Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Special Training
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The number of assistants was far greater than last time. In fact, there were more of them than the cadets attending the class.
Unlike before, ten Gigants had been prepared.
Cadets who weren’t yet familiar with Gigants could cause a major accident during training.
“Do you get what I mean?”
“Yes?”
Kaul spoke kindly, his arm draped around Abel’s shoulder.
“So, that means I don’t have much to do.”
Abel gave an awkward smile.
It wasn’t wrong.
Gigant training covered general Gigant operation, but honestly, in the very beginning, the lead instructor Kaul had little to do.
‘At the very least, they all need to be able to stand up and walk around before we can really get started.’
Until then, it was the assistants’ job to handle the hard work.
In other words, there was no escaping Kaul’s clutches for Abel.
Kaul asked Abel, who was smiling awkwardly.
“You don’t seem too thrilled?”
“No way. Special training? It’s an honor.”
Abel’s words flowed as smoothly as if he’d oiled his tongue.
Kaul grinned again, nodding as he spoke.
“Alright, hop in first.”
Abel walked toward Lupus’s core, pushed along like it or not.
Suddenly getting special training made him a bit uneasy, but it wasn’t a bad feeling overall.
His own Gigant was lying right there in front of him.
‘Well, he won’t make me do anything weird during class time.’
Abel decided to think positively.
Kaul might have a reckless streak, but his skills were the real deal. One of the top Gigant riders, after all.
Getting special training from him was actually a golden opportunity—one Abel might have begged for himself.
Soon, Abel arrived in front of the cockpit and looked up at his Gigant.
‘Lupus.’
Muttering the name in his mind sent another thrill through him.
If Kaul weren’t watching from behind, he could’ve stared at it in a daze for ages.
Swallowing his regret, Abel used the auxiliary tools to climb into the cockpit.
Unlike the Gigants he’d used before, where the cockpit was pre-opened, Lupus was locked.
It was a personal Gigant, after all.
Knowing this, Abel carefully pressed his palm against the cockpit’s outer armor.
Woooong!
Blue light rippled out from his hand like waves.
The circular light converged back to a single point, and with a low vibration, the armor encasing the cockpit parted left and right.
It had recognized Abel’s unique mana pattern and opened.
Abel slipped into the cockpit, his face slightly flushed.
“Hmm.”
The interior was similar to the Miles he’d piloted before.
Unlike the exterior with its added armor, the inside was stock specs.
Even so, his satisfaction didn’t diminish one bit.
Smiling, Abel placed both hands on the inner core.
‘Slowly…….’
It was a thrilling, nerve-wracking moment, so he needed to be extra careful.
This was the moment he imprinted his existence onto the Gigant for the first time.
Woooong—
Mana drawn from deep within his body was sucked into the core.
The injected mana raced toward the Gigant’s power source.
The mana Abel provided was, so to speak, kindling.
Kindling to restart the heart of the sleeping giant.
The mana circled the power source once, growing in volume before returning to Abel.
And he injected more.
Again, and again.
An endless cycle formed between Abel and the Gigant.
“Aah…….”
Abel felt his senses expand in an instant, letting out a sigh of ecstasy as he instinctively began raising his sync rate.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Heartbeats thundered like lightning.
Abel’s mind shed the frailty of human flesh and settled into the massive metal giant.
In a low voice, he called the giant’s name.
‘Lupus.’
Woooong!
Green light gleamed in Lupus’s empty eyes.
Thud!
Lupus slowly moved its arms to raise its body.
Thud!
Everyone who turned at the successive vibrations stared blankly as Lupus rose.
The swift sync and fluid motion drew awed gasps from them once more.
“Whew.”
Abel let out the breath he’d been holding only after standing Lupus straight up.
Even though it was built to standard specs, it wasn’t exactly the same as the Miles he’d piloted last time.
Gigants were handmade, after all.
‘But it feels different.’
Not fully custom-tailored, but the difference was clear.
It fit his body so much better.
Thud, thump—
As he thought this with an excited face, another machine approached him.
It was a plain model, similar to the practice one he’d used before.
But Abel knew right away who was inside.
The movements alone were on another level.
—Abel.
Kaul’s voice boomed through.
Abel manipulated his Gigant to respond.
—Yes.
—Your special training today is simple.
Kaul’s voice was cheerful as he told Abel.
—Roll around like crazy until class ends.
His ominous premonition had been spot on.
‘Kaul was the type among the instructors who emphasized stamina the most…….’
For a split second, Abel envisioned himself rolling around like mad.
That was when Kaul spoke again.
—But just rolling you endlessly would be a bit much, right? So I’ll give you a shot.
—A shot?
—Yeah. Land even one hit on me however you can, and I’ll skip the special stamina training. But.
Kaul’s voice turned devilish.
—If you challenge me and fail, I’ll double it.
It was temptation straight from the devil.
Abel didn’t know it, but plenty of seniors had fallen for it and ended up with devastating muscle pain.
It was his clever way to avoid backlash from cadets who’d complain about endless rolling.
If they challenged and failed, he could always say, “You chose this.”
Kaul coaxed Abel gently.
—You wanna test out how good your new ride is anyway, right?
He was right.
Suppressing his curiosity and excitement about his new Gigant and just standing still was incredibly tough.
Practically torture.
Of course, Abel knew full well what Kaul was up to.
It was a scene from the game, after all.
—Yes. I’ll challenge you.
Even so, Abel didn’t hesitate long.
If Kaul hadn’t suggested it, he might’ve asked first.
He’d been wanting to check his current strength level anyway.
Kaul sounded pleased.
—Knew you would.
Abel could easily picture Kaul grinning like a gorilla, even from inside his Gigant.
