Rody watched as Lotte and the others swaggered away. His gaze turned slightly cold, but he shook his head lightly. Now was not the best time to make a move. Besides, killing an arrogant Lotte would only severely disrupt the entire trail of the forbidden magic and martial arts investigation, alerting the enemy and leading to relentless pursuit. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he not only had to conceal his true strength but also pretend to be even weaker to put the enemy at ease.
Seeing that Rody didn't react excessively, the crowd, deprived of any drama, dispersed, but each of them looked at Rody with contempt.
"Why didn't you fight back against that guy? Can you endure such humiliation?" A bull-like man approached, shouting angrily, "If it were me, I would have smashed that turtle egg's foul mouth and made him pick up his teeth off the ground!"
"I don't have your strength," Rody replied with a slight smile and turned to leave.
"Coward!" the bull-like man yelled in anger.
"Don't you know? The most abundant product of the Felick Kingdom is cowards! Hahaha!" someone laughed wildly.
"I think he's not simple. Although it doesn't show on the surface, just this restraint alone is not something an ordinary person can do!" a red-haired man sneered, "Before mocking others, it's best to understand your own strength! A mere four-star swordsman daring to mock others? Truly overestimating oneself!"
"What did you say?" the man who was laughing loudly shouted, "Want to have a go? You red-headed fly!"
"Look!" The red-haired man stretched out a finger, flicked it sharply, and sent the provocative man flying several meters away, sneering, "See clearly now? Who is the fly? Don't let me see you again, or I'll throw you into a dung pit to feed the maggots!"
"Even Red-haired Sal dares to provoke, you really are courting death!" someone shouted loudly, "Sal, need me to help you clean up the trash? For free!"
"Let him roll! It's my fault, I shouldn't have spoken to such a bug!" The red-haired man shook his head, laughing, and walked away.
"Hmph." In the distance, a proud man with a head full of upright blue hair, resembling an ice person, glanced at the red-haired Sal and snorted softly. His attention then turned to Rody's retreating figure, as if trying to discern something from him that could unravel the doubts in his heart. Finally, when Rody's figure completely disappeared, he coolly shifted his gaze and disappeared in a flash.
"My god, Ice Demon Gao is also here," two pale-faced swordsmen hiding in a corner only dared to show themselves at this point.
After collecting his military supplies, Rody arrived at a massive tent.
This was one of the dormitories for the new recruits in the death training camp. Inside, Rody found over twenty beds, with people sitting, lying down, chatting, and even someone engrossed in looking at lewd paintings by some lecherous mage, making tsk-tsk sounds. Upon seeing Rody enter with items, a black giant even more formidable than a bull stood up, eyeing Rody unfriendly.
"This is my territory. You want in, you gotta pay rent, give money..." Before the black giant could finish, Rody had already kicked him.
"Haha, you must not know, he is Kolo's bird-hunting expert, hahaha!" Someone in the tent laughed until tears streamed down, while others indifferently continued playing magical cards, not even glancing over.
"I'm going to kill you!" The black giant tried to stand up, pressing his hand against his painfully stricken groin, trying to get up with the support of a table.
"Soaking in hot water will help reduce the swelling faster, if you don't want to go to a medic and pay a hefty fee," Rody looked at the black giant, dropped a line, and threw his military supplies on an unoccupied bed. The black giant gritted his teeth and stood up, raising his fist to hit Rody, but Rody slightly sidestepped, causing him to lose his balance and crash to the ground.
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By the time the black giant got up again, Rody had already opened the blanket, made the bed, and comfortably lay down to rest.
Although encountering Lotte was somewhat unexpected, it also immediately reminded Rody of the idea to investigate who was using forbidden magic and martial arts to secretly harm him. Through various judgments, he felt that the person who could control Father Cedo must have a significant connection with the temple. Otherwise, Lotte and Greely wouldn't have so easily entered the temple and become members of the Knights of the Holy Temple.
If it's related to the temple, it might even be connected to the gods.
The mastermind behind poisoning him, Rody believed, must not be a simple person. He must hold an extremely high position. Just imagine, someone who could concoct forbidden magic and martial arts without detection, what kind of person would that be?
Apart from the black giant glaring fiercely at him, others didn't pay much attention to Rody.
Fights and brawls were common among the students. Especially when everyone was a talented individual with a sense of pride, a slight friction could easily lead to a fight. Before Rody came in, there had already been no less than ten verbal disputes and minor scuffles, although none had been knocked down like the black giant. However, the two previously bullied by him were secretly thrilled, wishing Rody would give him a thorough beating!
The next day, Rody joined everyone at the main square for assembly.
The identity of the mustachioed cavalryman was the chief instructor of the Iron Blood Cavalry Camp, with over two hundred cavalrymen under his command. He was also the first instructor of the Iron Blood Knight Academy. Anyone who could name his camp the Iron Blood Knight Camp was certainly not an ordinary figure.
