CHAPTER 57: DUEL AFTER DUEL

Hearing Yami’s explanation, Derek’s eyes lit up. ’Now that’s what I call good fortune. Even though they placed me in the Normal Class despite my cultivation base and test results, I still ended up getting Elite-Class privileges anyway,’ he thought, unable to hide the faint smile tugging at his lips.

Yami then turned to Meridith. "Meridith, go ahead and show him his new training room. Also, arrange an ID for him so he can enter and leave whenever he wishes."

"Of course, Master." Meridith bowed, then looked at Derek. "Let’s go, Derek."

Derek nodded.

Just as they started walking toward the door, Yami spoke again. "Wait a moment."

Both of them stopped and turned back.

"Come to my room once more. There’s something I should give you," Yami said.

"Sure," Derek replied simply.

Yami led the way to his room, with Meridith and Derek following behind. Once inside, he walked over to a cupboard and took out a small ring. After studying it briefly, he turned and handed it to Derek.

"Here, take this. You shouldn’t be roaming around carrying your sword openly. For now, avoid revealing that you can wield a sword unless it’s absolutely necessary. You can practice all you want inside the training room, but when you leave, keep your sword in this storage ring. It’s not the most advanced one, but it has enough space for your weapon and a few other things."

Derek’s eyes widened the moment he saw the ring. "I... I don’t think I can accept this. It’s far too valuable," he said honestly.

He knew just how rare such treasures were. His sword alone had cost him ten gold coins, already considered an extraordinary weapon, but this ring, even with limited capacity, would be worth at least fifteen. Accepting something so precious for free didn’t sit right with him.

But Yami merely chuckled. "Don’t worry about it. Just take it. Think of it as an investment I’m willing to make," he said, pushing the ring toward him.

Seeing the unwavering look in Yami’s eyes, Derek realized he had no choice but to accept.

With a sigh, he took the ring and bowed deeply, this time with genuine respect. "I really can’t thank you enough, Master Yami."

Yami waved his hand casually. "No need for that. Just focus on training hard."

Derek nodded firmly and finally left the room alongside Meridith.

Once they stepped outside, Meridith guided Derek toward the section where the instructors’ training rooms were located.

"These are the rooms for instructors," she explained as they walked. "Even we need to keep training and improving ourselves. Our house currently has ten instructors, but there are twelve rooms here, so there’s always a couple free. You can use one of them whenever you want. Here, this one’s available. Want to take a look inside and see the features?"

"Yeah, that would be great," Derek replied.

"Alright, come on then."

Meridith pushed open the door to one of the rooms that wasn’t occupied by any instructor.

Derek followed her inside, looking around with quiet curiosity.

Meridith began explaining, pointing toward a control panel on the wall. "See these ten buttons? They’re for weapon mastery training, just like the student training rooms," she said. "Next, these are for martial arts training and spell-casting practice. And these last ten control the gravity levels for endurance and balance training."

"What about cultivation?" Derek asked, stepping closer to inspect the panel. "How can I cultivate and gather Qi five times faster here?"

Meridith smiled faintly. "Cultivation doesn’t need any buttons. You just have to sit in the lotus position and start. The array formations in this room make the spiritual energy much denser, so Qi absorption is naturally faster." She paused, then glanced at him. "D.. do you want to give this room a try as well?"

"No, I think I’ll take a break for now," Derek said with a weary smile. "I’m still a bit drained from my spar with the House Master."

Meridith chuckled softly. "Well, that’s the House Master for you. Go and get some rest then. I’ll have your ID card sent soon so you can access this training room anytime."

"Alright," Derek replied, bowing politely. "See you soon then, Master."

With that, he left and made his way back to his room. But as he approached, he noticed two figures already waiting by the door.

Hearing his footsteps, both turned around. It was Henry and Art.

Henry lifted a hand, waving eagerly. "I hope you haven’t forgotten about our duel."

Only then did Derek remember why Henry was waiting beside Art.

"Y... yeah... I didn’t forget," Derek said. "You want to do it now?"

"Of course," Henry replied with a playful grin. "We still have some time before lunch. Might as well get it over with."

’What a pain,’ Derek sighed inwardly. ’It’s only my first day, and I’m already fighting duels one after another. I really hope this doesn’t become a daily routine.’

Meanwhile, Art chuckled from the side. "You two are having a duel? Looks like I came at the perfect time."

"Yeah," Derek said with a faint, bitter smile.

"Let’s go. I know just the right place for a duel," Henry said confidently, already starting to walk away.

"Wait," but Derek called out, hurrying after him. "Don’t we already have a sparring room inside the house? Shouldn’t we have the duel there? I mean, that’s literally what it’s meant for, right?"

"There is?" Henry blinked, surprised. "I didn’t know that. Besides..." He scratched the back of his head with a mischievous grin. "I was actually planning to have the duel somewhere others could see us. That way, when word spreads about our performance, maybe Cecilia will come challenge me herself."

"You were?" Derek asked, half exasperated. "But I was hoping to avoid drawing attention as much as possible."

"What?! But why?!" Henry’s eyes widened in disbelief. Art looked equally stunned. After all, who in their right mind would not want fame?