Engaged

Ivan stared at the blades of his sword that were sent flying away after being cut by Miko's katana, his eyes flashed with utter disbelief.

He knew how sturdy his swords were, yet the same sword had been cut cleanly by Miko's weapon.

It was no secret that weapon users would awaken an additional trait or skill after stepping into every new rank; it seems like the trait that Miko had gotten after entering the Mortal King rank was her katana becoming incredibly sharp; sharp to the point it had been able to slice through Ivan's sword!

Clank!!!

The two halves of the sword landed over ten meters away, creating dull sounds.

Miko's expression didn't change after missing Ivan; she turned to look at him before charging again, not planning to give him a chance to attack.

Swish! Swish! Swish!!

Miko arrived in front of Ivan and sent dozens of katana slashes in a matter of seconds, Ivan had to make quick turns and even step back continuously just to avoid getting cut.

It appeared for a second like Miko was pushing Ivan back with the latter not being able to retaliate, but all of that was just for a moment.

Boom!!

Ivan suddenly exploded with Nexus energy, a great shockwave from the sudden energy burst sent Miko flying away; she had to release her own energy to protect herself.

The ground beneath Ivan's feet had a web-like crack that was over two meters wide, which was a result of his Nexus outburst; he was currently covered in a thick, fiery bubble of Nexus energy.

(Imagine might guy opening gates)

Miko, who had landed several meters away, also had a wave of Nexus energy surrounding her, but one could tell at a glance that their Nexus were not on the same level.

Gritting her teeth, she dashed forward once more.

"That's enough," Ivan muttered softly as five cards appeared on both of his hands at the same time, and he tossed everything into the air.

Five swords immediately appeared in front of Ivan and shot towards the incoming Miko.

Swoop! 

Swoop! 

Swoop!×3

All five swords were neatly cut through by Miko's katana as she continued her charge, Ivan had expected this after all and wasn't hoping to defeat her with the swords.

After cutting through the fifth sword, Miko realized that Ivan was gone from his previous location; she didn't see him move!

Suddenly, Miko's expression turned grave; her senses were screaming for her to turn left.

Without giving it a thought, she hurriedly placed her katana to her left side, and at the same time, Ivan appeared with his right hand bent backward and his fist coated in Nexus.

BAM!!

His fist landed on the flat side of the katana before crashing into Miko's temple, she felt a wave of pain accompanied by dizziness before her body was sent flying away uncontrollably.

BOOM!!!

Her body crashed into the barrier with a loud sound.

"Hirck!" 

Miko made a painful sound as she spat out a mouthful of blood before falling to the ground. Her vision became more blurred, and she could hear ringing in her ears.

The first thing that she heard after coming back to her senses was Ivan's voice telling her that she had lost.

Ivan was currently standing above Miko with an indifferent expression on his face, a sword in his grade which he rested its blade on her nape.

"Trainee number 8 wins the match!" 

The referee announced as he flew to the ground, only after then did Ivan recall his sword and move from where Miko was.

He could see that the girl had forced herself to get up after struggling a bit, a look of unwillingness was etched on her face as she glared at him with fierce eyes. 

But Ivan didn't care; he had won and was now ranked third. Miko's Nexus chamber was his now, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

The barrier was opened and Ivan walked out of it, not caring about anything that happened on the stage anymore.

Of course, others were going to continue their matches, but Ivan had no interest in watching.

But one thing was certain, Ivan had shown everyone on his first day of stepping into the arena that he was worthy of being in first place.

The trainees had now officially given him the title "demon Ivan" 

Who else aside demon Ivan could surpass everyone and even trash repeaters after only three months? 

...

After leaving the arena, Ivan decided to go check up on Ralph first before anything else.

Glen was with Ralph in Ralph's room, they opened the door for Ivan after hearing his voice.

"Your fight is over?" Glen asked while sitting on Ralph's bed, not caring if the latter was comfortable.

"Mm" Ivan nodded and turned to look at Ralph. He looked perfectly normal aside from his slightly pale skin.

"Who was your last opponent?" Ralph asked when he saw Ivan looking at him.

"Miko," Ivan replied casually.

"A repeater! Did you win?!" Glen's eyes light up with eagerness for answers.

"Of course, I am now ranked 3rd" Ivan replied with a small smile.

" Awesome! Now we can all continue getting stronger together. I'll be challenging Ralph in two days, and then we'll take turns like that," Glen said with excitement; he could not wait to test the effect of a Nexus chamber.

"So noisy, lower your voice" Ralph hissed at Glen while covering his ears.

They chatted for a while more before Ivan and Glen left Ralph's room. Ivan was going to the cafeteria while Glen was going to the training room. Ivan was to show Ralph to the Nexus chamber used by the first place after he was done eating.

...…

Not a lot of people were in the cafeteria since most of the trainees were still in the arena, so Ivan had fewer people looking at him when he entered.

He got his serving and went to an empty table in a corner to eat. He had just taken a few mouthfuls when a figure appeared opposite him and dropped a tray of food in front of him before taking the seat opposite Ivan.

Ivan raised his eyes and came face to face with a smiling Sommy; the uninvited guest turned out to be Sommy, who was ranked 2nd on the ranking.

"Hi, hope you don't mind me joining you," Sommy said with a smile, even though she was already seated and had no intentions of leaving.

Ivan swallowed before saying it was fine; they were, after all, acquainted, so he didn't mind.

"Good match today, I was honestly surprised by your display. You're stronger than we all thought" Sommy said approvingly.

"Thanks" Ivan responded and continued chewing. 

They are in silence for a few seconds before Ivan asks why Sommy did not challenge him. Was she not interested in the first place?

"Honestly, I'm not a big fan of fighting; why fight when I already have enough AP to pass the training? I have no interest in your Nexus chamber" Sommy replied truthfully.

Ivan stared at her in silence for a while and Sommy only returned his gaze with a smile.

"Ok" was all he said in the end, and he continued eating.

"Thanks" Sommy suddenly said, causing Ivan to pause.

He looked up and saw that Sommy now had a helpless smile on her face while she played with her food; she seemed to have lost her appetite due to helplessness.

" For what?" He asked.

" For going easy on Luke " Sommy replied with a sigh.

Ivan raised an eyebrow; he had noticed that although Sommy usually confronted Luke a lot, it was mostly when he was doing something stupid, and she was, in fact, looking out for him. He had ignored this before since it had nothing to do with him but now he was very curious since Sommy came to thank him for going easy on that guy.

"Why do you care about him so much?" 

Sommy paused; a look of hesitation could be seen on her face, which stayed for a while before vanishing.

"It can't be helped; he's my fiance even though I wished it wasn't so," Sommy answered helplessly.

Ivan froze, his eyes widened in shock as he stared at Sommy.

What she had just said was like a bomb that was dropped in his mind.

'These two…are engaged!?' 

Ivan thought to himself as a thousand WTF ran through his mind in an instant.

He could not even begin to imagine Luke getting someone like Sommy, these two were simply not meant for each other!

Sommy giggled when she saw Ivan's expression; it was very rare to see Ivan with such an expression, and she found it amusing.

"I know you must be shocked but that's the truth. I was raised by his family and engaged to him since we were kids; that's why I can't just leave him despite his awful personality." Sommy sighed after a while.

Ivan had to agree with this, Luke was a dick. He flirted with a lot of girls even when Sommy was around and didn't treat her like someone who was engaged was supposed to, it was just impossible to guess that they shared such a relationship.

"Why don't you call off the engagement?" Ivan asked.