Later that day.
In one of the training grounds located inside the Castellan family mansion, Alex could be seen standing at one edge of the training ground. In his right hand was a double-edged sword with a red hilt. The blade of the sword gleamed with a silver glint under the sunlight, a testament to how sharp it was.
On his left hand, a small round black shield attached itself to Ivan's wrist. One could easily tell how sturdy the small shield was just by looking at it; it would definitely have been able to withstand a few hits against the assassin who attacked Ivan earlier.
Ivan glanced at the two items in his hands and could not help but feel grateful to his parents. Apparently, these two were the gifts that they had prepared for him while he was unconscious.
A low-level grade 2 sword and shield!
Compared to ordinary swords and shields, these two had been enhanced with mana and Ivan would be able to change their forms at will just by spending a bit of mana.
Since he was still a first-stage level-one warrior, the sword and shield produced with his mana were incredibly weak and could easily be destroyed by anything stronger than the level-one warrior rank.
Considering this, his parents had prepared these two while he was unconscious. Not only were they several times stronger than his own sword and shield, but they also had the characteristics of his abilities.
Meaning that Ivan could switch their forms, change their shapes, and even store them inside his mana core!
As for why they had only gotten him a low-level grade 2 magic item, it was because this was the limit to what the current him could handle and also the most suitable weapons for him. Anything stronger would instantly eat up all of his mana the instant he summoned them and anything weaker would be no better than the sword and shield created with his own mana!
Ending his thoughts and returning his focus to reality, Ivan lifted his gaze and stared at the middle-aged man standing opposite him on the other side of the training ground.
This training ground was an open space approximately twenty meters in diameter, circular in shape, with three magic circles positioned in a triangular formation around it.
Since the Castellan family was a family of mages, their training grounds were usually for training spells so these magic circles were used to create a barrier that would prevent the spells from flying out and potentially damaging the surroundings.
But since Ivan wasn't going to be using magic, the magic circles weren't activated.
The middle-aged man was the private teacher whom his family had hired to teach him the basics in the meantime before he left for the academy.
Ivan didn't know much about this private teacher of his as there had been no formal introduction, the only thing he knew was that the man was a level three warrior and used a sword and shield just like Ivan.
In other words, this middle-aged man was also a Paladin!
"Young master Ivan, are you ready?" The middle-aged man called out to Ivan who seemed to be in a daze.
"Yes," Ivan replied as his grip on his sword hilt tightened. This wasn't due to nervousness or fear, it was simply him getting a good feel of the sword.
"Hmm, then come at me." Said his private teacher as his mana core activated. A gentle stream of mana flowed out and formed into a small square-shaped red shield with a metallic look.
Ivan nodded and charged at the other party.
Outside the training ground, Christopher, Ethan, and Elena watched the scene with serious expressions.
After what happened the last time, they knew that Ivan was going to face more hardship even if they wanted to always protect him. But the truth was that they were not always going to be there to shield him. The Paladin class was widely looked down on, even by those with weapon-class abilities.
The academy definitely wasn't going to be easy. So, to prepare him, they had hired someone with the same ability who had considerable strength to teach Ivan what it meant to be a Paladin.
Back inside the training ground. Ivan arrived in front of the man and came to a stop before swinging his sword, sending out a sideways slash.
A look flashed within the eyes of the middle-aged man after seeing the form of Ivan's attack.
'It can't be that the Castellan family lied to me, right? How could this be Ivan's first time training? His form is too perfect! The man was slightly shocked, he suspected that Ivan had trained for years instead.
While he was thinking, he didn't forget to move his shield to block the attack from Ivan.
His hand that the shield was attached to moved swiftly and arrived beside his body, ready to block Ivan's sword.
But just when the sword was about to arrive, Ivan moved his wrist and changed the direction of his sword before putting strength into his arm.
Swoosh!!
With a swift movement, he turned the sideways slash into an upward one, his sword suddenly heading for the man's face.
The middle-aged man "...."
'Kid, be honest. Is this really your first time trying to fight?'
The eyes of the man narrowed, even veteran swordsmen wouldn't suddenly change attacks like that. This had completely caught him off guard.
But in the end, Ivan was only a level one warrior while he was a level three warrior, the gap between them wasn't just experience!
The hand with the shield moved at lightning speed and arrived in front of Ivan's sword.
Clang!!!
The sword collided with the hard surface of the shield, causing a loud sound to ring out as Ivan took a step back.
The middle-aged man was thinking that Ivan would retreat first after his first attack was blocked but Ivan didn't have such plans.
His fighting style from when he was still a skrivalok wouldn't suddenly disappear just because he was now someone else. Back then, he was someone who was always on the offensive!
So after his sword attack failed he had to take a step back. Ivan pressed his left foot on the ground and lowered his body slightly while placing his shield in front of himself.
The next moment, he exploded with a considerable amount of force and shot towards the middle-aged man.
The other party's eyes twitched when he saw this. Again, this wasn't a move that a rookie should be able to do!
Regardless, he moved his shield hand and was ready to welcome Ivan's attack.
Bam!
The two shields collided, the sound was quite loud compared to what training with a first timer should create.
Ivan felt slightly numb in his left arm and a strong rebound force was about to push him back.
But before that could happen, he jumped lightly into the air while moving his left hand to the side.
The weight of the shield, adding to the rebound from their earlier collision caused his body to spin rapidly. Ivan used this opportunity to slash down again at the other party.
The man was shocked again upon seeing the incoming attack.
'Using your opponent to power your attack, what is the meaning of this?!'