Had it been a little over a week?
At Theron's appearance, so drastically changed since their last interview, Berton felt at a loss for words.
Even for a child in his growth period, had far too many outward changes not occurred in such a short time?
Moreover…….
“…….”
A strange current flowed from the brat's body.
Because it felt like looking at a knight whose energy had been gathered in and put away.
‘Nonsense.’
Berton shook his head in denial.
To think such a thing while looking at a boy who was only twelve.
Berton turned his head.
“What are you doing? If the test is over, you should wrap things up.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
Bengle answered and looked at the trainees who had returned.
“The test is over. Everyone, back to the training camp!”
Not training, but the first ‘test’
In the first test ever held, eight of the Section 5 trainees did not return.
And those who passed numbered a mere nineteen.
Not even half of the forty-two who returned had passed.
At the result, Bengle looked at the trainees with murderous eyes.
Because the result fell considerably short of what he had expected.
And that atmosphere spread wholesale throughout the entire training camp.
CLUNK!
When the trainees returned to their rooms, the junior instructors guarding the front sneered and said.
“We will have to see the other sections' results to know for sure…… but if your marks land near the bottom, you had better consider yourselves dead.”
“You remember what the Instructor in Charge said? That you would be taught a harsh lesson if your test marks did not come out right.”
They were thoroughly frightening the trainees, as if the results were already out.
And at that threat, some of the trainees were already trembling at the thought of being punished.
But…….
“Fucking bastards. All they ever do is beat us, and they never teach us anything.”
“Right. If they'd told us how to gather them, we would've done better, wouldn't we?”
When Renil, who shared a room with Theron, spat out curses, Tioren chimed in.
The two of them usually growled at each other, but today they seemed to be in sync.
“By the way, Theron. Are you okay?”
“Leave him be. He must be really worn out right now.”
“……Of course he is. He had to take the long way back because of us.”
At Perka's words, Renil nodded.
The three looked at Theron, who was lying in his spot.
He certainly looked much more exhausted than before, but.
“But…… was Theron always that tall?”
“……It's not just me, right? When Theron came walking out, I thought he was someone else.”
At Tioren's words, everyone nodded as if in agreement.
Theron used to come up only to around their chins. But when he came out of the Shadow Forest, he had grown so tall they were nearly at eye level.
“And his build seems to have gotten a bit better too.”
“What on earth…… happened in there?”
What could happen in such a short time to change a person like this?
But the three's attention was focused on Theron's physical condition more than that.
No matter how hard training had been lately, he had never been seen lying down like this.
The three simply looked at Theron with worried expressions.
And that night.
SHIFT.
Since it was the day the test had ended, there was no additional training or any other schedule.
The trainees could rest in their rooms as if they had been given a vacation.
Of course, they could not rest easy because of the punishment that would follow the soon-to-be-released test results.
RUSTLE.
When night came and all the trainees had fallen asleep.
Theron, who had been lying in his spot, slowly opened his eyes.
“……Hoo.”
Theron let out a small breath as he checked whether his three roommates were all asleep.
Theron had gone to sleep as soon as he came into the room after the test.
Of course, part of it was exhaustion, but there was also something he needed to check.
Theron sat up cross-legged in the lotus position and straightened his back.
Then he slowly drew up his mana and began to operate the Dark Tempelst Mana Cultivation Method.
WHOOOOOOSH!
It seemed as though a wind swept through the room once.
Soon, along with a calm energy, a warm heat flowed out from within Theron's body.
‘……No way.’
He had been aware that his body had changed as he absorbed the Blood Jade Fruit.
While gathering the Moltir Flower in the Shadow Forest and returning, he had fully felt the intense energy flowing from within his body.
But he had not been able to properly check just how much.
“…….”
Theron could feel that his amount of mana had increased a good several times over compared to before he ate the Blood Jade Fruit.
At this level, the 2nd Star.
No, it could be said to be at the very tail end of the 2nd Star, nearly reaching the 3rd Star.
Moreover, it was not that only the amount of mana had increased and broken the balance with his body; his body, too, had become sturdier to match the increased mana.
At this level.
‘I might even be able to beat the Enforcers in the training camp in a fight.’
Separate from the instructors who taught the training, they were soldiers deployed immediately whenever a problem arose.
The problem was that these soldiers ran on a completely different track from ordinary soldiers.
They were not at a knight's level, but they far surpassed the skill of ordinary soldiers.
Of course, there was normally no occasion to face them, but considering where Theron had to go from here, friction was unavoidable.
“Let's think it through slowly. There's still plenty of time.”
Thanks to the power gained through the Blood Jade Fruit, he could move his plans forward by several months.
But Theron knew.
That precisely when such a sudden change came, failing to govern one's mind could make the plan fail.
Moreover, now that the first test was over, did he not have to prepare for what came next?
“……Quite a lot of blood is going to flow before long.”
The tests were dangerous, but so was the competition between the sections.
That was what tightened most around the necks of the trainees here.
