Translator: CinderTL
"Him?"
Reggie glanced at Roland and the halfling, whose size difference was stark, and slowly shook his head.
"Forget it, Hoby. You spar with me instead..."
Seeing the halfling's expression grow even more tense after hearing this, Reggie sighed and added, "Don't worry, I won't go all out. Just focus on practicing what you learned earlier."
He turned his gaze to the Red-skinned Orc.
"As for you, Freddy, spar with him. His name is Roland."
"Understood, Instructor," Orc Freddy replied in a somewhat wooden voice.
Watching this unfold, Reggie rubbed his throbbing temples and moved closer to Roland, lowering his voice.
"Be careful, kid. This little guy... doesn't know when to stop. See those guys over there?" He gestured with his eyes to several students in the arena who were sparring but now sported bruised faces. "Those are all his 'masterpieces.' But..."
The burly man patted Roland on the shoulder.
"Since you've earned Dean Graham's praise, you should have no trouble handling this little guy. Don't disappoint me, okay?"
Roland sighed inwardly at the meaningful look in Reggie's eyes.
It seemed that even after earning Graham's recognition, his status as a "connection" still carried a peculiar stigma in the eyes of the academy's instructors.
"Well, that's fine too..."
Roland casually picked up an unsharpened iron sword from the weapon rack.
The sword felt slightly heavy in his hand, but under the influence of the Steel Heart Resonance, the unfamiliar weapon instantly became as familiar as his own arm, as if he had been fighting alongside it for years.
"If I show off a little of my skill, perhaps asking this instructor for guidance later will go more smoothly."
As this thought crossed his mind, Roland glanced at the Red-skinned Orc in front of him, who was also sizing up an iron sword. A gentle smile played on his lips.
"Freddy, right? Hello."
"Hello, Roland..."
Surprisingly, the Orc's response wasn't as gruff as Roland had expected, but rather a bit awkward.
He gripped the sword hilt tightly and asked in a muffled voice, "Can we... start now?"
"Of course."
Before the words had even left Roland's lips, a dull thud echoed through the training hall.
In the next instant, Freddy's figure, accompanied by a gust of wind, swung his iron sword and appeared before Roland.
Clang!
A deafening metallic clash, far louder than any other sparring match, exploded through the hall.
The immense force transmitted through the sword made Roland raise an eyebrow.
"As expected of an Orc... Their strength is truly astonishing!"
As this thought flashed through his mind, the dull thuds of their clashing swords became continuous!
Bang! Clang! Bang!
In just a few breaths, the sounds of steel striking steel had already erupted a dozen times in rapid succession.
Though the battle appeared evenly matched, Roland showed no sign of strain.
His iron sword danced in the air, his nimble footwork allowing him to dodge and weave with ease. In his mind, he analyzed the situation with effortless precision.
"In terms of pure physical attributes, his strength and speed are nearly on par with mine. No wonder those students got beaten black and blue. But..."
Tilting the spine of his sword slightly, Roland once again deflected the Red-skinned Orc Freddy's powerful, yet straightforward, downward slash. A faint smile curled his lips.
"His combat skills... are utterly crude."
The duel with Freddy reminded Roland of his encounter with the Aberrant Kobold. Both possessed formidable physiques but lacked any understanding of combat techniques. In their hands, iron swords, daggers, and spears were wielded like mere clubs, devoid of any finesse. They relied solely on their superhuman strength and speed to launch chaotic, uncoordinated attacks.
Such tactics might have worked against ordinary opponents, but against Roland...
Unnoticed, the once-noisy training ground gradually fell silent.
All the students in practice duels stopped their movements. Even Instructor Reggie crossed his arms and joined the crowd, holding his breath as they watched the clash of strength and skill in the center of the arena.
The sound of clashing steel echoed like a torrential downpour in the training ground's center.
Each heavy collision sent a shiver through the watching students, who instinctively held their breath.
The two figures in the arena moved with blinding speed, their clashes of strength and speed creating visible air currents.
"By the gods..."
A human student muttered, his eyes glued to the lightning-fast red blur.
"That monster Freddy... his strength seems to have grown again? When he beat me last time, it wasn't this terrifying!"
"No kidding! Look at the commotion!"
An elf student, his face still bruised, rubbed his arm with a shudder.
"That Red-skinned Orc is like a humanoid beast! Every swing of his sword brings the wind with it. One hit from him and you'd break several bones! How has that new kid managed to withstand this for so long?"
"Withstand? I'd say he's being completely dominated!"
A muscular student, clearly also focused on strength training, crossed his arms, his tone tinged with a hint of barely concealed jealousy, but mostly admiration for Freddy's power.
"That kid's footwork is decent, dodging pretty well, but the strength gap is too vast! He's barely holding on in Freddy's brute force storm. See how he's completely avoiding a head-on clash?"
"Exactly!"
Another voice chimed in, tinged with reverence for the strong.
"Freddy's monstrous strength is unmatched in our class! Last time he sparred with 'Giant Stone' Barton, he dented Barton's steel shield with just three strikes! Barton's still in the infirmary recovering! This new kid... tsk, if he can last ten rounds, he'll be impressive."
"Instructor Reggie specifically paired Freddy with him. Could it be a way to humiliate this backdoor entrant?"
Someone whispered, glancing at Reggie standing by the side, arms crossed and stern-faced.
"Look at his build. He's a whole size smaller than Freddy. How could he possibly win?"
"Definitely! Instructor Reggie hates connections more than anything!"
The elf student from earlier declared with certainty.
"Just wait and see the show! When Freddy goes berserk, he doesn't know the meaning of holding back. That kid's going to be carried out on a stretcher in a moment!"
Unlike the other students, Reggie stood at the edge of the arena with his arms crossed, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
His gaze was fixed on Roland's seemingly suppressed yet unwavering stance, as solid as a rock, and on the young man's eyes, which remained sharp and focused even amidst the fierce exchange.
As the murmurs of the surrounding students coalesced into a buzzing wave, with nearly everyone convinced of the battle's outcome, a sharp, piercing clang shattered the air. It was unlike any of the dull thuds that had preceded it.
Then, like an arrow launched by immense force, an iron sword shot out from the heart of the clash, whistling through the air in a flash of cold light before plunging deep into the solid ground with a resounding thud. The blade continued to vibrate violently from its momentum.
Before the students could even identify whose sword it was, another heavy thud echoed through the arena.
Seeing Orc Freddy disarmed, he didn't hesitate for a moment. Instead, he stepped forward.
His fist, as thick as a cooking pot, whistled through the air like a violent wind, aimed directly at Roland's face.
Roland frowned slightly at this sight.
It wasn't that the punch posed a significant threat. Rather, he noticed that the last vestiges of calm in Freddy's eyes had vanished, completely consumed by a primal, almost frenzied bloodlust and brutality.
Without hesitation, Roland used his left hand like an iron clamp to firmly block the incoming heavy punch. His right hand instantly released his iron sword, and his body sank low like a nimble cat.
His right fist moved like lightning!
Thud!
The dull impact landed precisely in Freddy's abdomen.
The raging bloodlust churning in the orc's eyes was extinguished in an instant, like a flame snuffed out.
His eyes rolled back, revealing only white. He froze for a moment, still holding his fist in mid-air.
The next instant, his massive, mountain-like crimson body crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
(End of the Chapter)
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