The Taunting Whisper
"...Who are you!"
At the sudden voice echoing in his mind, Ludenberg Lavante startled and scanned his surroundings. But there was no one around. Only Ludenberg himself.
You're up to something cute. But no matter what you do, you can't escape my grasp.
The voice of unknown origin mocked Ludenberg, sounding almost amused.
"What are you? Show yourself!"
Thoroughly rattled, Ludenberg shouted for it to reveal itself. In that instant, a familiar transcendent phenomenon flashed through his mind—something Raha had warned him about.
'It will come find you.'
It. The entity tied to his evil fate. The voice whispering in his ear had to be the very thing Raha had cautioned him against.
Ludenberg asked warily, "Who are you?"
Who knows? Who might I be?
"Playing games?"
But the voice ignored his question.
Foolish, pitiful Ludenberg. I can see it—the sight of you, rejected by everyone, coming to me in the end. Haha...
Having said its piece, the voice laughed at Ludenberg and vanished in an instant.
With the silence returning, Ludenberg felt a headache coming on from yet another inexplicable event in his life.
"Damn it."
Rejected by everyone, ending up with me?
It was certain. The thing was either something bearing his evil fate on its back or the evil fate itself that Raha had mentioned. Ludenberg had a bad premonition that it would keep grating on his nerves from here on out.
Damn. Those damn dreams weren't normal, and now this evil fate bullshit is messing with me too.
No choice now—he had to find clues about the Starting Knight quickly.
What should I do?
After much deliberation, he arrived at one idea: Professor Nah Tes. She'd mentioned ruins where ancient books had been unearthed. Visiting those might be worth a shot. Of course, not on weekdays—ideally on a holiday, when he could come and go freely.
Having sorted his thoughts, Ludenberg rose from his seat. Books were books, and the Starting Knight was the Starting Knight, but he was still a Knight Faculty student at Solemnute Adem. He couldn't neglect his own training.
He headed straight for the training grounds.
While Ludenberg was at the training grounds, Mion Altis summoned Gawin Greta, Marvin Ashus, and Leb Heinz.
The three tilted their heads, clueless as to why she'd called them.
"Come on in. I called you because there's something you need to do."
"What is it?"
"Mess with Ludenberg a bit."
The abrupt order drained the color from their faces.
"What?"
"Exactly what I said. Get on his nerves, provoke him, then start a noisy fight. Of course."
Mion added with a sly smile, "I'll make sure the reward matches your effort."
"Got it. What exactly do we do?"
Gawin accepted her proposal without even asking why.
Mion, pleased by his attitude, smiled in satisfaction. "Good. Specifically, I need info on Ludenberg's skills. A single sword form, a habit, physical abilities—whatever you can pull out of him. If you can't, no big deal. I'll be watching too."
"We'll push as far as we can."
"Then it's settled. Here's hoping for good results again—like five years ago."
The three could only nod. They'd abandoned Ludenberg upon hearing he'd lost his divine power and sided with Eden Asta, inevitably getting tangled with his fiancée, Mion.
After linking up with her, Eden had "suggested" they do whatever she asked as much as possible. They had no choice but to obey.
Truthfully, they had no other options. Mion and Eden were their only lifelines now that the Lavante Ducal House had turned its back.
At least Mion didn't coldly discard those under her. Prove your worth, and she'd pay accordingly—benefits for their families or personal gifts, for instance.
Anyway, Mion delivered her message and left.
"So... let's figure out how to do this."
The three sighed and began pondering how to provoke and draw out Ludenberg.
Today was the first outdoor training day. The weather was perfect—clear skies with a cool breeze.
Since this wasn't a skill assessment but genuine Knight Faculty training, the professors watched the students sternly.
All first-years from the four pavilions gathered in the vast Knight Faculty training grounds, scanning their surroundings with tense expressions, wondering what lay ahead.
No chaos was tolerated, so despite the crowd, the grounds were eerily quiet.
Ludenberg stared ahead with impassive eyes. Though fixed on the professors about to lead them, his mind replayed thoughts of the Starting Knight and the mysterious voice that had tempted and tormented him.
"Greetings."
"Hello, sir!"
The eldest-looking, seasoned professor spoke, and the first-years responded in thunderous unison. Satisfied by their spirited reply, the professors nodded.
"From today, we begin proper training. For the first three days, all ranks will train together. The next three days will tailor to each rank. But since we're still building foundations, this week is joint training overall. Next week, it gets rank-specific. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Start with formation running. Don your armor."
"Pardon?"
The students faltered, but the professor repeated sternly. They hurriedly armored up.
Running in armor? Anxiety rippled—they sensed the training would be far tougher than imagined.
Feeling the heavy weight, they prepared under the professors' guidance.
"Now... run. But no divine power."
Ignoring their unease, the professor ordered them to run the grounds.
The students bolted like mad.
Ludenberg blended in effortlessly, running smoothly as if unburdened.
Soon, he took the lead.
Running in armor without divine power? To Ludenberg, who'd trained his unpowered body through every regimen, it was a breeze.
Even armored, he moved as if unencumbered. With spare breath, he glanced back.
Everyone trailed him—including Eden Asta, awakener of three divine powers.
For a split second, Ludenberg caught Eden's expression: a face twisted in humiliation.
It pleased him. Eden's shame proved his grueling training hadn't been for nothing.
Then—
"You there! Don't lag! Run straight!"
Stragglers emerged, overwhelmed by the armor's weight. The professors drove them mercilessly.
When the long run ended, all but Ludenberg, Eden, Ashytara Solenute, and Mion had collapsed in exhaustion.
But for them, the real training was just beginning.
As students wobbled, professors kicked their shins.
"Stand straight! Draw swords! You gonna flop after that?!"
While others snapped to and gripped swords under the tirade, Ludenberg was already poised, blade ready.
As Ador, Frigus, and Abyss ranks struggled, Innocence ranks recovered one by one, following his lead.
They proved their rank by rebounding faster than lowers.
Once even Abyss students held firm, training commenced.
Vertical slash, horizontal slash, thrust. Three basics.
Hearing this, students smirked at the simplicity and swung away.
But they'd overlooked one thing: the professors wouldn't go easy.
Each motion: a thousand reps. No divine power, same as the run.
They shrugged—thousands of swings daily was routine.
But that illusion shattered fast.
Professor counts, swing once. Reset stance immediately. That's one rep.
Professors scrutinized each student meticulously.
"Again. From the start. One!"
One sloppy form, and everyone restarted from zero, no matter the progress.
"Stance broken. Joking around? Again!"
Even Innocence students erred repeatedly. They'd swung thousands before, sure—but without armor, forgiving minor flaws, bolstered by divine enhancements.
Now? Perfect form demanded, armored, unpowered—they fumbled basics they'd never slip otherwise.
Amid them, one shone undeniably: Ludenberg.
Bathed in stares, he never drew critique. Even as resets piled and students slumped, his form held flawless.
Recent dream insights had elevated him further, lightening his body beyond normal.
To him, this was daily routine. Pushing his flesh to limits was his forte.
Lacking divine strengthening, he'd always shouldered extra weight in practice to conquer frailty.
That fruit now bloomed amid the empire's elite prodigies.
"Again!"
Even Eden slipping, others shared a thought eyeing the flawless Ludenberg.
Monster.
Including fellow Innocence ranks, no one could think otherwise. Even as they dropped, his breath stayed even.