So that's the one, huh... Ryzen pondered. To think she got blessed by that god...how lucky.

Ryzen proceeded to pull a wooden combat knife from the interior of his haori.

"What would you guys rely on the most in a battle?" Ryzen asked as he began performing knife tricks. "And what would be the most dangerous weapon against you guys?"

"Uh, our powers?" Baran responded.

"Yeah, it's understandable that you'd say that," Ryzen continued. "But human weapons can be just as dangerous and useful in the right hands."

"But our powers are better," Baran commented. "Are they not?"

"Sure, your blessings make you superhuman, but we are still human beings," Ryzen continued. "With the right equipment, an enemy without a blessing could defeat a superhuman."

Huh...that does make sense, but it seems unlikely a human without a blessing could do that in a 1v1... Baran thought.

"It's even worse if a blessed individual is also using equipment, as you might find their weapon complementing their blessing, or in some cases, their blessing is imbued into the weapon," Ryzen said.

"Imbued?" Sariel asked.

"Yeah, basically where their weapon has attributes of their blessing," Ryzen explained. "If you come across people like that, it usually proves to be an arduous fight."

"I see," Sariel said, feeling contented by the answer.

"It's best to rid the enemy of their gadgets and utilities. That is what we will be doing today," Ryzen declared, grasping the students' curiosity. "One by one, you will attempt to remove this wooden knife from my grasp."

"Heh, against someone like you?" Aiden jokingly asked. "Is that even possible for us now?"

"Well, I've got nothing better to teach right now, so why not give it a shot," Ryzen replied. "It'll improve your combat skills and awareness, I guess. Alright, who's first...?"

Immediately, Ryzen began to survey the students before him to choose the first participant. Suddenly, he pointed at Amber.

"Why don't you give it a shot?" Ryzen asked.

"Huh? M-Me first?" Amber questioned with a surprised and nervous expression.

"Ha, get the trash out of the way first...good thinking," Baran remarked. Amber's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment when she heard that.

"Don't listen to them...come on, let's see your skills," Ryzen encouraged. Feeling a stir of motivation, Amber stepped up.

"Nice, treat me like a villain you're fighting," Ryzen said. "And take my weapon."

"...Alright," Amber muttered.

"Hmph, this will be fun to watch," Baran said. Sariel and Ariel proceeded to side-eye Baran with slight annoyance.

"What is your name, soldier?" Ryzen asked, although he already knew.

"It's Amber, sir," She replied.

"Alright, show me what you're capable of. Come on!"

"Okay, let's go!" Amber said as she charged towards Ryzen. Immediately, she attempted to swipe the wooden knife from Ryzen's grip. It was so predictable, however, that Ryzen effortlessly moved his hand away.

"Too easy. Try harder than that," Ryzen advised.

Determined to snatch his weapon, Amber continued with a multitude of swipes. Unfortunately for her, they were still very predictable, which caused Ryzen to avoid them all.

"Heh, going just how we'd expect it to," Baran remarked with a smirk and folded arms.

Looks like I'll need to give her some more 'motivation.' Ryzen thought as he continued to evade her swipes.

Ryzen wasted no time and retaliated with a punch to her stomach, sending her soaring through the air for several meters.

"Gasp! Amber!" Ariel yelled with visible shock. The rest of the students were just as surprised at Ryzen's sudden strike. Their shock was intensified when Amber landed on the ground with a thud.

"Ouch..."

"C'mon, I told you to treat me like an enemy, so you gotta expect things like that," Ryzen said. "So stop being so predictable and come again, soldier."

"Yeah..." Amber said as she stood back up. Her eyes radiated a yellow glow, indicating that she activated her blessing. Seeing this, Ryzen smirked.

Ha, so that's the blessing, huh? Ryzen thought. A woman favored by the gods. How envious.

Amber darted at her opponent, and Ryzen simultaneously went into a fighting stance. When she engaged him, Ryzen initiated with a jab. Impressively, Amber was able to avoid his strike.

