Ch 39

Caron felt a thrill when he saw the five knights standing at the entrance. His hands trembled, he was itching to fight with all five of them. Percival, who stood in the center of the five knights, said, “We will start the fourth exam now. The fifth and final exam is just a simple interview and aptitude exam, so the fourth exam is practically the last."

Gwalchavad chimed in as well. "So please do your best without any regrets. My opponent is Benjamin Farhan."

As Gwalchavad stepped in front of Benjamin, each of the knights stood in front of their respective opponent.

Bors stood in front of a tough-looking man. "My opponent is Forward Asilante."

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Kay stood in front of the only woman among the remaining candidates. "My opponent is Ernesto Jerryford."

Lancelot stood in front of the young paladin, Tashid. "Nice to meet you, Sir Tashid."

Caron looked at his opponent.

"Caron Blade, your opponent is me...”

"Um, do we not get any input on the designation of opponents?" Caron said, cutting Percival off.

Percival paused for a moment. "… Are you saying you are unhappy because I am your opponent, Caron Blade?"

"No, I'm not complaining. There's just someone I want to fight with more...”

Caron glanced at Gwalchavad. He wanted to fight everyone, but some fights were more appealing than others. Since Merlin was not available, the next person he wanted to fight was Gwalchavad. Percival hadn’t even entered his sights yet.

"You punk...!”

When Percival viewed it as a provocation and tried to attack, Gwalchavad urgently intervened.

"Calm down, Captain! Mr. Blade, Sir Percival is the leader of our Round Table. What does it mean to be a leader at a Round Table where strength is the most important?"

Caron nodded, understanding his point. "Oh, really? It doesn't seem like it, but if you say so."

Caron now viewed Percival with a bit more respect.

Furious, Percival dragged Caron to the west training ground. "Follow me right now! I'll smash your nose!"

At that sight, Gwalchavad suddenly felt that he had forgotten something. He felt uncomfortable, as if he was making a mistake.

"Oh, that candidate...!”

Merlin had said it as if it was nothing, so he had forgotten until now. He had to tell Percival to be careful because Caron was from the Crow tribe, but Percival had already disappeared.

"Hmm... I’m sure it’ll be okay since he’s the captain."

In the last massive battle, Percival had killed as many as fourteen Giants. It had been so long since exchange with the Crow tribe was cut off that he wasn’t sure how strong they were, but it was clear that Percival would be fine.

"Now, let's all go to the training grounds." Lancelot said.

The knights scattered to the training ground with their candidates. Heading to the north training grounds, Gwalchavad glanced nervously in the direction where Percival and Caron went.

* * *

When Percival arrived at the training grounds, he injected mana into his bracelet, and took out a spear. “We will start the fourth exam now. We'll see if you have the ability to justify your pretentiousness!"

Looking at Percival grinding his teeth, Caron smiled broadly, "Oh! That's good!"

Caron corrected his assessment of Percival when he released his martial aura. It was certainly enough for an enjoyable fight. Percival wanted to intimidate Caron with his martial aura, but was frustrated to see that Caron looked happy. When Caron pulled out a sword without a signal to start the spar, they immediately entered battle. Percival's spear stabbed towards Caron's forehead so quickly that it was just a blur. Even Caron couldn’t fully see it, and had to avoid it by looking at the original position of the spear and the movement of Percival’s muscles. It was that fast.

"Wow, I guess you aren’t the leader for no reason.”

Even in his hometown, not many young people had this kind of speed.

"Hmph! It's too late to flatter me now."

Percival rotated the spear and used the rotational force to quickly stab. When the tip of the spear shook, it seemed to split into many spears that all rushed towards Caron's body. Among the dozens of spears, there was only one real one, but each of them was like a real spear because each of the split illusions contained mana. Rather than dodge, Caron charged directly into the onslaught of spears. He swung his sword and deflected each of them at the same time, creating a gap large enough for him to aim at Percival's neck. As Caron thrust his sword forward, Percival pulled back his spear, caught it close to the head and swung it like a sword to parry Caron. Immediately after that, the two exchanged eleven more strikes in a blink of an eye and stepped back significantly.

Caron laughed delightedly. "Ahahaha! I guess my eye for people was lacking."

Caron was ecstatic. There were many spear experts in his hometown, but Percival's spear was different. Due to geographical characteristics, the Crow tribe's spear techniques had developed towards battling monsters rather than people. Although it was common for Crows to fight against each other every day, they focused on overpowering the opponent when fighting between themselves. Percival's technique was the opposite of the Crow tribe’s. His spear technique was designed for killing. Caron fell in love with this ruthless spear technique that he could never have witnessed in his hometown.

Percival swallowed dryly. "You deserve to be arrogant. What kind of power do you have to be stronger than the Giants?"

