Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Preparation #03
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*Slurp.*
The smooth sweetness filling my mouth as I sucked down the chocolate milk through the straw seemed to melt away all the fatigue I'd built up so far.
They must have used premium cacao—the depth of that sweetness was on another level. Unlike mass-produced chocolate from the real world, this was made with 100% cacao butter, melting silkily on the tongue in a parade of sweetness that brought a smile to my face without fail!
And the milk? It was the perfect match for the exquisite chocolate—not overpowering it, but sliding down smoothly without excess. It had to be from high-grade mana cows. The clean taste, free of any off-flavors, had such depth that it even made me crave the nutty purity of straight white milk.
The Demon King's Army are idiots. If they'd monopolized chocolate and coffee, selling it only to their contracted partners, they could've corrupted half of humanity into their minions.
"Haa... It's melting away. All my fatigue's vanishing."
As expected from the academy cafe. The drink's quality rivaled any real-world franchise, helping me forget this sweltering heat I despised.
I sprawled limply across the table, where I'd cast a cooling spell myself to chill it, and checked the time.
"1:20. Ten minutes until the appointment."
That meant I had a full ten more minutes to rest.
With nothing else to do, I decided to fully commit to slacking off and recover from the exhaustion piled up since dawn while prepping my gear through alchemy.
Because starting in ten minutes, I'd be meeting Teacher Marianne and rolling harder than a soldier in boot camp.
"Haa... I don't wanna."
I couldn't hold back the sigh that burst out despite my efforts. Training was bad enough—training with Teacher? Hell no.
But I needed a trainer to pace me properly, and both Shaomei and Agnes had turned down my joint training proposal.
-"Sorry, I have to plan my academic schedule for midterms this month..."-
-"I'm in charge of protecting you, Young Lord, so I can't! Instead, I'll call in another instructor from the main family—just hold out for a few days!"-
I appreciated Shaomei's offer to bring in a master-level martial artist from the Taesan Dojo, but with no telling when I'd have to fight a Demon King's Army executive...
I couldn't afford a few days off, and teleporting away would ruin all the gear I was alchemy-crafting. While I was pacing anxiously, it was Agnes who suggested Marianne.
-"You learned a lot from Princess Marianne in your previous life too, right? Training with her to boost your base physical specs sounds good. Who knows, you might even find clues about memory regression.".-
It was spot on, so I had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"How the hell does one raise this damn Potential anyway.."
⚔ TRAIT ⚔ Potential: Awakened – You've crossed one more wall through training that surpassed your limits. One of the most crucial elements in this world: Potential. No matter how hard you train, low Potential means your physical growth will be lackluster. Conversely, a rise in Potential signals that your body has broken through its limits, so you end up racking your brain for ways to raise it.
Of course, the fastest method might be chowing down on rare ingredients to forcibly alter your physique, potentially sparking exponential growth.
But the issue is not knowing how long it'd take to assimilate such an elixir. Like in wuxia novels, where you meditate after consuming one to make the inner energy your own—potent elixirs take ages to reshape your constitution.
"If I pop an elixir to get strong now and some incident blows up..."
What could be worse? If one of my friends or girlfriends got seriously hurt, all that newfound strength would be for nothing.
In that sense, training is straightforward. Keep at it, and eventually your Potential rises.
"Ah~ I wanna goof around all lovey-dovey with Shaomei, Agnes, and Violet!"
But no matter what, I didn't want to train. My heart felt empty as I let out heavy sighs.
"Hey, you hogging the whole cafe? Shut up and drink your damn drink!"
"Ah, sorry. I wasn't feeling great..."
Maybe my voice carried—when I bowed my head to apologize at the shout from the next table, I couldn't help but freeze at the sight of their faces.
'Where have I seen that pockmarked asshole's face before...?'
Staring at the guy's cratered face for a moment brought a wave of inexplicable disgust. Even the burly goons around him looked familiar...
"You strutting around lately 'cause of those dumb rumors about dating the Imperial Princess? Bronze freshman punk!"
