A Farcical Assessment

Dina led everyone to the open space behind the Old Castle, leaving the Training Ground in the middle for her Second Young Master and Dick, the Magic Apprentice.

The Training Ground was covered in fallen leaves, looking bleak and desolate. Several weapon racks stood around it, rusted from age, their mostly heavy weapons lying dull and lifeless upon them.

A massive seven-meter dragon lance was planted diagonally in the ground, particularly eye-catching. Beside it stood a solid Wolf-tooth Mace covered in spikes.

Austin secretly scoffed. As a top-ranking noble, no matter how terrible your reputation was, you should at least have a pair of elegant longswords for appearances' sake. Yet the weapon racks were filled with nothing but vulgar heavy weapons. It was simply an insult to the title of nobility.

Still, the old mage could not be bothered to say more. He did not want to remain another moment and only wanted to finish quickly and leave this utterly ruined Old Castle.

Dick, who had only just advanced to Beginner Mage, was merely a collateral descendant of a low-ranking noble family in the Royal City.

When he had shown magical talent as a child, Austin had taken him in as an apprentice and kept him at his side to train.

After Dick entered the ranks of Element Users, he had also inherited a noble title and soared to prominence.

Though he was only a Beginner Water Mage, Dick had always taken great pride in his identity and often referred to himself as Mage Dick.

Looking at Allen a hundred yards away, Dick curled his lip disdainfully.

He was nothing more than a useless wastrel who had spent his days drinking and chasing pleasure in this backwater. If his father had not been a duke, why would Dick and his mentor have rushed here overnight to waste their time?

Outside the Training Ground, Austin narrowed his eyes and said emotionlessly, "The two sides will stand one hundred yards apart. The match ends when one side admits defeat or is knocked down. Begin."

"Go, Second Young Master! If you win, I won't wear maid outfits anymore! I won't wear anything at all!" Dina cheered for her master, hopping excitedly.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Cracks continuously appeared in the stone paving beneath Dina's feet.

Allen's face turned green.

Sure enough, Austin wore a look of utter disgust.

Dick held his staff, deeply troubled.

He did not know which spell he should use to defeat his opponent. Should he use the Beginner Water Arrow spell he had just learned, or the flashy Water Elemental Explosion? Should he summon a water shield to impress everyone? Though that seemed rather unnecessary. Everyone knew that the noble trash before him could not cast a single spell. At a hundred yards in a mage duel, his opponent was simply a living target for him to toy with.

After all, his mentor was watching from outside the field. If he defeated this Trash Baron, famous throughout the kingdom, perhaps he would enter the circles of the Royal City's top nobles. Maybe some young noble lady would hear of his deeds, admire him, and even offer herself in marriage. The trash standing not far away was said to have offended quite a few noble ladies in the Royal City.

Dick sank helplessly into his blissful fantasies.

Allen was troubled as well.

He simply had no idea how mages fought. The books in the Old Castle did record many famous mages' deeds, along with descriptions of flames blotting out the sky, Giant Waves dozens of meters high, and so on. He had always treated them as novels.

Looking at Dick in the distance, Allen was deeply curious how such a frail body could summon power mighty enough to destroy heaven and earth.

But reality gave him no time to think. Dick moved, his shriveled lips chanting an obscure and incomprehensible incantation.

Remembering the terrifying scenes described in books after mages summoned magic, alarm bells blared in Allen's mind. He casually grabbed a strange giant shield from the ground beside him, gritted his teeth, and charged forward.

Dina, watching from the sidelines, was dumbfounded. She had no idea why her Second Young Master had picked up that solid wooden door panel. That door panel, taller than a person, was the one she had accidentally kicked apart last time. Afraid Old Butler would scold her, she had secretly placed it beneath the shield rack at the Training Ground.

Dina was not the only one stunned. Dick was dumbfounded as well. He had only chanted the first half of his spell when he saw his opponent pick up a giant door panel taller than himself and charge at him with a vicious expression as if he wanted to slaughter his entire family.

Dick, born into a low-ranking noble family, had always trained diligently enough, and his spell chanting was quite solid. In his panic, he summoned three arrows formed from Water Element. The arrows gleamed azure blue as they shot through the air with piercing whistles.

Allen, who had already endured countless trials of blood and fire in his previous life, did not lower his guard in the slightest. Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit, much less someone like him, who had experienced innumerable battles.

Holding the shield in front of himself, he watched the Water Arrows strike it and turn into three splashes that vanished into the wind. The solid wooden door panel was left without the slightest mark.

