[No title provided]
The training grounds were far wider than I'd imagined.
Bigger than Tren Park, even. Sure, Tren Park was on the small side for a park, but for an annex to outdo it? Inside the grounds, crowds of people were already swinging their weapons in practice. Right at the entrance lay a massive hall where folks mingled and trained together. Deeper in, there were individual rooms, each with its own specialized function—from bare-bones empty chambers to ones that weighed down your body, or altered your mana reserves to low or high. The room I'd be using today was the same type as the one from my physical test: a chamber rigged for battling illusions.
What I need most is experience, after all. Illusions or not, I'd learned that facing enemies was the fastest path to growth. Lucky for me, one illusion room was still free, so I headed over, gripped the handle, and swung the door open. A stark white room greeted me. Dina, clutching Kami, started slinking in after me, so I asked once more.
"…You're coming in here too?"
"Yep."
She nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her shamelessness had reached new heights. I fiddled with the control panel inside to set up the illusion. A notification popped up about excluding certain targets—apparently, people sometimes brought friends in just to watch. I deselected Dina and Kami, then hit start. The mode I picked ramped up slowly from level 1.
The surroundings shifted into a forest, and the first thing to appear was…
"Grrk?"
A goblin. During the physical test, it had kicked off with a hail of arrows and armored soldiers charging in, so I hadn't expected some puny goblin.
I should've known from Outyoung when Dina mentioned them. She'd said she was strong enough already and never needed to use them herself.
It was a baffling start, but since it had begun, I figured I'd roll with it. Learning goblin movement patterns couldn't hurt. I pulled the Shin'am Sword from my subspace bracelet, gripped it, and observed the goblin's motions. Goblins were smarter than they looked; it didn't charge right away but stayed wary. So I lunged first. Thrusting the mana-less blade forward—
Pfuk.
"Huh?"
It sank straight into the goblin's neck.
Wait, it's a monster, isn't it? This weak?
The goblin's corpse vanished, and level 2 kicked off. This time, three goblins. They scattered nimbly, encircled me, and leaped in unison.
Clang! I batted away the first one's dagger mid-air, sending it tumbling. Before it hit the ground, I swung at the other two, slicing them down, then stabbed the flying one in the gut.
"…"
This was ridiculous. Even the goblin's desperate strike I'd just parried felt less threatening than the random arrows from the physical test. In the end, I just shut down the illusion via the controls. This level of trash was worse than nothing. Sighing, I turned to leave, but Dina called out.
"…Class 1-A is recommended to start at level 60, you know?"
"…"
I approached the wall where she pointed, and sure enough, there it was. Max level 150. Recommendations: Class 1-A from 60, 2-A from 100, 3-A from 120.
The gaps between classes are even bigger than I thought…
I reset the machine to level 60 and started again. This time, no forest—the surroundings morphed into a dim, labyrinthine dungeon. Dina hugging Kami tight while staring at me from the sidelines looked downright surreal… but whatever, ignore it.
Thud.
Thud.
Something approached from the poorly lit depths. I raised the Shin'am Sword and braced. Sure, 1-A started at 60, but…
That means I'm still below their level. A level 60 foe might be too much for me.
Emerging from the shadows: a rock golem. Not like the one from the entrance ceremony, where that gentle guy had wrestled it barehanded—this was the real deal. Mana-coated body, a mana core embedded in its face, blue mana veins pulsing from the core throughout, empowering it.
Illusion artifacts don't just spawn beasts, huh. Golems were artificial, so even if corrupted by magic from beyond the rifts, they counted as mana lifeforms.
Can I win? Honestly, no clue. They wouldn't demote me to B-class just for failing level 60, right?
The golem's core blinked once. On instinct, I dropped flat—the laser shot from it whizzed over me toward Dina.
"Eek!"
She yelped, throwing up a black barrier… but the beam passed right through it and her, exploding behind. Of course— I'd excluded her and Kami from the targets. Illusions didn't affect them. Startled, Dina shivered, but Kami in her arms just yawned lazily, mouth agape.
Cats can't see illusions? Maybe. It was made for humans, after all.
The core blinked again. Intuition had already clocked the timing: blink, then a delay before the shot. I spun aside at the perfect moment, dodging, and charged the golem. Naturally, it didn't just beam. It raised its brutal arm to swing—chills ran down my spine.
That hits? I'd burst like a tomato. Splattering red juice everywhere. Illusion or not, it'd hurt like hell.
It swung low for my ankles; I hopped to evade—
Whoosh!
Its other arm smashed into me mid-air. I skipped across the floor like a stone on water, bones feeling shattered as I flew far away.
"Jon, that hurts. Fuck."
Shouldn't illusions hurt less, out of mercy? The core blinked again. I tried rolling away, but my body wouldn't obey. Blue light filled my vision.
Vision cleared. Back in the white room. In the corner of my eye, Dina and Kami peered down with their round eyes.
"…You okay?"
"Yeah."
"That hit looked brutal."
"I'm fine, fine."
"You flew so far."
"…"
She's teasing, right? Totally teasing. I had no comeback against a foe Dina could one-shot, but… Kami meowed agreement every time she spoke, making me even more down. And Dina tilted her head with what seemed like genuine worry.
Fuck, wiped by level 60. A guy she'd shatter with one dark orb, and I hadn't landed a single hit.
I'd clear it today, no matter what. I jumped up, reset to level 60, and dove back in. Same deal—golem approaching from afar. Before the core could blink, I gripped my sword and charged. Aura-enhanced blade aura slashed its arm.
Snikt…
Something sliced—then it clocked me again, sending me flying.
Ugh… but cutting one arm in two tries? That's progress. Shaking, I lifted my head.
"What the."
The arm was pristine.
I definitely felt it cut something. Looking closer, the mana coating on the surface was slightly nicked.
"Haa…"
A long sigh escaped. The core blinked; blue flooded my sight. After that, I charged seven more times. Zero damage to the core.
*
My mentality shattered, I petted Kami. She purred on my lap, cute as ever, but not enough to heal my bruised ego. Dina kept poking from the side: "You okay?" It grated. But her face looked sincerely concerned, and with that ridiculously pretty expression… even knowing what was inside, my anger melted.
"Haaaa…"
All I could do was sigh and stroke Kami. I never imagined failing to scratch it after all those tries…
Weekend started tomorrow.
I'll clear level 60 by then. Stats rose even from dying. Grind all weekend? Might work.