Newborn Brawl

"Baron, strike his lower left!"

"Solin, come on, take that guy down!"

Inside the arena, two youths were sparring with wooden swords in a heated exchange, while other students gathered ten meters away to watch, some cheering them on.

The environment here was spacious, and the wooden racks at the edge of the field were hung with many unsharpened weapons and blades; this was Viscount Xuefeng's training ground, located within the castle in the North District.

Because of the deep relationship between Scholar Heide and Viscount Xuefeng, this knight training ground was made available to these students free of charge, and stables with several warhorses could be seen not far away.

On the high viewing platform, Viscount Xuefeng and Scholar Heide sat under a wooden canopy, discussing the two training.

"Baron, the child of Baron Quade, is quite good. His skills are solid," Viscount Xuefeng commented on one of them.

"That commoner youth named Solin—this is my first time seeing him."

"Solin, ah, his father was a warrior who returned from the frontier and is currently living in seclusion in Scorched Stone City," Scholar Heide recalled the student's background.

"Oh, a warrior like that? How is his strength?" Viscount Xuefeng stroked his short, thin mustache and asked with interest.

"He should be at the mid-level of the Second Order-Blood Law, though he has stated he will not return to the battlefield," Scholar Heide shook his head.

"It is said that after experiencing too much death on the battlefield, and with his wife passing away prematurely, his only hope now is to raise his child to be healthy."

"That is a pity, but someone who has been through the battlefield like that would make an excellent training instructor if he were willing to come to me," Viscount Xuefeng suggested.

"I will ask him on your behalf later, my lord," Scholar Heide nodded slightly.

"Bang."

With a fierce strike, the wooden sword in Baron's hand was snapped directly, wood chips flying and the break jagged with splinters. Taking advantage of his opponent's loss of weapon, Solin kicked Baron to the ground and drove his sword into the dirt right beside his neck.

This action startled Baron, who took several seconds to react before his face filled with rage.

"You lowly commoner!" He felt this was an insult to his status.

"You're the one who's lowly!" Solin did not back down, striking back immediately.

"How dare you insult a noble!"

"Master Heide said that everyone here is a student, and there is no distinction between noble and commoner!" Solin brought up what the teacher had said on the first day.

"You!"

Unable to contain his anger, Baron clenched his fist and swung at Solin, but Solin dodged and landed a punch of his own instead.

Seeing Baron get hit, two noble students who were his bad influences rushed up to assist, and at this, several bold commoner students also came over to help Solin.

The trio of nobles swung their fists and feet without restraint, while on Solin's side, aside from him, the others were afraid to land heavy blows and merely tried to separate the two sides.

Facing the boys brawling on the training ground, the girls on both sides were relatively calm.

"A bunch of idiots." Iona crossed her arms over her chest, not wanting to watch such a crude and boring scene.

"Lady Iona is right." Valenie had completely become Iona's shadow over the past two days.

On the other side, Karen watched the field with some concern, "Should we go stop them? The teacher said fighting is wrong."

Comia shook her head vigorously: "No, no, let them fight; just don't get us dragged into it."

"We can't afford to offend the noble side, and Solin's side isn't a pushover either," Comia whispered her analysis.

"Besides, Sylutia is physically weak, so it wouldn't be good for her to go over." Using her companion as a shield, Comia prevented Karen from stepping forward.

"Alright, let's protect Sylutia." Karen looked at the delicate, long-haired girl beside her and decided not to participate in the struggle.

Viscount Xuefeng and Scholar Heide had watched almost the entire situation on the training ground below.

"Hahaha, what a lively bunch of children," Viscount Xuefeng said with a smile.

"Young people are just like that," Scholar Heide also shook his head slightly.

Because the nation was founded on martial strength, the Regas Kingdom actually encouraged this kind of non-lethal combat, which was why the youths in the arena would resort to blows at the slightest disagreement; they were all familiar with and accustomed to this style.

"Let them fight; you can go pull them apart in a while," Viscount Xuefeng instructed his attendant.

"Yes, my lord," the attendant replied respectfully.

Half an hour later, the brawl on the field ended, and several injured students leaned against the wooden railing at the edge of the training ground, receiving medicine applied by their classmates.

"Sss—it stings." The large student, "Lei," shielded his face with his hand as a finger applied medicine; he had a bruise on the corner of his eye and was grimacing in pain.

"It won't work if you don't let me finish applying the medicine," Comia complained irritably, then continued to dab the ointment with her finger.

Opposite them, Baron and his group were also leaning on wooden chairs, with Valenie applying medicine for them. As for Iona, she wasn't paying them any mind, instead speaking beside Viscount Xuefeng. Seeing her radiant smile, it was hard to imagine the haughty attitude she usually displayed before her classmates.

On the other side, Sylutia held some medicine, applying it to the restless youth in front of her.

"You have quite a few hidden injuries on your body."

The young girl finished applying the medicine with a cloth swab, retracted it into the bottle, and took a slight look at the youth named Mick. He was like a wild beast, somewhat fierce, with various scars on his body.

"None of your business," Mick responded to the girl beside him with a huff.

"Mm." Sylutia did not argue with this, simply stepping back quietly.

Mick was actually somewhat surprised by her obedience. He turned his head to take a closer look at Sylutia; although the black-haired girl possessed a fine appearance, her frame appeared rather frail beneath the cover of her oversized robes.

She's quite pretty, just a bit behind Iona. If she had a little more meat on her bones, she'd probably be on par with Iona, the boy evaluated in his mind.

Perhaps seeing that Sylutia was quite compliant, Mick's attitude softened slightly.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing." The girl shook her head and turned to head the other way to look after the other injured students.

Cleaning wounds and applying medicine—she performed these tasks with such proficiency that it surprised the other students.

"Did you do this often in the past, Tia?" Comia asked curiously, and the others wanted to know as well.

"A lot of people in my village were injured a while back, so I helped take care of them and learned a few things," the girl replied.

"That's still very impressive!" Comia gave her a thumbs-up.

Seeing that the students had rested enough for the moment, an instructor walked over. He was sturdily built, dressed in leather trousers and a white shirt, with a light stubble on his face.

"Scholar Heide has sent me to train you and see how your foundations are."

"As it happens, I was present for your entire scuffle earlier, so I've already seen what you're capable of." He paced back and forth in front of the group with his hands behind his back.

"The boys are all decent; you all know the Breathing Technique." If they couldn't even use the Breathing Technique, they likely wouldn't have been able to follow Scholar Heide for advanced study in the first place.

"Now, pick up your swords and challenge me one by one. I will point out the flaws in your swordsmanship and footwork."

The instructor shouted loudly to gather the students, and thus, the afternoon's training began.