Chapter 218

218

‘Are you going to take it easy on me?’

Austin wore an expression of incredulity.

It wasn’t just Austin— the other students felt the same way.

The student Austin was currently facing, Garys, was an exceptionally skilled fighter.

In spars between students, Garys was someone Austin had never once beaten.

And now, he was being told to go easy during such a spar.

‘What kind of confidence does Young Master Leo have?’

Austin let out a hollow laugh in his mind, feeling his tension ease.

‘Well, over the past month, I’ve survived Young Master Leo’s grueling training.’

After experiencing Leo’s training, Austin felt that he could overcome any trial.

After taking a deep breath, Austin gripped his wooden sword tighter—a broadsword-style weapon suited to his build.

Watching Austin, Garys grinned and pointed his sword, thinking, ‘Arrogant b*stard.’

While Austin wielded a broadsword-style weapon with immense destructive power, Garys, despite his smaller stature, utilized a triple-sword technique that was both precise and fast.

In their past encounters, Austin had always been unable to keep up with Garys’ speed, leading to overwhelming defeats.

As the two stood in the middle of the training ground facing each other, Garys began lightly jumping around in place.

“I’ll show you what real skill is, Austin.”

With those words, Garys surged toward Austin at an incredible speed.

Whoosh!

In response to Garys’ approach, Austin swung his sword.

Hwwooosh!

“Hmph! Still those crude attacks, I see!”

Whoosh!

Dodging Austin’s sword by stepping aside, Garys weaved to the left.

A speed so fast it made one’s eyes dizzy.

However, Austin’s blade continued to pursue Garys with surprising accuracy.

Attempting to evade and counterattack, Garys had to hastily defend himself by swinging his sword.

Phwooooosh!

The sound of the wooden swords colliding rang out, one that seemed heavier than could be imagined.

The pain in his wrist made Garys’ face contort.

Austin’s strength was nothing short of monstrous.

“Looks like you’ve made a bit of progress. Then… let’s see how far it goes.”

With that, Garys activated his aura.

Pfft!

Seeing Garys accelerate even further, Austin’s expression turned one of bewilderment—not from the speed but from the realization that he could now respond to it, something he hadn’t been able to do a month ago.

Swiiish!

When Austin dodged his thrust, Garys’ expression turned one of shock.

“What…?!”

He quickly began an aggressive barrage of attacks.

Whoosh! Slash! Thrust!

A flurry of piercings and slashes danced in the air.

The other students, thinking Garys was overwhelming Austin, whistled and cheered.

But the upper-tier students’ faces darkened.

‘Garys’ attacks aren’t getting through?’

Garys’ style of swordsmanship relied on speed to overpower his opponents.

If his speed wasn’t effective, it meant he couldn’t defeat his opponent.

Of course, Austin also lacked the opportunity to counterattack, and so the duel reached a stalemate.

However, the mere fact that Austin, a mid-tier student, was evenly matched with Garys, an upper-tier student, was shocking in itself.

‘From the beginning, he had enough physical strength and control over his aura. What was lacking was technique.’

Watching the duel, Leo smirked.

All of Leo’s knights were of humble origins— either lower nobility or commoners.

Naturally, this put them at a disadvantage compared to other students who had been systematically training in swordsmanship since childhood in preparation for knighthood.

Yet, their talents were enough to place them in the mid-tier.

Leo had identified what was most crucial for these knights’ swordsmanship and had focused their training on that.

And the results were being displayed right now.

‘Kids grow fast.’

While Leo inwardly joked about something that would make others laugh, events on the ground continued unfolding.

“Cough! You b*stard!”

Garys’ eyes flashed.

‘What kind of embarrassment is this? I was vying for a position in Leo’s knighthood!’

Believing Austin to be clearly inferior, the fact that he was struggling was humiliating for Garys, who had intended to showcase his skills before Leo.

‘An opening!’

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

Startled, Garys stepped back.

The momentum of the duel had flipped in an instant.

Speed-adapted Austin was now pressuring Garys in return.

Garys’ eyes sparked with fury.

“This brat!”

Gooouuuuu!

A powerful aura ignited around Garys’ sword.

Seeing this, Austin focused even more.

Hummm!

Austin’s broadsword glowed with light as well.

Garys quickly launched into a thrust.

While Garys’ aura was undoubtedly more potent, Austin’s wasn’t too far behind.

