WebNovels

Chapter 39 - Chapter 39 – Harsh Instructor’s Test

The courtyard of the Fire Academy pulsed with the restless energy of expectation. The dawn sun bled through crimson banners overhead, bathing the obsidian tiles in molten light.

A hundred students stood in rigid rows, wooden swords gripped in hands that betrayed varying levels of confidence. The air hummed with anticipation sharp, buzzing, nervous.

Some children whispered to each other, voices trembling with excitement about the training to come.

Others sneered, their noble-born pride on display, mocking those who fidgeted or looked uncertain.

Wooden blades tapped against knees or twirled in idle hands, each motion betraying nerves disguised as bravado.

Alex stood among them, his uniform neat but stretched tight across his small frame.

Beneath the cloth, his ribs were bound with bandages that pressed into bruises still hot from Darion's punishing strike days earlier. Every shallow breath sent a lance of pain through his side, but he locked his jaw and straightened his back.

I can't show weakness ,Not now ,Not here.

He knew the academy was not a place of sympathy every glance from the nobles, every snicker at his expense, was a knife pressed to his throat. One falter, one misstep, and they would tear him apart.

The atmosphere shifted before the man himself appeared.

A rhythm of boots striking stone echoed from the far archway measured, deliberate, commanding. Conversations died mid-sentence.

A thick silence swept over the courtyard like a shroud.

He entered.

Tall, lean, his every movement carried the authority of a battlefield veteran scars carved his jaw and cheek, hard lines etched by war.

His gray eyes were sharp enough to cut steel, cold and unblinking.

His dark hair, streaked with silver, was tied back in a soldier's knot.

The aura he carried was not pompous but lethal, the presence of a man who had ordered charges and buried comrades.

The students stiffened some lowered their gazes; others tried to meet his eyes but faltered under the weight of his stare.

At Alex's side, Mira whispered without turning her head "That's Instructor Veynar they say he fought in the border wars against the Dark Elves commanded an entire legion."

Alex swallowed hard he had heard the name even in Elderleaf, whispered in the tavern firesides Veynar wasn't merely a soldier he was a warhound who had survived where others had burned.

The instructor stopped before the gathered lines his gaze swept across them with the precision of a blade cutting meat from bone.

"You think this academy is a place of prestige," Veynar began, his voice low yet carrying to every ear it wasn't shouted it didn't need to be.

His tone was harder than steel, colder than ash "You think noble names and family wealth will make you strong you are wrong."

He took a single step forward, and the sound of his boot cracking against stone reverberated through the courtyard.

"Strength is pain, Strength is discipline ,Strength is endurance These things cannot be bought ,They cannot be gifted ,They must be carved into flesh and bone."

His gaze hardened "Those who cannot endure leave now better to run home to your mothers than waste my time."

The words sliced into the students.

A few glanced at each other, nervous and pale.

But no one moved pride and fear pinned them in place to leave would mean shame too heavy to bear.

Veynar's eyes scanned the rows again, cold and unyielding.

When they landed on Alex, they lingered the weight of that stare pressed on him like a physical blow.

"You," Veynar said.

Alex stiffened. "…Yes, Instructor."

"You are the half-blood, are you not?"

The words dropped like a hammer whispers rippled instantly through the rows.

Alex's knuckles whitened around his wooden sword. He forced the words out through clenched teeth. "…Yes."

Veynar's lip twitched neither a sneer nor approval, but something caught between disdain and curiosity. "Good then prove you belong here."

He jabbed his finger at the ground before him "Stance now."

Alex obeyed without hesitation he slid into the basic cut stance Kael had drilled into him years ago: knees bent, weight centered, blade lifted and angled forward his ribs flared with agony at the motion, but he locked it away, burying it behind a mask of concentration.

Veynar circled him slowly, like a wolf sizing prey "Too stiff too tense you will break before you strike."

Without warning, the instructor slammed his wooden sword against Alex's ribs.

CRACK.

Pain detonated through his side alex staggered, grunting despite himself stars flickered at the edge of his vision.

"Again," Veynar barked.

Alex reset, legs trembling.