With a bang, the door panel flew past Dick's head and smashed into the stone wall.

Dick had already gone limp with fright. The door panel had grazed past his head, and the wind it kicked up felt like blades cutting his skin.

Allen, who had placed eighth—also last—in the army-wide grenade-throwing competition back then, had always had terrible aim.

Dick was fortunate, because if that solid wooden door had truly struck his face, his head would probably have looked like a smashed watermelon.

Dick was also unfortunate, because Allen had followed right behind it and was already before him.

With ten Gold Coins filling his mind, Baron Allen leaped up and smashed an Eye-Sealing Hammer into Dick's face.

"Let's see you blot out the sky with flames!" Allen threw an uppercut, and Dick felt at least three of his ribs break.

"Let's see you raise Giant Waves dozens of meters high!" Another knee strike landed, and Dick clutched his crotch as he sucked in a cold breath.

"Let's see you destroy heaven and earth!" A textbook-perfect high whip kick sent Dick's two front teeth flying.

After a side kick sent Dick flying like a dead dog, Allen flexed his fists and said, "And let's see you be born this ugly!"

Dick lay on the ground, nearly half-dead, staring blankly at Allen. His eyes could not focus at all.

I... I just wanted to cast the most basic Water Arrow... Dick began desperately recalling whether he had offended this man somewhere before. This bastard had been far too vicious!!!

Though he had intended to humiliate this useless noble and use it as a future talking point, that was only a plan. Reality had not even given him a chance to act on it!

Austin's staff silently slipped from his hand. His mouth hung wide open like a toad gasping from extreme oxygen deprivation, and he stood frozen in shock.

Jess, the guard warrior behind him, wore the same stunned expression. His mouth was wide open, and his jaw nearly dislocated.

"This guy is ridiculously strong." Jess looked speechlessly at the door panel in the distance, which had smashed down a wall.

As a Qi Warrior serving as a mage's guard, fighting was practically routine for him. Yet in more than thirty years of life, this was his first time seeing someone beat up a mage with such smooth, flowing efficiency.

This had truly opened his eyes. Jess, who belonged to the Royal Guard, had a far sharper eye than mages who always hid deep behind the battlefield. This legendary useless noble not only attacked from tricky angles, but every strike subdued the enemy. He hit wherever it hurt and targeted vital points with ruthless precision.

The flashy moves popular among nobles were like children rolling around in a tantrum compared to that set of practical attacks.

Jess could tell that the legendary Trash Baron's timing for blocking and angle of attack had been entirely instinctive. Those seemingly simple yet actually vicious angles absolutely came from practicing them countless times.

Though his opponent had only been a physically frail mage, if it had been Jess himself, caught unprepared, he might not have been able to withstand that dazzling barrage of attacks.

Especially that crookedly thrown solid wooden door panel. It had not looked like something a top noble raised in luxury since childhood could throw. It had looked more like the full-force throw of a towering giant of the plains.

Rolling his neck, Allen felt that he had become a little rusty with the sixteen forms of Enemy Capture Fist lately.

"You violated the rules!" Austin could no longer hold himself back. His old face was filled with fury as he said, "How can mages fight by attacking at close range like that?"

Allen looked innocently at the old mage, who was flying into a rage.

Austin hurried over and helped up his highly valued young apprentice, growling, "I will return to the Royal City and report this to the duke. You truly are as the rumors say. You used such despicable means to ambush a noble mage."

"Fuck your grandfather!" Seeing the other party turn hostile, Allen immediately adopted the manner of a street thug and cursed, "You old coffin, I don't care whether you go tattle or not. What about the ten Gold Coins every month? You want to go back on your word?"

"You! You!!" Austin sputtered for a long time without managing a complete sentence.

Remembering that the Old Castle was now so poor they could barely afford food, Allen sneered viciously. "Damn it, you said I only had to beat your apprentice. Now you want to go back on your word? Are you playing me? Believe it or not, I'll make sure you don't walk out of this castle?"

After saying that, Allen waved a large hand and stared menacingly at Austin.

Jess flashed in front of Austin, drew the sword at his waist, and warily observed the surroundings.

Austin also raised his staff, ready to release magic at any moment.

After a long while... aside from the gentle breeze, not a single person rushed out from the Old Castle.

Only then did Allen remember that the fucking castle was indeed huge, but apart from himself, only two people lived there. One was the sole maid, Dina, and the other was the mysterious, elusive butler, Old Laixi.

