Chapter 70

Lesson 1 (3)

The lunch break that followed turned out to be a solitary affair, as expected.

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one eating alone, but from the looks of it, if I wasn't careful, I might end up eating alone for the rest of the time.

That would be troublesome, so I should probably try to get a few people to join me.

Fortunately, the meal was excellent. The food was as good as what I ate at home, and long live the Royal Academy.

After lunch, the afternoon classes began.

Unlike the morning classes, the afternoon classes were divided by department.

I was in the Knight Department.

We changed into the leather armor provided by the academy, strapped on our swords, and headed to the training ground.

It was one of several training grounds in the academy, and it was incredibly large compared to the number of people gathered there.

"Quickly form up! Are you all here to daydream?"

A voice echoed across the training ground.

As we lined up at the sound of the voice, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

It was because of that clear, crisp voice.

Even though it hadn't been that long since I last heard it, it felt like I was listening to a nostalgic voice.

The voice I was hearing now was the same one I heard in the Duke's mansion, in the underground dungeon.

It was the raw, unpolished voice of Katarina from her mercenary days, not the refined voice she used at court or as a teacher.

"I am Katarina de Latenhamar, who will be in charge of the first-year Knight Department. I don't have a knighthood, but I'm more than capable of training you, so don't worry!"

Katarina, who was standing on the platform in leather armor like us, looked different from the Katarina I knew from her mercenary days.

It was probably due to her noble status and her neat appearance.

In any case, no one would dare underestimate her just because she didn't have a knighthood.

Everyone knew the Latenhamar family's reputation.

Moreover, after learning that she was in charge of the Knight Department, everyone knew who she was.

The younger sister of the Queen and the heir to the Latenhamar family.

Well, I was the only one who knew her true strength.

On the platform, she stood with the knights in full armor.

She scanned the line of students and said, "Since it's our first meeting, let's start by seeing your skills."

One student suddenly asked, "Surely you don't mean for us to face these knights, right?"

Who is this guy, saying such ridiculous things?

I looked at the new student who had spoken up.

He was a student with a much larger build than the others, almost reaching 2 meters tall, with a well-built body.

A typical physical enhancement ability user.

However, surprisingly, not many students looked at him with disbelief.

Instead, more students seemed to agree with his opinion.

Could everyone be stronger than me?

That's unlikely; most of them looked pretty weak to me.

"Hah, I knew it would be like this."

Katarina sighed as she looked at the students.

"I'll straighten out your heads today. I'll show you just how strong a knight can be."

She turned to the knights and said, "Give them a good beating."

"Understood."

The knights stepped forward and stood at the front of each line.

Oh, a sparring match with royal knights. How much should I reveal? I want to have a proper fight.

I was excited about the sparring match with the royal knights.

However, Katarina approached me.

"You'll spar with me."

"Me?"

"I know your skills. Do you think I'd pair you with the other knights? I don't want to ruin the training because of you, so come over here."

I sighed deeply at her words.

"There will be plenty of sparring matches in the future. I'll have plenty of chances to fight, so let's spar today."

She wasn't the well-behaved Katarina from before. The rough Katarina from her mercenary days stood before me.

Honestly, I was curious too. I wanted to see how her skills had grown after obtaining the legacy of the previous generation and how my own skills had improved over time.

I stepped out of the line and walked toward her.

The surprised gazes of the other students followed me.

Now, how much should I reveal?

I stood in front of her and raised my sword.

* * *

Yikes!

The sword flew out of my hand, and the student rolled on the ground.

Screams echoed from all around.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"Are you trying to kill us? Are you really swinging with all your might?"

The frightened voices cursed continuously.

The sparring matches with the royal knights, which were supposed to be a form of training, ended in chaos.

Most of the male students and a few female students were rolling on the ground one after another.

Students who had never experienced proper sparring matches before were terrified by the realistic, intense sparring.

They shouted at the knights, but most of the students here were not from the highest noble families, and few were heirs to their families.

Of course, they had awakened and thus held a higher status than the knights, but the royal knights could still be somewhat ignored.

However, the knights couldn't treat the few students they couldn't ignore so casually.

Clang!

"Oof!"

"Good block."

Iker, the second son of the Pirona Duke, managed to block the knight's sword with difficulty but smiled at the knight's words.

He had already seen other students fall and was currently witnessing the same.

Although he was slightly overpowered by the knight, he had only awakened five years ago and was still a 15-year-old boy who hadn't received proper training. Blocking a seasoned knight's sword was a significant achievement.