Each time they clashed, Percival’s arm went nearly numb at the power transmitted through Caron’s strikes. Each attack was the equivalent of a heavy-armed knight riding a horse and charging with a lance at full power, but unlike a straight-line lance charge, Caron's sword was organic and moved abnormally. Percival honestly thought he wouldn’t be able to win like this.

"Ahahaha, I'm a little strong. In terms of just pure strength, I don’t lose, even against my older brother."

Caron was considerably younger than his older brother Helios, but he was still physically dominant. The only thing that set Helios apart was his skill in martial arts, which he had honed further than Caron thanks to the long head start he had.

"Older brother, you say. It seems you respect him." Percival replied.

Caron nodded. "I tend to respect most people who are better than me."

Of course, his respect towards Helios wasn't just because of that. Helios had always respected Caron, and Caron could always trust and rely on him. Helios always said that one day Caron would surpass him, but Caron couldn't agree with him. It wasn’t like Helios would suddenly stop growing so Caron could catch up.

"Caron Blade."

"Yes, go ahead, Captain."

After exchanging blows, the two had no choice but to acknowledge each other. They smiled, full of killing intent, and stared at each other.

"You have passed the fourth exam."

"… What?"

Caron looked at Percival with a blank look, which was quickly followed by a smile at the words that followed.

"But you haven’t had enough, right?”

"Of course! We’re just getting started!"

"Then we have to see it through to the end. From now on, it’s not an exam anymore. Do you agree?"

Caron nodded. "I agree."

"Good. I have a feeling you’ll pass the last two exams, so I'll show you the real power of the Round Table."

Percival's chest began to emit a blue divine power. As the divine power covered his whole body like a blue flame, his eyes and hair turned sky blue.

"This is the power I received from His Majesty the Holy King."

At Percival's unwavering aura, the playful expression disappeared from Caron’s face. Then, he braced himself and properly raised his martial aura. He felt that now, he could get seriously injured if he let his guard down.

"Wow, that's no joke."

The power Percival had received from the Holy King was simple. His muscles were amplified to the point of being on par with the Giants, and he never got exhausted. The other Knights of the Round Table had been given different, diverse abilities, but only two common powers had been given to him. With those limited powers, however, Percival had killed the most Giant warriors amongst those in the Round Table and became the captain at a young age.

"It would be polite for me to do my best as well." said Caron.

Percival also became nervous at Caron's martial aura, which felt like sharp blades tightening around him. "Just as I expected. You weren’t fighting properly before, huh?"

The two stared at each other from a distance, then rushed toward each other without hesitation, weapons drawn.

* * *

"Hmm, the Captain seems to have gotten serious."

Lancelot looked at the mana storm spewing from the direction of a distant training ground, then grabbed and detonated a mass of flames flying at him from his blind spot.

"… Is this your trump card?" asked Lancelot.

Tashid, covered in sweat and dust, replied between hoarse breaths. "Yes, that is right.”

Tashid, who had never been so helpless before, smiled rather brightly when his last trump card didn’t work. He had felt lonely all his life. His fellow paladins who had trained with him were jealous of his talent and had never fought against him properly. Even his teachers had been jealous. However, he now looked forward to becoming a genuine comrade to Benjamin, who he had fought earlier, and the knight in front of him.

"Not bad. This flame doesn't seem to be magic. Is it an innate ability?"

"Yes. According to my father, our founder is of mixed blood with the Spirit of Fire, but I do not know if that is true."

Lancelot nodded. "If your opponent had been Sir Bors, Sir Kay, or Sir Percival, they would have been in quite a difficult situation."

"Not Sir Gwalchavad?"

"That guy does not have any weaknesses. I have a rare, innate constitution called anti-magician. Magic, of course, and other spiritual abilities do not work on me. So do not be disappointed that your trump card did not work.”

Tashid lowered his head in admiration. "I see, but is it okay for you to tell me all that?"

Lancelot smirked. “It is okay to tell all that to a successful candidate of the fourth exam."

It didn’t matter if the information about Lancelot’s anti-magician constitution was known anyway, because it was impossible to take countermeasures. The only thing the enemy could do was to be careful and make sure they had something other than magic to fight with.

"Huh?! I passed?"

"Yes, your strength is good enough for the Round Table."

The true power of the Knights of the Round Table came from the power of the Holy tribe, bestowed by the Holy King. The power given to the Knights of the Round Table was more than just mere aid, but enough to fight against the Giants. As such, not just anyone could be given the privilege of becoming a Knight of the Round Table. The entrance exam was also a screening process to identify those who had trained enough to fully accept power from the Holy King.

"Oh, but isn’t there still the fifth exam left?" asked Tashid.

Lancelot nodded. "The fifth exam is an interview to see if you are going to fight for the Holy Kingdom, so there is nothing to worry about."

The successful candidates of the fourth exam had two choices. Join and become a knight, or die. Therefore, he could now tell some simple secrets of the Round Table casually.