the time of battle has finally come!

Timothy, alone and nervous, walks into the Sports Hall where an arena has been prepared for the occasion. Timothy has heard from the nearby students that this arena is not always here but nicely hidden below the hall. when a student issues a challenge to another student, one of them has to register the challenge and pay for the arena fee. the result of the challenge is up to the students alone, but the school will still maintain the arena.

Timothy walks right into the arena where Harold already waiting for him. Harold is standing still with a grand pose as if he is a hero who wait for the demon lord. As soon as their eyes meet each other, Harold just nods a little and moves to one corner. giving the other corner to Timothy.

before Timothy climbs into the arena, he looks around the Sports Hall and sees that the hall is almost full of students. there are some empty spot here and there but the rest of the seat is filled by students. This Sports Hall is not too big anyway, so that is why it is easily filled by students.

as Timothy enters the arena, a male referee quickly enters as well and begins to look at each corner. they didn't give Timothy time to prepare himself and tried to put Timothy into a direct fight right away.

'fine by me. I just want this to end fast.' Timothy thinks.

Timothy summons his one-handed sword while walking to the middle of the arena. Harold also summons his smith hammer and walks to the middle of the arena. Harold's smith hammer is not really a weapon, based on its size. it consists of two sides with one having a flat surface and the other having a curved one. the hammer handle is short which is usually meant to help for precision, instead of battle. it is still deadly, but it is not a weapon. that hammer is a tool at most.

"Are you ready?

then, FIGHT!" the referee starts the battle right away.

Harold takes the first move and quickly charges at Timothy, his hammer is up high above his head. he reached Timothy in seconds and quickly slammed his hammer to Timothy's head.

swoosh!

Timothy easily dodges to the side and delivers a heavy kick to the side of Harold's chest, pushing the air out of his lungs and throwing him away to his sides. Timothy tried to stand up with difficulties. everyone can see that he is in a lot of pain.

"How strong is-ughh! 

how strong is your Human Mastery Level!" said Harold.

his chest is in a lot of pain, and he has trouble breathing. Harold even dared to say that his ribs were probably broken with just that one kick. that is why he asked Timothy about his Human Mastery Level.

"hmm, I am a Weapon Apprentice.

will that make you end all this useless duel?" asked Timothy.

"buh! buhahhahahahah!

got you, stupid crown prince!" said Harold with hatred in his voice.

Timothy didn't understand what Harold meant by that. but then the referee quickly held his hand and pulled it to turn his body back. the referee stared at Timothy with anger in his eyes.

"Are you crazy or what?

you are beyond his level and you accept the challenge?

don't you know the rule?" said the referee in anger.

Timothy didn't understand what had just happened. he just kicked Harold once on the side and then suddenly the referee was angry at him as if he had just done a forbidden act. Timothy quickly put the referee's hands away from him.

"what do you mean why rule?

this is a battle challenge and I fight normally. what rule am I breaking?" said Timothy restlessly.

"Oh, how dare you kid!

this referee has found student Timothy tried to go against the referee. he is also breaking the rule of battle by attacking the weaker student.

hereby, Student Timothy is deemed lost and will be punished with one week of isolation room!"

the referee quickly left the arena, as if avoiding any further questions. In less than a minute the said referee was gone while Harold was being taken to the school infirmary for medical help. meanwhile, Timothy remains standing in place, confused and shocked. he really didn't understand what just happened.

what happens next is precisely as the referee said. Timothy is taken by the school authority to the Isolation Room, a place where there is no energy to absorb and too small to train. the place is dark and wet, with almost no air circulation. the only time Timothy gets happy is when a food tray is delivered to him. he can at least see a bit of light and trace of a human from the small opening on his door.

after a week of isolation, Timothy is finally released and allowed to continue his studies. the problem is, the school feels a lot different compared to that of a week ago.

the first thing Timothy noticed was that Harold Smithson was nowhere to be seen. he tried to ask the students around but no one dared to be near him, even more than before. some even decide to change classes just because Timothy is there. Timothy is forced to ask about Harold to Teacher Morgana who looks so sad when she tries to tell the stories.

turns out Harold is persuaded by some older opposite noble party to antagonize Timothy. they know about Timothy's problem with speaking and decide to create conflict from it. they hired a referee just for the occasion and even set the condition that Timothy didn't ask about the rules of duel, making it as if it was just a trial of battle and not an official fight with rules.

from there, the referee quickly declares a punishment and then resigns himself to disappear from the public. their target is not to hurt Timothy physically, but to smear his family name and put a red point on his life history. in the future, Timothy's isolation can be used politically as a sign that he is unfit to take the city rulers.

how Teacher Morgana knows all about this, is because Harold Smithson along with all his family members and the opposite parties that were involved in the event is currently being hunted one by one. they seem to forget that the city is ruled by power and not by words alone. Arthur Brightblade himself wreaked havoc on the Smithson noble house and captured all the residents.

unfortunately, the Brightblade name is already tarnished and the ancient law didn't allow someone's history to be rewritten just because they didn't like it. That is why from today onwards, Timothy will be known as a student who got isolated. that may not be a big issue for now, since almost every student knows about what really happened. but much later in the future, the information can be used as a tool to tarnish the Family name further.

******

Timothy decides that he must not be bothered by his isolation issue anymore. he focused on his training and studies as much as he could to divert himself from the troubling issue.

his classmates still avoid him as much as before, but this time Timothy decides to ignore them and just do what he needs to do. he no longer craving for friends and didn't try to fix his way of speaking either. his mouth has proven to be a dangerous liability so it is better to remain closed as long as possible.

but Timothy is still a nice and kind young man. anytime he finds people in trouble, he will do his best to help like he usually does. the difference is this time, he didn't really speak much. just tell the people that he will take responsibility and do it his own way.

times go by and soon enough, a year has passed.

Timothy finally finished his first year at the Dragon Soul Special School.

at the end of the year, Teacher Morgana finally revealed that at each level of Human Mastery and Soul Weapon Evolution, you can choose a skill that is available on the Soul Weapon. this skill will not only add another power to the Weapon Master but also give the Soul Weapon a new form. Timothy checked on his Soul Weapon with the correct request and found that the option was now available to him.

Name : Timothy Brightblade

Age : 16 Years Old

Human Mastery Level - Weapon Apprentice 34% !

Human Mastery Skill - (option available)

Soul Weapon Evolution - Common Weapon+ 12% !

Soul Weapon Skill - (option available)

Timothy is getting excited!

he will get a Soul Weapon Skill! something that his father had shown to him a long time ago. Timothy can never forget how his father Kriss Dagger changed form and unleashed a powerful technique. it was so beautiful!

'now let's see what is available for me.' Timothy said internally.