Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Episode 004 (1)
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1.
Time flows equally for everyone.
Even the trainees of Lion’s Den were no exception.
The season had arrived when one’s breath faintly frosted in the air with every exhale. The Third Den’s trainees had scattered across the training grounds as usual, each swinging their wooden swords.
Swoosh, swoooosh—.
It wasn’t just empty swings through the air. They had wooden dummies set up before them, unleashing sword strikes along practiced paths!
Swoosh, crack—!
Compared to a few months ago, their strikes had grown not only more refined but fiercer, relentlessly pounding the dummies without pause.
But… unlike how it appeared, the dummies before the trainees were far from ordinary.
They weren’t simple blocks of wood but constructs of multiple wooden segments joined at joints.
As if to prove it, the moment a wooden sword struck, one part of the dummy spun rapidly.
One of the joints hit by the sword had whipped around in the direction of the force.
The wooden clubs attached to its upper and lower body spun in an instant, lunging toward the trainee at blinding speed.
Crack, swoooosh—!
The clubs attacked different spots each time, shifting with their rotation’s power. Sometimes they even targeted two places at once in offbeat spins.
One long club whistled threateningly past the trainee’s eyes—.
—Whoosh!
“Ugh…!”
A trainee barely dodged the wooden rod and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Drip, trickle….
Blood dribbled from his reddened nose tip.
A split-second slower, and it wouldn’t have been a nosebleed—his cheek would’ve burst, or he’d have lost a few teeth from the impact.
“Kugh!”
“…Ow, my head!”
Such scenes unfolded across the training grounds, not just once or twice.
And that wasn’t the only change.
The trainees’ sword forms and movements had also evolved slightly from before.
Swoosh, crack!
It resembled the old Lion Tempering Swordsmanship, Basic Edition, yet felt distinctly different.
Straighter, more ferocious strikes battered the dummy’s weak points relentlessly!
This was the trajectory of Jordic’s other foundational sword art: Lion Tempering Swordsmanship, Intermediate Edition.
As the trainees’ achievements advanced, they couldn’t cling to the basics forever. Thus, the Third Den trainees had received this new swordsmanship.
‘And….’
The senior instructors hadn’t taught only the intermediate edition.
A senior instructor watching the children’s training quietly curled his lips and murmured.
‘We also passed down Gale Step.’
Gale Step
Despite its grandiose name, it wasn’t some extraordinary footwork.
Like the Lion Tempering Swordsmanship basics, it was a step any Jordic warrior could learn.
But… what if you combined it with Jordic’s other martial arts? That changed everything.
‘It harmonizes well with most Jordic techniques and even offers synergy.’
In that sense, Gale Step had been designed from the start to mesh perfectly with Jordic’s martial arts.
It wasn’t for nothing that the family had designated it as one of their most basic footworks.
But….
‘Expecting that level of linkage from these young trainees is unreasonable.’
In truth, most struggled to even deploy it situationally, let alone link it with their movements—thwack!
“Argh!”
They couldn’t even dodge the dummies’ obvious spins, getting struck for that very reason.
Trying to use Gale Step as taught often slowed their reactions due to unfamiliar motions or tangled feet, leading to falls.
But… not all trainees failed to adapt to the new footwork.
Thud, patter-patter—!
Even amid the chaos, a few dodged the dummies’ spins with increasingly polished movements.
‘Of course, most are still just superficial….’
Mid-thought, the senior instructor’s eyes suddenly shifted.
Through his mask, his meaningful gaze alternated between the training ground’s ends as he continued.
‘Those two are definite exceptions.’
Two trainees stood out with movements utterly unlike the others.
Pop, patter-patter, whoosh!
They didn’t just evade the clubs—they wove Gale Step and sword techniques seamlessly to dodge, parry incoming strikes, and counter successfully.
Among the over a hundred remaining Third Den trainees, their prowess was peerless!