—Come over here first.
The training area was vast, so they didn’t need to move elsewhere.
The lead instructor couldn’t just leave, naturally.
They simply put some distance from the other Gigants and faced off at a reasonable interval.
Kaul spoke again.
—Show impressive skill, and you’ll learn more, gain more experience, and get more out of this.
—Yes.
—I’ll just stand here. Let’s start light. No extra armaments.
Kaul let both arms hang straight down.
—Attack me.
* * *
Kaul was a Gigant rider who’d shone in the late Great War.
In his prime, he’d piloted the empire’s pride, a Millitum-grade. Even now as an instructor, he owned a Centurio-grade.
‘That’s just a training Miles.’
But what he was riding now was merely a training model.
Its performance and output were probably below average.
But……
Even standing there defenseless in that machine, the pressure he exuded was no joke.
It was like facing a massive wall.
No opening for an attack.
“Whew.”
Abel exhaled deeply.
He had no intention of denying the pressure.
Feeling overwhelmed by Kaul was only natural.
No matter how talented he was, this was only Abel’s second time piloting a Miles-grade.
Kaul, on the other hand, was a true veteran. The overwhelming skill gap was to be expected.
What mattered was accepting the gap and never breaking.
Vowing to surpass that wall someday—not far off—and pushing forward with that resolve was enough.
Abel moved his Gigant slowly.
He checked its condition meticulously, like stretching, then took his stance.
Even with the huge gap, he had no plans to half-ass it.
Woooong!
He poured mana into the core to its limit, making Lupus vibrate finely.
Then, without any warning, he launched into motion.
Kwaaang—!
The machine shot forward amid a deafening roar.
Explosive speed and output from his superior sync rate were his main weapons.
Adding Shadow Step closed the distance in a flash.
Abel reined in Lupus, which threatened to slip his control, and threw a punch.
Kaul’s machine was right in front of him.
Whoooosh!
The moment he thought it might actually land.
Kaang!
Kaul’s arm swatted Abel’s away.
Incredibly fast and concise movement. Abel hurriedly assumed a defensive stance.
—Not bad.
But instead of exploiting the opening, Kaul spoke calmly.
—This time, use one extra armament. You can use more, but handling several at once right away will be tough anyway.
This wasn’t belittling Abel—it was straightforward advice.
Even veteran Gigant riders needed time to adapt to new armaments; that was common knowledge.
—……Yes.
Abel replied and pulled back slightly.
He’d expected it, but having his attack blocked so easily left a bitter taste.
He’d wanted to at least surprise him, even if he couldn’t land a hit.
But if he knew Kaul’s inner thoughts, he’d have thought differently.
‘Not messing around.’
Kaul was genuinely surprised.
What he’d meant to teach Abel was humility.
Talented people often fell to arrogance and overconfidence—countless cases.
Plus, Abel had been famous even before enrolling, chosen by hero Alon.
He needed to crush that spirit for sure.
He’d planned to dodge casually with just his upper body and say, “Pathetic.”
But Abel’s attack was faster and more threatening than he’d first seen.
He’d grown tremendously in just a week.
‘Get it together.’
Recalling his original educational goal, Kaul reset his stance.
To properly teach the boy a lesson, he needed to stay sharp.
Steeling himself, Kaul hid his surprise with an even more relaxed tone.
—If you land even one hit, I’ll not only skip the stamina training but grant you a wish too.
—Yes.
Abel nodded and checked his extra parts.
The Scarlett three-piece set were all excellent combat aids.
If used well.
“Hup.”
Abel swallowed and focused his mind.
He took a lower stance than before. Prioritizing stability over speed.
One wrong move, and he could topple.
The eyes of all the cadets and assistants in the area were on them now, but Abel’s focus was solely on Kaul ahead.
‘Just one solid hit.’
Wishes weren’t the point right now.
Massive wall? Unbridgeable skill gap? Didn’t matter.
Overthinking would just slow him down.
Keep it simple.
‘Land one on that gorilla’s face, whatever it takes.’
That was all.
Thud!
With resolve, Abel kicked off the ground.
Up to here, it was the same as before. No—slower, due to his stance. But when his opposite foot hit the ground.
Whoooosh!
The leg-mounted extra armament ‘Blessing of the Wind’ unleashed powerful thrust, shoving Lupus forward.
A risky armament that could upset balance, but his lowered stance handled it with minimal issue.
Adding Shadow Step now would let him attack at double the speed.
But speed alone wouldn’t land a hit on Kaul.
So he activated Overflow skill and his second armament simultaneously.
Woooong!
Head part ‘Sage’s Crown’.
The antenna-like protrusions on either side of the head maximized sensory organ performance.
It let him see better, predict attack points, and foresee incoming strikes.
Overflow and Sage’s Crown combined made time feel like it slowed.
The bodily strain intensified, blood trickling from his nose, but Abel ignored it.
Kaul’s machine was right there.
Whoooosh!
As Abel’s fist thrust forward, Kaul reacted almost simultaneously.
He extended his arm to block.
Incredible reaction speed. It was obvious it’d be stopped.
In that split-second, Abel played his next card.
Without stopping, he threw the punch while chanting inwardly.
‘Double Attack.’
Just before his right fist was blocked, his left arm sprang out like a spring.
Kaul, already moving to block the right, twisted urgently—but.
Bang!
He couldn’t dodge Abel’s fist cleanly smashing into his chin.
The impact sound hit as his accelerated thoughts snapped back, greeted by splitting headache and sticky fatigue.
His remaining mana: zero.
He’d poured everything into that one hit.
Abel fought the urge to collapse and spoke to the slowly lowering head of Kaul’s machine.
—So…… can I make my wish now?