"...Um, that's..."
I raised a hand to halt the pockmark's bellowing tirade at me, frowning as I fueled my brain cells with sugar from the chocolate milk.
"...Ah, right. The toad lady from the Glinton Marquis Family's pockmarked big bro! Yeah, the senior who came trash-talking before the duel!"
As I clapped in delight at finally remembering, the pockmark and his goons flushed beet red.
"W-what? Toad? Pockmark? This bastard's lost it! Cocky just 'cause you beat one washed-up knight!!"
The pockmark shot up from his seat in rage, and like last time, Frogface and Moai stood, drawing real swords aimed at me.
Okay, my bad for calling him that out of the blue. Anyone would snap.
But perfect timing. I wanted a light warm-up before exercising, and I couldn't pass up these idiots picking a fight.
"Whoa, calm down. My bad on the slip-up. Even if your face is like pockmark bread, I shouldn't call you pockmark."
"This fucker, just like last time! Make half his ass handicapped!"
As I openly mocked them to rile them up, Frogface Senior and Moai Senior slowly advanced on me.
"No toad bitch this time, so we'll smash you proper!!"
"Oh! Shaomei! Over here, hey!"
"W-what?! Shaomei?!"
Grinning smugly at me, Frog and Moai whipped around at my overly cheerful wave and call toward their backs.
"Idiots. Who picks a fight then gets distracted?"
I surged mana and unleashed a fierce roundhouse kick at Moai's leg on my left.
Thwack!!
"Aaaagh!! You sneaky bastard!"
"You look like total chump bait, but damn, you're tougher than I thought, Moai!"
I'd put enough force to crack bone, but Moai was sturdier than expected— he just staggered from my kick before regaining his stance.
"You dirty worm! I'll hack off an arm and make you a lifelong cripple!"
"Ganging up 2-on-1 and crying 'sneaky' is kinda funny, no?"
As Moai growled, Frogface Senior charged with sharp sword swings. I lightly backpedaled and hurled an empty coffee cup from the table at his face.
Slash!
Frog sliced the cup clean in two at startling speed. Hard to believe for Silver Class. At that skill level, he'd be decent by graduation, I noted inwardly.
'Thought they were just brainless mob extras, but way better than that Gold Class pockmark.'
Curious how Moai stacked up, I glanced over. Unlike Frog's quicksword style, Moai gripped his longsword two-handed, swinging wildly like he aimed to bisect me.
Clang!
"Whew, that'd shatter more than a bone if it hit? Lucky miss, though."
"You flimsy fly! Think you can dodge forever?!"
"Hey! Let's combo and shred the bastard!"
My spot shattered completely, and I whistled in admiration, clapping.
Enraged further, Frog and Moai signaled each other and launched a tight combo assault, pressing me hard.
Shing! Whoosh! Boom!!!
'If we'd clashed last time, they might've been tougher than expected.'
I'd provoked to disrupt their focus, but their sharpness held, and the teamwork was impressive.
Silver Class at this level? Their heads must be pure muscle.
'Makes sense—they'd pick a fight with a unicorn contractor.'
After dodging for about five minutes, they panted, pulling back distance.
"This worm... annoyingly fast...!!"
"Hoo, one hit and I'd smash him...!! Can't you fight fair?!"
"Whoa, tired already~? 2-on-1 with weapons to boot~? Losing to Bronze~?"
I seized the gap, taunting them in the shittiest tone. Things were getting fun—I wasn't letting them off easy.
"Makes sense, no pride anyway. Not even the heir, just the spare sucking the marquis's second son's ass~ Must be sweet? Want a taste?"
"You dog! I'll kill you for real!"
Unable to endure, Moai charged first, aura blade flaring at my shoulder—dead serious kill intent.
In that instant, I stepped into Shaomei's footwork lightly, pivoting on my right foot to circle behind Moai, facing his completely exposed side.
One solid hit was all I needed. Instinctively, I ditched Republican martial arts for kingdom combat techniques—real-world boxing.
Thud!!
