Chapter 114: Fighting Valen
Alex stood there, arms folded, voice calm yet cutting as he spoke.
"More talk, no action. Typical. All that noise just to hide the fact that you’re nothing more than an incompetent coward from an equally incompetent family."
The words dropped like a stone in a quiet pond. A hush swept over the hallway. The distant chatter of students died out as if the building itself paused to listen.
Valen had already turned his back to leave, confident the conversation was over. But at that insult, at those words, his body stiffened instantly. His shoulders went rigid, and the confident smirk that had been plastered on his face only moments ago vanished in an instant.
Slowly, deliberately, he turned his head to face Alex. His expression no longer bore even a hint of humor. His eyes locked onto Alex, and for the first time in a long while, silence in the academy felt dangerous.
"What did you just say?" Valen asked, his voice cold, low, and edged like a blade unsheathed.
Alex didn’t flinch. He simply shrugged, nonchalant, as if nothing he’d said had any particular weight.
"I’ve already said all I have to say."
There was something maddening about the way he said it, calm, detached, completely unbothered. Around them, a small crowd of students had gathered, drawn by the sudden tension like moths to fire. Dozens of curious eyes stared, whispering to each other, anticipating what would happen next.
Valen’s gaze swept the growing crowd. He could feel their attention like heat on his back. The longer he stood still, the more it felt like he was being judged. Ridiculed. Weak. To simply walk away now would be to admit defeat, to accept the insult, to acknowledge it as true.
No. He couldn’t do that. Not here. Not in front of them.