“Hup!”

Austin shouted and swung his sword.

At that moment, a magical seal appeared above his sword.

“What?!”

Garys exclaimed in shock.

Crack!

“Cough?!”

The power from Austin’s sword, augmented by both aura and a magical reinforcement, shattered Garys’ weapon.

Whoooosh!

Austin’s sword stopped mere inches from Garys’ neck.

Garys’ face contorted.

“Cheating! You aren’t allowed to use a magic artifact!”

Garys shouted, stepping back.

“I used magic myself,” Austin responded, lowering his wood sword.

“Lies! You’ve become a magi-swordsman in just a month?”

“Yep.”

“Impossible!”

Garys protested harshly.

Having trained alongside Austin for years, he had never heard of Austin possessing any magical aptitude.

The other students also wore skeptical expressions.

Leo smirked and spoke up.

“That was indeed magic cast by Austin.”

“What?”

“I realized he had a talent for it, so I taught him magic over the past month.”

“Magic… That’s absurd… No, even if it’s plausible, it’s still cheating! This was supposed to be a sword duel! And we are Zerdinger’s knight trainees! Magic isn’t allowed!”

“How are Zerdinger trainees and magic related?”

“How can someone aiming to be a proud knight of Zerdinger delve into magic?”

“Then you’re saying I’m unacceptable, too?”

At Leo’s sarcastic question, Garys’ face blanched.

In his excitement upon realizing he had lost to Austin, Garys had blurted out something inappropriate.

Leo, too, used magic.

“Ah! Uh, I mean! It was a slip of tongue!”

“Whatever. Let’s move on to the next match.”

Without even sparing Garys a glance, Leo moved on.

Subsequently, Julian, Carin, and Valerie participated in their duels.

In all these duels, Leo’s knights emerged victorious.

Julian and Carin displayed their prowess as elemental knights.

Valerie utilized the awakened properties of her aura to secure her victory, as taught by Leo.

“Great! Decisive victories!”

“Maybe it’s because we’ve been harassed by you, Young Master Leo, but your moves are so predictable now!”

Julian and Carin cheered, celebrating their growth with high-fives.

“Valerie, wasn’t it the same for you?”

Carin asked excitedly, and Valerie nodded.

“Yeah. For one, it hurt way less than sparring with Young Master Leo.”

“…”

“…”

Julian and Carin gave Valerie a sympathetic look.

Meanwhile, Martina ascended the training grounds.

Opposing her stood Endian.

Martina tightened her grip on her wooden sword.

‘Everyone else has won. I can’t lose.’

Endian was currently one of the top five among their peers.

Seeing Martina, Endian adjusted his own sword grip.

‘From what I’ve seen, Martina must have also gained new abilities.’

Though he didn’t know the exact magic Leo had performed, his knights had either gained dual-class capabilities or awakened unique properties to their auras, securing their places among the top tier of the trainees.

‘Shouldn’t let my guard down.’

With his sword gripped in both hands, Endian lowered his stance and took a deep breath.

Martina mirrored his stance.

Whoosh!

Without needing any signal, the two simultaneously charged at each other.

Whoom! Clang!

With aura-infused swords, both of them moved quickly.

However, as time passed, a touch of confusion began to cloud Endian’s mind.

To Endian, Martina didn’t seem much changed.

He could tell her abilities had improved.

But unlike Austin who used magic, or Carin and Julian who had elemental contracts, or Valerie with her unique aura properties, Martina wielded her sword with the same steadfastness as always.

“You seem to not have awakened anything special like the others.”

Endian smirked.

“Then this will be easy.”

Having concluded his reconnaissance, Endian swiftly transitioned into an attack.

Whoosh!

Bluish flames erupted from Endian’s sword.

The Terris family, to which Endian belonged, had served Zerdinger faithfully for generations, and in the past, they had been entrusted with Zerdinger’s secret aura cultivation method.

In a similar vein, the aura cultivation techniques the student trainees learned ultimately led to flame-related auras.

However, one had to master the technique to produce flames.

That was also part of the trial to become a provisional knight after completing the student curriculum.

The red flame symbolized a Zerdinger knight.

New aura cultivation methods were bestowed upon new provisional knights.

In that sense, Endian had a head start since he had learned the family technique.

Though his flames were blue, they were still flames.

