Luciel took out a portable water bottle and opened it. Inside was a brown, unidentified liquid filled with soft, black fruits about the size of half a fist.
He looked at the fruit with a mix of disgust and resignation, gritted his teeth, and swallowed it. Immediately, he gagged from the terrible taste, struggling to keep it down.
"Even after eating this for over a month, the taste of this steel cone is still disgusting..."
Despite its horrible flavor, the steel cone fruit helped enhance physical fitness and aided in recovery, which is why Luciel ate one after every training session.
After drinking a lot of water to suppress the nausea, he let out a deep sigh and prepared to return to the dormitory for a bath.
"Vice President! Lord Vice President!"
At that moment, a chubby, freckled boy rushed toward him.
This boy was present the first time Luciel participated in the Swordsmanship Association's timed magic puppet challenge. His name was Cook, and he had previously invited Luciel to join the association. To his surprise, Luciel not only joined but became the vice president.
"What's wrong?" Luciel asked.
"People from the Jianhua Association barged in and started wrecking the place!" Cook said anxiously.
Luciel's expression turned serious. "Take me there."
When Luciel arrived at the Swordsmanship Association's lobby, he saw a crowd—mostly fourth-year students, with a few from the fifth year.
A tall, gray-haired young man stood at the center, sword in hand, smirking as he mocked the association.
"What, is there no one in the Swordsmanship Association who can put up a fight? You might as well disband now and save yourselves the embarrassment in Orland!"
The group behind him laughed, while the members of the Swordsmanship Association looked humiliated and furious, yet none dared to speak.
In knight duels, the losing side had to surrender their swords.
At the gray-haired young man's feet, four or five long swords lay in a pile—evidence that the Swordsmanship Association had already lost multiple matches.
"That guy is the vice president of the Jianhua Association—Flower," Cook explained angrily. "He and his brother Ferdy have always been at odds with our president, Byrne.
The Jianhua Association and our Swordsmanship Association have been rivals for a long time. Their members are generally stronger than ours, but the Verdy brothers combined aren't a match for President Byrne.
And yet, while Byrne is away, they shamelessly came here to challenge us!"
Byrne was currently out training, and though the association still had fifth-year members, they weren't particularly strong—most were only seventh-level apprentice knights, like Maris.
Maris had already been defeated. He clutched his left arm, blood seeping from a wound, his expression tight with frustration as he glared at Flower.
Luciel recalled something Byrne had told him:
"If necessary, take care of some problems for the association."
"So this is what he meant..." Luciel muttered. Even though he had just finished extreme training and was only at 30% of his peak strength, he still stepped forward without hesitation.
"He's here?"
From the Jianhua Association's side, a sharp-eyed blonde girl with a ponytail suddenly took notice.
Luciel Lanster.
She hadn't seen him since he had displayed his incredible sword skills in class over a month ago. Since then, many had almost forgotten his name.
"I didn't expect to see him here... So, he's with the Swordsmanship Association," she mused, her interest piqued.
"Maybe I should find a chance to recruit him..."
But before she could think further—
"My Vice President!"
"The Vice President is here!"
Luciel's presence sent a wave of energy through the crowd as members of the Swordsmanship Association called out to him respectfully.
Susan's eyes widened in shock.
"He's the vice president of the Swordsmanship Association?!"
Gasps and whispers erupted among the spectators.
"The vice president? But he's so young!"
"Isn't he just a third-year student?"
"Why would they choose a third-year to be vice president? Is their roster that empty?"
"I heard he was personally appointed by Byrne after completing some kind of challenge."
Meanwhile, the members of the Jianhua Association burst into laughter, mocking the idea of a third-year as vice president.
But the Swordsmanship Association members weren't fazed.
Outsiders might not understand, but within the association, they all knew—Luciel was a monster in combat.
Over the past month, he had already earned the respect of every member in the challenge room.
"If the vice president steps in, let's see if they still laugh!"
"Even if he can't defeat Flower, he won't go down easily. And even if he barely loses, the fact that he's only in his third year makes it impressive."
Everyone hoped Luciel would fight and restore the association's honor.
Maris, however, noticed the sweat on Luciel's body and said in a low voice, "You just came out of the fivefold gravity chamber?"
Luciel nodded.
The atmosphere shifted immediately. The hope in the association members' eyes dimmed.
They all knew Luciel was obsessed with training, constantly pushing himself to the limit.
Whenever he emerged from the fivefold gravity chamber, he was completely drained, with barely any strength left to fight—let alone against an eighth-level apprentice knight like Flower.
Despair settled over them.
Luciel, however, remained calm. "It's fine. I can still hold a sword."
With that, he stepped forward, pointed his sword at Flower, and declared, "You are the vice president of the Jianhua Association. I am the vice president of the Swordsmanship Association. This battle is fair."
Silence filled the hall for a moment before the Jianhua members erupted into laughter.
Flower smirked as he sized up Luciel.
"A third-year student? Even the top third-year, Lawrence, wouldn't talk as big as you," he scoffed.
"But I admire your courage.
I promise—I'll go easy on you."
With a flourish, Flower spun his sword effortlessly, waiting nonchalantly for Luciel to make his move.