Translator: Haruto.

“I’m better than Arad. He’s lower than me,” thought Drang, and in order to prove it to everyone, he challenged Arad to a mock duel. Although, because of his aggressive tone, it was more of an order to participate than a challenge.

Arad had no particular desire to fight Drang so he didn’t intend to accept the challenge at first.

Wait, this might actually be a good chance…

However, if Arad were to demonstrate the difference in their strengths, perhaps he’d be allowed to fight monsters, and consequently, discover more about the applications of his Thread skill.

Therefore, Arad decided to accept Drang’s challenge. As for the location, they decided on the practice arena where the soldiers and knights of the family gathered.

Gilas, the marquis’s oldest son, and Rurina, his oldest daughter, joined them in the arena, alongside the second son of the family, Gurua.

The three of them engaged in a vivid argument regarding the possible outcome of the duel, and the knights followed suit. Everyone in the Percible family was aware of Arad’s rigorous training regime, however, Drang wasn’t a lazy good-for-nothing either, and he had even received a sword skill when he turned five. Taking all of this into consideration, there were many who believed that it’d be an even match.

Gilas and Rurina made assumptions as to who the winner could be from a completely objective point of view, but Gurua just hoped for Drang to win because they had come from the same mother, Phool’s second wife, Lina.

With that being said, he understood that Arad was not like any other child and that he had devoted himself to becoming stronger, which is why, while he wanted Drang to win, Gurua wasn’t sure he could.

The captain of the knights, Glast, was designated as the duel’s referee.

“Now then, I ask you to please keep in mind that this is nothing more than a mock battle.”

“We know!!” yelled Drang.   

“Yeah, don’t worry,” said Arad.

As Glast looked at the combatants’ eyes, he instinctively knew who’d be the victor of the battle. Even so, he did not let it show on his face. He raised his arm, and then lowered it to let the duel commence.

“Begin!!!”

Arad and Drang were both wielding wooden swords and they were allowed to use skills. Arad activated a strengthening skill and covered his legs and fists with mana.

“Haahh!!”

“Urk!! Ghaa! Cough! Cough!”

Drang had planned to overwhelm Arad with his swordsmanship abilities, corner him little by little, and finally, cut him down with his new skill, Slash. Glast would then deem Arad unable to continue and Drang would be declared the winner.

He went over the plan countless times in his head to the point that he believed it had become flawless. However, the moment Glast gave the sign for the duel to begin, Arad closed the distance between them in a split second, and before Drang could swing his sword, or even react, Arad punched him in the ribs with his mana-covered fist and knocked him off his feet.

Drang’s body bounced on the floor a couple of times before coming to a full stop. At first, he wasn’t able to comprehend what had just happened, but knowing that he had been knocked down, he resolved to get back on his feet as soon as possible.

He knew that if he didn’t stand up, Arad would just finish him off. So, he mustered his strength and tried to stand, but for some reason, he couldn’t.

The reason was obvious, though. Arad had broken some of Drang’s ribs with his punch.

“Ah!!! That’s enough! Arad-sama’s the winner!! Marina, hurry up and cast Heal on Drang-sama!!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

Glast assumed that Arad’s punch had broken Drang’s ribs so, without any delay, he declared Arad the winner. Then he ordered Marina, the person in charge of treating all the injuries that the knights and soldiers suffered, to heal Drang’s wounds.

While he had never broken a bone before, Drang knew by instinct that that was the case, and as tears trickled down his cheeks, he began to wail in pain.

Marina ran to him hastily and used Heal, a skill-ability that derived from the main skill, Recovery. The ability took effect right away, repairing Drang’s bones and subsiding the pain.

…I wanted to make clear the difference in our strengths, but I never imagined it’d end so soon. I can’t even tell if I’ve actually gotten strong or if Drang was just too weak.

As the duel had ended in the blink of an eye, Arad still had plenty of free time before dinner, which is why he decided to head over to the mansion’s garden to resume his research on the applications of his threads.

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