"Brother Cong..."

"Damn it! Dick, you're being nauseating again. What the hell? When there's nothing happening, you call me by name, but when there's trouble, you call me 'brother.'"

"No, Brother Cong, am I really that kind of person?"

"Well, what do you think?" Li Cong rolled his eyes. "Speak properly."

"Alright, alright! Who asked us to lack ambition and request your help? Here's the situation: you know my uncle, Taita, right?" Dick carefully explained the background. "So, Brother Cong, as a young lord of a viscount, you must have a way to handle this, right?"

"You... will have to treat me to a magical feast!"

"No problem at all, Brother Cong, let's go!" Dick was elated; since Li Cong had said so, it meant he was quite confident. "Brother Cong, you're impressive, as expected of a viscount's son. You really have a lot of solutions."

"Of course, this young master... Rest assured, this matter will be settled in no more than seven days!" Li Cong assured, patting his chest. "However, you must trust me."

"Brother Cong, with our bond, would I not trust you?"

"The simplest and most effective solution is for my family to approach the York Viscount, whether by purchase or exchange. The loyalty contract of your uncle Taita will be transferred to my name. Dick, you should understand, once a knight has signed a contract, complete freedom is impossible. If others find out, my family would be ridiculed by other nobles."

"Brother Cong, that's fine. Once it's under your name, it's almost as if Taita is free. Rest assured, I understand the rules of nobility. Am I that ignorant? Brother Cong, I owe you a favor." Dick knew this was the best resolution. He understood that the Li family would have to pay a price for Taita.

"Dick, we're brothers. There's no need for such formality. If you exploit me less in the future, consider it your way of repaying me!"

Li Cong's efficiency was indeed astonishing. Within seven days, the contract transferring the loyalty of Taita and the Sharp family's knights was in Li Cong's hands. As for how the Li family managed it, Dick only needed to remember the favor. The process itself was inconsequential to him.

Dick eagerly took the knight’s loyalty contract to Uncle Taita...

Damn Thomas Sharp, now you can't do anything to Uncle Taita, can you? Hehe!

The second year was coming to an end, and there were no assessments, as the academy had no strict requirements for second-year students. As for the vacation, it held little significance for Dick. After all, his father had passed away.

The rare vacation saw Alina, Li Cong, and the chubby Harvey all returning home.

Most of the ten thousand gold coin reward from last year's annual combat assessment was spent. Aside from daily training expenses, the remainder was given to Uncle Taita for magical injury medicine. Times were tough!

He needed to work hard on his training. If he advanced to a second-level warrior and combined that with his identity as a magician, he might be able to gather some resources with Uncle Taita’s hunting team.

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" Lifting a barbell weighing over a thousand pounds, Dick threw himself into his training with increasing fervor.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Warrior training was comprehensive, not merely limited to combat qi cultivation. Especially at the first-level warrior stage, full-body conditioning was crucial.

The training grounds at the magic academy were vast; Dick hadn’t measured them, but each student trained their spells, so there was no shortage of space. The training ground Dick used alone was at least a hundred square meters. This showed the academy's enormous scale.

Most noble students from the second year had returned home; those remaining were mostly commoners.

However, Dick was unfamiliar with them and had little interaction.

"Dick!"

"Ah, hello!" Coming out of the training ground, a stranger greeted Dick, who felt compelled to respond. As the strongest fighter of the second year, Dick was quite well-known, so this wasn’t surprising. He responded with basic courtesy.

"Dick, I challenge you!"

What? Dick stopped in his tracks, realizing something was amiss. Not only was this unfamiliar student making a challenge, but there was also a crowd of onlookers around them.

"Who are you?"

"Frank from Class Seven of the first year, the top performer in the end-of-year combat assessment!"

"Are you out of your mind? Why should I accept your challenge?" Damn it! Frank, isn't this the pretty boy who supposedly courted Angel? Well, that's Angel's business, not Dick’s. So Dick had only heard about it and didn’t take Frank seriously.

Frank indeed looked quite handsome. It was likely a tradition from knightly families. Although he wasn’t as burly as Dick, he was solid and robust. He did have a certain pretty-boy quality.

But what does that have to do with me? Just because you say challenge, I should accept? No way!

Dick ignored Frank and continued to walk away.

"Dick! If you win, the reward of ten thousand gold coins will be yours."

Wow! Frank sure has a big mouth.

Nevertheless, Dick paused. Ten thousand gold coins was a lot, and he was in desperate need.

After this long period of training, both his magical power and combat qi had improved significantly. Even if Frank were exceptionally talented, like last year's Liu Tiesheng advancing to a second-level magician, did that mean he would definitely lose?

"I don’t have money." Dick was very thick-skinned.

"I’m not asking for a bet. If you win, the ten thousand gold coins are yours!" Frank's youthful face was filled with confidence.

"And if I lose?" Dick was curious about why Frank was so determined to challenge him. He had no scandal with Angel.

"If you lose, you will give up your position as a third-year student in Class Seven after the school starts."

What the hell! Is that even an option?

There was a magic tutor managing the training grounds, and coincidentally, one was among the crowd. Dick looked at the tutor, who seemed to understand Dick's doubts.

"That’s acceptable!"

What’s the point of a position swap? Even if he moved down a year, he would still be in the second-year Class Seven. It didn't matter much as long as he advanced to a second-level magician within three years.

"Frank, did Liu Tiesheng send you?"

"Hmph!"

"You're a talented magician. Did you become a noble's lapdog so early? Don't you have enough resources sponsored by Angel? I heard there are also several beautiful female magicians secretly supporting you. Isn’t that enough? How much did Liu Tiesheng give you? Twenty thousand gold coins? Thirty thousand..."

"Shut up!" Despite Frank's cunning, he couldn't handle Dick's bluntness. How could someone be so straightforward in revealing another's weaknesses? Magicians were usually quite reserved.

"What's the matter? Trying to use the duel to eliminate me? Did you even manage to bribe the supervising tutor?" Dick's taunts grew harsher.

"Dick, you should watch your words. Defaming the tutors of the Royal Magic Academy is a serious offense!" The magic tutor in the crowd spoke, staring coldly at Dick.

"Hehe! Oh, so this tutor is already prepared to oversee the duel between me and Frank?" Dick wasn’t intimidated; this was the Royal Magic Academy, and tutors were loyal to the royal family. Even if they wanted to play tricks, they wouldn’t be so blatant.

Even if Dick spoke harshly, the academy wouldn’t punish him for words alone (as long as he didn’t insult the royal family), so he wasn’t afraid.

"Be bold!" The magic tutor, a third-level powerhouse, said.

"If I say that I’m quitting the academy because of your threat, can you take responsibility, Tutor?" Dick stood firm, "I don’t believe you would dare openly side with the Liu family against me."

"You..." The tutor’s demeanor visibly softened.

"Students present, I believe you can see the ulterior motives here, right? Haha! If students become lapdogs for nobles and even magic tutors can be bought by the aristocracy, is this still the Royal Magic Academy? Is there no justice left?" Dick's emotions were highly charged.