Killing

On his way back to the dormitory, Tyr brushed past many reserves who had just come out of the pharmacy. He could clearly feel the hostility they directed toward him.

Since that day's bloody battle with the Bloodthirsty Magic Wolf cub, the entire Sword Prison had split completely into three factions.

The first consisted of Tyr and Sevira.

The second comprised all the other reserves aspiring to become candidates, led by Letitia's trio. The sole reason they banded together was to deal with Tyr.

As for the third, it was made up of the reserves who had completely given up. They had no desire to become candidates; they only wanted to quickly finish the first stage of training and leave the Sword Prison.

“Brother Tyr.”

As he passed the pharmacy, Tyr happened to run into Sevira coming out of it.

After exchanging greetings, Tyr turned and walked toward the dormitory building.

...

“Time really flies. The first stage of training has already ended.”

On the balcony of the dormitory building, Tyr rested his crossed arms on the railing and looked down. About a dozen reserves were carrying their belongings, walking toward the exit of the Sword Prison.

A month and a half had passed since training began for Tyr's batch of reserves. Yesterday, the first stage of basic training had officially come to an end.

There had been no training at all yesterday. Instead, their strength was tested.

Anyone who failed to meet the Sword Prison's requirements was weeded out, stripped of their reserve status, and sent away.

Starting today, they were officially free from the misery of the Sword Prison.

In exchange, however, the failed candidates sent back this time would never again be eligible to touch the power of House Callis for the rest of their lives.

Not only that, but their family's noble title would also be demoted by one rank as punishment for failing to pass even the basic selection.

It could be said that the selection in the Sword Prison determined not only the fate of the reserves themselves, but also the fate of the families behind them.

Once a family's title could be demoted no further, they would be stripped of the Callis surname and reduced directly to commoners.

In some ways, the saying that House Callis did not tolerate useless trash was absolutely true.

Tyr watched the people below who were about to leave. He recalled that several of them came from Baron families.

Upon their return, their families would fall from nobility to commoners.

Tyr felt that even if they went back, they might not live any better than they did in the Sword Prison.

Commoners knew there was a world of difference between nobility and commoners, so how could the nobles, who had always enjoyed the privileges of their class, not know it themselves?

No, nobles who valued bloodline understood the preciousness of a title far better than any commoner.

Once fallen from nobility, they would probably be hated to death by their families even after returning home.

Even for those who didn't fall out of the noble ranks entirely, a one-rank demotion was a devastating blow. After all, titles represented resources, and resources represented land. Losing land was undoubtedly a crippling loss for any noble.

“Being born into a noble family is a blessing. You don't have to live precariously like a commoner, constantly worrying that your family might be ruined at any moment just because a noble is in a bad mood.”

“And being born into a great noble family is an even greater blessing, because you stand high above even other nobles. Wherever you go, you will be the center of attention.”

“But being born into the Callis family is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that House Callis can fulfill your every fantasy of nobility. The curse is that House Callis does not tolerate useless trash. If you want to be a spoiled playboy, you must pay a steep price in House Callis.”

Tyr turned to look at Avia, who stood respectfully inside the room. She was at the Sixth Circle.

Even among mid-ranking nobility, she would be a pillar of strength. Most commanders of a Viscount's knight order were only at this level.

Yet in House Callis, she was merely a maid.

Tyr turned and walked back inside, and Avia stepped forward to close the balcony door.

“In House Callis, things are actually very fair.”

...

After the first batch of failures departed, Tyr and the others entered the second stage of their training, and the intensity began to ramp up significantly.

“Brother Tyr, Instructor Tina mentioned yesterday that today's training wouldn't be easy. What do you think we'll be doing?”

Sevira asked curiously on the way to the drill grounds.

For the cold-faced instructor to specifically warn them that the training wouldn't be easy, they were likely in for a rough afternoon.

“I don't know. We'll find out when we get to the drill grounds.”

Tyr shook his head. According to the rules of House Callis, Lanier had not told him much about the swordsmanship training before he arrived at the Sword Prison.

He had only mentioned that the training here was exceptionally brutal, and that many reserves left the Sword Prison with varying degrees of psychological trauma.

He had already fully witnessed the cruelty of the Sword Prison. Whether it was the agonizing medicinal baths, the excruciating sword qi body tempering, or the bloody battles with magical beasts, everything pointed to absolute ruthlessness.

Pushing open the doors of the drill grounds, Tyr and Sevira walked in one after another.

When they saw what lay on the drill grounds today, both of their pupils constricted instantly.

Row upon row of iron cages were laid out across the vast drill grounds.

Except this time, the cages did not contain magical beasts. Instead, they held humans, their bodies bound tightly with iron chains.

These people were filthy. Some looked ahead with numb, hollow eyes, while others were filled with terror, struggling desperately. However, their bodies were bound by magic, making it impossible for them to even stand.

【Killing】

Almost instantly, Tyr realized what today's training program entailed.

Eight years old. In his past life, this was an age when children were still in elementary school.

Forcing an eight-year-old child to kill was something Tyr had only ever seen in the war-torn regions of his previous life.

At this moment, Tyr's understanding of the sheer brutality of the Sword Prison training—which his father had warned him about—reached a whole new level.

Tyr turned his head. Sevira's young face was also pale with sheer terror.

Intelligent as she was, she had also realized the purpose of today's training.

She wanted to run, but she knew all too well that there was no escaping the Sword Prison.

“Brother... Tyr...”

Sevira looked helplessly at Tyr beside her. She opened her mouth, her voice instantly turning raspy. Though nothing had happened yet, her body was already reacting physiologically to the horror.

“Sigh.”

Tyr could see that Sevira's hands were trembling.

Killing humans was fundamentally different from killing magical beasts. During their previous combat training, Sevira could charge forward fearlessly to fight beasts even when covered in wounds.

But now, even before the training had officially begun, her body was already instinctively rejecting it.

Having been on battlefields in his past life, Tyr knew this was a primal human instinct.