The Legendary Spearman Returns

Everyone was gathered in the biggest training arena in the Duchy. The retinue of Duke Agnus and the Dukehimself, Fourth Prince Kaiser ben Britten, Archmage Evergrant, and the 9th Battalion Commander, Valmont, were all present. Even so, being the grandest such facility in the estate, this arena could accommodate the entire crowd with room to spare, even with knights and their weapons on each corner.

Valmont gulped when he spotted the Duke’s commanders in the crowd. It was his first time seeing these prominent figures in the flesh.

Two men stood alone in the middle of the arena, judging each other and being judged by the spectators.

Two men? No... rather, one man and one boy. A young cub without a hair to tickle his chest.

“Are you ready?”

The boy’s opponent was Joker, the second-in-command of the Imperial 9th Battalion. Seeing Joshua nod, Joker continued. “The test will be simple… We will fight three rounds before the judges. If any of them nod in approval during those three rounds, you pass.”

“You don’t have to worry too much. I’ll only use mana on the lowest levels of C-Class.”

Joshua’s unresponsiveness made Joker chuckle.

‘I guess anyone would be nervous in this kind of situation.’

Of course, Joker had no intention of accommodating him. There was a reason why he didn’t like this scumbag of a child—Joshua's presence made him unable to think straight. And more importantly, he had received a solemn task from the man above him.

“Don’t be nervous. Should an accident happen, wouldn’t the Duke, the pride of the Empire, come running right away?”

Joker spoke with a modicum of courtesy because the people of the Duchy were watching, but to Joshua, his patronizing attitude was palpable. 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎

“Pft.”

“Hahaha.”

The Imperial Knights were aware as well and were laughing their heads off.

Joshua smirked coldly. He wasn’t about to let Joker walk away.

“I believe I told you already, haven't I? You talk too much. You’re a proud knight of the Empire, right? Does the Empire choose its knights based on how well they talk?”

“You crazy—!” Joker was furious but he had to shut his mouth; the other Imperial Knights were equally silent. Their expression was stiff but their anger was obvious nonetheless. Joshua had just insulted the entire Imperial Knights.

“...You’ll regret saying that,” Joker remarked with a hardened expression.

“If I thought I’d regret it, I wouldn’t waste my time laughing at your pathetic face right now.” Joshua guffawed.

“—What?”

“I’m not soft enough to feel something as lame as regret, no matter what the circumstances.”

“I guess you fight with your tongue, not with your arms.” Joker’s eyes were as sharp as the blade hissing from his sheathe.

‘I was planning to just give you a mild beat down, because there’s so many eyes watching… But I’m going to make sure you never hold a sword again.’

Joker was about to take a step forward, but abruptly halted.

“Is that a weapon?”

When he had first seen the iron rod lying on the ground, he hadn't paid much attention to it. He had ignored it and focused on his opponent instead. But now that he saw Joshua pick up the rod, he frowned.

“...What are you up to?”

“The test is too abstract. I would like to change the rules a little bit.”

“What do you mean?” Joker rolled his eyes.

“Simple… if you take a step back after receiving a hit, you lose. How about that?”

The arena was overtaken by silence.

Was this boy insane? Was he trying to take on a B-Class intermediate knight? Even Duke Agnus’s normally implacable fa?ade cracked, and he stared wide-eyed at his son, wondering what was in his mind.

“You’re an arrogant bastard with too much ambition… I don’t know if you’re talented or just prideful.” Joker could not hold back his crude words.

But, when Joker stopped to think about it, wasn’t this the best situation to get the job done? It was way better than doing something that would cost him his pride—namely, using the excuse of making a mistake during the test.

“Are you okay with that, battalion commander?” Joker’s lips curled into a fishy smile as he turned to look at Valmont.

“Ah, that...” Valmont was rattled by the sudden turn of events.

He glanced at Duke Agnus. Valmont was responsible for the test, but he couldn’t help but look to the Duke for approval.

“As per his wishes.” The Duke seemed to settle his thoughts and nodded sharply.

Valmont smiled awkwardly and raised his hand, joining his thumb and forefinger to flash an OK sign.

“I’ll do it if that’s what you want.” Joker grinned savagely at Joshua and adopted a stance that balanced defense and offense.

