By Zephyria 
Benjamin nodded, “Yes,” and Biban Otif handed him a carrot he was holding.
As the boy carefully took the carrot with a bewildered expression, the professor instructed with a bright smile.
“Crush it.”
Benjamin Claudian did so.
He didn’t simply split it in two with force, but rather crushed it by gripping both ends of the carrot simultaneously with his large hands, compressing it.
The pulpy juice from the crushed carrot flowed down Benjamin’s wrist, all the way to his elbow. The completely mashed carrot formed a round lump that squeezed between his fingers.
Gasps erupted from various places.
However, crushing a single carrot was not difficult for a First-rate martial artist.
Even if my hands were too small to grip both ends of the carrot at once, I could have done the same thing.
Yet, Biban Otif nodded as if he had gained a great realization.
While everyone watched with wide eyes, the professor quickly asked again.
“Young Master Claudian, what do you think when you approach a horse?”
“Huh? I don’t really think… anything…”
“Think again.”
“I… I think I hope it doesn’t get scared of me.”
“And then?”
Benjamin thought for a long while before replying in an unsure voice.
“I… shouldn’t hurt it?”
“That’s it!”
A loud clap echoed.
I watched blankly, still not understanding, while Shayden, who seemed to have understood immediately, let out a chuckle.
Confused children and astonished children mingled, and the surroundings quickly became noisy.
Biban Otif calmly added an explanation to Benjamin, who looked as uncomprehending as I did.
“Young Master Claudian seems unsure about how to control his strength. There are sometimes students like that in the Swordsmanship Department. Those who have never been weaker than anyone else since birth.”
“…Yes?”
“Look, when Young Master Claudian approaches a horse, his expression is like this, and he tells himself internally: I won’t crush you… I could crush you… No, I won’t crush you…”
Professor Biban Otif’s overly comical expression and tone made me, who finally understood, burst into a hollow laugh.
I had never felt threatened by Benjamin, so I had never considered this reason.
Benjamin looked down at the carrot in his hand with a dazed expression.
“Horses are very sensitive animals, so they sense that and run away. Now, I’m here, and they’ve gotten used to seeing my face for a few days, and Young Master Claudian approached with extreme caution, so they tolerated it to some extent.”
“…”
“Your expression just now, Young Master Claudian, was frightening even to me. No, if a tiger suddenly wandered in and nudged me, saying, ‘Hey, I won’t eat you,’ I’d yelp and run away!”
“What, that’s…”
“Do you think I’m joking?”
Benjamin, about to retort, looked at his hand, then at Professor Otif, and then back at his hand. Biban Otif asked again.
“Do you think a horse would be crushed like that?”
“…”
“That’s right. But, it could actually be crushed.”
“…Yes?”
“With that much strength, you could easily injure a horse, so you need to be careful. From what I see, Young Master Claudian needs to learn how to lose. Not by sparring, but by something like… a contest solely of strength.”
“…Solely of strength…”
“The answer is to find the degree of grip strength that won’t harm people or animals, by arm wrestling or by grappling with someone whose hand won’t be crushed even if you grip it tightly.”
Benjamin suddenly looked up at me.
It was natural. I had promised to help Benjamin, I was a martial artist of his caliber, and even though my body was still small, I had consistently trained my strength and might.
My body wouldn’t be crushed just by arm wrestling with a child.
As I nodded with a smile, Biban Otif also nodded, following Benjamin’s gaze.
“It’s fortunate you have a good friend. Then, do your best. Once you can skillfully control your strength and eliminate that fear, the horses won’t be so afraid of you either.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Benjamin Claudian bowed politely with a much brighter expression.
Biban Otif handed Benjamin a towel to wipe his hands, offered a few words of encouragement, and then concluded the class.
As students began to leave one by one, I watched Benjamin still standing there, wiping his hands.
There was something I hadn’t realized even after seeing him for days.
Maelo Sanson remained my greatest and most revered teacher, but each of the other professors possessed something to learn from.
Thinking about how he had read the fear in this child’s eyes was truly wondrous and amusing.
Shayden playfully nudged Benjamin’s shoulder and asked, “No way, you’ve never been weaker than anyone else since birth?”
“…Well… come to think of it, I guess so.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen Young Master Benjamin touch anyone else. Like grabbing someone’s wrist, or putting a hand on their shoulder… No, looking at it now, he doesn’t approach anyone first at all. Is it because he’s afraid he’ll break them? Was it really like that?”
“…Uh huh. …Yes.”
We three didn’t leave the stable immediately, as we had plans.
