A storm brewed.
Mana emanating from fists created a massive whirlwind, and trolls were helpless against the intense pressure.
The sharp wind, like black blades, sliced through troll flesh as if carving, and when the eerie screams ceased,
All that remained were the lower halves of the trolls.
‘Yeah… what I saw must be right…’
Igor rubbed his bewildered eyes, trying to understand the situation.
A troll gripping his neck seemed to urge him to undo it, but Igor paid it no mind.
‘Is that really possible…’
Having witnessed a human causing natural disasters, he couldn’t care less about trolls.
In awe of the spectacle, Igor’s mouth hung agape.
His gaping mouth closed only after Ian swept away even the trolls behind him.
Only then did Igor realize he had done nothing and bowed his head deeply.
“I told you to take charge of those in the rear.”
“No… that’s not it…”
Igor, sweating profusely, argued desperately with Ian.
He had tried to capture them. But then a loud noise came from behind, and witnessing the unbelievable, he froze in place.
“It’s already done. Let it be.”
Though Ian acquiesced silently, he ultimately had to interrupt Igor’s words.
It was a luxury to listen to excuse after excuse when you had to catch at least one more fish.
‘I was just as surprised. There’s no need to say more.’
Ian looked at his right hand. The sensation of touching the trolls was still vivid due to the recoil.
‘It’s definitely beyond my imagination.’
He hadn’t thought he could sweep them away like this.
Even with Neltalion’s power at the Intermediate Expert level, the opponents were monsters directly reinforced by instructors.
‘The mana wall covering the mountain strengthens both the students and the enemies.’
Trolls, originally renowned for their robust defense, were further strengthened by instructors’ power.
Even if it were him, he didn’t think he could easily deal with them.
Putting aside his admiration, Ian shifted his gaze to the device.
[2nd Year, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squad Points Status: 15pt]
The rules of this training were simple.
- If a platoon accumulates 5000 points first, that platoon will win, and the training will end immediately.
- One point is added for every monster hunted.
- Red monsters are hidden in the forest. These are special monsters, and hunting them yields 500 points.
There were many other rules, but they weren’t necessary to consider in the current situation.
There was one thing to remember: to hunt monsters faster than other squads and accumulate 5000 points.
‘At this rate, reaching 5000 points is possible.’
It would be tough. But if he focused on hunting without rest for the remaining 4 hours, it could be done.
‘Yes, it’s possible.’
However… Ian decided to handle the situation more cleverly.
After all, he suffered from possession. Wouldn’t it be better to utilize the knowledge he has?
‘Most of them will focus on regular monsters. Because the risk is too great to search for hidden special monsters.’
But he knows where the creatures are hiding.
With that knowledge, gathering points was nothing.
“Don’t look so gloomy. You have a lot to do in the future.”
Ian patted Igor’s slumped back and resumed his steps.
***
Capturing special monsters wasn’t easy.
Finding a monster hiding in a yard where you can’t even see clearly was like looking for a needle in the desert.
And the bigger problem was that these creatures possessed stronger power than ordinary monsters.
So students often wondered why they were made to catch them.
But… when you think about it, it wasn’t that strange.
In a way, it was natural that they were hard to catch.
It’s 500 points. Points you can get by killing 500 monsters.
There’s no way they’d give that away easily.
‘To become the best platoon… we had to gather 5000 points, right?’
The platoon’s maximum capacity is 20 members. So, to become the best platoon, each member had to hunt 250 monsters.
Though it’s 250 monsters per person, hunting such a large number was no easy task.
That’s why.
“Capture them no matter what! Charge in!”
Celia Wignoron. She aimed for the special monsters even at the risk of danger.
While performing reconnaissance duties and returning, she discovered a special monster and immediately started pursuing.
Though there was a risk of not even breaking even and just wasting energy… she believed it was worth a try.
“Celia, now!”
The plan worked perfectly.
Squad members, with their eyes on the points, rushed in relentlessly and grabbed the special monster by its legs.
Though the one whose leg was caught struggled to break free, a gap was created in the process.
Then, a spear imbued with frosty energy was thrown.
Swoosh!
The spear flew with a tremendous force, piercing through the monster’s skin.
Pow!
Eventually, it created a large hole in its chest.
The monster staggered and collapsed unconscious. Watching the smoke rising from the evaporating monster, Celia wiped her sweat with her sleeve.
“Phew…”
Unlike ordinary monsters, its eyes were bloodshot, and its overall skin had turned reddish.
‘A special monster… right?’
If her eyes weren’t mistaken, then it must be.
She heard that monsters created by test proctors are marked with red for distinction.
Having hunted that creature.
‘500 extra points!’
Celia Wignoron smiled widely, forgetting that she was still in the middle of training.
