Chapter 76
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Swordran Training Camp, Admission (4)
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Honestly, the Loud Swordsmanship Academy was nothing more than child's play to Roin.
Just kids messing around.
He'd rarely ever felt it was anything more than that.
Except for one time.
The only exception was when he'd been ambushed by Nut's tactical golems and gotten a tiny scratch on his faceother than that, Roin had never truly struggled there.
That said, it came with a downside.
"It's too boring."
He never felt any tension.
And in the long run, that wasn't good for Roin either.
Because you always needed to face crises, maintain a certain level of tension from them, so that when an even greater threat came later, you could respond properly.
Back when he was Rodri, he'd kept that sense sharp.
Enemies had always come charging at him, even when he was just sitting still.
But now? Nothing like that.
As the son of a fallen noble house, he wasn't in a position to face any real threats.
So when Luem mentioned that there were zero mid knights among last year's recruits, Roin's expectations shot up.
Maybe they could at least entertain him a little...
Meanwhile, Luem let out a hollow chuckle at Roin's words.
"As expected of you, Lord Roin."
"Is that praise or an insult?"
"How could I ever insult Lord Roin? Of course it's praise."
Insulting a noble as a commoner came with harsh punishments.
That's why Luem always had to watch his words around Roin.
Once everyone's identities had been verified.
The Swordran knights who would oversee the admission test began to appear.
Among them were faces Roin recognized.
"James, Daniel... and Milka's here too."
Back when he was active as Rodri, these guys had been fresh-faced rookies among the Swordran knights.
But now, they'd grown into proper knights holding up Swordran's backbone.
And Roin was about to end up under them.
What a twisted fate.
The one assigned as training captain was Swordran's senior knight, Siren.
The young female knight with short hair and a cold beauty climbed onto the platform and swept her gaze over the recruits awaiting the admission test.
"We will now begin the Swordran Training Camp admission test. It's very simple: physical fitness test, swordsmanship test, and aura test. Score passing marks in all three, and you'll qualify for admission to the training camp."
Physical fitness and swordsmanship were subjects they'd done at the Loud Swordsmanship Academy too.
But there'd been no aura test.
To advance past mid knight to senior knight, you had to at least be able to handle aura.
A knight's combat prowess depended on how well they wielded and controlled it.
"We'll start with physical fitness measurements. Applicants 1 through 10, step forward."
Roin and Luem were numbers 123 and 124, so they still had time.
Before the physical test began, Luem did some light warm-up stretches.
His bulging muscles were enough to draw stares from the other applicants.
Roin clicked his tongue as he watched Luem.
"Aren't you cold?"
"If I keep moving like this, I actually get warm. It's fine."
"I know that, but..."
Body heat aside, Roin was worried about the skin.
"Wandering around exposing that much skin in this freezing weather... it'll ruin your skin later."
Extreme cold could cause the skin to crack and split as a warning sign.
But Luem didn't pay it much mind.
"Our job is swinging swords and fighting, right? Getting covered in scars is just part of it. No time to worry about skin care or whatever."
Roin could have countered with over a hundred arguments, but he didn't bother.
It'd just hurt his mouth.
Roin pulled out the lip gloss he'd brought and slathered it thickly on his lips.
It was such a rare beauty product that it almost felt wasteful to use it like this.
'Come to think of it, this training camp doesn't have any of that.'
No shops.
The Loud Swordsmanship Academy had run several general stores inside.
But Swordran Training Camp? Nothing like that in sight.
'What a pain.'
Training was one thing.
How was he supposed to manage his skin in this frozen wasteland?
The basic physical fitness test wasn't anything elaborate.
Strength, reflexes, and so on. No real difference from what they'd done at Loud Swordsmanship Academy.
The swordsmanship test, though, was a bit unusual.
"Just dodge the attacks from the humanoid tactical golem in front of you and destroy the core in the center."
The mention of tactical golem made the expressions of recruits from Loud Swordsmanship Academy stiffen momentarily.
Bad memories.
As soon as the instructor finished explaining, Roin shot his hand up.
"I have a question."
"What?"
"Is that tactical golem made by Nut, by any chance?"
The instructor seemed to know exactly what Roin was getting at.
"It's from a different manufacturer, so no need to worry."
The tactical golem rampage incident had already gained massive notoriety.
