When the young soldier’s unyielding stare lingered, Elysian responded with a wave and a grin. The other soldiers on his side noticed this exchange and turned their attention to Sybil, who finally looked away. 

 

‘Brat.’

 

“Do you know each other, young master?” Winnifred asked, clearly confused by what had just happened.

“No,” he replied, smiling at the soldier’s confusion. “I’m just extending a greeting to an asset of the barony.” As they talked, the two contestants moved to the center of the training ground, preparing for the start of the duel.

“The other one is Yorick, right?” he asked, observing him. Yorick is the tallest among the contestants, though not as tall as Bran. You could say he’s lanky, with well-defined lean muscles. Among the contestants, he’s the oldest, which means he’s the most experienced. 

 

‘That reach of his will be a huge asset. If he can use that properly, he’ll be a menace on the battlefield.’

 

“Yes, young master.”

“What do you know of him?”

“He’s our squad leader,” one of the soldiers said, grinning at him. “I bet he’d win. I’m not like someone here, who’d bet against their own leader—traitor.”

“We’re talking about money here,” Winnifred said, chuckling at his fellow soldiers. “The squad leader will understand.”

“Really?”

“Of course. He’s not like you, who has a narrow mind.”

“Then I’ll tell him later after the fight.”

“You bastard!”

“Fight!”

Sybil immediately went on the offensive, moving to the left side of the older fighter. Yorick, on the other hand, stepped back to his right, aiming to avoid exposing his vulnerable side to his opponent. The younger fighter continued the assault, aiming to gain the upper hand with his advantage in speed. Despite that, all the attacks were blocked, and the older boy chose to retreat rather than exchange blows. 

The fight turned into a cat and mouse, with Yorick consistently a step ahead even though the younger boy was faster. When he finally caught up to the retreating opponent, he immediately slashed to the side upon seeing an opening. However, the attack was easily blocked. Instead of retreating, Yorick rotated toward his right while crouching to the floor. This greatly increased his rotational speed, exposing an opening on the other boy's unprotected side.

Sybil’s eyes widened, realizing his mistake. As the attack was about to hit him, the younger boy disappeared, reappearing further to the side with a hazy force vibrating around his body.

 

‘Aura. To be able to activate it in that situation, he’s indeed a prodigy. However, the most surprising of the two is the older boy. To be so young yet capable of calmly countering the opponent's relentless attack. He’s good. It’s no surprise that he’s already a squad leader at that age.’

 

The entire training ground suddenly erupted with a lot of clapping and yelling as the betting heated up.

“You’re right in your previous assessment. Yorick is indeed a very intelligent fighter,” he nodded to the soldier who made that comment earlier. “He’s good at reading his opponent's attack, and knows when to retreat and counterattack. He’s a reactive type fighter.” 

“See, I told you he’d win,” he grinned at Winnifred.

“Idiot. The fight is just starting.”

The fight started again as Sybil made the first attack. The strategy was the same as before: he attacked the left, which was the weaker side of the older boy. This time, however, the assault was a lot faster, thanks to the help of his aura. This greatly changes the dynamic of the fight as Yorick was hard-pressed in defending his weaker side while ensuring that he retreated at a certain angle so that he wouldn’t lose sight of his opponent. As he was about to defend another attack, Sybil changed direction and moved to the right. His sudden action surprised everyone, as it left an opening on the right side of the older boy. Pouncing on the opportunity, Yorick’s aura suddenly flared, giving the boy the speed to not only evade but also counterattack the opening left by Sybil’s assault. It seemed that this was a bait Yorick had created, leaving an opening that guaranteed his victory. 

“Look, bastard, you lose…,” As the soldier was about to celebrate, Sybil replicated Yorick's earlier maneuver. However, instead of spinning to the right, he moved in the opposite direction, hitting the undefended side of the older boy. The entire training ground fell silent with what they had just witnessed. Yorick's strategy at the end should have ensured his victory; however, Sybil’s brilliant maneuver at the last moment changed everything. A roar of elation and cheers echoed throughout the training ground.

