a strike from above, then drove her knee toward Nathaniel's stomach. Nathaniel wasn't looking at the attack; he was watching the space surrounding Charlotte. He felt the point where the air compressed before the leg even moved. Instead of pulling back, he stepped inside. Charlotte's knee grazed past him. Nathaniel lightly bumped his shoulder against Charlotte's chest. Losing her balance, Charlotte stumbled back two steps. The arena went quiet. Nathaniel still didn't attack. Charlotte looked at him.

"How long have you been able to do that?"

Nathaniel shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't really know either."

Green Orin gathered in Charlotte's hands. Being a healer didn't mean she could only mend wounds. When concentrated properly, Vitality Orin could disrupt an opponent's circulation, causing their muscles to temporarily lose power.

"Revitalizing Strike!"

The green energy struck the ground. The attack wasn't directed straight at Nathaniel. The energy was meant to travel through the stone flooring and burst beneath his feet. However, Nathaniel had already leaped. When the energy surged from the ground, he was already in midair. Twisting his body, he landed behind Charlotte. Charlotte tried to turn around. Nathaniel's hand touched her shoulder. Merely touched.

"One."

Charlotte's eyes widened. Nathaniel backed away. In the 1-A waiting area, William stood up.

"How?"

Arthur's gaze sharpened. Marcus looked not at Nathaniel's feet, but at his eyes.

"He anticipated that the attack was coming from the ground."

William shook his head.

"He couldn't have seen it. The energy was beneath the stones."

Percy answered calmly:

"He didn't see it."

William turned to him.

"Then how did he dodge?"

Percy looked back at the arena.

"Watch."

Charlotte was no longer smiling. Opening both hands to her sides, she formed six small green spheres around herself. She assumed Nathaniel could only sense attacks coming from a single direction. Therefore, she would block all escape routes at once. Nathaniel stood motionless before her. Charlotte closed her hands. The six spheres shot out from different directions. Nathaniel ducked under the first sphere. As the second accelerated, he stepped sideways. He passed right through the gap between the third and fourth attacks. The fifth sphere suddenly shifted direction. Without turning his head, Nathaniel crouched. The sphere flew right over his hair. The sixth attack was directly in front of him. Nathaniel raised his hand.

"Magic Slash."

A thin line of Orin sliced the sphere clean in half. The split energy passed by his sides and slammed into the barrier. The first major reaction erupted from the stands. Nathaniel walked through the smoke. Seeing him approach, Charlotte gathered energy in both hands again, but Nathaniel suddenly shifted direction. Charlotte redirected her attack to the left. Nathaniel wasn't there. She heard a subtle sound coming from her right. When she turned, Nathaniel's fingers had stopped just a few centimeters from her forehead.

"Two."

Charlotte froze. Nathaniel backed away once more. Even the referee was frowning. Nathaniel had passed up two clear opportunities to finish the match. Clara leaned toward Percy.

"Did you teach him that too?"

Percy shook his head.

"No."

"Then why isn't he hitting her?"

Percy looked at Nathaniel's face. Then he understood.

"He wants Charlotte to show everything she has."

Clara's eyes widened. Nathaniel wasn't just trying to defeat Charlotte. He knew everyone in the stands saw him as weak. He realized Charlotte thought the same. That was why he wasn't ending the match immediately. He didn't want to leave room for luck in his victory. He wanted Charlotte to use all her attacks, to demonstrate all her advantages, and then for everyone to see that none of it was enough. Nathaniel was now doing to Charlotte what Percy had subtly done to him over the past eleven days. He was guiding her. Charlotte grit her teeth. The green energy surrounding her body intensified. This time she didn't send her attacks toward Nathaniel. Spreading Orin into her own muscles, she boosted her speed. She lunged forward in an instant. Reaching Nathaniel, she swung her fist. Nathaniel dodged by pulling his head back. Charlotte followed up with a second fist, then spun into a kick. Nathaniel dodged all three attacks. Charlotte increased her speed once more. She struck preemptively at the spot where Nathaniel was about to retreat. But Nathaniel didn't retreat. He stepped forward. Slipping under Charlotte's arm, he grabbed her wrist and altered her direction without stopping her momentum. Carried by her own speed, Charlotte lost her balance. Nathaniel placed his foot in front of her. Charlotte hit the floor. Nathaniel was still holding her wrist. If he wanted to, he could lock her arm, pin her back, or strike her. He did none of those things. Releasing her wrist, he took a few steps back.

"Three."

Charlotte pushed herself up on her hands. She was no longer angry. She was simply stunned.

