Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Mord, who had passed through the elementary division in less than ten minutes the day before, headed to the intermediate division today.
And just like in the elementary division, he demonstrated force against those who approached him trying to size up rankings.
He stamped his foot on the ground once, shaking the surroundings as if an earthquake had occurred, and threw a single punch that produced a loud explosion.
Seeing this, the intermediate trainees who had been approaching with their shoulders squared quickly lowered their gaze, then changed direction as if they had business elsewhere from the beginning and moved far away.
Among them were many who had already mastered body strengthening, the next stage after sensory enhancement.
However, upon witnessing Mord’s display of force, they realized that no matter how much they enhanced their bodies, challenging Mord would be no different from striking a rock with an egg.
‘Still, this took about thirty minutes here.’
Afterward, Mord learned the theory of body strengthening from the instructor who appeared, and it took him only seven minutes to manifest it.
Naturally, everyone was shocked. Wasn’t this progression absurd?
But what came next was even more astonishing.
Body strengthening was divided into two stages.
The first stage was a technique to harden the body, which Mord had mastered in just seven minutes.
It allowed one to withstand blows from a club without pain and prevented bones from breaking even if struck by a carriage.
This resulted in increased physical strength, but that was merely a secondary effect.
The second stage allowed enhancement of physical ability itself.
It enabled one to exert monstrous strength far beyond the limits achievable by merely training muscles.
Mastering this stage was the requirement for promotion to the high division…
‘This is easy as well.’
It took Mord less than twenty minutes to meet that condition completely after mastering the first stage.
“This is insane. How is that even possible?”
“Even with the bloodline of Bernas…”
“Was he able to do all of this from the start? Maybe he pretended he couldn’t just to mess with us and entered here?”
The trainees murmured in shock and disbelief.
From their perspective, it was understandable.
The instructor also looked at Mord with suspicious eyes.
“Thank you. From tomorrow, should I move on to the high division? Or…?”
However, Mord did not attempt to explain the truth to them.
Feigning indifference, he briefly scanned the trainees and asked the instructor what he needed to ask.
“Shall I take the consecutive sparring test as you mentioned?”
To advance from elementary, intermediate, and high divisions, one had to take promotion exams.
Originally, Mord should have taken a promotion exam in the elementary division as well, but the instructor had promoted him at their discretion since the situation did not warrant making him take the exam.
“…No, that won’t be necessary. I will grant promotion at my discretion. You may move to the high division starting tomorrow.”
The intermediate division instructor made the same decision.
The promotion exam in the intermediate division required winning consecutive sparring matches against ten trainees selected by the instructor.
However, judging by the movements Mord displayed after mastering the second stage of body strengthening, there was no meaning in conducting such a test.
Even if it weren’t ten consecutive sparring matches, he could likely defeat all ten at once in an instant!
Still, the instructor could not resist the urge to say one thing.
“You’ve made it this far easily thanks to the power of your inherited bloodline, but the high division will not be so simple. There are those there who share the same lineage as you, and above all, you will have to fill in things you should have learned but never did in order to graduate.”
“Things I should have learned but never did? What are those?”
“A great many. First of all, combat techniques.”
“……”
Mord fell silent.
Now that he thought about it, he had not learned a single combat technique throughout the elementary and intermediate divisions.
“And swordsmanship, spear techniques, and horsemanship that should have been learned up through the intermediate division, as well as combined tactics and combat theory, and so on.”
“……”
“In the intermediate division, you can move up by simply building up raw strength, but obtaining the qualification of a warrior in the high division is not so easy. Do your best.”
At the instructor’s words, accompanied by a snort and a pat on the shoulder, Mord had no response to give.
In this way, Mord set a new record for the fastest advancement in the history of the Bernas Duke House’s warrior training curriculum, reaching the high division.
But the real ordeal began from here.
Compared to Earth’s education system, it was as if one had entered high school without ever learning even language or arithmetic in elementary school. From here on, difficult times were sure to begin.
‘…Will it really be that way?’
At this point, Mord was beginning to doubt whether the high division would truly become a trial for him.
Naturally, the high division had the smallest number of trainees in the Bernas warrior training curriculum.
This was because many were filtered out through the elementary and intermediate divisions.
While the elementary division had over a thousand trainees, the intermediate division had less than half of that.
And the high division had less than one-third of the intermediate division, with only about 150 trainees.
Only those who had undergone rigorous training from a young age, and among them those who had achieved excellent results, made it to the high division.
Naturally, the high division trainees were very proud.
Into such a high division, a new trainee appeared.
Mord was a muscular man over 190 centimeters tall, far too large to be called a boy.
‘This place is somewhat better.’
Mord scanned the high division trainees whose attention was focused on him.
The elementary division had been full of very young children, and even those considered “old” in the intermediate division were only in their mid-teens.
But the high division had a relatively older average age. Among them were even young adults over twenty, which put Mord slightly at ease.
‘And…’
The high division was divided into three classes, and the place Mord had entered was Class 2.
