The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

Hayden continued normally in his other classes and this time, there were no longer any naughty kids who would try to bully him just because he was younger. The news of him defeating several Squires at the same time had certainly spread throughout the whole Academy.

This was especially true in their Survival Class. Everyone just looked at Hayden with respect and some of them even felt intimidated by his presence.

Thanks to that, only Phoebe could talk to him from time to time.

Anyway, the Survival Class was not always outdoors. Just like today, the lesson would be in their classroom.

Of course, this wasn't like the other lecture halls in the academy. Instead of polished wooden desks and neatly arranged chairs, it was set up like a makeshift battlefield infirmary—tables covered in stained cloth, shelves lined with jars of herbs and salves, and the faint metallic scent of blood lingering in the air.

'I guess we'll be learning some medicines today.' Hayden mused as he looked at the setup.

Needless to say, this class involved learning how to treat injuries, so learning a bit of medicine was required for Knights. This didn't surprise Hayden at all.

Soon, he took his seat beside Phoebe, who was already flipping through her notes.

"You ready for this?" she muttered, eyeing the pig's leg laid out on the table in front of them. It was fresh, the skin still slightly pink, with a deep, deliberate gash running along its side.

Just a glance and Hayden knew what they had to do.

Hayden smirked. "I've stitched up worse."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "You've stitched up people?"

'Ahh…' Hayden realized his mistake so he quickly shook his head.

"No," He admitted. "But I once sewed up a torn training dummy."

It was a terrible reply but Hayden had just gone on it.

Phoebe snorted just as Captain Brynn strode into the room.

Captain Brynn's hair was tied back in a tight braid and instead of wearing a Survival Gear, she wore a garb for medical practitioners.

She didn't bother with greetings and immediately started with the class.

"Today, you will learn how to survive when your guts are spilling out."

A few students paled as they confirmed their guesses. It was definitely not a very likeable class but they had to learn this since they do not know when it could be useful.

"First rule of battlefield medicine…" Brynn continued, pacing between the tables. "Stop the bleeding before you worry about cleaning the wound. A man can live without a clean cut, but he'll die in minutes if his blood's in the dirt."

Soon, they spent about an hour in the class learning how to stop the bleeding. This includes the identification of the items needed, the cleaning process, the stitching method, and other things to be considered.

After that, she walked around and grabbed the pig's leg from someone's table and held it up, letting the wound drip onto the floor.

"Your turn. Stop the bleeding." She said to the students and everyone in the class.

They were given needles, thread, and a bottle of strong-smelling antiseptic to repeat what she had done during the lesson.

"This is disgusting," Phoebe muttered as she poked the needle into the pig's flesh.

"But I can do this…" She reminded herself before she started working.

Nonetheless, the theory was nothing compared to the real thing, so it was really difficult for her.

Hayden, however, worked methodically.

He'd read about this in "The Knight's Field Manual".

Of course, that would be his excuse since Ocularis Lens knew the best method he could use and he also had quite a lot of experience in this matter in his previous life.

The slippery texture of the flesh, the resistance as the needle pierced skin, and the coppery scent of blood were all analyzed by the Lens for him.

'Ahh…' Hayden suddenly realized that he was doing this too fast. He was almost done in just two or three minutes.

It was because of his Aura Control that had gone better. Apparently, his control over his body was already perfected after getting used to his Aura.

Previously, there was still some awkwardness whenever he did complex movements because of his small body. However, after he was able to control his Aura, his body coordination started getting a lot better.

Hayden then glanced at Brynn who was watching everyone closely.

"Too loose," she shouted at one student. "Your stitches will tear the second he moves."

"Too slow," she snapped at another. "By the time you're done, he'll have bled out."

She would make this comment to almost every student as she would find flaws everywhere.

When she reached Hayden, she paused.

She looked at the work first and was impressed. Then, she looked at the student and realized that it was actually Hayden.

"Not bad," she admitted grudgingly. "But your knot work can be better. Do it again."

Hayden wryly smiled at this as he decided to just use the knot that Brynn used instead of the better one that the Lens suggested. He simply couldn't satisfy these professors.

After some time, Hayden completed his work which should be quite similar to what Brynn had done.

Phoebe, meanwhile, was struggling. Her hands trembled as she tried to pull the thread tight.

"I can't—"

Hayden reached over without a word and guided her fingers, showing her how to twist the thread for a secure knot.

Phoebe blinked. "Since when are you good at this?"

Hayden shrugged. "I pay attention."

Well, Phoebe was his only friend right now, so he didn't mind helping her.

This class lasted for a while and except for Hayden, no other student managed to make it perfectly. Brynn was, of course, expecting that everyone would fail since they hadn't done this for a long time.

It was the same for the other students who didn't have much experience on this matter at all.

However, knowing that it was Hayden they were talking about, they could only accept the result.

"As expected of our Elite Squire…" Phoebe softly said before she followed up with a chuckle.