Standing before the empty training grounds,
"What? You want to learn profound and exquisite sword techniques, but you refuse to practice basic swordsmanship drills? The kind that even a three-year-old can do? Nonsense! You can't even walk and you want to run? Do any of you even understand what a sword technique is? What swordsmanship means? What the difference between the two is? You — yes, you, stand up and tell me."
"Wrong! Far too one-sided! Listen up, all of you, craning your necks and paying close attention, because no one else will ever be this generous in telling you! Swordsmanship is about defeating your opponent in the shortest time using the most appropriate, convenient, and energy-efficient method. A sword technique, on the other hand, is a training method that chains several efficient swordsmanship movements together. But for the lot of you, practicing sword techniques is still far too premature! It's like building a house without laying the foundation — one strong gust of wind and it all comes crashing down."
"Why do I have you drill the eight fundamental swordsmanship movements? Simple. Every swordsmanship movement, no matter how complex, is built from these eight: thrust, cleave, uppercut, parry, flick, sweep, slash, and block. I want you to practice these eight fundamentals until they become second nature, until your body reacts instinctively. That way, even if your opponent's blade is so fast your eyes can't follow it, your body's instinct will automatically execute these eight basic movements and save you in a critical moment. Only when you reach that level can you say you have the ability to defend yourself in swordsmanship."
"Yes, that is my personal secret to sword training, and today I'm sharing it with you without holding anything back. I'm sure you've all seen my duel against the Silver Instructor. The reason I won is precisely because I've drilled these eight basic swordsmanship movements into my body's instinct. There is no invincible sword technique — only the most solid fundamentals can enable me to mount the most direct counterattack on instinct during a duel. That's why you saw me win with just a few strikes."
"A sword technique? Teaching you sword techniques right now would be. Without mastering the fundamentals, even the finest sword technique is nothing but a flashy facade — pretty to look at but designed to fool people. Enough talk, all of you. Sharpen your focus and get back to practicing those fundamental swordsmanship movements. Do each of the eight a thousand times over. The twenty most diligent among you will earn my personal swordsmanship instruction."
……
Those days could never be replayed. Time truly flew — in the blink of an eye, another three years had passed. The Ikado badge had already been returned to the academy's Hall of Honor, awaiting its next owner. After Lorist had earned the Gold
Lorist recalled his excuse at the time: "Three badges pinned to my chest look terrible. People who don't know better would think I'm a badge salesman. Might as well merge these two Gold Instructor badges into one."
Fortunately, the academy had been understanding enough to agree to his request.
But what on earth was Headmaster Levins, that old fogey, scheming about this time? Lorist certainly didn't believe
Over the past three years, Lorist had dealt with Headmaster Levins on several occasions. In his mind, that old fogey was the very embodiment of crafty and cunning. One lapse in attention and you'd end up being sold by him while helping him count the money. Dealing with him required extra caution.
At the beginning of this year, when the academy organized an expedition team to investigate the Ruins Archipelago, Lorist had two reasons for wanting to join. First, he wanted to put aside the entanglements of his emotions and give himself time to cool down. Second, he hoped to use the many mid-to-high-tier magical beasts on the archipelago as training, to see if he could break through the peak of the Ming Jin stage — where he had been stuck for half a year — and enter the realm of An Jin. So he went to see Headmaster Levins to express his desire to join the expedition.
The result was that Instructor Kruder first stuck his nose in, privately sparring with Lorist. Then Headmaster Levins cited the excuse that Lorist's combat force had not reached the Silver tier and thus didn't meet the requirements for joining the expedition, forcing Lorist to agree to several conditions before finally arranging for him to join the expedition team in the role of a logistics assistant.
Standing at the door of the Headmaster's office, Lorist took a deep breath to steady himself after climbing five flights of stairs, then reached out and knocked.
"Come in."
Lorist pushed the door open.
"Oh, it's Little Lorist! You're back?"
Lorist lowered his head. "Yes, Headmaster. I've returned."
Headmaster Levins wore a kindly smile. "Come, come, sit down. Let me brew you a cup of Maxis to try — this is this year's fresh batch. Quite good, actually."
"Oh, Headmaster, please don't trouble yourself. I'm not thirsty," Lorist quickly declined.
"Sit, sit. When you're here, don't be so formal — make yourself at home." Headmaster Levins placed Maxis beans into a small silver mortar and ground them, then poured the grounds into a silver pot, added water, and set it on the stove.
"Little Lorist, have you heard about the academy's dueling notice?"
"I have. But Headmaster, I don't understand — is the academy really organizing this duel just because, as Shrade says, they want to collect registration fees from challengers? Or is there some other reason I'm not aware of?" Lorist was a little displeased; after all, he was the one being challenged.
"Unhappy, I'm sure. But this matter came up suddenly, and I had to wrong you first. I hope you can win glory for the academy this time and give those other academies a slap in the face."
Headmaster Levins settled into the high-backed chair across from Lorist. "The situation is somewhat complicated. Let me start from the beginning, and I hope you can understand this old man's difficulties."
"You know the Yellow Ribbon Academy next door to ours?"
"I do. Their butler training and swordsman-guard programs are quite impressive," Lorist replied.
"Two months ago, their old Headmaster, Sir Aristburg, passed away from a heart attack. Tragically, it was sudden — he left no will. His children have been fighting viciously over the estate. None of them are willing to carry on the Headmaster's work. They're planning to package the entire Yellow Ribbon Academy and sell it off, then split the money. When I heard the news, I sent people to negotiate. In the end, we acquired the Yellow Ribbon Academy for one hundred and eighty thousand gold Forde and merged it into our academy."
