The Old Story
In the Cradle, time seemed to pass at an astonishing speed.
It wasn’t just a saying, either. When I snapped out of it, this place already felt like it was three weeks in.
Aside from the occasional student who got too violent or the professors who went completely off the rails, the Cradle was starting to feel a lot like any other normal school.
Am I actually adapting here?
I set aside the question of whether adapting well was truly a good thing, and turned my attention elsewhere.
The petty rivalries among the male students had pretty much run their course.
All thanks to the professors treating those bloody fistfights between students like seasoning for their youth.
How else had the culture of betting on the outcomes of those fights between classmates even formed?
One professor with a monkey tail on his rear end had actually participated in the betting himself and come looking for the loser with a face like thunder.
He looked like someone who could have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize—or the Darwin Award—without any exaggeration.
Anyway.
In my own Class 1, some guy named Bogar had taken the top spot, but the bastard wasn’t satisfied with that.
He’d been steadily extending his reach, threatening students from other classes, trying to cement his position.
But that ambition ended in utter failure…
CRASH!
During a break, the lecture hall was still noisy as hell.
The door burst open, something flew through the air, and it slammed to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Hah—!”
The students of Class 1 couldn’t hold back their surprise.
Because the writhing mass on the floor was none other than the head-beaten Bogar, already a bloody mess.
“Since it’s from your class, I’m leaving it here.”
The real culprit who had turned Bogar’s face into a bloody pulp like some disgusting slime monster.
He was someone whose face I knew all too well.
That handsome guy from the entrance ceremony…?
He didn’t even bother looking back and walked out without a trace. Class 1 was in absolute chaos.
I was still wondering what the hell was going on when Yuli came over.
Now that she was the class representative, she’d become the main source of gossip in the student body.
“Apparently Bogar tried to hit on some girl from Class 2, and when it didn’t work out he threw a tantrum or something.”
“So?”
“The guy who just showed up stepped in. His name was… Gail, I think? Anyway, Bogar couldn’t fight back at all and just got beaten down.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen a single bruise on the face of that handsome guy from earlier.
Bogar was infamous for his brutish strength. He was so powerful that just one fight could send his opponent flying in every direction.
That guy got beaten down like that…?
A handsome guy who could also fight? The world was really unfair sometimes.
Based on everything Bogar usually did, it was kind of expected, but Gail was different.
Just his existence alone made him the enemy of every guy in the Cradle.
Most demon girls were drawn to strong males. Not all of them, but the majority.
Already the guy had been turning heads with his looks alone, so it was obvious that Gail’s popularity among the female students was about to skyrocket.
What if my childhood friend Casher ends up in the same class as that guy…?
I started to worry that maybe he’d started liking her.
That could never happen.
We walked home together every day, but I made a firm promise to myself to see her much more often from now on.
***
“When the Cradle was first built, the educational purpose was completely different from what it is now.”
Two hours of combat and training classes every single day.
After one hour of basic fitness, the exhausted students were getting an old story from Professor Meibao.
“You all probably already know this, but back then the Demon Realm was crawling with demonic beasts. You’d wake up and sometimes your whole neighborhood would be gone by morning.”
Demonic beasts were monsters that ate even demon kind.
I’d read a few books about them back in my old life.
In my previous existence, they were like the tigers of the Joseon Dynasty.
Ordinary demons couldn’t fight them, and the beasts would just appear whenever they felt like it, like stray cats.
How chaotic the Demon Realm must have been back then!
“It was during one of those chaotic periods that Lord Dalkran took his seat on the throne of the Demon King and built the Cradle to train elite soldiers to wipe out the demonic beasts.”
In the beginning, the Cradle was nothing more than a training ground for powerful combat weapons.
Once the first graduates started joining the Demon King’s army, the infamous demonic beasts began to be hunted one by one.
They had definitely served their purpose.
“Thanks to the long-running demonic beast extermination project started by our seniors, the Demon Realm has become peaceful in a way that’s beyond comparison to the past.”
After finishing her story, Professor Meibao looked around at the students and spoke.
“So why did I tell you this? You—answer.”
“Uh… I don’t really know?”
The student pointed at blinked and couldn’t answer, so Professor Meibao let out a dramatic sigh and furrowed her brows.
“You don’t know? You’re supposed to wrack your brain and give some kind of answer!”
The scolded student lowered his head.
Now that I looked closer, he was the exact same guy who’d lost the bet and cost Professor Morgan money.
That must have been a coincidence…
No way the professor still held a grudge against students over something like that.
“Hmph. Pathetic loser. I knew the moment you collapsed from that weak punch.”
……No.
“I told you the old story so you’d remember that you must never lose your first love for the Cradle.”
Thanks to the demonic beast extermination project that had been going on for hundreds of years, the Demon Realm had become more peaceful than ever before.
Because of that, the Demon King’s army had gradually shrunk under the slogan of “elite refinement,” and the Cradle’s curriculum had changed with it.
“Professor Morgan’s liberal arts class is the perfect example. Back when I was your age, I had to crawl on the ground all day doing nothing but physical training and combat techniques. I drank more dirt than air.”
“But you guys? You have shorter classes and actual free time. The Cradle is truly advanced now!”
One male student raised his hand in response to Professor Meibao’s boastful words.
“Were you a graduate of the Cradle too, Professor?”
