In the administrative chamber of the simulacrum, the men who stood at the apex of the empire's power watched the footage of the competition.
They were accompanied by heads and elites of the ruling nations who had their greatest talents enrolled in the academy as well.
The emperor of the Zhoufang dynasty was present in the room as a hologram as well, rejoicing about the performance of his daughter Kexin, showing off.
"My daughter is truly the shining star of our Zhou Dynasty. She cleared out her entire zone all by herself! Hahahahahaha"
While some rejoiced about the achievements of their offspring, others were quite displeased at the results of the competition.
Duke Dragunov Ein Yenalova, the father of Cassandra, was one of the displeased individuals.
He loved his daughter dearly; he was the reason why Cassandra was so spoilt in the first place.
The spectacle on display for the whole world to see was an eyesore for him.
Publicly humiliating his daughter like that was something that he couldn't stand by and watch.
"I think I need to have a nice long talk with Count Dacre about how he raises his children."
Adam's little stunt was incredibly disrespectful to him.
So what if there were rumours of his daughter treating Adam badly?
So what if the rumours might be true?
Adam is just a loser son of an insignificant Count, and he should act accordingly.
You never bite the hand that feeds you.
Even mindless animals know that much.
It seemed that his daughter's supposed fiancé had a mind much lesser than that of an animal.
His verbal destruction of Adam's character in his mind was put on hold by sarcastic laughter coming from his right side.
"Haha, did someone not like seeing his daughter getting beaten up? I get that you adore your daughter, but it's a competition. Do you see me getting mad about my daughter's loss to the heir of the shougunate?"
The voice of reason was none other than Gavin.
Dragunov practiced the sword while Gavin practiced the magic arts.
They were constantly at Odds with one another.
Since childhood, they would always spar together every once in a while; somehow, they were never able to determine who was better than the other in combat.
Even in the Royal court, many meetings between the nobles of the empire would just turn into a dick-measuring contest between the two about who is doing better than the other in territory management and the contentment of their respective populations that they govern over.
The king had long given up trying to stop them since the nobles who sided with their respective factions would just egg them on even more.
The king ended up resigning himself to his fate, thinking about what he would do after the meeting was over, instead of focusing on the topics of the meeting.
"The only reason you're so level-headed about your daughter losing is because you think she would have won if not for the elemental disadvantage."
Dragunov knew Gavin very well after all these years.
He knew Gavin was just trying to cope with the draw. Gavin was also very proud of his daughter's combat capabilities.
As they continued bickering about whose daughter is better, the air around the room started to get more and more awkward since all of the esteemed personalities present in the room, all held the highest stature in their respective countries, felt that they could only sit and watch the passionate debate between the 2 dukes.
There was only 1 person who had the balls to stop the two dukes with a severe daughter complex.
It was none other than Cain Iglesias.
He tapped both of them on their shoulder as he appeared behind them.
"Now now, I think we can all agree that both of your daughters are very accomplished for their age. Let's talk about something more important." Said Cain with his classic monotone but respectable accent.
He turned his vision towards Marquis Kennedy, who was also present in the room.
"Marquis, the payment?" enquired Cain.
The always-smiling marquise's expression contorted as he rolled his eyes while sighing heavily.
He then went on to take out a coin pouch from his pocket and threw it towards Cain.
After catching the coin pouch with a smug expression, Cain gave a slight bow and said, "Your patronage was much appreciated, Marquis."
As Gavin looked towards the two, his eyes narrowed and wrinkles formed on his forehead, an expression of absolute confusion on his face.
"What was that?" He said with a confused look.
"Oh, nothing much, just a bet that I won against the marquis."
"Really? What did you bet on?"
"I bet that Jake wouldn't be 1st in the rankings."
"That was a bold choice. What gave you the confidence that Jake would lose?"
"Call it instinct. It's too outrageous to think that just because Jake is the best young talent in our Empire, he would also be the best young talent in the entire world."
In reality, Cain's meeting with the Dragon Queen informed him about the possibility of the mythical hero Mesmer somehow showing up in the list of participants with a new form and an alias.
