Burren Zieghart violently rubbed his head as he watched Raon proudly holding his hand up high.
'I must be delusional.'
Since Raon wasn't an idiot, there was no way he would try to join the Central Martial Palace for the internship—they obviously hated him. Burren thought it must've been his mistake, and opened his eyes again. However, his vision didn't change. Raon was proudly holding his hand up.
"What are you do… Argh!"
As he was about to ask Raon why he did that, Runaan and Martha intruded, pushing him to the ground.
"Raon, you can't go there."
"Are you crazy? That's not a place you can go!"
They forced him to lower his hand, trying to stop him.
"You crazy bastards! Am I invisible to you or something?"
Burren got angry for the first time since returning to the house. The serene mindset that he had learned from Leniton, the president of Marco company, had shattered into dust after being run over three times in two days.
"Shove off!"
He yelled, pushing Runaan and Martha—who were sticking to Raon—away.
"Mhh?"
"Are you crazy?"
"You are the crazy ones! Why do you keep running over me? Do you think you are a boar or something?"
"You're the boar."
"What? Do you have a death wish?"
"You damn bastards!"
They started grinding and baring their teeth at each other.
"Raon."
Rimmer tilted his head, stepping down from the platform.
"Are you really planning to join the Central Martial Palace?"
"Yes."
Raon immediately nodded, showing that he had no intention of changing his mind.
"Hmm, that sounds interesting."
With a crafty smile, Rimmer wrote Raon's name on the paper.
"S-Stop for a moment!"
Burren squeezed through the arguing Runaan and Martha to grab Raon's shoulder.
"It might sound strange coming from me, but you should think it over. The Central Martial Palace doesn't welcome you."
It was his honest advice. His father outright hated Raon. There was nothing good waiting for him there.
"Raon, come with me."
"Don't get beaten up for no reason over there. You should come with me instead."
Runaan and Martha also extended their hands in worry.
"Thank you, but it's okay."
"And it is indeed pretty strange coming from you."
He snickered at Burren who was dumbfounded.
"I'm not joking. Forget about your internship, you might just get bullied over there!"
"Don't worry."
Raon's mouth smoothly curved into an arc.
"I won't be the only one to suffer."
* * *
"Palace Master!"
The general administrator Urek, who was in charge of the Central Martial Palace's finances, entered Karoon's office with hasty steps.
"I thought I told you to stay away for a while."
The low voice of the Central Martial Palace Master, Karoon Zieghart, echoed throughout the place. He was scowling furiously, probably because the irritation from being humiliated by Raon and Rimmer the day before still remained.
"Please, excuse me. It's an important matter."
Urek swallowed, wetting his dry mouth, and placed the document he'd brought with him on Karoon's desk.
"The document on the internships for the rookie swordsmen? Are you telling me this is important?"
"Look at this. Raon Zieghart has chosen our Central Martial Palace for his internship. He must've gone insane!"
"…That son of a bitch!"
Karoon clenched his fist, the paper in his hand turning into gray ash and fluttering away. The entire Central Martial Palace started to tremble, as if an earthquake had occurred.
"That bastard! I'm sure he is looking down on us. That's the only explanation for him choosing the Central Martial Palace!"
Urek ground his teeth. Having chosen it for his internship despite Karoon's visible dislike of him could only mean that he was looking down on them.
"What shall we do? Rather than continuing to be bothered by him, shall we use this opportunity to…"
Urek raised his hand and gestured to cut his wrist. He was asking whether they should disable Raon.
"You fool."
Karoon snorted at Urek.
"The entire house's attention is currently focused on that little rat. Even my father asked to meet him separately, yet you want to injure and disable him? Did you even think about the public opinion before saying that?"
"P-Please excuse me. I was thoughtless."
Urek's shoulders flinched and hurriedly lowered his head.
'He is truly amazing.'
Even though Karoon was angry, he was still considering the situation from different angles instead of focusing on one side of it. He was truly qualified to lead the Central Martial Palace, which was one of the biggest forces of Zieghart.
