Without giving any warning, she launched forward with a lightning fast jab aimed straight at his face.

Adrian saw it coming and he tried leaning back, but his footwork completely failed him. He tripped over his own boots and could not make enough distance.

Claire’s fist connected to his jaw. Blood filled up in his mouth as fell to the ground.

He rolled the moment he touched the ground, pushed right back up to his feet and spat the blood onto the grass. Pain Tolerance kicked in perfectly. He felt the force of the blow but the brain rattling experience just vanished the moment it came. The punch just felt like a dull sting.

"Again." Adrian said.

Claire raised an eyebrow and decided to completely stop holding back.

Leg sweeps, shoulder throws, heavy hooks straight to the ribs.

Adrian got beaten into an absolute pulp, but every single time he hit the ground, he bounced right back up.

"Do you not feel pain?" Claire asked as she breathed hard.

"I just ignore it." Adrian shrugged.

Claire stared at him like he was a total monster. She used to train noble kids who cried and winced over tiny blisters. Now she was looking at a guy casually eating blows from a C rank knight and asking for more and more.

They went on for six hours straight until the sun went down and the camp torches were lit.

Claire was heavily panting. Her C rank stamina was about to hit it’s limit. All of her explosive, full power movements took a massive toll when she was not pulling her punches.

Adrian looked like a man who was beaten up and tortured by a group of barbarians. He had a split lip, a black eye and multiple bruises, but his breathing was perfectly steady. That hybrid mana heart pumped an endless supply of energy straight into his muscles. His stamina pool was much bigger than Claire’s even though she was two ranks higher than him.

"Stop." Adrian held up a hand. "I need a minute."

"Yeah, you look awful." Claire wiped her sweaty forehead. She was definitely not going to admit she was exhausted.

Adrian walked back to his private tent and sent the kids out before he told Claire to stand guard outside.

Locking the tent shut, he used dungeon link and walked inside. He spawned the ceramic tub, filled it with the green medicine and sank right in. Thirty minutes of quick magical healing later, the bruises faded and his split lip stitched itself back together.

He drained the tub, dried off, and walked right back out of the tent.

"Round two." Adrian said.

Claire pursed her lips and gave him a sweet smile but her gaze was the complete opposite of sweetness.

"You’ll be in the front line tomorrow so go and rest! We’re not playing games here." she scolded him, "This is an order from your teacher."

The next morning, General Vekar called for an emergency assembly.

Adrian stood at the front of his sixty men and looked at General Vekar who stood on a wooden platform. The Count and Tristan stood beside him.

"Scouts just reported in," Vekar announced loudly. "A detachment of enemy troops has broken off from the main Avarice army. Roughly two hundred men are marching toward the eastern river and they are planning to destroy the dam."

The soldiers muttered nervously. If the dam broke, the resulting flood would wipe out supply lines for Vaneira, the Count, and Adrian’s territory.

"I need a unit to intercept them immediately," Vekar said.

The Count opened his mouth to volunteer his men, but Adrian raised his hand high. It was a wise option to pick an easy tast like this on his own instead of waiting to be sent on a suicide mission.

Vekar looked at him. "You wish to take this mission, Baron Sterling?"

"I will go." Adrian nodded.

Vekar frowned. "The enemy has two hundred men and you only have sixty. You are outnumbered more than three to one."

Adrian stared right back at the scarred General. "I will bring you a victory."

Vekar hesitated. Adrian’s voice held absolute, unshakable confidence. It did not sound like an arrogant boasting of a foolish noble. His instincts told him to trust Adrian, and he did.

"Fine." Vekar pulled a rolled parchment from his belt and tossed it down to Adrian. "Here is the map. Their planned route is drawn in red. Intercept them before they reach the dam. Based on the information I got, they are using the forest to get there instead of marching along the river banks."

"Let’s go." Adrian turned to his men and grinned as he looked at the heavy steel plates covering their bodies.

"Run." Adrian commanded.

The sixty men slammed their shields against their chest plates in a unified salute. Then they turned and sprinted while Adrian sped up, over taking the whole group and getting to the front. Claire and the five kids followed right behind him.

They took off like they were running from a wildfire. The heavy steel plating did not slow the knights down even a single bit. Their boots dug up the dirt road and soon, they completely vanished into the forest.

General Vekar stood frozen on the wooden platform, completely stunned at the display.

Sebastian looked like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets and the Count stared with his mouth wide open.

Regular humans could not sprint in full steel plate armor. The weight alone would push them to their knees in a few minutes. The only people who could move that fast under that much weight, were people who used mana to reinforce their muscles.

"He was not lying." Vekar whispered. "He actually brought sixty knights."

The Count clicked his tongue in annoyance. "So what? They are probably just garbage F rank knights. Those low tier knights barely have any mana. Two hundred veteran soldiers will be able to kill the whole bunch if they surround them."

Vekar slowly turned his head to glare at the fat Count.

"Have you ever actually seen a knight fight on a real battlefield?" Vekar asked coldly.