“That’s why I’m standing in front of you now, right?”
“What year were you in? From the way you’re talking, it has to be at least the 300s…”
“Go forward.”
The clueless guy was dragged to the front and made to do push-ups on the ground.
Professor Meibao sat down on his back.
“Keep doing push-ups until I say stop.”
Dragged by her cold voice, the guy started sweating profusely and began his exercises.
I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.
I should have asked first!
Demon kind aged slowly and lived long lives.
Of course Professor Meibao was much older than she looked, but her appearance was that of a stunning beauty in her late twenties, maybe early thirties at most.
And because she taught combat and training, she moved her body a lot, and her hips were perfect apple-shaped…
SWALLOW!
I heard swallows from all around me, so I wasn’t the only one thinking that.
“In the end, what I want to say is that no matter how peaceful the Demon Realm has become, this class is still important. Even if it’s been reduced a lot, demonic beasts are still out there, and once you graduate you’ll have to participate in extermination missions on a regular basis.”
Everyone, including me, nodded.
Students who received quality education at the Cradle, including monthly living expenses, were obligated to join the demonic beast extermination on a regular basis after graduation.
It was an obligation that came with the expensive education they’d received with the blood of other demons, and they had to sharpen their skills for it.
“That’s why we have a test next week.”
Professor Meibao smiled wickedly.
“I’ll tell you the contents when the time comes, but for the rest of the class, we’re doing sparring with Body Strengthening.”
“Dorn, shall we begin?”
“Sure.”
My sparring partner was my Troll friend Scott.
While the other male students were still deep in their own ranking battles, I’d been focusing on making friends as planned.
After three weeks, I’d made some good friends, including Scott.
“Easy on me?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry.”
Though Scott was a Troll, he was cowardly and timid, but he possessed absurd physical strength.
THUD!
“Wah—?!”
“Dorn! Are you okay?!”
Even a slight mistake in strength control during sparring could send my body flying like that.
Even though I’d mastered the mana manipulation technique early and had higher Body Strengthening proficiency than the other students, it still happened.
“…I told you to go easy.”
“Sorry, somehow…”
The difference in basic physical stats was simply too great.
But this one had been completely intentional.
I glared at Scott and said, “You only use full power when the professor is watching, right?”
“What?! That’s not it!”
Scott frantically waved his hands and denied it, but I was already certain.
“No it is! A second ago you were going easy, then the moment the professor looked over, you came at me with full power!”
This lecherous brat thought I really wouldn’t figure it out?
“U-uh, coincidence! I’m a Troll, so using strength control against an Imp is hard enough as it is…”
“Wow, you’re so cowardly you’re framing the weak Imp as the weak one?”
“It’s not framing—the Imps really are weak…”
“You dirty raceist! Shut your mouth and fight me again!”
I yelled that I’d settle the honor of the Imp race by fixing his brain.
A moment later.
THUD!
“Gah—!”
The honor of the weak Imp race had been completely trampled under the Troll’s overwhelming physical power.
“You suddenly rushed at me and I got surprised…”
Scott came over, helped me up, and gave an awkward smile.
What a disgusting guy…
While I was grumbling to myself, Professor Meibao approached.
“As expected, the Troll’s physical strength is truly impressive. Natural talent is something you can’t ignore.”
Scott scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed by the beautiful professor’s praise.
His mouth was practically watering.
But right after the sweet words came a cold criticism.
“The problem is that you only have raw power and lack any proficiency in Body Strengthening or combat techniques. If you’d properly learned what I taught, that weak Imp would have had his head burst from one punch.”
I cringed at the words from beside me.
Even a demon professor would use an example like that and be so cruel…
That poor Imp must be feeling awful.
“Remember this: relying only on raw strength will eventually leave you behind. And Dorn.”
“Yes?”
“You’re just too weak.”
“……”
“Eat more, train a lot, and build your body as much as possible. Your Body Strengthening and combat technique proficiency are already excellent when compared to the rest of the first-year students, so there’s nothing left to say.”
“……Understood.”
It hurt to hear that I was weak as a man, but the ending was still praise.
It was because my hardware was too bulky. My software was surprisingly decent.
After Professor Meibao left and went to the other students, Scott and I continued our sparring.
As if on cue, the moment she disappeared, the troll’s strength control became incredibly skilled.
Even though he’s a coward, he’s amazingly bold around women.
While I was cursing Scott in my head, the class finally ended.
After wiping down my sweat-soaked body, Goblin student Karib, whom I’d become friendly with in the Strengthening and Enchantment class, approached.
“…This class really doesn’t suit me.”
The small, weak-glassed Goblin looked utterly drained and deathly pale, as if he might collapse at any moment.
“It’s a complete waste of time. The physical ability differences between races are obvious… It would make more sense to learn something else during this slot.”
“But Professor Meibao said earlier that even if it’s shorter, this is still an essential class for the future…”
“Scott’s a Troll, so he can say that!”
Though Goblins and Trolls were both Greenskins, the physical difference was extreme.
“If it were me, I’d run the school with an autonomous system where students invested in what they were naturally talented at. That would help them far more in the future!”
Karib spoke as if he were spitting blood, but no single student could interfere with the Cradle’s curriculum.
I told Karib and Scott, “Let’s go eat.”