My monster cards can evolve infinitely.

Knights Academy, training ground.

Twenty-five gleaming gold coins were stacked in a pile on the ground in front of them.

This is the result of crowdfunding by several Knights College students who were watching.

Embarrassingly, the original owner who challenged him only had four silver coins in his pocket.

Now that he has met his bottom-line target, the next step... is to figure out how to defeat that Knight Academy student.

Xiuqi took off the black robe that was the symbol of the Arcane Academy. This robe was not only extremely expensive, but he also only had two of them.

If you lose one item, you won't even have time to change or wash it.

Xiuqi wore a linen short-sleeved inner shirt close to his body, revealing his well-defined, muscular arms. His sculpted pectoral muscles and six-pack abs were faintly visible through the linen inner shirt.

Standing to the side, Jia Sili was somewhat surprised. Xiu Qi had an ordinary build. When he wore a robe, he looked like a thin mage, but when he took off the robe, he looked like a strong soldier.

The knight academy student next to him had exaggerated muscles and was a head taller than Xiu Qi. He was currently putting on a scale armor with the help of other students.

Kyle is an instructor at the Knights Academy's training grounds and also serves as the referee for this duel.

He noticed that one of the trainees was not wearing armor, so he kindly reminded him:

"Student Xiuqi, if you don't have any armor, I can lend you a set."

"Thank you, Professor Kyle. I don't need armor for this duel."

Xiu Qi declined the other party's offer.

It's not that he's being overconfident, but rather that his biggest advantage right now is his flexibility.

This advantage will also disappear if armor is worn.

He only studied magic for two years.

But he spent a full twelve years training as a knight—until two years ago, when that damned war caused him to lose the person who had always trained him.

Xiuqi gently stroked the hilt of the sword, feeling its rough feedback.

Unlike the Knights Academy students who chose a combination of longsword and shield, he only selected a sword.

A hand-and-a-half sword, about 110 centimeters long and weighing about 3 pounds, can be held with one hand or with both hands.

Xiu Qi wielded two longswords and practiced several basic movements such as stabbing, slashing, chopping, and parrying backwards.

"I haven't touched it for almost a year... Luckily, I haven't lost my skills."

This is a skill ingrained in our very bones; how could we possibly lose it?

He gripped his longsword again, and the image of the tall knight slowly surfaced in his mind... If he were still alive, he wouldn't be in this predicament of being homeless.

It all seemed like a price tag preordained: the war took his father away, his mother subsequently fell ill and never recovered, and later he awakened his arcane talent and successfully entered the Royal Academy of Solmar.

Xiu Qi shook his head, clearing his mind of all distractions, and began to devote himself entirely to the duel.

With the help of two people, the students from the Knights Academy opposite took nearly four minutes to put on their armor.

Seeing that the other party was ready, Xiu Qi's bored face lost its smile.

He snapped his fingers with his right hand, his lips moving rapidly, as if he were muttering something.

Not long after—to be precise, 2.1 seconds.

A white light flashed across Xiu Qi's body, and in an instant, countless fine arcane runes flickered and flowed within it, forming a continuously fluctuating barrier.

He felt a translucent light emanating from his body, as if arcane energy was rapidly weaving into a protective net with a dodecahedral framework, the outer layer of which gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen.

[Trick: Blade Protection] lv3 (29/30)

This is the only technique he currently knows, and the one he is most proficient in.

The casting time has been reduced from five or six seconds initially to just over two seconds now.

After being upgraded to Level 3, the duration of protection was extended from the initial twenty minutes to forty minutes.

When his mana is full, he can cast the spell up to four times in a row. The fifth spell will be cast after his mana has been restored in 6 hours.

The damage resistance provided by [Blade Protection] is also constantly increasing.

Initially, the resistance to blunt force, piercing, and slashing damage was only 50%.

Now, after upgrading to level 3, damage resistance is increased to 60%.

A hint of surprise flashed in Teacher Kyle's eyes. He had thought it was a duel between two students from the Knight Academy, but he never expected that Xiuqi, with his strong and muscular physique, was actually a student from the Arcane Academy.

Although relatively rare, they are not entirely nonexistent.

People who are blinded by love are not limited to the wise or the foolish.

"The duel begins!"

As soon as the command was given, the knight academy student clad in scale armor let out a low roar and charged towards Xiu Qi like a raging bull.

His tactics were simple and brutal: first, he used his armor and size advantage to close the distance, then he used his shield to protect himself, and finally he knocked Xiuqi over.

