Suddenly this tall muscular baldy appeared out of nowhere.

He bends over and gawks at me taking a closer look as if I was some rare species of mana beast. I stood still glaring back at the baldy without faltering.

“Lieutenant, is this some kind of a trick?” asks baldy while examining me, “Or you are telling me this brat actually is an ancient master of martial arts using some sorcery to hide his appearance to look like a kid?”

I guess this baldy had a few screws loose.

“Milo, he’s just a 12-year-old brat and yes he will be your sparring partner.,” replied Kieth.

The baldy suddenly turned around facing Kieth,

“So why in the hell do you want me to beat up this young kid? Do you have some kind of a weird sick fetish or something?”

“Milo just shut your mouth and do what I ask you to.” Kieth looked pissed, “This brat’s an ascension candidate handpicked by Master Bervice. Now you know so less talking and more action,”

The baldy suddenly looked at me with wide eyes,

“Oh, that’s rare for the Master to pick such young candidates. But still to make him my sparring partner is still going too far. The young brat looks like he has recently stopped getting breastfed by his mother, so sparring from the get-go would be a little too much on him, don’t you think? hehe.”

This dude is already getting on my nerves.

The baldy just turned around and walked away waving his arm,

“You should pick one of your maids to spar with him. I am sure they’ll give this brat a good spanking. I got better things to-.”

Mr. Keith just stood in front of baldy blocking his path,

“Alright, I’ll announce the rules of this practice match so hear me closely.”

“Hey! Didn’t you just hear what I just said?!” Milo shouted angrily.

His voice boomed and reverberated in the chamber like thunder.

Fuck, my ears are aching once again.

But Mr. Keith didn’t seem to be bothered even once as he continued addressing the rules,

“Rules are simple. Both contestants are armed with non-lethal weapons that you can use however you may like. Landing a hit on either the head, the neck, the chest, the waist or the back will give you a 1 point, per hit. The first person to score 2 points will be the winner.”

Landing a clean hit on baldy’s weak points would be easy only if he wasn’t big as an ox.

On top of that, I had the frail small body of a 12-year-old brat, armed with two wooden knives.

I really regret not picking a little bigger weapon but I guess I have to make do with what I have.

I quickly loosened my limbs and cleared my mind trying to reassess all the options I have available to score points.

The baldy looked terrifying but I have battled a wild dire wolf so this is nothing compared to that.

Meanwhile, baldy Milo didn’t even bother to warm up,

“Hey! Kieth, I don’t wanna beat up some random kid I just met. You are the lieutenant but that doesn’t mean you can just use your power to order me to do whatever you want to~ Are you even listening?”

Mr. Kieth clearly ignored the towering baldy standing in front of him like an invisible wall.

He just calmly raised his arm in the air,

“Now the rules are explained. Take your places and be ready.”

“I don’t want the blood of a little brat on my conscience. Stop this pointless match!”

Keith didn’t budge, with his hand signaling the match began.

“Let the match begin.”

Baldy didn’t even take this bout seriously; he had his back turned against me all this time.

“Screw this! I am going back to my shop,”

I saw a wide opening and I grabbed it.

I quickly sprinted like a wolf chasing its prey. Clutching the dagger tightly in my hands as I closed the gap between me and the giant baldy quickly.

The main problem was now climbing the baldy’s giant ass body to hit in his vital area.

The baldy didn’t even notice my approach and there was not much time before he realizes that I am not just any ordinary kid.

I quickly kicked the wall and jumped even higher to reach him. Next, I had to step on the baldy’s ass crack and the waistband of his pants to climb even higher.

The baldy finally noticed something and quickly turned his head,

“Huh-”

To his surprise, at this moment I was looking at him right in the eye.

Before he could react I quickly swung the daggers right on his face with all the strength I had left.

“Aargh!!” shouted the giant baldy in pain.

He quickly protected his face with his hands and backed away.

I also quickly backed away and took a defensive stance.

I could have just gone for his back to score a hit but aiming at his face had more gains. It was a risky gamble but it could be the deciding factor of this match.

Sadly I don’t feel like landed the perfect hit as I expected to. To be honest it felt more like I was attacking a rock than a human’s face. I couldn’t really put all my strength in mid-air like that.

“This fuckin twerp! Dared to attack me from the back” howled the giant like a madman.

“It’s your fault for turning your back against me all this time,” I replied smugly.

But the giant removed his hand off his face revealing a really unhappy red face,

“You just tried to slash out my eyeballs, didn’t you?”

Crap! I guess I really did miss his eyes.

Taking out his eyesight would be the best way to get a good advantage against this giant.

But now I even managed to piss him off. Well, at least I scored a point and regained some self-respect for myself.

“Fine! You asked for it brat!” The baldy walked towards me with a menacing look.

Now I guess I have to score a point from the old-fashioned way.

It's all or nothing.

Milo approached in a casual demeanor armed with a wooden stick.

He was really angry as I could clearly see the throbbing nerves all over his bald forehead.

“How about you surrender and I let you walk out in one piece, huh?”

I just stuck my tongue out making him even angrier.

“You are so dead, boy.”

I kept my distance as I tried to look for an opening.

If I could just land another hit, this match would be good and over in an instant.

I might be young and small but I also have some advantages.

Being big doesn’t always make a good thing, your moments are slow and you are a big open target on the battlefield. I should try to utilize this to my advantage.

All the time I kept my distance from Milo.