Because of it, Nut had ended up pulling out of business entirely.
But Acer's whereabouts remained a mystery.
Helond was said to be investigating, but no results yet.
'Still, different company, so no rampage, I guess.'
When his turn came, Roin grabbed a longsword and stood before the humanoid tactical golem.
The model was HAG-071.
Maybe because it was from another company.
'It definitely looks way different from the ones Nut made.'
Nut's humanoid tactical golems had been like crude wooden puppets, super simplistic.
But Swordran's looked far more human-like by comparison.
The skin tone was almost identical to a human's, and it even had hair.
Loud Swordsmanship Academy focused on theory and doctrine, but Swordran Training Camp emphasized real combat experience.
As knights, you'd face not just monsters, but other people too.
You couldn't hesitate to cut down a human.
That's why Swordran deliberately used near-human tactical golems even in the admission test.
At the start signal, the humanoid tactical golem moved first.
The HAG-071 Roin faced used a two-handed sword style.
Roin deflected the sword flying in from the left with his longsword.
His guard was now wide open.
'Performance is better than Nut's too.'
At this level, it might even pass for a junior knight if you pushed it.
Roin readjusted his grip on the longsword and aimed for HAG-071's chest.
But HAG-071 twisted its torso at an angle, deflecting Roin's attack.
Even though the blade grazed its skin by a hair, it showed no damage.
'Artificial skin, huh.'
Synthetic skin designed to mimic human texture as closely as possible.
Resistant to fire and cold, and it could even absorb some physical impacts like just now.
Human skin, by contrast, wasn't nearly as tough.
'And no need to cream it up or anything.'
No worries about pustular acne or allergic dermatitis.
Leave it alone, and it'd stay perfect.
'Envious. So envious.'
He was supposed to focus on the spar, but Roin's eyes kept drifting to HAG-071's skin.
When the instructor gave him a look, Roin finally moved to finish it.
'Dragged it out too long.'
He closed the distance to HAG-071 in one burst.
The tactical golem swung its sword at Roin.
But
Puk!
Roin's strike was faster.
Destroying the core in its left chest stopped HAG-071 dead.
Training Captain Siren stared at Roin and asked.
"You have the skill to end it quickly, so why'd you deliberately drag it out?"
It wasn't good knightly conduct.
Dragging things out just gave the enemy more chances to counter.
But Roin had a far more important reason.
"I was just checking out the artificial skin on the tactical golem."
"......"
It was the most absurd excuse Siren had ever heard.
The aura test was simpler than the physical or swordsmanship ones.
"Just cut the target in front of you."
Any style was fineas long as you split the long rod into two, you passed.
The moment Roin took his position, he identified the rod's material.
Etronium, the third-hardest mineral in the world.
That's what it was made of.
With its extreme resistance to external impacts, it was often used in construction or to support heavy structures.
Quite a few applicants had passed physical and swordsmanship but failed the e tron ium rod-cutting test and been eliminated.
Roin raised his longsword again.
He'd admitted to dragging out the time because the tactical golem's artificial skin fascinated him.
But this time, no reason to stall.
'Might as well wrap it up quick.'
As he raised the sword high
"Wait."
Siren, who'd been watching him, stopped him.
Roin gave her a look that said, "Why?"
"You're not using aura, are you?"
Her eyesight was spot on.
Roin truly hadn't infused his longsword with any aura.
At first, she'd thought it was a mistake.
But her guess was off.
"Yeah, didn't seem necessary."
All he had to do was cut the e tron ium rod.
No rule said aura was mandatory.
Because cutting e tron ium without aura was next to impossible.
That's why they hadn't bothered specifying it.
Roin asked just to be sure.
"Should I use aura?"
It was called the "aura" test, after all.
But by now, Siren was curious about Roin's true capabilities.
"No, no need. Do whatever you want."
With the training captain's direct approval, no instructor or assistant would complain.
Roin reset his stance and swung the longsword with all his might.
And then...
Dangk!
Like slicing vegetables with a kitchen knife, the e tron ium rod split cleanly into two.
The cut surface was flawlessly smooth, no jagged edges.
Siren, the instructors, and assistants who'd witnessed it firsthand were left speechless.
"That do it?"
Roin sheathed his sword and returned to his spot.
Swordran Training Camp had just gained its most bizarre recruit ever.