Afternoon had already passed its midpoint, and Victor Wang wasn't in a hurry to begin learning Gale Blade. Still, he decided to stop by the training grounds first—just in case something happened if he showed up unannounced.
That was two and a half years of working experience in society speaking…
The Knights of Favonius' training grounds were massive. According to the chief instructor beside him, the grounds could accommodate up to five thousand people at once.
At the moment, the crowd was divided into two groups on the east and west sides of the grounds.
On the western side, the people wore matching Knights' uniforms—armor and swords gleaming—running beneath the setting sun.
These were the recruits who had passed last season's selection. After making it through the trials, they had to undergo three months of training; they were now in the final month.
Though the timing was odd, Victor Wang couldn't help but think of his lost youth, of those endless yet fleeting early morning drills, and of those even shorter military training periods. Back then, he resisted with every fiber of his being, but now those memories were strangely precious.
Compared to the few dozen on the west side, the east side had nearly ten times as many people.
But their clothing varied, and their activities weren't synchronized. Some practiced swordsmanship, others were doing different physical exercises.
These were the reservists competing in the current Knight selection. The sharp disparity in numbers between the two groups revealed just how fierce the competition was.
Victor Wang turned his gaze back to the chief instructor at his side.
This man was the overseer of the grounds, responsible for Knight selection. When Acting Grand Master Jean had time, she handled it herself—but now, it was fully in this instructor's hands.
A jagged scar stretched from right to left across the bridge of his nose—one could easily imagine that, if not for this world's advanced medical capabilities, the injury might've been far worse.
His skin was darkened by years under the sun, his muscular body towering nearly a head taller than Victor Wang, his build rivaling that of the Fatui's Anemoboxer Vanguards.
Add to that a wild mop of short brown hair and worldly brown eyes, and he was a classic hard-boiled archetype. It made one wonder what other scars were hidden beneath that uniformed frame.
If he had a Vision, Victor Wang would've guessed Pyro. But then he saw the standard-issue Anemo Vision hanging at the man's waist.
Looks can be deceiving.
"I understand your intent. You want to learn Gale Blade directly—and you're qualified. But how's your swordsmanship?"
Though Victor Wang's sword and Vision weren't visible, Gale Blade required both the Anemo element and a one-handed sword. The chief instructor's sharp eyes had already spotted the subtle bulge beneath his cloak that revealed the outline of a one-handed blade.
"Uh…" Victor Wang had memorized plenty of sword manuals from the library, but he'd never actually practiced.
Why hadn't he trained? Not because he looked down on swordplay. He'd just been busy—cramming books, researching battle techniques, dealing with random tasks—and frankly, he'd kind of… neglected it.
The Favonius Bladework originated from Rostam, the Wolf Pup, who was said to cut falling raindrops with his blade and whose sweeping strikes could sever roses and snuff out torches.
But so, what? As amazing as he was, that's all he achieved. Victor Wang could pull off the same with Wind Blade. Honestly, even the famed Favonius Bladework in game terms was just a normal attack chain. Who relied solely on basic attacks for damage?
Even his Wentian Sword's main purpose right now was more like a magical staff for casting skills. That was how Victor Wang currently saw it.
"Any battle technique that uses a weapon requires some level of proficiency with that weapon. Come, let's go a few rounds."
There was no room for negotiation. The instructor had already drawn his sword.
Great…
Victor Wang had no choice but to draw his own blade, dredging up half-remembered stances from memory or relying on instinctual swings from his sword arm. Metal clashed noisily—sounded impressive enough.
But the instructor wasn't even putting in effort. Not half-power—zero effort.
Instead, he urged, "Come at me seriously."
Victor Wang flushed. He channeled Anemo energy into his sword, speeding up his strikes, adding some extra force.
Still, the instructor treated him like a child at play.
"I'm using an elemental skill next!"
"Go ahead."
At last, the instructor responded—Anemo energy suddenly flared around his body, forming a protective veil.
Victor Wang unleashed several Wind Blades, launching them from different directions. But the instructor spun on the spot in a stunning pirouette, and with a single sword, deflected them all.
Victor Wang gave up on swordplay entirely and raised his hand to cast Palm Vortex.
Dust and stone flew as the vortex pulled the instructor in. But instead of scrambling to escape, he waited. As the wind closed in, one clean slash shattered the Palm Vortex with invisible force.
He'd split an elemental skill—without using his own elemental power?!
Aside from Palm Vortex and Drilling Thrust, Victor Wang had no more tricks. Even if he used them all, the result wouldn't change. He shook his head in surrender.
"There's room for growth. Your swordsmanship isn't solid—I suggest you start by learning our Favonius Bladework."
Low EQ: You suck.
High EQ: You need a stronger foundation.
Having shut himself in for too long, Victor Wang had finally faced a Vision holder in combat—and got thoroughly schooled.
His opponent had only used elemental shielding, and that too, hadn't even been necessary. None of Victor Wang's attacks landed.
So, this is the difference between a human and a walking AI? It's easy to bully Hilichurls with elemental spam, and easy to beat predictable plant monsters. But against someone agile, intelligent—someone human?
Yeah. The plants really were just bots.
