After lightly defeating the Durbanites, Zeke entered the special forces building.
In his previous life, he had not received the blessing of auras, so he was at the bottom of the regular class, let alone special classes.
Students in the regular classes had to follow a strictly defined curriculum.
I had to move breathlessly according to a tight schedule from morning until late at night.
The general class instructors' teaching policy was to encourage students to overcome their lack of talent through effort.
Because of that, Zigg, who couldn't even wake up and had weak stamina, had to follow the class with all his might.
'I really wanted to die then.'
Zeke headed to the special class' home room, recalling old memories.
Zeke opened his mouth wide when he saw the homeroom decorated so extravagantly that he could never have imagined when he was in the regular class.
Even in the spacious room, there was a high-quality desk for each special class student.
Zeke found the desk with his name on it and sat down.
I looked to the side and saw Reina, who I had met yesterday, sitting at the desk with her back straight and her posture correct.
Looking around, it seemed like about half of the students were from the Cradle, including Owen, Jaken, and Leon.
The rest were gifted students who had received training from each family.
As Zeke was looking around and checking out the other students, someone came into the homeroom.
At the same time, all the cadets stood up from their seats.
It was none other than the president of the academy who came in with the homeroom instructor.
Reina, the representative of the riders, shouted loudly.
"Salute to the President!"
The cadets all stood in a coordinated manner and saluted the president.
The president, with his handsome Kaiser beard, smiled kindly and saluted the cadets.
All the other cadets were looking at the president with eyes of respect.
Except for one person, Zeke.
'It's been a while, Howard Draker.'
Howard Draker, a war hero who fought and distinguished himself in the war against the Eastern Empire 20 years ago.
Zeke knew his other side.
'A small-time bastard who only does scheming under the guise of a hero.'
Above all, he was the one who cruelly kicked Zeke out of the academy in his previous life.
Zeke gritted his teeth as he watched Howard give his long speech.
'I will definitely repay your debt someday.'
As he gnashed his teeth, Howard Drake's speech ended, and the cadets gave him a standing ovation.
After the principal left, the homeroom teacher delivered a brief announcement.
Unlike regular classes, special classes allowed students to choose the subjects they wanted and create their own schedule.
It was a privilege that was clearly different from the regular class.
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But among them, there was a class that everyone had to take.
The special class cadets moved together to the training ground to attend their first common class.
As expected from an academy founded by the Draker family, it started with practical classes rather than other theory classes.
It was time to learn the basics of the 'Yongsal method'.
About a hundred new students from the special class also lined up in the spacious training ground.
At that moment, someone came into the training ground.
Thud! Thud!
A knight of the Draker family appeared, wearing a formal uniform embroidered with the Dragon's Seal.
The special class students looked slightly puzzled at the impression of the knight, who seemed younger than expected.
But Zeke held his breath when he saw the article that came in.
'The knight with the red eyes...! I never thought I'd see that gentleman Andrei here.'
Andrey Draker.
Although he did not achieve pure-blood awakening, he graduated early from the academy due to his outstanding talent, then graduated from Valhalla with excellent grades and immediately became a knight of his family.
In his previous life, Andrei attained enlightenment in his early thirties and became the Red Knight.
He was given the nickname of the Red-Eyed Knight because the red aura on his sword looked like the pupil of an eye.
'Using the article of the main family as a basic training instructor.'
This was a passage that showed how much the Draker family cared about the special class.
As soon as Andrei stood in front of the students, he opened his mouth.
"Everyone, draw your swords."
For a young knight with a gentle appearance, his voice was full of intimidation.
The students drew their swords obediently.
Then something caught Andrei's eye.
"Cadet. What is that sword?"
Andrey pointed to Zeke's sword.
Zeke said, twirling the claymore.
"As you can see, it is a sword."
Then Andrei said,
"Come forward."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Zeke stepped forward into the training grounds holding a claymore.
Andrei looked down at Zeke and said.
"Cadet, don't you understand what I mean?"
Zeke was starting to get annoyed by Andrei's threatening tone.
'This kid's words are always... ... .'
