3: Required course

The next morning, as dawn broke, Linn finished his meditation. Linn had experienced the principle that diligence can compensate for lack of talent in his previous life and knew its effectiveness. The old servant Morton prepared coarse, unpalatable black bread for Linn. The food provision was no different from that of a count's servant.

After breakfast, Linn watched the old servant Morton carefully tidy his slightly worn clothes, his movements slow and solemn, as if performing a ritual. Morton's cloudy eyes were filled with worry, but he said nothing. Linn patted the old man's calloused hand, gave him a reassuring look, then took a deep breath and resolutely walked towards the castle's main keep, which lay like a giant beast.

Each step echoed on the smooth, cold flagstones in the empty morning mist. In the wide square in front of the castle, teams of soldiers marched.

Count Ailisi truly lives up to his reputation as a hegemon of the southwest; how great would it be if I were the master here. Linn walked, lost in thought. The old servant Morton followed not far behind, full of worry.

Just as he was about to step onto the last few stairs leading to the great hall, a cold voice, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, came from the shadows of a side colonnade.

"Yo, look who it is? Our esteemed 'Third Young Master,' not holed up in your dog kennel. Are you preparing to wag your tail and beg for some scraps from Father so early?"

Linn's steps halted, his body slightly stiff. Here it comes, the damn compulsory course for Trash! Are all versions this melodramatic? Does every Trash have to get beaten the first thing when they come home?

Without needing to turn around, the nauseating voice belonged to his second brother, Allen Alistair. Linn had a deep memory of him, as Allen had 'warmly sent him off' when Linn had just arrived a few days ago, preparing to go to Holy Brilliance Academy. He saw Karl slowly stroll out of the shadows with two capable knight followers, a blatant sneer on his face and the maliciousness of a cat playing with a mouse.

Allen was tall and robust, his dark hair meticulously combed, and his hawk-like eyes gleamed with a snake-like viciousness. He was two years older than Linn and was already a Silver Intermediate Rank warrior, considered outstanding among the younger generation of the Family, which only made him more arrogant and overbearing.

Linn pursed his lips, choosing to ignore him, and continued to step forward. Entangling with such a person would only add to his humiliation and serve no purpose.

"Stop! Trash!" Seeing that Linn dared to ignore him, Karl's face instantly darkened. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Linn's shoulder fiercely. The powerful strength of a Silver Rank warrior made Linn's body suddenly halt, his shoulder blade making a faint creaking sound under the strain, and sharp pain shot through him.

"I'm talking to you, are you deaf or mute?" Allen leaned closer, his spit almost spraying onto Linn's face, his voice filled with bone-deep contempt. "After a few years, have you forgotten even the most basic noble etiquette? As expected, a bastard born without a mother's teaching!"

One should not bring up others' shortcomings when scolding, especially when it concerned his deceased mother. Anger churned in Linn's chest, but reason told him that impulsiveness would only lead to more humiliating consequences. He desperately suppressed the urge to smash his fist into that ugly face.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Seeing his anger, Allen instead laughed triumphantly, his voice dropping even lower, filled with malicious pleasure. "Your lowly mother was nothing more than a cheap woman who temporarily charmed Father with her looks! She was the biggest joke left to this world! You, like your short-lived mother, are an indelible stain on the Iris Family!"

"Fuck your mother!" Unbearable, no need to endure anymore! Linn knew that even if he acted now, as long as he didn't kill anyone, the Count wouldn't truly punish Karl, considering he still needed Linn to 'die' in the Storm Sea Region. This beating might be unavoidable, but this insult absolutely could not be swallowed! While still not out of the Beginner Village (Newbie Village), he decided to strike first.

Linn roared, and the meager Bronze Rank magic energy within his body was instantly activated. The elemental fluctuations in the surrounding air converged at his fist, carrying a faint, almost invisible glow, and he fiercely swung it towards Karl's face!

"An ant trying to shake a tree! Overestimating yourself!" Karl sneered. Facing this punch imbued with magical power, he didn't even bother to use battle Qi. He merely raised his hand casually, his palm arriving first, easily catching Linn's fist like an iron clamp. The Physical Body strength of a Silver Intermediate Rank warrior against a Bronze Rank mage, who was not skilled in close combat, was a chasm of difference.