"Nice!" Ryzen complimented as Amber attempted another swipe for his knife. Although her swipe was much faster, he still avoided it and countered with a palm strike.

Amber couldn't dodge it, but what surprised Ryzen was that she could block the strike with her arm.

They engaged each other in close-quarters combat with Amber's goal of grabbing his knife. Her hand-to-hand combat skill improved as she defended herself from Ryzen's attacks, although they were casually thrown out.

So her ability improves her stats as well as her skills, huh? Ryzen pondered. The base of her blessing must be akin to reactive evolution.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"That's the stuff!" Ryzen said with a grin. "You're getting better!"

Ryzen smacked away several of her swipes before suddenly executing a kick to the side of Amber's stomach. She narrowly reacted and blocked, but the force was still enough to send her across the yard.

"This is getting sad now," Baran said to Aiden, who simply watched while rubbing his chin.

Ariel's expression increased in concern as she witnessed that.

Amber just finished crying yesterday, and I doubt a beating will do her mental state any better!

"Soldier, you aren't doing bad, but you won't save anyone at this level of strength," Ryzen said, which stunned Amber. "Do you want people to suffer at the hands of evil criminals? "

With those words uttered from Ryzen's lips, Amber's body started to glow yellow. He smirked slightly as if that was what Ryzen wanted the entire time.

Amber charged at Ryzen with a burst of speed and left a blur of yellow behind her. This sudden display of speed bewildered everyone, especially Baran.

Haha! She improved again!? Ryzen thought. She's moving closer to the speed of sound now!

Amber engaged him once again in high-speed close-quarters combat. Her fierceness, along with her improved skill, delighted Ryzen.

"There's no way I'll fail at saving people!!!" Amber declared while she fought. "That is why I joined this program! That is why I am alive!"

That's pretty cringe. Ryzen thought.

While fighting, Ryzen noticed her attack speed increasing. As her speed increased, so did the light radiating from her body.

Ryzen witnessed an opening and delivered a thrust kick to her stomach which sent her back, but she did not topple from her feet - she still stood standing.

"Impressive! But still not enough to take the weapon!" Ryzen yelled. Annoyed at her failure, Amber lunged at him as her body glowed.

The bright radiance induced visible concern among the students.

What's with this light? Ryzen internally questioned.

My goal is to save people. Amber thought with a fully determined expression. That's why I got triggered by what he said, but I must prove to god that I have what it takes to fulfill that mission!

Suddenly, a massive amount of light projected from Amber, which engulfed both her and Ryzen, shocking the students.

"Ugh, bright..." Aiden stated as he and his fellow soldiers covered their eyes. "What the heck is going on here?"

The light dissipated after a few moments, revealing a steam-filled area. Both Ryzen and Amber were unharmed, but Amber was panting from exhaustion.

Ryzen shifted his gaze to the now charred wooden knife in his hand. It began withering away as ashes, blowing away into the wind.

"Wow," Ryzen uttered with a slightly surprised expression. "I didn't expect that."

"Huff, Huff...I got rid...of the knife..." Amber said as she panted.

"Well, I suppose you did, but seeing as the enemy is still in commission and your exhausted state, getting rid of the knife wouldn't matter," Ryzen remarked. "But I suppose releasing the level of energy you released would have taken out criminals who aren't on my level."

"...Oh, sorry...I guess I...lost control for a bit..." Amber said. "I didn't think I'd have that much power in me now..."

"It's all good. You felt extreme conviction, didn't you?" Ryzen asked. "That's the reason for your sudden growth."

"I see," Amber said.

"You have an immense amount of potential...I've taken an interest in you, Amber," Ryzen added. "I'll help you get even stronger."

"...Thank you, sir!" Amber responded with a delighted expression. Wow, this teacher is so nice...

Do not be swayed by people, my daughter. The voice strangely said in Amber's head, which confused her.

H-Huh? Don't be...swayed by people. Amber asked, having no clue what her god meant.

