Episode 6
“Wait a moment.”
Vice Commander Melin stepped in with a troubled expression, trying to mediate.
“Let’s not rush into this. It would be better to find a suitable opponent. You do realize that Tern’s rank is only Second Star, right?”
Second Star.
It was surprising news.
Tern was only thirteen years old.
Typically, reaching Second Star after mastering swordsmanship or magic happened well into one’s twenties.
Many without exceptional talent never even crossed that threshold.
“We have plenty of apprentices in this order. Surely there’s someone appropriate to spar with the young master.”
Even just an apprentice would be enough to give Chris a thorough beating, Melin thought.
“No. If we’re going to prove qualifications, it has to be a proper match. I want to duel Tern.”
“!!”
“Come on, Tern, what do you think? I’m sure you’ve been waiting for a chance like this, haven’t you?”
Chris taunted, swaggering.
“Or are you scared of your older brother?”
Tern ground his teeth.
Inside his head, the last thread of patience snapped.
“…I accept the duel.”
Melin sighed.
But deep down, she was relieved.
‘If it’s Lord Tern, whatever happens won’t be my responsibility.’
If a knight from the Black Marsh Order got seriously injured by that reckless brat during a duel, her position would be difficult.
But since Tern and Chris were brothers, this was a family matter.
No matter what happened, her accountability would be much lighter.
‘He’s hated that reckless brother from the start, so he won’t go easy. If possible, I hope he cripples at least one leg. But knowing Lord Tern, he might not be that ruthless.’
As a Ma-in, she looked down on the weak.
Especially someone like Christian—the worst kind of reckless.
‘How dare that pest, without knowing his place, try to sully the Black Marsh Order’s territory.’
All the Ma-in knights in the order shared that sentiment.
“Lord Tern, take this chance to teach that bastard a lesson!”
“If you send him back in one piece, today’s just special training!”
Amidst the enthusiastic cheers, the two stepped into the training ground for their duel.
As Chris requested, it would be a bare-handed fight—no magic allowed.
“How dare you…”
Tern clenched his teeth, radiating a fierce aura.
Chris turned to Vice Commander Melin.
“What are the rules? Until one surrenders?”
“No.”
Melin shook her head.
If that were the case, that idiot might give up after just one hit.
“That would be too dull. The fight ends only when one is incapacitated.”
It was a rule clearly designed to frustrate Chris.
The Ma-in knights whistled in approval, the atmosphere almost festive.
Everyone was eager to see Chris beaten to a pulp.
“You heard the rules. How’s that sound?”
Chris shrugged.
“You’re going to get hit a lot, you know?”
“!!”
Tern’s face flushed red again.
Just as the furious boy was about to speak, something unbelievable happened.
Smack!
Chris’s fist slammed into Tern’s face.
Blood splattered, and Chris smirked.
“What are you waiting for? The fight’s started.”
In truth, this was almost cheating.
A bare-handed duel with magic forbidden?
‘Under these conditions, there’s hardly any Ma-in in the entire Black Marsh Order who could match me.’
Chris hadn’t even reached First Star as a Ma-in.
But in terms of the Light faction’s “Star Radiance” rank, he was a Third Star knight.
Meanwhile, Tern had just barely reached Second Star.
His skill was far inferior.
Before his reincarnation, Chris had been Fourth Star, not Third.
‘A Fourth Star could easily aim for vice commander or top officer positions in a mid-sized order.’
And that wasn’t all.
He had undergone a complete transformation.
Though his muscles hadn’t fully developed yet, making him look scrawny, his core strength was unmatched.
But no matter how talented, could a mere thirteen-year-old Tern stand against him?
‘No chance. Go back to your mother’s milk… Oh, wait, do we share the same mother?’
Chris caught himself just in time from making a rude joke and swung his fist again.
Smack!
Tern’s head snapped back.
Not stopping there, Chris closed in on the dazed Tern.
A knee struck his abdomen.
As Tern bent over in pain, Chris swung his fist upward.
Smack!
With a crisp sound, Tern collapsed to the ground.
“……”
“……”
The arena fell silent.
Everyone stared at Chris, wide-eyed.
They looked as if they were seeing a mirage, unable to accept reality.
“How did this happen?”
“Did Lord Tern let his guard down?”
“Must be. Otherwise, it makes no sense.”
Tern himself seemed to share that thought.
Grinding his teeth, he struggled to stand.
But he looked terrible.
His face was bloodied, and his legs trembled slightly, probably from the ringing in his head.
“W-what trickery is this?”
“Trickery?”
“There’s no way I’d lose to my brother!”
Tern shouted fiercely.
Chris chuckled.
“You think this is trickery? Then…”
Smack!
Another punch landed.
