"Why you!" Markus was about to punch Geen but was stopped by a man.
"No fighting, kids." The man warned as he punched Markus at the gut.
"Urgh!" Markut groaned as the man throws him to the ground.
"This should be enough of a warning for you guys to not start a fight. Knight's don't tolerate infighting, don't act like this again! These kinds of act are for bandits, if you want to be a knight in the future then know that we don't fight like that. Fight like a knight! A bunch of disgrace." The man said as he gives a kick to Markus making the guy howl in pain.
This scene made the students stop what they're doing and watched as they look at the situation. These was not a first since this happened before in the past but this was definitely a first in a few years.
"Bring this guy to the healing station." The man said as he leaves. He left so fast without leaving any trace of his shadow that Rem was not able to see where he went.
'That speed was fast!' Rem was surprised but calmed down after a second.
"I didn't know that the mysterious guardian of the academy is true." Warren said.
"Mysterious guardian?" Alex asked as he dips his bread to the porridge.
"Yup. There are many students gossiping about a myth before that their was a hidden knight guarding the peace inside the academy." Geen answered.
"Well, he ain't a myth then since we saw the guy within our own eyes." Wallace chuckles.
"This is the first time someone tried to violate the rule of the academy anyway. Others are too scared to break the rules, and to think Markus will be the key to confirm if the mysterious guardian actually exist. Poor him but this will make the academy peaceful." Warren laughs making Markus' goons stare at Rem's group angrily. They didn't do anything though since they were scared that the mysterious guardian will appear.
"Let's hurry up and eat, we only have a couple of minutes before our next class starts. Don't want to make the old geezer mad, do we?" Geen says as the group started stuffing down their food at a fast rate.
--
"You're here. I heard that the guardian appeared at the canteen earlier, is that true?" Fernand ask as he sees the group arriving.
"Yes, sir." The boys answered.
"Hmmm... Alright. Let's start with the next routine then. I'll be showing you some techniques in handling the axe. Others already knew this but since we have a newbie brat here, we'll be going from the start again." Fernand says as he takes an axe from the corner of the training grounds where there are axes stored. Axes that are not sharpened to be exact.
"Axes tend to have not much technique in using it unlike the sword and spears. The technique that you'll about to practice today is called the Axe Block. It's a set of moves on how to defend from attacks with the use of an axe. This is just a basic technique. Now, copy my stances and understand them." Fernand then started to show different stances that the group started copying.
"Alright brats! That's enough copying, I'll be testing each of you one by one this time. I'll be attacking you guys, and you will have to defend from my attacks. After we're done with this, you can go and rest for the day. We'll be starting with Warren who is the oldest then Geen, Wallace, the triplets, and lastly the new brat." Fernand says after hours of teaching the Axe Block a couple of times.
Rem was smiling from these exercises since he was gaining EXP from this too. It didn't took for each of them to be tested by Fernand. Warren was able to block each of Fernand's attack for about 10 minutes but still lost because of exhaustion. Geen came next by lasting 9 minutes. Wallace for 4 minutes, and the triplets for only half a minute.
"*Sigh* You three are still lousy as ever. Go start training the Axe Block stances again in the corner! Don't stop until I say so!" Fernand shook his head as the triplets quickly followed his orders.
"New brat! Come here and show me what you got." Fernand threw an axe towards Rem.
Rem caught the axe that has the same height as his with difficulty. He then readied his Axe Block stance by covering his body with his axe at the front. It was a bit different compared to what Fernand taught but the essence was still there.
Seeing this, Fernand quickly attacked by slashing his axe horizontally. It was fast that Rem won't be able to keep up with it, thankfully, Rem was only needed to block. Rem moved his Axe and intercepted the incoming axe of Fernand. Once the axe of Fernand touched Rem's, he got pushed back but he was still able to block the axe by making it change the direction of the blow. Of course, this only happened because Fernand was holding back his strength.
"Nice block, brat!" Fernand smile which surprised the other boys to see. After that smile though, Fernand kicked the ground and jumped into the air, he then pulled his axe up to his head and then slashed down. Seeing this, Rem didn't head on attacked the axe with his own instead he timely attacked the side of Fernand's axe when it was about to hit him. Rem then side stepped making Fernand's axe hit the left side of Rem.
"You keep surprising me, brat." Fernand chuckled then kicked the ground again, and readied his axe to slash to Rem's right side. Rem also prepared his axe and made sure that it will block the horizontal slash of Fernand. When the axe was about to hit Rem, his axe was already prepared to block it but the direction of Fernand's axe suddenly changed from horizontal to diagonal.
'Not good. Fortunately, I was ready for this kind of situation.' Rem thought as he instead used the handle of the axe to block the slash from Fernand. The force of Fernand's axe though was able to push him away. Rem rolled to the ground panting while holding his axe. He was about to stand up with his axe but saw an axe already in front of his face.
"Nice moves, brat. To think that you lasted a minute from me from your first time, surprises me." Fernand smiled as he offered his arm to the kneeling Rem.
"Thank you for the praise, sir."
"I'm not praising you, just stating the fact." Fernand chuckles as he says this.
"What the- The old geezer can actually laugh!" Geen having enough from seeing a new side of Fernand, shouted.
"What did you said, brat!?" Fernand shouted as he picks up Geen from the collar. He might be shouting but he still has a smile on his face.
"Hehehehe~ that was a joke, sir! This is a misunderstanding! That's right, just a misunderstanding." Geen quickly said.
"You boys can go now. As for this ungrateful brat, he'll be staying since it looks like he'll be needing some extra training with me." Fernand smiled at Geen while saying this.
"I don't know if I should be happy or scared to see his smile..." Geen whispered as he shivered from fear.
"Let's go boys. Enjoy your training, Geen~" Warren teased as they ignore Geen's pleading voice to Fernand. Once they were out of the training grounds, they heard Geen's screams making the other voice pray for his wellbeing.
"What a fool to actually say that to the old man's face." Wallace chuckles.
"Yeah, but it is still a surprise to see sir Fernand smile." Alen said.
"Mn! I never saw the old man this happy before. When me and Geen started along with my old roommates in the past, not once did the old man praised or smiled at someone." Warren replied.
"I think any teacher or proctor will be happy to have a talented student especially as talented as Ian." Axel commented making the other guys nod along. Rem's face was reddening from the praises he was getting. He might have a thick face but being praised by many times is still too much for him.
"Do you have any hidden tricks that you can teach us, Ian? Being able to swing the axe at your age is acceptable, but you learning the Axe Block this proficiently is too much." Alex asked making the group nod again.
"I don't know if you'll believe me but I just did what sir Fernand asked me to do." Rem replied. He was also curious how he was able to learn tricks and skills like Axe Block this quickly and proficiently. He knows that he was not the brightest to be able to memorize or understand things this fast which questions him how he was able to do it.
"I don't believe you! You must be hiding something!" Alex shouted as he pulls Rem's shirt.