Unlike the lower nobles who had never sparred with knights, he had sparred with the knights of his own fief, so he could objectively compare his skills with theirs.

Of course, the knight in front of him seemed stronger than the knights of his fief, but he didn't think he would be a disgrace to his family.

"Your skills are sufficient."

After a few more exchanges, the knight stepped back.

Iker, breathing heavily, exchanged greetings with the knight.

His mana was almost depleted, and his inherited ability was about to cut off, but he was lucky.

He looked around.

There were only a few people still standing.

Most students were lying or sprawled on the ground, and the only one still standing was a female student who was still sparring with a knight.

He was surprised by the unexpected scene and checked who the female student was.

She was a slender girl with brown hair.

He didn't recognize her. She wasn't from a high noble family, and she wasn't particularly beautiful, so he hadn't paid attention to her.

If she had been in the Knight Department and had a robust build, he might have taken more interest.

She was a student he had completely ignored, yet she was now fighting on equal terms with the knight.

'Is she getting special treatment because she's a girl?'

He briefly thought this but realized that the speed of the sparring was faster than his own.

'She must be a speed enhancement type.'

Given her build, she didn't seem to be a power enhancement type, so she must have inherited a better ability than expected, despite not being from a high noble family.

However, with a speed-focused ability, it would be difficult to fight monsters. Still, a knight's job isn't just to fight monsters.

'Could the knight have been lenient with me?'

He glanced at the knight he had sparred with and shook his head.

There shouldn't be such a significant difference in skill between a royal knight and a duke's knight. If the knights of his fief had always been lenient with him, that would be a different story.

Still, he was relieved that there was at least one student who seemed to be on equal terms with the knight. However, he frowned when he looked at the opposite side.

Swish! Swish!

There were two more people still standing besides the knight and the female student.

Professor Katarina and the illegitimate son of the Gresia Duke.

They had clearly started together, but they were still sparring.

The illegitimate son held a sword, and Professor Katarina, unusually, held both a sword and a shield.

"What are they doing?"

"Are they dancing?"

"Is the illegitimate son trying to show off his skills because he's related to the princess?"

"Surely not to that extent."

"Then what is this?"

"Still, his movements are good. He must have been properly trained."

The students who were resting on the ground, not seriously injured, were whispering as they watched the sparring match between Professor Katarina and the illegitimate son.

Indeed, the two were not clashing swords or shields but were dodging and thrusting their swords into the air, as if they were performing a choreographed swordplay.

The knights watching the match were also puzzled.

Iker, watching the match, was also bewildered but soon remembered something.

'No way.'

He had seen a similar battle before. A fight where the swords didn't touch each other but was far more advanced and terrifying.

A battle where the light from the swords cut through the opponent.

'No way.'

Even if they had learned proper mana cultivation techniques, it was impossible for them to already be able to project mana from their swords.

Moreover, the illegitimate son clearly had a physical enhancement ability.

'If he had inherited the Gresia family's mana cultivation technique, he wouldn't be in this department.'

The heir of the Gresia family had gone to the Inherited Ability Department, not the Knight Department.

If he had inherited the family's mana cultivation technique, he wouldn't have been able to come to the capital.

If the illegitimate son had inherited the family's ability, the Gresia family wouldn't have left him alone.

They would have either hidden him for future use or destroyed him.

* * *

'Yikes! Be a bit gentler!'

I screamed in my head as I dodged.

Even if I didn't dodge, the sword wouldn't touch my body, but the real sword, visualized in my mind, extended with mana and was cutting through me.

If I hadn't dodged to the side, I would have been cut in half.

I also swung my sword, but Katarina easily blocked it with her shield.

The shield she brought was one found in the ruins, capable of expanding with mana. Even though the sword didn't touch it, the expanded area of the shield made it impossible for the sword to hit.

'Damn, with that shield, the skill gap is too big!'

I was suffering because I had suggested a proper sparring match.

A proper sparring match meant using proper weapons.

However, unlike the others who couldn't project mana, I had to be careful not to cause damage to the surroundings if I loaded mana onto my sword and shield.

Instead, we had silently agreed to visualize the extended length of the sword and the shield in our minds before starting the sparring match. Since we had already seen each other's abilities, it was easy to visualize.

However, without loading mana, my movements were inevitably slower.

Thanks to my training, I could move like a knight to some extent, but without using mana, I had to move around chaotically.

'Wait, just because I can't use mana and have to move my body, I have to visualize the length of the sword and shield, including the specialized weapons?'

Wait, something seems off here.

Clearly, this doesn't make sense.