While Jaiden was busy regretting the fact that he worked hard on his theoretical classes, the knights came to him. Their eyes were all blazing with a sense of duty. They were trying to prevent others from taking a talented seedling away from their grasp. 

This time, Jaiden was being rolled hard in a corner of the training grounds. Another kind of hell began for him when the knights recognized that he had great skills in swordsmanship.

The knights, in the name of testing his physical strength, trained him with the soldiers to hone his discipline and basic swordsmanship.

“Heok… heok…” 

“You got a pretty solid foundation there. We can even start with the Imperial Basic Swordsmanship right now.” 

“I agree. Your sword skills are good, number 13.”

“Heok… heok… Yes.”

“You told us that you did not learn any other swordsmanship, right?”

“…That’s right.”

After hearing Jaiden’s answer, the knights looked at him in satisfaction. Then they began to teach him Imperial Basic Swordsmanship. 

There were two great forces in the Northeast Army. One was the Great Monster Special Response Corps, who worked with swordsmanship and direct combat to deal with monsters, while the other was the Special Reconnaissance Unit that specialized in exploring special terrains and responding to monsters.

They were generally called Monster Knights and Monster Rangers and were the two key forces of the Northeast. They were a group of people with strong self-esteem and pride so they always put a check on each other. Never wanting the other to one up them.

As a result of this rivalry, the Knights had moved to try and take away Jaiden, the person that the rangers had been eyeing.

It did not matter if he did not have any talent but when they came to him, they found out that Jaiden’s foundation on basic swordsmanship was extremely solid. This meant that Jaiden had a talent to become a knight. And once the knights realized this, they could not sit still anymore as they began to roll him like crazy. 

The Imperial Basic Swordsmanship as well as the proper use of magic for monster hunting and warfare were only taught once the student reached the upper years in the academy but Jaiden was learning them all right now. The problem was that learning all of them at once was not an easy feat.

“Heok… heok…”

―Tweet!

After finally realizing that they had rolled him too hard, the knights gave Jaiden a break with a slightly apologetic look on their faces. Once the knights stepped back to give him space, Baepsae, who had been away on a trip, came back and settled on Jaiden’s head.

“Baepsae-yah. I think I’m going to die.”

―Tweet!

Baepsae patted Jaiden’s head with its tiny wings to tell him that he had worked hard. The bird also made sure to sing a song for him to recover his mana and stamina.

After Jaiden had recovered his strength, the knights started his hellish training once more.

When the rangers heard about this, they became furious. So they began to take him on training sessions outside. The knights couldn’t help but burst in rage when this happened. 

But it wasn’t just the knights who were furious. Even the academy professors were furious. After all, they also had their eyes on Jaiden.

If they lost a genius like Jaiden to the knights and the rangers, then it would not be a very pleasant experience for them. They thought that it was good for Jaiden to grow stronger but they had hoped that he would grow up more on the intellectual side and do something big as a scholar. If that did not work, then they wanted him to at least become a commissioned officer that made big achievements with his strategy and tactics. 

From this point on, a more blazing hell began for Jaiden. It was because Jaiden was also asked to help the professor of the basic beast theories from time to time.

But contrary to what was expected, Jaiden was not the only one who was undergoing such a hell.

At first, the children looked at Jaiden enviously. But when they saw how hard Jaiden was being rolled, they started to look at him with pity. But then, something happened. After around two months of Jaiden’s hellish training, something began to change in him. And the kids all saw this change.

It was a fact that he was being rolled hard by the knights and the rangers. Whenever Jaiden trained and went out with the knights, he would occasionally engage in practical battles against them. The children still looked at him with pity when they saw this but suddenly, his movements began to change.

Knowing the technique with your head and moving around using the technique was not the same thing. It was also true for experience. Even if one had a lot of experience, their movements would still differ once the technique was engraved in their bodies.

During the past months, Jaiden always went out to gain hands-on experience with the rangers while he trained hard on his swordsmanship with the knights. He had been working hard for so long that the experience and swordsmanship that he had achieved in his past life was already starting to fuse with his basic swordsmanship.

As a result, his Imperial Basic Swordsmanship, a swordsmanship that was derived from the basic swordsmanship, was also affected.

“Are we going to be left behind like this?” 

“No.” 

Two boys, the first and second on the military academy ranking, were looking at the corner of the training field with serious looks on their faces. They could see that number 13 was still being rolled hard.

However, there was something different from before. Right now, number 3 was also being guided by the knights on one side. 

Number 3 had put aside her sword training for a while to focus on studying hard on their theoretical classes. She made sure to finish all of the homework, exams and studying that she needed for the semester before going to the training field. And right now, she was already focusing on building her strength on one side of the training field. 

