Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Arrival of the Gigant
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A Gigant trudged forward, the moonlight riding its back.
Just moments ago, the ambushers had been swinging their swords fiercely, but they scattered the instant the Gigant appeared.
Boom—thud—!
Abel watched the Gigant draw closer and thought back.
Before entering the forest.
He'd had plenty of plans swirling in his head.
Some were quite intricate, and at first, he'd leaned toward those.
He knew the instructors lying in wait along the path to the objective would tear through any elaborate schemes.
But after checking out his teammates, he'd changed his mind again.
Did they really need something so complicated?
If the goal was to take down every ambusher, maybe—but at this stage, they just needed to board a Gigant as soon as possible.
Even more crucially, not everyone had to reach the objective.
'From the moment even one of us climbs aboard, all their prepared traps become meaningless.'
Even if massive boulders blocked the path, or trained hounds chased them down.
Even if the lurking instructors swung their blades.
The instant a Gigant showed up, every trap lost its point.
That's why Abel had gone with a very simple plan.
Send the fastest and most enduring one first—Daniel—and have the rest hold out until he returned.
And Abel's plan had worked perfectly.
Boom—!
The Gigant approached to the appropriate distance, then carefully crouched down and extended its hand.
"Let's go."
Abel exchanged glances with the others before stepping onto its palm.
Trusting Daniel was one thing, but riding to safety on a Gigant's palm took real guts.
That's why Abel climbed aboard first and looked back at the other cadets.
"Climb on carefully."
No sooner had he spoken than May leaped up, and Kalian followed right behind, not to be outdone.
"Darin."
Finally, Darin—who'd been wearing a frightened expression—made it up with help from May and Abel.
Whoosh—.
Daniel piloted the Gigant with utmost caution, lifting them aboard before turning and walking toward the far side.
From the palm, the objective came into view, hidden before by the trees.
'So that's where it was.'
It was closer than he'd thought.
A red flag stood planted in the middle of a clearing, with a Gigant right beside it.
'All supply models.'
He'd have to get closer to confirm, but he could tell just from the outlines.
No custom cadet Gigants there.
Of course, he'd known that already, but he couldn't help feeling a twinge of disappointment from that lingering hope.
Abel quickly buried the letdown deep inside.
Boom, thud—.
The Gigant pressed straight ahead.
Unlike advancing on foot with heavy tension, the view from the Gigant's vantage was refreshingly open.
It wasn't long before Daniel halted at the objective and gently lowered his hand to the ground, just as before.
"Whew."
The cadets sighed in relief as they stepped down.
"Only Gigants here."
Abel said, scanning the surroundings.
Four Gigants lay side by side in the clearing.
They probably hadn't been alone at first. Abel spotted the footprints left behind and felt certain.
'They must've pulled out just recently.'
They might even be watching the clearing from nearby.
Not that it mattered much.
Abel spoke up again.
"No big differences between these units, so let's board from the left in order."
"Yeah."
"Got it."
"Y-yeah."
As Daniel stood guard in his Gigant, scanning the area, Abel climbed aboard his own.
Whirr—.
He settled into the cockpit, placed both hands on the core, and channeled mana. It responded immediately.
Hummmm.
Mana flowed from his body through the core into the machine, then back, spreading out again.
As the bond formed, Abel's senses began to expand.
Now that it was familiar, he reined in the surging thrill and moved the Gigant.
Boom!
Pushing off the ground with both arms, it rose in an instant, vision surging upward.
Balancing on two feet, the full sweep of the surroundings flooded his mind like a tidal wave.
This was a forest.
A fairly large one, which meant they were still at the entrance.
'More precisely, Ortuun Forest right next to the Teleph Plains.'
Abel and the cadets had cleared two stages to reach here.
First: the raid when they boarded the vehicle. Second: reaching the objective and boarding Gigants.
Now came the third.
The exercise was divided into stages, and the first two were just light warm-ups, if anything.
The real thing started now.
Boom, thud—!
