Chapter 585: Pitiful Foil (Fourth Update, Bonus Chapter for Alliance Master Xing Hai Zhu Tian)

"Ahhhh—!" Every time the tremors vibrated through the floor, Kret, caught in the middle of his game, felt a spike of sheer terror; the monster was nothing short of horrific.

In the past, he had always cleared basic mystic realms with an effortlessly elegant flair, setting several dazzling records in the process.

For these youths, an average day meant finding a stray demonic beast to practice their moves on. Why would they ever choose to throw themselves before an opponent they had absolutely no hope of defeating?

They were here to train, not to experience the cheap thrill of dying.

Now, however, the Tyrants and Lickers had become an absolute living nightmare for these outworlders.

Subjected to suffocating pressure throughout almost the entire run, they were forced to keep their combat nerves strained to the absolute limit.

Yet, the moment they finally shook off those formidable pursuers and escaped by the skin of their teeth, the sense of accomplishment was beyond words.

Trapped between immense pressure and the threshold of life and death, humans were capable of unleashing incredible latent potential.

By casting aside all external power, meeting those horrors with their purest, most unadorned physical forms, and facing the very brink of demise, they could perhaps gain a more profound understanding of the strength hidden within themselves.

Once they learned to master their own power with greater precision, it manifested in their reality as a much more meticulous, nuanced execution of even stronger combat techniques.

In the story, it was likely this terrifying pressure of walking the line between life and death that forged Leon—a fresh recruit straight out of the police academy—into the incredibly seasoned, fearless veteran who wouldn't flinch even when facing a Tyrant.

It was likely for the exact same reason that Chris, who started out as a mere ordinary man, could eventually grow to the point of engaging in a deathmatch against Glenn Arias, a man enhanced to the absolute limit by a new strain of the virus.

"Wow! This Eastern lady is beautiful!" It was at this moment that Kret apparently encountered Ada. "How is there such a beautiful lady in a place like this? Don't tell me she came here just for me! Mm... smells wonderful!"

He casually threw out a couple of flirtatious words.

"Ah!"

In a split second, she closed the distance, snapped his neck, and killed him instantly.

Staring at the words "GAME OVER" on the screen: "..."

Only then did he recall the words on the shop's little blackboard: "Play civilly, or face the consequences."

...Son of a bitch.

...

For many, by the time they stepped out of the shop, it was already afternoon.

Along the clean, orderly streets, tall paulownia trees were planted at regular intervals. Although Fang Qi still preferred the misty, rain-soaked landscapes of Jiuhua City and the ancient, elegant architectural styles of Yuanyang City, this city certainly had its own commendable charms.

How should one put it...

Perhaps before his transmigration, such a scenic city could only be found in classical medieval games or animations—like a certain unscrupulous witcher game where one had to play a round of Gwent before fighting enemies.

Or a tragic animation where the protagonist died countless times, only to reload his save back at a fruit stall each time.

Built against the mountains and alongside the water, this city featured a magnificent castle at the very peak of the mountain. Tier by tier downwards lay the commercial districts and the residential areas of the wealthy. A central avenue lined with pointed archways wound its way up to the summit.

From time to time, one could see carriages and horses speeding past, and occasionally, city guards would march through.

In the distance stood immensely tall mountain peaks, their bases lush and green. The higher up one looked, the sparser the vegetation became, until the peaks were dotted with pristine white snow.

A city like this truly offered a refreshing sense of wonder.

This sentiment was shared by the brown-haired youth Joseph, the green-haired girl Xia, and another blonde youth who had accompanied them, Ron.

"That was too thrilling!" The youths were still reminiscing. In the game, they played as the two protagonists rather than themselves. If they became familiar with the protagonists' combat techniques, certain stages were not entirely impassable—after all, they were only playing on easy difficulty right now.

"Hah! Hah! Hoo!" The blonde youth, Ron, was currently mimicking the martial arts from the game. "So cool! It feels like these movements are way easier to learn than first-tier combat skills."

"And yet it let me kill a zombie with ease!" the girl added excitedly.

"Bang, bang, bang! And those magical firearms! They're absolutely amazing!" Joseph gestured wildly, copying the motions.

Most importantly, they felt that practicing within this strange mystic realm left a far deeper impression on their memory than their usual training.

Presently, they were rushing on their way back to the academy.

"Wow... look over there, Elves! Elves from the Silver Moon Forest!"

"What are they doing here?" Although elves did occasionally visit the Morning Light Empire, to most people, it was a rare, fleeting glimpse. They had seldom heard of, let alone seen, a visit conducted with such formality.

Elves were rarely seen in human kingdoms. They had their own deities of worship, as well as their own nations and cities, and they seldom interacted with human realms. However, the Morning Light Empire seemed to be one of the exceptions.

