The following morning, the Oceanwolf Knight Order's headquarters, Oceanwolf Island, resounded with the clash of wood and the echoes of grunts.0

Thwack!0

"Argh!"0

"Caron!"0

"Both of you still have a long way to go," Caron remarked with a smug grin, slamming his wooden sword against the heads of Leo and Utula as they charged at him.0

"You sure you want to show the rookies this kind of display this early in the morning?" Leo asked.0

Despite the early hour, the sparring grounds were filled with knights eager to witness Caron and his comrades training. Most of them were new recruits, watching with unblinking eyes, determined not to miss a single move.0

Their intense stares could have made others uncomfortable, but Caron seemed to thrive under the attention. He moved with exaggerated flair, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.0

From the sidelines, he caught snippets of whispers among the rookies.0

"Is that really Lord Caron?" a rookie asked.0

"Shh! Keep your voice down. The senior knights warned us to keep our mouths shut in front of him," another one chimed in.0

"That guy over there, half out of his mind—that's Lord Leo, right? I heard he reached 6-Star recently. And yet, Lord Caron is handling both him and a giant at the same time. What kind of person is he…?" one of the rookies exclaimed, amazed.0

"They say he's already a 7-Star knight. And he's only seventeen," someone else added.0

The rumor of Caron achieving 7-Star had spread across Azureocean Castle like wildfire the day before. The culprit was obvious: It was Third Elder Ulrich, who doted on Caron. He had practically shouted it from the rooftops.0

Because...0