"Then, what shall we do? If we give him an ordinary internship, the morale is going to drop for other swordsmen."
"The blade isn't the only way to kill people."
"Ah!"
"Teach him how difficult the training in the Central Martial Palace is. Humiliate him in public, so that everyone will know that he isn't a big deal."
"Understood!"
"And gather information about him. Find out everything about him, how much he can fight without aura, what the current limit of his power is, and what weaknesses he has."
Karoon's eyes sparkled with a deadly light.
"Yes! But how shall we… Gasp!"
"Do I need to teach you everything?"
He was growling low in his throat, like a savage beast.
"N-No! I'll take care of it!"
He bowed low and left the office.
"Haa…"
"General Administrator."
When Urek stepped out into the corridor, wiping away his cold sweat, a middle-aged man with a completely smooth head walked up to him. He was the training instructor Reff, in charge of training in the Central Martial Palace.
"How did it go?"
"He said we shall teach that damn bastard the terror of the Central Martial Palace. Humiliate him so that he cannot even look at us ever again, and gather information about his martial art."
"Understood!"
Reff immediately nodded.
"But how shall we…?"
"Do I need to teach you everything? You should be able to find out at least that much! You are going to ask me to spoon-feed you at this rate."
Urek repeated exactly what he heard from Karoon.
"N-No! I'll take care of it!"
Reff raised his hand to salute him before running outside.
"Why do I have to go through all of this because of that damn bastard?"
After venting his anger on his subordinate, Urek ground his teeth with a completely irritated expression on his face.
"I'm going to mess you up. Just you wait."
* * *
Four days later, the intern period for the rookie swordsmen began, and Raon was at the training grounds of the Central Martial Palace.
'It's large.'
It wasn't as large as the great training ground, but it was at least twice as large as the fifth training ground.
There were enough personal training rooms, cultivation rooms, and even the latest training equipment, which made it a great place for training.
The swordsmen, who were training in different quarters, also had a high standard.
Even though the Striding Steads Division and the Striding Lightning Squad were absent, every single of them were rather excellent. They weren't called the bravest armed organization for nothing.
"So, you ended up coming."
Burren's low sigh could be heard from behind Raon.
"I didn't want to see you here."
His serious eyes were filled with his genuine worry for him. Even though he still exploded sometimes, his personality had become mysteriously gentle.
"They won't go as far as killing me."
"I don't think they will do that, but they will surely harass you in various ways."
"I suppose."
That was the reason he was there.
Raon smiled faintly and nodded.
"I know better than anyone else how strong you are, but…"
"Line up, everyone!"
As Burren was about to continue, a big and bald middle-aged man walked up onto the platform. The Central Martial Palace's swordsmen stopped swinging their swords and gathered at the center.
"Greeting the training instructor!"
The middle-aged man replied to their greetings with his hand, then looked down on Raon and Burren.
"Welcome to the Central Martial Palace, rookie swordsmen."
He continued with a cold gaze.
"My name is Reff, the training instructor of the Central Martial Palace. Your position doesn't matter here. Brace yourselves, since you won't get any exemption, even if you are the palace master's student or son."
Despite his fair-sounding line, his cold gaze was only limited towards Raon.
"Then, begin your introductions."
"Yes!"
Burren was the first one to step up.
"My name is Burren Zieghart. I'll do my best as a rookie swordsman during this internship, without my title as the son of Central Martial Palace master. I'm looking forward to your teachings!"
"Ohhh!"
"Woaah!"
The swordsmen surrounding him gave a round of applause and cheered for him.
"Next."
"Yes."
Raon nodded, and Burren returned to his position.
"My name is Raon Zieghart. I heard that Central Martial Palace is the bravest of all Zieghart's armed organizations. I applied here because I wanted to directly experience that bravery. I'm looking forward to your cooperation."
It was an ordinary introduction, but no one cheered for him, and an uncomfortable atmosphere spread instead.
They seemed to dislike his existence itself. After all, he'd clashed with Karoon, the Central Martial Palace Master, multiple times.