 

‘That was totally unexpected. The counterattack at the end was well-executed. How he made the opponent get used to his fighting style before changing it at the end, and when it got countered, he used his opponent's moves to defeat him, it was brilliant. And arrogant. They’re right; he's a genius.’

 

“See that! I won!” Winnifred shouted in triumph while his fellow soldiers scoffed at him. “What? You loser. Give me my money!”

Elysian smiled, shaking his head at the antics of the soldiers as they argued and shouted at each other. When he turned back to the training ground, he saw both contestants smiling and talking with each other, surrounded by soldiers who were laughing.

 

‘It seems the competitiveness didn’t lead to jealousy and vicious infighting. Kudos to the officers. They’re good.’

 

As he kept looking at them, Sybil stared and smirked at him. Elysian raised his thumb up while smirking back; this made the boy frown and turn his back at him.

As the commotion died down, soldiers in the training ground began to disperse. That was only the first round, but the soldiers had already lost interest as even fewer spectators watched the contest. It seemed the last fight was the main event, and whoever won that would win this competition. Even the group of soldiers near him went to do their thing. The only one who remained was Winnifred, still grinning from ear-to-ear after his victory.

“Congratulations,” Elysian said to the soldier while enjoying his nuts. He then noticed Bran looking at him and the peanuts. “No, you big oaf! You had yours. This is mine.”

“Thank you, young master,” Winnifred kept smiling as he counted the money. “They think they can beat me. In their f*cking dreams. Idiots.”

The fight continued. It was more of the same, whoever was exhausted first lost. You couldn’t really blame them. They were average at most. And their skills were of the same level as everyone. Aside from Sybil, the only duel that was entertaining was the shorter boy earlier. He had that presence about him, a sense of savagery that you seldom see from people around here. He’s also fast, very fast. He’s even faster than Sybil; well, without his aura, even then the difference wasn’t that big. That’s why he’s able to easily dodge the attack coming to him. The only problem was his offense. He didn’t seem to know the basics; when to cut or thrust. Also, his feint was mediocre at best; his opponent was able to see it coming. However, the ferocity of his attack was impressive. He could see fire burning inside his eyes that the other soldiers lacked, an ember of desperation and will.

 

‘An unpolished gem perhaps?’

 

“Do you know that kid over there?” Elysian asked Winnifred.

“Osric?” the soldier said, frowning at the boy. “He’s new here, about a couple of months. Very fast, but has a personality problem. He doesn't talk very much. And nobody really likes him.”

“Really?” He was now more curious about the boy.

“Well, Commander Cedric might like him. He’s the one who let him in.”

“He’s close with the commander?”

“I’m not sure about…close but he knew his father. I don’t know the details. From what I know, he’s the sole breadwinner of his family, that's why the commander allowed him in even though he’s very young.”

“Young? Isn’t he fourteen? I believe that’s the minimum age needed to be a soldier in the barony.”

“Normally, that’s the case,” Winnifred shrugged. “But the commander allowed him in anyway. It doesn’t really matter. We’re called soldiers but in truth we’re more of a trainee. We don’t really go to war or anything truly dangerous. We just practice and follow older soldiers on their patrol.”

“I know,” he nodded before he continued, “Do you know his age?”

“I think twelve. Yes, twelve. I’m sure. I heard the commander once when he talked to the other officers.”

“Oh, really,” Elysian observed Osric, a smile forming on his face while whispering. “We might have a precious gem here hidden among the gravel.”

The duels continued, but he wasn’t interested in most of the fights. Sometimes, he just looked at the sky, bored, while often talking with the rather talkative soldier, Winnifred. He liked to boast about his own fighting prowess. However, when asked why he didn’t join the duel, despite being in the same age bracket as the other contestants, he deftly changed the topic to some funny stories about life in the military. Even though his claim of prowess was highly suspect, it couldn’t be denied that this boy had a very high emotional intelligence. He shrewdly ingratiated himself to Elysian while trying not to be intrusive. His words and their delivery were just right, causing no displeasure yet unique enough not to be boring. In short, he was a comedian and a bootlicker. Still, he enjoyed his company to the extent that the boring duels became more bearable.

