Humiliation

"Mars, what are you doing?" John's voice had never been so stern. It was clear that he was furious at Mars's performance.

Mars rubbed the wrist that had been struck. Knowing his actions had embarrassed him, his face flushed red as he shouted back:

"Teacher John, I wasn't prepared just now. Please give me another chance..."

"Will an enemy give you another chance? Are you going to beg for your enemy's mercy on the battlefield? Or do you only want to stage some hypocritical duel for the rest of your life..."

Facing those insults, Mars knew he could not talk back. He could only endure them in silence, his fists clenching tighter and tighter.

"Fran, are you willing to give him another chance?" John turned to ask Fran for her opinion.

"Sure... I do think he wasn't prepared. Let him try again... I'm confident I can beat him."

Faced with the awkward sight of her opponent being scolded, Fran did not know how to react. She could only say whatever came to mind. Only after speaking did she realize—had that sounded like mockery?

But her opponent could no longer conceal his anger. He glared at her as though he wanted to devour her.

John poured a bucket of oil onto the fire. "Very good, Mars... Hurry up and thank your enemy for her mercy."

Mars gritted his teeth tightly and did not say a word.

"Now, Mars!" John urged again, his voice so loud that even Fran jumped.

"Thank... you... for... your... mercy!" The words popped out one by one through Mars's tight lips, his voice somewhat quiet.

Fran was relieved that John finally stopped and did not make Mars speak louder, though that no longer seemed to matter.

The fury in Mars's eyes could not have burned any fiercer. His nails had dug bloody marks into his palms.

After having both sides pick up their weapons, John merely said coldly, "Begin."

The instant those words fell, Mars stepped forward and rapidly closed the distance, abandoning his former habit of slowly approaching before an exchange.

Fran avoided his edge. She knew her Physique was still far inferior to Mars's, and if they truly clashed head-on, she would definitely lose.

She slowly retreated, stepping back with her nimble body after every strike Mars made to evade his attacks.

As she drew closer and closer to the boundary marked for the match, Mars roared after she dodged several attacks.

"Do you only know how to run away?!!"

Fran ignored Mars's provocation and focused on evading, never allowing him to land a single blow.

After roaring, Mars seemed to calm down a little. He knew they were getting closer and closer to the boundary; if she only dodged, she could not possibly beat him.

As long as he kept attacking like this and Fran continued to evade, he would force her out of bounds and win the match.

As long as he won, everything from before could only be considered a little arrogance on his part. His strength was still there, and he would not lose standing in Teacher John's eyes.

Having thought it through, he began adjusting his attacks, constantly watching Fran's movements and giving her no chance to counterattack.

When Fran saw Mars's movements slow, she knew her strategy of provoking him had failed. She could no longer hope to catch him making a mistake; she would have to fight him for real.

With two steps left before the boundary, Fran took one extra step back while evading an attack, retreating directly to the edge and leaving herself some room to maneuver.

Fran copied how she had seen her future self use the Breathing Technique in the Star Gazing Art, doing exactly the same.

She gradually deepened her breathing, letting the wind linger around her, coil around her...

[You successfully used the Breathing Technique in battle to strengthen yourself. Proficiency +10]

When Mars saw Fran retreat and make space, he hesitated. Rather than attack again, he assumed a defensive stance, intending to press forward slowly, step by step.

John, who was watching from the side, saw through it. This was a Breathing Technique.

But how could she know a Breathing Technique? John was puzzled.

Breathing Techniques required a certain level of physical fitness to practice, and different Breathing Techniques had different physical requirements. He had always believed that a Physique like Mars's was the limit; someone with an even weaker Physique could not possibly learn one.

Yet reality proved that someone truly could learn one with such physical fitness. He could only attribute it to Fran's Breathing Technique having record-breakingly low requirements, or to his own lack of knowledge.

He had already reached a conclusion about the match's outcome. After using the Breathing Technique, the wind around Fran had gathered. If Mars had rushed in to strike the moment she created distance, he might still have had some chance of winning.

Learning a Breathing Technique and being able to use it in battle were not the same thing. Successfully using a Breathing Technique in battle greatly increased one's combat power.

That was how Bela, previously the strongest of all the Apprentices, had been. He could tell that Bela also knew a Breathing Technique, but if she could not use it in battle, she would only have a twenty-percent chance against Fran as she was now. Winning would be difficult.

Just as John had expected, Fran attacked Mars at tremendous speed. In a flash of inspiration, Mars actually blocked an attack he had not seen at all.

But he had no way to block the second strike and could only let the wooden sword hit him.

Feeling the wooden sword smack against him, Mars forced out an ugly expression. "I lost..."

The Apprentices watching from the side began to discuss it.

"Did you see that just now? How did it suddenly turn around after she was being chased down?"

"No. I only saw a black blur flash by, and then the two had already decided the winner."

John first stopped Bela from asking Fran for a match. He could tell that Fran did not often use the Breathing Technique in battle and was not in good condition now.

Then he began to comment on the two of them's performance in the battle just now.

"Fran, you should not have kept dodging at the start. Do not wait for your opponent to make a mistake; you should take the initiative and try attacking. When your opponent was attacking wildly at the beginning, you should not have simply evaded. Sometimes, offense is the better defense..."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher John."

Next came Mars's turn. John still felt there was little to change about Mars's movements. Put in Mars's position, John did not think he could have done any better.

"Mars, your adjustments during the battle were impressive. It was good that you thought to slow down. You only lost because your opponent had mastered something more powerful. Just keep it up."

Mars took those words in, yet John's words still left him cold. The advice John gave him was always superficial, never addressing anything that truly mattered.

And everything that had happened today felt like a farce to him, a humiliation aimed at him.

Unwillingness coursed through his blood. He stared at Fran, and the blazing fire in his eyes seemed ready to burn her to ashes.