This is literally an enemy camp.
Wrath giggled, saying that he liked the atmosphere.
I'll like it even more if you were to be beaten up because of your swaggering around.
'That won't happen, unfortunately.'
Raon nonchalantly accepted the fierce pressure from the swordsmen. Compared to Sloth's overwhelming power, they weren't even worth a flint to a fire.
"Hmm."
"Damn it…"
"Does it have no effect at all?"
The Central Martial Palace swordsmen either frowned or narrowed their eyes upon seeing that Raon was unaffected.
"Let's begin the training, then."
Reff stepped down from the platform and opened a huge box underneath it. It was filled with cuffs that were glowing blue.
"Those cuffs have the ability to suppress the wearer's aura. It's normally used to keep powerful criminals in check, but we use those handcuffs for physical training. You should be honored, since the Central Martial Palace is the only place where we use this expensive item for training."
He brought the cuffs forward and personally put them around Raon's wrists.
"These cuffs are made of extremely solid cassiterite. Even a brawler is unable to break them with their own hands, so don't try anything unnecessary…"
Clang!
As Reff was trying to continue his explanation, the sound of shattering metal filled the air.
"Huh?"
He looked around and found that the bracelet he had put on Raon had snapped in half.
"Wh-What happened? Why is it broken?"
"It broke when I tried touching it a little."
Raon shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"That's impossible. This metal is made from cassiterite!"
"Well, that's what happened, so it can't be helped."
"Urgh…"
Reff's chin was trembling. Cassiterite was a solid enough metal to be used in forging blades. It was impossible to destroy that thick metal when his aura was suppressed.
"Again. Try doing it again."
He swallowed harshly and put a second cassiterite cuff around Raon's wrist. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to break it, not unless he was as strong as a troll or an ogre.
"Hmm!"
After rubbing the cuff a little, Raon put some strength in his hand. The cuff's hinge crumpled like paper and broke apart, falling to the ground. He crushed the cuff on his left wrist in the same way, then threw it onto the ground.
"Huh…"
Reff's jaw dropped.
'Th-That is impossible!'
Raon's tall, long build was the classic appearance of a swordsman. He couldn't understand how he broke the cuff when even a brawler couldn't break them with their bare hands.
"Shall I try again, since you still don't believe me?"
He smiled, before walking up to the cuff box and starting to destroy them with both hands.
"S-Stop!"
Reff ran up to him in a hurry, but the handcuffs were already dead by Raon's hands, shattered into pieces.
"Those are super expensive!"
* * *
Raon smiled faintly, looking at the new cassiterite cuff he'd gotten.
'It can block my aura, but it can't block my strength.'
The cassiterite handcuff could immobilize the aura in his energy center, but it didn't have the ability to suppress his natural strength.
His strength and agility were outstanding enough for even Milland to acknowledge him.
Moreover, he kept training after the spar. Sloth's ability kept making him stronger when he slept, so he didn't even lose to huge monsters in terms of strength.
"Guh!"
"What the hell…?"
"Wh-What is that guy?"
The Central Martial Palace swordsmen were astonished and kept glancing at his hand.
"D-Damn it…"
Training Instructor Reff was speechless as he stared at the three pairs of destroyed cassiterite cuffs. It was apparently true that they were expensive.
"He couldn't have destroyed them with sheer strength."
"He must've used some technique."
"Did he learn some shallow techniques at Habun Castle?"
However, Reff and the swordsmen seemed to believe that he used some kind of technique.
Of course, they do! There's no way a human could shatter metal with his strength alone, especially without using aura!
Wrath ground his teeth, dissatisfied by the fact that Raon was the center of attention because of the effect of his stats.
'The stats are definitely awesome.'
Hmph, the King of Essence's power is actually way better than this. Back in Devildom, the King of Essence was able to destroy the largest mountain just with a touch…
'I wonder what the training will be.'
You bastard! Please, listen to me! The strength you are boasting about right now is all thanks to the King of Essence!
Raon ignored Wrath as he yelled at him, sighing heavily before looking at Reff, who was standing up.
