Chapter 36
“Do you surrender?” Deon coldly asked, refocusing on the matter at hand as he pointed his sword toward Harris.
Harris didn’t speak and only looked at Deon with hostility as he held his side, which somewhat irritated Deon.
“So much for being 100 years early. If I knew you would go down this easy, I should’ve just used my fist,” Deon smirkingly said. “Is this what you are so proud of?”
“You…”
Instructor Edder and the rest of the high knights look dumbfounded, especially Instructor Edder, who is speechless with how Deon dominated the duel, to the point that Harris couldn’t even lay a hand on Deon.
Instructor Edder did not anticipate Deon's victory. Although he recognizes Deon's brilliance in mana usage, he does not consider him to be a skilled fighter. Edder believes that Harris, who is only a year older than Deon, has an advantage due to his experience and can defeat Deon in combat.
‘What kind of monster is this kid?’ Instructor Edder thought he would’ve accepted it if Deon won with a struggle, but Deon not only won the fight, it even looked like Deon was toying with Harris.
‘Is this what a real genius looks like?’
In his years of experience as the Instructor of the new high knights, he had seen many so-called ‘geniuses,’ but if he compared those people to Deon, it is like comparing heaven and earth.
‘If Deon has this much fighting capabilities and has a top-class talent, then who knows how far he will reach in the future? He might even become a rank two powerhouse.’ Instructor Edder thought, making his heart rapidly beat as he thought of the future.
‘Maybe… he might even become a rank 3?’ Instructor Edder thought before shaking his head. ‘No… I’m getting ahead of myself. There is only one rank three in the entire kingdom. Even the rank two powerhouses struggle to reach rank 3, much less deon.’
.
‘Heh… It looks like I was worried for nothing.’ William smilingly thought as he looked at the result before him. ‘I should’ve expected this. There is no way that orphaned monster would lose even if his opponent is an upperclassman.’
At the institute, William and the other grade nine apprentice knights have nicknames for Deon: Orphaned Monster, Orphaned Genuis, and Undefeated Orphan. These titles were born out of frustration and hate for Deon because of how dominant he was in their class and how he stayed undefeated throughout every annual tournament.
Of course, William and the rest of the apprentice knights wouldn’t dare call Deon that in front of him and would only say that behind deon’s back. After all, they don’t want to get beat up.
‘Look like Deon would also dominate this class. Haha.’ William thought as he laughed internally. ‘But why am I so proud? It’s not like I’m the one fighting. Heh. Is this what it feels like to be part of deon’s group?... Hehe… No wonder people wanted to be part of deon’s group.’
William looked at the high knights around him as they stared at Deon with amazement. ‘Heh. You are all amazed now, but wait until it’s your turn, and you will all realize why we call him a monster.’
‘Why was I so scared of that guy.’ William thought as he looked at Harris under Deon. ‘Just you wait, I will also surpass you too… no… I will surpass everyone here… well, maybe, except for Deon. That guy is just a monster.’
For the past month, William has also experienced a large amount of improvement. Although he still couldn’t keep up with the 14 years old high knights, the distance between him and the rest of 14 years old was shrinking, and soon he was confident that he would also catch up to the 14 years old high knights. He just needs time to improve his physique.
“Once I catch up to them, it’s my turn to surpass them,’ William happily thought as he imagined himself standing before Harris like Deon is doing now.
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“I thought you would teach me a lesson? I’m waiting… The only thing I learned from you is how to bark. Haha… But really, you should really learn not to bark at anyone, or you might end, like now, in the dirt.” Deon mockingly said, with Harris clenching his fist in anger
“Come on, Stand up. The duel isn’t over yet.” Deon said. “For so much barking, this is what you amount to? Really? Damn, I wonder what makes you so confident in your ability that you think you can bully anyone? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.”
“Enough, The Winner of this duel is Deon,” Instructor Edder announced while frowning.
Although Instructor Edder acknowledged Deon as a genius after the duel, he still has to maintain a neutral stance as an instructor and won’t tolerate any humiliation against a fellow high knight on his watch.
Deon saw Instructor Edder frown and couldn’t help but scratch his head in embarrassment. ‘I just said that a high knight should be merciful, and here I am, humiliating my opponent. I’m an idiot… Did I take it too far?... nope. I don’t think this is too far, but in Instructor’s eyes, it might be.’
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*Sigh*
Deon shook his head in disappointment. He is disappointed in himself for not holding himself back even though he realizes that he has to show his mercy to his opponent since he is an ‘Honourable’ Knight.
‘I should’ve held myself back, but to be fair, Harris has a very punchable face. It’s hard to hold myself,’ Deon amusedly thought as he walked away, not even bothering to look at Harris.
After seeing Deon sigh and shake his head in disappointment, Harris became more furious as he gritted his teeth, and when he saw Deon nonchalantly walk away from him, his anger exploded as he grabbed the wooden sword beside him and rushed toward Deon.
“AHHH!!” Harris shouted as he swung his sword to deon’s head.
Deon was startled and saw Harris swinging his sword to his head, unable to defend himself as the wooden sword was about to hit his face.
‘Fu—’
Before Deon could finish his thought, a large body appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Which deon used that chance to immediately jump back and saw Instructor Edder holding Harris’s wooden sword.
“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, BOY?” Instructor Edder shouted in a fury.
Harris, who was furious earlier, felt a large bucket of cold water poured onto him as Instructor Edder stared him down as gulped in fear.