“Attack me first.”

The weather was nice. Joker felt that he should show that arrogant kid hell on earth.

‘As an added bonus, I’ll cripple him so he won’t be cocky again.’

Outwardly, though, Joker’s words retained a veneer of sympathy.

“It won’t happen, but the test will end if I take even one step back. In other words, you’ll officially be a C-Class Knight of the Avalon Empire from that point on.”

Joshua hefted the iron rod. The motion was incredibly natural, as if the iron rod were an extension of his body.

Joshua and Duke Agnus shared a look.

“If you want to gamble, you go big or go home.”

Joker made a puzzled expression.

“I think a slight punishment is in order if you’re the loser… the number of steps you take back will be the number of times you crawl on the floor and bark like a dog.”

“....!”

“I want to teach you a lesson… The way you posture like royalty troubles me.”

“Like a dog at its master’s heels…” Joshua mouthed these last words, but Joker had no trouble understanding him.

“Let’s just begin! I’ll make sure to that glib tongue of yours will no longer be able to taint the reputation of the Imperial Knights!” Joker’s face flushed red.

“Great.” Joshua gripped the rod firmly and straightened his posture. The playfulness in his face was suddenly gone, replaced with a trance-like focus.

‘What is this feeling…?’ Joker was startled by the sudden incongruity. ‘He’s just a nine-year-old child with a big appetite… Even if he’s a genius beyond even the Grand Duke, I know he’s only a C-Class at best… But what- what is this ominous feeling?”’

Wasn't this what a knight felt when he looked Death in the eyes on the battlefield? Joker could feel the specter of death hovering in the air.

In contrast to Joker, Joshua was a little troubled.

‘At this level, it’s still difficult to use with a young body.’ Cold sweat beaded on Joshua’s forehead. He could tell he was overworking himself right now. ‘To use this technique properly, I have to be at least stage 3. In an adult’s body, it’d be easy but—’

Joshua hadn’t been standing still this last day. He’d managed to master the technique Lugia had told him about; Joshua had passed the first stage of the Magic Spear Technique and reached the second stage.

‘It’s still internally unstable. But it’s not as if it can’t be used.’ The two parasite-like energies in his body were still locked in combat. He had just enough strength to exert a modicum of control over them, driving them into every corner of his body. The demonic power and divine power were usually quiet, but they had a tendency to react violently and unpredictably to Joshua’s mana; like maddened beasts, they would lunge at Joshua’s mana.

‘It takes a lot of time to activate, but its destructive power…’ Joshua had tensed as if he was going to rush forward right away, but didn’t move after a long minute.

“This is the wrong time to be scared, kid.”

Joshua didn’t even react to Joker’s sarcasm. He slowly raised the mana in his body over time.

‘It’s like baiting, slowly leading the mana to the demonic power and divine power.’

Did his efforts finally pay off? The three energies, entangled and absorbed, spilled forth from Joshua’ fingertips and embraced the iron rod.

‘This is only the second time ever that I’m using this.’ Joshua squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Hey, what is that…?’?Was it just an illusion, or had Joker felt a clash of massive energies?

Joshua shot Joker an embarrassed look and lowered the iron rod, pointing it at Joker.

“Lugia.” The rod responded eagerly to Joshua’s voice. As though it had been struck by a 3rd-Class mage with the spell Chain Lightning, the rod started to emit white sparks. Its shape changed little by little, as if it knew exactly what it had to do—from an ordinary iron cylinder to a peculiar spear with a forked tip.

“An artifact?” Duke Agnus was astonished.

A weapon that could change shape. As far as he knew, only artifacts had special powers. Moreover, a weapon with such unusual shape was probably ancient.

“Perhaps the test will end with this round,” Joshua intoned.

The sparks running hotly across the spear finally gathered at the tip.

Bzzt!

Joshua’s mana, which had now lost its dazzling luster, was an enigma to the viewers. Mana was always monochrome and its color was determined by a person’s innate character, but Joshua’s mana showed three different colors: dark blue, jet black, and pure white. The colors were like oil, water, and tar; they all flowed, but did no mix together.

“Crazy!” Joker rushed to rouse his mana.

“Lightning Flash.”

Lugia shot forth with thundering force, leaving behind a blinding trail of white.