Rock dismissed his sword as he searched the crowd of eager hopefuls.

“You, the big guy right there!” Rock picked the largest person in the group.

His massive shoulders seemed broad enough to barely fit through a regular-sized door.

“What’s your name?”

“Soup,” the young man offered, straightening his back.

“Alright, Soup. You look like you may have fought once or twice.” The Master chuckled lightly.

Soup cracked his knuckles. “You could say that.”

“Very good.” He clapped Soup on the shoulder. “Who wants to challenge this strapping young man?”

The battle master cut his eyes at Noble with a slight smirk.

Unlike his serious demeanor in the Awakened Academy, he was enjoying himself a little too much just now. Noble rolled her eyes. There was only one way this was going to play out.

Seeing such an overwhelming opponent, most of the individuals lowered their hands. They had come here for training, not to get pulverized on their first day!

“You there! Weren’t you the one brawling earlier?” Rock addressed the dark-haired girl lingering in the back.

The crowd parted to let her through.

Rain lowered her eyes as she came forward. “Uh, yes sir, but I wasn’t trying to brawl. I was looking to improve my skills with a friendly match.”

“What’s your name?” Rock motioned her into the ring.

Of course, Rock was only doing it for the benefit of the group. He had been part of a wedding with her not that long ago. Even more than that, Noble had confirmed the identity of her daughter before they walked over to intervene.

So even though she had disguised her appearance slightly by putting on bulky clothing and pulling back her hair, Rock could have introduced her instead of having her do it herself.

“Rain, Sir,” the pale teen answered with a dip of her head.

“You had some good techniques earlier, Rain. I might have even confused you with a legacy. You must have had some good training.” Rock nodded seriously.

The teen looked up at him with a small smile. “Some of the best.”

“Good. Battle prowess is about more than just physical strength. Practice and experience cannot overcome overwhelming odds, but they can certainly help to close the gap.” Rock looked between the giant and the petite girl.

Even he had to admit it was a wide gap.

The battle master stepped back and indicated the chest on the far side of the field. “Alright potential Dreamers, pick your weapons and get ready.”

Soup, unsurprisingly, selected a big wooden club. If Master Rock wanted to see his power, he wouldn’t go easy on his opponent.

Rain selected a wooden sword and shield.

Noble hid her approval behind a mask of indifference, but she silently celebrated the girl’s wisdom. A good defense and offense were necessary for a balanced technique, and in this duel, Rain would have to make use of both if she wished to come out on top.

After shaking hands, the pair took their places and the area around them went still–not abnormally still like some aspect or Memory had been invoked. Instead, the world around the arena went still because the onlookers could not help but hold their breath.

Rock lowered his hand. “Begin!”

As the weaker party, Rain knew she couldn’t wait for Soup to make his move. The element of surprise needed to be hers.

She leaned on her back foot like she had suddenly changed her mind about fighting, but it was a ruse. Rather than retreat, she used the footing to spring forward and attack.

‘Good form. Though a little slower than what she can do.’ Noble noted with interest.

Rain rammed her shield into Soup while attempting an overhand strike. But instead of avoiding the attack, Soup stood still.

If the opponent hadn’t been so huge, a hit like Rain’s would have knocked them to the ground or at least forced them off balance. From there Rain could have led with a crushing hit with the sword and quickly claimed victory.

But Soup was like a wall of humanity. He not only absorbed the hit, he swung his club at her. The sword’s strike was pushed aside as the massive wooden weapon came barreling toward Rain’s head.

‘No!’ Noble braced herself, holding back her powers from activating. She cared about Rain, but letting the [Kingdom Keeper] attribute interfere would be cheating.

So as much as Noble wanted to care about the fight happening, she forced herself to be indifferent. The outcome needed to be decided by the two people in the ring alone.

The longer the professor watched, the harder it became to have a neutral attitude about how the match progressed.

Rain was holding her own against the larger man, but only just. She had gotten in a few taps and was narrowly avoiding each time the club tried to crash down on her head.

She was more agile and quicker. But Soup was not slow. He was deceptively fast for his bulk. And his strength for a mundane was far above average.

So although Rain was keeping ahead of him for now, there was no guarantee that pattern could continue.

Soup’s club smashed against the toe of Rain’s boot as she deflected his blow with her shield. It was a good thing they had gotten them slightly big in case she had more growing to do. Since the girl showed no sign of pain, Noble assumed that the hit had missed her foot entirely.

The professor wandered over to Rock, who had his arms crossed as he held his chin.

“I noticed you didn’t say the conditions to end the match,” Noble whispered.

“I think it will be obvious when things are finished, don’t you?” He shrugged. Glancing at Noble’s displeased expression he added. “I will give them another three minutes and then critique them. There are plenty of other match-ups that I would like to try before I pair them off to work on their own.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Noble relaxed.

Surely Rain could hold on for that long. All Noble needed to do was distract herself long enough not to influence how things went.

That task was much harder as she watched Soup catch the fringe of Rain’s ponytail. While it brushed aside easily, the glance was simply too close for Noble’s comfort.

If Rain felt concerned by the near miss, she didn’t show it. Instead, she leaned forward and struck the man in the armpit as she passed by his torso.

For the first time, Soup winced.

“That was a good one,” Rock muttered. “If that had been a real sword, she would have had a good chance at severing his arm, or even puncturing a lung.”

“He shouldn’t have opened himself up like that, I agree,” Noble said simply.

Rock clicked his tongue. “Don’t discount the effort of Rain. She found an opening and used it.”

“I’m not discounting her,” Noble hugged her shoulders. “I am trying not to interfere.”

“Ah, I see,” Rock seemed to understand. “Then may I suggest you go and check on our guests coming this way? They look like they could use a moment with the Academy’s Headmaster.”

Noble sent out her emotional sense at the same time as she turned her head. Her face paled.

Fort was coming this way. And he wasn’t alone.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep