The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

Everyone was shocked at Hayden's sword movements. It didn't seem special but it was incredibly precise. Then, it was at this time that Hayden finally struck.

The moment Fein overreached, Hayden made a sharp flick of his wrist and sent his sword slamming into Fein's ribs. It was a move that the instructor tried using against him but failed.

However, it was now Hayden's new move to deal with these students who had nothing better to do.

"UGH!" Fein staggered, clutching his side.

Before he could recover, Hayden swept his legs, sending the older boy crashing onto his back. It was simple… Hayden didn't even have to use his special sword techniques. Well, it was normal since these students weren't even capable of using Aura.

"It happened so fast!"

"Indeed… Hayden is just too fast."

"Not really… He's slow but he had a good reflex."

"Yes… It's like he was seeing Fein's next moves."

The training hall was certainly surprised. Although Hayden's classmates knew that he would win, they at least believed that these Squires would be able to last for some time.

Fein lay there, stunned, as Hayden placed the tip of his sword against his throat.

"Yield?" Hayden asked.

Fein's face burned with humiliation. "...Yield."

Hayden stepped back, turning to the remaining five. "Who's next?"

The older boys exchanged uneasy glances. They hadn't expected this.

"Screw honor," Edric muttered. "Let's just rush him."

Hayden grinned. "All of you at once? Fine by me."

The five remaining squires charged simultaneously, and they seemed to have attended their combat strategy class because they knew how to work together.

Nonetheless, with his Ocularis Lens, as long as his body could react quickly, Hayden would be able to do something against his opponents…

Soon, the Lens finished analyzing their movement patterns.

Tristan swung first and Hayden ducked, kicking his knee out, sending him tumbling. This move also allowed him to dodge a strike on his side.

Pah!

Dain tried to flank him but Hayden parried in time and disarmed him with a twist of his blade. It was one of the moves in the basic stances and surprisingly it works really well even against these Squires who should've been trained enough not to make such a newbie mistake.

Thud!

"Aahh! Take this!"

Loras and Rylan then attacked together but Hayden simply spun between them, slamming the pommel of his sword into Loras' gut while sweeping Rylan's legs.

Thud! Thud!

Edric, the last one standing, hesitated after seeing all of his friends being defeated by Hayden's seemingly simple moves. He couldn't help but recall how they were defeated by their own Sword Instructor…

In terms of combat skills, it seemed that Hayden was way above them!

The others also realized this. Hayden didn't show any excessive force for his age. Instead, he was simply using their own momentum against them! Hayden's kicks were also not that strong but since he was able to disrupt their balance, they were unable to fight at all.

Just like that, Hayden disarmed him with a single flick, then pressed his sword against Edric's chest.

Thud!

At that moment, the training hall was silent…

All six older squires were on the ground, defeated.

Hayden then lowered his sword and spoke up without any hint of being tired. "Pay up."

Fein, still red-faced, reluctantly pulled out his identification token but he immediately stored it back. "This match isn't official. We'll challenge you officially soon and if you win again, you will get that bet."

As soon as he said this, Fein turned his back and ran away.

He just fled!

"Ahh…" Hayden didn't expect that this person would be so shameless to flee just like that. However, Fein was certainly right since their sparring wasn't mediated by a Professor or any staff of the Academy.

Whatever bet they made, Hayden wouldn't be able to seek assistance from the Professors and he might even get scolded for fighting without permission.

However, this matter would surely affect Fein and his gang's reputation. After all, they decided not to pay up even after losing.

Even if the Academy couldn't help him, their reputation in their noble circles would surely take a hit because of this.

The others then followed their leader as they also didn't want to pay up.

"Whatever… I'll be generous this time." Hayden shook his head and decided not to take this matter any further.

He at least learned today that he shouldn't trust any noble's promise since many of them are still shameless and do not honor their words.

'I should also make sure to find mediators before sparring against anyone with a wager.' Hayden thought.

Anyway, Hayden decided to continue with his other classes about Aura Control & Application, and also Tactical Horsemanship.

The Aura Control and Application was still mostly theoretical but they were being exposed to a large amount of Aura from various Enchanted Items.

On the other hand, the Horsemanship Class was a lot more interesting now.

Now that he had Stormbreaker as his mount, Hayden needed to master mounted combat.

Professor Cedric seemed to have learned about him being an Elite Squire as well and put him through harder drills—jousting dummies, archery from horseback, and even evasion maneuvers against ranged attacks.

It was such an interesting class that Hayden enjoyed it a lot. After all, he may have learned shooting while on a motorbike or a car but it was completely different with a horse.

"A knight without a horse is half a warrior," Cedric said as Hayden guided Stormbreaker through a series of tight turns.

Of course, Cedric wasn't a Knight yet because of his lacking Aura. However, he knew that riding horses was something that all Knights must master.

Perhaps, if Cedric pushed himself, he could pass as first-grade Aura Knight someday. However, he was already a bit too old to take another Knight's Trial. So even if he passed, he believed he would just be stuck in the first grade.

Nonetheless, he was one of the instructors closest to becoming an official Aura Knight and Hayden could tell that much. This was also the reason why he listened to the instructor every time.

In the meantime, Phoebe, who was also in the class, smirked at Hayden who was slowing down.

"Still think you can keep up, Elite Squire?"

Hayden just grinned and urged Stormbreaker into a gallop.