27

The training grounds were filled with people training, but now they all rushed towards one place: the fight between Mathias and Prince Ren.

While Mathias and Prince Ren continued their staring contest, the crowd became excited and cheered for Prince Ren.

"Prince Ren! Prince Ren!" the crowd shouted.

A bored shield knight with a bulging belly offered to take bets on the fight. "1/100 odds for Prince Mathias and 100/1 odds for Prince Ren! Who wants to bet for fun?"

"I'm in!" a soldier shouted.

"Me too!" a knight nodded.

Many knights and soldiers joined in the betting, including Knight Newman. Prince Ren simply smiled and ignored it.

The shield knight with the bulging belly took off his cape and used it and his shield as a makeshift betting table.

"Put your money in this right if you choose Prince Ren, and put your money on the left if you choose tras- Prince Mathias!" he said, slipping for a moment before correcting himself.

Although Prince Mathias was openly condemned, he was still a prince and deserved a bit of respect.

Almost everyone put their money on the right, choosing Prince Ren.

The knights and soldiers had witnessed firsthand the horrors and power of the Dark Knight.

They have a natural affinity for dark elements and are more stealthy at night, unless there is a sensor mage present.

Even in broad daylight, Mathias would stand no chance against the might of Prince Ren.

The shield knight who proposed the bet, Robert, had set the odds unfairly in Prince Ren's favor, but no one complained.

If they won their bets, the winnings wouldn't even amount to a Lucia copper.

Robert, however, was happy to spend a sum of Lucia silvers on the group's entertainment, as it was a small price to pay from his salary.

...

Mathias then stopped swinging and looked seriously at Prince Ren.

He was still unsure if his power level was sufficient to confront an Apprentice Knight, and he wasn't sure what stage he was at in terms of power.

The system had informed him before that his power system was different from the world's power system.

Despite this, Mathias wanted to know, so he calmly brought his sword in front of him.

His body appeared relaxed, and he seemed to be holding his sword casually.

Prince Ren sneered and mocked Mathias's seemingly relaxed posture, but Prince Ren's personal knight felt something was off, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He shrugged it off and decided to forget about it.

The young soldier that Mathias had noticed earlier smiled and bet his 'remaining' silvers on Mathias.

Most of the knights and soldiers felt uncomfortable with the young soldier betting on a "trash," as it was seen as an insult to their Prince Ren.

Most of the knights and soldiers supported Prince Ren because of their loyalty to him, while others supported other princes but still preferred to bet on Prince Ren rather than Mathias.

However, the young soldier's age caused the others to ignore him and snort at the waste of a few silvers.

"The fight is starting!" a knight shouted.

Everyone hoped to see Prince Ren beat Mathias entertainingly.

Prince Ren thrust his sword at what he saw as a weakness in Mathias.

He smirked, thinking his sword would easily go through and attack Mathias.

However, as the sword was about to reach Mathias, Mathias suddenly backed away with impressive footwork and calmly parried Prince Ren's sword, with a faint smile on his face.

Prince Ren's strong arm, which was holding the sword, was pushed away by the force of the power Mathias had parried into it.

"What!?" Prince Ren shouted in disbelief. His personal knight, Newman, also looked in disbelief.

Although Prince Ren may not have used much force in the attack, Newman knew that the thrusting technique that Prince Ren learned from him is difficult to defend against, let alone to be parried so easily and calmly by Mathias, who didn't seem to use much force.

The crowd was astonished and found it hard to believe.

"He's just lucky!!!" another soldier shouted, trying to convince himself.

"That's right!! Luck played a role in being able to defend against that kind of attack!!" a knight nodded.

Prince Ren, who heard the conversation of the crowd, regained his confidence.

"This time, you won't be so lucky anymore, elder brother!" Prince Ren got serious and dashed towards Mathias, who appeared weak.

'I won't fall for that trick again!!' Prince Ren thought vigilantly.

Although he refused to believe that Mathias was able to parry his attack earlier, he still felt that Mathias was tricky, as if he were facing a grandmaster. However, Prince Ren shrugged off that thought and attacked Mathias.