My real targets should be Ruin Guards, Cryo Regisvines. At the very least, I should be sparring with Anemoboxers and Fatui Agents. Can't practice techniques on NPCs!
A deep sense of frustration surged inside him.
"Please let me study under you."
The instructor pulled out a small notebook and jotted down Victor Wang's name.
"Training runs from 9 AM to noon, and 2 PM to 6 PM. Starting tomorrow, I expect you here on time."
A commanding aura—honed from years of teaching—radiated from the towering man. Victor Wang even hallucinated the image of his most feared teacher and involuntarily shivered.
The next day, Victor Wang arrived at the training grounds twenty minutes early.
The recruits were already assembled in the rest hall, waiting for their session. Nearly five hundred reservists had only sent about a dozen this early. Some were still eating breakfast at the south-side canteen; only two were diligently training with their swords.
Victor Wang recognized both—Ellin and Sidney.
That Ellin was up early didn't surprise him. She was the real deal, someone who could one day challenge the heavens—just a Vision short of the full package.
But Sidney? That was unexpected. Victor Wang's first impression of him hadn't been good—he had, after all, been slaughtering his own kind at the time. Seeing Sidney so dedicated now took him aback.
"Start running! One hour, as usual! Let's go, move!"
At 8:50, the chief instructor's booming voice rang out, and fifty recruits began running laps around the massive west end of the training ground.
In Teyvat, even though ordinary people couldn't wield elemental power, their bodies were constantly infused with it from birth, simply by existing in an element-rich world. As a result, the average physical strength here far exceeded that of Earthlings.
Combined with the healing abilities of alchemy and elemental synergy—while they couldn't raise the dead, they could mend bones and regrow flesh.
With all that, it was no surprise that new recruits had far more intense training.
By 9 o'clock, the rest of the reservists began trickling in.
The chief instructor blew a sharp whistle, and the nearly 500 reservists were split into ten squads, each managed by a deputy instructor. Victor Wang, however, was placed in a squad by himself.
The chief instructor personally called out, "Dust."
"Here!"
"You're with this squad. Remember this location and this instructor. From now on, you report to them."
"Yes!" Victor Wang joined Ellin and Sidney's squad, taking a spot in the back row.
The chief instructor nodded approvingly. Good, the boy knows discipline.
Nearby, others had clearly heard Victor Wang's name and couldn't help but glance his way.
"Hey! What are you staring at? Yeah, you!" barked the deputy instructor of Victor Wang's squad. He smacked the curious few. "You, you, and you—ten more minutes of running later."
The caught few instantly looked like they'd bitten lemons.
Then the instructor walked up to Victor Wang, adopting a stern tone. "I don't care who you are. In my squad, you follow the rules."
"Yes, sir!"
Victor Wang's attitude left nothing to criticize.
"Standard drill—one hour of running. If the formation breaks, we add more time!" He raised his voice. "And no using elemental power to boost your speed. If you can't keep up, leave!"
Clearly, this was aimed at the newcomer—Victor Wang.
The squad began moving, then accelerated. This wasn't jogging—this was a sprint.
By the end of the hour, Victor Wang estimated they'd covered around 14 kilometers. But the formation stayed intact.
"All those named earlier, step forward. Vision holders, too."
The penalized few stepped out. Then five others followed—Vision bearers. Victor Wang hesitated a moment, then stepped out too.
The deputy instructor gestured for the extra runners to head back and finish their ten-minute punishment.
"You Vision holders have higher physical stats. The others were running close to their limits—you should too. Otherwise, this training is pointless. Any objections?"
"None!"
Victor Wang spoke up—only to realize he was the only one who did. He inwardly cursed—Great, now he'll definitely single me out. But he guessed wrong.
"No need to answer next time. You all run another half hour. Go."
While running, Victor Wang saw the instructor demonstrating sword techniques to the rest of the squad, who followed along in training.
That's what I'm here for! Why am I still running?
Another thirty minutes passed. Without elemental support, Victor Wang was exhausted. The others were drenched in sweat, panting heavily.
By the time they rejoined the squad, the sword lesson was over.
They rested ten more minutes, then resumed with squats, push-ups, and other basic strength training. The only sword-related activity was horse stance training.
No swordsmanship. All the way until the noon lunch bell.
Sidney took the initiative to speak. "Hi, remember me?"
"Your name is Sidney."
Sidney continued probing, "Last time we met, I didn't notice you had a Vision. Are you still a junior adventurer?"
"Yeah."
A weight lifted from Sidney's heart. A subtle happiness rose inside him. He figured this guy had just received a Vision. Sure, that made him another strong rival, but Sidney had participated in three trials already—experience alone put him ahead.
Victor Wang, unaware of Sidney's thoughts, asked, "Do you know when we actually start sword training? I saw the others learning during our extra drills."
Swordsmanship. After getting wrecked by the chief instructor, Victor Wang was burning with the desire to improve. He wanted sword practice—now.
"Don't worry, mornings are for physical conditioning. We do sword drills in the afternoon. That's actually a perk for us. They can't have regular people doing the same volume we do. So, they wait for us to finish first."
Victor Wang nodded in understanding.