Disciples' First Trial: Laps and Levels

"Again."

"This is expensive, though..."

"Go buy more."

It had been five days since Yongba joined the training. I flicked away the deer meat he'd brought and flopped back down in my nest.

The taste was so-so... literally just barely passable. It wasn't seasoned at all, barely cooked, and there wasn't even much of it. If I were starving, I'd have eaten it... but nah. Right now, I was just a little peckish, not desperate enough to force this down.

Yongba grumbled as he trudged over to the sprawled-out meat and stuffed it into his subspace pocket.

"Dragons aren't picky eaters..."

"What kinda nonsense is that? Dragons are super picky about flavor."

I had no idea what delusions he had about dragons, but we were notoriously finicky. Take that one ancient tale: a massive dragon lived near a kingdom, and in exchange for protecting it, they had to prepare his meals. They had to raid their entire pantry just to satisfy his palate. It had to be enough to fill a dragon's belly, made with only the finest ingredients—that's why it was such a hassle.

I'd gone to tell him to chill out and lightly bonked his head. 'Tasted good, though.'

After chasing him off, I enjoyed those royal feasts for about three days. It was so delicious I almost understood why he'd nested there. But if I stayed longer, I'd end up like him, so I bailed quick.

Slurp.

"I-I'm not here to eat!"

"? Hurry up and prep, dummy."

"Prep the seasoning...?"

"Training dummy."

Thwack.

Yongba's head caved in a little.

＊

"Huff... huff... haaah..."

"I'm gonna die... Wait, why do I have to do 600...?"

"'Cause you use mana."

I looked down at my two apprentice dragon slayers, sprawled out on the ground like rags. Haring had barely finished her 300 laps and was on the verge of passing out. Yongba had done double that—600—and was gasping at the sky.

Unlike Haring, Yongba had mana, so running was easier for him. That's why I'd banned mana use. It should've evened the playing field... but

...hey.

Yeah?

How do you even turn mana off?

?

I mean, mana’s just passive. You can't really 'turn it off'...

The problem was, even after learning mana, they couldn't control its use themselves. What kinda nonsense was this? I figured it was just another one of the goddess's senile whims, so I doubled Yongba's laps ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instead.

I'd originally planned to suppress his mana forcibly with my power... but

Lazy.

Who has time to babysit that? Yongba wasn't that strong anyway—doubling the laps made conditions roughly equal.

"Alright, time for the next phase?"

"...For real?!"

"Yeah. Can't run forever."

"Ooooh!!"

They were supposed to do about ten times more, but whatever—these weren't proper heroes, just half-baked aspiring ones. This was good enough.

It's not like I'm taking this seriously anyway...

If they needed more, they'd train on their own eventually.

My words made the two, who'd been crawling like they were dying moments ago, leap to their feet. They shouted joyfully at the sky, but it was so damn loud I swung my staff.

Crack! Crack!

"Gyaah!"

"Holy crap, level 43... guh!"

"Shut up, idiots."

"Ehehe... Glory to the Little Flame Dragon! Glory! Glory!"

"Me too! So please, just drop the transformation once..."

"......"

Maybe I should just kick 'em out.

＊

"Whoa, insane..."

Haring stared at the system window in front of her eyes, unable to believe it. Level 32. 32. Right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when only the top 0.1% were breaking into the 30s and getting called 'rankers,' she'd hit 32.

Now she could strut around anywhere claiming 'I'm a ranker.' Plus, with all these titles boosting her, her raw stats were top-tier ranker level already. And if she cleared the next ones...?

"What if I clear up to the second...?"

Double the EXP from the first quest. Snag this, and ranking 1st was guaranteed.

"Heh heh heh... Me, number one...!"

How many likes would she get bragging on the Gallery? Even this level-up alone would spark massive envy—number one would be legendary.

Haring couldn't hide her glee as she started typing a brag post... when

"Haring."

"Yeah?"

"Got a sec to talk?"

Yongba approached with a super serious face. The quest had ended, and the Little Flame Dragon announced training resuming in three days before shooing them off. Haring was heading down the mountain.

I thought he'd gone elsewhere—why's he back?

"What's up? Oh, you wanna post a brag too? But I'm dropping mine first, so hold off a bit."

"No. Don't post it."

"...Why?"

Haring tilted her head, pen pausing on her Gallery brag (aka bait post). Was he trying to snipe first? But Yongba's face was dead serious.

"I'm level 43 right now."

"Heard earlier. Congrats! 43's gotta be top 100, right?"

"3rd."

"...Huh?"

"Third place."

Third? Not 100th, not 50th, not even 10th—third?

Haring finally got it.

"If word gets out that power-leveling like this is possible, the Gallery's the least of our worries. Pretty much every player will swarm Red Mountain."

"......"

"Right now, it's just hyped in the Prolazia Gallery and hasn't hit streams much. Reason being..."

"Everyone's in raids."

"Exactly."

Streams and top guilds were all obsessed with main quests and massive raids. Even Haring's own brother was so raid-focused he hadn't checked in at all.

But if it leaked that a few hundred nest laps gave massive EXP...?

"Top guilds will probably lock down Red Mountain itself, like they do high-level farms."

"...We got Nest Return, though."

"Useless if they camp the entrance."

It had a cooldown—no endless training anymore. Sure, would the Little Flame Dragon really let that slide? Questionable, but

She might.

A lazy, sleepy dragon might welcome players blocking for her. Rankers had better talent anyway—she might train them instead.

Haring fully grasped the gravity.

"For now, better to let the vibe be 'No way to tackle a high-level dragon, so focus on main quests.' We act like nothing's progressed."

"...Yeah, got it."

"Keep quest stuff secret. Just post occasional pics."

"Smart move. But you a brainiac or something?"

Didn't seem the type.

"......"

＊

"Yawwwn..."

Finally, some peaceful days. Haring and Yongba's spots were blissfully quiet. They'd be back tomorrow to make noise again, but once I trained 'em enough, they'd quiet down on their own.

Munch munch.

"Not bad, but..."

Chewing the massive jerky Yongba left behind made me hungrier somehow. No eyes on me, and he bought decent stuff without skimping, but it lacked Haring's wow factor.

"Huuuh... Hm?"

Rustle.

Noise at the nest entrance. Another visitor?

I peeked up, and in came a group of four guys and girls.

"This the place?"

"Ooh, real dragon!"

"Holy crap, epic."

"Little Flame Dragon! We brought offerings!"

Newbie merc outfits, fearless faces, weirdly upbeat vibes. Aspiring dragon slayers. Did they have some secret network? This was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ninth one, and fatigue was hitting hard.

They gonna keep coming?

A strong premonition of doom hit, but I'd already taken disciples, and chasing 'em off was too much hassle... when

"We brought drago-cookies too!"

"She gonna get 'drago-cookies'?"

"No clue? Community said she likes cookies, so we made 'em."

Cookies? Those black, round things? Didn't look like cookies, but they looked weirdly tasty...

Mm.

"...You guys wanna run laps too?"