Three Grade 4 warriors.
The weight carried by that name was by no means light.
HA!
With an incomprehensible battle cry, a flesh-trembling combat aura burst from the warrior at the front.
At the same time, the other two warriors began charging Gess, who stood between them and Emma.
“Sirs! Please calm—URK! Let’s calm down and take it slow!!”
‘That fool still hasn't given up.’
It was already their fifteenth attempt.
Just as she had in previous attempts, Emma quickly abandoned the plan of ‘provoking the enemy with words.’
HA!
HAAH—!
The warriors, with red ghostly aura burning in the spaces where their eyes should have been, were not the sort of people who would listen to human words.
With the exception of one attempt, Gess's provocation had never properly worked in any of the fifteen tries. Even in that one attempt, the warrior, enraged by an abusive tirade that bordered on personal attacks, unleashed a fierce barrage and ended it in an instant.
In any case, so long as the provocation did not work, the two warriors other than the one facing Gess would target Emma.
‘Do they know our level of skill?’
SCRAAAPE—
Brushing aside the sound of a blade scraping across her shield, Emma watched the warrior with suspicious eyes.
It had been the same in previous attempts, and in the examinations before that as well.
These warriors seemed to have completely grasped both Gess's skill and hers.
Otherwise, there was no reason for them to ignore Gess, who stood in front of her with an opening as if to say, ‘Try catching me first,’ and target Emma instead.
‘Professor Giltier was imprisoned as soon as he entered, too. Since this is an ancient ruin, does it have some ability to assess a trainee's level?’
Yes, that seemed to be right.
If it was a training ground, it should at least know the capabilities of its trainees.
‘Then, no matter how many more attempts we make, I will have to face two of them alone—’
THUD!
Huff.
Blocking a strike that had exploited the momentary opening caused by her thoughts, Emma looked at the deep dent in the shield enchanted with Strength Enhancement and sighed.
Including the previous examinations, this battle had already been fought nearly a hundred times. Naturally, the warriors' techniques had become familiar enough for her to copy.
Therefore, the problem was the sword aura displayed by Grade 4 superhumans who had crossed the Ore Deposit Wall... no, since the warriors wielded blades, it would be more appropriate to call it blade aura.
In any case, the mana they wrapped around their blades was the greatest problem.
“Hey! How—how are we supposed to deal with this?!”
“Can you use sword aura?”
“Not yet, AGH! Not yet!”
“Then hold out longer.”
Between the attacks of the two warriors raining down on her, Gess's exaggerated whining as he faced the remaining warrior reached her ears.
Perhaps he was struggling even against just one, because he kept shouting at her to do something. However, Emma did not think she needed to help him.
Not merely because he was her enemy.
‘If it's still impossible now, that means it'll be possible if he keeps at it.’
Because he too had found a clue to sword aura.
As skilled knights always said, there was no training more certain than real combat.
And over break, Gess and Emma had undergone endless real combat in <Ephevia of Glory>, supported by overflowing recovery potions, holy water, and elixirs.
Therefore, it was only natural that they had grasped a clue to sword aura, the symbol of Grade 4 and proof of having crossed the Ore Deposit Wall.
Honestly, if they received this much support and could not grasp even a clue, Emma might be too ashamed before the Chairman to ever show herself again.
CLANG!
Parrying a strike aimed at her side, which her shield had failed to cover, Emma furrowed her brow at the method of manifesting sword aura, which seemed within her grasp yet remained elusive.
‘It's different from merely wrapping a weapon in mana.’
Sword aura was different from simply coating a weapon in mana.
Even if she wrapped it in mana, it had no special effect beyond making the weapon harder.
There must be some other principle, one that provided a different level of destructive power and cutting power....
“If I knew that, I'd have succeeded already!”
“…….”
For once, her enemy was right.
Professor Giltier had said that to manifest sword aura, mana should not be ‘coated’ over the weapon, but ‘permeate’ it. But what exactly did it mean for mana to permeate it?
‘It does not mean that I should emit mana from the inside outward. Even if I try that, it only increases mana consumption without producing any particular change.’
‘Let's think from the beginning. The greatest difference between wrapping a weapon in mana and sword aura is destructive power and cutting power. They are both techniques using mana, so why does that difference arise?’
‘It isn't because I lack skill in swordsmanship... Ah.’
Even as she exchanged blows and dwelled on the same question for what felt like the hundredth time, Emma remembered something as she watched Gess fight fiercely.
Both Gess and she were only Grade 3, yet they were facing Grade 4 warriors head-on.
That meant that aside from sword aura, the warriors' skill and their own were not so different.