I kept circling around him trying to look for an opening while keeping away from his weapon’s reach. He tried closing the distance between us a couple of times but every time I gave him the slip.

We played cat and mice for sometime before Milo started losing his cool,

“Stop running around like a coward and face me like a man!”

Milo rushed at me like a charging bull but I was quick on my feet to slip my way out from him once again. I am already used to his moments and reaction times at this point.

I think it’s about time that I should take the offensive.

“Come here, you runt!” saying so he once again charged at me with his wide arms open.

I quickly dodged his arms and slipped past through between his legs.

As usual, he had his back wide open for the taking.

Unlike the usual me who would escape, this time I wasn’t going to run anymore.

Let's end this mad match once and for all.

Saying so I grabbed the dagger tight and prepared to lunge it right against his abdomen.

As I lunged forward to stab him, I saw his back muscle twitching,

“Crap!”

The giant swung one of his arms backward like a whip.

There was a clean sound of him slicing the air.

I barely managed to dodge his arm by a hair’s breadth.

But now I lost my composure and I was now in his arm’s reach.

The giant had a wide smile,

“I finally got you.”

Fuck! Did he just bait me to get closer?

He had me fooled all this time. I guess he does have few brain cells after all!

I need to regain my momentum and balance quickly.

He surely won’t let me just turn around and walk away.

The Giant raised his hand armed with a stick and swung it on me with all his force.

I was now a sitting duck for the taking. Instead of running with my back against I took my chances of blocking instead.

I held my dagger crossed and the stick hit with full force.

“Ack!”

My arms bared the full grunt as if some charging bull just rammed against me.

Thankfully I tried jumping backward to reduce some of the force of impact felt by my arms.

But the force was still too much to bear as I flew and rolled on the floor rubbing my face against dirt and hay before coming to a stop.

I had to stay on the floor for a few seconds to recuperate just to get my head straight.

I quickly got on my feet and grabbed on the daggers with all my strength.

“Crap!” I shouted in disbelief.

I somehow end up breaking one of my feet.

I tried moving it but there was no reaction between the ankle joints of one of my feet.

“See that’s what you get trying to be a smart ass. Stop being cheeky and drop your weapon and surrender.”

I clutched my weapon harder,

“I am still on the lead.” and replied with a smile.

Milo’s brows throbbed,

“I see. So you are one tough cookie, huh. You want a warrior’s defeat, huh.”

He suddenly took a deep breath and closed his eyes standing still.

Is this another of his gimmicks?

Trying to bait me?

He then suddenly opened his eyes with a changed man,

“Sorry brat! You are indeed a formidable sparing partner and I shouldn’t have disrespected you like that. So as an apology I will give you a proper defeat. Don’t worry, we have the best healer in the mansion to patch you up.”

This time Milo had a bright smile but his eyes were even fiercer than before.

He was really taking me more seriously.

I started hopping around with just one leg like an injured bunny.

As I moved the injured feet caused a lot of pain but I had to grit my teeth to bear the pain.

Milo had his full attention on watching every move like a hawk.

I hopped around on one leg circling around him as he just stood at place watching me carefully.

I guess I have to bet everything on this one move.

Taking a deep breath I quickly leaped forward charging at Milo.

He was unfazed grabbing onto the stick like a samurai as he waited for me.

But before I could reach his weapon’s reach, I quickly kicked the hay on the ground and launched it at his face.

Flying dirt and hay obstructed Milo’s vision.

“A cheap trick.” Milo raised the stick and stuck it in the air.

The flying hay and dirt all cleared away in an instant, again regaining the view in front of him.

But to his surprise, I was nowhere to be seen.

“What!” shouted puzzled Milo.

By the time he realized, I was already behind his back on the blindside.

I grabbed one of my daggers and hurled it at him with everything I had.

Even if one of the daggers hit the vital area, it’ll still count as a point.

But Milo just flicked his stick and thwarted the dagger-like fly.

“Nice try-”

I expected as much.

The next second I grab the only dagger tightly with both my hands then gathered all the strength under my feet. I could feel the warm energy channeling through my body and gathering at a single point.

This time I was going to rely on mana for the next attack.

Time seems to have halted as I ready myself to utilize mana for the second time.

A little glow appeared underneath the sole of my feet.

Unlike directly using mana for an attack, I am going to use it to do a quick attack. Not much flashy but only to speed my moments to land a clean attack with my dagger.

After fully channeling the mana underneath my sole I used the very same feet to run.

As I just took just one step and my body just sped at high velocity at a full speed as if I was flying. Firmly holding the dagger in the front as I bowed my head to reduce the air resistance approaching Milo like an arrow that had left the bowstring.

Let’s put an end to this bout.

When I got closer Milo suddenly jumped in the air and evaded my blow as a whole. Like some gymnast, he athletically jumps over the top of my head with style.

This baldy just performed a backflip!

“Fuck” I uttered to myself.

My body was still in momentum speeding ahead as I head straight towards the box of weapon crates kept at the corner. I braced myself for a crash landing.

The last thing I remember was crashing against the crate and then against hitting against the wall and tumbling on the ground like a rag doll before stopping.

I must have broken a lot of bones by now, and it is all on me.

Relying on mana like that was not a good idea. I never calculated that the baldy would dodge my attack like that. I thought he would act all proud and take the hit head-on just to prove how manly he was.

Not only did he dodge but also performed a backflip.

I should never use this move ever again. Until I master mana a bit more.

My whole body was in pain as I started to pass out.

How many times have I already passed out like this?

This has become the norm, for fuck sake!