Chapter 55: Challenge

After a bit of explanation from Shale, all junior soldiers sat down in a lotus pose. Shale had given them five Demon Crystals each for this next training.

"Just close your eyes and take advantage of the peaceful atmosphere in the morning to feel the Spiritual Energy from the Demon Crystal," said Shale while observing their progress.

As expected from Anna, she already absorbed the Spiritual Energy with her own Spirit Seal. In fact, she had been emitting Spiritual Energy from her body in perfect harmony as if this meditation was just a way for her to strengthen the connection between them.

'She has been using Spiritual Energy skillfully in the training, so I don't need to teach her anything. The control is very stable, so she'll get stronger just fine. On the other hand...' Shale turned to Noel who had been training with Anna.

In the training, Noel also let out his Spiritual Energy, but unlike Anna, his control was sloppy. He could only use the Spiritual Energy on his sword.

'Well, he has absorbed the Demon Crystals, but...' Shale glanced at the purple crystals that now had turned gray. It was the proof that he had absorbed all the Spiritual Energy from it. However, Noel couldn't release any Spiritual Energy he had despite having plenty of it. 'It's going to be tough for him from now on. He needs to learn how to control his Spiritual Energy as soon as possible.'

After a while, Shale said, "Every morning, you'll be meditating for four hours! The rest will be your physical training and group training. Because of the missions you can get, attending my class is not compulsory anymore. You can do your own meditation and training at your own room, but if you're here, you can consult me with your problems. I'll help as much as possible.

"If you want a mission, just come to me and I can show you the mission catalog you can choose from. I can read them for you but I'm sure that you can understand why we want you to have basic literacy skills.

"Anyway, that's all I have to say. For now, you can go to your pair and discuss your schedule and plan for the next one year. After that, you can continue meditating." Shale then walked away from them, giving them some space.

Anna came to Noel and sat in front of him while asking, "So, what do you have in mind?"

It was true that Anna had already planned everything with her experiences, but she believed Noel's brain was smarter than her, so she also needed to ask for his opinion.

Noel slowly opened his eyes and said, "There are group assignments, huh..."

"That's right. You can't escape from me." Anna smirked, teasing him.

"Can we change our pair?" Noel sighed.

"Haha!" Anna chuckled.

To their surprise, Shale appeared next to them while saying, "You can! This is a special privilege for all of you. If you want to change your partner, you can simply kick someone else from that party.

"In other words, you can beat someone else from another group and replace their position. It's easy, right?"

"!!!" Anna and Noel widened their eyes. In fact, everyone also heard his statement.

Noel acted as if he was tempted by it while Anna gritted her teeth, glaring at Shale as if she hated him for giving that idea to Noel.

The others even had that thought because Anna was a huge temptation for all of them. Having Anna in their group meant they could easily achieve the top. At the same time, they could ask her about all their questions since Anna was knowledgeable. And for men, there was no way they would let go the chance to work together with a beauty.

Still, if they wanted to work with Anna, they needed to defeat Noel. Although they didn't want to admit it, Noel was stronger than them due to his Spiritual Energy.

If not for Anna covering her sword with Spiritual Energy, the wooden sword would completely be shattered by his attack. So, before learning about Spiritual Energy, it would be foolish to challenge Noel.

Yet, no matter how obvious it was, there was always someone foolish, ignorant, and arrogant enough to do it.

A muscular man approached them while asking, "So, Sir Shale. Does that mean we can challenge that person?"

"Of course. The other party has no right to refuse. However, I need to remind you that you can only challenge the same person once! We have a talented healer in our infirmary, so as long as you don't kill the other party, it's alright. Oh, don't cut anyone, alright?" Shale smirked.

"Since the other party can't refuse then..." The muscular man walked to Noel while looking down on him. "I want to challenge you!"

Noel furrowed his eyebrows because this person was the one who bullied him the most. He was the one that led Lezlev and other bullies to attack him in the training.

However, unlike all of them, this one didn't stop bothering him. If not for Anna, he would continue to bully him.

That was why he thought he needed to settle this grudge. Although he couldn't kill him, he could still beat him black and blue until he feared him. This way, no one would bully him anymore.

"Hmm." Shale narrowed his eyes and said, "Alright. I shall authorize this fight. Because you've just returned here, the duel will be held tomorrow morning before the meditation."

"..." Noel closed his eyes as if he had accepted the duel.

"Hmph. Don't run away!" The muscular man snorted and walked away.

"Tsk." Anna clicked her tongue, annoyed. Everyone thought she must be angry because she couldn't torture Noel again if the latter lost.

At the same time, Alfred and surprisingly Kirika looked at this pair as if they were interested in it.

Surprisingly, Noel said to Anna, "One solo mission near the fort within the first month. The rest can be scheduled later."

"Hoh? You sounded like you can win tomorrow. Do you want me that much? Or do you love the pain that I inflicted? Pervert." Anna smirked.

"I simply think this is my best choice to kill you." Noel shrugged.