It was not a deep wound.
It was only a very shallow graze, but that was not what mattered.
Flora’s expression stiffened.
‘That guy......’
She could not relax her expression at all.
Flora stared at Ivan, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
That attack just now. She had not expected it, but it was by no means impossible to dodge.
Yet she had failed to dodge it. Even if it had not landed cleanly, that fact remained unchanged.
Ivan’s kick had been so fast that even Flora, an assistant, had struggled to react in time.
‘If I had reacted just a little later.’
It would have struck her squarely on the chin and dropped her where she stood.
The chin was one of the body’s vital points. To alter the kick’s trajectory and aim precisely for it in that brief instant...
Ridiculously enough, Flora had gotten chills from a trainee who had only just entered the training camp.
‘An assistant really is an assistant. I never expected her to dodge that.’
Ivan was surprised as well.
He had attacked with all his might, intending to knock Flora unconscious.
But he had failed. Judging by her rigid expression, she seemed seriously pissed off.
She was an elf, so she had to be fairly old, and it was understandable that she would be pissed after some wet-behind-the-ears trainee tried to kick her.
“I... didn’t do that on purpose. Are you all right?”
When Flora continued staring at him in silence, Ivan scratched his head and asked, slightly frightened.
“Do I look all right?”
“You do.”
“Well, I don’t feel all right. Do you know something? This is the first time a trainee—one who just entered, at that—has ever gotten me.”
“I’m honored.”
“So now my pride has been wounded. At this rate, I’ll be mocked for the rest of my life.”
Flora glared at him as she asked.
“Do you understand what that means?”
“I don’t want to.”
“It means I won’t go easy on you anymore. I’m taking all your bells too.”
Flora cracked her joints as she warmed up, making it clear that she was about to get serious.
Ivan promptly picked up a stone and threw it at her.
Flora slipped around it as smoothly as flowing water and scoffed.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to stop you from warming up.”
“Is that so? But what can you do? I’m already done.”
With a cold grin, Flora drew a breath and sprang to Ivan’s side in a single leap.
She was much faster than before. Ivan calmly settled his mind and tracked her movements with both eyes.
From the beginning, Ivan had never had any choice but to fight back.
‘Running away seems out of the question. All I can do is try to hold out as long as possible.’
Having reached that conclusion, Ivan stopped retreating and faced Flora head-on.
He had no intention of surrendering his bells without a fight, so he moved desperately.
Ivan traded a fierce series of attacks and defenses with Flora, to a degree that was hard to believe of a trainee.
Amazement and shock began to show on the faces of Miliana, Kamel, and several assistants secretly watching from afar.
“......”
“......”
Alia and Roswell were equally speechless, unable to tear their eyes away from the screen displaying Ivan.
***
Time gradually passed.
Ivan resisted Flora with every last ounce of strength, but there was a vast difference in skill between an assistant and a trainee.
Had he lasted about an hour?
His bells had been taken one by one from the very beginning, and in the end, not a single one remained at his waist.
“Huff, huff... Isn’t that a bit much? How am I supposed to dodge when you use a feint like that?”
Ivan complained between ragged breaths.
Honestly, he had thought he stood a chance at first. Although it had been close, his eyes had been able to follow her movements.
But that had been a complete delusion on Ivan’s part.
Once Flora got serious, Ivan realized just how weak he was.
“Are you an idiot? I used a feint precisely so you couldn’t dodge. Well? Do you feel like you learned something now?”
Flora jeered as she jingled Ivan’s bells on one finger.
“You could have left me one......”
“I was going to. If you hadn’t laid a hand on your exalted assistant, that is.”
“Did I break any rules?”
“And there’s no rule saying I can’t get angry and show you what I can really do.”
Put that way, he had nothing to say.
“Enough chatter. Follow me. You lost all your bells, so you have to go down and receive additional training.”
“Understood.”
Flora crooked a finger for him to give up, and Ivan smacked his lips before following her.
‘Seriously, what in the world is with this kid......’
As they descended the sloping mountain, Flora glanced at Ivan walking beside her.
The more she saw of the boy, the more absurd he seemed.
As an experienced assistant, she did not show it, but she could not easily shake off her amazement.
It was inevitable that Ivan would lose every last bell.
‘When an assistant truly sets their mind to it, taking a trainee’s bells is nothing.’
Even so, Flora could not hide her astonishment because Ivan had held out against her for an entire hour.
Annoyed by his impudence, she had intended to take all his bells within thirty minutes at most.
But she had failed. Ivan’s abilities far exceeded Flora’s expectations.
‘I got fairly serious, yet I still couldn’t take his bells easily.’
Ivan was still rough around the edges. His movements included plenty of waste, and at times, he made the wrong judgment.
But Ivan’s innate ‘instincts’ made up for those mistakes.
There was no need to explain how important instinct was in real combat.
‘Stamina and strength can be developed as much as anyone wants.’
But innate instincts could not be acquired through effort.
Flora had deliberately pushed Ivan hard from the very first day so that he would not become conceited, but inwardly, she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Another monster had emerged in the empire, a land that produced countless geniuses.
“Clian, take this dropout.”
When they reached the edge of the forest, Flora handed Ivan over to the assistant in charge of the dropouts’ additional training.
“What, Flora? You already took all of a trainee’s bells? The supervisor told us to go easy on them on the first day.”
