At first, no one spoke.
The silence that followed Leonard's collapse wasn't the usual kind—the kind that came with shock or awe.
No, this was the other kind.
The kind that made the hairs on the back of every neck rise.
The kind that thickened the air, as if the arena itself didn't know how to process what it had just witnessed.
Then came the gasps.
Soft at first. Then sharper. Then full-on murmurs, building like a tide of stunned confusion.
But oddly enough, it wasn't the commoners who reacted first.
It was the nobles.
The ones who thought Leonard Vale would "put the upstart in his place."
Their eyes were wide.
Some leaned forward.
Others gripped their seats unconsciously.
One or two stood without realizing.
They'd seen the initial clash. They knew Leonard's strength.
And now… they had no explanation.
Next were the hunters and adventurers.
They weren't nobles. They weren't rich. But they were fighters. They understood power.
