Days passed by and finally, a week had gone.
the time has come for Teacher Morgana's class again and she teaches about the history of Jakurtan City. there is a list of historical events that truly shaped the city as it is now. many ruling families have taken control over the city but the Brighblade remains the longest one to rule.
Brightblade Family's rule method is by maintaining the ancient law while also considering the citizens' needs. they changed a few unjust laws that only provided for the nobles and ruling families, making it fair for every citizen.
and to make it even better, each generation of the Brightblade Family always has a peculiar someone. The first Brightblade is titled Law of Brightblade, because he is the one who changes the rules and makes it fair for everyone. then there is Riverade Brightblade who reshapes the city landscape, despite the protest of the people. turns out there is war coming to their city and the new landscape has helped the warriors of Jakurtan to travel faster around Jakurtan City.
the stories kept going until it was finally the last and the new generation of Brightblade, which is known as the kindest of all, Timothy Brightblade. Teacher Morgana ends the class here, saying she will be waiting for Timothy's great achievement in the future. Timothy can only put his head down as he can feel everyone look at him with great expectation—that and also a look of hatred from one of his classmates, Harold.
as he is about to leave the class, Teacher Morgana asks Timothy to stay as she wants to talk to him. they wait for the entire class to leave before she finally talks.
"What happened between you and Harold?
I know you will not declare a challenge but Harold is also not a stupid kid.
would you care to explain?" asked Teacher Morgana.
"I don't know how to explain it, teacher.
I just try to talk as friendly as I can and he hates me.
I guess you will hate me too." explains Timothy, a bit nervous.
"Is this how you usually talk back at home with your family?" Teacher Morgana asked again,
"yes teacher, my family is fine with how I talked.
it's just people here somehow get me wrong every time. as if I want to mock them or look down on them. even thou they are below me." Timothy said again, with a matter-of-factly attitude.
"ah, I see. That is your problem, young man.
people get you wrong because you put the painful fact in your kind word, which makes it sound like sarcasm or a hidden insult." said Teacher Morgana. then she continued.
"I will talk to Harold and persuade him to cancel the challenge, as I don't like my students to fight each other.
but if the challenge battle remains, I want you to explain to him that it was a misunderstanding. WITHOUT saying any painful facts to him. understand?" Teacher Morgana asked while emphasizing the word on him.
"i..... I will try Teacher Morgana, thank you for your help," said Timothy as he bowed a bit in respect.
*******
soon the week passed without anything major happening.
class is going like usual, life is normal for everyone. except for Timothy.
his challenge battle is coming this week, right after the battle class. and the said battle class is coming in on Wednesday, the day after tomorrow. In today's class with Teacher Morgana, she informed Timothy that she has failed to persuade Harold to cancel the challenge, which means Timothy has to fight to settle their issue.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Timothy didn't have much hope from the very beginning so he just thanked Teacher Morgana for her effort before continuing with his days. later in the afternoon, he checked on his progress just to make sure that he had a good chance to win, which is for Timothy is already the certain and only result.
Name Timothy Brightblade Age 16 Years Old Human Mastery Level Weapon Apprentice 5% ! Soul Weapon Evolution Common Weapon 49% !
Timothy is happy with his progress. in a few more weeks, his weapon will evolve and he will be much stronger than before. but even for now, he still has the advantage. his Human Mastery Level is already at Weapon Apprentice, way ahead of his peers. he also has a lot of battle experience compared to others due to his kind and helpful nature. this challenge is no issue for Timothy.
what becomes the problem is the result. should Timothy win, and he certainly will win, he will be seen as a bully. all his methods will be in vain as long as he is winning since he is the stronger one by default both in power and position. but then if he decides to lose, people will also lose their faith in his Brightblade Family. the eldest and crown prince must not lose at all costs.
Timothy is considering making it a draw or just surrendering the battle after he wins the fight, but that will only put more insult to the wound as it will be seen as an act of humiliation. all Timothy wanted to do was just end all this useless farce but he ended up in a confusing situation.
*****
today is the day of Battle Class.
the number of students in this class is way too small compared to the other class.
"welcome student, to your first Battle Class.
today we will learn how to fight and defend those weaker than you.
my name is Teacher Isamu, i hope you can learn much from this class." said Teacher Isamu with a bit bow.
there are about ten students here including Timothy. they are put here based on teachers' assessment of their talent, instead of their own choice. it is believed that each student has a good talent in one thing and only those who know about the world can decide which talent the student is good at.
Teacher Isamu then put the students in pairs. he asked for those who already know how to fight to guide those who have no experience. paired with Timothy is a young woman named Lima Twistsharp. She looks inexperienced and even under Timothy's sharp gaze, which is just his normal way to look, Lima looks like she almost fainted.
Timothy allows Lima to do her attack while he is on defense. Lima summoned her Soul Weapon and a Kriss Dagger appeared on her right hand. She quickly ran to Timothy to close the gap and deliver a sharp thrust with her Kriss Dagger. Timothy easily dodges the thrust by moving to the side, letting Lima pass him harmlessly.
Lima repeated her thrust several times, each time she delivered a fast thrust that Timothy easily dodged. after that, Teacher Isamu called for a stop and asked the defending student to explain what the attacking student was lacking. Timothy kindly explains why he can dodge Lima's thrust every single time.
"Lima, I can easily dodge your thrust because you always do your thrust when you are still a few steps away from me. next time, try to do your attack when you are already in your attack range, not before." explains Timothy.
after some explanation from the more experienced student, now it is their turn to do the attack. Timothy warns Lima to be careful and even tells her where he is gonna attack, which is a vertical slash. after Lima said she was ready, Timothy quickly closed their distance. he stands right in front of Lima's face before he delivers his vertical slash.
Lima with her Kriss Dagger cannot even move an inch due to surprise and fear. her response is only closing her eyes and hoping for the best. of course, Timothy will not kill or hurt her, as they are in class and she is not doing any harm to anyone. but seeing her closing her eyes, Timothy decided to teach her a bit of a lesson and bump her head with his sword handle.
BUP!
OUCH!
"don't close your eyes, Lima.
look where the attack is coming and dodge. if you can't move, parry with your Soul Weapon." said Timothy.
they did this several more times until Teacher Isamu called them to stop. Teacher Isamu is writing something really fast in his notebook before he lets the experienced student leave the class early. meanwhile, the less experienced ones will need to do some more training with Teacher Isamu so they can catch up.
Timothy is about to leave the class when suddenly Harold is blocking his way. he looks at Timothy's eyes fearlessly as if he is in front of a tamed tiger.
"I will be waiting for you at the arena, today after lunch.
let's settle this for good," said Harold.
Harold then quickly leaves Timothy together with his friends. they go straight to the cafeteria to eat something. Meanwhile, Timothy can only sigh in tiredness. he has hope that Harold will forget about their battle. but his hope is now gone. he has to face reality now. he had to fight, and he hated it.
"Fighting without a purpose is useless."