Shang nodded. He had waited for this examination for way too long.

Soran answered with a nod of his own and turned towards Mervin. "Mervin, you're the sword instructor. Could you get us a fitting opponent for Shang? You know how examinations work."

Mervin nodded and wanted to stand up but stopped. "Shang? That's his name?" he asked.

"That's at least what he wrote onto the form," Soran said as he waved one of the forms around.

Mervin shot a weird glance at Shang.

"Weird name, kid," he said before leaving.

Viera only snorted, showing that she didn't like what Mervin had just said.

Soran only awkwardly looked at Shang. "You have to excuse Mervin. He's an old but very capable teacher. As you might have noticed, he always speaks his mind."

"No, he's right," Shang said. "Shang is a weird name."

Soran's face transformed into a representation of confusion.

That was not the answer he had expected.

"Well, alright then. As long as you don't take what Mervin said personally," Soran said.

"How is it not personal?" Shang asked. "He literally commented on my name. It doesn't really get any more personal."

Soran moved his hands forward like he wanted to stop an expensive vase from falling to the ground. "That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant," Shang said.

Soran pulled back again as he looked at Shang with a slightly frustrated expression. "Then why didn't you say so?" he asked with forced politeness.

"Why didn't you word it correctly?" Shang answered.

"You," Soran said as his hands very lightly indicated that he wanted to strangle Shang. Then, he took a deep breath to calm down. "Fine. It's fine. The situation's resolved," he said.

Shang didn't answer anymore.

On the side, Viera shot a strange look at Shang.

This kid wasn't like most other kids.

Was something wrong with him?

After some time passed, Mervin returned with a young man.

Shang looked at the young man, or more precisely, boy.

He couldn't be older than 16.

When Shang saw the boy, he felt a slight feeling of threat.

By now, Shang was very good at judging his opponent. The slight feeling of threat he felt meant that the other side was capable of injuring him, but that was it.

He wasn't a real threat.

After all, even a Pest Cat had the capabilities to injure Shang.

The young man looked at Shang with burning eyes.

Two teachers and the Vice-Dean were here!

He had to prove his worth in front of them!

"This will be an exhibition match," Soran explained. "You two will fight each other. Shang, this match won't decide if you can join our academy or not. It's simply there so we can get a better look at your fighting style."

"Please, you can fight over there," Soran said as he gestured to the empty half of the hall.

'So that's why the table's at the side,' Shang thought.

Shang walked over to one end of the hall as he looked at his opponent.

Shang's opponent took out his sword. It was a one-handed sword focused on a mixture of speed and power. It wasn't as thin as a rapier, but it also wasn't very broad.

Clk!

The silent sound of something metallic moving could be heard from Shang, but none of the present people could see what Shang was doing. His sword had been hidden beneath his cloak the entire time.

The teachers nodded when they saw that. Keeping one's weapon hidden made it harder for the opponent to prepare themselves.

"You can start whenever you want. This fight is not-"

BANG!

The sound of Shang jumping forward with a lot of power reverberated throughout the hall, interrupting Soran's words.

Shang's opponent hadn't been ready for Shang to suddenly attack, and he quickly lifted his sword to block.

However, he didn't know from which direction Shang would strike.

Shang's sword was still hidden behind his cloak.

As Shang approached, his opponent quickly changed his block to a chop. In the academy, he had learned that the only option was to attack when one couldn't find a proper defense.

Shang saw the sword swing towards him, but he had already known that would happen.

Shang wasn't arrogant. He knew exactly that his opponent knew more about how to wield a sword than him. So, entering a sword battle with him would be stupid.

Shang saw the sword swing down. Shang put all his power into his sword arm and directly targeted the opponent's sword.

BANG!

The two swords hit each other, creating sparks as they bounced away.

SHING!

However, Shang's sword immediately shot into the ground. Shang had blocked a chop coming from above, but instead of pulling his sword back into a combat-stance, Shang let go of his sword!

The opponent put all of his power into recovering his sword, leaving him open.

Meanwhile, Shang wasn't blown back since he had let go of the source of pushback.

Pulling off such a maneuver took a lot of practice, but Shang had had enough practice.

At the moment, Shang's opponent was out of balance as he tried to pull his sword back.

BANG!

Shang's shoulder rammed into his opponent's torso, taking the air out of his lungs.

Shang pushed his opponent over and fell on top of him. Then, Shang moved around his opponent's body with practiced ease.

CRK!

"AAAHHH!"

The young man shouted in pain as Shang violently kicked the sword away, breaking at least one finger in the process.

Then, Shang used the opening to get behind the opponent.

Lastly, Shang put his arms around his opponent's neck and head in a sleeper hold, simultaneously pulling him away from his sword.

The young man's mouth opened in pain and terror as he tried to resist.

Yet, as more time passed, he began to see stars until he only saw black.

When Shang saw that his opponent had gone limp, he let go, making sure that the man wouldn't hit his head on the ground.

Then, Shang stood up and cracked his neck.

After that, Shang looked at the teachers.

The teachers only looked with open mouths at Shang.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Soran looked through the forms again to make sure that he hadn't misread.

Combat Style? Sword.

No, it definitely said sword there.

Some seconds later, the young man on the ground groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Right now, the young man's mind was filled with nothing but confusion.

What had happened?

Why was he here?

And then, he looked with shock at his right hand and the two broken fingers on it.

Suddenly, everything came back to him, and he looked at Shang, who stood in the middle of the hall right now.

"I was told this would be a sword fight!" the young man shouted with a voice filled with a mixture of panic, pain, and anger.

Shang threw the young man a short glance.

'Interesting. He's more concerned with how I fought than his broken fingers. I guess injuries are pretty normal in the academy.'

Meanwhile, the teachers only looked at each other with uncertainty.

This wasn't what they had expected.

Soran looked at the forms again and then at Shang.

"Sword, yes?" he asked.

Shang nodded.