As soon as Miley arrived at the training hall, he couldn't help but laugh. What was this? He wasn't even hitting a wooden doll, but some ridiculous thing!

There was no need to make up a reason to belittle him. Is there another target that fits so well on the indirect branch?

The strange sound of "twang, twang" came out every time his staff hit the pathetic target, but he didn't even care.

But his serious face was even more ridiculous.

'Surely he's not under the impression that he's training by hitting that thing?'

He thought of at least ninety-nine pranks to play on him. That country bumpkin will be sobbing with tears and snot all over his face in less than an hour!

"······."

... That's what he thought just a few minutes ago. When he came to his senses, he found that he was the one who had been doused in the bucket of filth. The special bucket of filth that he had made the servants fill with diluted horse manure soaked in the water that the knights had washed their sweaty underwear in...

A lump of something fell to the floor from between his wet hair. That something, which he couldn't even bear to put into words, was brown. It seemed that his sanity had snapped.

"You... You...!"

Kyle, who was looking at the scene, was also barely awake. The smell was already bad when it was still inside the bucket, but the liquid that had escaped was emitting a pungent smell that made him feel dizzy.

He thought about covering his nose, but he put his hand down again. It would be unbecoming of him to do so. He just bit his lip and said,

"I would appreciate it if you would step away a bit. The stench is overwhelming."

"Kyle······!"

Miley approached, stepping confidently. Kyle backed away in response.

This was a moment when the old proverb, "It's not that I'm afraid, it's that I'm disgusted," was more fitting than ever.

Kyle kept backing away as Miley approached, making a slapping sound.

Tanya, who was watching the situation, covered her mouth with a "poof" and turned her face away. Kyle felt dizzy and nauseous.

"Stop it. I can't take it anymore."

"······You're just going to run? You won't even kneel down and beg right now! You won't get away with just a cleaning."

"It seems enough for now. How much more human do you want to be?"

"What?!"

From the blazing look in his eyes, it seemed that Miley was not going to just go away. Could he really not smell himself?

Kyle didn't even want to imagine it, but the moment he was doused in that bucket of filth, he would have been consumed with the single-minded desire to wash it off.

'Lavida, why did you leave behind such a filthy and disgusting creature as your descendant?'

At that moment, Miley's eyes changed.

"You will apologize for your mistake right now...! Otherwise, I will make you suffer something even worse than this."

In response to that, Molson reacted. He had a stiff face from the moment he stepped into the entrance.

'He looks older than that Miley guy.'

From what Miley was saying, it seemed like he was also from the indirect branch, like Kyle.

In that case, he should have stood up to Miley even more, but he is so timid. Even Kyle, who always maintained his composure, had times when he was overwhelmed by the hot blood of the Lutentus.

'So that's what it was.'

Molson was like a bomb about to explode. Although he tried to hide it, a blade glinted at the end of one of his hands. Even at this moment, he was glaring at Miley.

'Well, it's none of my business.'

Kyle just wanted to get rid of this foul-smelling guy in front of him.

"I'm not apologizing. I was just trying to avoid getting hit with the poop water. I didn't mean to spill it on you. But even so, you were trying to pour poop water on me, so how about we just end it here?"

It was a polite and noble apology without lowering oneself. Yet, for some reason, Miley's face turned even more red and blue. The heart of a child, not yet an adult, was so hard to understand.

"How dare you, from the indirect branch... This insolent brat doesn't understand the core seeds! Your lowly born blood is different from mine!"

Miley didn't know what to do in this crappy situation that he had never experienced before and would never experience again. He could tell that he had some strength by his grip, but he was just a lowly born from the indirect branch.

'If we clashed with weapons, I could bring him to his knees in an instant. But I couldn't do that, knowing what would happen to someone who had a duel with only a week left until liberation.'

The current clan master issued a rule directly after the number of injuries exceeded the number of participants due to numerous sparring. I, Miley, with my noble blood, cannot break this rule.

"I know you are from the core. I didn't ignore you."

But even so, he was furious when he saw his shameless attitude. Isn't it the case that if you are from the indirect branch, you should be humble after being trained like this?

As Miley thought about this, he remembered the laws that had been used to tame the indirect branch, including Molson. He had been doing this instinctively, so he had not been able to remember it immediately. A corner of his mouth curled up slightly.

"······If you don't kneel down and swear your allegiance."

He stopped talking and stared at the arrogant outsider's face, but he didn't even flinch. Well, it's his first time experiencing liberation and he's from a lowly background, so he probably doesn't know the rules. He'll show him today what it means for the core family to dominate the indirect branch.

"I will choose you in the upcoming Harvest Rite······."

He spoke with conviction, but this man from the indirect branch still didn't change his expression. It seemed he didn't understand.

"Next year, the year after that."

By now, he should have understood. I mean that you will never be free!

"After my liberation, someone like me from the core family will choose you."

Miley kept talking, but Kyle's gaze was fixed on Molson. Molson's lips were trembling, but his face was not one of fear.

Kyle stared at him with a face stained with anger and shame. As someone who had rebuilt Sollent alone after losing everything, Kyle wanted to ask him. What is at stake if you are not afraid? Have you not inherited the blood of Lutentus?

