Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: What Is This? It's Scary. (7)
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# 15
2. What the heck is this? It's scary. (7)
Twelve trials.
With the thought that Heracles had received twelve labors, I created twelve rooms in the training cave. I even chose a cave for the training ground because it felt like something out of a martial arts novel!
Of course, the content wasn't half-baked.
I put in a lot of effort based on experiences from my past and present lives.
Starting with the first room of arrows, the initial five rooms recreated scenarios that could happen on the battlefield. The next five rooms were designed to dull the senses before imposing trials.
I tested them myself, and the ninth room, where all five senses go numb, was incredibly tough.
In pitch-black darkness with no sensations at all, it felt like I had died and become a ghost.
Even I, who resists all sorts of illusion magic and curses, fell victim to it, so it's not something you can block just by having mana.
To counter those who rely on mana for defense, I spared no expense on paralysis poisons, hallucinogens, and more!
Of course, if every room was hardcore difficulty, the kids would struggle.
Their motivation would drop too.
So, to show a bit of mercy as an instructor, I made the eleventh room a rest area before entering the twelfth.
Why? Because the twelfth is truly dangerous.
Honestly, I didn't make it.
The twelfth room is the work of past graduates. It started as a touching project where I told my first disciples to prepare something for their juniors!
But those damn disciples corrupted it into a malicious space filled with thoughts like, "You try getting screwed over too!"
That's why even when people complain while going through it, the wicked tradition never dies.
Anyway, over two or three generations, it's evolved with graduates removing their old攻略 methods and adding new traps, along with various facility upgrades.
Especially, two lunatics from the previous batch even came back after getting their first paycheck to add summoning magic circles.
Crazy bastards.
Including trainee training—no, even soldier or knight training—this is probably the only facility on the continent, no, the entire empire or organization where you can go toe-to-toe with demons!
That's why it was originally planned for at least mid-next year...
But No. 1000 wants to get stronger, so I specially opened it for her to grow on her own.
Not because I'm lazy or anything.
...Really!
Oh right, tomorrow or so, I should toss the other kids in there too.
Good things are meant to be shared, right? If one peer is suffering, I can't just leave the others out. Hmm... nice. Thinking about it, this is perfect?
It'll take at least a year to clear that place, so I won't have to worry about my funds drying up in the meantime.
This is flawless!
Even the last batch, called the strongest in the organization, took nearly a year to pass through, and they had more than twice the numbers of last year's group, which still took that long.
No way three kids can quickly conquer all the trials I made!
Hahaha! I'll protect my own wallet! Come on, you rookies! I'll show you the hell of the mortal world!
...I had those happy thoughts back then too. Damn it!
#11 Their Circumstances: The Secret to the Future Hero's Vitality (1)
The next day after crying out in agony from the pain. New training awaited.
"...This place?"
Even after getting beaten so badly and suffering so much, my body felt perfectly fine.
No, beyond fine—when I woke up in the morning, I even felt refreshingly good for the first time in ages.
Thanks to that, I had no choice but to attend today's training without skipping.
The new training ground we arrived at was inside a warehouse I didn't even know existed, beyond a suspicious old door—a cave that looked like no one in their right mind would enter.
"Come to think of it, you said she called you here personally yesterday."
No. 17 asked No. 1000, who nodded slightly in affirmation.
"What kind of place is it?"
No. 1000 tilted her head a bit. Then she groaned for a moment before smiling brightly and saying,
"No. 1, open the door."
"Huh? The door?"
I let out a small sigh as No. 1000 nodded, then opened the door as instructed...
Pik!
"Guh?"
What the hell! A preemptive strike right from the start! No, before that!
"Hey, No. 1000. You knew about this?!"
"Yeah. It's that kind of place."
Why are you smiling so proudly! One of your peers almost got shot and died screaming just now! Because of your instructions!
"Hey, wait a sec. That's too much! Why make me do it? No. 17 asked, not me."
"...Because you're a guy?"
Damn it! "Because you're a guy"!
What era is this! The Sword Saint, one of the strongest with a sword, is a woman!
Ah, but I got nothing to say.
Blatantly putting a woman in front goes against my pride as a direct heir of a grand ducal family and as a man...
"Ugh... Fine. I'll take the lead. But even in a place like this, there must be dangerous sections."
Pride doesn't pay the bills—no, it's only taken them from me so far—but I still had some pride left. I need to ditch it quick, but it won't go away.
"Yeah. Open the door and take one step forward."
One step? Like the one I'm about to take right now?
"Arrows fire silently from below."
Tak.
"Crazy?!"
The moment my foot touched down, I heard the sound and fell backward, dodging the arrow.
I really almost died!
"Crazy, why do silent arrows fire without sound?! And tell me faster! I nearly died for real?!"
Right then, as No. 1000's sword flew toward my head, I ducked immediately. Crazy woman!
Now you're just trying to kill me! What did I do wrong! Damn it, is it food? Are you eliminating competition now?!
Tang! Tang! Tang!
But right after the sound of something clashing with her sword, something poked my head.
Yeah. Arrows. If I'd stayed put, my head would've had holes.
And silent ones again?
We've barely stepped one foot inside the entrance.
But silent from the start? Isn't that too much? The first arrow when I opened the door was the only noisy one, right?