The group consisted of about ten individuals. The one in the very center wore a pure white cloak, while the others wore uniform, openwork light armor. Elegant silver longswords hung at their waists. The blades were completely different from the broadswords of the human warriors, tapering down so finely that even the scabbards... seemed narrower than the longsword used by that shop owner who claimed to be from the East—at least, he had previously thought that was the thinnest sword imaginable.

Most of them were tall and slender, with ears sharper and narrower than ordinary people, though not to an exaggerated length. If one did not look closely, or if they covered their ears with their hair, it would actually be quite difficult to distinguish whether they were humans or elves.

Perhaps the only difference lay in their features; every single one of them was far more exquisite than most of the people present, as though they were the cherished darlings of nature itself.

Right on the widest central avenue of the city, the youths watched as they rode on elks, passing gracefully along the thoroughfare.

Meanwhile, the youths stood at the edge of the street.

"Look... the ones welcoming them are actually..."

With a low cry, a flock of griffins with magnificent golden plumage flew down from the mountain peak, forming a neat wing formation.

"The Golden Griffin Knights!"

"Soaring through the sky on a griffin must feel incredible!"

"If only I could join a knight order like that one day!" The youths watched with eyes full of envy.

The Golden Griffin Knights were one of the most famous knight orders in the Morning Light Empire. To join such an order, and to ride alongside them across the azure sky on a griffin...

This was the brilliant, sunlit dream of almost all these youths.

"Stop staring! Hurry back to the academy!" Xia reminded them.

"I almost forgot, this afternoon is Instructor Rice's practical combat drill!"

"We're doomed. If we're late, we're going to be in huge trouble!" Joseph's face changed instantly.

...

In a kingdom that placed such immense value on combat techniques, what would the academy here look like?

Practical combat—yes, what they emphasized above all else was actual fighting, because any combat technique, no matter what it was, existed to serve real combat.

This rule applied equally to all, even to the warriors and mages who were mere beginners. On the lawns on the outskirts of the academy, one could see almost every day numerous warriors and mages who possessed no rank at all, or were merely at the first or second tier, holding wooden broadswords or other weapons, or even staves, sparring either in groups of several people or individually.

Today, however... things seemed a bit different.

They stood together in uniform formations, and it wasn't just a single class; it appeared that quite a few classes had gathered here.

Standing before them was a middle-aged swordsman with a scruffy stubble.

Accompanying the middle-aged swordsman was a heroic-looking woman clad in armor, a golden griffin badge pinned to her chest, her blonde hair tied up neatly behind her head.

The hurried arrival of the youths immediately drew a burst of jeers from many in the crowd.

The woman also seemed to frown slightly.

"Late. To think someone would dare to be late on an occasion like this."

"I suppose only those small families from remote regions would dare to do such a thing."

"They probably didn't even know about today's event!" a tall, thin youth dressed in luxurious clothes said in a low, arrogant voice. He seemed to hold a rather high status among the crowd, as people immediately chimed in agreement the moment he spoke.

"Country bumpkins, how could they ever compare to you, Tolfo?" a handsome, silver-haired youth remarked.

At this moment, the instructor cleared his throat. "Now that everyone is accounted for, let today's practical combat drill begin. As usual, you may split into groups of several people, or fight individually."

"Huh? The instructor isn't going to punish us for being late?" Joseph and the others found it incredibly strange. One had to know that normally, this instructor was exceptionally strict.

However, the thing that worried them even more was about to happen.

They must have long since formed their sparring pairs, which left the three of them...

"Well met," a voice chimed in just then, as the youth clad in opulent attire and bearing a haughty countenance actually strolled over. "If you have no one to spar with, would you care to match against us?"

The group was slightly startled. The newcomers numbered three in total, and none of them seemed of ordinary stock; though from another class, even they had heard rumors of this trio.

That sumptuously dressed youth, Tolfo, possessed a talent that was clearly exceptional, and word had it that his father was a nobleman of considerable standing.

The group hastily selected an empty plot of ground.

"Thank you," Joseph spoke up without delay.

They had originally assumed that people of their sort would find no one willing to spar with them.

"Thank you?" The silver-haired youth sneered, eyeing the group as though looking at fools. He scoffed, "Idiots."

The three of them froze for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"

"Then again, it is only natural for fellows like you to be in the dark, isn't it?" The opulently dressed youth stepped forward, patting the brown-haired Joseph on the shoulder as he murmured, "As for foils like you, we will most certainly make excellent use of you."

"Foils?" The group looked at them, deeply bewildered.

"That personage over there is a Knight of the Golden Gryphon Knights, and her purpose is precisely to select talented warriors from our academy to train within the order and become squire knights."

"Do you still not understand why we chose you?" He let out a derisive laugh. "To catch that lady's eye, selecting punching bags like you is simply beyond perfect!"

The faces of the group shifted slightly.

To think they had actually arrived late on such an occasion!

And, looking at the individuals standing before them...

Their expressions turned as ash, realizing that today they might truly become nothing but foils—foils meant to propel others to the very pinnacle of their own dreams.

"What a pathetic bunch of rats."

.