NOVEL NEXT Chapter 70: Challengers
On the next day, Hayden continued on with his class as he waited for the Headmaster to train him.
Nonetheless, With his new status as an Elite Squire, Hayden's schedule became far more flexible.
He was now only required to attend six out of twelve classes—though the ones he kept were crucial.
They were mandatory classes, so whether he had an aura or not, he would need to attend them in order to graduate.
They were Advanced Swordsmanship, Aura Control & Application, Tactical Horsemanship, Survival & Field Medicine, Noble Etiquette & Diplomacy, and Mission Preparation & Strategy.
Hayden had always excelled in Swordsmanship Class because of his Ocularis Lens. With this special eye, learning various techniques and exploiting their weaknesses was easily done by him.
Nonetheless, the instructor was still quite strict and he would always point out Hayden's mistakes which were mostly related to his footwork and his habit of adjusting the sword technique if he saw how flawed it was. However, this old veteran only wanted Hayden to be the best. As a matter of fact, he would always teach Hayden how to have fluid footwork, feints, and counterattacks—techniques usually reserved for older squires.
"A real knight doesn't just swing a sword—he controls the fight," The instructor said to everyone as he looked at Hayden who was following every word he said.
***
The Advanced Swordsmanship class had just ended, and Hayden was wiping sweat from his brow after an intense sparring session with the instructor himself…
Apparently, the instructor already knew that he was now an Elite Squire so he had pushed him harder than usual today.
The instructor was a Sword Master before and he taught the Whirlwind Guard—a defensive stance that required perfect timing to deflect multiple rapid strikes.
Though Hayden couldn't say that he already mastered it, he certainly did really well using that stance to defend himself.
As the instructor and most of the students in the class had left, Hayden also sheathed his training sword to leave.
However, a group of older students strolled into the training hall—six of them, all 14-year-olds from the eighth grade according to the insignia in their uniform.
Furthermore, they wore the bronze insignias of Squires, so Hayden could tell their status.
'What are they doing here? I don't think they'll have a class here soon.' He thought.
Soon, Hayden used his Ocularis Lens to identify them. It was quite easy since he was able to access the files of many other students from the records he managed to hold before.
At the front was Fein Voss, a broad-shouldered brute with a reputation for bullying younger students. His cronies—Tristan, Dain, Loras, Edric, and Rylan—followed behind him, smirking as they eyed Hayden.
'The bullies… They're from a decent noble family, so it's quite unsurprising that they hated the commoners… Who are they targeting this time?' Hayden thought…
However, he soon found an answer as he realized that they approaching him.
'Hmm?' This confused Hayden for a moment.
"Well, well," Fein sneered as he crossed his arm.
"If it isn't the Elite Squire—Hayden the Nine-Year-Old Wonder. I heard from the Professors how great you are for being recognized by the Headmaster."
Hayden didn't react as he calmly adjusted his wrist guards instead.
"Heard you got special treatment from the Headmaster…" Tristan added as he swung his practice sword lazily. "Must be nice having connections."
"Or maybe he's just the Headmaster's pet," Dain chuckled while nudging at Loras.
Hayden exhaled slowly. He'd dealt with bullies before, but these guys were particularly annoying.
"What do you want?" Hayden asked, his voice calm.
Fein grinned. "We want to see if you're really good enough to be in Advanced Swordsmanship." He pointed his sword at Hayden. "Fight us. One at a time. Or all at once—if you're that confident."
The other students in the training hall had stopped packing up, watching the confrontation with some excitement.
They had just seen Hayden training against the Sword Master or the instructor for more than 15 minutes. They knew that Hayden wasn't someone to be messed with. Only those who were clueless how good he was would dare to intimidate him.
They even heard about his result when he sparred against Lady Seraphine.
Hayden, on the other hand, was taking this matter lightly. "You want to fight me?"
"Scared?" Rylan taunted.
Hayden smirked. "Not at all. But I don't fight for free."
Fein raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's your price, little squire?"
Hayden's eyes gleamed. "If I win, each of you gives me 20 Dawn Points."
The older boys burst out laughing.
"And if we win?" Fein challenged.
Hayden shrugged. "Then I'll admit I don't belong here, and I'll drop Advanced Swordsmanship."
The offer hung in the air.
Fein and the others didn't expect that Hayden would just easily suggest dropping out of the Advanced Swordsmanship class. This was actually perfect for them. To be honest, they just wanted to beat him up as the instructor in their class praised Hayden so much while they had been failing in their combat class.
This time, Fein's grin finally widened. "Deal."
The training hall quickly turned into an impromptu arena, with students forming a loose circle around Hayden and Fein.
At this time, Hayden activated his Ocularis Lens. Although he was quite confident, he was unsure whether these people would pull some dirty trick and he needed to ensure that he wouldn't fall for that.
Fein took his stance and looked at Hayden."Let's see how long you last."
Hayden didn't respond and his grip just tightened on his practice sword. He didn't care about the rules or even with the referees at this point, he would just end this swiftly.
"BEGIN!" someone on Fein's side shouted.
Fein rushed immediately, swinging downward with brute force—a classic intimidation tactic. But Hayden sidestepped effortlessly, letting Fein's momentum carry him forward.
"Too slow," Hayden remarked…
Fein was obviously angered by this since he believed that if Hayden blocked, this match would end since he planned to use his brute force to win…
However, Fein continued as he attacked again, this time with a burst of slashes.
"Haa!"
The movements were fast but Hayden parried each one…
"This…" Fein and others were stunned as they saw Hayden's slow movements but it was incredibly precise! It was as if he was able to read Fein's movements without any errors!