“I agree. It’s the first day, so I believe you should have shown more restraint.”
“Who do you think you’re fooling? Stop running your mouth and go receive your additional training.”
“Understood.”
Ivan left for his additional training without arguing any further.
“But Flora.”
Clian, who had been about to leave to supervise Ivan’s additional training, stopped short.
“It looks like your chin is scratched. Did a branch catch you or something? I suppose even monkeys fall from trees. I didn’t know you made mistakes like that too.”
“......”
For a moment, Flora pursed her lips, unsure what to say.
As an assistant, her pride would not let her admit that a trainee’s foot had grazed her chin.
Flora shot Ivan a fierce glare, as though threatening to kill him if he told the truth.
Ivan was itching to talk, but nothing good would come of getting on an assistant’s bad side any further, so he remained silent.
“Huff, huff......”
When Ivan followed Clian to the site of the additional training, he found Meirin there.
Her bells must have been taken long ago, because she was carrying enormous sacks back and forth with a deathly expression.
“Trainee, go over there and move sacks until the training ends.”
“Understood.”
Ivan went over to Meirin and lifted a sack.
Meirin saw Ivan too, but she had no strength left to speak to him.
And so Ivan and Meirin did nothing but carry sacks in silence until the test was nearly over.
“Are you all right?”
“M-my body... w-won’t move......”
The moment the additional training ended, Meirin collapsed. The way she panted with her tongue hanging out made her look like a puppy.
[The training is now over. All trainees and assistants remaining in the forest, please come down.]
Before long, Roswell’s voice rang throughout the forest, perhaps through magic, and the trainees who had managed to protect their bells from the assistants began descending.
“Meirin, I understand, but Ivan, why are you here?”
Julian came down from the forest looking surprised. Ivan shrugged in response.
“I was unlucky enough to run into a brutal assistant. You seem to have avoided them pretty well?”
Ivan’s gaze fell to Julian’s waist.
Two bells remained there.
Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose with one finger and nodded.
“I used a bit of strategy.”
“Strategy?”
“I deliberately stayed near people slower than me. That way, when an assistant showed up, I could use them as bait.”
“Oh.”
“Although I still lost three bells.”
Wasn’t surviving what mattered most? Ivan added that, then turned his head.
Kamel and Miliana were descending as well.
His gaze naturally went to their bells. Kamel and Miliana had protected a total of four bells.
But neither of them looked happy.
“......”
Miliana had been walking with her head bowed in deep thought when her gaze suddenly turned toward Ivan.
‘What is it?’
The eyes she directed at Ivan seemed to contain some unfathomable anger.
Was it his imagination? Ivan dismissed it and turned his attention away from Miliana.
Once all the trainees had come down from the forest, Alia and Roswell appeared last.
Clap, clap, clap.
Roswell smiled and applauded as he looked over the trainees.
“That was a truly impressive training session. It has been a long time since I’ve seen trainees of such caliber.”
It was sincere praise.
The trainees who had protected their bells swelled with pride at his words.
Of course, those who had lost every bell could only swallow their frustration.
The noble trainees cast mocking looks at Ivan the moment they noticed that he had no bells at his waist.
‘That lowborn bastard has finally shown his true limits.’
‘He was so full of himself. Serves him right.’
Then it happened.
Roswell looked around as though searching for someone. When his gaze settled on Ivan, he spoke.
“Trainee Ivan, what you showed during today’s training was most impressive. I look forward to seeing more from you.”
At Roswell’s words, the trainees who had been mocking Ivan snapped their heads toward him.
‘W-why......?’
Why was that guy, who had lost every single bell, receiving praise from the supervisor?!
“Thank you. I’ll work hard.”
The other trainees looked at Ivan with varying degrees of surprise, envy, and anger.
Ivan bowed as he answered, and Roswell smiled in satisfaction.
Thus ended the second day of training.
***
After lunch, they went to attend their aura class.
“...You pass. To think you managed to awaken your aura on the second day... Trainee Meirin, you may advance to the aura release class.”
“Th-thank you......!”
Unable to hide her joy, Meirin rose from her seat.
“Truly astonishing......”
Even Karl, who had seen countless geniuses, could not help but marvel at Meirin’s talent.
Cases of someone fully awakening their aura in two days were so rare that it was difficult to find a precedent anywhere on the continent, let alone the empire.
Ivan, on the other hand, still could not sense the slightest trace of aura. Watching him, Karl could not help but find it strange.
On the first day, when he had released formless aura at the trainees, Ivan had clearly been the first to sense it and react.
That was proof that Ivan could already sense aura. Yet he still could not sense even the slightest bit of it.
‘How strange. For now, I should wait and see.’
Having reached that conclusion, Karl looked away from Ivan.
Thus ended the second day’s aura class. Ivan, who had made no progress at all, headed for the fitness room, privately sulking.
This time, Julian was with him too.
“It’s only the second day. Don’t be too disappointed.”
“R-right, Ivan......! I’m sure you can awaken your aura!”
His sulking must have shown, because Julian and Meirin each offered a few words of comfort.
“Thanks.”
Ivan answered their consolation with a faint smile.
What good would worrying do? He could only do what was within his power.
Ivan decided to work his muscles brutally hard that day and set his weakened spirit right.
Ivan finished warming up in the fitness room and was just about to begin his workout in earnest.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to join your workout.”
Kamel approached Ivan and spoke.