“I… I… didn’t mean—” Before Harris could give excuses, Instructor Edder interrupted him.
“Have you no Honor? To actually try to backstab your fellow high knight in front of me? In front of all of us? Is this what kind of knight you are?” Instructor Edder spoke in disgust and fury, making Harris break a cold sweat as his face became paler. “Hmph. If this is your true nature, then you DO NOT belong to our Order.”
After hearing Instructor Edder, Harris instantly kneeled. “Please, Instructor. I didn’t mean to do that. Please, Forgive me. I won’t do that again,” Harris begged as all the high knights watched nervously.
“Hmph, What makes you think you deserve a second chance after pulling a stunt like this? Do you think our Order is a joke? Do you think we will turn a blind eye to such a dishonorable act just because you are a high knight?”
“I… I…” Harris stammered as he didn’t know what to say, making Instructor Edder more furious as he shouted at Harris
“ANSWER ME!”
“Please, Forgive me… I will accept any punishment,” Harris said as he banged his head to the ground, begging for mercy.
“Hmph, you think you have a choice whether you get punished or not? Ridiculous. SIT UP! Tell me the ten commandments right now. If you cannot, then you do not deserve to be part of our ORDER.” Instructor Edder coldly said.
“Yes, Sir,” Harris immediately sat up and began reciting the ten commandments, with him reciting with as much passion as he could.
“Repeat the third commandment!”
“Yes, Sir. Third Commandment: Be chivalrous: Practice chivalry in all your dealings with others. Show respect, courtesy, and kindness to everyone you encounter.”
“Repeat the fourth commandment!”
“Yes, Sir. Fourth Commandment: Uphold justice: Always act with honor and integrity, and never stray from the path of justice. Your actions should be guided by a strong moral compass.”
“Repeat the Fifth commandment!”
“Yes, Sir. Fifth Commandment: Be loyal: Show loyalty to your allies, your kingdom, and your cause. Stand by your principles and support those who share your values.”
“Repeat the Eight commandment!”
“Yes, Sir. Eight: Use your powers wisely: Your magical abilities are a powerful tool, but they can also be dangerous. Use them with caution and always consider the consequences of your actions.”
“Do those four commandments represent you? You have broken four out of ten commandments with just one act, and YOU EXPECT ME TO ACCEPT YOU AS PART OF OUR ORDER STILL?” Instructor Edder shouted, and as he shouted, he used his mana, making his voice louder than ever before. It created pressure around the training ground, making all the high knights shiver as they resisted the pressure.
“Our Order faces many enemies, from Chimeras, Murderers to Cults, and the only people we can trust and rely on are our fellow knights, and without that trust, Our Order crumbles, but You!
You raised your sword against your fellow knight JUST because you LOST a DUEL, a simple duel that every knight does? Are you that petty? You think other knights would be willing to trust you after such a disgraceful act?”
Harris stayed silent as he didn’t know what to say and felt like the more he said something, the more he would get in trouble, but he didn’t stop kneeling in hopes that Instructor Edder would be merciful.
“Hmph. Maybe, I have gone soft training you all, that one of you thinks that it is all right to raise your sword against your fellow knights But don’t worry, I will make sure none of you will even think of doing this again. I will discipline every hideous attitude you all have and make all of you a proper knights, so you will never think of disobeying the ten commandments again.” Instructor Edder said as he looked around the high knights, making all the high knights shiver as they looked away from the Instructor’s gaze, including Deon.
‘Why do we also have to get punished? Harris is the only one that. We are not dumb like Harris, or at least I'm not,’ Deon thought.
“Hmph. Stand up and do a plank,” Instructor Edder said to Harris.
“Yes, Sir,” Harris immediately replied and did a plank.
“Hmph. Make sure to stay in the position until everyone has finished dueling. If you can’t maintain that position, I will immediately expel you from the ORDER, But if you manage to hold your plank, then maybe. MAYBE, I will reconsider expelling you, Is that understood?” Instructor Edder coldly said.
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” Harris replied.
“Hmph. Don’t thank me yet,” Instructor Edder said. “All right, everyone, you heard what I said. Let’s continue with our lesson.”
“Yes, Sir,” All the high knights passionately replied, as they didn’t want to make Instructor any angrier than he already was.
Instructor Edder called out another two high knights and the duel continued, but most of the attention was on Harris planking, curious as to how long Harris could maintain his plank, and that included Deon as he watched calmly.
‘Hmph. Serves you right. If it weren’t for Instructor Edder, then my face would’ve been bloody by now,’ Deon thought without an ounce of compassion. ‘Hmph, it were up to me, then I would’ve expelled this coward, to think he would backstab me when the duel was over when he didn’t even have the guts to stand up to me earlier, But I can’t say any of this stuff because a ‘Knight’ is supposed to be merciful.’
*Sigh*
‘Well, there are 122 high knights, so that’s a total of 61 duels, and if each duel takes around 5 minutes, then… it would take him… around 5 hours?’ Deon thought as he quickly calculated. ‘five hours of planking? That’s doable, but he did receive large damage earlier when we dueled, so let’s see if he can keep it up. If he can last for 5 hours, then maybe I’ll forgive him. Heh… Goodluck’
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Thought for Thoughts
* Do you guys want to see Harris get expelled?
* I didn’t expect the disciplinary issue to take the whole chapter. I got to absorb role-playing as the Instructor. (and Yes, I usually role-play it to bring life to my characters. Sue me)