"L-Let's continue with the training. Run around the training ground to warm up. Everyone except for the first twenty people will be punished, so you'd better sprint with everything you have."
He looked at the swordsmen one after the other to check their readiness, then stopped once he saw Raon.
"You, don't break those handcuffs. Never."
"Okay."
Raon nodded with a smile.
"Ugh, run!"
Reff glared at him while biting his lips, before raising his hand. The gathered swordsmen started running like bison.
"Hmm?"
Raon also started running at the signal, but he couldn't advance at all because he was surrounded by sturdy swordsmen.
Bump! Slam! Smack!
They started hitting him with their shoulders, arms, and elbows, all while pretending to run.
"Ah, excuse me."
"I didn't see you because you were too small."
"You shouldn't say something like that."
The swordsmen giggled at him, smacking into his entire body. Even though they weren't using their aura, Raon started faltering and felt a significant amount of pain from getting continuously hit by the tempered bodies of the swordsmen.
"Oh no, excuse me."
A green-haired swordsman grinned after violently hitting his neck with his elbow. When Raon glared at him, he just shrugged his shoulders, then ran away towards the faster group.
"That…"
Burren's eyes widened when he looked back from the faster group. His expression was saying that he didn't expect them to be so petty.
"I'm fine, so go ahead."
'Because I won't lose when it comes down to this.'
Raon smiled coldly at Burren, then slowed himself down. He slammed the red-haired swordsman's chest with his shoulder, since he was trying to hit his waist with elbow.
"Kuargh!"
It looked like the red-haired swordsman had been struck by a hammer as he flew away and slammed into the ground.
"Wh-What…?"
"What just happened…?"
The eyes of the swordsmen that were blocking him from the sides and behind started to tremble after witnessing such an impossible scene.
It was a normal reaction. Even though Raon had grown taller and sturdier, he was still smaller than the large man from earlier. However, he had no problem doing that thanks to his stats.
"Argh!"
The black swordsman on his right side started pushing him with his shoulder, trying to crush him.
"I don't think that's enough."
"Keuh!"
Raon smiled coldly and hit him back with his shoulder. His strength exploded for an instant, and the black swordsman was crushed like a sparrow running into a wall, slamming into the ground headfirst.
"Aren't you hitting me anymore?"
Raon jeered at the men that kept hitting him.
"Hmm…"
"W-We never hit you…"
Because two people had already been knocked to the ground, their eyes were wavering like sailboats in a storm. Their unfocused eyes suggested that they didn't understand the situation.
"I'll go to you if you aren't going to come to me."
Raon increased his speed and smacked the swordsmen that had attacked him before with his shoulder and elbow.
Whack! Whack!
His physical abilities, which had been acknowledged by a Master, exploded like a raging fire and stormed through the swordsmen that surrounded him. The Expert swordsmen collapsed one after the other, like falling leaves in autumn, despite having relentlessly tempered their bodies.
Raon didn't stop even after beating up all the swordsmen that had picked a fight with him. He also sent all the swordsmen that tried blocking his way flying.
"I told you."
Raon smiled at Burren, who had been rendered speechless and was just moving his legs.
"I'm alright."
* * *
"Hey…"
Reff's jaw dropped upon finding the twenty swordsmen crushed into the ground.
'Wh-What the hell is that monster?'
He had been informed that Raon had taken many elixirs in his childhood because of his frail constitution, which strengthened his aura in terms of quantity and quality.
That was why he figured he couldn't do anything as long as he blocked his aura, and he decided to give him the cassiterite cuffs. Despite that, he was overwhelming the swordsmen that were way bigger than him with sheer power, despite wearing the cuffs.
He felt like he was dreaming as he watched the swordsmen—who were around 190cm tall—be bounced away like balls by Raon, who was less than 180cm.
"What the…?"
In the end, Raon didn't stop with the swordsmen around him, beating up all that tried blocking his way. That allowed him to catch up to the fastest group. He unconsciously swore over how absurd that was.
"S-Stop! Stop running! Raon!"
