Sito admired how comfortable the weighted bands on his wrists and ankles were.

Back on Earth, the ones he used to wear would always tear up his skin and distract him from focusing on training. But the ones the Old Master gave him were just regular cloth wraps that were enchanted to have some weight to them.

The ones Sito wore were specially crafted to be heavy enough to strengthen his muscles and joints without being too heavy and stunting his growth. Although he was tall for his age, he still had a lot more years of growing left.

Sito jogged over to the group of 100 men whose ages ranged from 13 to 20 years old.

This group trains directly under the Old Master and undergoes a brutal and strenuous training regimen every day of the week while living in a specially designated area of the castle that is used as their barracks. From sunrise to sunset, the Old Master hammers and molds these soldiers into the sharpest swords of the Epirian Kingdom.

It is his responsibility to ensure that these men are capable enough to join the ranks of the Kingdom's elite squadron, also known as The Royal Knights of Epiria.

Once a member of the group graduates and joins The Royal Knights, the Old Master takes it upon himself to personally go out and gauge each promising candidate after their awakening. And of the thousands he gauges every couple of years, he handpicks only a few to join the group of 100 students and replenish those empty spots.

After Sito and the students finished greeting each other, they began stretching in ways Sito thought were inhumanely possible before he started 5 months ago. Now, he could bend his body in ways that would have put any yoga instructor to shame back on Earth.

After stretching, they continued their warm-ups and went on a 10 mile (16km) run. Sito pumped his little legs into overdrive as he tried to keep up with the rest of the group. Some of the other guys admired the young Prince and shouted words of encouragement as he trailed them.

Next was weight training. The group didn't leave a single muscle group untouched, but mainly focused on strengthening their legs and core with an assortment of work outs.

Three hours in and Sito was already exhausted while the other men were just getting started. To them, this was just the warmup. Now the real training was about to begin.

For the rest of the day, they focused on combat training, with and without weapons.

Sito greatly exceeded everybody's expectations due to the combat experience he gained from his previous life. And to his surprise, what made him excel even more was that his new body was ambidextrous.

Being ambidextrous made him feel balanced in a way he never thought possible. His movements were much more fluid, and he was able to freely switch stances and positions without disturbing his momentum in the slightest.

Having this boon and using his combat knowledge, he was already giving some of the older guys a run for their money.

After the students spared for a couple of hours, the Old Master stood to the side, scanning his students with an appraising gaze.

"Attention" He croaked.

Although it was just a croak, his voice washed over through the entire arena like a tsunami.

All the soldiers lined up side to side with their hands behind their backs.

The Old Master gave them a long glance, then called out two names.

"Raymond."

"Sito."

Sito stepped forward. He was accompanied by a much taller 16-year-old boy who had a shaved head, with the exception of a short, thick brown braid going down the center.

They both stopped and stood before the Old Master, wondering why he had summoned them.

He looked at them both.

"Young Sito, I have a proposal for you," he croaked.

'What is the old man scheming now? Anytime he cooks up a plan, it always ends up being a pain in my ass,' Sito thought.

"What is it Master?" Sito asked.

The Old Master smiled. "If you can beat Raymond in one-on-one combat, then you'll be exempt from having do to do your punishment for today".

Sito frowned. "And what if I lose?"

The Old Master's smile broadened. "If you lose, then your punishment will be doubled."

'I fucking knew it!' Sito thought.

Sito looked to his left and gauged the boy next to him.

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The Old Master raised one of his bushy eyebrows. "Is our young Sito afraid of fighting his superior?"

He had a very keen eye and knew that his words would strike the Prince's competitive spirit.

Sito looked back at the old man with a flame in his eyes.

"Your on, old man!"

"Very well," the Old Master said approvingly.

"Raymond, right side."

"Young Sito. left side."

The rest of the students made way and followed the two boys to the main dueling circle that was in the center of the arena. They pitied the young Prince because his opponent was not going to be a simple pushover.

Raymond Machin was the top prodigy of the Kingdom and son of Duke Wulfstan Machin. His political influence and combat prowess were not things to be trifled with.

Sito stood on the far left side of the circle, while Raymond stood on the right.

Raymond looked at the 5-year-old who stood across from him and even from across the 30 foot ring he could see the determination in his eyes. Raymond admired the little Prince's spunk and slightly nodded his head in admiration. Sito nodded back.

"Are you ready, young Sito?"

Sito nodded.

"Are you ready, Raymond?"

Raymond nodded.

The Old Master looked at them both. His gaze lingered on Raymond.

"Do not make the mistake of underestimating your opponent, for in a proper battle it could be the last mistake you ever make"

"Yes, Master." They both said in unison.

The sun shined from above, reflecting off of Sito's bronze skin as his ice-blue eyes glared at the boy across him.