Cain chose to wholeheartedly believe that possibility as it came from The Dragon Queen herself, who had lived for a 1000 years and was the only living existence at the level of the gods.
Cain continued, "The world is vast, even with my entire lifetime, I'm sure there are so many places I haven't been to, so many hidden powerhouses whose existence I am unaware of, I'm sure there are plenty of kids in this world who could at least match, if not completely outmatch Jake."
It was an absurd thought to think one person could be more powerful than anyone else in his generation, regardless of the scenario.
The last person to be that strong was The Apex of Humanity, Mesmer.
However, even Mesmer ended up losing to the heroes of the time when he defected to the side of the demons.
This was the thought process Cain went through when making his prediction.
After validating his prediction in his mind, Cain continued.
"Duke Yenalova, I would have thought you would be glad that your daughter's fiancé is so talented that he defeated Jake."
Duke Yenalova looked at Cain in disbelief as he processed the information in his head.
"That disgrace of a son-in-law defeated Jake?"
Cain, Gavin, and Marquis Kennedy were utterly confused.
Gavin chimed in, his head tilted due to utter confusion.
"Did you not see the fight between Adam and Jake?"
"I wasn't focusing on what was going on on the screen. My mind was elsewhere."
Turns out the great Duke Yenalova was so consumed with anger at the prospect of his daughter being humiliated that he wasn't even paying attention to the screens.
"Well, alright, we can just replay the footage then. See for yourself, maybe this will calm your fury."
Everyone in the room was now focused on the screens, including Duke Yenalova.
What they saw was Count Dacre's middle child, taking down all the opponents that came his way without utilising even a single sliver of mana.
It was an unbelievable sight.
One of the elders was befuddled and couldn't help but comment on what was transpiring on the screen.
"That speed... How is that even possible! This isn't the speed of a 1st or 2nd or 3rd or even 4th tier warrior! This is way beyond that! Do we know for sure that he wasn't using explosive pills to boost his physical abilities?"
Cain replied in a monotone voice with a hint of disappointment within it, seeing how the spectacle in front of them was so unbelievable that the elder couldn't help but forget all semblance of basic logic due to the absolute confusion he experienced after watching the scene.
"Any sort of doping is impossible; simulacrum only measures the essence and the natural strength of every individual, and no amount of doping gets transferred into their simulacrum avatar. Elder, you should know this: you're one of the lead engineers who helped in the creation of the simulacrum in the first place."
"Right.. right.. my bad, it's just that this is so unbelievable to watch that I can't even think straight.."
While Cain cleared the elder's doubts, the footage went on, Duke Gavin chimed in, "That eastern kid is trying his best to strike Adam. I admire his tenacity, but the difference in strength is too large for his tenacity to matter in this fight."
As the footage went on, suddenly the room started to heat up, Duke Yenalova's aura subconsciously activated as he felt immense anger at what was happening on the screen.
"That worthless kid finally grew some wings, and he thinks he can humiliate my daughter like that? Next time I see him, he is going to wish he never trampled on my daughter's dignity!"
As he spoke, his voice sounded incredibly rough and loud; it seemed that even sword masters could lose their cool when it came to their own flesh and blood.
Gavin retorted, trying to shift Dragunov's focus, "Look at how cleanly he cut the Earl's heir. What do you think his proficiency in the sword is, Dragu?"
Duke Yenalova suddenly hurt a vein and gave Gavin a deadly stare.
"I have told you not to call me that in public!"
"Yes, yes, Swordmaster, I understand, but I think you're being too harsh on the child, so I had to shift your focus."
Duke Yenalova, regaining his composure, replied, "*cough* *cough*, if I take into account the swiftness of the slash, the execution of the movement, and the result, his understanding of the sword is at par with our kingdom's High Knights."
Before the Duke could finish speaking, the elders chimed in.
"This child can utilise High Knight level of swordsmanship at such a young age! What an incredible talent!"
While all the elders started showering Adam with compliments, Duke Yenalova killed the cheers by continuing his conclusion on Adam's swordsmanship.