Reff called out to Raon, who was about to smack a green-haired swordsman in front of him with his elbow.
Smack!
However, Raon finished hitting him, pretending he didn't hear. With the back of his head slammed by an elbow, the green-haired swordsman collapsed on spot with a squawk.
"Ah, this is fun. This is my first time having a sprint like this, but it was interesting."
Raon smiled cheerfully, looking around the swordsmen that were lying flat on the ground, like leaves on a snowfield.
"I've finished. What's next?"
He asked in excitement, as if nothing had happened.
"Ugh, come this way."
Reff chewed his lip and brought the swordsmen and Raon to the right side of the training grounds. Eight humanoid dummies with swords in their hands were placed in a circle.
"Next up is practice for facing multiple opponents. I'll show you an example."
He pressed the button at the center and moved between the dummies.
Creak!
The dummies started moving with a disturbing sound. However, their movements were smooth and slippery, despite how they sounded.
Cring!
The movement of the swords in the dummies' hands was quick. They incorporated a proper swordsmanship's flow instead of just swinging them around.
Whoosh!
Although eight dummies were moving at the same time, they weren't getting in each other's way. They targeted Reff's vital points at the same time.
"Hmph."
With a heavy footwork and swordsmanship as solid as a rock, Reff blocked the dummies' attacks one after another. Ten minutes later, the dummies automatically stopped attacking and returned to their original spots.
"This training consists of defending against attacks coming from multiple directions like this. Raon, can you do it?"
"Yes."
Raon nonchalantly nodded and drew his training sword, standing in the middle of the dummies.
'What an idiot.'
Reff smiled coldly and increased the dummies' difficulty to the maximum. Even an Expert would be unable to do anything without their aura. They'd be beaten at that difficulty.
"I'm starting it."
Once he pressed the last button, the dummies started moving much quicker than before, thrusting their swords at Raon.
"This will be fun, too."
With blazing crimson eyes, Raon swung his sword. Along with the sound of an explosion, the dummies' swords and heads were split into pieces.
"Huff…"
It wasn't over yet. Each time Raon swung his sword, the dummies—which cost over two hundred gold each because they were specially made—were destroyed, one by one. Since he was destroying them with a single hit, increasing the difficulty was meaningless.
Crack!
The second dummy was snapped like a reed, and the third dummy's body was split in half.
"S-Sto…"
Although he needed to tell him to stop, he couldn't open his mouth because he was too surprised. The short moment he was unable to speak was enough time for Raon to destroy all eight dummies and wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"This is pretty fun."
With a refreshing smile, he looked at Reff.
"Is that all?"
"Keuh!"
He wanted to smack Raon's handsome face.
* * *
The Central Martial Palace's General Administrator, Urek, was tending to the flowers at his desk inside his large office. Flower arrangement was his hobby, although it didn't match with his big build and appearance.
Watching the beautiful flowers in harmony made all the stress from his coarse Palace Master and his incompetent subordinates fade away.
Moreover, no one usually disturbed him right before lunch, so he was treasuring the moment to tend to his flowers and place them in a vase.
"This is pretty…"
"General Administrator!"
Urek smiled slightly. As he was thinking that he had finally managed to reach a beautiful harmony, the office door burst open.
"Argh…"
His hand was shaken from the noise, messing up the perfectly placed flowers.
"Reff! You crazy bastard! Did no one teach you to knock on a door before opening it?"
"Ah, I-I'm sorry! But it's an emergency…"
Reff bowed, wiping away his cold sweat.
"Emergency? What kind of emergency? You are dead if it's not a big deal."
Urek clicked his tongue and sat on the desk.
"Err… It's about Raon, the rookie that we talked about last time."
"What about him? Did you go too hard on him?"
Since the head of house and the other division leaders' gazes were focused on Raon, beating him up too hard would be troublesome. They just needed to humiliate him slightly for now.
However, Reff's response was beyond his imagination.
"That guy is a king of destruction!"
Reff's lips were trembling violently.
"He is destroying everything!"
____