"I refuse!"
The knights were shocked at Hale's declaration to be Ren's master.
"I knew you would accep- what?"
But they were even more surprised at Ren's refusal.
Even Hale was surprised, letting go of Ren's shoulder before pausing for a couple of moments, his smile changing, his eyes narrowed.
It was quite intimidating, causing the other knights to shudder.
"Why refuse, boy? Don't you know who I am? I am the captain of the Golden Dragon Squad, a rank 5 polearm master. Shouldn't you be asking to be my student?"
'First of all, what the hell is the Golden Dragon Squad? And rank 5? So they do use the ranking system.'
Those were the only thoughts that Ren had after hearing Hale's words and intimidation.
If Aria and Ren's past lives had the same ranks from 1 to 10 despite being two different worlds, why couldn't this world be the same?
In any case, Hale was right to question Ren's refusal. It was obvious that Hale was high up in the social ladder, seeing how a noble like Relia spoke of him and the respect the other knights showed him.
If Ren accepted, he would gain a foothold in this unknown world, which could allow the pair to gain an advantage when preparing for the Chaos God.
But there were also reasons why he should refuse.
Although Ren wasn't so arrogant as to pass up the opportunity to learn, he really didn't need new techniques or skills.
In fact, in his past life in the Abyss, as someone trying to save the world, he was famous, and one of the reasons for his fame was his large repertoire of martial techniques.
'Too many techniques can actually be disadvantageous at times.'
As a rank 1, his brain's computational power was much less than it was before; with so many techniques at his disposal, it could cause indecision and confusion.
Adding another one on top of that would do more harm than good.
Ren knew that instead of wasting time learning a whole new skill, he should focus on his own skills!
And although gaining a footing by becoming the student of a strikingly strong person, such as Hale, was helpful, thinking about it further, it wasn't really much.
The pair had saved Relia, a noble who Hale was working for, and because she was also from Earth, her help would be many times better than the clear constraints that Hale's offer had.
'I mean, becoming his Son-in-law? If I want to save the world, I won't have time for that! There's also a possible succession.'
Ren didn't know much about this world, but in the Abyss, the knight captains he met from various fallen countries were students of their former commanders.
What did this mean?
It meant that, in addition to becoming a son-in-law, he would probably also become the captain of the Golden Dragon Squad.
'I'm sure they're strong, but are they rank 10 strong?'
Of course not!
If Captain Hale was the strongest, that meant they were probably comprised of rank 4s and lower.
Ren didn't like being rude, but compared to even a rank 8 or even a rank 7, they were like ants!
But that wasn't the reason that he wanted to refuse the offer.
Ren looked at Hale's narrowed eyes, though intimidating, he stared straight into them and answered without fear.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Sir Hale, but… I just feel that I'm going to regret this decision if I say yes."
It was Ren's instinct that made him refuse, an instinct honed for nearly a century of experience that was retained even in a different body.
"Your instinct?"
At those words, Hale stared further, releasing his mana.
Dark green, it slowly pressed down on Ren.
The hallmark of rank 5,
Mana that could touch upon the mind and soul.
The mana flowed into the surroundings, pushing the knights away and creating an empty area around them.
Thetford's eyes widened not just in shock but also in anger.
"Hale, what are you doing!?"
Hale stared at Thetford for a couple of moments, his voice low, the very opposite of his previously lively self.
"Don't interfere, old man."
Thetford didn't move back, instead stepping forward with intention, causing Hale to shake his head and reassure him.
"Don't worry, I won't kill him. I just want to test the boy."
Thetford stared into Hale's eyes for a couple of moments before sighing and asking a question.
"Is it because of Lady Catherine's prophecy?"
Hale didn't answer, instead looking back at Ren, who didn't take his eyes off the Polearm master for a single moment.
The heavy pressure that pushed the knights away was pushing Ren down into the ground.
'Heavy! But he wants to test me? Isn't this… an opportunity?'
So Ren didn't yield; his expression was full of unchanging determination, only the shaking of his legs indicating the weight applied by Hale's mana.
Realizing that Hale wouldn't stop and that Ren didn't seem deterred by the challenge, Thetford shook his head and moved back to the knights.
Aria stared and realized what was happening. She could only frown with a sigh.
'Is this because of my fate? No… It's Ren's fault for not yielding!'
Ren could have refused more politely or maybe talked his way out of it, but he was now facing the man's mana head on.
'Ren… is this really worth it?'
Aria had a clue as to why he did it.
Thankfully, Aria had heard Hale say that he wouldn't kill Ren, so the spell that was about to form at the tip of her staff dissipated.
'It's not like I can do much anyway.'
Aria had used up most of her mana to soften their fall from the sky they fell from.
Not even an hour had passed since then, so it wasn't wrong to say that Aria was drained.
As a matter of fact, she was surprised that Ren hadn't collapsed yet since he sent all his mana to her first before she used any of her mana.
'Oh, isn't that…?'
