Broken Ribs

The clown was me all along.

As these rich merchants' and farmers' sons cheered, excitedly anticipating Chal roughing up Colin, they were unaware of the feelings of the noble children standing by.

"Even after over a year of etiquette lessons, commoners are still commoners. Utterly uncouth."

Ms. Anna, hugging her large chest, also wore an unhappy expression and shook her head gently.

"Come on, Colin. I'll show you the gap between bloodlines." Chal, like a rampaging gorilla, gripped the hilt of his training greatsword and held the sword upright before his chest, roaring.

Colin smiled faintly, unperturbed. He held the greatsword with both hands, one grip reversed, at his waist, the blade tip pointing down, adopting a "dragging sword" stance.

"Hoo." Colin took a deep breath, his chest visibly expanding, making his already well-developed pectoral muscles reach an exaggerated size. Thick veins surfaced on his sword-wielding arms. He stepped forward with his right foot, exuding a weight like a mountain and the momentum of thunder.

In the blink of an eye, Colin was in front of Chal, unleashing immense force with both arms, swinging his sword from bottom to top, directly attacking Chal's center.

An expert's move reveals their skill.

This sword strike unleashed Colin's full power, pushing his recently improved bloodline, attribute points, and two tiers of Roer Military Swordsmanship to their absolute limit.

The sword's momentum was like thunder, unstoppable.

"What?" Bill's eyes widened, his face a mask of disbelief, like seeing a flying snake. As Colin's best friend, he absolutely refused to believe Colin could unleash such a strike.

The noble children, who had been watching indifferently, lost their composed expressions. Their mouths fell open, eyes wide, silently uttering, "Holy shit."

"This is impossible. Didn't this guy's bloodline upgrade fail? Even if it succeeded, he shouldn't be a completely different person! The difference is too huge." Brian's head buzzed like ten thousand mosquitoes. The training greatsword in his hand clattered to the ground, missing his foot by a hair's breadth, which would have been comical.

The rich merchants' and farmers' sons who had been loudly urging Chal to teach Colin a lesson were now like geese with their necks choked, their village bully demeanor completely gone.

"Impossible. He couldn't have hidden his strength under my nose, nor would he need to. Before taking the Bloodline Potion, Colin was indeed a diligent but mediocre student. Even if the Bloodline Potion succeeded, there shouldn't be such a drastic change. Something must have happened during this time." Ms. Anna could no longer stand with her chest hugged, her arms falling unconsciously as she stared at Colin's sword strike with a dazed expression.

The surrounding students and teachers were momentarily stunned, amazed by Colin's sword strike, let alone Chal, who bore the brunt of it. He felt only fear.

At that moment, he had an illusion, as if he weren't facing his classmate, but a fierce and highly experienced Knight.

But the fear was fleeting, replaced by humiliation. After being cuckolded by his girlfriend, now this. He had lost all face.

"Ah!!!" Chal unleashed all his courage and swung his sword in fury. This strike was also extremely sharp, displaying his twelve-tenths strength.

"Clang!!" The two training greatswords collided, sparks flying between the unsharpened, blunt blades. After a moment of stalemate, Chal stumbled, his wrists going numb, almost losing his grip on the heavy training greatsword.

Colin didn't give him a chance to recover. He stepped forward, rotated his grip, and smoothly deflected Chal's sword, making him lose his balance.

At this moment, if Colin had thrust his sword tip at Chal, even with a blunt sword, it would likely have been fatal. He hesitated for a moment, then ultimately used the sword hilt, smashing it hard into Chal's chest.

With a "thump," Chal flew outward like a cannonball, landing on the ground with his back facing up. Moist soil splashed up, landing on Chal's face.

Chal didn't bother to wipe away the dirt. He lay on the ground with his arms spread, staring blankly at the sky, his eyes wide open, unconscious. His training greatsword rolled to the side.

The scene fell silent, the atmosphere eerily tense. A moment later, heavy breathing could be heard. The students who had been watching the spectacle and cheering for Chal to teach Colin a lesson now wore expressions of fear, their previous arrogance gone.

A fallen, embarrassed noble was not frightening; within this school, they could mock Colin at will. However, a powerful, formidable noble was another matter entirely.

Despite Brian's sarcastic remarks towards Colin, Brian had never directed such sarcasm at other nobles.

Ms. Anna broke the silence. She frowned, so astonished that she hadn't intervened to stop the final blow. If Colin had used his sword tip, someone would have died.

The rules in this regard actually favored the nobles.

The school allowed duels, but if injuries occurred, the homeroom teacher would be the first to be held accountable. However, if a noble killed a commoner, the noble would receive a very light punishment. Conversely, a commoner would most likely face the death penalty.

Ms. Anna walked over and looked down at Chal's injuries. He was unconscious, his breathing ragged, and a large section of his left chest was caved in. She gently touched Chal's sturdy chest and pressed down, revealing at least three broken ribs. Fortunately, his strong physique had absorbed the force of that final blow.

His heart might have momentarily stopped, but it quickly resumed beating.

In summary, he was seriously injured but not dead.

"Carry him to the infirmary." Ms. Anna showed no sympathy for Chal. She simply looked up and said indifferently to two civilian students.

These two civilian students silently came forward, lifted Chal, picked up his sword, and hurried towards the infirmary.

"Setting aside Strength and Speed, judging by the sword angles and the shift in momentum, your swordsmanship has improved greatly. Beautiful." Although Ms. Anna was surprised by Colin's progress in such a short time, she did not hesitate to praise this student she had always admired.

"It's all due to your careful guidance." Colin smiled faintly and bowed slightly.

Ms. Anna chuckled softly. Considering the behavior of these uncouth commoner students and the demeanor of this young noble before her, it was indeed true that nobles and commoners were different.

Even some Transcendent individuals, who had truly earned noble status and surnames through their own swords, needed several generations to cultivate such upbringing and conversational skills.

"No. Your sudden, significant improvement has nothing to do with me." Ms. Anna did not take credit, shaking her head.

Colin smiled and did not pursue the topic further. He raised his head and scanned the crowd, his eyes landing on Brian. He smiled and said, "Classmate Brian, please forgive my presumption. My swordsmanship has recently hit a bottleneck, and I urgently need to spar to break through. Your swordsmanship is among the best of our classmates, so please guide me."