"The sparring is over! Everyone return to your original positions and reflect on what you've learned!"
The Instructor blew the whistle.
The trainees began to practice their Sword moves, solidifying their gains and losses.
Those who won just now pondered how to win more gracefully, using fewer Swords and less strength to defeat their opponents.
Those who lost just now considered how to defend, how to counterattack, how to achieve victory, how to leverage their own strengths, and how to exploit their opponent's weaknesses…
Ryan sat cross-legged on a wooden box, his gaze still unfocused, recording everything he had observed.
The body's nutrition and Qi and blood supply flowed towards his overloaded brain.
Noelle handed him a cup of water.
"Thanks!" Ryan drank it sip by sip, slightly replenishing his Life Qi.
"What was wrong with you just now? Towards the end, you didn't seem like yourself at all, almost getting hit by the training Claymore?" Noelle was a little angry, "They don't hold back at all when they spar."
"That's the only way to Breakthrough, isn't it?" Ryan said nonchalantly.
"Hmph! This morning you told me to cherish my own life, and this afternoon you're not putting your own safety first!" Noelle was very displeased.
"I've got it under control!" Ryan rubbed his temples, relaxing his head.
"I've got it under control too!" Noelle retorted, unconvinced.
"No! You don't have it under control!" Ryan immediately refuted.
"You're the one who doesn't have it under control!" For the first time, Noelle displayed the temper of a girl her age.
Listening to their argument, Ryan suddenly smiled.
"Actually, this is probably how you're supposed to be—not a maid, not a Knight, but a cute girl who argues with others."
"Isn't it good to occasionally break through the cultivation of etiquette and words, and just be yourself?"
"I remember that in my world, children like you would still be in school!"
"Although my world doesn't have extraordinary powers, the peace of the motherland allows most children to enjoy education and a little entertainment."
"The children of Teyvat live too heavily."
Ryan suddenly talked about his own world, and Noelle quieted down for a moment.
What is another world like?
What does it feel like for a person to appear in another world?
As a perfect maid, her habit is to overthink everything.
"I feel that life now is already very happy. With Acting Grand Master Jean and everyone, even with crises like Stormterror, we will get through them."
"My life is not heavy!"
"Helping others makes me happy."
Noelle walked behind Ryan, "As a reward for your guidance, let me give you a rub!"
"Is it a headache from exhaustion, or are you sick?"
Ryan comfortably narrowed his eyes: "My brain is filled with the world and the people in it! You have a part in that weight."
"However, my Physique is miraculous; I can recover by drinking more water!"
"Bah!" The Claymore side suddenly saw this scene.
"This kid wants to hog the good stuff!"
"Aren't you yourself giving orders to Noelle!"
"Sooner or later, I'll report you to the Knights of Favonius for seducing a Damselette!"
Someone nearby weakly said: "But…"
"The Instructor is from the Knights of Favonius."
"And that outsider lives with the Outrider, and rumor has it he goes to the Spindrift Knight's house every night, and he's even favored by Acting Grand Master Jean."
"This morning, he was just praised by the Knights of Favonius for his merits."
"He himself will also pass the official Knights selection before us and become a Knights of Favonius!"
"No one will offend him!"
"Hiss––" The person winced, "Then it's fine! Why does this outsider, who hasn't been here long, seem to have a brighter future than us aristocrats?"
Regarding Ryan's matter, they were a bit hesitant.
"We can't just let this go! Our Claymore group has been utterly humiliated; we must get our Face back! If we don't teach him a lesson now, we might not have another chance later!" said a Claymore trainee who cared about Face.
These few people all had aristocrat backgrounds.
The reason they came here was to join the Spindrift Knight's squad, the eldest daughter of the Lawrence Family, and together with her, seek revenge against the Knights of Favonius, destroy the Knights of Favonius from within, Dominator Mondstadt, and restore the glory of the aristocrats.
Unfortunately, the Spindrift Knight completely disregarded the Face of her fellow aristocrats, treating them no differently from anyone else.
To outwardly conform to the recruitment standards of the Knights of Favonius, they endured humiliation, lived frugally, and showed friendliness and love for the people, finally managing to infiltrate the organization.
Unexpectedly, they were provoked daily by an outsider commoner.
Making these esteemed future Knights sweep floors and do the work of a servant.
If they couldn't even deal with this kid, how could they talk about dealing with other difficult Knights of Favonius members in the future?
If it weren't for the Knights of Favonius not restricting background, they would have long since used his outsider status to attack Ryan and incite others to share their hatred.
"How do we teach him a lesson? We can't beat him!" Someone asked, confused.
"Are you stupid! If one person can't beat him, can't a group of people? Who told you to go one by one!"
"Today, towards the end, his condition wasn't right! He seemed mentally exhausted!"
"Which means, after morning training and before the afternoon match, he won't be as strong as we imagine!"
"The Sword side's strength is too weak; they can't deplete his stamina. The match is still in the morning when he's full of energy, that's why he's defeated so easily!"
"We just need to find an evening time, for example, after a day of heavy training, he definitely won't have any strength!"
"A hundred people swarming him, and we still can't get our Face back!"
"Isn't this kid fond of fighting multiple opponents? We'll satisfy his request!"
"You guys go write a challenge letter, tell him not to leave after tomorrow's training, wait for the Instructor to leave, and then we'll pretend to disperse and return to spar with him."
"No need to kill him, just injuries that'll keep him bedridden for a few months and can only be healed by a Vision wielder, that's about right!"
"Are you in or not?"
The others fell silent, a bit hesitant.
"This goes against the Dao of a Knight!"
The man angrily said: "He insulted us by calling us Pyro Hilichurl who trip on flat ground!"
"For honor, initiating a duel and achieving victory! That is the Dao of a Knight!"
"Even if someone finds out, we'll all say it was sparring!"
"The Knights of Favonius law doesn't punish the majority, I'll handle the explanation to the Instructor!"
"At most, a disciplinary action, extending the time to pass the selection!"
"Anyway, this year, we don't have much hope of passing the official Knight selection, at most we'll get the qualification for an apprentice Knight!"
"The Knights of Favonius needs us to sweep away monsters, just go out and atone for our sins by making contributions!"
"All the aristocrat offspring should unite, and also win over those commoners!"
"No matter what methods you use, I want to see the cohesion of the Claymore trainees, otherwise, your Family's business with mine will cease!"
The man was the highest-ranking among the old aristocrat identities there.
His threat was still very effective!
Soon, the discussion ended.
After today's training, the Sword users cleaned their area, while the Claymore side didn't even bother to sweep. They carved a challenge letter onto a piece of carved wood and sent it to Ryan.
Ryan looked at this inexplicable challenge!
He chopped it to pieces with one Sword strike!
"Childish!"