"Hey, No. 1000. Be honest. How far did you get yesterday?"
"About... 10 meters?"
Ah, damn.
What kind of person is the instructor to make something like this?
No, did the organization make it? Probably. Even an instructor wouldn't start with this difficulty if they were human?
This is why evil organizations are no good! Even the girl who casually dodged an imperial magic bombardment like it was nothing only made it 10 meters. How are we supposed to pass this!
...Or so I thought.
"Three checkpoints left..."
Now, three months later, only three checkpoints remain. Damn it. We can do this.
Why does it work?
Leaning against the wall in pitch-black darkness where I couldn't see an inch ahead, I reflected on the past days, but I couldn't understand it.
We spent nearly a month in the first arrow room. The 100-meter-long room was like hell.
Arrows fly from everywhere. All directions, overhead, from below the ground. Even diagonally. Except for vital spots, I felt like every part of me had been hit at least once.
No, it wasn't a feeling.
Even more amazing: getting hit doesn't pierce through.
Given the speed—even No. 1000 struggles to dodge—I thought it'd go right through, but actually, only the very short arrowhead digs in precisely, and pulling it out just causes a bit of bleeding. Nothing more.
Underestimate them, though, and you're in big trouble because each arrow has different poisons.
That was truly terrifying, and it made it clear who made this cave.
We got evil organization-style training at the junior academy, but this malice is definitely that wicked instructor's doing.
Meaning, the poisons used were incredibly diverse.
If it were just common paralysis or long-term lethal ones, I wouldn't complain.
But... poisons that induce vomiting, diarrhea, and such excretory activities!
This isn't human work! Even demons wouldn't do this. It's a trap brimming with the instructor's malice beyond demonic!
No matter how I shut my mouth, or how stunning No. 17 looks from outside, or how cute No. 1000 is if she stays quiet—still, come on.
Even the most beautiful beauties lose their appeal when vomiting or squelching from afar! A lot!
No, before that, I'm in danger too! Really a lot! No. 17 at least summons that huge great demon as a human—no, demonic wall—to handle things, but I have to focus every nerve, hold it in, and retreat!
I nearly soiled my pants. A grand ducal heir soiling his pants!
I even thought it'd be better to die from instant-kill venom—no pain!
If traps didn't activate on the way back, I'd seriously report the instructor to the empire as the reincarnation of a legendary evil god.
While No. 17 and I suffered through all that, No. 1000 was immune to almost all the arrow poisons. And that led to complacency?
At the point where the door to the second checkpoint was visible, No. 1000 got grazed by an arrow, her face suddenly turned pale, and she started vomiting.
Seeing the morning meal again with her own eyes, No. 1000 looked wronged, and No. 17 and I felt a terror that we might lose something vital—not life, but human dignity.
Even No. 1000 succumbs to it—the ultimate poison that instantly shatters human dignity!
I want to run! But that demonic instructor won't allow escape.
Only one way: surpass our limits to pass.
And in the end, we did break through our limits.
At the finale, with nearly a hundred arrows incoming, I even thought, "Is this really the end?"
Unlike the silent ones before, arrows whistled from all sides, while silent ones came from blind spots, blacking out my vision.
Maybe because I'd gotten used to silent arrows, when I heard the whistling, all my focus went there, nearly getting me hit by silent ones.
The moment I sensed a silent arrow, time seemed to stop, and I instinctively felt all the mana in this space.
Then I realized. This... is bullshit!
What the hell is this insane mana density?
The launchers firing arrows used countless magic stones.
I'd guessed magic made them silent and adjust penetration to non-lethal, but feeling the mana revealed an absurd amount of magic stones in this space.
And this is just the first checkpoint!
What kind of hell awaits ahead!
But when we entered the second and third checkpoints, the difficulty was lower than expected.
Honestly, compared to the first arrow room, the checkpoints themselves ramped up, but the first's real hell was those dignity-shattering poisons. Later ones lacked them, so we broke through smoothly.
Iron Gate, Earth Gate, Trap Gate, Demon Gate—only half a month total.
Versus a month for the first arrow gate, super fast.
Especially the last Demon Gate wasn't that hard compared to the old magic bombardment—why was it fifth? Baffling.
But I understood the moment we entered the sixth.
Of course. It's that instructor. Dropping our guard!
"Mana isn't gathering well."
Grinding her teeth, No. 17 muttered irritably.
Her lips visibly had a trickle of blood.
Since the first gate, she'd started biting her lip under stress.
"And... I can't see well."
No. 1000 was looking around excessively.
Her instincts had helped us through prior gates—sixth sense over five senses, pure instinct detecting danger. Her glancing around meant something tripped it.
But black mist limited visibility to just them nearby.
I tried sensing mana around me like in the first gate, but the mist blocked it.
Artificial fog from magic. Mana detection gets cut off.
Plus, as No. 17 said, mana doesn't gather in this room.
Purely our own mana, but we'd used a ton in the prior Magic Gate, so we're low.
Magic Gate was easy compared to experience, but mana-draining like no other.
Hit a wall again.
How did the instructor expect us to pass this room?!
"Just leave the room, recover, and come back?"
"Ah..."
"Yeah?"
And that day, 10 minutes later.
Mist Gate cleared.