Lines of teenagers stood neatly on the training grounds as rays of sunlight shone gently on them.

  A scarred, bald man stood in front of the teenagers, looking at a pocket watch in his hands.

  It has been nearly an hour since the butler led them to the dormitory. The teenagers didn’t dare to loiter for long and quickly gathered in front of the training grounds after briefly organizing their belongings.

  “Good! No one was late for the first day.”

  The bald man closed the pocket watch and looked at the lines of teenagers with a vicious expression.

  “Well! Listen closely, you dipshits! I’m your general instructor, Travis. For the next six months, I’ll be closely overseeing your training. The outstanding ones will stand out, and the trash will be swept into its place, understood?!”

  Travis looked at the crowd of teenagers like a hawk looking at its prey. His scars twisted along his expressions like centipedes.

  Most teenagers were scared as they looked at him.

  “Hmph! Well, before we start, I need to make some rules clear. Listen well, boys, because I won’t repeat it. What I’m about to say not only concerns your future path but also your life.”

  “First of all, you must pay special attention to where you go and who you meet in this castle. Your general itinerary is between the training grounds, the cafeteria, and your dormitory. If you want to go out of the castle for any reason, you must apply first. Most importantly, you mustn’t go where you shouldn't.”

  “If you stray into the inner castle area without permission, you will be killed by the guards with no mercy.”

  Travis walked back and forth in front of the teenagers with his hand behind his back as he spoke.

  “Secondly, you must bow if you come across any noble in the castle; failure to do so will result in your limbs getting broken before getting thrown out of the castle, and you must not stare stupidly at the lord’s daughters and wife, or your eyes will be gouged out!”

  Travis said with a solemn expression. The teenagers gulped as they trembled with fear. Jerry, Ron, and Ren stood at the third line, seriously listening to Travis’s speech, not daring to miss a word.

  Even the lively Ron trembled as he listened. This is way more hardcore than he expected.

  “These are the most important points to remember. You’ll gradually learn the remaining points to keep in mind as you live here. Now, I’ll briefly talk about the training and the tests that you need to undergo to become a guard."

  “There are 312 of you in this session. Over the next 6 months, you’ll undergo gruelling training and a series of tests to select the best among you. Only 100 will remain, and the rest will be eliminated.”

  Travis looked at the hundreds of teenagers with wolf-like eyes.

  “Among the remaining hundred, the top thirty will directly become guards, while the rest will be reserves. Finally, the best five will be selected as reserve knights and bestowed with knight breathing techniques.”

  Uproar suddenly broke out among the teenagers as they started whispering. Travis looked at them with narrowed eyes, but still allowed them to talk to each other. After all, they need some time to digest these pieces of information.

  “Ren, we can become knights! Holy sh*t, I never knew!”

  Ron exclaimed with shock, forgetting all the fear he had just a minute ago.

  Ren looked at the excited teenagers around him, feeling no surprise. Knights are part of the nobility, after all. Even the lowest knight is beyond the reach of commoners.

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  ‘The carrot and stick method, huh? Frighten them, then offer them a reward they can’t resist, so typical.’

  Ren wasn’t impressed. He didn’t care about becoming a knight, though he had to show an excited expression as well to not stand out.

  ‘I guess this is to be expected. It’s an extremely rare opportunity for commoners to get the chance to become knights, no matter how small it is.’

  Ren thought as he excitedly talked with Ron and Jerry about the possibility of becoming a knight on the surface. They talked about becoming lords and owning a large manor with many servants.

  For commoners, becoming a knight is one of the few ways they could undergo class leap, so most would flock at the slightest chance to become a knight, no matter the price.

  “Pam!”

  Travis clapped his hands, releasing a series of shockwaves and silencing the crowd of teenagers.

  “It seems that you understand the great opportunity that the Lord is offering you. So! You must remember to be grateful to the Lord and work hard to become a knight!”

  Travis looked at the fervent and determined teenagers with a look of satisfaction.

  “Now, I’ll explain to you the content of your training over the next six months. In the first month, you’ll undergo simple physical training, and at the end of the month, there will be a physical test. Those that pass the test will proceed to the next stage, and those that don’t will be directly eliminated!”

  “In the second month, you’ll undergo swordsmanship training, and you’ll undergo a test at the end of the month, just like the first month. The same will occur over the remaining months.”

  “In the third month, you’ll undergo spearmanship training, equestrian and jousting training over the fourth month, and you’ll get to choose between shield training and archery over the fifth month. Finally, you’ll undergo general training to consolidate all that you learnt in the sixth month before you proceed with the final test.”

  “The best among you will directly become reserve knights, while the worst will be eliminated like garbage!”

  Travis said with a sinister expression.

  The teenagers listened with a mixture of excited, nervous, fearful, and indifferent expressions. They whispered among each other with excitement, looking forward to their bright future.

  However, some of them looked at the others with wariness and even malice. They are aware that those around them are not companions, but competitors.

  “Well then, let’s start with ten laps around the training grounds!” Travis shouted.

  “What?”

  The teenagers looked at each other with stunned expressions.

  “Ten laps?! On this huge training ground? And this is just the start?”

  Ron looked horrified.

  “Didn’t you hear me?! Start running or get out!”

  Travis shouted viciously.

  The teenagers started running along the edges of the training ground, slowly organizing into position.

  “Let’s go.”

  Ren waved to Ron and Jerry before running forward. He positioned himself around the middle of the team, with Ron and Jerry closely behind.

  “Ren, isn’t 10 laps too much? With the size of these training grounds, we’ll have to run more than 6 kilometers, and this is just the beginning.”

  Ron whispered to Ren while looking around furtively.

  “Save your breath, this level of training isn’t even a warm-up to powerful guards, let alone knights.”

  Ren calmly responded.

  “I know; it’s just that I wanted to complain a bit…”

  Ron grumbled as he ran forward. He looked around casually before falling behind a bit and talking to Jerry.

  ‘Although this guy complains a lot, this level of physical exertion shouldn’t be difficult for him. After all, I used the Pen of Destiny to learn about all the training and tests that we'd undergo a few months ago and specifically dragged them to train in the name of preparing. Becoming a guard shouldn’t be difficult for them.’

  Ren thought as he jogged forward.

  ‘That guy should pass the guard’s exam with ease as well, but it’s not enough. I need to drive him to the top.’

  Ren looked at a young man running ahead of the team. He has brown hair and brown eyes, a slightly darker complexion, and a very determined expression on his face.

  His name is Levi, a farmer’s son, and the ‘protagonist’ he chose to shine in this guards’ selection. He’s a vital part of his plan.

  Shifting his gaze to another gloomy young man at the head of the team, his gaze flickered. This is another important chess piece in his plan. He had blood-red hair and a pair of gloomy silver eyes, a distinguishing feature unique to Viscount Bloodhound’s heirs.

  Yes, this guy is a descendant of Viscount Bloodhound, an illegitimate child, to be exact. And he’s the ‘villain’ he chose for the play.