"Me······. What should I do······."

Molson's words fell flat to the ground.

"What a pathetic guy."

If you don't have the courage to fight, you might as well conform. Are you going to waste your life with a sword in your heart? Kyle didn't like to see someone with the talent of Lutentus have such a weak heart.

"Just watch from there."

Kyle turned his head and tried to approach Miley, but he stopped. He couldn't get close to such filth.

"Do it. This year or in the distant future. I will choose you whenever I want."

The words were directed at Miley, but they felt like a needle in Molson's chest.

'You can say that because you haven't experienced it······ I want to do the same······!'

It was a resolution that he couldn't even finish in his thoughts. He always carried a dagger on his back, but his heart was always soft. The resolution had been going on for years, but he was still weak and hadn't even sharpened his blade.

The gaze of Kyle, four years his junior and the one who had shaken his heart, didn't waver at all. In fact, he was looking at Miley with a disdainful, arrogant expression, as if he found him dirty.

"But I will not respond when you smell as bad as you do now. I will not even allow you to come near me."

"Ha... really, it must be because of the lowly blood mixed in you. You just don't understand. Right. Showing is the answer for a dumb, ignorant fool like you."

Miley chuckled bitterly. He admitted to himself that he had underestimated the situation.

Who would scold a beast with words?

It had to be done, whether by beating it or by showing that the master was superior. Miles put his hand on the rapier he always carried at his side. It was a cherished gift from his mother on his thirteenth birthday, when he reached the age of liberation.

The rapier was a long, thin sword that was good for thrusting. It was also easy to break, but the strength of this rapier, which was personally delivered by the best blacksmith in Levatora, was such that it would never break. As proof of this, Miles' sword had not changed for nearly two years.

Miles thought he would humble that bastard's arrogance with this sword, which was as dignified as he himself was.

Kyle grimaced as he saw Miles draw his rapier.

"I said I don't want to fight right now. If you want to fight, let's set a date."

"Shut up! This is too good for a country bumpkin. Just watch and see the difference between me and you."

Miles walked over with his rapier in one hand. His target was the brown mass that Kyle had been stabbing. He remembered the ridiculous sight of Kyle sweating profusely as he stabbed the mass. He must have been trying his best, but the mass didn't even have a scratch on it. He was a joke.

"I'll make a hole in it with my rapier!"

That would show the difference in 'class' between the core and indirect branches.

Miley, who had approached close, extended one foot forward. His shoulders were facing the mass, but his hips and knees were slightly bent.

This posture was like a bowstring just before shooting an arrow. The arrow aimed at the mass was the rapier clenched in his right hand.

Originally, the basic principle of rapier fencing was to thrust quickly and then recover the sword to prepare for a counterattack. It is a fencing style that requires proper distribution of force. However, Miley's goal was to simply pierce the mass with all his might.

"Shh."

Miles took a shallow breath. At the same time, Ki gathered in his right hand through his veins. The explosive energy surged, and his back felt hot as if it were on fire. He had reached the limit that his master had always emphasized. The side effects of the Chains were gnawing at his body, but Miley was only consumed by the thought of "piercing."

'It's too good to use for something like this, but······.'

Miley thrust the rapier, releasing all of his pent-up energy. He expected to hear a loud explosion, like the sound of wood splintering.

*Screech!*

"Huh?"

The rapier bent like a reed and flew off in a pathetic sound. Miley staggered back and fell on his butt, unable to resist the recoil.

The mass was completely undamaged. And the feeling of piercing it was a familiar sensation to Miley.

"It was a Redwood?"

That made it even more puzzling. Miley hadn't paid attention to it before, but the sound Kyle made while stabbing the pole was light and clean. Redwoods have different textures depending on the amount and quality of mana they contain. But the sound Kyle made was one that could only be made by accurately understanding and transmitting the unique texture of Redwood.

'That means he must be at least a first-class knight who has fully understood the flow of ki!'

It was impossible that that guy, who could not have learned proper swordsmanship in a remote area with an unfamiliar name, could have made that sound.

"You cheating little...! What kind of trick did you use?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? You've contaminated my training puppet with your filth?"

Kyle's voice dropped. His eyes were fixed on the small amount of dirt that had been splattered on the Redwood. It had come from Miley's stab.

Even though the shape was a mess, it was a great training doll that was incomparable to a wooden puppet. And it was a work that he had infused with all of his mana.

But the guy who had smeared it with shit was getting angry in front of him.

"Yeah, that stick. You must have done something to it. Even if you robbed it, you must have given it magic, right?!"

Kyle looked at the pole that he had left on the floor. It was a regular stick he had found in a corner of the training hall, and he couldn't feel any mana or magical flow from it.

"I don't understand what you're talking about. This is just a stick. It was here in the training hall, so if you want it, you should talk to the person in charge."

"Aaargh! If it's not that, then what is it?"

Miley picked up the stick from the floor without a word and stabbed the Redwood repeatedly. The sound was pathetic compared to before. Miley threw the stick to the ground and picked up his rapier again, approaching Kyle.