"Nathaniel..."

Nathaniel took a combat stance.

"We're not done yet."

Charlotte slowly stood up. As a healer, she had used every attack she possessed. She hadn't managed to touch Nathaniel even once. In contrast, Nathaniel had positioned himself to finish the match three times. Yet Charlotte did not give up. She raised her hands once more. A faint smile formed on Nathaniel's face. Charlotte lunged forward for the fourth time. This time, Nathaniel didn't wait. He stomped his foot onto the floor. A small wave of Orin dispersed the air in front of Charlotte. For a split-second, Charlotte's perception was disrupted. In that single moment, Nathaniel closed the distance, pushed her striking arm aside, and placed his palm against her exposed chest.

"Magic Sphere."

The sphere stopped so close it was almost touching Charlotte's body. The pressure of the compressed Orin blew her hair backward. If Nathaniel simply opened his fingers, the attack would strike her chest directly. The referee's voice echoed across the arena:

"Match over! The winner is Nathaniel!"

For a few seconds, nobody applauded. Because they were still trying to understand what they had just witnessed. Then, applause erupted from Percy in the 1-A waiting area. Clara joined him. Marcus stood up. Ethan and Sophia began clapping. Arthur gave a slight nod in respect to Nathaniel, while William was still trying to solve the match in his mind. Before long, the entire arena was filled with applause. Nathaniel dispersed the magic sphere in his hand and offered his hand to Charlotte. Charlotte stared at that hand for a moment. Then she took it. Nathaniel pulled her to her feet. A sheepish expression was on Charlotte's face.

"I'm sorry."

Nathaniel was surprised. "Why?"

"I looked down on you. Before the match started, I said I'd heal you. I acted as if you had no chance of winning."

The other students in the waiting area went quiet as well. Many of them had thought the exact same thing. Nathaniel scratched his head.

"Technically, if you'd seen me last week, you would have been right."

Charlotte laughed despite herself.

Nathaniel continued:

"Besides, you're a healer. There's nothing wrong with wanting to heal people."

Charlotte looked at him intently.

"Still, I underestimated you."

Nathaniel thought for a moment. Then his usual smirk returned to his face.

"If you want to make it up to me, you can heal me after the tournament. Percy and Clara have been trying to kill me for the last eleven days."

Clara called out from a distance:

"YOU HAVEN'T TRAINED ENOUGH YET!"

Nathaniel's face instantly fell. Laughter erupted in the stands. Charlotte laughed too. When Nathaniel stepped out of the arena, the gazes of his classmates had completely shifted. Lucas and Elias looked at him in awe; Sophia was trying to comprehend the directional shifts he had pulled off; Daniel was asking Ethan if this was really the same Nathaniel. William walked straight up to him.

"What's your Core level?"

Nathaniel answered proudly:

"Eleven."

William's eyes widened.

"You were nine eleven days ago."

"Not anymore."

"How did you notice Charlotte's attack coming from underground?"

Nathaniel opened his mouth. He thought for a while. Then he looked at Percy.

"How did I notice it?"

William frowned. "You were the one who did it!"

"Doing something and explaining it are two different things."

Percy walked over to them.

"Nathaniel didn't see the energy. As Charlotte moved her magic underground, the surrounding Orin density shifted. The air above the ground warmed up ever so slightly. At the same time, the oxygen density at the point where the attack would emerge dropped."

William didn't say anything for several seconds. Nathaniel put his hands on his hips.

"Yep. That's exactly how I did it."

William looked at him.

"You didn't know a second ago."

"I remembered."

Arthur spoke as he walked past them:

"After training with Percy for eleven days, his lying has improved too."

Nathaniel turned to him.

"I'm not lying. I recall the information after the fact."

Arthur kept walking.

"That's called learning."

As Nathaniel prepared to reply, Percy threw an arm around his shoulder.

"You were awesome."

Nathaniel fell quiet. Seeing the pride on Percy's face, his smile gradually changed. This time he didn't make a joke.

"Top fifteen."

Percy nodded.

"Top fifteen."

The arena official began reading the names for the second round of matches. But the conversations in the stands had not yet moved away from Charlotte and Nathaniel's match. The students who had once seen him as weak were now afraid of seeing Nathaniel's name opposite theirs on the matchup lists. Nathaniel, however, didn't notice their glances. Because he had taken his place beside Percy and Clara, watching the next match. The duels Percy had secretly prepared for him without his knowledge were over. Now, real opponents lay ahead of Nathaniel.