Finally, the last duel. It wasn’t a surprise that it was between Sybil and Osric. Even though the younger boy was disliked by the other trainees, they seemed to acknowledge that he had some talent because a few more spectators were starting to watch the duel. He even saw Commander Cedric come out to watch the fight, which he hadn’t done with the previous ones.

“Fight!”

Both the fighters instantly went on the offensive, charging straight at each other. As the younger boy cut downward, Sybil moved to the right, skillfully dodging the attack and exposing the left side of his opponent. Osric, relying on his superior speed, rolled sideways to evade a cut to his side. Sybil, momentarily surprised, found himself a step slower as his opponent quickly sprang up and went straight to him. However, he adeptly stepped back while parrying the unrelenting attack of the younger boy. At first glance, it might seem that he was being driven into a corner, but in truth, it was the opposite. The ease with which he blocked the attacks showed his level of mastery. Like a conductor, guiding the unsuspecting boy into whatever end he chose. It was truly a masterful display.

As Osric grew more frustrated, he overcommitted with an overhead slash; however, the older boy easily parried it to the side while sidestepping to the right. Unable to recover fast enough, Sybil landed a blow on his exposed side. Osric went down. Everyone immediately thought that the fight was over, including Sybil, who smirked before raising his arm to claim victory. However, the younger soldier slowly stood up, holding his injured side.

“This fight isn’t over!” Osric gritted his teeth, staring at the arrogant face of his opponent.

“Give up already. Everyone knows you can’t win.”

“Never!” He shouted, going for a frontal attack. Sybil just sighed and met him head on. The fight was a lot worse than the first. Osric totally lost it. He just attacked non-stop while the older soldier easily evaded and parried all of it. In a desperate moment, he attempted to tackle Sybil; however, the older boy just stepped to his right and struck him in the back.

“Give up!”

“Never!” Osric rose again and started his assault. This time, however, he was much slower. 

After a few of the same, the younger boy could hardly stand up, but still, he rose and fought. 

“Impressive,” Elysian whispered, observing the burning eyes of the youth. The intensity never wavered. It was still burning as ferociously as before, like a beast hunting its prey.

Why the f*ck are you still not giving up?!” Sybil was getting more frustrated. He couldn’t understand why the boy continued to fight. He even glanced at Lucas to stop the duel, but he just shook his head, signaling that the fight was still on.

Osric’s face was now covered in blood, greatly hindering his vision. He could barely even lift his wooden sword, yet he continued fighting. Well, you couldn’t really call it a fight, as the older boy simply walked toward him, slowly sidestepping a weak thrust before kicking the back of his knee, causing him to drop to the ground.

“Stop!” Lucas finally stopped the fight, hurriedly approaching the fallen boy. Osric protested while trying to stand up. “This fight is over, kid. You lost. Accept it.”

The entire training ground fell into a hushed silence, as if frozen by a sudden snowstorm. The spectators didn’t know whether to cheer or not. Even Sybil refrained from celebrating; instead, he just stared at the bloodied boy. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a single clap.

“That was a great fight! Quite riveting.” Elysian said with a smile while clapping. All eyes immediately turned to him. As if roused from a great slumber, a sudden eruption of applause reverberated throughout the training ground. 

“I’ve enjoyed your company. Thank you,” Elysian said, gently touching Winnifred’s arm in acknowledgment.

“No, young master, it’s me who should thank you. It’s my honor to meet you,” the soldier said, grinning at him. “You know, you’re quite different from what the rumors said.”

Elysian chuckled, waving at the soldier as he made his way to leave.

“Young master, are you up for a fight?!” Sybil shouted, and instantly, the entire training ground fell into silence.