Ordinarily, Martina would have felt intimidated by such flames.

But she wasn’t afraid of Endian’s blue flames.

She had witnessed a boy who couldn’t even control aura defeat a monster like a hero in a story.

Moreover, that boy had gone on to display genuinely heroic actions.

“Young Master Leo said it, didn’t he? That we could all get into Lumeran.”

What is a knight if not someone who follows their lord’s word?

“I’ll be a knight of Young Master Leo.”

Gooo!

“To become a knight worthy of Young Master Leo and enter Lumeran! That’s my ambition!”

Motivated by this ambition alone, Martina had trained harder than anyone else under Leo over the past month.

And her efforts bore fruit.

Whoosh!

The red flames—symbolizing a trainee’s graduation—erupted from Martina’s sword.

“No… way!”

Endian’s eyes widened in shock.

Though Martina herself was momentarily surprised by the flames, she quickly composed herself and swung her sword with calm determination.

Boom!

Endian’s sword shattered and soared up into the air.

Snap!

Her sword, engulfed in flames, stopped just beneath Endian’s chin.

“I win, Endian.”

“Grgh!”

Endian gritted his teeth.

Then, after a pause, he bowed his head and said,

“…I lose.”

With that acknowledgment, Martina lowered her sword.

“Martina-senpai!”

Carin ran up to Martina, hugging her and smiling brightly.

The other trainees could hardly believe their eyes.

Five students who had barely made the cut for mid-tier had bested upper-tier students in just a month!

“Decided.”

Leo smirked.

“Their skills have spoken. If anyone has a problem with my knights, I won’t sit idly by.”

Technically, Leo could easily handle any complaints regarding his knights with his authority.

Still, he had let this play out to give them an opportunity.

And they had done an excellent job proving they were worthy of Leo’s knighthood.

“Now, all of you go do your work.”

At Leo’s words, the trainees dispersed.

Various currents of emotions flowed among the students.

Some gritted their teeth and left to train, some were still processing what had occurred.

But no one dared to openly object anymore.

The skills of Leo’s knights, including Martina who had reached provisional knighthood, couldn’t be denied.

“It’s all thanks to you, Young Master Leo!”

Austin bowed deeply.

“Yeah! Thanks to you, Young Master Leo, we grew stronger!”

Carin beamed.

Though the past month had been hellish, the rewards of enduring it were undeniable.

Looking at the joyful knights, Leo said,

“I merely pushed you.”

It was the knights themselves who endured the brutal training, to a point where giving up wouldn’t have been strange.

“Becoming stronger was all your doing. So don’t thank me. You have every reason to take pride in yourselves.”

Leo’s words deeply touched the knights.

“Alright, now that you’ve proven yourselves to be my knights without question, let’s decide a name for the order.”

Once the order’s name was set, they would officially be Leo’s knights.

Nervously, everyone waited for Leo to speak.

“Slayer.”

The knights looked at Leo, perplexed.

“Slayer?”

Martina wore a bewildered expression.

It meant “mass killer,” not exactly a fitting name for knights.

Seeing Martina’s reaction, Leo continued,

“I am going to fight against the realm of Tartarus.”

His gaze met his knights.

“So if you follow me, you’ll naturally end up fighting them repeatedly.”

“I see. If we are to follow you, Young Master Leo, then we are your swords. If this is the path you walk, the name Slayer fits us well.”

Martina smiled and knelt.

The others followed suit, kneeling one by one.

“We, Martina and the other four, pledge ourselves as your swords and shields, blazing the trail you lead.”

Representing them, Martina raised her head.

“For life, we ask to be allowed to serve you as our lord.”

“Permission granted.”

Watching the lifelong right hands he had gained, Leo smiled.

The knights stood up, and in their demeanor, Leo noticed a newfound air of pride.

“Ah, and since you have passed the first phase of training, let’s move on to the second phase.”

Crrrack!

At Leo’s words, the knights froze.

“Second, second phase? There’s such a thing?”

Carin asked nervously, her voice trembling. Leo crossed his arms.

“Of course. Your goal is to get into Lumeran Academy. You’re not ready yet.”

Pale-faced, the knights watched as Leo muttered,

“Since we’ve done the mountains, let’s do the next logical step…”

“Blazing ocean?”

At the unimaginable suggestion for training grounds, all knights felt their senses spinning.