Alright, heroes, today is the day you will be using real swords! Kaelor said as he stood in the center of the training hall, while around two hundred heroes—now finally with better physiques—stood in front of him.
Another few days had passed. We all trained hard… well, not all. Draven, for example, didn't train as hard as everyone else.
Now, heroes, go to the wall and each pick a metal sword! We all headed to the wall, and one by one, each of us grabbed a sword. Most of us were able to lift the metal swords much easier than when we first arrived, while others were still struggling a bit.
We walked back, each holding a sword, and stood in front of Kaelor, who held his thin blade and waited for us.
Now please pair in groups of two! We will do just basic 1v1s, nothing serious! He said that with a serious expression as he went around pairing us randomly.
I was paired with a weak hero who couldn't even lift his sword off the ground.
"I can't keep pretending this time. If I get defeated by someone like this, my reputation will drop badly," I thought, raising my sword toward him. "I don't even remember this guy's name…"
Now that everyone has a partner…
START!
My partner struggled hard just to lift his sword. I waited a few seconds for him to get ready, while the sounds of metal clashing and heroes shouting echoed all around me.
He looked at me with teary, almost crying eyes.
"Please don't attack me…"
"Disgusting."
I dropped my sword to the ground and slowly walked toward him.
"Don't blame me. We were all given enough time to train," I said.
He desperately tried to lift his sword, his hands shaking, tears forming on his face.
"Hmm… this one might be useful later…"
"Please DON'T!"
"Listen. Once you wake up, try your best to become better, okay?"
Now I was right in front of him. I clenched my fist and punched him hard in the stomach, then followed with another punch to his jaw—just enough to knock him unconscious.
I turned away and waited for the others to finish their 1v1s. I could feel Kaelor watching me. I sat down and closed my eyes, waiting.
A few seconds later—
"STOP! STOP!"
Some heroes shouted behind me.
I turned around and saw a crowd forming. As I pushed through it, I finally saw what happened.
Leo had stabbed his metal sword into another hero.
One of Hario's group.
The sword wasn't fully deep inside, but it was enough to make him bleed heavily.
Kaelor was already next to him, trying to help.
"Hold on!" Kaelor said as he quickly took off part of his clothing and wrapped it around the wound.
Leo… was smiling in the background.
A tall black-haired guy rushed out of the crowd.
"ARE YOU SMILING?! YOU FUCKING WEIRDO!
It was Hario.
"Well, finally… I was waiting for this moment. But damn, Leo really took it too far…"
Hario let his sword fall and rushed toward Leo.
But Leo didn't move. Instead, many other heroes from his group stepped in front of him.
At the same time, more heroes gathered behind Hario.
Now the Leo group and Hario group stood facing each other.
Right as Kaelor lifted the injured hero, I stepped forward.
"Let me help you!"
I helped Kaelor carry him.
As we turned toward the exit, Kaelor looked back at the two groups.
"Both of you, STOP. Or I will have the knights take all of you to prison."
His expression was completely serious.
The tension slowly died down, and the shouting stopped.
With that, Kaelor and I carried the injured hero out, leaving the scene behind us.
We took the hero to the nurses' room inside the capital and left shortly after.
"Thanks, Malvek," Kaelor said as he looked at me.
Then he added, "Don't worry. He'll make it."
I nodded.
We went back, and Kaelor told everyone to return to their rooms. He kept Leo behind in the training hall to talk to him alone.
Zareth and Draven came up to me as we exited the hall.
"Whoa… that was horrible!" Draven said, clearly shaken.
"What if that happened to me?!"
Zareth stepped closer and placed a hand on Draven's shoulder.
"Don't worry. No one will dare do that to you."
Draven looked at both of us.
We smiled at him.
His face lit up.
"Man… I'm really glad I have you guys…"
"But seriously… why did he stab him like that? And he was even smiling!"
Zareth's expression turned serious.
"They're trying to prove which group is stronger…"
"It's pointless."
Draven nodded.
"It really is…"
Later that night, I went back to my room and took off my armor.
I rested for a bit, then went out again and headed to the training hall.
"Yo," I said as I entered, seeing Myra already waiting for me.
"Try not to be late next time, okay? Anyway… let's start."
And just like that, I continued my magic training.
Another few days passed. The hero who was stabbed was able to walk again, but he wasn't allowed to return to training yet.
We continued sword training with Kaelor, but this time multiple knights were present, watching closely so something like that wouldn't happen again.
As for Leo, he was punished by not being allowed to leave the castle for a while.
"Of course they didn't give him a real punishment… if they did, his group would get angry. And that could lead to things the king himself doesn't want."
After two weeks since that incident…
We stood once again in front of Kaelor.
He looked at all of us.
Then finally spoke.
"Tomorrow… we will begin your first EXAM."