The other cadets activated their Gigants one by one and stood.
When the last one finished.
Thud!
A faint tremor echoed from nearby.
Turning that way, a Tito-grade Gigant appeared, dropped something on the ground, and vanished again.
Too swift to chase or even call out to.
The cadets in their Gigants exchanged looks, then eyed the black cube on the ground.
-I'll... check it out.
Darin, closest to the cube, approached and reached out.
He picked it up gingerly, as if it might be an explosive.
Thankfully, no explosion.
Instead, a small light shot out.
Flash—.
The beam from the cube pointed precisely in one direction before vanishing.
Darin didn't show it, but he froze in surprise before fiddling with the cube again.
Flash!
Another beam.
He confirmed it and said,
-Put in mana, and it lights up.
Daniel made a request.
-Hmm. Try injecting continuously and moving around?
-Okay.
Darin walked sideways, swung his arms this way and that.
Even as he shifted position, the cube kept pointing the same way.
By then, they all got it.
-That light's pointing to the next objective?
-Looks like it.
The cube was basically a navigation device.
The cadets discussed the cube and what came next, then reached a decision.
-Darin keeps the cube, and we stick to the same formation as before.
-Yeah.
They set off right away.
Boarding Gigants didn't mean they could relax completely.
If anything, unspoken tension ratcheted up higher.
Gigants meant the trials ahead would likely be dangerous.
Abel, of course, knew exactly what was coming.
'We're safe until we exit the forest. No raids or traps. But...'
Once they hit the plains, the real exercise would kick off.
Gigant combat training.
Thud, thud, boom—.
The five Gigants reached the forest edge soon enough.
Before stepping out, Abel addressed the others.
-My guess is combat starts for real now. It's been too quiet so far.
No hard evidence, but they all nodded.
Abel continued.
-I'll take point, scouting for tracks. Everyone cover the flanks and rear.
-Got it.
-O-okay.
"Understood."
"Yeah."
After their replies, Abel led the way onto the plains.
The plains were silent.
No other Gigant footsteps, no cries from Gigadeus Fragments yet.
The stillness only heightened the unease.
'Quiet.'
Gripping his standard-issue sword, Abel advanced steadily.
Huge footprints dotted the plains.
So many overlapping traces made it hard to pick out the important ones, but Abel sorted them effortlessly.
He'd studied survival lore before even entering the academy.
'Recent marks are only from Tito-grade Gigants.'
Naturally, he recalled the Tito that had dropped the cube.
It had to be the academy's.
Tito prints nearby meant something close by—likely a Gigadeus Fragment.
But pinpointing the type? Impossible.
'Even in the game, which fragment spawned was random.'
Regardless of route, prepared fragments were random.
The game was built for multiple playthroughs, after all.
Same path, same monsters every time? Boring.
For Abel, transmigrated into that world, it was just a headache.
'Still, no one's too weak for this stage. Shouldn't be a big problem.'
Thinking that, he kept going.
Dawn was breaking; the distant horizon began to brighten.
'Best if we fight after the sun's up a bit.'
Moonlight gave decent visibility, but daylight made a huge difference.
Especially since most Gigadeus Fragments had sharp night vision.
But Abel's wish went ungranted.
Rumble rumble rumble—.
The ground began to shake.
Abel and the cadets' gazes locked on one spot.
-Not just one!
Kalian shouted loudly.
As he said, the earth-shaking vibrations were way beyond a single creature.
They snapped into combat formation as shapes emerged over the horizon.
-Iron Wolf pack!
A horde of gleaming silver wolves charged them ferociously.
Individually weaker than Blade Tails, but the threat was incomparable.
True to their name, Iron Wolves hunted in packs like real wolves.
-Starting hot, huh.
Abel raised his sword and stepped forward.
Tough fight ahead, obviously. But facing it, excitement overrode tension.
At the same time, the emblem on his chest flickered faintly.
-Charge!
Oblivious, Abel raised his weapon and yelled.