Others might miss it, but he, observing from afar, clearly discerned the difference—.
With a cold glint in his eyes, the senior instructor named them.
‘Kuhn Jordic… and Taylor Rosetta.’
For Rosetta Family’s second son, Taylor Rosetta, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
He’d been a prodigy whispered about by instructors since Lion’s Den’s early days.
…Young as he was, he might even reach swordmaster realm.
But—.
‘That one’s beyond understanding.’
As the senior instructor stared at Kuhn with such eyes, memories and intel on the boy flooded his mind.
Fwaaah—.
Setting aside his bloodline and the Jordic Family, the info was still significant.
First: he was the trainee who’d entered the forest first to hunt.
Many did it now, but the pioneer was always special.
The instructor had remembered the report for that reason.
‘And a few months ago, he even beat multiple trainees alone….’
No one without sharp instincts, judgment, ruthless execution, and the skill to back it could pull that off.
Even more astonishing: no mana emanated from him.
‘Beating multiples means he’s surely mastered aura breathing. Yet even I can’t detect it.’
An undetectable breathing method.
‘Did the family head really teach him something?’
Or just a trait of Dream of the Dead survivors?
As he pondered, the trainees’ break ended… and a massive bell tolled.
——Dong, dooong.
A sound echoing across the entire Lion’s Den grounds.
Moments later.
The senior instructor, having assembled all Third Den trainees, slowly spoke.
“Starting today……”
He scanned the children with a solemn voice.
“—we commence the Lion’s Trial.”
2.
That evening.
Kuhn leaned against a nearby tree trunk, resting.
In his hand was the evening-issue sandwich.
Barely 10 cm long, it was small despite being called “one piece,” with dry bread and crumbly meat.
Over the past months, how many fights had broken out among the kids for this meager sandwich.
Recalling those days, Kuhn bit into it nonchalantly.
Crunch—.
Meanwhile, he mulled over the Lion’s Trial the senior instructor had announced.
‘Lion’s Trial, huh.’
Crunch, crunch—.
Unlike typical academies, Lion’s Den required passing specific trials to graduate.
The Lion’s Trials collectively named those gates.
One’s score depended on how many—or which—trials they cleared.
And sometimes, death loomed during them.
The first gate: Button Snatching, not beauty.
‘The rules… are simple enough.’
Crunch, crunch—.
In three months, steal the buttons pinned to the instructors’ shoulders.
That was basically it.
Added details: teams of up to three allowed, and….
‘Dropouts get one retest in two months.’
Jordic Style, Lion Pack Joint Technique, Basic Edition
The manual distributed pre-trial was for this joint technique.
Flip-flip-flip—.
Kuhn’s eyes rapidly scanned the pages.
The sandwich was long gone, devoured to the last bite.
‘At a glance, the rules seem dead simple.’
Just form teams of up to three, practice joint techniques for three months, and snag an instructor’s button.
But… it wasn’t to be taken lightly.
Lion’s Den instructors were all elite aura users and knights.
‘They won’t go all-out, but still…’
No room for underestimating.
Plus, top scores earned a reasonable reward of choice.
‘Top score, huh…’
For a team trial, “top” was obvious.
‘Clear it with the fewest members, as impressively as possible.’
Whether forming larger teams or minimizing numbers even if slower.
Fine details would tweak the scores too.
Sure enough.
Turning his head, he spotted kids already whispering, clustering—some with usual friends, others scouting new allies.
If everyone thought alike, standing out conventionally would be tough.
‘And above all…….’
Glancing at his chest, Kuhn tilted his head and muttered.
‘It feels like it’s almost ready, doesn’t it?’
A cryptic mutter.
Focus inward, and an itch stirred near his heart.
The tickle spread toward where Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits was budding—.
‘If Ming’s memories are right, this must be…’
Before his eyes could deepen—.
“……?”
Two unfamiliar footsteps halted by his head. Two shadows stretched long overhead, casting shade.