Numbers 1 and 2 looked at the scene with a solemn expression on their faces. However, they weren’t the only ones staring at the training field. All of the other top ranking students were staring at the scene with envy. 

On this day, the day when number 3 was formally accepted by the knights for training, the students’ minds were filled with blazing determination as they began to study like crazy. 

In the first place, the military academy was a place that put more importance on practical skills than theoretical skills so the students would be able to finish their studies anytime if they put their minds into it. 

So when the professors saw this, they helped increase the pace of the classes so the students could add the rest of their free time and class time for training. After successfully completing their studies for the semester, all of the academy freshmen asked the knights and the rangers for permission to train with Jaiden. 

When Jaiden saw this, he wanted to tell his stupid classmates to turn back instead of walking down this hellish path on their own volition. But the knights and rangers were already welcoming them with open arms. 

“Heok… heok…”

“Is it hard? Look to your side.”

The students who willingly walked to hell on their own looked to their side as per the knight’s instruction. There they saw Jaiden being rolled hard by the other knights. 

“He did this a few months earlier than you, punks. That just shows how much stronger he is than you right now.”

The students’ eyes that had been dimmed with exhaustion began to come back to life after hearing the knight’s words. The moment the knight saw this, a ghost of a smile appeared in his mouth before walking away from them. 

“I don’t care what kind of swordsmanship you have learned so far. Throw away all of those swordsmanship from your mind starting today. Swordsmanship like that is a luxury for your age.”

“Build your foundation first. Or else, everything that you have built so far will eventually collapse.”

“I’m not forcing you to learn the Imperial Basic Swordsmanship. You can be strong in any way you want. But! Your foundation must be solid.”

“You can only do this much? But there’s a kid that’s much younger than you that’s being rolled harder?”

“He’s a monster? What about number 3? They’re both nine years old. So what about you? What about you who’s much older than them?”

“If they’re both monsters then what are you? Didn’t you come here in the first place to be hailed as a genius?”

Even if the children were all exhausted and on the verge of collapse, they still trained desperately after hearing the knights’ words.

One might think that rolling these children too hard would be hurting them, but the knights were all professionals. They would only roll them to a level where they could grow before giving them ample time to rest. They would never exceed this limit. Thanks to this, even though their training was like hell, they still experienced a very fulfilling and effective growth in terms of physical strength.

After laying their foundation while being rolled hard like dogs, the children started to show that their foundations were being built solidly. From that point on, the knights began to teach them through joint training.

Originally, the academy professors would teach them the basics while the knights would roll them hard. So it was only natural that the professors in charge of military science and basic swordsmanship would not let this pass by them. They joined together to devise a more systematic training method for the children.

However, this wasn’t the end of the children’s so-called hell.

The professors in charge of basic beast theories as well as basic ranger skills had also joined together to design a more realistic training system. 

Because of this, their hell became longer. However, their growth grew exponentially the longer they endured this pain. 

And just like that, rumors had started to spread in the academy’s upper years. The rumors about the freshmen being crazy bastards as well as the rumors about them growing monstrously through a hell-like training started to spread in the academy.

Number 13 and number 3 were at the forefront of these rumors. Rumor has it that number 3, with her monstrous swordsmanship, and number 13, with his monstrous skills and experiences, were leading the entire freshmen year. There were also rumors that numbers 1 and 2 were leading the rest of the students to the point that they became as powerful as the 2nd~3rd grades. 

Naturally, the 2nd and 3rd years began to protest. 

When they came here, they were hailed as geniuses. Because of that, they endured the strict training system in this place. So they found it unpleasant that the new students were rubbing against them even though those kids were being hailed as monsters. 

Sometimes, there were one or two monsters that would be rubbed against them for comparison. Something like that could be easily smacked down. However, a whole grade trying to rub against them was something that they could not let go. 

In the end, the representatives of the 2nd year, the top 10 rankers, asked for a military academy tour in the first year’s area.

And the academy professors who wanted to show off their new students agreed to their requests. 

Even though the military academy was extremely similar to the military and something like this was usually not allowed, the Northern Command just closed one eye and ignored this. After all, the upper years still had their pride that they needed to protect. 

In fact, more than taking issue with this, they were also curious about the rumors. They were wondering whether the new students were really ahead of the other grades in terms of strength. 

“Nice to see you. I’m 2nd year’s number 1.” 

“It’s been a long time.” 

The professor of military science nodded his head when the kid that he had not seen in a while greeted him as the number 1 of the 2nd years. Since the military science professor was one of the oldest professors in the military academy he knew most of them and his credibility was high. So 2nd year’s number 1 immediately asked him about the matters that they were curious about.

