The Monster in the Training Ground
After the Owen Kingdom's delegation departed, the trainees remained motionless. They stood in a daze, staring blankly at Raon’s retreating back.
Because they had seen Raon every single day, they knew he was strong. But they never imagined he could move with such fluid grace one moment and then unleash such devastating sword strikes the next.
“Ah, ah…”
“So he was that strong?”
“Eh, why is the gap widening…”
Just as the trainees struggled to regain their composure, a cool handclap echoed from the stage above.
“Well done, everyone.”
Rimer sat casually on the stage, smiling faintly.
“Thanks for giving your all in that sudden spar.”
“Not at all!”
“We are grateful for the opportunity to spar with the Owen Kingdom's training knights!”
The trainees bowed their heads, insisting it was thanks for the chance.
“Well then, that’s good.”
Rimer chuckled and tapped his foot in the air. He seemed in a particularly good mood today.
“Anyway, since it’s over, I have a few things to say. First, those Owen training knights you faced today… they’re not ordinary trainees.”
“Huh?”
“Then what…”
As he paused, the trainees swallowed hard.
“Those guys are the elite the Owen Kingdom has carefully raised. If they continue growing like this, they’ll become talents for the royal guard or silver knights.”
“Hah!”
“Royal guard and silver knights!”
“Why were they so strong…”
The trainees’ mouths fell open.
Only the elite could enter the Owen Kingdom’s royal guard and silver knight divisions. The royal guard were the shield protecting the king in the palace, and the silver knights were the blades that cut down threats to the kingdom. Even calling them the pinnacle of the Owen Kingdom would be an understatement.
The trainees couldn’t hide their astonishment at having fought trainees who were on par with those elite groups.
“Fighting on par with those kids is more than enough to earn praise. Everyone, give yourselves a round of applause!”
“Woah!”
“Wow!”
“We won!”
The trainees raised their hands in cheers.
“Hmm.”
As Rimer enjoyed the cheers, a hand shot up from the center. Burren was struggling to stand up.
“May we spar with them again?”
Burren’s expression was twisted as if he had an enemy right in front of him.
“Anyone would think you lost.”
“If you didn’t win, it’s the same as losing.”
“Personally, I like your attitude.”
Rimer smiled faintly and nodded.
“The training knight you faced was said to be the future captain of the royal guard. If you keep growing, you’ll end up facing him whether you want to or not. Of course, by then you’ll be a knight, not a trainee.”
“Then I must become a swordsman.”
Sparks ignited in Burren’s green eyes.
“You’ve got it.”
“Another thing.”
“What is it?”
“If the training knight I faced is the future royal guard captain, then what about the Third Prince? His swordsmanship wasn’t at the level of royalty.”
Burren’s question was reasonable. Even at fifteen, the Third Prince’s martial prowess was incredibly strong.
“The Third Prince is said to be the future kingdom’s best swordsman.”
“Hah!”
“Wow…”
At Rimer’s answer, silence fell over the training ground. The trainees turned to Raon with wide eyes.
Raon, who had easily defeated the future kingdom’s best swordsman, looked like what kind of monster was he?
“Today’s training ends here. Since you used more stamina than usual, go back and rest.”
Rimer clapped his hands again and disappeared from the stage. But the trainees’ eyes still held their astonishment toward Raon.
***
Raon left the training ground first, leaving behind the stunned gazes of the trainees.
Normally he would stay and train, but now he had something to do first, so he quickly headed to his quarters.
The moment he entered the room, he sat on the floor and tapped the flower bracelet.
Huaaaa!
Blue cold air bloomed from the bracelet like a flower bud. However, the cold air trembled as if filled with rage.
“Damn it! How can I lose to someone with that kind of power! I thought he was just a prince, but he’s stupid and useless!”
Wrath filled the entire room with cold air, grinding his teeth.
“If this king were the one, you’d be a block of ice right now, torn to pieces. A prince who can’t even use the power he has? Pathetic!”
Wrath seemed to feel a sense of familiarity with the prince because he was the king of the Demon Realm. His anger and the bet’s outcome exploded at the same time.
“When this king was in the Demon Realm, I could easily suppress great enemies with less mana. In the later monarch vs monarch confrontation…”
“Ah, yeah. Up to there.”
As Raon tapped the bracelet, Wrath’s words cut off.
“That must be cut off no matter what.”
“When this king was in the Demon Realm” — that phrase had to be cut off. If he listened to that, the reward would come tomorrow morning.
“Let’s save the rambling for later and give me the bet reward?”
“This is fraud. I didn’t know he couldn’t use the power he has.”
Actually, the Third Prince had fought well. He had simply used the absurd power of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, which had nothing to do with the amount of aura.
“So you’re not giving it? You think you’re a monarch of the Demon Realm?”
“This king eats lies for breakfast. I keep my word. Even if it’s fraud!”
[Victory in the bet with Wrath!]
The message that stats had increased appeared, and Raon’s whole body trembled as if shocked.
“Huuu.”
The thrill of the body and mind growing at once was so exhilarating that it didn’t become familiar no matter how many times he experienced it. He could do any mission for this reward.
