"Finally, it's my turn," thought Booza.
Booza approached Elsie slowly, not with fear, but with steady courage. He wasn't acting unthinkingly—he had a plan. His ability to read minds gave him an advantage, and he intended to use it against the knight before him. This was not hesitation—it was calculated preparation.
"Two meters, not yet!"
Booza still couldn't read her thoughts at a distance of two meters. He tried stepping in closer—slowly—until he could finally get a clear read.
"One and a half meters, there it is!"
At a distance of one and a half meters, Booza could finally hear her thoughts. Right now, the beautiful knight assumed Booza was scared, so he hadn't attacked yet. Her friends had told her that Booza was a lazy guy who preferred to spend his time reading or writing.
"If you won't make the first move, I will."
Elsie leapt forward, aiming a spinning kick. Booza had already read her attack and easily dodged it. He ducked, then jumped to the side to avoid the strike.
His friends cheered upon seeing this. It was truly unexpected—Booza had lasted more than three seconds. His friends had been defeated much faster.
Elsie smiled. "Not bad! But is that all you've got?"
Now she prepared her next move: a feint with her right fist. But the real attack would come from the left.
Booza widened his eyes as if tricked by the feint. But he had already swung his left hand downward to grab Elsie's incoming fist.
In that instant, a scene from a novel flashed in Booza's mind—two karate masters facing off, one of them constantly targeting his opponent's knee to injure it, hoping to prevent him from standing again. Inspired by that moment, Booza kicked toward Elsie's knee with all his might.
But Elsie was no ordinary knight. She easily blocked the kick by lifting her leg, followed by close-range attacks that Booza struggled to dodge. Although he could read her moves, her speed was simply overwhelming.
She landed a double blow: first a punch to Booza's chest, then an elbow strike to his jaw. Booza instantly fell to the ground, clutching his jaw.
"Arrgh!"
"To be honest, I used a bit of magic just now. That's why my speed increased dramatically."
"Now I know your power—you can read minds, can't you? But what good is that if you can't match your enemy's speed?"
Elsie's words struck true. What was the point of reading attacks if you couldn't react in time? Maybe Booza could win against weak opponents. But not against someone like Elsie, who might possess Elite-level magic.
"How did you know my power?"
"Easy! Your friends told me you love reading. So I figured, your strength must lie in the mind."
Booza stepped aside as the next match began. Unsurprisingly, they all lost in mere seconds—none of them even managed to land a hit on Elsie.
The power gap was too broad. Elsie was truly a knight with incredible strength, even if Booza and his friends still had no idea what kind of magic she used.
As the day wore on and the sun grew hotter, Elsie decided to end training for today. It would resume tomorrow—harder than ever.
But with two hours left until lunchtime, Booza wasn't ready to stop. He wanted to keep training until he completed his daily missions.
Everyone else, including Elsie, returned to their rooms. Booza chose to stay behind at the military barracks. His mission today included push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and running.
Though his body was already exhausted, Booza started the exercises. Perhaps this was the first time he truly pushed himself. But it had to be done—so he wouldn't be easily killed.
He began with push-ups, fast at first, but slowing down as fatigue set in. When he couldn't go on, he collapsed face-first onto the ground. After his arm muscles rested, he resumed.
Next came sit-ups and pull-ups. He did them slowly, with frequent breaks as his muscles burned. After thirty minutes, he completed the training. Now, only a 10-kilometer run remained.
He refused to rest—lunchtime was only an hour and a half away. Breathing hard and drenched in sweat, Booza began running laps around the military barracks.
Several times he fell, his legs too exhausted to support him. His clothes were filthy, his face covered in dust. But he didn't give up. He rose again and kept running, staggering forward.
He ran slowly, fighting to stay balanced until finally…
[Congratulations, you've completed your daily mission]
Strength: 20 → 30+
Stamina: 17 → 27+
Agility: 19 → 24+
Endurance: 17 → 22+
Intelligence: 500 → 510+
A translucent cyan screen flashed in his mind, and Booza collapsed to the ground. He was utterly spent.
Slowly, Booza rose and made his way to a small well near the barracks. He fetched as much water as he could—to drink, and to wash the dirt off his face.
Once he felt refreshed, Booza headed toward the dining hall, not far from where he lived. He was starving.
It didn't take long to get there—a well-maintained old building with big windows in every corner. From outside, he could see many students already eating.
Booza walked in and went to collect his meal.
"Hey kid, you're late. There's only one bowl of rice left—with a single shrimp on top," said the food server.
"No problem. This is enough."
He took the tray, placed the bowl of rice and shrimp on it, and looked for an empty table. Everyone stared at him with angry eyes. He knew—only city folk and nobles ate here.
"Where did my friends go?"
At last, he found a seat at the far end and quickly began eating. Even with just one piece of shrimp, it tasted amazing. But the peace didn't last long—several people approached him, eyes full of fury.
"Scum like you doesn't belong here," barked a large man with long hair hanging over his shoulders.
"Hey Liam, that's the guy who killed Agril!" someone shouted, making the man in front of Booza instantly furious.