A word suddenly came to mind.
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[Skill Strong Mental Defense has been activated.]
Perhaps due to the skill's influence, my anger subsided and my mind became calm.
'Okay, since it's come to this... ... .'
He looked straight into Andrei's eyes and said:
"I called a sword a sword, so what's wrong with that?"
The cadets in the training ground felt a tingling sensation on their skin for a moment.
Because the Blue Knight's killing aura, however faint, spread throughout the training grounds.
Zik clicked his tongue inwardly as he looked at Andrei like that.
'You still haven't trained enough. Are you being provoked like this because of something a child said?'
In actual combat, enemy provocations were common.
No matter how skilled a knight was, if he got excited and failed to demonstrate his skills, he could get defeated by a knight of a lower rank.
Andrei slowly drew his sword and spoke to Zeke.
"Cadet. If a sword touches my body even once, I will forgive your rudeness just now and exempt you from basic classes."
Zeke was startled by those words.
'You're going to exempt me from class?'
It was a welcome offer for Zikr.
For him, who urgently needed to practice before the break, the basic course on Yongsalbeop was of little use.
'I've been training in the basics of the Yongsal method for over two years.'
Because he had not received the blessing of Auror during the blessing ceremony, he had to learn a process that others would have completed in three months over the course of two years.
While Zeke was secretly delighted, Andrei took up his stance with his sword in hand.
"I won't use the Auror. Come in."
Zeke took a stance, holding the claymore.
'You mean you're not using Aura?'
In an instant, a battle plan unfolded in my head.
[Skill Battle Sense is activated.]
The effect of the skill has made your senses more sensitive.
"I'm going."
Zeke moved his body quickly at a brisk pace.
The sword dug into Andrei's side.
Pachin!
Andrei lightly knocked Zeke's sword away.
Zeke turned his body around and swung his sword again.
Whoosh!
The claymore, loaded with all of his body's strength, collided with Andrei's sword.
visor!
Andrei easily slid the large, heavy claymore away with his sword.
Zeke's fierce attacks were all neutralized by Andrei's light sword strikes.
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The special class cadets gaped in amazement as they watched Andrei's movements.
'As expected, the knights of the main house are different.'
Just one of them.
Only Reyna Drake thought differently.
'Even if you don't use your aura, you can still fight with the knights of the main house?'
Andrei, who was defending against Zeke's sword, gradually hardened his expression.
'This guy... ...what the hell is he?'
At first, I planned to make an example of the cadet holding the strange sword and discipline the entire special class cadets.
I thought that if I just threw a few shots, it would naturally start trembling, but I was annoyed that it was countering my momentum.
So I tried to bring him back to his senses through true education, but things started to go awry.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Zeke's sword flew out from the blind spot.
Pachin!
Andrei swung his sword, blocking Zik's attack and knocking it aside.
He was filled with strength that was hard to believe was that of a thirteen-year-old.
I thought that with this level of sword fighting, he would get tired and collapse after a few rounds, but he didn't get tired at all and instead swung his sword with even more vigor.
'If I don't use Aura, I might get tired first.'
Andrei's only weakness, despite his outstanding talents that earned him the nickname Draker, was his poor physical strength.
Since he was so talented and the match had never been a long one, there weren't many problems.
But in real combat, physical strength is often more important than swordsmanship itself.
Zick, who had a lot of practical experience, saw right through that point.
'Young knights who only studied swordsmanship in the greenhouse, that's obvious.'
It would be different if he used Aura, but since he kindly said he only used swordsmanship, it was a golden opportunity for Zeke.
Zigg, who had the passive skill of infinite stamina, swung his sword to his heart's content without feeling any fatigue at all.
Whoosh!
He deliberately swung his sword left, right, up and down irregularly to drain Andrei's stamina.
If he had just struck straight ahead with a sword instead of using an advanced technique like shedding, it would have been more advantageous in terms of stamina management.
However, the arrogance of trying to provide true education to the cadets brought about the worst result.
visor!
For a moment, Andrei's movement, which was blocking Zeke's sword, was subtly off-track.
