Chapter 22: Not the Janitor
Wesley stood still, arms folded and back against the stone wall of the arena, watching through narrowed eyes as the scene before him unfolded.
The students lining the upper levels of the arena were frozen, some halfway through a breath, others with mouths wide open, unable to comprehend what they had just seen.
A few blinked repeatedly, as if trying to scrub the image from their minds, unable to accept that Gabe—the same awkward, average classmate they had sparred with in drills—had just gone toe-to-toe with a Level Five dungeon creature and came out unscathed.
Then came the wave.
A ripple of noise that started from a single gasp and rolled outward like a storm cresting over the sea. Murmurs turned into shouts, gasps turned into stammered declarations.
"He really deflected that tail?!"
"That tail could pierce steel! I saw it impale a Dungeon Hound last year!"
"What is going on?! Was he hiding this strength all along?"
"Am I dreaming? Did Gabe really just dance around the Spearopion like it was nothing?"
"Who even is he?!"
"It didn’t even touch him! Not once!"