Inside his residence, Ryu's currently thinking about an appropriate strategy needed to defeat Ryo. To think about it, just beating an enemy whose level is only two steps higher is a piece of cake for him.

He had an experience of fighting against a God, who's He doesn't know how heaven-defying her level is. If he wants to guess, maybe the difference is about 100 or more level, but he can't be so sure about that. After all, Ellaine seems to be just toying around with him when they're battling. Maybe that last seconds is her full power.

Well, It's not the right time to think about that. Ryu starts to sort his thought again. Because of the duel is being held at the school grounds, its participants are prohibited from using a weapon. Thus the best one to learn is about martial arts that focused on fist usage. After thinking about that, Ryu instantly goes to his residence backyard to think about a suitable move for him to train.

Arrived at the place, he prioritizes to warm up his body first before practicing a martial art. After all, it won't be a laughing matter if he gets strained. Done with this process, Ryu redirects his focus toward the martial arts again.

The most fundamental thing about martial arts is not a fancy move. It's just a simple thing about offensive and defensive. The complicated part is when those two things branches to almost infinity category and sometimes will fuse with other varieties. In this case, the most simple combination is between defensive move and switching to the offensive in a blink of a second, or something called counter-attacking.

"Well, in my current condition, there's a limited amount of what I can do, so what's the most suitable technique for a level 4 Novice to practice?"

After considering for some time, he comes up with a technique called Dracone Counter, the looks of this technique are not that different from something called uppercut. But, the execution of this technique is far harder than the former.

While uppercut just dodging and counter-attacking the enemies with a punch to the chin from below. This technique infuses a tad of mana of the user on its fist. It will then be released at the nerve system near the jawbone of its target. So, if the enemy is weak or unprepared, it can knock them out instantly.

"Hehe, this is the most suitable technique for that kid."

"I've already set the groundwork for winning the stage tomorrow."

"Based on his temperament, he'll surely underestimate me in the battles."

The most significant part of his strategy is actually not this technique, but the situation from before. By kneeling into him, Ryo will surely get a sense of superiority and thus will taking him lightly in the battle.

"I'll never let this advantage to go into the drain."

"If he really let his guards down, it will surely knock him unconscious."

Completing his warming up, Ryu began to practices the Dracone Counter. Because he's turning down Narukami offer to aid earlier, he's forced to do shadow bocking to train this technique of his.

He also doesn't neglect the other training routine that he must do every day. Only after some hellish training did he passed out in the bed of his room.

***

At last, the morning has come. One of Helbram Soul School Arena is packed with the 3rd division Novice class students. Of course, the reason for this is the spar between Ryu and Ryo.

Actually, the news on a level 4 student challenge a level 6 student spread so fast and attracts a lot of people's curiosity. That's why there's also an outsider who went to spectate the match.

There's even a mysterious old man who spares his time to watch this match.

"Hmm, let's see, does this boy have the skill to back up his words."

"... Or, it's just pure stupidity."

Rubbing his long beard, this old man continued his monologue.

"Well, the match is bound to be interesting. Knowing my disciple temperament, he won't let the match end so easily."

The person who spoke this turned out to be Jinchi, the master of Ryo. He comes with the intention to observe how far his disciple has grown. Also, he wants to see what the other side has to offer to challenge his pupils boldly like that.

Outside of that, there's also a student who hosts a bet for who'll win in this fight. Although the result is one-sidedly is favored to Ryo, and only about 10% is placed for Ryu.

The two participants are finally entering the arena of the battle. Ryu enters the stage from the left side, and on his opposite, he can see Ryo slowly walking towards him with a smug face.

"I admire your courage for not running away,"

"Hmm, It's the opposite."

"What?"

Ryu suddenly raises his right finger, like a predator who lays the last step for entrapping his prey, Ryu said another word;

"Let me bet on this, I will defeat you in one move."

Hearing this, Ryu can see a black line is formed between the boy's brows.

"I see, still talking bullshit, aren't we?"

"Let's begin the battle already, I don't have much time on me."

"If that's what you wish. I will beat out of hell for you."

Ryo's quickly dashes forward charging at Ryu, He's facing Ryu head-on, and clearly wants to beat him up to a pulp as soon as possible.

"As I thought, come, enter your cage... my little lamb."