In Class 2, there were two individuals who immediately caught Mord’s attention upon entering.
Both were noticeably larger than the other trainees.
‘Which one is it?’
According to the servant who guided him here, there were two people of Bernas lineage in the high division, and one of them was in Class 2.
If that was true, one of those two must be of Bernas blood. Members of Bernas lineage were known for their large, giant-like physiques.
“Are you the one?”
The one who asked that bluntly was the larger of the two.
He was a muscular giant, slightly shorter than Mord but over 180 centimeters tall.
Judging by his face, he appeared older than Mord, and his expression was quite fierce.
“What are you?”
Instead of answering, Mord asked that in return.
The other laughed as if amused.
“I’m Fian. The class leader of Class 2. Like you, I carry the bloodline of Bernas.”
“I see. I’m Mord. I was told I would be assigned here starting today. Not sure how long I’ll stay.”
“I’ve heard the rumors. They say you passed through the elementary and intermediate divisions in two days?”
“No, that’s not true.”
“Hmm?”
To the puzzled Fian, Mord clarified the truth.
“Ten minutes in the elementary division, thirty minutes in the intermediate division. Two days? It never took that long.”
“……”
Fian blinked a few times, then let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah! You’re a funny one.”
“That wasn’t meant to be funny. I just wanted you to know the facts.”
“Ah, well, I understand one thing clearly.”
“What is it?”
“That you’re looking down on this place.”
Fian grinned, baring his teeth. At the same time, a powerful pressure descended.
For an ordinary person, it would have been suffocating. As if a hungry predator were staring him down, Fian’s presence expanded and filled Mord’s field of vision.
But Mord did not even twitch an eyebrow.
“You’ve completely misread the situation.”
“What did you say?”
“I have never looked down on this place. If I had, I wouldn’t have come at all. But…”
Mord cracked his neck with a loud pop and continued.
“You look a bit ridiculous. Did you think I would tremble in fear just because you pressured me with some cheap tricks?”
Mord had seen through the fact that Fian’s pressure was a technique based on martial aura.
Because he had encountered similar techniques many times in Sedogma.
“Cheap tricks?”
Fian’s brows twitched. He was clearly irritated.
“Yeah, cheap tricks. Why is it that everyone here acts the same way, whether in the elementary, intermediate, or high division? Every time a new person arrives, some fool who thinks he’s strong starts trying to establish hierarchy and assert dominance… do you think you’ll die if you don’t do that?”
“You little—this is getting on my nerves.”
Fian stepped forward. With each step closer, the pressure weighing down on Mord intensified.
“Now that you’ve awakened your divine blood, does the world look like a joke to you? You’re not the only one here with Bernas blood.”
“You think I didn’t know that? You’re noisy. If you’re going to fight, then fight. If not, stay out of the way.”
At Mord’s provocation, Fian grinned.
Thud!
The next moment, a fierce collision sound echoed like rocks crashing together.
Fian charged forward and threw a punch…
“Uh?”
“Class leader?”
The watching trainees were stunned.
Fian, who had taken the initiative, was struck by Mord’s counter and collapsed on the spot.
‘W-what?’
Fian had no idea what had just happened to him.
Just moments ago, he had enhanced his senses and physical abilities, charged in, and thrown a punch at Mord’s face. Mord had not dodged or defended at all, like a novice who had never learned martial arts.
So why was Fian now sitting on the ground with his hand braced against it?
Drip… drip…
Not only that, but blood began dripping from Fian’s nose, staining the ground.
“Tch—!”
As soon as Fian saw the blood, he snapped his head up in anger.
Crash!
Mord delivered a low front kick to Fian’s chest, sending him flying.
Fian, flung like a ball, crashed into the ground and rolled several times.
“……”
Silence fell.
The outcome was decided in just two blows.
Yet Mord himself felt perplexed.
‘This is too weak. I thought Bernas bloodlines in the high division would at least be somewhat capable.’
From the point where he had overwhelmed the certified warrior Vince during the test, he already knew he was strong.
In fact, at that time, if he had been serious, killing Vince would have been no challenge. Honestly, even if Vince had fought him with a sword as a warrior, Mord believed the result would have been the same.
And two days later, after mastering the basics of martial aura required by the elementary and intermediate divisions, Mord had clearly become even stronger.
‘Even by my standards, this growth is absurdly fast. Maybe Mord was originally capable of this instinctively?’
Considering what the original Mord had done after awakening his divine blood while testing his power, such a thought arose.
That one strike that overturned a river over twenty meters wide.
That was not something that could be achieved with physical strength and abundant mana alone.
It required the control of mana demanded by martial aura techniques.
Thus, it was possible that the original Mord had been instinctively manipulating mana to manifest the basics of martial aura.
If this hypothesis was correct, then Eom Tae-seong, after reincarnating as Mord, was weaker than the original version that existed before.
‘It seems unbelievable, but Sedogma is full of absurdly overpowered characters with outrageous settings.’