Attendant Knight Assessment (2)

"Instructor, let him take the assessment again." The one who spoke was Jiang Hu, the first to pass the assessment and the oldest among the children.

"Yes! Instructor, give Haochen another chance."

"Instructor, Haochen trains hard every day. Let him try again."

For a moment, voices pleading on Long Haochen's behalf rose from nearly every boy. This was the goodwill he had accumulated through treating others kindly. Besides, they were only children, still far removed from conflicts of interest.

Balza said in a deep voice, "Quiet." The spacious hall fell silent at once.

Balza said, "Fine, I'll give him one chance. But for the sake of fairness, Long Haochen, you must first defeat Jiang Hu in a one-on-one duel before you can earn this opportunity. The same goes for all of you who failed. Whoever can defeat Jiang Hu will be given another chance at the assessment, but only within the next three days."

Long Haochen was overjoyed. After thanking his companions once more, he turned to Balza. "Thank you, Instructor."

When Balza saw the sunny, pure smile on that face as beautiful as an exquisite young girl's, even he, a man, could not help but stare for a moment. Ignoring Long Haochen, he instead looked at Jiang Hu and said blandly, "Give it everything you've got. Otherwise, I'll revoke your title of Attendant Knight. Understood?"

"Yes." Jiang Hu answered, drawing the Wooden Sword from his back. The other boys spread out, clearing an open space.

"Haochen, be careful. I won't go easy on you." Jiang Hu held his Wooden Sword before him and gave Long Haochen a knight's salute.

Long Haochen returned the salute. "Brother Jiang, please."

Jiang Hu gave a low shout and surged forward with a step, his Wooden Sword chopping straight toward Long Haochen's left shoulder.

Long Haochen appeared very calm. His movements seemed half a beat slow; he did not move until Jiang Hu's Wooden Sword had already traveled halfway. The Wooden Sword in his hand swept upward, striking precisely at the lowest part of Jiang Hu's blade.

With a soft thud, despite Jiang Hu's spiritual energy clearly exceeding Long Haochen's, his strike was actually knocked aside.

At the sight of that strike, a flicker of surprise flashed through Instructor Balza's eyes.

Although Jiang Hu's Wooden Sword had been knocked aside, he reacted quickly. Borrowing the momentum, he spun, using the power of his waist and back to drive his arm. The Wooden Sword in his hand circled once before sweeping out in a horizontal slash.

Jiang Hu's adaptation was excellent. For someone his age, being able to do this much was already quite impressive. Yet Long Haochen's response was even more astonishing.

The instant he knocked aside Jiang Hu's attack, he had already stepped forward. The distance between them had been close to begin with, and with that step, he was already at Jiang Hu's side. At that moment, Jiang Hu was in the middle of his turn.

How could he attack? The question arose in Balza's mind as well. A Wooden Sword was three feet long, and Long Haochen had already closed in tight. There was absolutely no room to wield it.

But at that very moment, Long Haochen had already launched his attack. He used the sword hilt.

He lowered his body slightly and thrust the hilt upward, striking directly beneath Jiang Hu's ribs. Long Haochen had not even put force into this blow, yet Jiang Hu's body stumbled backward, while his sweeping Wooden Sword passed right over Long Haochen's head.

"Stop," Balza shouted.

A sharp gleam flashed in Balza's eyes as he said gravely, "You lost your balance, and your move had been carried too far. Jiang Hu, you lost. If Long Haochen had put a little more force into that sword hilt, you'd already be lying on the ground."

Jiang Hu scratched his head awkwardly. "Haochen, you're really sly."

Long Haochen sheathed his sword and stood there, looking apologetically at Jiang Hu, who had only just managed to steady himself.

Balza nodded at Long Haochen. "You may attempt the assessment a second time."

Returning to the wooden stake, Long Haochen's expression visibly turned solemn. Such an expression on a boy like him gave people an unusual feeling.

Gripping the Wooden Sword tightly with both hands, the persistence in Long Haochen's eyes grew markedly stronger. It seemed as though a faint, flickering halo had appeared around him. Most of all, in those clear azure-blue eyes, his gaze was utterly resolute.

Suddenly, Long Haochen spun fiercely, swinging the Wooden Sword in his hand with a determination far beyond his years.

Bang! The stone bead bounced, while Long Haochen himself staggered back a step from the recoil. The Wooden Sword nearly fell from his hand, and thin threads of blood could clearly be seen seeping from the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers.

"Spiritual energy: eleven. Passed." Balza's astonished voice rang out. From spiritual energy nine to spiritual energy eleven, it sounded like merely a difference of two. But during the previous assessment, Long Haochen had clearly used all his strength! To achieve such a tremendous increase now meant that he had pushed his own potential to its limit.

After a brief moment of surprise, Balza returned to normal. He told Long Haochen to go to the infirmary and have his wound bandaged, then continue with the remaining assessments.

"The assessment is over. Those who failed need not come tomorrow. Those who passed will be assigned new instructors tomorrow. Dismissed. After collecting your Essence Replenishing Liquid, you may go home."

"Thank you, Instructor!" the boys shouted in unison.

"Long Haochen, stay behind."

The boys left amid cheers, whether they had passed the assessment or not. At their age, they could easily find joy and happiness.

Only Long Haochen and Instructor Balza remained in the vast hall of the Odin Sub-Temple.

"Haochen, tell me, why did you choose that method of attack during your fight with Jiang Hu?" Balza asked sternly.

Long Haochen answered without hesitation, "Because my strength is inferior to Brother Jiang's, I could only look for his weak points. You taught us that when chopping, the sword tip is where the force is greatest, and the closer one gets to the hilt, the less force there is. Then, when he launched his second attack, I noticed that his waist was where his center of gravity lay. So I closed in, preventing him from fully exerting his strength. Once his center of gravity was broken, he couldn't continue attacking."

Balza's eyes were filled with surprise. "In other words, you learned all of this through observation?" He had never taught these children actual combat, because at their age, laying a solid foundation was most important; it was not yet time to practice fighting. Yet Long Haochen's calmness in battle and his precise grasp of timing truly shook him.

"Alright, you should go home too." Balza waved a hand. He vaguely felt that this child possessed a quality the other boys lacked.

"Instructor, my Essence Replenishing Liquid for this week..." A trace of shyness appeared on Long Haochen's lovely little face as he asked tentatively.

"Oh, go collect it."

"Goodbye, Instructor." Long Haochen left in high spirits.

Watching his skipping figure disappear, a smile could not help appearing on Balza's face. "This child is kindhearted by nature and willing to work hard. He also seems to have quite a talent for combat. Truly a rare and promising seedling!"

"Do you know why he can so easily find an opponent's weak points?" At that moment, a clear, pleasant voice sounded beside Balza. The voice had come without warning, startling him badly.

At some unknown point, a middle-aged man had appeared beside Balza. He looked to be in his thirties and wore a simple, plain robe, yet he possessed a pair of eyes as brilliant as stars. Deep within those eyes shone traces of melancholy and remembrance, and even a hint of pain.