The Purification Training Begins
Currently, all the second-year students participating in the purification training were gathered in the grand auditorium. They were there to attend a lecture by the Archmage, Apel Cloud.
"First of all, you will be traveling to the southern cities of Garhirst and Kadun for your purification training. These regions are..."
Just then, a student raised his hand, interrupting Apel Cloud.
"Speak."
"The South has been plagued by severe contamination lately, and it's all anyone can talk about. Isn't it too dangerous? I highly doubt it's safe for us to go there for training."
Apel Cloud offered a gentle smile.
"You need not worry about that. I will personally take responsibility for your safety."
Indeed. Apel Cloud was the supervisor and director-in-chief of this purification training. And that supreme confidence of his wasn't just for show—he was an Archmage, after all.
Let's see just how strong he really is.
I activated my Eye of Clairvoyance to peer into Apel Cloud. Eight rings, shining more brilliantly than anything I had ever seen, spun around him. An 8th-Circle Mage. And one who was incredibly close to transcendence at that.
Seriously, is this academy just a breeding ground for monsters?
I heard the principal of Estrada Academy was some legendary Grand Swordmaster, and now even the magic instructors are casually 7th or 8th-Circle...
Right then, Apel Cloud called out my name.
"Lord Johannes? I would appreciate it if you stopped staring at me with those piercing eyes."
"..."
Holy shit, how did he know? I guess he really is a transcendent.
Acting as if nothing had happened, Apel Cloud conjured a map with magic and began his explanation.
"Garhirst is a major city located in the center of the southern region of the Empire. Currently, the Black Rain—the ultimate proof of contamination—is falling there. Right next to it, to the east, lies the city of Kadun. It is suffering from the same black rain."
The Black Rain. It was both a harbinger of contamination and a calamity in its own right. The black sludge falling from the heavens drained the life force of everything it touched, rotting the land and bringing humanity to its knees. To block that rain, a divine barrier was absolutely essential.
Along with his explanation, Apel Cloud brought up an intriguing rumor.
"In fact, rumors are circulating in Garhirst that a dragon corrupted by the contamination—a Mad Dragon—has been spotted flying around..."
At the mention of a Mad Dragon, the students immediately began to stir.
"If a Mad Dragon is flying around, shouldn't they change the training location?"
"Are they trying to get us all killed?"
"I mean, even if he's an Archmage, can he really protect all of us from a dragon...?"
Apel Cloud spoke up, his voice booming over the noise.
"Silence, please. I have not finished speaking."
Instantly, the rowdy atmosphere quieted down.
"The rumors of a Mad Dragon are merely that—rumors. We dispatched an investigation team to verify the claims, and they found absolutely no traces of a dragon."
The students let out a collective sigh of relief.
"You will form parties of at least four and at most six students, led by a student majoring in Holy Magic. You are free to form parties with whomever you wish. For those left over, we will assign you to parties ourselves."
Since I had already formed my party, I could tune out the rest of the speech. To be honest, listening to this was so incredibly boring that my eyelids had been drooping for a while now. Apel Cloud's voice was just a bit too soothing. As I sat there nodding off, the lecture finally came to an end.
"Hound? Hound!"
"Yes, yes?!"
I looked up to find Mikaris shaking my shoulder.
"Were you actually sleeping?"
"No, of course not. I was merely meditating."
Mikaris narrowed her eyes.
"...Is that so?"
She clearly didn't believe me. Well, considering I actually was dozing off, I couldn't blame her. "Shall we grab something to eat? I'm starving."
"Hungry? Let's go, then."
Mikaris gasped in sheer disbelief. "You don't know how to ride a horse?"
"...Yes."
Her contorted expression said it all. She had to be thinking, The Sword Saint doesn't know how to ride a horse? What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this? But what could I do? Forget riding horses, I didn't even have a driver's license back in modern Korea.
"I never would have imagined that the Sword Saint wouldn't know how to ride. We can't have my fiancé becoming the laughingstock of the nobility. I guess I have no choice. I'll teach you."
"Then this is a date. A horseback riding date."
"What do you mean, 'date'? We're going to train rigorously so you don't make a fool of yourself during the training."
Despite her stern words, the corners of her mouth twitched upward. Mikaris was clearly excited. But she didn't need to worry. Who was I? I was the overpowered extra equipped with the 500% Proficiency Improvement Package. Riding a horse would be a walk in the park, right?
Well, once again, that turned out to be an incredibly foolish assumption.
"Uh, Mika. The horse is rejecting me."
"You have to get close to it first. Flatten your palm and let it sniff you. Make sure your hand is completely flat, or it might bite you."
I flattened my palm and held it out to the horse's snout. The horse sniffed it once, then whipped its head away. The beast was flat-out rejecting me.
"...Mika?"
"To not show even a shred of curiosity... I've never seen anything like this before..."
Mikaris's voice betrayed her utter bewilderment. I'd felt this since the magic lessons, but... does this world just hate me? Is that why the Special Shop existed in the first place? It felt deeply unfair.
"Let's try another horse. My horse is much friendlier with people, so it should be fine."
Mikaris led her own horse over to me. "First, call its name. My horse is named Ancient."
I held out my flat palm to Ancient and called its name. "Ancient? Nice to meet you, Ancient."
-...
This time, it didn't even bother to sniff. "Mika?"
"...Here, take this apple. Maybe if you offer it a treat, it'll open up to you."
Following Mikaris's advice, I didn't give up and approached the horse. I tried to win it over by offering the apple, calling its name, and gently stroking its neck. But...
Neigh! Ancient reared up on its hind legs, threatening me.
"..."
"..."
