[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 9 - The First Class (1)
After the morable (?) reunion with Juliet, I focused on quietly fortifying myself during the remaining suspension period.
Swish.
The mont I woke up in the morning and opened my eyes, I drew the sword placed by my bedside and sliced through my neck.
I imdiately began ditation, feeling the scorching pain as the primordial fire seared my chest.
Though my magic would increase on its own even without ditation, concentrating my mind through this process allowed to accumulate far more magic.
'The pain lasts for about five minutes.'
Within this ti fra, I could sense the power of the primordial fire and accumulate magic.
“Sss, huu.”
I repeated long, deep breaths, focusing on the ntal image within .
Whoosh!
In my mind, I visualized a vast, seemingly endless fla.
As I cautiously stepped forward, staring at the fiercely burning fire that looked as though it would devour the world, I reached out toward it.
My physical body burned, and my soul blazed.
I grasped the raging flas.
The intensified agony violently tore at my body.
The pain was so terrible that an ordinary person would imdiately foam at the mouth and lose consciousness upon feeling it.
'It's okay.'
I can endure it.
I can withstand it.
Pain is familiar.
This kind of pain is nothing compared to the countless deaths I've experienced.
'Move.'
I willed it to move, but the massive flas didn't budge.
They simply left a small ember in my palm, the size of a candle fla, as if shaking off a botherso insect clinging to them.
I carefully moved my arm so that the ember in my palm wouldn’t go out.
'This is what I managed to bring back this ti.'
Though it was a pitifully small amount, considering the intense agony I had felt as my body and soul were incinerated by the raging flas, I was grateful for even this much.
I slowly brought the candle fla in my palm to my left chest.
And then—
“Huu.”
I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes.
The pain, which had felt like a red-hot iron branding my chest, had vanished without a trace.
“Oh, I accumulated quite a bit this ti.”
By focusing on creating a ntal image and concretizing the act of 'bringing the fire' through ditation like this, I could accumulate far more magic than if I rely endured the pain and sweat for five minutes.
'This is similar to the breathing technique.'
I recalled hearing from Yuren that, even with the sa breathing technique, the amount of magic accumulated could vary greatly depending on how well one could visualize and concretize their ntal image.
Back then, no matter what I did, I couldn’t accumulate any magic, so I had dismissed it, but now—
“So this is what it feels like.”
Knowing that the amount of magic accumulated depends on my effort and skill motivated .
'Though the limit is four tis a day.'
I swallowed a bitter smile and sheathed the sword I had used to decapitate myself.
Gray ashes, remnants of my 'revival,' were scattered across the bed sheet.
“Cleaning this up every ti is a hassle.”
The blood that sprayed out when I cut my neck would disappear along with the body's regeneration, so there was no need to wash the bed sheets.
However, cleaning up these ashes that remained in place of the blood was equally troubleso.
'I'll have to think of another way.'
Slashing my neck with a sword was simple and caused the least pain, but the blood spraying out and my head rolling off were too ssy (though it disappeared quickly), making feel the need to find a more clean and straightforward thod to end my life.
'I need to co up with a cleaner, more concise way to kill myself.'
But for now, I didn’t have the luxury to dwell on new thods of suicide.
“Let's wash up.”
It was Monday, marking the start of the week and the day I would attend my first class after returning.
* * *
Early morning.
The hallways were filled with cadets moving to attend their morning classes.
“Hey, it's Dale.”
“Oh, is he the one from the rumors...?”
“They say he even beat up Juliet this ti.”
“But wasn't he ranked dead last in the comprehensive evaluation?”
“That's why everyone is going crazy! They say he was hiding his power all along.”
“What, does he think he's the protagonist of a play?”
On my way to the "Practical Combat Training" lecture room, I overheard the murmurs of the cadets lined up in the hallway.
It seed the incidents I caused last week had beco quite a topic of discussion within the school, as every cadet I passed was talking about .
'I didn't want to be this much of a hot topic, though.'
Well, I understand.
If I were in their shoes, I’d be curious too if I heard that the lowest-ranked cadet in the school's history suddenly seed like a completely different person, beating up everyone around him.
'I don't want to stand out too much, but...'
That didn’t an I planned to hide my power and skulk around.
In the past.
No, at this point, I suppose I should say in the future.
I couldn't remain the "lowest-ranked cadet" if I wanted to help those I once struggled to keep up with.
Click.
I ignored the whispers around and opened the door to the classroom.
“……”
“……”
The cadets' gazes focused on , and an awkward silence settled in.
“Haa.”
Thinking that this kind of atmosphere would continue for a while made let out a sigh.
‘Where’s Iris?’
My gaze naturally turned towards the window at the far end.
There, I saw Iris looking at with a glint of interest in her eyes, and next to her, Camilla glaring at as if she was ready to kill on the spot.
