The Demon Realm (1)
I returned to my quarters after spending the night at the training grounds and caught a brief nap. There was still some time before Cain's appointed hour, so I asked Daren, who was already up early polishing his sword on the bed.
“Daren, what kind of person is Vincent?”
I had only met Vincent for the first time yesterday. All I really knew was that he had a terrible sense of direction and that he was strong. But since his older brother Allen was close with Vincent, I figured Daren might know more about him.
Daren’s eyes widened at my question.
“Vincent? You mean Sir Vincent?”
“If you’re talking about the black-haired swordsman wearing clothes similar to mine, then yes.”
“Then you must have met my older brother Allen as well.”
It seemed Daren already knew that Vincent was directionally challenged and that Allen often guided him. From that, he must have deduced that I had encountered Allen too.
“Yes, I did meet Sir Allen.”
“Hmm.”
Daren let out a short hum and fell into thought. After organizing his thoughts, he finally spoke.
“Sir Vincent is a swordsman from the East.”
I had already guessed as much. After all, I had learned on the day of the entrance ceremony that my own clothes were from the East.
“His specialty is irregular combat and the use of the Ten Thousand Swords style.”
“Ten Thousand Swords?”
“It’s a sword art that utilizes every possible principle—heavy and light, slow and fast, soft and tricky. All of them.”
That explained why every time Vincent attacked me, it felt completely different.
“Another notable feature is his master, the Sword Immortal.”
“The Sword Immortal?”
“The Sword Immortal came to the North from the East along with Sir Vincent. He is also known as the one who reached the heavens with nothing but a sword.”
He didn’t explain why they had come to the North, but I understood anyway.
‘If this place falls, it’s all over anyway.’
If the Helen family collapsed, the continent would crumble, and naturally the East would be destroyed as well. To prevent that, everyone had to join forces and slay the demons.
“He is someone you could call the greatest when it comes to swordsmanship.”
At Daren’s explanation, I nodded as if that was enough.
‘The one who reached the heavens.’
There was only one thing those words could mean.
‘Transcendent.’
Since the Sword Immortal was said to be on par with the Lord of the Helen family, that meant the Lord himself was at least a Transcendent.
‘To think I might meet someone like that.’
I didn’t know when it would happen. Vincent had said he would introduce me when he had time, not that it would be tomorrow.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
Still, I couldn’t help but feel excited. It wasn’t my first time meeting a Transcendent—Elena was one too. But she had reached that realm through magic. Whether it was in the training room or during exams, no matter what she did with magic, since I was someone who trained in martial arts, I couldn’t help but be more interested in the man called the Sword Immortal.
Swish.
Before I knew it, the time Cain had mentioned seemed to have arrived. Daren rose from the bed.
“Is it time?”
To my question, Daren gave a simple nod.
“It is. It’s time to head out. I’ll go first.”
Creak.
Daren opened the door and left the quarters ahead of me.
‘The Demon Realm, huh.’
Once I stepped through that door, I would probably head to the Demon Realm after hearing some explanation from Cain. I didn’t know what the inside was like, but I doubted it would be pleasant.
‘Let’s go.’
There was no point in hesitating.
Creak.
When I opened the door, I found Cain and the other S-class students already gathered. As I approached, Cain spoke upon seeing me.
“Everyone’s here. Follow me for now. I’ll explain later.”
Since this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, I followed Cain without a word.
The place Cain led us to was in front of a certain door.
“Go inside.”
I didn’t know where the door led or what kind of door it was, but I entered anyway.
‘It probably isn’t a strange door.’
Since I had seen Christina and Syris walk through it without hesitation, it should be fine.
Whoooosh.
A wind blew in. The moment I opened the door and stepped out, a chilly gust struck my defenseless body. I quickly generated heat to raise my body temperature.
I looked around.
‘It’s high up?’
The view was from a great height. We were looking down, and the end was nowhere in sight.
‘Where are we?’
As I was thinking that, Cain, who had come out after us, spoke.
“Gather around.”
The students quickly assembled. Even after becoming adults and entering the special class, there wasn’t a single fool who wouldn’t listen.
“I’ll first give you a simple schedule. We will return to the academy one week from now. When we return, Class A will come for training. When Class A returns, Class B will come. Once every class has completed their training, we will have exams.”
“······.”
It was an extremely brief explanation. But since I understood it, I let it slide.
Having finished with the schedule, Cain began explaining our current situation.