Clench.
He clenched his fist. With four points of stats added at once, he felt a clear difference in grip strength and muscle elasticity.
Not just this reward, but thanks to continuous training, his stats had risen a lot. The elevated numbers made the status window feel gratifying just by looking at it.
“Tsk.”
Wrath clicked his tongue while scanning the invisible status window. His gaze was very displeased.
“Good?”
“Good.”
Raon answered immediately without hesitation.
“You don’t need to be that pleased. No matter how strong you become, in the end you’re just this king’s vessel. What this king couldn’t do doesn’t exist in this world.”
He muttered that he didn’t have much time left and spat cold air.
“Ah, right.”
The temperature dropped to the point where frost would fall on the skin, but thanks to the resistance to cold attribute, it wasn’t cold.
“Keep training hard.”
Raon lightly shook off Wrath and stood up.
“Don’t ignore this king. Even if it takes a hundred years, I’ll take over your body.”
“Yes.”
“Kyaaaaak!”
When Wrath’s cold air began to explode like a volcano, Raon opened the door and stepped outside.
Ignore?
There was no reason to ignore him.
Wrath was an enemy. The most dangerous one.
The reason he trained every day, forging the Ring of Fire, tempering his body and mind, was to prevent Wrath from taking his body.
He pretended to be relaxed but never let his guard down even an inch.
A meaningless death was enough once. He had to become stronger to survive and to seek revenge.
Raon left the quarters and returned to the training ground where everyone had left, swinging his sword all night.
***
Three months had passed since Raon had sparred with the Third Prince of Owen Kingdom.
Although he had easily defeated the Third Prince, who was the successor to the kingdom’s best swordsman, Raon focused solely on training, as if victories were already a thing of the past.
The trainees had recently given him the nicknames “training ghost” and “training genius.” Of course, they only said it behind his back.
“Now, the sword doesn’t even look proper.”
“He seems even stronger. His swordsmanship and footwork have become more natural.”
“It’s not that he seems stronger, he has become stronger.”
“I’m tired of it. I’m tired.”
The trainees watching Raon, who was immersed in training as if possessed, clicked their tongues.
“I thought we were catching up a little, but that’s impossible.”
“Yeah. We trained so hard our shoe soles were worn out…”
The trainees had increased their training time out of excitement, not because of the spar with the Owen Kingdom, but because Raon had defeated Marta.
Thinking that their skills had improved a bit after hard training, they had been mistaken. The gap hadn’t narrowed at all; instead, the overwhelming difference had widened.
“This is, so…”
“Talent difference.”
“Yeah. The talent you were born with is different. If effort doesn’t work, what can you do…”
“Do you think you did your best just because one shoe sole got worn?”
“Huh?”
A sharp voice made the trainees turn around.
“Hah!”
“Ah…”
“B-Burren-nim!”
Burren had his arms crossed, his mouth twisted.
“Using the wonderful word ‘talent’ to elevate your opponent is really convenient. You can rationalize not doing your best by saying you couldn’t. But you know.”
He continued speaking as he passed the trainees.
“That’s not just one shoe sole, but ten or so would be fine.”
The words were not for the trainees, but for his past self. The words he said to his past self who didn’t know how much effort Raon had put in and was jealous of him.
“Y-yes.”
“Sorry…”
“You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s your life.”
Burren picked up the training rod that the trainees had left and headed to the center of the training ground.
“Burren-ssi. You seem a bit softer now.”
“Previously, I would have completely ignored it…”
“Hey. It’s coming. Close your mouth!”
“Huh!”
The trainees closed their mouths at the sight of Marta walking from the left.
Tap.
Marta took out her training rod and slung it over her shoulder. With her short hair swaying as if touching her shoulder, she walked to the training ground and stopped.
“You say he became softer?”
She gave the trainees a blatantly contemptuous look.
“A volcano about to erupt, and you say it became softer? Your eyes are worse than rotten orcs.”
Marta laughed mockingly and swung her sword as she walked into the training ground.
Raon and Runaan moved their bodies without resting, Burren and Marta raised powerful momentum as if not to be outdone by the two, and swung their swords down.
“Ugh, it’s suffocating.”
The trainees shook their heads and sighed.
There are monsters in the 5th training ground. Four of them, no less…
“Yeah. But.”
One trainee looked down at his training shoe and then lifted his head.
“Isn’t there no better place than this to improve your skills?”
“Um, that’s true.”
“Right.”
The other trainees nodded. It was clear that their skill growth had become much faster after coming to the 5th training ground.
“Let’s go too.”
The trainees ended their short break and entered the training ground holding their training rods.
“Interesting.”
Rimer sat on a tree behind them, smiling faintly.
“Since the pillars are holding up well, they naturally follow.”
Raon, Burren, Runaan, and Marta swinging their swords in turn at the center of the training ground. The four kids with different colors ran at full power, and the kids behind them naturally followed that path.
Those four played a big role in the kids’ skill development beyond being instructors.
“Hmm.”
Rimer, sitting on the tree, twirled his finger in his red hair and nodded.
“Now, it’s time to put them to the test.”