Thwack!

The second blow sent fire lancing through his chest he nearly dropped his sword but bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood.

"Again."

Thwack!

The other students flinched at each strike some whispered cruelly, sneering Darion smirked openly, arms crossed, enjoying every wince others looked uneasy, watching to see if Alex would break.

But he didn't he reset again, body shaking, teeth gritted until his jaw ached.

Strike after strike fell pain blossomed and bloomed, but Alex forced himself back into stance every time, his body screaming in protest, his mind a furnace of stubborn defiance.

Finally, Veynar stepped back his voice cracked through the silence.

"All of you! Stance drills hold until collapse if the half-blood endures longer than you, you will live in shame."

Groans rippled across the courtyard some nobles muttered curses under their breath, but no one dared disobey.

Swords rose knees bent the drill began.

Minutes passed sweat dripped down foreheads, staining collars. Muscles trembled as wooden swords wavered in the air. Every second stretched into eternity.

Alex's ribs throbbed like molten iron pressed into his skin his shoulders burned, his legs quivered, but he locked his body into the stance as if nailed there The world narrowed until only breath and pain remained.

[Ding!]

[System Notice: Survival Drill Active.]

Objective: Maintain stance under extreme fatigue.

Reward: +40 EXP, +2 Vitality.

Bonus if endured beyond limit.

The cold words cut through his haze Alex's chest tightened. If the System had given him this trial, then it meant there was more than just pain waiting at the end.

Around him, students began to falter one noble hissed through clenched teeth, his sword dropping as he clutched his side another girl collapsed outright, tears streaking her cheeks.

Even Darion's smug expression broke as sweat drenched his brow his arms shook violently, blade swaying he gritted his teeth, trying to outlast Alex, but at last his stance crumbled and he dropped with a growl of rage. His knees struck stone as he glared at Alex, fury blazing.

But Alex still stood.

His wooden blade trembled violently, his arms little more than leaden weights. His lip bled where he bit it, and his breath rasped with every inhale yet he held he endured.

Father… Kael… Lyanna… I won't break not here.

[Ding!]

[Endurance Passive Lv.1 Activated.]

Stamina consumption reduced.

The burning in his muscles lessened by a thread, just enough to keep him upright his body screamed for rest, but the System sharpened his will like steel.

Seconds dragged into minutes. Students fell one by one, some cursing Alex for dragging out the torture, others staring in disbelief. By the end, fewer than ten remained.

And then only Alex.

The world tilted his vision swam his knees buckled but even as his body gave way, he refused to collapse like the others. He sank slowly, blade still angled, lowering himself with control.

His pride refused to give Veynar the satisfaction of watching him crumple like ash.

[Ding!]

[Quest Complete.]

+40 EXP.

+2 Vitality.

Bonus Unlocked: Iron Will (Passive Lv.1).

Effect: Increases resistance to pain and suppression.

The glowing text faded, but its weight remained, a spark in the darkness of exhaustion.

Silence spread across the courtyard Dozens of eyes fixed on him.some with hate, some with disbelief, a few with grudging respect.

Veynar studied him for a long, unreadable moment. Then he turned his voice on the rest.

"Weak," he spat. "All of you half-blood or not, he endured longer than the lot of you " His words were whips that lashed across pride and arrogance alike "Remember this day when you think bloodlines will carry you dscipline is the only legacy that matters."

He turned sharply. "Dismissed."

The students staggered away, some muttering curses at Alex, others shooting him looks that mixed resentment with reluctant acknowledgment. Darion's glare was a promise of future torment, his fists clenched white but Mira lingered, rushing to Alex's side as he forced himself shakily to his feet.

"You're insane," she muttered, half angry, half awed as she slipped under his arm to steady him.

Alex chuckled weakly, though the sound ended in a sharp wince. "Probably."

When he dared to glance back, he caught Veynar's gaze one last time in those gray eyes, something flickered not approval, but acknowledgment. The slightest recognition that Alex had endured where others had broken.

And for Alex, that was enough.

Because in the Fire Academy, acknowledgment was the first step toward survival.

More Chapters