Therefore, the skill needed to create sword aura was not skill in swordsmanship.
It was something even more obvious, and therefore easy to forget.
‘Like when strengthening the body....’
She should not regard the sword as a sword.
At least while using the sword aura, the sword had to become part of her.
It did not mean a grand realm like Oneness of Self and Object or Oneness of Body and Sword.
Even for only a moment, she had to make the mana extending from her heart naturally permeate her sword.
‘...Like this.’
HUM—
Emma had forgotten that she was even in the middle of an examination as she stared blankly at the blue mana rising over her sword.
It was certainly a sword made of steel, yet at that moment it felt like part of her hand.
And she had found proof that she had crossed the Ore Deposit Wall and reached the realm of Grade 4.
She came to her senses only when applause sounded from right beside her.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP.
“Congratulations. You can now use sword aura.”
Startled by the sudden voice, Emma raised her head and saw that all the warriors she had been fighting had disappeared. With a puzzled expression, she asked,
“Isn't the examination over yet?”
“No, the examination is over. The goal of this training ground from the start has been to enable trainees to use sword aura. There is no need to repeat meaningless examinations once that goal has been achieved. You may continue if you wish, however.”
“That makes sense, but that guy is still here.”
Emma nodded with a slightly uncomfortable expression while pointing to Gess.
Her enemy had yet to awaken to sword aura and was merely happy that the examination was over.
Of course, the Training Ground Master shook his head again.
“Slicker will not take much longer. If he repeated the examination about twenty more times, he would probably awaken to sword aura.”
“That sounds like quite a lot still remains....”
“Well, that could be true. However, this is the first time two trainees have entered at the same time, so I merely needed to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.”
For an instant, just as she had in the Exam Forest, Emma sensed the danger signal sent by her intuition.
Following that signal and turning her head, she saw that the Training Ground Master, who until then had been a hazy ghost, now held a sword in a body as clear as theirs.
There was no need to ask why. The Training Ground Master's face was twisted into an expression she could not tell was elation or grief, though he had always been indifferent.
“Training Ground Master...?”
She called to him in a slightly trembling voice, but the other party no longer had any intention of speaking with her.
“I shall teach you one mindset a warrior of the kingdom must have. Never trust anyone. The continent is such a filthy place that there are madmen who try to break with their own hands the flowers they have raised.”
Wrapped in sword aura blazing like flames, the Training Ground Master walked toward Emma and Gess.
“You will not die. This training ground was made that way. However... from now on, you must remain trapped in this training ground with me and serve as opponents in its examinations.”
Neither Gess nor Emma had any difficulty realizing it.
The Training Ground Master intended to imprison them here forever.
“Are you not curious how many attempts it will take before you break?”
“You mad bastard!”
Professor Giltier's furious roar erupted from far away, but the prison, made of some unknown mineral, remained entirely unscathed even under the attack of a Grade 5 Knight.
Watching that scene, Emma felt her head throb, but she silently raised her sword.
She did not know what curse had plagued her since the Exam Forest, but unlike last time, she had no intention of standing by and watching helplessly.
***
“Chairman, I have brought the final plan for the order of proceedings for the 459th Freshman Welcome Ceremony. If there are no particular changes, we intend to proceed as written.”
Persona, in the guise of a secretary, handed over a thin document titled <459th Freshman Welcome Ceremony>.
The 459th Freshman Welcome Ceremony, where the main story would begin and Medio would make his full-fledged appearance.
As I read through the plan for its order of proceedings, I found an odd point and asked,
“A Freshman Oath? Has this portion not been absent for the past few years?”
According to the Chairman's memories—not mine—the Freshman Oath had never been held since he had taken office.
So the reason it had suddenly appeared was....
“It appears to be because an imperial royal is enrolling this time. The Administrative Office that submitted the plan is concerned that a faction centered around an imperial royal will form, so they wish to emphasize through the oath that even imperial royalty are only students.”
As expected, this was because the leading and supporting characters would appear in force alongside Medio.
One of the few imperial royals deliberately enrolled in the Academy, and the Administrative Office emphasized the nominal phrase, ‘Everyone is equal in the Academy.’ They were merely signs that the main story was beginning.
Since I knew that this could neither be stopped nor needed to be stopped, I readily picked up my pen and added my signature.
“Was the imperial royal enrolling this time the Third Imperial Princess?”
“Yes, I understand that she has visited the House of the Marquess of Calyps several times... Ah, my apologies.”
“No, there is no need to apologize because I do not remember it anyway.”
