System's POV
chapter-443-1

"Do you mind if I wear these wooden braces?" Thirteen asked as he pointed at the braces on the armor rack with his gloves.

"I don't mind," Roland replied. "Feel free to use anything you think you would need when fighting against me."

Thirteen smirked before asking Remi to help put the braces on his wrists since he was still wearing gloves in his hands.

"Be careful brother," Remi said.

"I will," Thirteen replied. "Watch closely, okay? What you're going to see will help you in the future."

Remi nodded and returned to where the other spectators were.

Thirteen walked back to the center of the training room and faced the Hero, who seemed to be waiting patiently for their fight to start.

"Are you sure we should not stop this?" Derek asked, feeling concerned about Thirteen's safety.

While he might have been surprised that Thirteen had won against Rianna earlier, he believed that the teenage boy was only able to win because Rianna was subconsciously holding back her strength.

"What's the harm?" Joshua replied as he fixed his glasses. "He won against Rianna, so I'm sure that he will be fine."

Joshua didn't want to admit it, but he wanted Roland to beat Zion in front of Shana. Of course, he didn't really hate the teenage boy.

He just felt like if Roland managed to give the other party a good lesson, the latter would distance himself from the Saintess of their party.

Erica, Mildred, and Diana were also on the same page as Derek.

They already knew what Roland was planning to do, and frankly, they didn't like it.

Erica then moved closer to Diana and whispered in her ear.

"If things suddenly escalate in the wrong direction, prepare to stop their fight using any means necessary," Erica said.

"I understand," Diana replied.

As the Crusader of the Hero's Party, she served as their shield, protecting them from the front lines.

Erica believed that Diana had the ability to prevent Zion from seriously getting hurt once Roland decided to get serious.

"Before you start your duel, let's make a few rules first," Rianna, who also didn't want to see this duel head in the wrong direction, decided to mediate. "The spar will end when one side surrenders or is unable to fight anymore.

"Also, using skills and equipment are not allowed. Do you agree with this condition, Roland?"

"I agree," Roland replied.

"How about you, Zion?" Rianna asked.

"Well, I don't really have any skills that I can use or equipment that I can summon. But just in case, Tiona, go to Remi for the time being."

Tiona returned to her normal form after hearing her Master's order.

She gave Thirteen's cheek a nudge with her head before crawling down from his body and moving toward Remi.

Thirteen's sister reached out to let her brother's Beast Companion crawl up her arm.

Although she was reluctant to part with her Master, she had unwavering faith in him and believed that he wouldn't lose to the Hero of Shana's party.

Rianna glanced at the two teenagers and sighed in her heart.

"You may now begin," Rianna said.

"Make sure to fight using your full power," Roland stated. "Because I will not hold back like Rianna."

"Okay," Thirteen replied in a teasing tone, making Roland frown.

'Is this kid not taking me seriously?' Roland thought. 'I guess I'll give him a warning blow first like what he did to Rianna.'

Roland took a fighting stance, which made Derek and his party's faces turn solemn.

Even Shana subconsciously clenched her fists, recognizing that this was the stance Roland would take whenever he planned to use an extremely fast sword thrust.

This wasn't a skill he learned from Solterra, but something that had been ingrained to him since a young age.

Similar to the children of the Monarchs, and the Prestigious Families, Roland was trained from a young age to become a warrior of his family.

His Clan might not be as influential as the Ten Prestigious Families, but many believed that if one of those families fell from grace, Roland's family would take their place.

Without warning, Roland unleashed his sword thrust, aiming at Thirteen's dominant right arm.

The power of this blow was enough to break Thirteen's bone, but since Shana was there, healing it wouldn't be a problem.

At most, the teenage boy would need to rest for a week to fully recover, which Roland believed was enough time to make him understand that Shana was off-limits for him.

The loud sound of flesh being hit reverberated in the training room, making Derek stand up and Joshua stiffen at the scene that unfolded in front of them.

At the very last second, Thirteen sidestepped and unleashed a backhand blow to the side of Roland's face, hitting his jaw.

