A rush of excitement and anticipation coursed through Leon’s body as his blade sang towards the first copper kobold.

  The monsters had quickly surrounded him as he walked towards them alone, but that was fine, it meant he would not need to chase any down or waste his movements. From his peripheries, Leon was also aware that his own team was advancing to capitalize on the kobolds’ distraction. He would need to finish this before they could properly spring their flank.

  The kobold he swung at ducked under his blade and lunged for his exposed waist. Drawing his sword back, he kicked at the opportunistic lizard. His foot connected like a cannonball and blasted the kobold back into the wall, a loud crack of its skull echoing through the dungeon. It had not deterred the monster's companions, but he took some small pleasure at the fact that he could no longer hear the other initiates advancing.

  His blade was brought back up to block a kobold’s club while he sidestepped and allowed another to sail by his legs. Smashing the pommel of his blade into the one he had blocked, he stabbed into the leg of the one who had lunged past him. The rhymesteel made short work of tearing through the leg and tripping the kobold onto the stone floor.

  In one quick movement, he pulled his sword back out from under the beast, leaving the dismembered monster where it lay, before he brought it back up and stabbed through the first one’s heart.

  He noticed that the red one and the last copper one were too distracted by the paused initiates to present a threat. It likely saved him from one or two scratch marks caused by having to contend with five simultaneous enemies, but it by no means meant that he would allow them the kills.

  Crushing the now one-legged kobold’s face beneath one of his boots, he went in to stab the last copper monster through the back of its head. Now facing the rest of the initiates again, he could clearly see the looks of awe etched on their faces. Even some of the adventurers seemed surprised at his skills.

  That’s right. I do not belong here with these peasant dreamers. Make sure you remember that.

  As the last copper kobold slid down his blade, he brought his attention back to the red one who just now seemed to realize it was without allies.

  Without much of any choice, it screeched at him and charged, no doubt faster than many of the initiates could hope to follow. Leon was no mere commoner adventurer, though, nor was he a dreamer.

  He kept his blade low until the kobold was within range, and then brought it up in a diagonal slash. The metal sliced through the red kobold as if it were a knife through paper. The two halves of the kobold fell before him as he shook the blood from his blade. The rest of his team lowered their shields now that the battle was won and looked over to him expectantly.

  “Your assistance was appreciated.” He nodded to them to let them know they had saved him some small trouble. It would not do to catch an infection or deal with undue bleeding.

  Refusing to admit to being reckless, he could acquiesce that he had let his irritation drive him towards a flashier fight. The next battle would be approached with caution and more carefully to ensure that he was not surrounded again.

  His teammates had mixed reactions to his words. One looked up at him with a reverent awe, one was still staring at the kobold bodies; the last two, however, regarded him with narrow eyes and pinched expressions. They seemed mad at something, likely frustrated that they had to compete with him for the rewards that the adventurer had promised.

  “I am sure they will reward more than just the best performer. Maintain your morale, you had a sound strategy, even if it was ultimately unnecessary.”

  While he would not apologize for his skills, he hoped that his words would at least alleviate some of the tension. It instead seemed to stroke their competitive natures if the widening and subsequent narrowing of their eyes was anything to go off of.

  Thinking nothing of it, he returned to the group as they departed, content at least with having helped the common folk find their drive.

  Many of the other initiates attempted to chat with him now that they were walking again, but he steadfastly ignored them. He was not here to make friends or accept any of their requests to join sure-to-be pathetic adventuring parties. Keeping his shoulders high and eyes forward, he marched with the rest of them in search of more foes.

  ~

  That was how they continued for some time, mindless chatter around him sporadically interrupted by a kobold encounter.

  Names would be rattled off and unimpressive fights would take place. He had failed to notice that initiates were beginning their second rounds of combat until he recognized the name of the beastgirl being called.

  Her second fight was as impressive as the first. She quickly dispatched two to three kobolds while the rest were held by a shield wall and then finally cleared up.

