A short man, probably a few years older than Ronny, led the students to a small courtyard. It was a lifeless place, with bare dirt for the floor and stone walls for scenery. Not very homely, but Ronny hoped that he’d get used to it.

The man cleared his throat as loudly as he could and started speaking, “Good morning, future knights! Before beginning with today’s agenda, I have an announcement to make.” He glared at Ronny and Enzi, who were standing away from the rest of the group and continued, “Two new students are here today. Both commoners by origin, I’m told.” He emphasized ‘commoners’.

That news got a silent, but clearly maligned response from the rest of the students, who shuffled even further away from the two.

“But I assure all of you, they’re worthy to stand here with you all. It was by her majesty, Queen Madison’s personal request that they are with us today.”

Now, in addition to contempt relating to status, envy was present as well. Neither Enzi nor Ronny had spoken yet, but the side-eyed glances told them that they were already disliked immensely.

The instructor continued, “Everyone here may already know this, given how vital I was to the previous monarch, but allow me—for the sake of formalities—to introduce myself once more. I’m Grayson, one of Barnock’s Gold-ranked adventurers.” He looked to Ronny and Enzi, expecting a reaction, but received none. If he was bragging about his rank in The Guild at a time like this, he was either half-witted or uninformed. Regardless of the reason, it didn’t strike a good impression. Grayson looked as though he wanted to say more but changed the subject instead. Probably because of the sour response. “…With that out of the way, we will begin the day’s training!”

The day started with some elementary combat training. It was the kind of stuff Enzi had to do when he was still in the Demon Army. There were calisthenics, running, and even some rudimentary weightlifting.

Ronny covertly checked the whole group with Scan while they ran. The other Knights-in-Training averaged out at around level ten, while Grayson, the instructor, was exactly level twenty. Underwhelming numbers, he thought.

It was the first time Ronny had used Scan on a large group, and the ability’s usefulness was now abundantly obvious. The weakest students, which were around level 7, ran much slower and were much more tired by the time they finished than the higher-level ones which, excluding Enzi, capped out at level 14. Ronny was roughly in the middle of the pack, and Enzi was the fastest, strongest, and most enduring member of the group. That made sense to Ronny, given how levels were distributed.

After the first round of training was lunch, which was a similar experience to breakfast in that Ronny and Enzi had their own little corner that everyone else stayed away from. The food was nice though. He ate to until he couldn’t. When he reached that point, System notified him.

“STATUS EFFECT: Well Fed upgraded to Full Nourishment.”

A welcome surprise. The buff improved Well Fed’s skill acquisition bonus from 15% to 25%. Amazingly, he didn’t feel bloated at all. Not even after eating far more than he should of. System really did make things easy, he thought.

Next up was the second round of training. This time, it was about weapons, a topic Ronny knew nothing about. He decided to pay close attention during that segment, but the instructor didn’t seem keen on teaching him anything. Instead, Grayson partnered him with the highest-level student aside from Enzi and watched him get beaten to a pulp.

They were using swords made from wood, but the blows were still hard enough to make a loud cracking sound when they came down upon Ronny’s back. Even after Ronny asked to stop, the beating continued. Along with their instructor, the other students watched the assault with amusement.

It only ended when Enzi walked up to the aggressor and threateningly told him to stop. That of course, opened an entirely new can of worms. Grayson yelled at the young Demon for interfering with a ‘match’ that he wasn’t a part of and punished him by making him fight the student who’d been attacking Ronny.

In the instructor’s mind, that was a punishment, but in Enzi’s it was a chance to demonstrate his superiority.

The fight began, and the student tried to land a good hit on Enzi but could only reach Enzi’s waist. He swung his puny little stick repeatedly, but Enzi seemed unphased. After getting tired of the kid’s meager attempts, Enzi finished the fight with a hard kick to the shin.

They let out a yelp and collapsed onto the ground. A quick examination from Grayson revealed that their tibia was broken. Even with magic, Grayson said that it would be at least a week before the student would walk again.

It should go without saying that Enzi was hated by all except Ronny by that point. They saw him as an animalistic brute and took extra care to keep their distance from that point onwards. He didn’t mind.

The punishment was surprisingly minor, with the only restriction being a temporary exclusion from everyone else during meals. Enzi assumed that the minor reprimand was because of his status of being personally recommended by the Queen. The instructor was probably scared of being overly harsh to him in fear of angering Madison. Even still, he wasn’t allowed to eat with Ronny. That made it a bummer, but a minor one.

After a lonely dinner, Ronny and Enzi met up outside The Palace. It was time for the real training to begin. The two rushed through the city, passed the warrens, and made it to the construction site in about half an hour. The dark forest awaited their visit.