After tensing up for nothing and realizing he had been fooled, Austin cursed furiously, "You are simply disgracing the title of nobility! Mages all have guards and attendants to protect them. Under ordinary circumstances, how could you have succeeded in such a despicable ambush?"

Allen spat and cursed, "Fuck off. You didn't say that before, so how was I supposed to know? If I become a mage one day, charge in carrying a shield, and stab another mage to death, does that mean I'm not a mage? Who says mages have to hide in the back and cast spells?"

Austin stood there with his mouth open for a long time, utterly unable to refute him.

Element Users, whether human mages or Shaman Priests of the Beastmen of Behemoth, were all physically frail. Spending years dealing with magic elements and constantly pushing the limits of their brains also weakened their bodies. Saying they lacked the strength to truss a chicken would not be an exaggeration. This was common knowledge.

But this exceptional piece of noble trash before him did not count as a mage at all. He was not even qualified to be a Magic Apprentice, because although he possessed magic power accumulated through several years of meditation, he could not cast a single spell.

His tight evening suit could not conceal his powerful muscles. Rather than saying he was being assessed as a Magic Apprentice, it would be more accurate to say he resembled a high-ranking warrior.

"I refuse to accept this!" Dick struggled to his feet, clutching his ribs with his right hand. Missing two front teeth, he stubbornly shouted through his whistling mouth, "Do you dare accept my challenge again?"

"Oh? You haven't learned your lesson?" Allen said with a smile. "I held back just now."

He was indeed telling the truth. Dick was very thin, and there was no great grudge between them, so Allen had held back most of his strength.

Moreover, Allen, beating someone for the first time since his rebirth, discovered that his body seemed to have undergone many changes.

He could not say exactly what had changed, only that when Dick had cast magic just now, his perception seemed to have improved considerably. Both his reaction speed and physical strength had also increased dramatically.

"No! I want a Qi Warrior as my guard attendant!" Dick had learned his lesson this time. Pointing at Jess, who stood behind Austin dressed as a warrior, he said, "As a mage, I demand a warrior's protection and challenge you to a fair duel."

Jess, who had long been eager for a fight, silently walked to Dick's side and looked at Allen expectantly.

"That's not fair!" Dina, rushing behind her master on her long, thick legs, shouted, "My Second Young Master has been pampered since childhood. His body is weak, and he has never learned any Martial Skills. How could he possibly be a Qi Warrior's opponent?"

Jess stared at Dina, completely speechless!

I believe he was pampered! But where the hell did you see that his body was weak? Could someone with a weak body throw such a huge solid wooden door panel around as a weapon?

He was already like this without learning Martial Skills. If he learned some, wouldn't your master turn the world upside down?

Austin, who knew nothing about fighting and killing, hesitated somewhat. He had heard of Jess's strength. As a Qi Warrior, Jess was also a squad captain in the Royal Guard, and his Martial Skills were formidable.

If these battle-hardened Qi Warriors from the army accidentally injured or crippled the Trash Baron before them, the duke would make things difficult for Austin even just to preserve appearances. Even as a mage, Austin remained deeply wary of certain people who wielded great power.

After thinking for a while, Austin raised a hand to stop his apprentice and comforted him, "Forget it. Do not lower yourself by arguing with this barbarian who only knows ambushes. We will return to the Royal City and report the full matter to the Grand Duke, then let him decide."

Allen sneered. From beginning to end, it was all ambush this, ambush that. So if he stood there and let someone beat him up, that would not count as an ambush?

Still, he did not want to stir up more trouble. He knew how important mages were. Even a Beginner Water Mage would be protected like treasure by any human nation. After all, across the continent's population of tens of millions, there were fewer than a thousand mages.

Yet before the master could get angry, the maid Dina behind him became furious instead. The moment she heard the word "barbarian," she unleashed a torrent of curses at the old mage. "You old coffin board, who are you calling a barbarian? Believe it or not, I'll slap that old face of yours crooked today?"

Austin snorted coldly and could not be bothered to argue with this crude, sturdy maid.

Jess said quietly, "Lord Austin, don't worry. I know my limits. If we go back like this, the others will laugh at us."

After pondering for a long time and looking at his apprentice, who was missing two front teeth, Austin finally nodded.

Jess held his sword horizontally and looked at Allen with eagerness in his eyes.

Rumors throughout the kingdom said that the Grand Duke's Second Young Master had abandoned the path of magic after the age of eight and visited every Qi Warrior in the kingdom. Yet after ten years, he had learned countless Martial Skills stances without cultivating even a trace of Battle Aura. Could the rumors have been wrong?