  Most fights seemed to involve a shield wall, the only one that had not thus far having been his own. They worked a bit more than half the time, he supposed. Even when they failed, the initiates were able to mount a halfway effective fight.

  Still, it showed a lack of imagination or boldness he would have liked to have seen. No one wished to attempt a new idea lest it fail, and so relied on the only method they had seen.

  He shook his head. Perhaps having referred to the people here as bedrock was a compliment—even bedrock was capable of being built upon. They would not grow if they never tried anything new; this stagnant thinking would lead to their deaths in less forgiving circumstances.

  His ruminations were halted as he caught sight of the newest team stepping forward. They arranged themselves before the kobolds but were not arrayed in the standard shield wall line. Instead, they were like an arrow, the one member in chainmail with an actual weapon standing at the tip while the others fanned out close behind her on each flank.

  It was a curious formation, they likely hoped to split the kobolds and break any cohesion that the monsters may have. It was not necessarily an improvement to the standard strategy, as putting the focal point on the head of their arrow would make it more susceptible to getting attacked by multiple enemies at once. It did, however, protect the flanks more readily and provide greater organization than the opponent.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Either way, he found himself paying more attention than he had for the other groups. Even the beast girl—Sarah, he thought her name was—had fallen into a comfortably boring though well-executed strategy. He would not deny being any different; they had the strength to execute such plans safely, and they were wholly effective after all.

  His attention was brought back to the arrow formation as it descended upon the kobolds. They predictably lumped onto the head and attacked her from multiple sides. If not for the two flanks occasionally bashing their opponents, he had no doubt that the tip of the arrow would quickly fold. Still, it didn’t seem they were attacking enough to properly take down their opponents while they were disorganized. Instead of directly engaging, it seemed the edges of the arrow were spilling around the kobolds.

  Leon scoffed; they were wasting their initiative to reposition. Even their arrowhead was falling back from the multisided attacks.

  The kobolds rushed into the hole she left to try and finish her off, which was when the edges of the arrow began attacking. It seemed that while he was focused on the arrow tip, the edges had grouped up behind the kobolds. The kobolds were now completely surrounded and helpless as the initiates beat them down from all sides.

  He was not entirely sure what had happened himself. One moment, the kobolds seemed poised to break their formation, and the next, they had found themselves enveloped on four sides.

  It was a relatively bloodless victory all things considered, even their arrowhead was relatively unhurt thanks to the support on her flanks.

  He continued to think on the fight as the group moved on. It seemed like he was not the only one as a few more groups attempted to begin their fights in an arrow formation, but none seemed able to pull it off as that first group had and quickly everyone reverted back to the standard linear shield wall.

  Thoughts on the matter were interrupted as he felt someone brush up beside him. So far, he had been resolutely ignoring all the other initiates with steadfast resolve and was about to do similar for this one until he glanced over and saw who it was; chainmail armor and a pixie cut, it was the girl from the arrow team.

  “You’re pretty impressive, y’know.”

  Rolling his eyes at the compliment that had been heaped upon him all day, he immediately considered ignoring her as he had everyone prior if not for the curiosity he still harbored.

  “Your battle was also impressive. The strategy you employed was unexpected.”

  She stood a little taller at his acknowledgment, no doubt proud to have received accolades from someone such as himself.

  “We were pretty good, barely a scratch on any of us. Hardly a surprise, though; I wasn't going to let the plan go tits up with me at the head.”

  He tried not to cringe at her crude vernacular as she continued.

  “Can’t take all the credit, though. Wasn’t my plan—I was just the centerpiece.”

  That was a shame. It had been one of the other commoners who had come up with it then. The disappointment at that reveal must have shown as a slightly annoyed twinge swept over her face.

  “You’re a noble, aren’t ya? I didn’t think they needed to take initiation like us,” she spoke nonchalantly, but he could see the crude attempt at holding his attention for what it was.

