The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 34: High power, low strength

Chapter 34: High power, low strength

That night.

Zaid and Alice agreed to meet in one of the city’s squares, near the academy.

Alice dressed splendidly. For the first time, she focused exclusively on her outfit and makeup. A long, form-fitting red dress that highlighted her extraordinary figure and the beauty of her fair skin.

Her long, wavy black hair had spectacular curls today. Zaid wondered if she had gone to the beauty salon, because she looked gorgeous. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry—no rings, bracelets, or necklaces—but she herself was like a precious piece of jewelry.

Zaid, for his part, decided he wasn’t going to wear casual clothes. Today he showed up in a spectacular black suit with red accents that matched Alice’s dress perfectly.

It was as if they had planned it that way, although that wasn’t the case.

He also arrived with a spectacular bouquet of roses that left Alice speechless.

The couple turned heads wherever they went. Their beautiful faces were a natural magnet for everyone watching this lovely romance unfold.

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The next day, Friday.

Zaid went to the Guild that morning. He had no intention of going on a mission just yet, since he wanted to check out the Guild’s training facilities.

The famous Departments.

He remembered that on the day he registered, he had been invited to join one of those Departments—Lord Lodrey’s.

He had intended to join it, but since he had his passive ability active in his fists, he wanted to try his hand at boxing; he also wanted to put into practice what he had learned last night with Soft Martial Arts.

That’s why he went to the Boxing Department to give it a try.

It was just like a regular boxing gym. Some people were sparring in the ring. Others were learning from instructors, and a few—the more solitary ones—were training with punching bags.

He chose the latter, since he didn’t plan on enrolling in that program just yet. He preferred using daggers.

He stood in front of a stationary rubber punching bag reinforced with metal inside and equipped with sturdy springs and a base to keep it stable. It was sturdy enough to withstand his punches, but soft enough that he wouldn’t break any bones easily.

Drawing on the little boxing knowledge he had, he began punching the bag slowly and deliberately.

The punches were slow but powerful.

He threw straight punches, low punches, and off-angle punches.

Little by little, he increased his speed and power, but he was still limited. Those two hours of training the night before had taken a heavy toll on his muscles.

He stopped after 10 minutes and took a deep breath.

He did a series of stretches and then started punching again, but this time practicing Alice’s father’s Soft Martial Arts, creating a blend of boxing and those unique martial arts.

In the teachers’ lounge, a group of people had gathered.

The Department Head was there.

"Lord Lodrey, it’s rare to see you around here. What brings you here?" asked a rough-looking man.

Lodrey was 1.80 meters tall; he could be considered a tall man. He was also well-muscled despite his advanced age. However, standing next to that rough-looking man, he looked like a child.

That man was really muscular and over 2 meters tall.

The Boxing Giant, Jack.

Another one of the kingdom’s best hunters.

"Mr. Jack, I just came out of curiosity. If you’d like, you can keep training your boys. I can see that many of them are really talented." Lodrey gave him a friendly smile.

"Haha, Lord Lodrey, I couldn’t just leave you here all alone. But I can see you’re interested in someone..." Jack followed Lodrey’s gaze and looked over at one of the corners.

There were about ten people there, some standing out more than others.

Jack focused on one in particular. He was about the same height as Lodrey. "Are you interested in that guy? He moves in an unusual way and has extraordinary strength, but he doesn’t seem to be a boxer. Maybe he’s a javelin thrower? I heard he’s from a prominent family."

Lodrey quickly identified the young man Jack was referring to.

The best-dressed person in that corner—a member of one of the capital’s wealthy families.

"Haha, no, Mr. Jack. You’re wrong."

"Huh? Really?"

"I’m interested in that guy over there." Lodrey pointed even further into the back of that corner. The loneliest figure, whose movements were the most peculiar.

Too weak. No one could see what he looked like because he was wearing a mask, but what was so remarkable about that strength and those clumsy movements?

’If Lord Lodrey is interested, there must be something good about him, right?’ Jack tried to look deeper...

A few minutes later, he shook his head.

"This... looks interesting. His moves are nice." Jack laughed sheepishly.

"Haha." Lodrey laughed again. "Pretty moves aren’t enough, Mr. Jack."

"Well..." Jack agreed. "So what catches your eye?"

"On Wednesday, he passed Frankie’s test and became one of our mercenaries. He’s a great dagger fighter, despite his weakness."

"Huh? He passed Young Frank’s test? What’s a dagger user with that much potential doing here?" Jack asked, astonished.

"That’s exactly what I’m wondering."

Lodrey had come as soon as he heard he was here, and he couldn’t help but wonder: Was he going to waste his great talent with daggers by striking puppets with his bare hands? It was true that, perhaps, his talent was of a lower caliber, but it was extraordinary.

If he could level up and set out to slay dungeon bosses or powerful beasts in an attempt to acquire their abilities, wouldn’t he become a good hunter in the future?

However, the more Lodrey watched, the more he frowned. He couldn’t understand what he was doing.

The blows were weak, but delivered with astonishing power and precision. He could tell that the boy had a heavy fist when he struck. But why such weak blows?

And more importantly, wouldn’t it be better for him to spend his time improving his dagger tactics?

’I hope he doesn’t ruin his future just by focusing on the things he liked as a kid, without a clear foundation,’ Lodrey thought.

He had seen many hunters do just that.

Those who are passionate about a particular martial art tend to fall into that trap very easily. They awakened as swordsmen, but prefer to try their hand at boxing and end up ruining their careers.

Lodrey turned around and started to walk away to go about his business.

But then there was a loud thud that shook the ground.

He quickly turned toward the training field and noticed that one of the puppets in that corner was jerking violently in all directions.

One person was sitting on the floor, stunned or perhaps frightened. Another stood frozen to one side. But the mastermind behind the situation wasn’t there.

"H-he’s stronger than I thought," murmured the person on the floor.

The other one laughed. "I told you. Don’t underestimate the new guys just because they have a lower rank than you."

"I didn’t underestimate him for that reason. He clearly looked weaker." His friend grumbled, getting up from the floor.

"Well, you didn’t even see under his mask. What makes you think he wasn’t fooling you?"

"Tsk. Forget it—you wouldn’t understand."

As they walked away, Lodrey frowned in the private room.

’An admirable power,’ he thought.

It wasn’t strength; it was power. Power that surpassed strength was a rare sight these days.

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