Just a moment ago, her stomach felt stifled, but now it felt as if it had been pierced.
Who would have thought that she would be so lucky while performing reconnaissance duties?
‘At best. I thought all I could do was get information about the other platoons and kill a few monsters on the way.’
Didn’t she achieve much greater results than expected?
If she had made a mistake, she would have gotten nothing. Fortunately, her squad achieved great results.
Feeling elated was natural.
“Wow, did we really catch it? Is this a dream?”
“It’s not a dream… We just earned 500 points in one go!”
As if proving her thoughts correct, her squad members also began to smile brightly.
Celia took a deep breath, feeling overwhelmed with emotions.
‘This… could we be in first place?’
It might be prideful, but… Celia thought there was a good chance.
Wasn’t the start too good?
Already, Celia was confident that her 1st Platoon would emerge victorious.
Based on that confidence, Celia checked the current situation.
[Point Status]
2nd Year, 3rd Platoon: 2146pt
2nd Year, 1st Platoon: 930pt
2nd Year, 2nd Platoon: 565pt
‘What… is this?’
For a moment, despair crept in.
Celia’s eyes began to tremble.
They earned 2146 points? It hadn’t even been that long since the training started, had it?
‘Does this make sense?’
She wanted to dismiss it as a lie. Honestly, isn’t it just absurd?
She knew that the 3rd Platoon had excellent skills. After all, the Platoon Commander was appointed directly by His Majesty the Emperor.
It would be different since they learned from veterans with plenty of real-world experience.
But she never expected such a huge difference.
“Ce… Celia, are you okay?”
“Don’t worry too much! We just have to work hard from now on.”
Her teammates tried to console her, but unfortunately, Celia didn’t see them in a sympathetic light.
She only thought that they would lose if they continued like this. That thought filled her mind.
“I… can’t just stay like this…”
Celia gritted her teeth. She decided to trample Ian in this test.
However… to lose with such a severe gap?
That couldn’t happen. It was unthinkable.
Eventually, Celia decided to try her luck once again.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Huh? Celia? Where are you going? Don’t go alone!”
“Ce-Celia!”
Ignoring them, Celia Wignoron set off straight away, running along the mountain path.
***
Pow!
A punch tore through the red werewolf’s abdomen.
The red werewolf, its lower body torn apart, staggered and collapsed onto the ground.
[Special monster hunted. Earned an additional 500 points.]
[Current points for 2nd Year, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squad: 1616pt]
As Ian smiled at the clear notification sound from his device, Igor casually wiped the blood off his fist.
“Phew! With this guy down, that makes it three monsters hunted already.”
“Yeah. It’s safe to say we’ve hunted almost all the special monsters in the forest.”
Of course, this wasn’t all of them, but Ian decided not to delve into that.
If they hunted down all the hidden monsters, there would be too much suspicion from the instructors.
Pumping in more points would be difficult.
However, there was no problem. There were still many ways to go about it.
Crunch!
Growl! Crunch!
As the werewolves hanging from trees howled, Igor made a disgusted expression.
“I never imagined we could use werewolves’ instinct to come to the aid of their kind in this way.”
“Anyone could do it if they studied hard enough.”
“Even if someone studied a lot, there wouldn’t be many who would use werewolves as tree ornaments like you.”
Who would come up with such an idea? Even if someone thought of it, there wouldn’t be many who would actually execute it.
As Ian looked at the tree adorned with werewolves, he said.
“More werewolves will come soon. You think you can handle it now, right?”
“Where are you going? Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”
Nodding lightly, Ian concealed himself deep into the forest.
Now it was time to snatch the Hidden Piece.
***
How long had Ian walked through the dim forest? Suddenly, he found himself at his intended destination.
‘It’s really tough.’
Ian brushed off the dirt clinging to his body and stood in front of the cave.
A cave with an entrance smaller than his height. It felt refreshing to look at.
Ian never dreamed that he would end up here.
‘In the original, Ariel Volkanov gets her big start.’
A 2nd-year Ariel participated in the same training as him, got attacked in place of a heroine, and fell off a cliff, ending up here.
‘Ariel grows as the Holy Sword Elysion grows due to the miracle in this cave.’
After that, nothing happened.
After awakening, Ariel returns alive, and the heroine, who thought she was dead, cries and embraces her… That kind of story.
‘In fact, it’s not very important.’
Ariel’s growth through obtaining it was just an event to increase a certain heroine’s affection.
If one wasn’t interested in that heroine, it was fine to pass by the event.
‘So, I’ll take it.’
That was why Ian could snatch it without feeling guilty.
If it didn’t matter whether it was there or not… then he could take it.
‘Let’s go.’
As Ian passed through the narrow entrance, a bright light began to spread into the cave, contrasting with the dark scenery of the forest.