Then he cornered him and used his sword to demonstrate that the dignity of the Knights' Academy was not to be challenged.

The heavy footsteps of the heavily armored man pounded the hard ground of the training field with a dull thud.

Compared to the opponent's aggressive approach, Xiuqi's reaction seemed overly calm.

He didn't move, but simply spread his feet slightly apart, lowered his center of gravity, and gripped the sword hilt with both hands, casually assuming the most standard knight's starting stance.

When Xiuqi's sword tip pointed at the charging opponent, his entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation.

If he resembled a skilled soldier when he took off his robe, then standing with his sword at this moment, he was clearly a steady and steadfast battlefield knight.

Seeing the heavily armored warrior charging like a bull, Jia Sili, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but let out a gasp, as if Xiu Qi was about to be knocked over at any moment.

Just as the two clashed, Xiu Qi made a move!

Instead of confronting him head-on, he smoothly sidestepped and slid, his movements as fluid as if he had practiced them tens of thousands of times.

The shields that the Knight Academy students brought with tremendous force barely grazed Xiuqi's chest, and the resulting gust of wind ruffled the hem of his linen inner garment.

"That arcane academy guy is more like an assassin than a mage..." someone in the crowd whispered.

At this moment, the longsword in Xiu Qi's hand was like a venomous snake emerging from its hole. There were no dazzling moves, only a simple and precise thrust; the steel-forged blade aimed directly at the armpit exposed by the opponent's shield...

—That's the weak point where the scales connect.

"Clang—"

A crisp metallic clang rang out.

Sparks flew at the point where the two swords clashed.

The opponent reacted quickly, parrying with his sword at the last second, using the hilt of his longsword to block Xiu Qi's tricky thrust.

The Knight Academy students were taken aback; this was definitely not the speed and skill of an ordinary mage!

He abandoned his contempt and used the force of the parry to take a half step back, his longsword and iron shield standing crossed, switching to a defensive stance.

Xiu Qi remained expressionless, only adjusting his stance, the tip of his sword swaying slightly with his opponent's movements, ready to strike at any moment.

Jasley stood on the sidelines, her deep blue eyes filled with shock.

The effortless figure on the field, those sharp, hawk-like eyes, are hard to reconcile with the quiet, black-robed boy in the Arcane Academy.

Mr. Kyle's gaze grew increasingly serious.

In his view, although the Knight Academy students had the advantage in strength and were fully equipped with armor, they were completely suppressed by Xiuqi in terms of skills and control of the rhythm of battle.

The students of this arcane academy use a highly practical sword technique that has likely been tested on the battlefield.

After several tests, the two duelists made a preliminary assessment of each other—clearly, neither was an opponent they could easily defeat.

"This is a bit tricky..."

Xiu Qi pondered to himself.

Although he was very confident in his swordsmanship, his opponent was clearly no slouch either.

Moreover, the opposing side has switched from offense to defense, and with the protection of armor and iron shields, it will not be easy to achieve a surprise victory.

In a one-on-one situation, even Xiuqi, who is fully armored, may not be able to win quickly.

In that case, you can't blame me.

He reached into his pocket with his left hand and felt a sturdy, smooth rectangular card.

Goblin Squire

[Type: Summoning Card]

[Rank: One Star]

[Quality: Green Premium]

[Specialty: Stealth +6]

[Senses: Dark vision 60 feet, passive perception 9]

[Talent Skill: Void Walk (Tier 1)]

[Skill Effect: Directly step into any void location in the world. Cooldown: 1 minute.]

[Note: "It didn't disappear; it simply stepped behind the curtain of the world!"]

"Luckily, I brought it with me today!"

Xiu Qi felt a little calmer, and that faint smile reappeared on his face.

Perhaps it was because my mood had improved, but even the rough, big face of the Knight Academy student seemed more pleasing to the eye.

"Hey, have you ever seen magic?"

"???"

The other person did not answer, and a hint of wariness was revealed in their dull little eyes.

"It's a kind of magic trick where someone appears out of nowhere, like..."

Before the words were finished, a thick, knotted wooden stick tore through the distorted spatial barrier and was lifted behind the Knight Academy student's head by a slender, delicate hand.

Then it swung down vertically, hitting him squarely on the back of the head where he wasn't wearing a helmet and was completely unprepared.

The large, bumpy club was smashed into the delicate flesh of the other person's head.

"...Conjure a goblin wielding a giant club!"

In an instant, the Knight Academy student felt a dizzying sensation, his vision went black, and he fell straight forward to the ground.