The teenage boy didn't stop at that and unleashed a flurry of blows, all aimed at Roland's face, not holding back his strength in the slightest.

(A/N: Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!)

Thirteen's first hook landed on Roland's jaw, further rattling his brain after he was hit by the boy's backhand blow.

The next punch was straight to the Hero's nose.

At the point of impact, a faint cracking sound reached Thirteen's ears, but he didn't stop there.

Left jab.

Right uppercut.

Left hook.

And last but not the least, another straight punch hit Roland's nose for a second time.

Everyone thought that Zion was just a Rookie, and they were right.

However, he wasn't an ordinary Rookie.

He was a Rookie who had absorbed the Core of a Majin Prince, giving him a portion of the Majin Prince's strength.

The reason why Rianna lost to him wasn't due to their difference in ranks.

It was because Thirteen was a Rookie who had the strength of a Master!

Simply put, he was stronger than Roland, whom everyone thought would one-sidedly beat up the teenage boy in a matter of seconds.

But the scene that they had imagined and the scene happening in front of them were the complete opposite of each other.

Thirteen's last punch was strong enough to send the Hero flying backward for a few meters before crashing down on the ground.

"Holy sh*t…" Derek wasn't able to stop himself from cursing as he looked at the sorry figure of his fallen comrade on the ground. "What the f*ck happened back there?"

Joshua was just as shaken as Derek because he didn't expect that such an outcome would happen.

He had already considered that Zion might be able to land a good hit at Roland, but that was it.

After fighting alongside his friend for years, he knew how strong he was even without using his skills and equipment.

The girls of the Hero party were also surprised. Just like Joshua, none of them had foreseen this outcome.

"See? I told you that Zion is better than the Hero," Viola whispered in Shana's ear, breaking her out of her daze.

Sharon and Louise also had the "I knew this would happen" look on their faces. Someone who would dare face off against Evuvug despite being a Rookie couldn't be a simple person.

Only they knew how capable Thirteen was, especially after the boy used them for his experiments.

Rhia, on the other hand, was shouting "Yay! Yay! Yay!" while waving both of her hands.

Remi also couldn't help but smile. In her point of view, her brother was the strongest.

Alessia had a proud look on her face because her son easily defeated the Hero as if he was just casually beating up a random street thug.

"I think I heard you saying that you want to spar with me earlier," Thirteen said with a smile as he looked at Derek, who was looking at him as if he had seen a ghost.

"I did say that earlier, but I am still suffering from jet lag," Derek replied. "Even now, I am feeling light-headed and dizzy."

Erica and Mildred looked at their Sword Master in disdain because Wanderers didn't suffer from jet lag.

"Congratulations," Rianna said. "It seems that you were still holding back during our duel."

Thirteen didn't reply and only smiled faintly.

"Since the spar is over, Shana, go heal Roland," Rianna ordered.

"Okay," Shana replied.

She was just feeling relieved that the spar was already over, but Thirteen reached out his hand to block her path.

"Zion?"

"It's not yet over, Shana. Go back to the side."

"Huh? What do you mean? Roland is already down for the cou—"

But before she could finish what she was going to say next, a gust of wind erupted from Roland's body, pushing everyone back.

"See?" Thirteen said as if he was already expecting that something like this was going to happen.

The System of Cannon Fodders had fought heroes alongside his Hosts plenty enough to know that they had a special power.

He called this power the Power of Bullsh*t, which meant that whenever Heroes are fighting a battle that they couldn't afford to lose, they get a power-up that would allow them to overcome almost any obstacles.

Roland slowly propped himself up from the ground, his eyes glowing golden as his Unyielding Ability activated.

"You got me in the first half," Roland said as he wiped the blood that was coming out of his nose with the back of his hand. "Time for Round Two."

Thirteen smirked before walking back to the center of the training room.

When his gaze met with Roland, the teenage boy took a fighting stance, and once again made the "come over here" gesture.

"Come, son," Thirteen said in a teasing tone. "I'll teach you how to Dougie."

Roland roared as he shot toward Thirteen like a cannonball, having every intention to wipe the humiliation that he had experienced just now.