Allen's five fingers slowly tightened like a hydraulic clamp. Linn felt as if his finger bones were about to be crushed, and the piercing pain made fine cold sweat instantly seep from his forehead. The magical light on his fist also flickered violently, almost dissipating.

Damn it, I was careless, didn't use Flash, still too impulsive. Linn secretly regretted it.

"With just this amateur skill, you dare to show your claws to me?" Allen's gaze sharpened, and his other hand shot out like lightning, stirring up a foul wind.

"Slap!"

A loud and heavy slap landed squarely on Linn's face. The immense force made his vision instantly black out, and his ears buzzed as if a swarm of bees were flapping their wings inside his skull. The corner of his mouth split open instantly, and sweet, fresh blood immediately trickled down his jaw, dripping onto the cold floor.

This wasn't over yet! Allen, having gained the upper hand, showed no mercy, following up with a ferocious knee strike that slammed into Linn's unprotected abdomen like a heavy hammer!

"Ugh!" Linn let out a painful groan. The intense pain instantly drained all strength from his body, making him curl up like a cooked shrimp. His stomach churned, and sour liquid mixed with bloody foam surged up his throat, almost making him vomit on the spot.

"Young Master!" The old servant Morton, who had been silently following behind Linn, his eyes splitting with rage, cried out and desperately lunged forward, trying to shield Allen with his frail, aged body. "Second Young Master! Please stop! Third Young Master still needs to see Count! Please, for the sake of..."

"Old dog! Get lost!" Allen didn't even look, a flicker of impatience crossing his face. He casually kicked out. That kick, imbued with the faint glow of Silver Battle Qi, mercilessly struck Morton's scrawny chest.

"Bang!"

The old man flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the hard stone wall of the corridor with a heart-wrenching thud. He then slid softly to the ground, curling up in pain, letting out suppressed coughs, blood continuously spilling from the corners of his mouth.

"Morton!" Seeing this scene, Linn's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He struggled to get up from the ground, a beast-like growl rumbling in his throat.

Allen, however, stepped on his back, pressing him firmly to the ground like a mountain, unable to move. He leaned down, close to Linn's ear, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, he sneered like a whispering demon: "Trash, let me tell you, you must have already known, the idea of sending you to that damned place, the Storm Sea Region, to die, was my suggestion to Father. How about it? Do you like this grand gift? The pirates' knives there are much harder than my fists. I hope you don't cry for your father and mother then; that would only make your dead mother restless in her grave and bring her even more shame!"

After speaking, Allen still felt it wasn't enough to vent his anger. He cruelly ground his hard boot sole into Linn's back before finally releasing his foot triumphantly, as if afraid of catching some plague. He disdainfully brushed off non-existent dust from his hands, then, with his two followers, let out a Arrogant (arrogant) and piercing laugh as they swaggered away.

Linn lay on the ground, his cheek pressed against the icy cold surface. Humiliation, anger, and bone-deep hatred surged and burned within his organs like magma, almost incinerating him completely. He struggled to lift his head, his vision somewhat blurry. First, he saw the dying old servant Morton collapsed against the wall, then the tightly shut castle great hall door, so close yet seemingly separated by an insurmountable chasm.

The commotion outside was considerable; Count Ailisi, seated within the great hall, could not possibly have failed to hear it. Yet, from beginning to end, that door never opened even a crack.

Linn fiercely wiped the blood mixed with dirt from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, gritted his teeth, endured the excruciating pain as if his entire body was falling apart, and with all his strength, little by little, with extreme difficulty, pushed himself up from the ground.

Step by step, he stumbled but walked with extraordinary resolve to Morton's side, and despite his own injuries, laboriously helped the weak old man to his feet.

"Young Master... this old servant... this old servant is fine... how... how are you?" Morton's voice was faint, yet he still first concerned himself with Linn's injuries.

Linn forcefully supported the old man's almost unable-to-stand body, then used the last of his strength to straighten his bruised but unyielding spine.

"Old Mo, you go back and recover from your injuries first. I still have some wound medicine in my backpack."

Linn's eyes were firm at this moment. Covered in messy wounds and dust, he resolutely pushed open the heavy door that seemed to separate two worlds and stepped into the castle great hall.