You are pretty strong, Amber. You even have one of the most powerful gods by your side. Ryzen pondered. You're strong, but you're still a mortal. You won't get in my way.

"I was so worried, Amber!" As Amber returned to the group, Ariel expressed. "But you did amazing!"

"Yeah, you probably caught up to us," Sariel said. "And in such a short time."

"Aww, thanks, guys!" Amber happily responded.

"Well, that settles it. Amber's the real deal," Aiden stated. "I'm proud of her. I feel sorry for betting against her on the first day now."

"Yeah, she deserves to be here after all," Ivory stated.

While everyone had good things to say about Amber, Baran, on the other hand, gazed at her with a dropped jaw.

What!? There's no freaking way! Baran said internally. There's no way this bitch that struggled on a freaking wall in the obstacle course did this well two days later!!! There's no way she can beat me in a damn fight!!!

"Alright, let's continue with the class," Ryzen said as he pulled another wooden knife from his suit. "Who's next?"

With that said, everyone took their turns against Ryzen. Although they came with their diverse methods and blessings, not one could replicate what Amber had done due to Ryzen's sheer power and speed. However, individuals like Sariel, Ariel, and Aiden were able to come close several times to get the knife. They came close to snatching the knife from a heavily suppressed Ryzen.

Now that all the students took their turns, the session ran out.

"Good job, guys. This was a good first class," Ryzen said to the visibly panting students. "I'll probably do something significant next class if I'm up to it...probably not, though."

"Alright, goodbye, sir!" Ariel stated as she waved goodbye. After returning her wave, he left the yard.

There are many good blessings in this class. Ryzen thought. This means some 'weeding out' will happen soon, especially against Jack and Amber. Finally, my boring and cursed life will change in the future.

Amid his thoughts, Ryzen noticed Trixie approaching with Kreuger beside her.

"Oh, hello, guys," Ryzen greeted with a friendly smile.

"Hello, Mr. Ryzen!" Trixie responded in her usual energetic tone.

"Tsk, you again," Kreuger said with an annoyed expression.

"You have class now with those students, right?" Ryzen assumed.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna introduce Kreuger over here," Trixie confirmed.

"Well, good luck with that," Ryzen said. "Kreuger is a little blunt..."

"Tch, shut up. I thought that there was some reason why I needed to come to this program, but when I watched those students try to get the knife from you, it made me wonder why I'm even here," Kreuger explained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll understand why," Ryzen said as he walked off.

"C'mon, let's not waste any more fun time!" Trixie said.

"...Okay."

They both entered the yard through the barrier, which drew the attention of the students.

"Hello, guys! The coolest and most fun teacher is here to teach you!" Trixie stated. Her manner of speaking bred negativity as most students (including Sariel) cringed.

"Nearly thirty years old..." Sariel muttered. "Nearly thirty years old, speaking like this to adults."

"Huh? Who the hell is that?" Aiden wondered as his gaze shifted to Kreuger.

"This is a new student!" Trixie answered. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" She said as she nudged Kreuger with her elbow.

There was a moment of silence as Kreuger scanned through the students, which confused them.

"Sigh...my name is Leo Kreuger," Kreuger said. "I've been watching you guys fight against Ryzen...and it's disappointing."

"Huh?" Aiden uttered.

"I said it's disappointing. To think these are the soldiers potentially trained to fight against Jack the Ripper," Kreuger explained which immediately shocked everyone, especially Amber.

"What are you saying...?" Trixie whispered with shock on her face.

"Trained to fight..." Ariel said.

"Jack the Ripper?" Aiden continued.

"There's no way anyone here will survive even a minute against him. But don't worry, the only reason I joined this damned program is to carry out my goals without worrying about breaking laws," Kreuger explained. "What are my goals, you might ask? Well, I want nothing more than to kill that bastard Jack the Ripper myself."

"So this is what Ryzen meant about you being blunt..." Trixie stated.

He wants to kill Jack the Ripper...?