“This place is atop the barrier that prevents demons from descending from the Demon Realm.”
The place I was standing was the massive wall I had seen before—the one that looked like the Great Wall behind the Helen family mansion.
Cain pointed toward the Demon Realm.
“That place is the Demon Realm, where demons lurk.”
The Demon Realm. The area we would be entering was only the very beginning of it. It was a place where mostly low-ranking demons appeared, so as long as the students kept their wits about them, they could survive.
“Then form groups of three.”
At those words, I looked for Christina and Syris. Fortunately, the two of them were already together, so I found them easily.
“Hello?”
Maybe because I had approached quietly, Christina jumped more than I expected.
“Eek! Ah, Adel? Hello?”
“······Hello.”
Her reaction seemed a bit suspicious, but I didn’t think much of it.
Once everyone had formed groups of three, Cain handed out one piece of paper to each group.
“Go to the location written on there. Your training begins from that point.”
Seeming to have said everything he needed to, Cain entered the Demon Realm first.
Watching him, I showed the paper to Christina and Syris and asked.
“Do you know where this is?”
The paper had some strange numbers written on it. It looked like coordinates, but I couldn’t understand them.
“I know this place. Follow me.”
Fortunately, Christina knew. The place she led us to had yet another strange door.
“······Tina, just how many doors does your house have?”
I asked half-jokingly.
‘There are way too many doors.’
There were crossroads and doors everywhere. If this wasn’t a maze, what was it?
“Um······.”
Christina seemed to have never thought about it before and pondered for quite a while. Then Syris answered.
“······56,293.”
How on earth did she know the exact number of doors?
Even Christina looked mildly surprised at Syris’s answer.
“······Let’s go.”
Despite that reaction, she calmly suggested they do what needed to be done. Christina and I nodded and stepped through the door.
Creak.
The place we entered was the interior of a house large enough for about ten people. The wooden house had a surprisingly antique atmosphere.
“You’re here.”
“······!”
“······!”
At the male voice coming from inside the house, our bodies stiffened. It wasn’t from tension, but from the man’s overwhelming presence.
“······.”
He stood silently for a moment before reducing his aura. With my body freed, I turned my head to look at the man—with a bit of caution.
Where I turned, a black-haired man was drinking tea.
Christina spoke upon seeing him.
“Allen?”
Iron Blood Sword Allen Gawood. He was sitting there, sipping tea.
‘What’s going on?’
As I wondered, another voice came from beyond the door.
“Allen, the kids are here?”
It was a voice mixed with annoyance—the same one I had heard yesterday. Wearing clothes similar to mine and carrying a sword at his waist, it was Vincent.
“So the two of you are our instructors.”
Having grasped the situation, Christina nodded. Syris also gave a slight nod, making me the only one who hadn’t understood.
“What’s the situation?”
I asked Allen instead of Vincent. The reason I didn’t ask Vincent was because I figured Allen would explain better anyway, so there was no need to bother asking someone else.
“Vincent and I will be acting as your instructors. For one week, we will teach and protect you in place of Sir Cain.”
“······.”
It seemed the “see you tomorrow” that Vincent had mentioned meant this.
‘But why?’
There was no reason for these two to take on such a task.
“Why are you two doing this?”
This time Vincent answered.
“Out of curiosity. I’m curious to see how much the three of you will grow.”
“······Couldn’t someone else have done it?”
At my question, Vincent pointed at Allen.
“This guy’s master is Sir Cain. I asked him a favor. To make us the instructors for your group. We weren’t planning on becoming instructors in the first place, so consider it an honor.”
Having said that, Vincent proudly puffed out his chest.
‘So the one I felt was similar to Instructor Cain was him.’
Other than looking like Daren, Allen’s behavior had reminded me of someone, and it turned out to be his master, Cain.
Goooooo.
Ignoring Vincent, he raised his aura. This time, it didn’t harm us.
“This place is inside the Demon Realm. The reason I’m raising my aura is to prevent useless demons from attacking.”
Allen glanced briefly at Christina and Syris.
“It must be your first time seeing demons in the Demon Realm as well. It will be a good experience.”
He headed toward a different door than the one we had entered through. Grabbing the handle, he said,
“The chatter went on too long. The Demon Realm training begins now.”
Creak.
Allen opened the door.
“Follow me.”
We followed him outside.
Crunch.
The sensation of snow underfoot, the faint scent of blood, and the roars of battle echoing in the distance all told us that this was indeed the Demon Realm.