"While such comprehension of the sword is incredibly impressive at such a young age, he doesn't seem to have learnt any sword arts or special swordsmanship. All he knows are the basic movements of the swords."
"Once Jake reaches the same level of sword comprehension as Adam, he will far outclass Adam in swordsmanship as he is learning one of the greatest sword techniques in Klienova from the Omnisiah maiden herself."
The excitement of the elders deflated after listening to the Sword master's conclusion.
"Look at you trying to devalue your future son-in-law's achievements just because your daughter lost in a fight for once. There is a limit to how petty you can be."
"I'm not being petty, I'm simply stating the truth and giving my insight."
"If Jake is so amazing and he far outclasses Adam, then how do you explain him losing to Adam, hmmm?????"
The bickering between the Archmage and the Swordmaster started once again.
Marquise Kennedy wanted to join the discussion, as his son was a topic of discussion as well, but he ended up giving up on it since nothing good came out of coming in between these debates between the Archmage and the Swordmaster.
"I have no idea how someone like Adam would manage to beat Jake. The sword of Omnisiah is a sword technique that allows the user to predict all possible outcomes of an encounter. When they swing their sword, it should be impossible for Adam to defeat Jake."
Cain fast-forwarded the video to the showdown between Jake and Adam.
Everyone who saw what transpired was amazed at how diabolical and decisive Adam's victory against Jake was.
While everyone held an expression of amazement, Duke Yenalova remained sceptical, his eyes narrowed as he refused to believe what he was seeing. He had known Adam from a very young age, especially due to the engagement with his daughter.
Knowing Adam, that kid couldn't remain unflinching while his arm was chopped off and he was bleeding heavily as every second passed.
"Archmage Cain, did you give Adam's avatar pain resistance? Also, how did his hitpoints stop at 1? Shouldn't he bleed to death? Are you sure there isn't anything wrong with Adams' simulcrum pod?"
"No, I did not provide Adam with any special bonuses that the other participants didn't have. There is nothing wrong with Adam's Pod. We had it checked as soon as the match ended, and it seems that his bleeding stopped as soon as he was at the doorstep of death. That's pretty lucky for him."
If the system could hear what the Archmage had just said about Adams' luck, the system would be pulling its hair out laughing.
Duke Yenalova continued his line of questioning,
"How is it possible for such a young kid to remain composed after losing his arm and the pain that accompanies such a predicament? I refused to believe this isn't a big event; people in this room would react, albeit not extreme, if any of their limbs were cut off, myself included."
Duke Yenalova's enquiry was logically sound and made perfect sense. It was true that no human could remain unaffected if one of their limbs were chopped off.
"Well, I can shed some light on this matter. It's not that Adam doesn't feel any pain; it's more like he doesn't show the pain that he feels outside. If you look into his eyes, it's very easy to sense the pain and the rage that accompany it."
"And since when did you become an information expert on, my son in law?"
"Well... I didn't want to say this but... I may have used mana burning on him when he visited my tower."
"Oh you used mana burning on him.... Wait wait wait! You used mana burning on that kid and he is still alive??? How did this happen? Why did you do it? When did you do it?"
The chatter in the room increased, mana burning was an incredibly inhumane process known to all of the bigshots of the world that were present in this room.
Everyone was shocked at the revelation that Archmage Gavin had done something so inhumane to a kid who had just become an adult.
"It's a long story, i will tell you later but what happened during the process was that he was bleeding from every orfice yet not a single scream or acknowledgement of pain escaped his mouth. When I saw his eyes they were full of rage, yet the entire time he looked like he didn't feel anything. I kept an eye on him and on his way back he kept shouting profanities at me. He feels pain but he chooses to endure it."
The conversation then shifted to a more scholarly direction as the experts discussed the logic behind the possibility of how someone could remain unaffected during the process of mana burning and what sort of an ability someone would require to accomplish such a feat.
It turns out that Adam was now on the radar of all the bigshots of the continent even after concealing most of his strength.
And Adam had no idea about all the eyes that were on him as he was too busy screaming at the top of his lungs with anger inside of his simulacrum pod.