'I don't understand these kids these days. What are they so angry about?'

I thought about how to counter if he stabbed me with his rapier. His speed was so great that I couldn't just dismiss him as a child. His quick stab would have been as powerful as it was fast. Even with my Chains restricting me, I knew he was a talented fighter. But his next actions were beyond my understanding.

"If you hadn't done anything to the pole, you could make the same sound with this sword. The seed of Lutentus cannot use weapons with magic. You must also prove it if you are Lutentus."

Miles held out his rapier with determination, but Kyle couldn't accept it.

"I can't wield a sword covered in shit. I refuse." "This crazy bastard······."

Miley rolled his eyes and shook his hand.

"Can't you just wipe it off?"

Just then, Tanya approached and took out a cloth from her pocket. He thought she wouldn't be able to do even the basics, but she surprised him. Miley, with a clenched jaw, handed his rapier to Tanya and looked at Kyle.

"Okay, if you wipe it off, it'll be fine, right?"

"Hmph. Fine."

Kyle's nose was already numb and he couldn't smell anything, but he knew that unseen, unpleasant things were floating in the air. It was best to leave this place as soon as possible, no matter what.

Tanya handed over the rapier, which she had wiped clean.

'It's the same sound as before.'

The mana that formed the shape of the Redwood was Kyle's own. Since it was the sound of his mana and ki resonating, it would make the same sound no matter how he hit it.

'I don't need to be gentle.'

Kyle carefully received the rapier, making sure not to get it dirty on his clothes. He had never used a rapier before, only seen them used by knights in sparring matches. Because of their lack of practicality, rapiers were rarely seen on the battlefield. So he thought back to the stance Miles had taken earlier.

He had felt the determination to put everything into a single blow. That made him wonder what kind of power he would wield if he struck with all his might.

For a brief moment, he restored the Chains that he had strengthened with his recovered mana to their original state. It was only as strong as the Chains he had been given when he was five years old. But even so, he felt a sense of liberation, like he had been released from the water. The overflowing vitality would be concentrated solely on piercing the rapier. He aligned the tip of the rapier with a single point on the mass.

'It's not much different from when I stabbed using the stick.'

Kyle thrust his rapier as if he had done it tens of thousands of times before, putting his full strength into it.

*Boom!*

The sound, like ringing a bell, echoed through the training hall.

"······."

Molson couldn't believe his ears.

"Beautiful······."

This sound······ is not something that someone of the level who participates in the trial could make. It is something that can only be heard very rarely in the training grounds of first-class knights, which he had visited a few times.

'That child······.'

Even though they are of the Lutentus bloodline, not everyone grows up in the same environment. Molson himself had never held a sword properly before he participated in the trial at the age of thirteen. The natural environment and excellent teachers were all concentrated in Levido. Even he, who is located near the center, is like this, so how could the child of Nava, which is known as the end of the empire······?

What on earth is the root of that outrageous arrogance that ignores the core branch?

Only then did Molson notice Kyle's body. His hands were covered in calluses, and his sturdy physique was not something that someone who was bound by the Chains before he was released could have created.

'How much effort did he put in······? Well, that's why he could be like that······.'

No, even that thought was wrong. He heard that Kyle was visiting Levido for the first time. No matter how talented he was, he would not be able to gain an advantage over Miley in terms of skill. Molson himself had done so because he was afraid of the word "core."

"If he's a Lutentus······ Well, that's what I thought a Lutentus was like."

Molson suddenly felt the unfamiliar feel of the dagger he was holding behind his back. He didn't have the courage to do so, but it wasn't like a Lutentus to sneak attack someone when they were vulnerable. He knew this because he had seen it with his own eyes. The fact that he was from the outskirts was just an excuse.

"I doubt he was leading me on."

He was only thirteen years old. Maybe it was just the confidence of a young boy. But Molson would never forget this moment. Even if he never managed to break the Chains.

Tanya stared blankly at Kyle for a moment before speaking.

"It was a truly wonderful sound······."

Kyle smiled with a strange expression on his face. He had felt less recoil than before, so he had hoped for a better result.

"I guess it's still too much."

The Redwood had only a tiny scratch on it. Even so, he had never heard of anyone leaving a mark on a Redwood at this age, even in his past life. This was proof that his training was working correctly. Miley, who looked like he couldn't believe it, shouted.

"You, you······! Do you know what that rapier is······!"

Kyle was awakened from his thoughts by Miley's agitated voice. The boy's gaping mouth looked like he had lost his country. Kyle followed his gaze and looked down. There were cracks all over the rapier's blade.

"Hmm."

Kyle just touched the blade lightly, and it snapped. The rapier was a shoddy weapon that broke with a single blow, despite Miley's boasts of being a seed of the core.

"...Should have used something better. It's so flimsy."

For some reason, Miley fainted. Then, a man who appeared out of nowhere caught Miley as he fell backward. 

---

Author's Note

Join our vibrant bookish community! Subscribe to our newsletter and become part of a passionate group of readers. Be the first to discover five advanced chapters, stay informed about exciting events, and engage in lively discussions about your favorite reads. CLICK HERE to join the conversation and fuel your literary fire.