Aria spotted an object, or more specifically, a bag on the floor.
It was the duffel bag that Ren carried, and it had his sword inside. The thought that he might need it came to mind.
As she was walking towards it, someone grabbed her shoulder.
Turning, Aria found Relia with an apologetic smile.
"Don't worry about Sir Hale, although he's doing this, he wouldn't hurt someone innocent, so… let's talk."
Aria's eyes glowed at the words.
…
'What a golden opportunity.'
Ren stared ahead at Hale, who moved back a couple of paces and began to take off his armor.
Despite Ren's determined expression, he was really worried that the rank 5 would actually try to kill him for refusing.
Ren could face death bravely, but that didn't mean he wanted to die!
'A test, huh?'
Other than the fact that Hale was 4 whole ranks above him, Ren was quite exhausted from the 'adventurous' run he had with Aria yesterday.
Similar to Aria, he was drained both mentally and physically.
That wasn't even including the fact that Ren's total mana was basically out!
Luckily, he fared much better than Aria since he was a warrior with higher stamina, but even he had his limits.
'But all I have is this dagger…'
Ren's sword was stuffed inside the duffel bag he carried, which he tossed to lessen his weight, and with the crowd around them, he couldn't find it, no matter how hard he looked.
'A unenchanted sword isn't going to cut that giant's skin anyway.'
Ren looked up to face Hale; his tall height was even more striking up close.
Hale's cold expression changed as he smiled; some of the pressure weighing on Ren's body and spirit lessened.
"I apologize for my actions, no hard feelings, right?"
Ren's face couldn't help but scowl.
"Hard feelings? I thought someone of your stature would be above this? Especially against a weakling like me."
Ren was displeased, but he wasn't angry. Recognizing this, Hale responded with a hearty laugh.
"Weakling? A weakling wouldn't stare me down in the face, would they?"
Ren's expression froze before he smiled, laughing much like Hale.
"I guess so, but what's this about a prophecy?"
The old butler Thetford had mentioned it as being one of, if not the main reason, that Hale was doing all of this.
"Hmm, that prophecy… it was from that old lady from the martial sect, do you want to hear it?"
Ren nodded as if it was obvious.
"I would love to."
Hale smiled cheekily, his green eyes glimmering with slight excitement as he spoke.
"I'll tell you… Once you land a good hit on me."
Ren frowned,
"Did you just?"
"Oh yes, I really did!"
Ren's face contorted with a smile of disbelief at the bait and switch.
Hale really seemed intent on testing Ren even though their difference in ranks was like heaven and earth.
Being a rank 5, wasn't the rank 1 Ren like an ant on the ground to Hale?
'How shameless!'
"Say… Do you like bullying children?"
"Haha, no, but you're an exception."
Hale finished taking off his armor, and underneath was a comfortable looking tunic.
With a heavy thud, his halberd was stuck straight into the ground. It seemed that Hale wasn't going to use it.
'Not like it's going to make a difference.'
After rank 4, the body became a durable weapon to the point that, unless the armor or weapon was enchanted, it was useless to wear or use.
Since Hale was a rank 5, the difference was even more staggering.
So, whether Ren used a weapon or not still didn't wouldn't change the outcome of a fight.
Hale put his necklace and earrings into his pocket before addressing Ren.
"Stop looking so tense, boy, even I know this isn't fair, so let's add some rules."
Hale put up three fingers as he started to list the rules of his test.
"I won't attack you directly, I won't use mana, and lastly, I won't even move from this spot. All you need to do is give me your best attack. Simple, right?"
It was a simple set of rules that gave Ren the complete advantage, but Ren smiled internally, knowing full well that they were meaningless against Hale.
'I need something that will close the gap in our ranks.'
A power that lets Ren do damage against Hale, Ren involuntarily looked at the halberd stuck in the ground before shaking his head.
'I can't even lift that much less use its enchantments, that leaves one thing, something Ren was banking on…'
Hale's mana
If Ren could give Aria his mana, why couldn't Hale do the same for Ren?
With Hale's mana, Ren could glean many useful things about this world as well as push himself closer to rank 2.
'But how do I convince him?'
"Wait"
At that moment, a noble lady interrupted the two, walking a few steps forward.
"Lady Relia?"
Hale gave a confused look. He had thought that she had come to interfere in the test, but he knew that she didn't meddle with his actions when it came to this.
So it had to be a different reason.
"Can't you see he's out of mana? Isn't that unfair?"
If Relia could see Ren's mana, then Hale could also definitely see the amount of mana Ren had.
Hale turned his gaze away from Relia and back at Ren. His blue mana was nearing the bottom of his capacity,
Since Ren didn't have any mana, he was just an athletic person, so how fair would it be against a superhuman like Hale?
Hale stared for a couple of moments before conceding,
"Fine, I'll give you some of my mana."
'Wow! Thank you, Lady Relia!'
The thought came to Ren as his problem was solved just as it appeared.