Ryu instantly takes his stance, and at the same time, raising his focus.

"You want to counter-attack me? You're just level four! You can't even dodge my attack, even if it lands, your attack will just make me itchy!"

Seeing those reactions, Ryu faces just turned into a smirk.

"Let's see about that."

After closing the distance, Ryo's swiftly thrusting his right arm to Ryu's abdomen. He's definitely not planning to end this fight that fasts. He wants to thoroughly teach Ryu a lesson about the difference between level 4 and level 6.

"Humph, You're too easy to read!"

Ryu's instantly dodging his attack by going to the sideways.

"WHAT?"

Not expecting Ryu to dodge his attack easily, Ryo's lost his balance. Not missing this opportunity, Ryu, in an instant, focuses his mana on his right fist and throw that fist precisely at the jaw of the unguarded boy.

"GURGH, no... way..."

Receiving the blows on his vital nerves, Ryo begins to staggering left and right, he wears a bewildered expression, accompanied by a panting breath. Before long, he slowly falls into the ground and passes out.

Looking at those sights, Ryu just leaks out a sigh from his mouth.

"You're too easy..."

Observing this unexpected outcome, the crowd went silent with a hint of a disbelieve in their face.

What happened actually? It's done in a few movements. They did expect the match will be done in an instant, but not with this result. They're almost 100% sure that Ryo will win this fight without any difficulty at all. Like, Who's Ryo? He's not your average level 6 novice. He's the disciple of Jinchi.

There's also another expression beside the disbelieve, and that's anger. Well, it can't be helped, most of the audience bet a lot of Disks for Ryo to win, now their money just despairs in a second.

Not for so long, this group of people starts to put some bullshit, cursing, and accusing Ryu that he uses dirty means to win the match.

"Fuck, don't cheat, you fucking loser!"

"Yeah, yeah, I bet you're hiding some weapon in your sleave."

"That's right! There's no way a level four can win against level six in a fair fight!"

"Mrs. Farroh, He's cheating, please disqualify him!"

Hearing this endless nonsense, Ryu's brows furrowed as his annoyance has reached its peak.

"If you don't like the result, please come to the arena, I will fight with you, personally!"

Ryu suddenly releases a burst of pressure with his fierce looks. It's so intimidating, if a stranger being told that just yesterday, this boy is kneeling for forgiveness, they'll surely not gonna believe it.

The sheer amount of pressure that Ryu leaks out instantly makes the protesting crowd fell silent on their seat. Although they're accusing Ryu of cheating, there should be some truth in his power to be able to knock-out a level 6 with one move.

After the second moment of silence, Mrs. Farroh finally said something.

"Well, anyone dares to challenge Ryu?"

Confirming that there's no other protest being blurted out, Mrs. Farroh finally announces the result of the match.

"No? Okay then, with this Ryu places will be swapped with Ryo, Ryu is now in A-Divison, while Ryo will be moved to B Divison."

"With this, the order of the class you will go to will be fixed. All students can take a break for about 1 month before going to the respective Division. I will still be responsible for the A-Division, this past one year is quite a memories for me, I hope you guys can feel it too, thank you."

Hearing the announcement, Ryu gives out a smile at his teacher.

"Oh, are you going to be my homeroom teacher again, Mrs. Farroh?"

"Yeah, is there something wrong with it?"

"Nope, It's the opposite, I'm so lucky to have you again, hahaha."

Seeing the kid's attitude, Mrs. Farroh becomes a little dumbfounded. She thought that Ryu despises her for the constant punishment that she gave to him in the past semester, but it doesn't seem like that.

"Ryu, what's happened to you? You have changed a lot."

"There's nothing that changed Mrs. Farroh, I'm just grateful that you keep punishing me for my wrongdoing so that I can be a better individual."

Hearing this, she can't help but chuckles up a bit.

"Hey, Did you hit your head in the wall before coming here?"

Mrs. Farroh then draws her arm, stroking Ryu's head gently with it.

"You've really changed, Ryu."

After stroking Ryu's head, Mrs. Farroh leaves the arena to resumes her work. This time, it's Ryu's turn to be dumbfounded.

"So she can make a smile like that..."