“You need to take more hits.”
Smack!
Blood dripped from Tern’s nose.
‘Hmm, maybe a bit too much.’
There was a reason Chris had deliberately chosen Tern.
‘He needed to be put in his place.’
If left alone, Tern would just keep whining and making things difficult, so Chris had created this opportunity.
Well, maybe a little fighting would help build brotherly bonds. Of course, the punches would be one-sided.
‘And there’s another important reason.’
Chris provoked Tern for that ‘purpose.’
“But you’re bleeding a lot. Hey, you’re not crying, are you? Sorry, but… do you want big brother to help you out?”
“KRAAAH!!!”
Tern screamed something between a roar and a shriek.
At last, Chris’s plan came into play.
Flash!
Tern’s fist was enveloped in dark energy.
He had unleashed his magic.
“KRAAAH!!”
Losing control, Tern threw a magic-imbued punch at Chris.
The Ma-in knights of the Black Marsh Order were taken aback.
Vice Commander Melin gasped.
‘If that magic hits, he’ll die!’
If Tern died, Melin’s position would be in serious jeopardy.
But it was too late to intervene.
Melin’s face turned pale.
Yet Chris smiled slyly, unnoticed by anyone.
‘Bingo. Just as I planned. I was worried he’d hold back like a gentleman.’
Everything was going according to plan.
Chris glanced at Melin.
‘Watch closely. I’ll show you how it’s done.’
Through this duel, he intended to win Melin’s favor.
Melin was a Ma-in from the Dark Magic family.
A formidable figure who had reached Sixth Star Master during the Great War.
The method was simple.
To shock her, he had to show something unbelievable.
‘When the weak face the strong, the trick is to “flow” the opponent’s power.’
The problem was that this only worked when the power levels were somewhat balanced.
If he touched Tern’s magic bare-handed, he’d be fatally injured before he could flow it.
So Chris used a different approach.
He glanced at Tern’s eyes.
Tern was panicked, having lost control and launched a deadly attack.
Perhaps because of that panic, his magic fluctuated.
Chris focused intently on the magic.
The incoming energy flickered like flames.
Within the irregular dance of power, a weak spot briefly appeared.
Chris seized the moment.
He struck that weak point with his palm, shattering the magic surrounding Tern’s fist.
“Huh?”
Tern’s eyes widened in shock.
And that was the end.
Smack!
Chris’s punch landed squarely.
Tern fell backward, unconscious.
“……”
Silence filled the arena.
The Ma-in knights couldn’t quite grasp what had just happened.
“How did that happen? Why did the magic disappear?”
“Did Lord Tern hold back to avoid hurting that idiot?”
That was the only explanation.
Striking the weak point of incoming magic to dismantle it was impossible by their understanding.
But one person reacted differently.
Vice Commander Melin, the most powerful Ma-in present.
Her face was frozen, eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
‘He succeeded.’
Chris saw Melin’s reaction and smiled inwardly.
“Is that enough to prove my qualifications?”
“…Yes.”
Melin spoke slowly.
Though she tried to hide her surprise, Chris could read her thoughts clearly.
He beamed.
“Then I look forward to working with you.”
It was time to start exploiting the Black Marsh Order’s resources.
From that day on, Chris trained alongside the Black Marsh Order.
Though not in the same way.
They shared the same space but trained separately.
The order followed their prescribed regimen, while Chris focused on basic physical conditioning alone.
He didn’t cause trouble as the Ma-in feared, but the others still frowned at his presence.
“Feels like a fly buzzing around my ear.”
“Still, he’s quieter than I expected.”
“Even a reckless fool knows his place. There’s no way he’d dare cause trouble for the Black Swamp Knights.”
“How long do you think this act of his will last? Two days?”
“I give it one day.”
“Half a day, at best.”
Though Chris had beaten Tern, the others still judged him harshly.
They believed Chris had won by cheating.
They even misunderstood his final move—breaking the dark magic—as if Tern had deliberately let him win.
“It shouldn’t have been Tern who stepped up. I should’ve been the one. Then I could’ve taught him a real lesson.”
As the murmurs and grumbles spread among the knights, a cold reprimand cut through the air.
“Idle chatter, is it? Looks like everyone’s got too much time on their hands.”
“Vice Captain?”
“Stop wasting time with pointless talk and swing your swords more!”
At Vice Captain Melin’s sharp command, the knights exchanged puzzled glances but quickly refocused on their training.
She seemed sharper than usual.
‘What’s gotten into her?’
‘Is it that reckless brat that’s ruffling her feathers?’
That guess wasn’t far off.
Melin frowned deeply.
‘That duel… what was it all about?’
From the very start of the fight, she’d been shaken.
Because of Chris.