Mandatory Combat Course

Ye Qing took a deep breath and contemplated his options. Ye Qing stood with his back to the woman, but the latter was already smiling. She knew how important the opportunity to study in the floating academy was for a talisman apprentice.

Everyone held their breath, and some players recorded this confrontation, even though it wasn't particularly climatic. After some consideration, Ye Qing smiled faintly and looked back at the woman. "Count yourself smart, then."

It was apparent that Ye Qing agreed to remain in the academy while accepting both Reiner and Celesti as his attendants. However, this was also an open challenge to the woman's authority and prestige.

She smiled coldly and gestured with her chin toward the staircase leading from the stadium's arena to an exit and said, "You can take your leave, then. I won't see you off for now."

Ye Qing didn't dally either, he nodded slightly at the two siblings and made his way to the staircase. As for the other players, although they couldn't talk out loud, everyone could use the telepathic communication available for friends and party members, so although they seemed silent and communicating with their eyes, they were actually engaged in a heated discussion.

Once Ye Qing arrived at the door to leave the stadium, he was flanked by a host of powerful instructors with the vibe of battle-hardened soldiers. One of them in particular, who seemed like a mix of refined elegance and cold bloodlust, had a broad smile on his pale countenance as he led the way.

He said, "We have been recalled back from the Endless Abyss Ocean to give you guys a taste of what to expect, I never would have expected a little guy would have such a tough backbone. Haha, actually, this second mandatory course didn't exist to begin with, until now at least…"

Ye Qing looked at this smile that was not a smile, but he didn't say anything. At the moment, both his internal and external energies were depleted, and he didn't have the time or privacy to attempt a recovery through meditation cultivation yet.

He knew he was in no shape to practice combat as things stood, but he also knew that bringing up his current state would in no way make these guys go easy on him.

Just as this man said and just as he had anticipated, this wasn't an actual course but a coercion tactic.

Ye Qing smiled. "Then, you better hope that my rationality equates to my backbone, because if one day I happened to gain power and influence… You know, some people can be pretty petty sometimes."

Pain? Abuse? Ye Qing didn't consider any of these as something to be afraid of. In fact, his bottom line might perhaps lie with his mother, little sister, and those whom he acknowledged as friends or followers.

The man raised his thin eyebrows and then shook with laughter, seemingly about to collapse on the ground from how exaggerated this laughter was.

He said, "You're funny, kid. Actually, you can be as petty as you want, since if you want to 'teach' us some lessons, you might have to follow us into the Endless Abyss Ocean."

This man then turned to look at the rest of the entourage.

To his disappointment, none of them said a word as they continued their silent march, seemingly disinterested.

Ye Qing also noticed this change and gave the man an odd look. "You seem to be the big mouth in this group, huh?"

The man's pale, bleak expression went dark, but he quickly flipped pages and smiled warmly. "Well, if I'm not killing anyone, it's hard to find a suitable distraction other than blabbering on and on. However, since you volunteered, my good student, I'll make sure to lecture you well and hard."

The man went as far as to reassuringly pat Ye Qing on the shoulder, then wrap his arm around that same shoulder while he picked up the pace, smiling warmly all the while.

The rest of the group eyed one another, sighed, and shook their heads as they followed.

…

The flying vessel had both open and private practice stadiums, the former usually reserved for group activities and training sessions that involved wide area activities.

The latter, the one Ye Qing found himself in, was designed to host close-quarters combat for melee vocations. The fact they brought a talisman apprentice to practice combat in this room was more than a clear sign of their motives.

Not that they were hiding this from Ye Qing to behold with.

"Here we are!" spoke the man with a pale face, inhaling deeply before he broke from Ye Qing's side and entered the storage locker to fetch suitable weapons.

Quickly, he tossed blunt swords, polearms, weight vests, and a host of different items on the ground. The other members of the squad entered the small stadium at this moment, one of them walking toward the equipment with a frown on his face.

He looked down, inspected the items, and looked deeper into the storage locker as he said, "These toys are redundant, nothing but a waste of time."

"Mind your fucking business, Frostbite. Don't tell me what is and what isn't a waste of time; I have a good student waiting for my guidance."

Frostbite furrowed his brows even more. "Do you think no one knows what brews in that dense mind of yours, Wraith? There's a limit to how unreasonable one can be, even if you want to teach someone a lesson, it shouldn't stoop to the level of bullying a child."

"Someone come over here and dispose of this junk," Frostbite said. "Furthermore, I will adjust your schedule a little, Mortal. You will have eight hours of Mandatory Combat Training a day; two of these hours will be spent on watching the six of us engage in a chaotic close quarters battle, and the remaining six hours will be split into solo combat sessions involving you and our team, one hour per instructor."

As Frostbite spoke, he turned his calm gaze toward Wraith who was busying himself in the storage locker.

He continued faintly, "You're not opposed to this new schedule, are you?"

Although Frostbite was asking, the other five knew that he wasn't actually asking for permission. This wasn't a request but an order.

Ye Qing was a bit surprised, his brows creasing a little as he asked in confusion, "Why are you helping me?"

Frostbite frowned. "I'm not helping you, I'm giving you an opportunity to learn something in exchange for what's about to come. At the very least, no one can say our squad crossed from the Endless Abyss Ocean all the way here to bully a child."

In Frostbite's opinion, the undying otherworlders have their own thoughts and social customs, and it would be inevitable for some of them, if not most, to have conflicting opinions about how the natives of the realm conducted themselves.

He understood the squad leader's personality well, so he also understood that despite her intentions of teaching this young talisman apprentice a lesson, she didn't want to take things too far.

Ye Qing nodded. "So, you want to leave me with a silver lining? That makes sense, you wouldn't want this seed resentment to grow to the extent of pushing me from your side to the Crimson Nation, especially since many of the undying are flocking over to that side even as we speak."

Frostbite didn't say anything, it was Wraith who laughed coldly. "What would it matter if a twig like you ended up joining them? What waves are you going to make?"

Ye Qing tilted his head to the side. "Well, you're not just a big mouth but an empty brain too. Haven't you registered things yet? I'm an undying. If not today, tomorrow, or maybe next year, what about a decade or more? It's not like you can kill me to get rid of the threat, and if I was pushed to their side because of you and someday I accomplished something big, can you live with that shame? Can you even lift your head and look your comrades in the eye?"

Wraith trembled in rage, but quickly, he calmed down and smiled warmly. He didn't respond, instead, he began to silently clench and unclench his fists.

"That's enough," Frostbite interjected. "Find yourself a spot to watch the ensuing fight, and try to learn as much as you can because this is the only chance during the day where you can focus on nothing but absorbing information."

Just as Frostbite said, a bystander would almost certainly always have the chance of absorbing more information than the people involved. Like this, no one can say the six of them didn't give Ye Qing any instructions.

However, that didn't mean they couldn't decide on how far their battles would go, what moves they'd use, and how much of their complex and diverse combat experience they would put on display.

As Ye Qing expected, their combat tactics were rudimentary and simple, very straightforward. In fact, even these rudimentary and straightforward fights were a novel experience for someone on Ye Qing's level, and it was fair to say they wouldn't display something beyond his level of understanding and comprehension.

However, when the solo fights started two hours later, their styles began to change and advance, in a painful way.