"Gack..!! *Cough*...! *Cough*!"
The body blow to his right side nailed his liver dead-on—Moai crumpled, posture collapsing as he hacked on the floor. Didn't they teach masking coughs in public?
"Y-you dog!! Daring to hit Moaiut!!!"
Frog leaped up, unleashing sharp quicksword again. Guessing an overhead strike would be tough to dodge?
To shatter that, I caught his arms on the third thrust, flipping him toward me.
"Eh? You read my attack..?!"
"Didn't they teach you jump attacks are death flags?"
This is why learning matters. I twisted Frog mid-air, locked his legs tight, and dropped toward the floor.
Kingdom grappling secret technique—Muscle Buster.
Thud!!! Crunch!!
"Aaaagh!!! My legs! My legs!!"
Normally a brutal finisher snapping spines and necks. But with my control, Frog just cracked leg bones, clutching them and bawling.
I set Frog down and stood, brushing off. The cafe furniture was totaled.
"Cafe's a total mess. What now, Glinton Senior?"
Calling the sneaking pockmark, he froze like a thief caught by cops, staring in terror.
"Y-you broke it! Why call me?!"
"Nah, your boys Moai and Frog trashed it trying to 'discipline' me on your orders. Why blame me?"
"You started the fight..!!"
"Who smashes up the place over a taunt? You're responsible, Senior."
"Think you'll get away with this! I'm the Glinton family's second son!"
This pockmark, Frog, Moai—all oblivious to rumors of me crushing the Wisent Duke heir?
As I stared incredulously, someone slung an arm over my shoulder in camaraderie.
"Nice fighting, Arthin! Same as with that knight last time. Maybe your talent's in martial arts or swordsmanship over magic!"
"Ah, you made it, Big Sis?"
"H-heek, P-Princess?!"
Glancing aside, the kingdom's First Princess—my teacher Marianne—grinned amusedly, like she'd enjoyed the show, pounding my shoulder.
"Kingdom grappling too, you're a natural! Spar with me later!"
"Me? Sparring? With you, Sis?"
"Yeah! No dodging after that brawl, right?"
"No way! Gotta do it! Of course!"
She kneaded my shoulder like wringing a rag, reminding me of past-life nightmares of hundreds of Hindu squats for weak answers. I swallowed my reluctance, replying with forced enthusiasm.
"Great! Light warm-up first, then tons of sparring today! You wanted base stamina, right? It'll grow fighting!"
"W-wait, Princess! Don't hang with that thug!"
Pleased with my reply, Marianne turned slowly at Frog's desperate shout from behind as she dragged me off.
"What'd you say? My ears must be bad."
"That guy's a delusional perv who just said he wants to roll with Agnes the Imperial Princess, Violet the Great Witch's granddaughter, and Shaomei the War God's daughter! Mingling with a no-name noble stains the royal—urk.."
He'd eavesdropped everything, gleefully snitching—until Marianne strode up, grabbing his jaw. Pockmark paled in terror.
"So insulting my friend Agnes, betrothed to Arthin, is fine? You damn pockmark bastard?"
"N-no... s-sorry... my mistake.."
Cowed by her presence, pockmark whimpered forgiveness as his pants darkened. Marianne hurled him down, glaring in contempt.
"I won't accept your apology. Compensate the cafe fully, and never show that ugly mug before me again."
"Th-thank you!!"
Tsking at his bowing with a twisted face, Marianne beamed brightly at me like nothing happened.
"Alright, let's go, little bro! The loser handles cleanup!"
I nodded absently, following her confident stride.
Such leonine intimidation. The Giant Slayer moniker fit—befitting the kingdom's top heir.
"Oh, and explain what I just heard. Agnes, Violet... Shaomei?"
"Huh? That was just the senior making shit up.."
As I dodged, her right hand softly massaged my shoulder. The painless touch chilled me more.
"Sparring'll be fun, eh little bro? They all spill truth after a few hits?"
In that moment, her eyes—top predator killing intent, utterly unlike Sion's—told me I was unmistakably screwed.