Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Dawn Raid
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As Ruan had predicted, the dawn raid was an event orchestrated entirely by the instructors.
The instructors weren't at the forefront holding back the monsters; they were, in fact, gathered in a conference room within their living quarters.
Seated in their respective places, they stared at a hazy light emanating from a magic crystal. Soon, the light shifted to display the trainees who were now engaged in battle.
“This is where it begins. The moment we separate the wheat from the chaff.”
The instructor who had just left, Soymond.
The survival instructor, spoke up.
“Truthfully, we can already see some outstanding talent, Tanko. I’m referring to the trainees who distinguished themselves in your running test.”
Tanko, the hunting instructor, nodded.
He was certain they were the ones who would survive to complete the training, as long as nothing went terribly wrong.
After watching for a moment, the hunting instructor spoke.
“There were five who received bonus points, weren't there? I don't see one of them.”
“You're right. Mir Giant is missing.”
“Giant… as in the giant race?”
“That would be correct.”
“That's odd. I haven't seen any trainees in this batch who look like they belong to the giant race.”
True to their name, giants possessed a basic physique several times larger than that of humans.
This meant they should be easy to spot anywhere on the battlefield, yet no such figure appeared on the screen.
Then, the hunting instructor pointed to a spot on the screen.
“That trainee there.”
“Hmm…”
The survival instructor narrowed his eyes and said,
“…She’s quite small for a giant.”
The girl with the remarkably petite frame was, in fact, incredibly small even without being compared to a giant.
“A half-breed?”
“Not to my knowledge. On the contrary, she inherited the blood of the greatest giant.”
“The greatest giant? Are you perhaps referring to the frost giant Ymir?”
“Indeed.”
“Ah. So that’s why her name is Mir.”
The hunting instructor nodded.
“Her personal file briefly mentioned her circumstances. In short, she's a mutation. Despite her appearance, her physical strength is said to surpass that of most giants.”
“Hmm. But why is she just standing there like that?”
Mir Giant stood frozen, unable to move readily.
This was even as the other trainees, who had also been stiff at first, were beginning to loosen up.
“She must be the type who can’t use her strength in a real fight.”
On the plains, that was the easiest type to get killed.
There was nothing more regrettable than the death of a talented individual.
The hunting instructor's heart grew a little heavy, but he couldn't offer any help.
Not even if Mir were to die today.
‘…If she survives until tonight.’
Then he would spare no effort in providing the help and training needed to overcome that weakness.
The hunting instructor scanned the screen once more.
He was looking for the one trainee who had caught his attention the most in this training camp.
Recalling his spar with that audacious brat, the hunting instructor's thick lips twitched.
He was the one who had gradually adapted to his martial arts during their fight, even attempting to absorb them.
If he were taught more systematically and consistently…
The martial arts that the hunting instructor had created himself.
He could be the only talent capable of carrying on its legacy.
‘Does that mean I would officially take on a disciple?’
The hunting instructor, along with the sword instructor, was famous for being a grand master teacher who never took disciples.
But strangely, the thought of Ruan as his disciple didn't seem so bad.
“…By the way, are we still applying that rule as is?”
The survival instructor glanced over at someone.
All eyes focused on the martial arts instructor, who had been standing quietly until now.
“Even if it's a reward, giving that much authority to a mere trainee… Don’t you think it’s a bit excessive?”
“Wasn't that matter already settled?”
“…”
The martial arts instructor replied in a gentle voice, but strictly speaking, it wasn't settled by everyone.
There were eight grand master teachers participating in this training camp, and three of them had opposed it.
Of course, the important thing was that the other five had agreed.
‘If only Kaljak had been here.’
The survival instructor shook his head.
It wasn't the first or second time the martial arts instructor had acted on his own, but his behavior had been getting progressively worse lately.
This was because the Sword Master Teacher, the only one who could keep him in check, was absent.
The martial arts instructor smiled faintly and said,
“Enough with the chatter. Let's focus now. From this point on, we must observe all the trainees closely and assign them scores.”
* * *
I was glad I brought the Seven Sins Sword.
Thanks to it, I got splattered with relatively less of the monsters’ filthy bodily fluids.
I brandished my sword and rampaged about, feeling like I had returned to my mercenary days for the first time in a while.
At first, I considered mimicking the Martial God's Galaxy Sword, but it wasn't a martial art I could easily execute in a real fight at my current level, so I held off.
Splat!
During the slaughter, some of a centipede's blood splattered on my face, and I almost wiped it off reflexively.