  “I was a noble. My family…” Struggling for the proper words, he eventually just went for the simplest answer, “Our titles were revoked.”

  A gasp seemed to escape the girl outside her control. She quickly regained control, however, and offered a sympathetic smile.

  “Damn, you musta been young when it happened, huh?” At his despondent nod, she continued. “Hardly your fault then. Can’t blame a kid for their parents' mistakes.”

  A familiar anger bubbled inside him. How dare she mock his parents. Noble he may no longer have been, but nobles his parents had died. There was no way more glorious to have served than to have died in the war.

  Petty vultures had descended on their house only after they were cold and in the ground. As far as he was concerned, it was the fault of the power hungry and dishonorable, those who had been given the privilege to rise above their station and repaid it by conspiring against their lord's orphaned son. Right here and now, the girl standing beside him trying to court his opinion looked like nothing more than another stray dog cozying up to a lion, eagerly eyeing the scraps of his hunt.

  “I will not allow a commoner to cast aspersions upon my house. If I wished for conversation, I would speak with the kobolds.” With that, he left the armored woman behind. It would not do for him to be further baited into anger.

  It was lucky then that he was called up to another fight; it would be good for him to work off some of his rage. This time, he allowed his teammates to advance with him if only to take pressure off of himself. Even still, he managed to wipe out four of the kobolds singlehandedly before returning to the group and marching on.

  The day largely continued as such. Initiates began to be weeded out as those less capable tired. The interval between his battles became shorter with less teams needing to fight.

  For the most part, he did not pay attention to other groups fighting. Occasionally, he may spare a glance to gauge how the Katiine was faring, which seemed to be about as well as himself, but he would otherwise just ponder if his stats were increasing from the accumulated mana.

  Every now and again, however, a team would come out with a new strategy and pull off a decisive victory over the kobolds without himself or the Katiine aiding them.

  Pleased to see that some of the initiates were capable of tactical reasoning, even if most of the fights were still the standard shield wall, he kept an eye for whoever was organizing them. Presumably, it was one particular initiate, but by the time he had figured that out, it was too late to isolate their name from the others.

  They did not continue all the way to the boss of the dungeon as he may have hoped, the toughest foes they faced being red kobolds every few encounters.

  As the last group finished the final kobold detachment, the adventurers unceremoniously guided them out of the dungeon. Those ahead must have cleared any kobolds from attacking them on the way out, which meant it was a long and boring walk back outside.

  Not particularly enthused at the achievement of passing, he instead focused on the fact that tomorrow he would be able to accept missions.

  It had been a long few weeks since his nanny had died. In that time, he had had to take care of the expenses and had realized how bad a position they had been put in. Evicted from his home in the Noble District, he had been pilfered of many of their possessions just to pay off the loans accrued in the years since his family had fallen.

  He steadfastly refused to resent his nanny for any of her decisions. She had provided him with a childhood where he had been able to train, learn, and live comfortably. It was only expected that as an adult he would now need to fend for himself and earn his own way.

  Perhaps had they lived in the Old Quarter as he did now, then the money might have lasted another number of years. Shaking his head, he swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in his throat.

  No, remember nanny’s words. “Living as a merchant was no way for a noble to be presenting themself.”

  The irony of the statement stung.

  In truth, he savored the walk through the forest back to Torid. His temporary ‘lodgings’ left a foul taste in the mouth, literally and figuratively, but they would need to suffice for the time being regardless of how repugnant they were.

  There was a bit of extra coin leftover, perhaps he would buy himself a nicer meal for the night in celebration of becoming an adventurer. Not like he would need to worry about coin too much anymore. Starting from tomorrow, he would begin his legend.

  Ignoring the anxiety he felt settling in his stomach, he continued to march with the other initiates, eyes focused forward and face set in a neutral expression.

  Starting from tomorrow, everything would be okay.