Starting from the Dragon Tribe! - Chapter 24

Starting From the Dragon Tribe

Chapter 24: Sparrers and Pursuers

When they were finished, Anjou watched Lu Chen leave the classroom as he collected his textbooks.

He guessed it was enough small talk for the day anyway. Even though Lu Chen had fought with a maniac hybrid before, there was still much for him to learn on the battlefield filled with savagery hitherto unseen. Hence, Anjou hoped that the scrimmages could forge him into an unformidable warrior.

…

As usual, Lu Chen’s days at Cassell College were normal, but not tedious.

Aside from cultural studies, he registered for weaponry and it somehow became his favorite subject.

In Cassell College, the combat courses were mainly divided into close combat and weaponry.

After reading some curriculum materials in the library, he decided not to choose close combat as the program would be too unchallenging for him. Although weaponry classes were as easy, seeing that Chu Zihang had selected it, Lu Chen made the choice to follow him. Thus, his decision led to what happened next.

Donning a piece of protective armor, an old man had a wooden sword in hand while posing in a squatting stance. Taking steady breaths, he had his eyes locked on a young man not far in front of him.

Meanwhile, the young man was in his loose, cozy tracksuit with not a single protective equipment on him, save for the wooden sword in his hand, as he stared back at this senile opponent.

Surrounding them was a crowd of spectating youths with frozen gazes, afraid of missing one split second of what was presented before them.

As it was late autumn, the olive trees were emitting a kind of soothing fragrance, wafting all over the place that was so silent yet intense.

If one wasn’t told it was a scrimmage, they would assume it to be a physical exchange between two nomadic swordsmen given the wooden weapons in their hands.

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Soon, the silence would be broken by a falling leaf rubbing against the gentle breeze. In a split second, the leaf was sliced in half. The moment the halves of the leaf landed on the surface of the lake, the clacking of two wooden swords’ impact rang out.

Instantaneously, two silhouettes charged toward each other when the swords broke. If it weren’t for the protective armor and the wooden sword, this would have been an entirely different scenario. A lake of blood, that would be. It wasn’t a sparring nor a friendly contest, but a fight to the death.

“The Two Heavens As One really suits you, Lu Chen,” Miyamoto Yoshiyuki, the tutor responsible for scrimmages, complimented. Yoshiyuki was a master swordsman from Japan who was known for passing down swordsmanship moves like Two Heavens As One and God’s Path. Swordsmanship aside, he was also an expert in weaponry.

Having been teaching at Cassell College for more than a decade, Yoshiyuki was admired by many for his skillfulness in his craft. Eventually, he realized that his ancestor, Miyamoto Musashi, was redoubtable not because of his proficiency, but the advantages of his bloodline.

Before this, not many people had the opportunity to witness a spectacle such as the brawl between Lu Chen and Yoshiyuki. Fortunately, this time, they got to witness an S grade freshman defeating their tutor in one finishing blow.

Before the impact, Yoshiyuki discovered Lu Chen’s expertise in weaponry by studying his stance and motions. However, Lu Chen did not perform any move that was fancy or flashy. Rather, it was pure speed and force.

As the wooden swords collided, Yoshiyuki felt as if he was crashing into the mountains while the weight of heaven fell upon him. The next second, when the swords broke, he felt himself being shoved miles away. At the very last second, however, he could feel Lu Chen withdraw some of his power output. If that weren’t the case, forget flying away—his bones would have disintegrated!

After a pause, a thundering round of applause filled the air as the freshmen stood still while staring at Lu Chen with admiration. Surely, it wasn’t the first time for a student to defeat his tutor, but to do it so cleanly, in one blow even, was indeed unprecedented!

“Two Heavens As One is truly an outstanding move, but its flaw is quite apparent.” As Lu Chen stated, he shook his head.

“Care to elaborate, Lu Chen?”

Despite being bested by his student and being surrounded by the piercing claps, Yoshiyuki, as the tutor, was able to maintain his humility and composure as he asked Lu Chen for his opinion. Truly, the man lived up to his title.

“It’s only good for pressing the weak, not for defending stronger, real threats.”

Straight to the point, Lu Chen expressed his views. Back in the army days in Japan, Two Heavens As One was indeed a handy move for him because everyone else was weaker. Nonetheless, those days were over.

Although the move had its pros, casting it required a huge amount of energy. In other words, it was an ability of brute force. Simply put, it would be as if a drunkard swung his bottle around mindlessly. Therefore, the move was clearly useful when suppressing a foe that was significantly punier physique-wise as it did not require much precision.

As Lu Chen said, it would surely fail when used against greater foes. Even though he had yet to encounter a Dragonborn from this world, he could tell that they would be much more formidable than the ones he had seen.

“That’s a refreshing claim, though not entirely baseless. You’ve only attended a few classes yet you’ve already known so much. Your former master must have been an exceptional one!” Yoshiyuki exclaimed in astonishment.

It was already the third weaponry class, yet the only thing he had seen Lu Chen doing was standing aside and watching his peers instead of training. Hence, he decided to test out what Lu Chen could do.

Besides, since Lu Chen owned a dojo back then, he must have had a level of understanding toward traditional weapons. Initially, he wished to defeat the boy to teach him a lesson about humility. Instead, he was ultimately the one to be humbled by the exchange.

“My master would have been honored to receive praise from a swordmaster such as yourself, Mr. Miyamoto.” Chuckling, Lu Chen put down what was left of his sword and shook hands with his teacher.

Once again, applause pierced the sky. Not only was that a wholesome incident, but it was also an opportunity for the S Grade to present his true abilities and reveal his extraordinarily intellectual side. The whole time, Lu Chen was neither arrogant nor boastful as he modestly expressed himself.

“What a waste! If he were still with us, I’d love to meet him myself.”

Feeling regretful, Yoshiyuki turned to the freshmen and urged, “Proceed with your training! I wish every single one of you can best me as Lu Chen just did. That would mean less casualty in the field!”

Although his message was short, the students tactfully heeded his words as they were motivated by their respect toward their teacher.

“Lu Chen, please.”

At this moment, a feminine timbre as clear as a bell, and intonation as accurate as a native, rang in the air.

When Lu Chen walked back to his peers, he was handed a napkin although he hadn’t broken a sweat as the entire spar lasted a mere few seconds.

Apparently, it was from one of the freshmen from the Lionheart Club, Milana Bergson, who was from France and of Germanic-Latin descent. Under the radiant sunlight, there were a few strands of white hair visible among the golden-brown clump, while her snowy, delicate mug was embellished with light makeup. When Lu Chen looked straight into her eyes, rather than getting bashful, she got even bolder as she approached closer.

Nevertheless, Lu Chen took a couple of steps sideways and grabbed a sealed bottle of water from Chu Zihang’s hands, thereupon he started drinking to signal his rejection to Milana. Recently, there had been a group of Lu Chen’s pursuers. Among these pursuers were a bunch of members of the Lionheart Club—under Milana’s leadership—passionately buttering up to Lu Chen in order to acquire some benefits from him.

Unfortunately for them, Lu Chen would refuse every single one of their advances. For starters, there wasn’t a need to dwell on gratifications as he wouldn’t be staying in this world for long. Secondly, none of the girls were of his taste.

As a man born and raised in the East, he had a thing for girls that were reserved yet insightful, and at the same time elegant. Most importantly, she would have to be an individual strong enough to spar with him.

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