In the first test, Section 5, where Theron was, would probably be at the very bottom.
Naturally, the instructors' thrashings would resume because of it, and the atmosphere would become very gloomy, but.
But…….
‘That can't happen.’
From now on, the competition between the sections would become even fiercer.
To get good results in that fight, cooperation among the trainees within each section was an important matter.
‘Of course, most of them are a dog's mess.’
This was a place that taught them to bite and tear at each other.
And yet cooperation among trainees?
Even a passing son of a bitch would snort at it.
But in some sections, strong unity was already on display.
And most such places were the sections that always received top marks.
“It has to start changing…… from here.”
In his past life, he had no power, so all he could think of was simply surviving.
But now, much had changed.
He had eaten the Blood Jade Fruit much earlier than before and had been able to fully absorb its power.
For the competition ahead.
‘First, this mess of a Section 5…… has to be brought together as one.’
And so, before long, the sun rose, and the results of this damned test came out.
***
Early morning.
All forty-two trainees of Section 5 were gathered in the training ground.
From the ominous atmosphere alone, they could tell the result of the test without having to hear it.
Bengle, standing before the trainees, looked at them with fearsome eyes.
Bengle waved the paper in his hand at the trainees in front of him.
“Tenth out of ten sections, you maggots.”
A mere nineteen.
The first-place section had gathered thirty-eight, so it was a difference of exactly double.
As though there was no need to say more, Bengle raised a thick wooden club.
Just looking at the bloodstains on the wooden club, one could tell how rough his hands were.
“Ah, ah…….”
Some of the Section 5 trainees seemed to have fallen almost into a panic.
At the thought of yet another brutal thrashing, their bodies were already reacting in rejection.
And the other trainees' expressions were no better.
But it was then.
“Instructor.”
A boy on one side raised his hand and called to Bengle.
At that, Bengle turned his gaze toward where the voice had come from.
It was Theron.
“What is it? I believe I said there would be no exceptions, even for those who succeeded in gathering.”
“That is not it. Beating us here now will not change the result of the next test.”
“What?”
“That cheeky bastard……!”
At Theron's words, the junior instructors on either side of Bengle glared and said.
The atmosphere was as if they would rush out and smack Theron's skull at any moment.
But Theron looked at Bengle and said.
“If you leave it to me, we will place in the top three in the next test.”
“……Top three?”
Bengle's eyebrow twitched.
Section 5 had always hovered near the very bottom, not only in the first test just held, but in all the training so far.
Because of that, Bengle's standing among the instructors in charge of each section could only be very low.
Because the label of an instructor who could not teach properly trailed after him like a tag.
Because of that, Bengle was considerably looked down upon by the other instructors.
And the stress he received that way could only be passed straight on to the trainees.
That was exactly why Bengle had beaten the trainees far beyond common sense.
Killing intent flashed in Bengle's eyes.
“Trash like you, placing in the top three in the next test?”
“Yes. If you leave it to me, I will make sure of it.”
“And if you fail? If you fail, what will you do then? Can I just beat every last one of you to death?”
At eyes that looked as though he would truly beat them to death, the other trainees' eyes shook.
Some of them even muttered to themselves, looking at Theron, ‘Has that bastard gone crazy?’
But Theron, seemingly unbothered, said to Bengle.
“I do not want the other trainees to suffer for my bravado. But if I fail…… I will give up both of my arms.”
“……What?”
“Crazy bastard…….”
At Theron's words, another junior instructor muttered before he knew it.
Giving up his arms meant.
“You mean I may cut off both of your arms, you wretch?”
“Yes.”
Theron answered without a shred of hesitation.
At those words, Perka, Renil, and Tioren, who were standing beside him, looked at Theron in horror.
“Wh, what kind of crazy talk is that?!”
“I, Instructor! I think he's lost his mind! What he just said was a mis……!”
Renil hurriedly clamped his hand over Theron's mouth and shouted toward Bengle.
But Bengle approached Theron with a menacing look, looked down at him, and said.
“I truly hate brats who say two things with one mouth. Top three, you said?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Until the next test, even if you make mistakes in training, there will be no beatings.”
Bengle turned his gaze to the junior instructors.
“From now on, stop the punishments.”
“……Understood.”
“Yes, understood.”
When all the instructors had answered, Bengle looked at Theron again and said.
“If you fail to place in the top three in the next test, I will cut off your arms in front of the trainees here, you wretch.”
Bengle drew close to Theron's face.
“You may look forward to it. I am a man who always keeps the words he spits out.”
He said it with ominous eyes.
But Theron, without the slightest hesitation, said calmly.
“And…… I have one more proposal. May I say it?”
“I am curious what other bullshit you have. Go on, spout it.”
A cold smile seeped onto Bengle's lips.
Theron said calmly.
“If…… truly by one chance in ten thousand, our Section 5 takes first place in the next test, I would like you to give me one item from the armory beneath the training camp.”
At Theron's words.
“……You. Who did you hear that from?”
Bengle's expression stiffened hard.
Tab 12