Chapter 25
Adamantium Fortress: Training Ground
“Are there any questions before we end our afternoon training?” Instructor Edder asked
After they finished running around the fortress, they returned to the training ground to do some calisthenics training and some weight lifting.
One of the 13 years old high knights eagerly raised their hands as though he had been holding his questions for a long time.
“Yes?” Instructor Edder asked
“Sir, when is our enhancement bath?” The high knight asked
“Enhancement bath?... Oh… since you guys are already high knights, you won't need an enhancement bath anymore. As for the bathhouse, it is always open all day so that you can take a bath anytime,” Instructor Edder said
“But… but what about our physique? Don’t we need our enhancement bath to enhance our body?” the high knight asked
“Oh… All right, let me clarify. Our mana itself has an ability that passively enhances our physique, which means even if we don’t train, our body would still naturally improve, but there’s also a limit, the mana would only enhance our body until it reaches our potential
So, for example, I have F+ rank potential, which means my mana will only enhance my body up to that point, and once I reach F+ rank to all my physical attributes, my mana won't passively enhance my physique anymore, and if I want to enhance my body further, I would need to do it more actively using enhancement magic
Of course, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t train our bodies anymore because if we don’t, our improvement will be very slow. So we still need to train our bodies so that our improvement will become faster. The more we train, the more our mana will passively improve our body, so if you guys want to catch up to your seniors, train harder than them, and if you seniors don’t want your juniors to surpass you, train harder.” Instructor Edder explained
‘So, I still have a chance to catch up?’ deon thought while planning his training plan so that he could catch up to his seniors.
William silently watched the pondering deon with thoughts of his own ‘Hm. I guess it wasn’t just luck that deon became the best in our institute.’
‘When I almost catch up to the seniors, I felt my mana burn… is that what Instructor Edder is talking about? So I just need to push myself to the limit so my mana would improve my body more?’ Deon thought, ‘If only I could train my physical body in my dreamscape, that would be amazing, but then again, that wouldn’t make any sense since my dreamscape is just in my mind.’
“So, are there any more questions?” Instructor Edder said, “All right, you are all dismissed, but before you all go, remember this; our mana improves our body a lot more than any medicinal bath, so don’t worry about not getting any more medicinal baths and focus on your physical training. That’s it. You can all go now.”
“Yes, Sir,” the high knights replied.
…
After the afternoon training, Deon and the rest of the new high knights went to the bathhouse to clean themselves up before going to the library in the Adamantium Fortress, which was a lot bigger than deon thought it would be but still wasn’t as big as the one in the capital or the one in the 24th imperial knight institute.
“Hello. How can I help you?” The Library receptionist asked
“Hi, Can we please have these books?” Deon asked as he handed the receptionist the list of books that instructor Edder gave them
“Ah. Yes, I can do that. please wait here for a moment,” The receptionist said before going to her office behind her
“Can I also get those, please?” William loudly said before the receptionist could go inside her office, to which the receptionist nodded at William
“Oh… Look what we have here. It’s the wonder boy and his sidekick.”
Deon and William heard mocking voices behind them and saw Harris, Edmund, and Aaron, souring deon’s mood.
“What do you want, Harris?” Deon asked, not hiding his annoyance
“What? Can't I say hello to my juniors?” Harris asked
“We are not your juniors anymore, so beat it,” Deon said
“Wow… so much attitude. Didn’t your parents teach you to be respectful to your seniors? Oh… wait. You don’t have parents, my bad,” Harris provocatively said
“Is that supposed to be an insult?” Deon asked. All his life, deon has been insulted by that remark, and he knew that the best way to counter it is to just pretend not to care about it, even if it does
“Nope. I was just stating facts,” Harris said, still having his provocative smile on his face
“Well. Congratulations, you know what the facts are,” Deon said before turning away from Harris, ignoring Harris and his goons.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Seeing deon turn his back away from him made Harris frown but quickly returned it to his usual provocative smile. “Well… at least we know now why you have a lousy attitude… but I don’t blame you. That’s what you get if you don’t have parents.”
“What do you think we will have for dinner?” Deon asked William beside him, who was visibly worried and nervous
“Huh?... Um… I—”
Seeing Deon ignore him again, Harris frowned as he interrupted William, “What is that old man from the orphanage doing? Can't he do his job properly?... If I were him, I would’ve flogged all the undiscipline brat.”
Hearing Harris talk shit to Father James made deon frown as he looked at Harris with a dangerous glow in his eyes.
Seeing deon’s frowning face made Harris smile as he looked at deon with a provocative look. “Don’t worry. As your senior, I will make sure to teach you manners.”
“Heh… Hahaha… do you really think a mid-class talent like you can teach me something?” Deon mockingly asked
“What?... What did y—”
“I mean, I’m not blaming you. We need mediocrity so that our high-class talents can shine, and so far, you are doing a good job of being a bully, the perfect requirement of any stepping stones, so keep it up!” Deon mockingly said with a provocative fake encouragement.
“You—”
“Don’t worry when I become famous. I will tell your story to the world so that you can have an achievement in your mediocre life.” Deon mockingly said. He didn’t know what he was saying at this point but still continued his narration.