“So… Where are our cute juniors?” 

“They should be at the training grounds around this time.” 

“Thank you.” 

The representatives, 2nd year’s number 1 as well as the rest of the top rankers, immediately headed to the training grounds after saying their greetings to the professor. 

When they arrived, they saw more than 300 students rolling hard under the guidance of the knights. Some of the knights were even playing tricks on some students. The freshmen just gritted their teeth as they tried to hit the knights that were playing around with them. 

The problem was that this was not the normal sparring that the upper years knew of. The knights were really hitting and threatening the children like they were in a real fight. It looked like the knights found it amusing so they joined together and cracked the young students happily. 

They also trained like it was the real thing in their 2nd year but they were not like this when they were still freshmen. So he couldn’t help but admit it.

“This is a lot more violent than the training that we did before.” 

“Yes. The professors weren’t talking nonsense.” 

“They have already overtaken us in terms of training.” 

Although it was just the first quarter, they had also gone on missions. No matter how much the rangers took them out to train like it was the real deal, training and performing on a mission was still something different. So they still stubbornly held their pride.

“Nice to meet you. I’m 2nd year’s number 1.” 

When the representatives of the 2nd year approached and greeted them, the knights stopped the training to greet them back. 

“We came here after hearing the rumors. It seems like our juniors in the first year are starting to get ahead of us.” 

“Uhm… So there’s a rumor like that. But still, they’re rookies that have only just started learning.” 

The number 1 of the 2nd year spoke firmly after hearing what the knight said. 

“The more we watch, the more certain we are. Just like the military values hierarchy, I think the military academy should do too. We want to take this opportunity to prove that the rumors are not true.”

A first year student came forward when the knights, who were looking at them in confusion, declined to speak.

“I think it would be a problem if we did not listen to what our seniors say. We will accept that.” 

“Can this be done?” 

The knights sighed and nodded when they heard the words of the 2nd year representative. They had already foreseen something like this from the moment they heard that they had requested for a tour. The senior professors had secretly created this situation in fear that the hierarchy would collapse so the knights had no choice but to accept this. 

A simple and small sparring area was created after swords and light gloves were prepared for the spar. 

“Go and wipe them out.” 

“That’s right. You don’t need to come out.” 

When the 2nd year’s number 10 came out, the freshmen’s number 11 stepped forward. Then, student number 10 asked student number 11 curiously.

“But I thought it was going to be number 13?” 

“Numbers 13 and 3 are excluded from the class hierarchy. I came out since the 10th from the seniors came out.” 

Number 10’s face started to become distorted after hearing number 11’s answer. 

“You bastard…” 

“There’s no need to talk, is there?” 

Number 10 couldn’t help but raise his sword stiffly when he heard number 11’s words. Then, number 11 also held up his sword. His posture was the basic swordsmanship that he had learned after being rolled hard. 

The knight raised his hand and looked at both sides before swinging his hand down to signal the start of the spar. The two students quickly clashed against each other when the signal was given. Since both were swordsmen who had reached the 2nd Stage, their swords clashed at a speed that was much faster than any ordinary person’s movement.

Unfortunately, it was number 11’s defeat.

“…Sorry.” 

“It’s alright. We’ll win after that.” 

Then, the next student stepped forward. At first, 2nd year’s number 10 wanted to wipe them out but he ended up retiring since his stamina was depleted. Starting with Number 11 and 2nd year’s number 10, they began to compete one by one. 

The result of the spar, however, was something unexpected. 

“Heok… heok…” 

“2nd year’s number 1’s victory.” 

Even though the knight had declared his victory, 2nd year’s number 1’s face did not look bright. Although he won, he could tell that their difference was only separated by a thin sheet of paper. Above all, the result was 5 to 5. This fact alone had hurt his pride. However, number 13 and number 3 who were rumored to be geniuses still had not come out. If the two of them came out, then they would have been defeated. 

“Are you sure you’re not the best in your year?” 

“…Unfortunately, I’m not.” 

Number 1 looked at numbers 13 and 3 with a bitter smile on his face. Then, 2nd year’s number 1 asked the knights curiously. 

“Are numbers 13 and 3 really stronger than these guys?” 

Hearing the 2nd year’s number 1’s question, the knight beckoned to the two. The knight told numbers 13 and 3 to have a spar against a knight. And with his words, the two fought against their opponents fiercely. As soon as he saw them fighting, 2nd year’s number 1 had no choice but to admit it.

“They’re monsters. Those two will butcher those in the third grade.”

***

TL's Corner!

Surprise! Lol.