“M-may I decline… sir?” I asked.

“Pfft, why are you acting all timid now, just yesterday you tried to attack me. No worries, I won’t force you, but at the very least, let's have a Syphon competition.” Sy competition? But even Dawn said I’m stronger, why would he need that…

“Sure, I guess. But you already know that my Sy is more developed don’t you? Is there a reason for that?” The big man opened his mouth to speak before he was stopped by 1 of the unidentified people who were in the training arena.

“Son, don’t bother the king’s servants too much, no person on this continent is more proficient in Syphon than you are, there’s no need to prove a moot point.

Besides, young man, I heard from the prince that you’re a convicted criminal turned personal servant, should you be speaking in such an insolent tone to people of higher status?” Phh, higher status, who cares about that shit, rich pricks are all the same.

“Father come on, don’t worry about it, I’m sure Leo is fine with us having a small bout, isn’t that right, Leo?” He winked at red-hair.

“S-sure, if the teacher wants to have a small contest with Lifes, I don’t see a problem.

Also, Lifes, mind your manners, please…” He sounded more exhausted than angry. No more of the tough guy performance around other people?

“What’s all this abou-Sorry, may I ask why you called him teacher, your highness?” I asked.

“Y-your highness huh? You really went all the way, haha.

Well, Zick is a volunteer teacher in the military academy, he’s one of the strongest Seal users on the continent.” Zick went next to the prince and put an arm over his shoulder.

He smiled and said “I’m also this guy’s personal tutor hehe.”

Should he really be gloating to a slave? What a bunch of weirdos.

I sighed heavily and asked when and how he wanted to measure our Sy capabilities.

“Right here, right now, just give me your best attack. Then I do the same to you.

Blocking and hitting only with Syphon.”

“I don’t think I understand… sir, you want me to kill you?”

Everyone except for Dawn took a step back and went into fighting positions.

“W-what are you guys doing? I just meant that my best hit would kill him… Besides, I’m an assassin not a knight, do you really think I can beat all of you at once?”

“...”

“Pah PAHAHAHAHAH. This guy’s something else, Dawn, is he being serious?” To which Dawn just nodded while yawning.

“Let’s do that! I’ll defend with all of the Syphon I can gather and you try to kill me!”

“What do you mean try… You WILL die.”

Everyone got incredibly tense again and I just sighed in response.

“Listen, I’m supposed to be a personal butler or something, how is it that ever since I came here, I've been fighting people everywhere?” I asked, looking at the prince.

“W-why are you asking me? You’re the wild one… Ever heard of common denominators?” He retorted. What’s he getting at?

“Whatever, I’m not participating, everyone here looks like they’re about to beat me up just for stating the truth, I’m not looking to be executed for hurting a noble.”

“Pfft, ironic.” Dawn said quietly while giggling with Liliya. Asshole.

I got up to my feet and started walking towards the exit before a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Slave, who said you could leave? You will participate. A brat like yourself could never hope to hurt me. Now hit me with your best attack!” Zick’s veins on his hand were popping as he was pressing down on my shoulder.

It didn’t hurt as I coated it with Sy of course.

“You know, all of you rich assholes act the same, you all think that the world revolves around you, that’s why killing you people was so easy.

None of you ever saw it coming.” I released all of my murderous aura and turned around to face him. I was presented with 2 swords at my throat and calmed myself down. Corolio sheathed his sword but the other guy, who I figured was the king’s guard, seemed pissed at the missed opportunity and clicked his tongue before removing his sword as well.

I walked closer to the big man and continued “Fine, try your best to not die.

Dawn, I’ll trust you to stop me if this loser can’t defend himself, would that be fine?” He just looked at me with drooping eyelids and nodded. Zick didn’t seem too pleased but reluctantly accepted.

I lifted my hand and put a finger on Zick’s neck, right above his collarbone and said “I’ll hit you right here, it will be a slow hit so take your time with defending yourself.”

With that I just walked back and headed towards my starting position.

“You brat, you’re underestimating me way too much, regardless of how this goes, you will be punished afterwards, better learn your place.” His eyes were twitching and veins were popping on his forehead and thick neck.

We got into our positions and Zick’s Sy energy all immediately gathered around the place I touched.

I focused some of my Sy in my eyes and started walking slowly towards him.

Sy energy was just energy siphoned from everything around us, as the world isn’t perfect at least by some definitions, so is the energy it exudes. I haven’t met a person with Sy that has no fluctuations in it and no weak points.

“Everyone knows that Sy has a soft part and a hard part.” I lifted a finger and concentrated Sy at the tip.

“Everyone knows that, yet, nobody does anything with that information. isn’t that interesting? You know, a friend of mine used to say that ‘perfection must contain imperfection’. Do you think Sy energy is perfect?

For someone like me, who’s been training his Sy ever since he was a toddler, Sy is much like breathing air.” I took a deep breath, everything slowed down around me.

“Say, you rich noble who never had to work for anything, have you ever tried to focus on doing something like walking and breathing?” He seemed so tense that he didn’t even answer.

“The answer is probably yes. Once you do that, it suddenly becomes harder to breathe or walk correctly. That’s because you wouldn’t be able to function properly if you had to divide your attention into so many complex actions.”

“Oh! oh! I remember hearing you and Kashi talking about it!” Dawn said from behind, his eyes suddenly opened wide.

“Yes, Snoopsi helped me figure it out. Figure out what happens if you learn to give conscious attention to an intuitive action.

The simple answer is - it gains unlimited potential for growth.” The small needle of energy on the tip of my finger started swirling and I stopped in front of Zick and took one last look at his Sy.

The harmony was quite impressive, but it was also too chaotic. There was no intention there. It was like throwing random herbs on a wound and hoping it heals.

He just condensed all of his Sy into one point.

In contrast, my Sy’s soft parts were flowing together with the hard parts, it was all completely synced and directed by my intentions.

I lifted my hand and was just about to touch my finger above his collarbone, before Dawn caught my wrist.

“D-dawn! What are you doing?! This attack wasn’t dangerous at all!”

“Master Zick, trust me, if Noshi tries to kill someone, the person dies. Your Sy can’t handle his technique, I’ve never seen a person who can, quite frankly.” Zick just pushed my hand to the side and turned to walk away from us.

“You will pay for this humiliation, slave! And Dawn, you’re lucky to be my sister’s dog, or I might’ve just killed you.” The overgrown baby yelled.

“Pfft, what a sore loser… Sorry Dawn.” I really was sorry, Dawn was like an older brother to me.

“Tch, don’t worry about it, this guy’s ego needed to be knocked down a peg. He was also the one to provoke the situation.

Oh and by the way, I’ll tell Kashi how much you butcher his ideas with out of context quotes. You’re so stupid it’s really funny sometimes.”

“Well, sorry not everyone is a genius like you or Snoopsi…” We laughed.

“Aheeem. Dawn, Inoshi, or Lifes, I guess.

You 2 are talking about my brother, you know.” Liliya suddenly popped out of nowhere, her face was really close to us, where did she come from?

Dawn turned his head to the side and blushed, making the girl giggle.

Footsteps came from behind us as the rest of the observers joined.

“Lifes, you and I need to talk. Count Brown has agreed this situation was provoked by his son and so he will allow for the punishment to be dictated by the royal family. But your madness needs to stop.” Leonardo approached me and grabbed my shoulder before dragging me away.

What is it now, why do I keep getting in trouble here?!