Sitting on a haystack, as we had gotten used to over the past few days, Benjamin hesitantly began to tell his story amidst the gentle gazes of the horses looking our way.
He said that Duke and Duchess Claudian were both martial artists who had reached the Peak realm. In Sierren’s terms, it was the highest level of Sword Expert.
It was natural for their children, who treated swords as a hobby and specialty, to possess strong martial physiques.
Benjamin was the third of three brothers, and there was a significant age gap between him and his two older brothers.
The eldest was thirty-five, and the second was thirty-three, making him twenty years younger than the eldest.
When Benjamin had boasted about his family before, he had only mentioned that his family took good care of their meals, so I hadn’t thought much of it. However, it seemed Benjamin had been heavily influenced by his family, who were all sturdy and stoic martial artists who trained with swords.
“…Young Master Benjamin is the shortest in your family?”
“Yes. My brothers say it’s because I’m still young… They say I’ll grow taller until my mid-twenties.”
“Hoo…”
Benjamin was already six feet tall (*approximately 180cm), and the thought of him growing even taller made me feel like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would weep.
I found it hard to suppress my laughter thinking of the small Benjamin placed alone amidst his towering family.
Benjamin silently continued his story.
“The most common thing I heard since I was young was… ‘If you fall, fall alone. Don’t grab onto others. We won’t get hurt if we fall, but if we grab you, people’s arms will break…’ Things like that. My brothers had already experienced it, so I thought it was the same for me… that everything I touched would break.”
“What did you touch that broke? Like a vase or something?”
“…Desks, or tables, mostly.”
“…Those break?”
“Yes.”
I saw Shayden move a step away from Benjamin and sit next to me. It was obvious the child was joking, but Benjamin, looking somewhat disappointed, lowered his eyebrows again.
Come to think of it, I had rarely seen Benjamin initiate contact with anyone.
He had tapped my shoulder a few times, but always with just his fingertips before pulling back. The boy would always sit like a stone statue with a stoic expression, observing his surroundings.
Now I understood why he never moved even a finger when lively children like Shayden or Marianne would tap and prod him, sometimes even crossing his arms and looking down at them.
Looking at Benjamin, I extended my hand with a smile.
It was natural for young beasts who couldn’t hide their claws to cause trouble.
The years he had spent trying not to harm others due to his strong physique had shaped him into who he was now.
It wasn’t something to tease or worry about. I felt at ease knowing that it was a problem that would be resolved with time.
When Benjamin carefully placed his hand on mine, I couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
“I’m fine. Shall we arm wrestle?”
“…Would that be alright?”
“Yes. I promised I would help you.”
“…But, Young Master Ernhardt.”
“Just because my hands are small doesn’t mean I lack strength. I’ll use my aura if necessary.”
Since he said placing our hands on the table would break it, we arm-wrestled while lying on the hay bales in the stable.
Benjamin, who won one match and lost four out of five, looked at me with disbelief. It had been months since I’d known him, but this was the first time I’d seen him smile so brightly.
The first match, I lost because I underestimated him.
In my Central Plains experience, I had engaged in many strength contests, but he was the first person as strong as him since the Peng family.
I remembered the day that fool, who thought strength was everything and lacked strategy, tried to defeat a band of mountain bandits by detaching a mountain peak and rolling it down. I vividly recalled nearly dying buried under a pile of dirt.
I was determined not to raise this boy like that.
In truth, from the second match onwards, I was able to win by drawing on my internal energy from my Dantian and hardening my body from my shoulders to my fingertips. Even after my Energy Channels and muscle fibers became harder than steel, the skin of his tightly gripped hand turned red.
It was fortunate that my internal energy, unlike aura, circulated within my body and could not be read by Benjamin’s Eye Technique.
“Did you… not use your aura just now?”
“Yes.”
Seeing the boy’s surprised expression, I lied with a straight face.
Benjamin asked the same question twice more, and I gave the same answer.
Seeing the smile on his face, I didn’t regret reinforcing my bones and muscles with internal energy.
Benjamin was only fifteen, and with such strength, I thought a saber or an axe would suit him better than a sword. However, not knowing the status of saber and axe techniques in Sierren, I resolved to speak to Sanson first.
If a world where axe techniques were looked down upon more than sword techniques existed, there was no need for him to wield an axe.
“Indeed, Young Master Benjamin’s strength is excellent. It’s a great advantage for a martial artist, so let’s practice controlling your grip strength in various ways occasionally. I will help you.”
“…Yes!”
Even during dinner, my hands were so sore that holding my chopsticks was difficult, but I didn’t show it.