The four men in golden armor stood in four corners then cast a middle-tier magical shield to form a 10-meter square ring inside the grand hall, and another two of them were left standing next to the emperor to guard him.

Jura and Yeman walked and stopped on the opposite side, facing each other. The emperor declared the rules. Though it was only a simple rule since it was only a duel to test if Yeman was truly awakened and if he was capable of killing the Rat Lord.

The rules given were to overwhelm their opponent into submission, or if the emperor wanted to finish the match, it's up to him to judge.

They could choose any weapon they like, but seeing his opponent did not choose any, Yeman decided to use barehanded also. In fact, it was his main class to be unarmed. Also, he already acquired the beginner tier barehanded mastery skill. He was also able to manifest the soul energy into his hand. 

With this, he didn't need any weapon. One of the reasons was, it was only a duel and not a fight for death.

Curious whispers were noisy around them, there were even some guests who secretly did a bet. But who would want to bet on him? Yes, there is.

At the corner of his eyes, he noticed a familiar person, who was wearing sunglasses even at night. Seeing that he was wearing a formal black coat, together with the sunglasses on his eyes, for some reason he looked like a mafia member.

Yeah, that person was the man in Big Sister Mayu's group, going in the name of Kurz. It was Big Brother Kurz. Though he was a little older than him if he counted his real age on earth, he was the real older. That aside, Yeman was now living in a younger body of another person, so he had to act according to his figure and not according to his real age.

Kurz was blatantly signaling to the person who was the head of the betting. Not only Kurz was here, but some of their members in the squad of Mayu were also here. When they noticed Yeman's gaze onto them, they sent a thumbs up while saying, "Goodluck, Younger Brother Eman!", "Break the leg! Hehehe," Such cheers were coming from them while grinning widely. 

His only concern was, the tension ambiance coming from the commoners and nobles a while ago was completely gone, and in exchange, the arena-like ambiance enveloped the grand hall.

Is this still the same hall where the supposed banquet is being held? He wondered.

After a sigh, he took a glance at the emperor, he noticed that even with the blatant betting the emperor seemed like had paid it no mind. 

Maybe it was a common thing in the empire. The emperor didn't even pay attention to the rising noise around him. But the noise instantly wafted away when the emperor finished giving the rules and raised his right hand into the air. Silence immediately took over the grand hall.

However, in everyone's face, the excitement was visible, from men to women, from younger to older. All of them were waiting for the start of the duel. With all said and done, in truth, none of them was expecting a good match as most of them were more curious about the strength of one of the youngsters from the great noble family. In short, they were curious about Jura's strength. Mostly because the Ranking Month of great noble families was coming. 

It was one of the biggest events in the empire.

Back to the event tonight. Yeman was being pierced by a sharp glare coming from the person in front of him.

Jura's stare at him was so unkind. It was the kind of stare that was fueled by anger from a long time ago. 

Regardless, in this fight, he just needed to show that he has the skill to stand in front of the beast known as the Rat Lord. It's up to them to comprehend how he killed the Rat Lord. Either he killed it while joining forces with the other subjugators, or he killed it alone, it's none of his business now. He just wanted to finish this duel.

He glanced to his side and saw Mina and the others. Their eyes were on him. Weirdly though, those piercing gazes she had towards him the first time he arrived in this world was nowhere to be seen. Right now, she's looking at him with a lukewarm gaze. Actually, she was silently cheering for him.

Well, it was better that she changed her way of looking at him. To be honest, he wasn't bothered if she was hostile to him, it wasn't like they could see each other every time. But still, he preferred this version of Mina. It was good to befriend her than become his enemy. While he was contemplating about it he heard a system notification.

[Ding! 1 friend added!]

[Total Friend/s: 2]

[Congratulations host, you received 10000 SP!]

"What?"

Yeman was dumbfounded. Looks like he accomplished another secret task.

So Mina was looking at him differently now? He thought. Wait, it could also be dependent on him.

He had no idea about this friend thing and decided to review it later. Next, he saw Night on her usual poker face. No, actually, she was sending killing intent to Mina. In her mind, it was good that she came with her lord. Because there was an insect in the form of a girl who stood close to her lord. She wanted to stomp this insect. If not because the lord prohibited her from doing it, she already did a long time ago.

He scratched the side of his face while warning her not to do any hostile action.

His Sister Eina and Aunt Claire were having worried faces.

Regardless, the emperor who acted as a referee spoke the word.

"Start!"

After saying it, strong pressure of golden magical aura burst out of Jura's body.

Woah!

Everyone shouted in amazement. Jura's friend shouted and cheered on Jura. They were telling him to beat his enemy, black and blue. But for some reason, maybe because of the presence of the emperor, they were not too excessive with their insults. They usually called him a worm. 

Maybe it was taboo in front of the emperor to call someone with such a nickname.

"As expected of someone from the great family, they could easily control the magical aura over their body," one person commented.

"And look at how dense his magical aura is. Even at such a young age!"

Another person said.

"And look at his magical aura. It's majestically gold in color!"

"On the other hand, look at his enemy. He could only summon the magical aura on his hand."

One beautiful young girl, with silver hair color, pushed her way to the crowd. She was wondering what was happening. Why the guests were gathering in the middle of the hall. Wait, and her father the emperor was there too. 

"Princess wait!" A maid who was tailing her called out to her.

Just right after Jura finished accumulating a magical aura all over his body, he dashed forward. He would beat the shit out of this person. In truth, he didn't need to do it. He was certain that even if he won't use the full-body coating of magical aura, there was no way this despicable man could beat him. Even if he truly awakened. It was already too late for him.

It was common knowledge that the earlier one awakened, the stronger he was compared to other awakened beings who awakened later. Not only Jura was thinking like this. Even the emperor and the golden knights who were guarding him were thinking the same thing.

Actually, except for Mina and the others, most of the people inside thought that Yeman would never beat Jura. Even if it was true that he killed the Rat Lord. In any case, there were many circumstances in a fight. What if he was just lucky to beat the wounded Rat Lord? It was one of the possibilities. Even Kurz and Mayu did not put much regard into him beating the Rat Lord. They also thought the same as everyone. That he beat the Rat Lord through luck only. 

However, it was also the reason why Mayu wanted to recruit him to join their family. After all, luck is the strongest attribute of a warrior.

No matter how weak in strength one has, if he has unmeasurable luck, there were always boundless possibilities that he would win in the end.

Regardless, beating the current Jura, who was exuding a magical aura all over his body, was next to impossible for Eman. It was their honest thought. Especially that he could only summon magical aura on his hands.

It was evidence of him being a newly awakened person. Though they believed now that he truly awakened. It was surprising.

Some of them were looking at him with pity. 

Hannah just glared at him, but her face was hard to describe. No one knew what she was currently thinking.

Only Ru-Han had a face that could not believe what his eyes were seeing. 'He truly awakened?' How did it happen?!' 

After successfully making her way into the crowd, "Oh, Big Sister Mina was here too," she muttered but soon, "What?" The princess uttered after seeing the two figures leaped at the same time towards each other.

Bang!

A loud impact reached everyone's ears. Then the next second, everyone fell silent, but their eyes widened in disbelief.

Dumbfounded.