Jin welcod the approaching Silvia with a raised hand. The girl blinked before loosening her stiff expression, lting in joy as she clapped his hand.
A crisp and palpable tension rose amongst the candidates; their eyes were sharp, gleaming dangerously toward Silvia.
Girl candidates clenched their teeth, their faces crumpled in heavy determination, seeing Silvia’s spectacular display of swordsmanship.
The boys stared at the silver-haired girl with heated gazes. They recalled her valor and beauty, which kept their hearts pounding hard.
Allen and Lily stood on the side, staring at Jin’s group wide-eyed. The overwhelming difference in their skills halted their brain.
"You did well". Jin nodded, then patted the silver-haired girl’s head.
"Fufu, thank you". Silvia giggled behind the blush on her cheeks as she lowered her gaze.
In a blink, the boys’ eyes snapped open, their pupils dilating into a dot as they glared at Jin. Hatred clouded their vision.
Jin poked the girl’s forehead, knitting her brows together in a frown.
"Okay, that’s done. Don’t forget to keep training your basics".
"Um, I will". Silvia lifted her gaze and nodded firmly, keeping his word scribbled in her heart.
Dannan, who saw everything that happened, exhaled sharply.
’So, the girl was trained by that boy. ’ He paused before chuckling as if mocking himself. ’No wonder she turned into a monster. ’
The man stood up, raising his palm, which still trembled from Silvia’s constant deflecting, making him lose a bit of his sense of touch.
Her swordsmanship was subtle like a flowing stream, yet it carried a heavy current that could push everything on its path. It was unstoppable, and her potential was limitless.
’And she still hasn’t used all her power. ’ Dannan muttered, holding back the chill that seeped to his bones.
Within the last mont of her attack, he faintly saw a silhouette of a coiling beast, floating behind the girl’s back on her last attack.
The image pushed his physical limit until he realized he was on four.
’That’s ridiculous. ’ Dannan shook his head and turned toward the black-haired boy. ’And that boy’.
Dannan still recalled the mont he stepped forward and faced the boy. An insurmountable aura, akin to a blade held by the God of Death, hovered behind the boy.
Its silver edge glinted ferociously, chipping his life away, slowly and horrifiedly.
As soone who once lived as a seasoned knight, he faced nurous situations in battle that honed his survival instinct to its limit to this day.
However, for the first ti since Knights Day or senior teachers in the academy, Dannan t an enigma that was once told in legend.
The boy was like a walking destruction—a higher being in human skin, hiding beneath those calm, glimring erald eyes.
His body shivered again, and he was lucky to still hold onto his slipping consciousness. But the words he said to the boy resurfaced.
Dread washed the blood in his expression as he gulped and muttered inside. ’Well, if that was the case’.
"Candidate, Jin, can you please co forward?".
"Yes?".
Jin, who had been called, tilted his head and approached the middle spot, where the instructor had beco silent after the duel with Silvia was over.
"Let ask you this?". Dannan sighed in relief, seeing that the boy held no weapon. "Are you that young lady teacher?".
His brows furrowed, unable to understand the aning behind those questions. He glanced toward Silvia, who had heard the conversation. She nodded, telling him that everything would be alright.
’If she didn’t mind it, then’. Jin twisted his neck and faced the instructor head-on. "Yeah, she learned swordsmanship under , but she created her own style rather than copying , so...".
"Alright, good." Dannan cut off Jin’s explanation, which drew the attention of the other candidates to him.
The man gazed at the spectator above, then opened his mouth wide to make an announcent.
"I admit it. This boy’s swordsmanship was above my own, so I recomnded that he beco a temporary instructor under my na. Don’t worry; I will take responsibility for everything."
"Dannan, stop this joke in an instant!" A woman in her mid-thirties stood up, her deafening voice echoing throughout the open area.
She had shoulder-length wavy brown hair and wore the sa uniform as Dannan, but she was more prim and closed.
"Ah, Elna, it’s okay, right?".
In the face of the woman’s outburst, the teacher who was portrayed as fierce and stern was actually a laid-back person and a bit of a pushover.
"Stop it, Dannan. You have no right to defy the principal order." Elna’s roar reverberated across the arena, making the candidates flinch.
"Elna, lower your voice a bit, you are scaring the candidates". Dannan placed a finger on his lips and continued. "My arms were still numb from the earlier spar. You guys noticed it too, right, the girl power?".
Elna and the other spectators above exchange glances in whispers. True to what Dannan had said, Silvia’s strength was beyond what a candidate should possess.
The woman’s face twisted in a deep frown, swallowing her bitterness about the fact that an instructor had lost and asked a candidate as a substitute.
While the people on the spectator seat were shrouded in a deep, heavy mood, Dannan raised his voice like an echo. It resonated within the place.
"Don’t worry. This boy was the teacher of that girl, so he is stronger than her and in particular."
The surroundings turned dead quiet. All spectators and candidates gazed at Jin, who exhaled, resigned to his own fate.
A distant murmur escaped one of the spectators before it spread like a wildfire in the area. Their talk started with doubt and ended with a deep, poisonous grudge, especially for the candidates.
The image from earlier still lingered in their minds when Jin stood next to their new idol. His gesture of patting her head invoked a blazing emotion that lit an ember in their eyes.
"So it’s decided then, can you do that, candidate Jin?". Dannan clapped his hands together in a bow.
"What’s in it for ?".
"Don’t worry, I will put a good word in for the selection later, so...".
The man reeled closer as he whispered sothing about the next agenda of the test after the duel: involving teachers in deciding who would be designated as a representative this year.
’That was unnecessary’. It hasn’t even slipped into Jin’s mind to beco a representative. All Dannan’s sweet words fell on deaf ears.
Jin exhaled, thinking why things had sprawled into this way. But a certain thought resurfaced in his mind.
’Wait, if it’s like this. I can see who the other main character is in the ga’. Jin had already spotted Allen the Hero, Lily, his childhood friend, and the Holy Maiden. ’Hmm, who was it again? I faintly rember their nas. ’
"How about it, candidate Jin?".
Jin snapped back from his daze and rubbed his throbbing temple before nodding reluctantly. "Fine, explain the rule, please".
"Thank you".
Dannan began to explain what he should do if he t a weapon master, martial artist, or mage, then, when the man wanted to explain what an instructor shouldn’t do.
"Too long, I just have to give them a chance to prove their skill, right?".
"Right, please and do, Jin." Danna stepped out of the arena and stood beside the candidates.
His re presence invoked sweat trickling down their forehead. They swallowed their trembling nerves and focused their attention on the front.
"Alright, who is next?" Jin’s voice shook the arena, as the audience witnessed a new legend being born within the academy’s long history.
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