“Did—”
“No need to thank me, it’s the least I can do… I mean, as our knight code said, it is our responsibility to protect the weak and the mediocre knights. I added that last part, but I think it makes sense, right? Do you agree as part of the mediocrity?”
“SHUT UP!” Harris shouted, with his blood boiling in anger as he looked at deon.
“Wow. So much attitude… Didn’t your parents tell you to be quiet in a library, but I guess that’s mediocrity for you.”
Deon is friends with Lucien and Celeb, who argue with each other on a daily basis, and although deon finds it annoying, it did teach deon how to trash talk with someone, especially with how creative Lucien and Caleb are.
“You—” Harris couldn’t hold it anymore as he rushed to deon with a punch, but before he could land his punch, Edmund, who was listening quietly, held Harris back.
“That’s Enough,” Edmund said
“What are you guys doing!?” the receptionist returned when she heard someone shout and saw Harris trying to punch Deon. “You rookies actually tried to fight in my library!?” the receptionist shouted angrily.
“Do you want me to report you all to your Instructor?” the receptionist asked with cold eyes.
“We apologize. Please don’t report us,” Edmund said while giving a small bow to the receptionist. “Deon, apologies to Harris so that we can end this commotion.”
‘Why the fuck should I apologize to Harris, idiots?’ Deon thought but didn’t say anything when he saw the receptionist's cold eyes
“Why do I need to apologize when he is the one who was about to punch me? Does that makes sense to you?” Deon said
“You—” Harris was about to say something when Edmund looked at him coldly, silencing his words.
“The only reason he did that is because you provoked him,” Edmund said
“Why would I provoke a nobody like him? Besides, he was the one that started it. William and I were just minding our business when your dog over there came barking at us. You should learn to discipline your dogs,” Deon mockingly said
“What?... Hmph… We may not be your seniors anymore, but we are still older than you. Show us some respect,” Edmund said, visibly annoyed and angry at deon
“Hmph. I did respect you guys until I got to know you all. Like seriously, what kind of idiot asks for respect when they are the ones that started this fight in the first place? does that makes sense to you?... or did you think just because you are one year older than us gives you the right to bully us?” Deon said, “As your dog over there said, I’m an orphan, and I am not unfamiliar with bullying, but if you think I won't fight back, then think again. Is this the reason you all want to become a high knight? To bully people that are below you? Hmph. If that’s true, then I don’t mind the pretty receptionist reporting us to Instructor Edder.”
“Enough, you three get out,” the receptionist said to Edmund and his goons
“I—” Edmund was about to say something when the receptionist cut him off
“I don’t want to hear it. If you don’t want to be reported to your instructor, then get out,” the receptionist coldly said
“Yes, I apologize,” Edmund said before talking to his goons. “Let's go.”
“But what about our books?” Aaron asked
“We can get them later,” Edmund said before walking out, not waiting for Aaron and Harris. Clearly, he was still angry at the whole situation.
“This isn’t over,” Harris said to deon with fury in his eyes
“Bark *Cough Cough* Sorry, it seems I’m sick,” Deon mockingly said
Harris clenched his fist in anger but didn’t say anything as he followed Edmund out of the library
The receptionist looked at deon oddly, but before she could speak, deon spoke to her.
“Thank you, Miss Librarian.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” The receptionist said. “Here, take your books and get out of my library,” as she put the books on the table.
“Yes, Thank you,” Deon replied as he took his books and spoke to William. “Let’s go.”
“Thank you for the books,” William thanked the receptionist as he took his books and followed deon out of the library.
…
“Why did you do that?” William asked as he and deon walked toward their dormitory
“Did what?” Deon asked
“You know. Pissed off the upperclassman,” William said with worries and nervousness.
“Why? Are you scared?” Deon jokingly said
“No… But you shouldn’t do that,” William said
“Why not? Besides, they are the ones that started it,” Deon replied
“But still…” William nervously said
“What’s the worse thing that they could do to us?” Deon asked
“I don’t know, beat us up?” William replied
“So what? We are high knights now. If we are scared of being beat up, can we really say that we are deserving of high knights?” Deon said
“They could kill us too,” William said
“Please, Do you really think those idiots would kill us? When they backed off the moment, the receptionist said that they were reporting them?” Deon mockingly said, “Besides, even if they kill us, they won't be able to hide it for long and will sooner or later face jail time for the rest of their lives. I don’t mind that. You put them way too high on a pedestal. They are just idiots that can't handle their inferior complex. No need to mind them. They might be stronger now, but sooner or later, we will surpass them” Although deon said those words, he still felt that he could beat Harris in a fight with his current fighting capabilities.
Deon has never thought of the grade 10s as enemies even though they had a rough first impression of each other during the awakening ceremony, but it was clear now that the grade 10s were keen on being his enemies, and deon doesn’t mind. He will show them they picked the wrong guy to mess with.
Maybe the grade 10s didn’t like deon during their first interactions during the awakening ceremony because he wasn’t very welcoming to them, but to be fair, His two friends just failed to awaken, and he wasn’t exactly in a good mood.
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Thought for Thoughts
* Mana passively enhances the mana user's body.
* Don’t insult Father James in front of deon, or you will get trash talk.