Zik realized that Andrei's stamina had declined significantly.
'Taste the bitterness of life, you little flower.'
Zik, who laughed inwardly, quickly ran towards Andrei using his flashback. At the same time, he activated his skill, One-Hit Kill.
Phew!
The combined power of Zeke's strength, acceleration, and skill one-hit kill was put into Claymore.
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Andrei felt the power contained in Zeke's sword.
'That's dangerous.'
He stepped back for a moment, sheathing his sword. At the same time, he took a step forward and drew his sword.
Zeke knew what this move was.
'Dragon's Law, Chapter 1, Section 1. Cutting the Sky.'
It was the most basic movement among the dragon killing techniques, but its power was different when it was performed by the blue knight's hand.
Kwakwakwang!
Swords clashed with swords, and an explosion rang out.
The cadets opened their eyes wide and confirmed the outcome of the showdown.
"Ugh… … ."
Zeke, holding the claymore, stumbled and was pushed back.
A trickle of blood was dripping from his mouth.
On the other hand, Andrei was still holding his sword in that position.
Anyone could see that it was Zeke's defeat.
Then Andrei straightened his posture and took up his sword.
Then he turned around and spoke in a low voice.
"Students… … do not have to come to this class starting tomorrow."
After hearing Andrei's words, Zik fell to the floor.
The therapists waiting nearby carried Zig out on a stretcher.
The other cadets who were watching the showdown between Andrei and Zeke gulped.
Andrey looked around at the cadets and said.
"Is there any student who doesn't want to come to this class?"
No one raised a hand to Andrei's words.
He continued in a commanding voice.
"Take up your swords. From today on, you will devote yourself to training to become true knights of Draker."
It was the beginning of a basic course in dragon killing.
* * *
The therapists placed Zig on a stretcher and carried him to the treatment room.
It was when the healer was mixing the healing potions and was about to put the ringer into the back of Zig's hand.
"Okay. You don't have to give me the potion."
Zig, who had passed out and was bleeding, woke up completely fine and grabbed the therapist's hand, expressing his intention to refuse.
The therapist was surprised and tried to lay Zig down again.
"You must have suffered an internal injury. Lie down quickly. Otherwise, you may experience serious side effects later."
Zeke wasn't really hurt anywhere, but he had no way to explain it, so he just lay down and took the potion quietly.
The highest-grade potion was completely useless to him, given his healing factor, but since it was the Draker family's money anyway, he decided to take it.
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He lay there, recalling the previous confrontation.
'Well, I guess this would be a decent production.'
At the last moment, Andrei ended up using the aura he had said he would not use.
The Draker family's Auror training is famously unique.
They are trained to maintain their aura at all times, regardless of time or place, such as when eating or sleeping.
After a while, using the aura becomes as natural as breathing.
Andrei, too, was conscious of it and was not using his aura, but when he blocked the final blow, he unknowingly used his aura.
Although he didn't even touch the collar, he showed his skills enough by making the Blue Knight use his aura, and since Zeke was knocked down, he was spared from humiliation by the cadets.
It was the result of Zeke directing a duel where neither of them had anything to lose.
He began to wonder how he should spend his free time.
That was when.
"I guess I'll see all sorts of strange things."
For a moment, Zigg was startled.
'There was clearly no sign of life.'
He sat up and looked alertly in the direction from which the voice had come.
Gulp, gulp!
A man with a bushy beard mixed a potion with the alcohol used for disinfection and downed it in one gulp.
Then he wiped his mouth as if he was satisfied.
"Ugh… … My stomach feels cold. As expected of a top-grade potion, it tastes different."
The man spoke to Zeke while drinking the remaining alcohol potion.
"Kid. How did you do that just now?"
Zeke asked the man warily.
"What are you talking about?"
The man picked up the potion bottle and drank it down to the last drop.
Then he spoke with a regretful tone.
"Ugh… … That little brat is catching on. Inma, you were injured earlier."
For a moment, Zigg flinched.
"How did you get better in an instant after being hit by an aura?"