‘I really should apologize to Camilla.’
But seeing her like that, I knew that if I spoke to her now, instead of an apology, another commotion would surely arise.
“Ugh.”
I ignored their stares and sat down in my seat.
As I sat down, the awkward silence that had settled in the classroom began to break, and a murmur started to fill the room again.
As I slightly opened my ears to listen, I could tell that most of the murmurs were about .
“Alright, rookies. Stop the chatter and take your seats.”
Professor Lucas entered the classroom and opened the door.
His gaze scanned the room and eventually landed on .
“If you fall asleep in my class one more ti, you’ll be flying out of here, so be prepared.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“As long as you understand.”
Professor Lucas nodded without saying anything more when I bowed my head properly.
Even though it was a fluke, the rumor that a cadet’s punch had sent him flying must have made the rounds among the professors.
The fact that he brushed it off with just a simple warning showed Professor Lucas's character.
‘The reason I sohow managed to graduate, even if only by a narrow margin, was largely thanks to Professor Lucas.’
As I was reminiscing with a satisfied smile, he spoke up again.
“Alright, before we begin the lecture, let’s take attendance.”
As he started calling out nas, Professor Lucas wandered around the classroom.
I wondered why he was walking around while taking attendance, and at that mont—
“Dale Han.”
“Here.”
Swoosh.
As he passed by, Professor Lucas discreetly handed a small white note.
‘What’s this?’
Tilting my head in curiosity, I unfolded the note.
[Rember this! The only reason you got was because I was caught off guard! If I had been serious, a rookie like you wouldn’t even be worth a punch!]
“……”
I take back what I said about him not holding a grudge.
‘How petty can this guy be?’
When I looked back at Professor Lucas with an exasperated expression, he cleared his throat awkwardly and avoided my gaze.
Right.
At least he has the decency to feel embarrassed.
‘He’s quite an amusing guy.’
Suppressing a chuckle, I tucked the note into my left breast pocket.
“Alright. Everyone’s here.”
After finishing attendance, Professor Lucas stood at the podium and looked around at the cadets.
“What’s the na of today’s class?”
“Practical Combat Training, sir.”
“That’s right. This class aims to gain experience and knowledge for future real-life combat against demons or monsters.”
Professor Lucas nodded and continued his explanation.
“Cadet Albert.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“What do you think is the most important thing in preparing for real combat?”
After contemplating, Albert stood up abruptly and clenched his fist.
“I… I think it’s the ‘courage’ not to be afraid when facing the enemy.”
“Courage is sothing you use when you pack your lunch.”
“Pardon?”
“Hahaha! What do you think? I heard this joke from Professor Bianca the other day. Pretty funny, right?”
“Ah… Yes.”
Albert sat down with a bewildered expression.
Professor Lucas stepped down from the podium and placed a hand the size of a pot lid on Albert’s shoulder, smiling broadly.
“Laugh.”
“Excuse ?”
“I said, laugh.”
“Ahahaha!!! Comparing ‘courage’ to a lunchbox! Professor Bianca sure has a great sense of humor! Ahahaha! Ah, I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts!”
“Yes, yes. That’s more like it.”
Professor Lucas nodded in satisfaction, while Albert clutched his stomach, genuinely trembling (probably from tension).
“Well, let’s get back to the main point.”
With asured steps, Professor Lucas returned to the podium and spoke with a serious expression.
“The most important thing in real combat isn’t useless courage; it’s ‘experience.’”
Even cadets who are terrified at the re sight of a monster’s eyes will get used to it after they’ve sliced through a few monsters.
“And you can never gain real combat experience in a confined classroom.”
Thud.
The professor lightly tapped the podium and pointed outside the window.
“Get out. Today’s class is an outdoor session.”
At the ntion of an outdoor class, quiet sighs of resignation could be heard around the classroom.
“And for this session, you’ll be forming teams of three, so feel free to gather your party mbers. You have 15 minutes.”
At the ntion of a party session, the classroom buzzed with activity again.
So cadets laughed confidently, while others wore worried expressions and began glancing around nervously.
‘A party session, huh.’
A party session.
It was a word that made sigh involuntarily.
Considering that most people form parties after graduation to officially start their hero activities, it’s a good idea to let the cadets experience party formation during their training.
‘But every ti, I was the last to find party mbers and had to team up with people I barely knew.’
The atmosphere in those hastily ford parties was nothing short of terrible.
‘This ti….’
I looked around, just in case.
“Ugh.”
As expected.
With all the rumors flying around about , there was no way any cadet would want to team up with .
I was already resigning myself to being the last to form a party and teaming up with soone whose na I didn’t even know when—
“Dale.”
A familiar voice ca from behind.
“Would you like to team up with us?”
When I turned around, I saw the saintess smiling warmly at .
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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