Frozen

I didn't know Amelia would hold a grudge over what I did on the train. I guess she is trying to assert dominance.

I was planning on hiding my strength until the right moment. The problem is that even if I fight and hide my strength the teacher might be able to feel my intent. I shouldn't underestimate a Platinum-ranked knight.

On the other hand, if I just surrender, I will look like a coward which will make my job of changing Nero's self-destructive tendencies harder. 

I knew that asking the teacher for help was a waste of time, so I just walked towards the arena. 

Amelia sported fiery orange hair and piercing green eyes, directing a gaze of pure disdain towards me.

"Just surrender loser," she taunted me. 

The teacher signaled for the match to start, and I replied: "I surrender."

Everyone was looking at me with their mouth agape.

"Wait, I didn't mean it literally," Amelia replied with frustration etched all over her face.

"How am I supposed to beat you up if you just surrender!" 

Her fists lit up with fire as she unconsciously used her aether technique 'Brilliant flame.'

"How could a weak mentalist like me ever beat you? Isn't it better to just acknowledge reality and give up?"

Everyone was surprised and disgusted at my cowardice. I could see it etched on their faces, even the teacher was looking at me with disgust, but I didn't really care.

Honor is useless if you're dead. 

Even just sustaining mild injuries might compromise my plan at this point. Simply put, the risk outweighs the benefits.

In life, you have to know when to give up. Sometimes avoiding a problem is the right thing to do, fame be damned.

"Any other volunteer?" the teacher asked.

A boy with shiny blond hair and dichromatic eyes lifted his hand. 

"I would like to challenge Elena Lancaster."

A young woman, her hair a radiant shade of platinum blonde, and her eyes a profound, captivating blue, flashed a confident smirk. Somehow, she had artfully tailored her uniform to accentuate not only her full curves but also her regal and princely features, leaving an indelible impression.

Finally, the main conflict of the first part of the game has started.

The boy's name is Ludwig Almendiger. He is the first son of a count with territory east of my barony.

He holds a grudge against Elena, the daughter of the duke for two reasons. First, politically their families oppose each other. On this planet, there are two political factions: Golds and Blues. I have absolutely no idea what the difference between the factions is, but in the game, the Golds are supposed to be the evil ones, and the Blues good. 

Ludwig's father holds an important position in the Gold faction and vehemently opposes the Blues.

The second reason and also the main reason Ludwig hates Elena is because she completely humiliated him at a party a few months ago.

This duel is when the conflict in the noble class that I am a part of begins. 

As for my own opinion on the conflict frankly, I don't really care which side wins. I am planning on profiting as much as possible and it's not like I can pick sides in the first place.

My family serves the Dredd family to which Nero belongs and their family is a part of the Gold faction so while my family might officially be neutral I don't actually have much choice when it comes to picking factions.

Both students stepped into the arena and prepared themselves for the incoming clash.

As soon as the teacher signaled the commencement of the fight, a gleam of light flickered in Ludwig's green eye. In a swift motion, the young man initiated a hacking attack against his opponent.

He was using the [Vexing gaze core]. An optic upgrade that lets you hack into your enemies' cyber enhancements hand-free. The downside is that the procedure takes quite a while and can be easily interrupted if the user loses consciousness.

Elena instantly conjured three icicles by utilizing her 'Icicle shot' aether technique.

Elena's nickname in the game was Ice Princess. She was one of the most annoying enemies to fight against and I died countless times while clashing with her. 

In the initial segment of the game, she emerged as the most versatile character. Her family's possession of three distinct aether techniques played a pivotal role in establishing their dominance as a formidable ducal house.

She possesses the 'icicle shot' for long-range and 'ice shield' for close-range engagements. As if that wasn't enough, she also uses an area of effect technique called 'icy blizzard' that instantly freezes anyone dumb enough to remain within the range of the technique for longer than a few seconds.

The three icicles swooshed through the air toward their target but to everyone's surprise, Ludwig stood his ground instead of pointlessly dodging. He tore off a black glove that was covering his left hand and revealed a small blue gem embedded in his hand.

The gem lit up with a celestial blueish light and formed a solid energy shield comprised of many small hexagonal plates. The shield was half transparent and looked like it was composed of blue light. 

The icicles broke into many small ice shards as they clashed with the shield.

A victorious smirk could be seen on Ludwig's face. Time was on his side as the longer he stalled the closer his Vexing gaze core was to disabling his enemy's cybernetic enhancements. Every second the hacking attack was closer to being completed but the princes didn't seem the least concerned.

She coldly gazed at Ludwig as she activated her cybernetic enhancement: extol. 

From her perspective time came to a stop and the world lost all its colors as her brain could not process all the information while it was in hyperdrive.

The girl's locks of platinum blonde hair danced gracefully in the air, each strand a shimmering cascade as she navigated the monochrome world with a seasoned finesse. Her presence, akin to an ice goddess traversing a frozen realm.

She summoned tens of icicles while moving perpendicular to her opponent, after making a half circle she used some of her own icicles as stairs to ascend above Ludwig and created a dreadful number of icicles in the air.

After time continued to move again an otherworldly barrage of ice fell upon her opponent.

Ludwig's eyes widened as suddenly dozens of icicles appeared from almost every possible angle and shot toward him. 

He quickly canceled his hacking attack and rerouted all his energy into the shield embedded in his hand. 

The barrage of ice expended his shield and one of the icicles managed to stab his shoulder because the attacks came from so many different angles, he could not deflect them all.

Ludwig pulled the ice shard out of his shoulder and activated 'Vampiric surge'. An aether technique that allowed for incredibly fast regeneration at the expense of consuming his blood.

The wound on his shoulder closed with visible speed. 

However, Elena would never give him the time to heal and consolidate his strength.

She quickly launched more ice projectiles and Ludwig responded by dashing to the side but a few icicles still reached their target.

He was infuriated: Elena managed to both disrupt his hack and deal significant damage to his blood reserves.

A frustrated expression appeared on his face as he healed the scratch that he received in the previous barrage.

At that moment, a vicious smile appeared on the girl's face that sent a shiver down Ludwig's spine.

Powerful cold gusts of wind started gathering around Elena. 

Suddenly Ludwig could feel all warmth being sucked out of his body like a black hole at a cosmic picnic, turning him into the intergalactic equivalent of a human popsicle.

The young warrior yearned to make a swift escape, yet the realization struck him that the princess had cunningly corralled him into a corner of the arena, leaving him with no escape route from the impending onslaught of her formidable area-of-effect attack.

Ludwig could feel his thoughts slow down and his death approach him as his eyes were covered by a sheet of ice.

The man had turned into an ice statue in the few seconds of being exposed to her attack. 

His eyes, brimming with terror, remained fixed in an unyielding stare from within the icy confines.

The arena proclaimed Elena the victor as two medics put Ludwig onto a stretcher and removed him from the area.

The sight of the man stuck in an awkward position due to the ice surrounding his body might have been comic in some other situation, but everyone present felt terrified at the sight of Elena staring at her ice sculpture with a warm smile that sent chills down everyone's back.

Even the teacher felt a bit unnerved.

At this juncture, a sense of unease crept over me, making me question if, despite the meticulous plans I had set in motion, I might be somewhat underprepared for the challenges that lay ahead.