Was it rejecting me on an instinctual level? No, seriously, what the hell did I do wrong? I activated my Eye of Clairvoyance to peer into the horse's mind.
Did I just see that right? I think I just read a horse's mind... I rubbed my eyes and focused my Eye of Clairvoyance once more.
This little shit... I was utterly dumbfounded. It was ridiculous enough that I could read a horse's mind with my Eye of Clairvoyance, but the fact that the horse was actually thinking like that was even more absurd. It felt like back in my high school days as Kim Geundae, when the girl who drew the seat next to me in the lottery looked at me with pure psychological revulsion... Suddenly, my chest ached.
"I guess we have no choice. Let's try another—" "No, it's fine. I have another way."
I summoned the dark shadows. "Hundred Ghosts, rise."
Squirm, squirm. A skeletal horse draped in black shadows creaked as it rose from the ground. Wait, if the regular Hundred Ghosts all look like Kim Geundae, why does the horse actually look like a proper horse? Is it related to what I'm imagining when I summon them?
I said nonchalantly, "Shouldn't this do the trick?"
"You're going to ride that during the purification training?" "Is there a problem?"
Mikaris was speechless. She could only blink in disbelief.
"I'll put the saddle on first. This fellow won't reject me."
I naturally strapped the saddle onto the skeletal horse and swung myself up. "Alright, let's go."
"...S-Sure."
Since it was a summon under my control, it didn't reject me, and the ride was incredibly smooth. In fact, it was so comfortable I'd almost recommend it to others. Of course, the visual of riding a skeletal shadow horse was a bit... questionable, but hey, I managed to ride a horse easily, so that's all that matters, right? At least, that's how I justified it.
"Look over there, it's a skeletal horse..."
"Whoa, for real. I've never seen one before."
"Is that him? The Sword Saint who uses black magic."
Since it was far from a normal horse, we naturally drew a crowd of onlookers.
"Mika, now that the horse issue is resolved, should we call it a day?"
"Why?"
"We're drawing too many eyes. Since it's not exactly a normal horse..."
"Just ignore them. You'll have to ride it during the purification training anyway, so wouldn't it be better to get everyone used to it now?"
"I suppose you have a point."
And so, our somewhat awkward and creaky horseback riding date began.
After the horseback riding date, our party gathered at the training grounds. We were preparing for the upcoming purification training. But, as expected...
"What do you mean by 'second' and 'third' since earlier? Are we playing some kind of number game right now?"
"Mika, you should learn to share! Haven't you ever heard that sharing is caring?"
"Exactly. I don't really mind the order, so..."
Was this déjà vu? Even without Line here, my head was already throbbing. I wondered if we could actually get through the purification training without any issues. Well, in the end, it was all my fault for being so greedy.
"Everyone, please calm down for a moment. The purification training is right around the corner. We really need to focus now."
At my words, they stopped bickering and nodded.
"This will be our final coordination practice. Of course, we won't push ourselves too hard. We need to save our strength."
"Are you going to summon the Hundred Ghosts again?"
"I... I really don't like those ghosts... No matter how many times I see them, I just can't get used to them."
"I find them a bit off-putting too."
Well, that was a bit harsh.
"...Don't worry. I'll summon them differently this time."
Night Parade of a Hundred Demons
This time, instead of Kim Geundae, knights clad in armor of swirling black sludge began to rise. They held swords and shields in their hands. With feathers fluttering from their helmets and black plate armor enveloping their entire bodies, they looked remarkably cool. As expected, my theory was correct. The Hundred Ghosts were formed based on what I envisioned.
Now this is what I'm talking about! As I cheered inwardly, the girls let out sighs of relief.
"Thank goodness. Those other ghosts were psychologically traumatizing."
"Me too. Their eyes looked completely unhinged."
"So cool..." Aileen's eyes sparkled.
"Ahem. Anyway, we're going to start training now, so everyone focus. This time, our objective is defense, not elimination."
Mikaris tilted her head. "Defense?"
"Yes. We're going to establish another tactic in case we get surrounded by demonic beasts."
I began to explain the defensive strategy for when we were surrounded. I detailed a triangular formation designed to protect Aileen, as well as a drill to quickly swap positions so I could handle the direction with the highest concentration of enemies.
"Hmm, that's another solid strategy."
"Indeed. It feels like I'm listening to a lecture."
"...The knights are so cool."
"Ahem. Anyway, we will proceed with the training using this method."
The repetitive training continued as the sun began to set.
"Let's call it a day. You guys aren't too exhausted, are you?"
"I'm fine."
"I'm not tired either."
"The knights were really cool."
I nodded. "Then let's end it here and dismiss for tomorrow. Get some rest, everyone."
With my final words, they began to head back one by one. On my way back to the dormitory, I ran into Aileen. Since we lived on the same floor, it was bound to happen.
"Hound, was your room always in this dormitory?"
"I moved here recently."
"Then we can see each other every morning." Aileen smiled shyly.
"Indeed. Shall we walk together whenever we have overlapping classes?"
"Yes, I'd like that."
I smiled warmly and opened the door to Room 501. "See you tomorrow, Aileen."
"You too, Hound."
After bidding farewell to Aileen, I stepped inside Room 501, where Sojeon welcomed me.
"You have returned."
"I have the purification training tomorrow, so I need to sleep early. Could you prepare a bath for me?"
"It has already been prepared."
What in the world? Just what kind of training did she receive at the Duke's estate to be this competent? "...Uh, thank you, Sojeon."
I sank into the warm bathwater, lost in thought. Tomorrow, we would be heading to a place more dangerous than any we had faced before. Even if we have an Archmage who's close to transcendence with us, I can't afford to let my guard down.