With the result being announced already, the crowd stands up from their seat and leaves quietly one by one, accepting their fate of losing their money. Only a small group of people is happy seeing this circumstance, of course, that is the group who bet on Ryu to win. Although at first, they're doing it because they're confused and said the wrong name.

There's also an old man who's busy analyzing Ryu from his seat. It's the master of the loser participant, Jinchi.

"He didn't just use a brute force but also a technique to boost it."

"And certainty, it's not a poor technique at all."

"What a talented young man..."

"Ryo should've last for a little longer if he's not underestimating his opponent, I'll teach him a tough lesson next time!"

Jinchi then gets up from his seat and silently leaving the arena.

Also, later, because of this event, people start to see Ryu with a different light. He also seems to get fans, but that's another story for another time.

Leaving the arena, Ryu is getting greeted by his best friend, Narukami.

"Wow, I don't expect you to win, seriously, now I regret not making a large bet for you, haha."

Hearing this, Ryu's a bit surprised as his mouth formed into an 'O' shape.

"Oh, you participate in that stupid thing too?"

"Why you call it stupid, the bet itself is the one that makes this event more interesting."

"Are you a gambling addict or something..."

Narukami just laughs when hearing Ryu's question.

"Of course not, it's just my hobby."

"It's a one-of-kind hobby, indeed."

"But, congrats on making it to A-Division, though, it's a shame that we didn't get to be on the same Division."

Ryu can tell that Narukami is somehow down about this matter.

"We can still meet each other, it doesn't change the fact that you're my best friend."

"Yeah, you're right!"

After some more brief chatting with Narukami, Ryu immediately goes back to his residence. In his room, he instantly checks his flame using the scanning technique.

'As I thought...'

In front of Ryu is a flame of transparent color, the biggest yet he has ever seen.

"I'm already level 5."

"This growth is seriously out of logic."

"Well, save that for another day, this means I can prepare to go to the Forest City Dungeon."

"There's also a month of break time in the school, I can spend my time inside the dungeon for some time."

Extinguishing his flame from his palm, Ryu then begins to advance his plan. He starts to list the things that he needs for his first dungeon exploration.

"The most important thing is... Of course, my weapon."

"There's no way a kitchen knife can be enough for cutting a dungeon creature."

Speaking of a weapon, Ryu began to notice another hurdle for his path.

"I should try to learn a blacksmith technique too."

"Because I'm planning to become a super novice, I must make my own super-novice gear too. It will be very pricey to order a custom-made weapon after all."

The further he thinks about it, there seem a lot of things that need to be considered more if he wants to tread on his current path.

"But... For now, I should go around the city to see if there's anything that can take my interest."

"Maybe I can go to that place to learn a weapon forging skill."

With that, Ryu leaves his residence and goes to the place that's just crossed his mind.

***

After walking around the city for a while, Ryu's finally arrived at his destination. Right now, he's standing before a huge building, its made from a stone wall, giving it a sturdy feeling. There's also a funnel at the top of the building that keeps emitting black smoke.

It's the Blacksmith Association. It's a place where all kinds of weapons keep getting produced every day. The association only accepts a customer who wants custom-made equipment, for a general one, they've usually distributed it to the weapon shop all around the city.

Double-checking if it's the right building, Ryu hurriedly goes inside the Blacksmith Association. After entering the building, Ryu's instinctively closes his nose with his hand.

"This smell, it's definitely a metal scent!"

He is actually surprised a little by the smell. He didn't think that the stench of the metal can be so overpowering, slowly, Ryu starts to get accustomed to the scent as he began to look around the place.

It's packed with a custom-made weapon that is displayed on the shelf.

While he's absorbed with this kind of sight, suddenly, a heavy voice can be heard coming from his behind.

"Hey, Kid! What business do you have in here?"

When Ryu follows the direction of the voice, He can see a bold man with a bulky build and height about 6.3-feet. Judging by his appearance, Ryu can assume that this old man is the leader of the Blacksmith Association.

Ryu wants to say that he wants to join the Blacksmith association. However, he pulls that intent out because he realizes that currently, he doesn't have the time to focuses fully on learning about a weapon forging.

"I want to sightsee how the weapon can be made, Sir."

Ryu cupped his hands and gave a slight bow to the bulky man. He thinks to himself that he must be polite to the leader of this association. Leaving a good impression on the boss was another way to quickly get on the favor of the association.