He inspected the place, came with five instructors, and taught everyone the most basic military posture, then had everyone stand still.
Three hours passed. Sitting under the tent, he was eating a steak lunch, watching everyone stand in the military posture, sweating profusely. A few who moved slightly were caught by the five instructors, beaten and kicked, then punished to run ten laps around the academy. Two of them couldn't stand it and fell to the ground, immediately carried out.
"Take their stuff away, we don't need trash, let them go elsewhere to loaf around!" one of the instructors cursed, "Listen up, rookies, your fate will be the same as those two pieces of trash! If any of you can't hold on, I'll kick you out immediately! This is the best and strongest cavalry camp. If you don't meet our standards, then get out and don't disgrace us here!"
"Rookies like you who haven't even seen blood, going to the battlefield is just courting death!" The tall instructor came up to Rody, berated everyone in turn, spitting in their faces, and said, "Do you think coming here makes you soldiers? No, you are rookies!"
"Answer me, what are you?" The tall instructor slapped the man next to Rody and roared.
"I'm a rookie, sir," the guy trembled in fear.
"You, what are you? Answer me!" The tall instructor then punched Rody in the chest and shouted.
"Rookie, instructor," Rody's response surprised everyone.
"What did you say?" The tall instructor, infuriated, his veins bulging, clenched his fist and roared, "Recruit, do you know what you're saying?"
"I'm answering your question, instructor!" Rody replied earnestly, "You asked me what I am, I answered 'rookie, instructor,' following your question format. Now I've finished answering, instructor."
"Say 'I am a rookie,' with 'I' as the subject!" The tall instructor felt he had encountered a blockhead who couldn't even speak properly.
"Alright, as per your command, you are a rookie, instructor!" Rody answered earnestly. Everyone was stunned again, and the tall instructor was on the verge of madness, grabbing Rody's shirt, furiously saying, "Are you doing this on purpose? I will make you regret being born into this world! Damn, you dare to mock me, you damned recruit?"
"I didn't, I was just answering as you instructed, instructor," Rody replied, his face devoid of any smile, but those around him struggled to hold back their laughter.
"Say 'I am a rookie' a hundred times, no, damn it, I'm going to punish you! Do a hundred push-ups right now, right now!" the tall instructor bellowed furiously, "If you can't do it, I'll throw you out!"
"Once I'm done, should I still say 'you are a rookie,' instructor?" Rody completed the task with ease, stood up straight, and asked earnestly.
"Run ten laps around the academy immediately!" The tall instructor was so angry that his face contorted.
Seeing Rody earnestly running off, the students couldn't help but laugh, trying hard to control themselves. Eventually, someone burst out laughing, setting off everyone else, leading to an uncontrollable fit of laughter. The tall instructor trembled with rage, his face turning from red to blue. Suddenly, the mustachioed chief instructor came over and said with a smile, "Funny, isn't it? Recruits, do you think Instructor Wood's words were wrong? Come on, let one of the most excellent and powerful recruits among you try your hand against our Instructor Wood. Instructor Wood will only use his left hand. Does anyone think they can defeat Instructor Wood?"
"I do, I've been wanting to try!" a burly man from the back raised his hand, "If I defeat Instructor Wood, please let us rest and have some lunch. Just standing in military posture is useless! A real army should learn combat techniques!"
"Really? You're brave! If you defeat Instructor Wood, then I'll acknowledge your point," the mustachioed chief instructor waved his hand, signaling the two to start. The burly man didn't dare to be careless, burst forth with fighting spirit, indicating he was a near-five-star warrior. He cautiously circled around Instructor Wood, who remained motionless.
The burly man moved behind Instructor Wood, his heavy fist coming down like a mountain.
Instructor Wood waited for the fist to hit his back before spinning around and grabbing the man's wrist with his left hand. The burly man was startled, but immediately threw another punch with his other hand. Within a second, he had landed several heavy punches on Instructor Wood's face.
However, Instructor Wood's gaze was like iron, unfazed.
He gradually twisted the man's arm to an exaggerated angle, the bones crackling but not stopping even as the burly man screamed in agony. He brutally broke the man's arm and spat a bloody spit on the writhing, pain-stricken burly man, snorting, "Here I only broke your arm, but on the battlefield, an orc ten times stronger than me would tear apart your entire body and eat you!"
"Medic!" The mustachioed chief instructor waved for a medic to take away the burly man, then turned to the sweating crowd and said, "Do whatever Instructor Wood says if you want to come back alive from the battlefield!"
"Report, instructor, I picked up some trash over there," Rody suddenly ran back, dragging an unconscious student.
"Do two hundred push-ups and then rejoin the ranks!" Instructor Wood did not break Rody's arm. He glared at Rody for a long time, then let out a loud shout, disappointing many, especially the black giant whom Rody had kicked in the groin.