Headmaster Levins was visibly pleased recounting this. Although the Yellow Ribbon Academy wasn't particularly renowned — ranking in the lower tier among the twenty-odd academies in
"Oh, that's wonderful news! With the Yellow Ribbon Academy merged in, our Dawn Academy's strength will be significantly enhanced. We might even climb higher in the top ten academy rankings." Lorist promptly offered his congratulations.
"It's good news, yes, but the financial pressure that one hundred and eighty thousand gold Forde has put on us is considerable." Headmaster Levins lifted the silver pot from the stove, set a silver cup before each of them, and poured the steaming Maxis.
"That's milk, and this is honey crystal — add whichever you prefer. I'm old; I still like it plain." Headmaster Levins raised his cup, gently blowing on the steam, and gestured for Lorist to help himself.
"Our academy's annual tuition income is sixty to seventy thousand gold Forde. Adding social donations, that's another twenty to thirty thousand, and then there are our off-campus properties and miscellaneous revenue — total annual income comes to around one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty thousand gold coins. Sounds like a lot, but our expenses are equally significant. The salaries and benefits for our instructors and staff run fifty to sixty thousand per year. Textbooks and equipment wear and replenishment cost another ten to twenty thousand annually — and the bulk of that goes to the lances used in knight training and the practice swords for swordsmanship classes."
"Beyond that, financial aid for impoverished students and rewards for outstanding students cost around ten thousand each year. Then there are the alchemy research funds and the research grants for a dozen or more specialized courses — another twenty to thirty thousand. An expedition like this year's trip to the Ruins Archipelago cost over four thousand gold coins. Add in all the other miscellaneous expenses around the academy, and simply put, with an annual income of one hundred and twenty thousand, we're lucky if we end the year with a few thousand or ten thousand in savings. If we're unlucky and some unexpected expense comes up, a deficit of several thousand gold Forde in a single year is perfectly normal."
Headmaster Levins sighed. "Spending one hundred and eighty thousand gold Forde to merge with the Yellow Ribbon Academy — the price was steep, but it concerns the growth and development of our Dawn Academy. The opportunity simply could not be missed. However, our academy's accumulated savings over the years, combined with mortgages on several properties in Morant City, only allowed us to raise one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins. Considering that we'll still need funds for renovation work after the merger, I decided to submit a loan application to the Academy Friendship Society, hoping to secure a loan of fifty thousand gold Forde to give our Dawn Academy a better chance at development."
At this point, Headmaster Levins grew somewhat agitated. "I never expected that when I submitted the loan application at the Academy Friendship Society, I would be humiliated! That old bastard Weston actually said, 'Why bother with a loan? As long as Dawn Academy fires all its Gold and Silver Instructors, the academy's finances will be just fine. Your academy can already make someone with combat force at the
"Outrageous! What utter nonsense! I immediately got into an argument with that old bastard. Do you know what he said? He claimed that our academy's so-called invincible Silver-tier Instructor Lorist wasn't nearly as formidable as advertised — that we had deliberately inflated his reputation for publicity and student recruitment. His evidence? Several Silver Instructors who resigned during your cross-tier challenge are now teaching at Saint Maso Academy. They said the reason they left was that our academy had forced them to intentionally lose to you, so you could achieve thirty consecutive victories and earn the Ikado badge — all to manufacture a talking point for publicity."
Headmaster Levins watched with satisfaction as the veins on Lorist's hands stood out, his fingers tightening around the silver cup. "In a rage, I made a bet with that old bastard. I bet that you could challenge every single Silver Instructor at Saint Maso Academy and not lose a single match. At that point, all the other academy heads who were watching for entertainment jumped in, eager to participate. So it turned into a wager between our academy and every other academy in the district. The stakes are that fifty thousand gold Forde loan — if we win, we won't have to repay it. If you lose, we'll not only have to repay the loan double, but I, this old man, will have to host a banquet and publicly apologize to them all."
"Little Lorist, forgive an old man's stubbornness. I put you in front of all these challenges without your consent — but at that moment, I simply couldn't swallow that insult, especially coming from that old bastard at Saint Maso Academy."
Every instructor and student at Dawn Academy considered surpassing Saint Maso Academy's ranking to be their greatest goal and hope. By the same token, Saint Maso Academy's instructors and students worked tirelessly to prevent Dawn Academy from overtaking them. The two academies were natural rivals. And the "old bastard" Headmaster Levins referred to was Headmaster Weston of Saint Maso Academy.
Lorist stood up. "Thank you for the Maxis, Headmaster. It really is excellent. I should take my leave now. Please rest assured — I won't let you down."
"Don't rush off — wait a moment, there are still a couple of matters to take care of." Headmaster Levins tugged on a bell pull cord along the wall, and soon a middle-aged female clerk arrived from the adjacent office.
"Lenna, go fetch the paper envelope from the document room — the one labeled with Instructor Lorist's name," Headmaster Levins ordered.
The paper envelope bearing the name
Lorist accepted the copper keys and was about to take his leave when Headmaster Levins spoke again: "Oh, right — two more things I nearly forgot. First, the Combat Force Enlightenment class officially begins in seven days. The enrollment is larger this time, so the academy has arranged for them to use the main hall of the former Yellow Ribbon Academy. Second, the academy has officially approved the establishment of the Swordsmanship Society. Its headquarters will be set up in the former Yellow Ribbon Academy's swordsman training hall. You were elected society president by the students — get the society's rules and regulations finalized and submitted as soon as possible. Also, the Enforcement Department has proposed using elite members of the Swordsmanship Society as auxiliary manpower for the Academy Enforcement Department. Discuss the arrangements with Director Shrade, and don't forget."
"Understood, Headmaster. I know what to do."