Instead, I took another step forward, swung my sword again, and cut down the enemies around me.
Just like the swordsmanship the Iron-Blooded Duke had shown me in the subspace, I eliminated every trivial action and focused all my thought processes solely on attacking.
This was surprisingly harder than it looked.
After all, unexpected situations constantly arise in battle, and maintaining consistency through all of them is no easy feat.
But I silently persisted with only attacking.
I was deliberately fighting in a different style than usual, which was also the reason I insisted on using the Seven Sins Sword.
Since the Blessing Ceremony, I had only used my fists, so I thought fighting differently might give me a clue about the Blessing I received, but…
‘I don't really feel any different.’
Truthfully, it wouldn't be frustrating not to have a Blessing at this point, but since its nature was unknown, it bothered me.
They say some Blessings only activate in special moments, but usually, one is supposed to instinctively know when that ‘special moment’ is…
I had no inkling whatsoever.
Glancing around, I saw that many of the trainees were already actively using their Blessings in combat.
Their faces still showed some bewilderment, but they looked as if they had definitely figured out how to use them.
‘Did the mirror display something wrong?’
As I was having this absurd thought, the number of young centipedes had been cut in half.
It didn't look like any trainees had died.
I had expected that much, but it was surprising that there weren't even any seriously injured ones.
The descendants of heroes, indeed.
They were adapting faster than I thought.
The ones who survive this battle today will probably become at least twice as strong.
Grrrrrr-!
Just then, the giant centipede let out a bizarre roar and began to crawl across the ground at high speed.
Its body was smaller than the Sapphire Snake I had faced last time, but because of that, it was nimbler than it looked.
In any case, it wasn't a small creature overall, so its crawling alone gouged out chunks of the ground and sent stone fragments flying everywhere.
“Block it—!”
One of the trainees shouted courageously and charged toward the centipede.
‘That idiot…’
Did killing the young ones so easily make him careless?
The result of failing to realize the difference in level with his opponent was tragic.
The moment he collided with the centipede's body, he was sent flying with a sickening crunch.
Thump! The trainee slammed into a tree with a loud noise. I approached to check his condition.
To be honest, I expected him to be dead with every bone in his body turned to dust, but he was in better shape than I thought.
Of course, he had broken bones and was bleeding profusely, but at least he was alive.
‘Looks like he received a Blessing that increases his durability.’
Then I can be a little rough with him, right?
I picked up the trainee and tossed him toward a bush where there were no young centipedes.
“Aaaaaah—!”
At that moment, someone let out a piercing scream.
I thought someone was finally starting to run away, but the direction of the sound was strange.
A pint-sized trainee was screaming as she ran toward the centipede.
It was a contradictory scene: she was screaming as if fleeing for her life, yet her body was charging forward.
‘What's with her?’
While I stood there dumbfounded, the giant centipede twisted its body and swatted the little girl with its huge tail.
The surprising scene came next.
The tiny girl blocked the centipede's tail strike head-on.
“Oh…”
A Blessing?
There was no sign of it.
A moment later, I realized she had blocked the giant centipede's attack with pure physical ability.
Is that even possible?
Not only would it be difficult for me in my current state, but even the hunting instructor, with his far superior physique, would struggle to counter the centipede's attack bare-handed.
Looking again at the source of the scream, I recognized her as one of the standout talents in this training camp.
The one who had placed in the top five in the hunting instructor's running test.
Her name was Mir Giant, wasn't it?
I remembered her because of her bouncy pigtails.
‘Giant? Ah. So she was from the giant race.’
That would explain her ridiculous physical abilities.
But her response afterward was terrible.
Mir, who had brilliantly blocked the tail, completely lost her composure and began attacking recklessly, quickly getting surrounded by a swarm of centipedes.
At this rate, she could become the first casualty, but…
It was then.
[That giant…]
The Martial God, who had been asleep, spoke for the first time in a while.
‘What is it?’
[Successor, you must save that giant.]
‘I was planning to, but why the sudden interest after sleeping so soundly…?’
[You are aware of what kind of sword the Seven Sins Sword is, are you not?]
I nodded inwardly.
It was the legendary sword the Nameless King used to unite the seven races in the past.
[Do you know which races the Nameless King united at that time?]
‘My memory is hazy.’
[Humans, dwarves, elves, beastkin, dragons, spirits, and giants.]
‘Don't tell me…’
The Martial God said,
[The one defeated by the Nameless King back then was the frost giant Ymir. That girl is undoubtedly his descendant.]
