Supreme Ruler: Reincarnated as the Emperor's Bastard Son

What even is the Mental world?

Whenever his training with Sage Chanakya ended, Ashoka never failed to ask himself this question. He continued pondering about this for days and weeks since the start of the training, due to which his head hurt and frustration grew inside.

This time, his concern lasted until the very next day.

Sage Chanakya's training most definitely had some sort of effect and aim. There was no way the famous 'Sage of Wisdom' would make him practice so much for no reason.

More than that, he was someone who has reached the peak of magic, certainly he wouldn't say something that doesn't have any meaning.

'Hm, my body feels heavy. Must be because I spent the entire night asking myself that question. Let's cool my head down during morning training and stop worrying for a while.'

While he was trying to rest, his thoughts involuntarily begin to think about the Previous emperor.

Did the previous emperor also do the same training with Sage Chanakya as what he was doing? Did he also have the same questions when he was 14 years old? As he proceeded to Knight Karguel's training ground, Ashoka thought about the previous emperor's past.

He hadn't seen the previous emperor's growth and development. But he had heard that during his youngster days, he was quite the problem child.

'Either way, Sir Chanakya must be making me do this training because he believes I can figure out the meaning and goal behind it.'

7 AM.

The knight trainees were gathering at the training ground. They would be sparring today, so there was a bizarre mood between everyone.

The results of the spars were quite important to their overall scores and assessments of their knight rank after all.

And having higher scores would grant them greater salaries and the possibility of becoming a secret guardian knight in the Tower of Wisdom with special treatment. It was no surprise they were all on edge.

'What a heavy and competitive atmosphere. Their gazes show that they wouldn't hesitate to beat any opponent half dead. As for Paul… Sigh.'

Ashoka turned his attention to the corner, where Jean-Paul was crouching down.

As one would expect, the cowardly boy was looking at his surroundings with nervous eyes. He reminded Ashoka of a small prey having barely escaped its predator and hiding in a small hole.

'What on earth is wrong with him? Actually, how on earth did he pass the exam to become a trainee knight?'

After passing the trainee exam in the tempest manor, Paul must've probably been called a 'genius' by many commoners outside. So Ashoka couldn't understand the reason behind his shyness.

'Hm… It might be that he once believed he was a genius, but found out that there were far better and stronger geniuses than him here, which made him lose confidence. Or was he just born this way…?'

As his thoughts reached that point, Ashoka shook his head.

'I'm already busy enough thinking about the meaning behind Sage Chanakya's training. I don't have the time and energy to figure out what his deal is. I just need to make it so that he doesn't get kicked out, which should be more than enough!'

Karguel arrived at the training ground, and the cadets immediately stood in line. After a simple warm-up and physical exercise, he announced the order of the spars and the schedule.

"There will be three rounds of spars! You will be changing opponents each time. And the ten most notable winners will be able to challenge prince Ashoka one at a time."

"Yes, Instructor!"

There was not a single cadet in Karguel's class who could defeat Ashoka. Therefore, whenever there was a sparring session, Ashoka would fight several duels more than the others.

Ashoka was nearing the age of fifteen, which means as a royal prince he would be assigned a territory and he would need to go there as the lord.

There was not much time he could stay in this place so he wanted to leave a strong impression on the young knights here, who knows? one of them might become a sword that would defend him one day.

'I will defeat they all and prove my worth'

In this world where strength was worshiped above all else, what's a better method to convince someone than to display his strength?

While the story so far had belittled the trainee knights in Karguel's class, they were still knights in training to become the secret knight of the tower of wisdom.

They were the top ten cadets who won their other spars to boot. Facing all ten of them consecutively wouldn't be so easy for Ashoka.

Besides, the secret knight trainees were on a whole other level compared to the normal knight trainees.

"Sreya, Garam. You're up first. Get ready!"

Two boys with resolute expressions faced each other in the center of the training ground. Once Karguel's signal arrived, the spar began. Ashoka observed their movements without much concern.

'Everyone's doing pretty well.'

Their movements were flexible and agile, yet powerful. Despite looking nervous, they were calmly calculating their actions and scanning their opponents. They weren't being trained to become secret knights for nothing.

Swoosh, swoosh!

Although they were wielding wooden swords, each swing was slicing the wind. Even with the lack of sharp edges, a clean blow would completely smash an ordinary human's head.

"Urgh!"

Crack!

The boy called Shreya's wooden sword landed on his opponent's flank. As the sound of a rib breaking resounded, Garam crouched on the spot and trembled in pain.

The medical team—which was waiting on one side of the training ground—laid the injured boy on a stretcher.

"Winner, Shreya. Take a break over there and stay on standby. Next up are Phillip and Bob…"

And so, nine matches followed. The tenth was between Paul and a girl called Merina.

Ashoka paid close attention to Paul's spar.

'Paul seems to be focused on defense as usual.'

On the other side, Merina was ruthlessly attacking him. As one of the top cadets of the beginner training class, her strength was evident.

But Ashoka was used to this sight. It wasn't his first time watching one of Paul's spars.

"Fight me, Jean Paul! Stop running and fight me like a man!"

Merina was hurling provocations while wildly swinging her wooden sword.

Suddenly, Ashoka noticed that Paul's movements were 'better than expected'... He then realized that it was the result of the development of his 'senses'.

'Paul, that prick. He's not just getting pushed back. He's going easy on her!'

Ashoka instinctively got up.

It looked like Paul was barely blocking Merina's attacks at the last moment, but Ashoka could see that Paul's movements were somewhat easygoing.

'During this exchange—where their swords clashed twenty times—Paul had the chance to counterattack three times. They weren't by chance either. Paul guided her movements to create those opportunities himself. So why?'

Why won't he fight back?

While Ashoka was racking his brain, the other cadets were just waiting for Merina to deal the finishing blow.

They didn't think there was anything to learn from such a one-sided battle, especially since it was Paul on the receiving side.

'...Could it be…?'

Ashoka carefully observed Paul again. He scanned how Paul avoided and parried the attacks, along with his expression.

Overall, he wasn't looking good. His nervous eyes were showing pain and his clenched jaw showed how he wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

However, his movements were far better than Merina's. While it appeared as if he was getting pushed back, his actions were carefree at times. As long as he wished for it, he could turn the tables on her anytime.

Nevertheless, he didn't counterattack, a discrepancy which confused Ashoka.

Other than Ashoka, the others were completely oblivious to Paul's actions.

Soon, Ashoka figured out the origin of this discrepancy.

'He's not scared of getting hit or feeling pain.'

There was no reason for a human to feel fear due to another being that was obviously 'weaker' than them. And from Ashoka's perspective, Paul was stronger than Merina.

'He's worried about hurting his opponent. That's why he's being so passive in this fight...?'

Other than that, there was no other way of explaining this odd spar.

'Knowing his personality, he's not being overconfident in his skills and going easy on her on purpose. He just doesn't know what to do, and can only defend without attacking, which ended up looking like he's going easy on her.'

As Ashoka's thoughts came to a conclusion, Paul's wooden sword was stabbed in the ground. Merina immediately flew forward and slammed him in the chin with her knee.

"Stop. Winner, Merina. Wait over there."

"Yes, Instructor."

The spar ended and both returned to their respective places.

Ashoka oddly looked at Paul, thinking about what just happened, he couldn't belive that he lost because he was afraid of hurting his opponent.

'He is one weird prick....'

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