They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 532: Just Laid Down and Accepted His Fate

"Our next judge, representing the Royal Prigrian Military Division, a decorated war tactician, and instructor of our very own martial combat department..."

He looked to the center seat where a calm, cold figure sat in black.

"Prince Arthur White."

The crowd froze.

There was a two second silence before shocked murmurs rippled through the entire stadium.

"Wait, Prince Arthur?!"

"What is he doing here?!"

"I thought he chose to only lecture year ones?"

"Shouldn’t he be evaluating his own students?!"

"A prince. Is he even allowed to sit as judge?!"

Arthur didn’t acknowledge the reactions. He remained still in his seat, legs crossed, gaze steady, fingers linked over one knee, like a man who didn’t just expect to be there... but belonged there.

Nnenna’s breath caught.

She stared at him, stunned. He hadn’t said a word to her that morning, not even a clue. So this was why he was so serious when asking if she was nervous. He wasn’t just being supportive. He was preparing to watch her, as her Sensei and her judge.

And from where she sat, she couldn’t tell if that made things better... or worse.

"Our last judge for this exam is one of the most famous martial experts in the kingdom - Madam Wolke!" He gestured to the seated well built woman who nodded at him with a smile.

"Now that our judges are seated and the crowd is settled," he began, "it’s time to explain the format of this martial arts evaluation."

A wave of tension passed through the arena like static.

"This will be a one on one knockout format. Each student will draw lots to determine their opponent for the first round. Your performance in the match will be scored by our five judges, each giving a maximum of twenty points. This makes a perfect score of one hundred."

The grading chart appeared on the hovering screen above the arena.

70 – 100: A

60 – 69: B

50 – 59: C

Below 50: F

referee gave the students a

whether you win or lose, but by how well you perform in each match. If you win and perform better in your next match, your highest score will

Everyone exhaled in relief.

the referee’s voice dropped into something more ominous, "—if you show incompetence or sloppiness in a later round, and your grade drops... your final score will still be that lower grade. You will not be allowed to

Some gasped. Others

isn’t just about strength," he finished. "It’s about

he gestured toward a student

"Let’s begin the draw."

students walked forward to pull a folded slip from the box. A massive board

student moaned, holding his paper like it had

him like a table,"

he’s quick but not brutal. I might survive

"I should just hand in my

across

slightly muscular, cocky,

drawing attention as he turned to show the name to his friend. "I got Nnenna White. Easy

murmurs spread like

"Lucky guy."

to

she skip years

skipping years isn’t the same as surviving three years

A from

student, whose name was Kai, kept grinning smugly

look strong. I saw her training once, looked

Nnenna said nothing.

seated, her

face. Just that intense, unblinking stillness that made it impossible to know what he

slightly and whispered to Commander Olivia beside

his eyes off

surprise us,"

arena, the referee stepped

raised