The Bulky man is a little surprised, and later, he's chuckled.

"Haha kid, Are you interested in making a weapon?"

He then raises his thumb to point toward himself.

"If you're that interested, I can teach you one or two basic things when making a weapon. You can call me Dartz, I'm the one who makes a call in here."

A smile instantly formed on Ryu's face when he heard the sudden offer.

"Yes, I'm interested in it. If you're willing to teach me, I gladly accept it, Mr. Dartz."

Seeing the boy enthusiasm Dartz can't help to smile, it's actually a rare thing that a kid that around 14 years old is interested in a weapon making technique.

Blacksmith is actually not a dream job for everyone, and almost all of the young generations are trained to become a Hunter to join its association. Because it's the highest paying job one can ever get, and some of the secrets about Dungeon and Class are already unveiled so, now it's easier to become a Hunter. That's why the majority of parents usually guide their kids toward that path. Sadly, for the older generations, it's too late for them to join the trend.

"Follow me, Kid, we will go to the upstairs."

Dartz moved to the upstairs and being trailed by Ryu.

"This is..."

Ryu is dumbfounded and amazed at the same time. When he touched his foot on the 2nd floor, He instantly greeted by a scenery where a lot of people are currently kept smashing their hammer in the anvil. There's also someone who puts the weapon in a furnace before placing them back at the anvil again. In the back, he can see a lot of excellent material being put on a barrel to be used as a weapon material later.

Dartz saw Ryu's expression and chuckled.

"Amazing, right? This is our Blacksmith association's daily routines. You can find all kinds of material in here, that material can be used for forging the weapon for all tier. From the novice to the legendary 3rd tier."

"Is there any material that is made for 4th tier one?"

Dartz shakes his head in reply to Ryu's question.

"Sadly, we don't have that kind of material that's worth it for a 4th tier. In this age, we don't have an individual who reached the 4th tier, so preparing material for a 4th tier class is deemed to be a waste. In the first place, maybe we're not capable yet of making such a weapon, even if they got the material."

"I guess that was true."

Although the most advanced tier is 4th tier, reaching the 3rd tier is already considered a legend, they're already considered a hero by some city.

"Well, Let's drop that topic now. I will teach you the basics to make a weapon."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll use the most commonly used metal, iron. Watch closely."

Having said that, Dartz takes the ore from one of the barrels and throws it to the furnace.

"Now, you must wait for the right time to take the iron out from the furnace."

"The ideal way is to take them out just before it reaches the melting point. But it will also be risky because when the material starts to melt, the quality of the weapon will drop significantly."

"So, it's better for you to take it out when the color of the material transforms from red to orange."

Ryu just sees and tries to comprehend the first essential thing that Dartz tells him. The trick of making a weapon is by no means an easy thing. It can't be understood by just a single look or single try. There's a lot of basic ideas that needed to be done carefully.

"Now, when it changes like this, instantly takes them out using tongs and place them in the anvil."

"Quickly smash this thing using the hammer to remove the impurities that reside inside the metal."

After that, Dartz commences to pounds the iron with his hammer with quite a force. The sound of the hammer colliding a metal can be heard loudly by Ryu. Just to remove the impurities alone can take up to 5 hours of forging without rest. This is also because Dartz is using a magical hammer. The usual process actually takes about ten times more. Dartz already making the weapon for 3 hours straight, He just keeps smashing the place where the iron is still impure.

"The impurities are removed by 95%, I guess."

After He examined the metal, he took a peek at Ryu, on there did he see, a boy with a really focused look on his face.

"You're amazing, huh?"

"Pardon, sir?"

"Doesn't this process seems boring?"

"Not at all, I see a lot of things that must be made during this process."

Hearing the boy's responses, Dartz starts to tilt the iron to left and right with the tongs. It seems he's searching for the remaining impurities.

"Hmm, it's indeed the most important process, but even for me, when I first learn this thing, it's an incredibly boring step. You're really an interesting boy."

"So, what's the next step, sir?"

"Oh yeah, next we heat the metal in the furnace again, after that we can shape the weapon that we want to make."

When they're waiting for the metal to heats up again, Dartz suddenly clears his throat, proposing something out of Ryu's expectation.