‘Hmm…’
[You must save her. Her help will be indispensable if you are to one day unleash the Seven Sins Sword…]
‘How do I unleash it?’
[…]
‘Hello?’
[…]
The Martial God gave no answer, as if he had fallen back asleep.
Seriously.
He just says what he wants and disappears, is that it?
I clicked my tongue inwardly and began cutting down the young centipedes surrounding Mir with the Seven Sins Sword.
I was creating an escape route for her.
“Hey. Come this way.”
But Mir, as if she couldn't hear my voice, pushed forward again.
Does she want to die?
I reflexively reached for her shoulder, but my foot caught on something.
I didn't know why it was lying here, but it was a rope.
Someone's weapon?
Anyway, this was perfect.
I picked up the rope and decided to throw it to wrap around Mir's body.
Just like how I had been caught by chains once.
“Ugh!”
“Oops.”
But I accidentally wrapped it tightly around her head instead of her body.
‘A proficiency issue…’
Of course, there was no time to undo and re-wrap it, and leaving her there risked her being overwhelmed by the swarm of young centipedes, so I pulled forcefully.
Mir flailed her arms and legs and thrashed about, but she was still steadily dragged toward me.
“I-I can't see…! I can't see anything…! Could this be Jötunheimr…?”
That's because your eyes are covered.
Of course, since she was a giant, I decided to generously overlook the matter of her slightly lower intelligence.
I reeled Mir in close and then unwrapped the rope.
Her vision restored, Mir jumped back and distanced herself from me.
“You’re the blond Bednicker…?”
The blond Bednicker?
Ah. Is that to distinguish me from Hector?
“What is the meaning of this?”
I tossed the rope to the ground and retorted.
“That's not the right question.”
“What?”
“When someone saves you, you're supposed to start by saying thank you.”
“You call that saving me?”
“What, do you think I was attacking you?”
“Nonsense! Those pathetic centipedes are no match for me!”
She wasn't wrong, but she wasn't right either.
Looking at her up close, her condition was not normal.
Her whole body was trembling like a leaf, and her face was pale. Her pupils were shaking, and she seemed psychologically unstable.
In my personal diagnosis, if she had kept fighting in that state, she wouldn't have survived the night.
“I appreciate the help, but… don't interfere again! I… I have to prove that I'm a warrior!”
With that, Mir turned and ran toward the giant centipede again.
I stared intently at her retreating back, then struck the back of her head with the pommel of the Seven Sins Sword.
Thwack!
Struck on the back of the head, Mir collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thud.
I easily retrieved the fallen Mir and tossed her next to the first unconscious trainee.
“Persuasion is a pain, but a fist is fast.”
Another victory for my Master's maxim today.
“What are you doing?”
A low voice called out.
I looked up and saw a figure standing ominously on a tree branch.
“Rescue work.”
“Why.”
“They're too young to die now.”
“…”
Charon stared at me with an expressionless face, then spat out,
“So you were a hypocrite.”
What's he talking about?
I looked up again, but Charon was already gone.
I wanted to chase him down and smack him on the back of the head, but I decided to focus on the task at hand.
I went through and filtered out the ones who were already unconscious or looked like they were about to die.
After about twenty minutes of this, only those who could pull their own weight remained on the battlefield.
At that point, I quit the out-of-character rescue work and rejoined the centipede subjugation.
Just as I approached a nearby centipede and was about to swing my sword.
Twang—! An arrow flew from somewhere and pierced straight through the centipede.
The Blessing-infused arrow blew the centipede's head clean off with a destructive force greater than a cannonball.
I dodged the messy remains of the monster and looked for another one.
Just as I was about to run toward some nearby plant-like monsters.
Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!
Arrows came flying again.
They weren't as destructive as the last one, but there were many of them.
The volley of arrows fell like a downpour, and the monsters collapsed in an instant, riddled with holes.
‘…’
I felt a sense of unease but didn't show it and ran toward the next monster.
But this time, too, the monster I was targeting was pierced by an arrow.
Now I was sure.
Someone was deliberately intercepting the monsters I was targeting.
And without needing to identify them, I had a good idea who it was.
“Hey.”
I looked at the nearby tree.
Seeing the person standing on its branch, I asked.
“You, what are you doing?”
Charon nocked an arrow and replied.
“This is my prey. Don't touch it.”
“What?”
“It means you should shut up and stay out of the way, Ruan Bednicker.”