Persona seemed to realize belatedly that I had only the memories from when I was Chairman and offered an apology, but as a Possessor, I did not care either way.
After signing several more documents, I sent Persona out and looked at the box containing the gifts to be given to Emma and Gess.
“One week until the Welcome Ceremony....”
The preparations for the Welcome Ceremony itself were nothing special. They were simply the same things done every year.
Therefore, what I had to prepare was to keep from falling behind the main story.
To that end, the Special Department's achievements and Emma and Gess's growth were most important, but...?
[ Quest Created! ]
[ ◆ Rescue the students. (3:27) ]
[ Reward : Trait Shop Access Ticket x1 ]
[ Failure Penalty : Trait - Appraiser’s Eye Level Decreased ]
Rescue the students.
Seeing those words and the number three hours and twenty-seven minutes dwindling by the second, I froze stiff for an instant. Then I grabbed the bag containing the gifts for Emma and Gess and burst through the Chairman's office door.
BANG!
The only students I could possibly have to rescue were the two who had entered <Ephevia of Glory>.
***
COUGH... HACK....
Keeping her gaze fixed ahead, Emma asked Gess,
“...Are you okay?”
She never thought she would say ‘Are you okay?’ to him, but the coughing from beside her truly sounded like that of someone on the verge of death.
They needed every hand they could get to face the Training Ground Master, who was clearly a Grade 5 Knight. Moreover, they were not even certain whether his claim that they would not die was true, so asking this much was only natural.
However, the condition of the answer she received was not good at all.
“I... Urk... I'm... fine....”
The sound of blood bubbling was mixed into the broken replies.
He had clearly failed to properly treat the wound in his chest, which had been cut by the Training Ground Master's strike.
That meant that their recovery potions and holy water had run out—
“Other thoughts in front of an enemy vastly stronger than you?”
—THOOOM!
Even though she received it on her shield, the force of the strike made her whole body ring and left her feeling as though the bone in her arm would break.
Beyond the shield, bent into a complete mess, she saw the Training Ground Master wearing the worst possible expression, his sword blazing with sword aura.
Unable to withstand the impact, Emma sank to the floor and raised her head to look up at the Training Ground Master.
If this had been real combat, her head would have come off five times over already. Yet her opponent was relaxed.
“Are you thinking of giving up soon?”
The other party did not regard them as enemies.
He casually parried the sword aura she had only just learned to use, and with a yawn, knocked away attacks launched without regard for life.
As though telling them to use a potion whenever they were injured, he even waited for them.
Now that the potions were gone, he still stood with his sword over his shoulder and spoke to them.
At this point, there was no way not to know what he wanted.
“You are free to rise again. You are free to charge at me again and again. But at the end, the only result will be that I break you and you engrave defeat upon your hearts. Will you still rise?”
The Training Ground Master wanted defeat.
To explain it more fully, he wanted Gess and Emma to engrave into their hearts the ‘defeat’ that was proof they could never win, and to give up.
He wanted them to be imprisoned in this training ground with him forever, and remarkably, that wish was being fulfilled to some degree.
“Fucking... bastard....”
Gess clutched a wound from which blood streamed and spat out the profanity. His voice had become thickly coated in defeat.
He probably did not realize he had such a voice himself, but hearing Gess's defeated voice, Emma felt the strength drain from the hand holding her sword.
‘...This is hard.’
Had it only been a day... no, two days? Three? Four? Since she had resolved not to merely stand and watch this time?
All at once, it became difficult to tell how much time had passed.
She knew that time inside and outside the training ground flowed differently, but it felt several times more difficult than before.
It was like when, not long after entering <Ephevia of Glory>, repeated defeats had worn away her mental fortitude.
Even if stamina and mana could be supplied by potions and holy water, mental fortitude was not unlimited.
Perhaps that was why she seemed to hear someone whisper in her mind, ‘I have done enough.’
“It is over.”
At the Training Ground Master's certain words, the anger she had thought extinguished flared up.
However, she had no hope with which to sustain that anger.
‘If there were hope—if there were even the hope that I could win someday.’
Emma blankly muttered as she repeatedly clenched and opened the hand holding her sword.
She knew that knights were beings who challenged the impossible and never broke.
But she, not yet fully in bloom, needed even the smallest amount of hope.
Even the slightest hope with which to rise above the ‘defeat’ being engraved upon her heart.
“Emma?!”
At that moment, a voice she had not heard in a long time came from not far away.
Beyond the Training Ground Master, where the entrance to <Ephevia of Glory> should have been, stood a blond man.
Spotting the Chairman with a startled expression, Emma finally gave a faint smile and said,
“...I found you.”