Chapter 340: Practice Fight

The professor in question was called Mihkon. Apparently, the strange name came from his tribe. A tribe of warriors that was incredibly tall and muscular.

This tribe lived in the high snow mountains to the west of the kingdom. William now knew all these details because Nina, the librarian, had shared them with him.

He asked more questions about Mihkon because he had stirred up trouble before. Of all the professors in the academy, this one required the most attention. Excluding Brian, obviously.

“Professor Mihkon,” William said with a gentle smile, his gaze locked on that tall man, “are you sure about this?”

Mihkon smirked, “Well, considering this is a body-enhancing class, what do you think of us fighting with just the power of our bodies? To show them how it’s done.”

William looked down at the sword at his waist. Mihkon had seen it too. He guessed that William was much better at fighting with the sword, so he wanted a bare-handed fight, as that was where he could get some advantage.

Mihkon thought, “If William refuses, he looks weak. If he accepts, I’ll beat him in front of everyone.”

Back in the cafeteria, when William asked Mihkon to go on a life-and-death fight — which he refused — it still hurt Mihkon’s feelings. It pissed him. Others had overheard the conversation, and rumors of him being a pussy despite his frame spread through the academy.

It wasn’t even the students who were making fun of him; it was the other professors. They had similar power and authority, so even if they made fun of him, it was not like Mihkon had any way to counter back.

His scheme wouldn’t kill the gossip, but he hoped it would humble William.

William saw through the plan but accepted the fight without hesitation.

“That’s actually a good idea,” he said, “students, please, stand back.”

Deep down, Mihkon didn’t expect William to accept. He believed William would refuse, then Mihkon could insult him and make him look foolish.

But it didn’t happen, and that shocked Mihkon. The way William accepted the offer without hesitation or fear gave him second thoughts.

Was it truly wise to fight William? Why was he so confident? These doubts nagged at Mihkon, but with the offer made, he had to fight.

“I just need to do what I do best and fight him with my fists! Without the sword, he is much weaker than I!”

That was the hope Mihkon was holding onto. William drew his sword and handed it to one of the students.

“Hold this for me,” he said.

The student looked at him with awe. He saw it as a mission, a task he should carry out with everything he had in him.

“I cannot let Professor William down!” the student thought as he walked away to mingle with the other students.

William then walked over to the arena to stand face-to-face with Mihkon. They weren’t muttering a word; the two were just gazing and analyzing themselves.

“We should avoid using spells that have an area of effect,” William said.

Mihkon agreed to it. “Of course. We cannot hurt the students. They are here to learn.”

The size difference was massive, but the students knew that didn’t mean weakness. Most believed William would win—or at least hoped he would leave victorious.

“Are you ready?” William asked, a smile on his face.

Mihkon couldn’t believe how calm William appeared. He wondered if William felt fear at all, or if he was just skilled at hiding his nerves.

He tried to convince himself, “He must be faking it—no one could be that calm before a real fight. Maybe he’s just better at masking his nerves than I am,” Mihkon thought.

He forced away his doubts and fixed his face in a mask of fearlessness. With a steady nod, he said, “I am more than ready.”

The arena grew tense. Everyone sensed this wasn’t just a practice fight. They were here to hurt each other, to settle things.

William lunged first. He streaked towards Mihkon, his movements quick as lightning. Even Mihkon was startled.

In a second, William was in front of Mihkon, punching with his right fist—the only one he had. Mihkon reacted, crossing his forearms to block the attack.

The sound of bone on bone echoed through the arena. William’s punch hit Mihkon’s forearms so hard that he retreated, and his arms went numb.

“What?” Mihkon thought, alarm growing. That blow shouldn’t have shaken him so much. He shook his arms, trying to will the numbing surprise away. Was William really that strong, even without magic?

He knew William hadn’t used any body-enhancing magic. That strength was all natural—the raw power within him.

Mihkon refused to let what happened defeat him. He wasn’t weak. This time, he made his move.

With his right hand, Mihkon punched William’s face. His moves were fast—slower than William’s, but still quick.

William thought, “I can block this easily.”

To him, the movements weren’t that fast, so blocking them would be quite easy. But during the movement, Mihkon did something else. He changed his stance and, instead of punching William, kicked him with his right leg!

William’s missing left arm made his left side vulnerable, leaving him no way to block the kick!

The change of stance and attacks caught him off guard. William got kicked in the ribs. The power behind the kick was tremendous, and the impact was so loud it startled the students. They all thought William would have some broken ribs after that powerful blow.

But William didn’t even flinch. He stood his ground; the force wasn’t enough to move him, unlike Mihkon earlier.

William looked at him and smiled, “That’s a nice move.”

Mihkon couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. Only a small number of people could endure an attack like that from Mihkon without even flinching. The man thought back at the warriors of his tribe. His father and his grandfather were the ones who could easily endure such an attack, but they were basically legendary warriors from his tribe.

Before, Mihkon disliked William, but after their exchange of attacks, everything changed. He now saw William as a true warrior.

To Mihkon, mages using ranged spells were cowards, avoiding hand-to-hand combat. But William wasn’t just fighting—he was showing dominance.

“You’re stronger than I thought,” Mihkon said, now more respectful. “Who taught you to fight?”

He couldn’t admit his strength came from the demonic blood coursing through him.

“I’ve learned back in my village, far from here,” William said.

Mihkon nodded. “So you’re like me, true warriors from the countryside—not like city mages who can’t take a hit.”

The tense atmosphere vanished. Mihkon now saw this as a genuine training exercise.

William sensed that the man was much friendlier now, so he relaxed a little bit, too.

“Did you see it, students?” William said, looking at the students, “he changed his stance rapidly during the fight, and that’s a powerful tool to have. You should always practice this.”

Mihkon joined in, eager to share his insights.

“You can’t just be fast during attacks; you should be fast in changing them as well. This can make your fight unpredictable. Your attacks will be way harder for the opponent to counter.”

The fight changed completely after that. They were still pushing it hard to see each other’s limits, but not that hard.

Eager to measure William’s raw strength without magic, Mihkon felt anticipation mixed with nerves. To his surprise and a touch of humility, William was actually stronger!

In the kingdom, few people could claim to have stronger bodies than Mihkon.

“I can see now why you were chosen to teach here,” Mihkon said, praising William, “you are good, very good. Maybe we could practice fighting from time to time? That is, if you have the free time.”

Mihkon couldn’t waste the opportunity. The best way to get stronger was to fight against people who were stronger than you. So, having a training partner like William could help him overcome his current training bottleneck.

“Of course,” William replied with a nod. “Though I might not have much free time, we can practice at least once a week.”

“Thank you very much for it,” Mihkon said sincerely. He then chatted with the students before he left. As soon as he was gone, all the students started screaming.

“You are incredible, Professor William!”

“I cannot believe you are stronger than Mihkon in a hand-to-hand fight, just mind-blowing.”

“One day I want to be like you.”

The types of phrases they were yelling were diverse. To William, they were funny. He chuckled while hearing it. It reminded him of the time he was also a weak person who looked up to others.

“If you practice and keep studying hard, one day you can get as powerful as I am,” William encouraged.

Well, that might be a lie or the truth, depending on the students. There were some talented students in his class, so some might get as strong as William in the future, but most wouldn’t.

“Now let me share more insights about my sparring match…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep