Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Monster Battle Training
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Seo Woo-jin wore a sullen expression.
Today's training hadn't sat well with him at all.
It was monster combat training.
Similar to the test they'd run before under Rudain's command.
The only differences were that the opponents were monsters incomparably stronger than trolls and there were a lot more of them.
'It's just a watered-down version of what I did yesterday anyway.'
The monsters the academy had prepared were strong.
But compared to the ones Seo Woo-jin had hunted yesterday...
'Like the difference between a wyvern and a sparrow?'
It might help the other heroes, but it wasn't much use to Seo Woo-jin.
He took some small comfort in the fact that he could at least pick up a bit of experience.
"The Platinum Knight Order went to great lengths to make this training possible."
The Empire's 1st Knight Order.
Excluding the Five Guardians, it was the empire's strongest knight order, led by the top-tier knight Ronain, with every member at advanced rank or higher.
The realization that they'd personally gone out and captured these monsters really drove home how much effort the empire was putting into the academy.
"Today's training focuses on one-against-many combat."
The instructor explaining the training wasn't Rudain, but another knight.
He sported a fancy mustache. His name was Gainas.
An advanced knight of the empire.
Gainas stroked his mustache and continued.
"One hero against ten monsters. That's the basic setup, with the numbers adjusted based on the monsters' threat level."
Tension rippled across the heroes' faces.
They'd gained plenty of real combat experience over a week in Demon Realm Heldein.
But that had been in teams with their comrades.
None of them had any experience fighting multiple monsters solo.
And these opponents were clearly far more powerful than before...
It would have been weirder if they weren't tense.
'Yawn~'
Of course, Seo Woo-jin was the exception.
After all he'd been through, this wasn't enough to get him worked up.
Naturally, there were others who looked completely unfazed.
'Those guys...'
The ones who'd trained with him and his elite friends.
They didn't seem tense at all—more like they were looking forward to it.
'Hm?'
Seo Woo-jin tilted his head.
His eyes met Baek Si-woo's for a moment, and something about the guy felt a little off from before.
'What is it?'
He couldn't put his finger on what had changed.
The righteous aura was the same, the gentle face was the same.
And yet, he felt an inexplicable sense of wrongness.
Did Baek Si-woo notice Seo Woo-jin's gaze?
He gave a slight bow of his head.
'My imagination?'
He still looked like the perfect, polite model student.
Seo Woo-jin awkwardly nodded back and turned away.
So he didn't see it.
The sinister, malice-filled glint in Baek Si-woo's eyes.
* * *
"Tempest Blow!"
True to its name, Lee Ji-a's fist whipped up like a storm.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Her opponents were five Argons.
Beast-type monsters covered head to toe in hides like steel plate armor.
No ordinary impact could dent them, but Lee Ji-a's fists ignored their defenses entirely.
Crack—craaack!
Cracks spiderwebbed across their hides, soon shattering them.
Kieeeek!
Startled, they ignored her fists and switched to full offense.
They'd instinctively realized that relying on their hides alone would get them killed.
But it was all meaningless.
"Blast Effect!"
This time, not a flurry of blows, but a single-point strike.
Kwaaaaang!
The charging Argons exploded into bloody chunks and flew back.
Her fist's power had vastly exceeded their defenses.
A bright light burst forth.
It had ended quickly, but Argons were high-threat monsters, so they gave solid experience.
"Yes! Level up! I'm finally level 37!"
Lee Ji-a raised her blood-drenched fist in triumph.
'...Kinda scary.'
The innocent girl swinging a fist dripping blood.
Seo Woo-jin felt a chill run down his spine for some reason.
"Mister! I did great, right?"
He nodded as she approached with a goofy grin.
Scary or not, she'd fought well—that much was true.
A few heroes had gone before her, but none had dominated as completely as she had.
Some had even been carried off injured...
Ji-a plopped down next to him, chattering away about her exploits.
"Ji-hye's turn next?"
As if in answer to Seo Woo-jin's question, Gainas called Kim Da-hye's name.
"Back soon."
Kim Da-hye gave Ji-a a quick word, grabbed her sketchbook, and headed to the training ground.
"The monster you'll face is a Magoros."
Hearing Gainas, Seo Woo-jin recalled the monster entry.
'A small one, about a meter tall?'
Its small size meant paper-thin defenses, but its teeth were razor-sharp.
All its stats dumped into attack power.
'How's she gonna handle it?'
Kim Da-hye's skills had endless potential depending on how she used them.
Low rank limited her ceiling, but against monsters below a certain level, no one was more effective.
Twenty Magoros appeared.
Four times as many as Ji-a's Argons.
They looked like rats that had taken a radiation blast—disgustingly grotesque just to look at.
But Kim Da-hye, as always, just blankly raised her sketchbook.
"Begin!"
At Gainas's signal, the Magoros charged.
"Summon."
At the same time, Kim Da-hye's voice rang out, and the weapon drawn in her sketchbook materialized.
"Mi-mini-gun?"
"Whoa, insane! What the hell is that?"
"Is that even possible?"
The heroes—especially the guys—went nuts.
'Heh.'
Seo Woo-jin chuckled inwardly.
She'd mentioned various things, but he'd never imagined she'd summon something like that.
Whiiiiiir—
The barrels spun up.
Powered purely by mana, no need for external electricity or hydraulics.
As long as she had mana, it could spin forever, unleashing mana bullets.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Up to 4,000 rounds per minute.
That insane firing speed and power shredded the paper-defense Magoros to bits.
Kee—kik!
They couldn't even scream properly before all twenty melted away.
Whirrrrr—
With the enemies gone, Kim Da-hye let go.
The barrels, unable to brake in time, spun idly, belching hot exhaust.
"Th-that was amazing, my friend. Right?"
Even chatty Ji-a was speechless.
Seo Woo-jin nodded.
Kim Da-hye's firepower had that chest-thumping thrill to it.
'I wanna fire it once myself.'
What Korean guy hadn't fantasized about grabbing a minigun and letting loose?
No worries about casings or jams made it even better.
Seo Woo-jin made a mental note to ask her later if he could try it, welcoming her back to her seat.
The training continued after that.
Some heroes won easily, others barely held on.
But clearly, the heroes had grown markedly since before.
No one was shaking in fear at a single troll anymore.
"Now it's just you left from our group, mister?"
His team had all finished handily.
The results of their training with Seo Woo-jin were plain to see.
Goo Dong-hwan and Gye Soo-ji had joined late, but they'd been strong to begin with.
"Guess it's my turn soon?"
Only a few heroes remained.
"Oh? It's Baek Si-woo."
"The 'Sword God' at last. Wonder what he'll show us."
The heroes watched Baek Si-woo step into the training ground with eager eyes.
He'd lost to Seo Woo-jin in sparring, but he was still the top hero.
One defeat hadn't toppled his pedestal.
Baek Si-woo remained the heroes' idol.
"Your opponent this time is a Garades."
'Hm?'
A familiar name.
A humanoid monster with red skin and red eyes appeared in the training ground.
"They even caught one of those?"
No ordinary monster.
All the ones from today combined wouldn't match this thing alone.
It was that strong, that high-class.
It wouldn't be surprising if it were on par with Burtel.
The fact that they'd captured something like that was shocking.
Even top-tier knight Rudain had barely hunted one—how had they live-captured it?
'Maybe that knight Ronain?'
Excluding the transcendent guardians, he was called the empire's strongest knight, so possible.
'They really care about that guy.'
Even now, they were making sure Baek Si-woo got the experience.
Shing—
Baek Si-woo's sword cleared its sheath.
Its sharp aura stung the skin.
Seo Woo-jin wondered how he'd fight.
End it in one slash like with Rosie Ruby?
Or hold back to hone his combat senses?
Either way, he looked forward to Baek Si-woo's sword.
"Begin."
Snap!
In an instant, Baek Si-woo's sword was back in its sheath.
Most heroes didn't even register what happened.
Only Seo Woo-jin and a few others stiffened.
'He's faster.'
A fine cut appeared on the Garades' tough hide, and its head rolled off with a soft slide.
Not even any blood flowed.
As if its body hadn't realized it was dead yet...
"Truly impressive."
Gye Soo-ji marveled.
It had taken three exchanges last spar, but now she doubted she could last that long.
Baek Si-woo's sword was that extraordinary.
"No skills at all, and he kills a monster like that. Man, I wanna go at him once."
Goo Dong-hwan's face hardened with fighting spirit.
"If anyone's fighting him, it's me first."
Gye Soo-ji felt the same.
As she bickered briefly with Goo Dong-hwan, he scratched his head and asked Seo Woo-jin.
"Doesn't he seem a bit different from last time?"
He'd asked Seo Woo-jin.
But Seo Woo-jin didn't answer.
He just stared at Baek Si-woo walking back, his face even more rigid than Goo Dong-hwan's.
'That guy...'
The source of that earlier unease was coming into focus.
Not certain yet.
But his senses kept ringing alarms.
The familiar aura that had burst forth the moment Baek Si-woo's sword was drawn.
Seo Woo-jin hadn't missed that coziness.
'...Demonic energy, wasn't it?'