The wind sliced through the arena carrying with it a pink cherry blossom and making his jet black hair flutter in the wind.

The lone cherry blossom swirled with the wind's current as if conducting the chorus of silence that had taken hold of the arena.

It floated down, bringing the chorus to an end as it finally touched the ground.

"BEGIN!" shouted the Old Master.

The two students took off and met in the middle.

Raymond rushed in with a punch that carried all his might. He knew the Old Masters' warning was directed towards him and he would be a fool to ignore it. Therefore, he intended to deliver a quick and decisive finish because he had seen Sito fight many times and knew just how crafty the boy could be.

Sito knew that he stood almost no chance.

He knew that Raymond was bigger, stronger, and faster than him, so standing toe to toe and exchanging blows would only put him at a disadvantage. Sito knew he had to get close and turn it into his fight if he wanted any chance of winning at all.

Sito saw Raymond pull his arm back to deliver a killing blow and knew that even if he tried to block the hit head on, it would destroy his unenhanced body.

Sito jumped to meet him in the air and as they met in the middle, he twisted his body delivered a chopping downward kick.

Raymond struck his fist out but before it can land, Sito's kicked slammed down on his arm. Raymond's body was enhanced, so it did little damage, but being in the middle of the air, it threw him off balance.

The other students cheered on as the fighters both landed.

"From the way you fight, it's almost hard to belive your so young, my Prince. However, I will not go easy on you and you might get hurt. Are you sure you want to continue?" Raymond asked.

"Thank you for you concern. However, how can I one day rule the Kingdom and be your leader if I don't even have the strength to spar a comrade without running away?"

"Very well then. Prepare yourself, young Prince."

They both took off and met in the middle once more.

Sito mainly used his legs to maximize as much range and power as he could, while using his arms to block and parry whatever he couldn't dodge.

Raymond was on full offense as most of Sito's attacks didn't threaten his enhanced body even though he knew tomorrow he'd wake up sore all over.

He had trouble hitting the smaller target because the young boy was slippery. All of Raymond's attacks glanced off of his target and he just couldn't land a single clean hit.

Sito delivered punches and kicks to the older boy's knees and other weak points in between dodges and parries.

The arena fell silent.

They all watched the young boy stand toe to toe with the young prodigy as the sound of the two fighters exchanging blows pulled them into a trance.

This exchange went on for several minutes with neither side relenting.

Sito was in the zone and knew that if he made even one mistake, he was done for. He also knew that his original assessment was true and that if they kept this going, he would lose.

He decided to hold on for now and find an opening that would let him get close.

After several more exchanges, Raymond subtly widened his stance and fired a weak jab meant to distract his opponent.

Sito saw his opponent's body weight shift to his back leg and noticed his eyes look at the left side of his head. Sito dodged the weak jab and knew there would be a full power kick coming right behind it that would have ended him right then and there if he didn't notice those subtle changes in his opponent.

Just as Sito dodged the jab, Raymond twisted his hips and snapped his leg, ready to deliver the final blow. However, what happened next caught him completely by surprise.

As Raymond shot his leg out, Sito knew he had found his opening.

He quickly twisted his small frame and as the leg shot passed his face, he grabbed the bottom of it with his left hand and pushed it up as he swept Raymond's other leg out from under him.

Raymond fell on his back and tried to turn and get back on his feet, but just as he turned, Sito pounced on his back and instantly went for a chokehold.

Raymond fell on his back as hard as he could to try to get the young boy to let go. But Sito just groaned and held on like his life depended on it because he knew that if he let go now, he wouldn't get a chance like this again.

Sito kept trying to get his hands under the young prodigy's neck, but Raymond wouldn't go down without a fight and kept prying his hands off.

Sito had to distract him, so he started punching the sides of his face and right as Raymond let his guard down to defend against the punches, Sito slipped his arm under the young prodigy's chin and squeezed with every ounce of strength his little arms could produce.

Although Raymond's body was enhanced, he felt like the boy was unnaturally strong for his age and slowly felt himself about to pass out from having his blood circulation cut off.

However, Raymond knew that losing to someone so young would bring great shame to him and his family, so he grabbed the boys armed and channeled the mana from his core.

Sito closed his eyes and kept squeezing until his arms went numb. But suddenly, through the numbness, he felt a stinging ice-hot pain.

'Why does my arm feel like it's being dipped in a pool of ice?' He thought.

He opened his eyes and noticed that Raymond was subtly using ice magic to freeze his arm.

He screamed and pulled his arm back.

Raymond took advantage of the situation and quickly turned. Then, with all the power he could muster, he threw a punch to finally end this fight once and for all.

Out of instinct, Sito put his arms up to defend himself as a blur separated from the crowd.

A cloud of dust shot up, and a loud smack reverberated through the arena

The wind stilled as the crowd seemed to hold their breath in anticipation.