He became the focus of everyone’s envy for a short moment. However, it was only for that short moment. The other kids began to ask about the units and squadrons that they would be going to. In the end, Carl Stein, who was in charge of the military supplies, was left behind.

The students asked their professors and instructors about the amount of training, the level of monsters, how tight the military discipline was, and a lot more information about their assigned units. The knights and professors answered them to the best of their abilities. However, it was impossible for them to know anything with certainty. They would only know what it really was like once they went there in person.

If one was unlucky, they would probably live in a place with strict military discipline. But if one was lucky, they could probably live a comfortable life. But, thankfully, they wouldn’t really live in hell every day since they would not be living in shared dormitories like the soldiers. There was a huge difference between coming to the unit as a commissioned officer and coming to the unit as a soldier. But regardless of that, they still couldn’t help but find things a bit too uncomfortable.

“Ha… Why did I come here?” 

“Ugh… Crazy.” 

“I regret all of my choices in the past!” 

They had long accepted the fact that they would experience hell in the future as long as they stayed in the Northeast. However, they wanted to at least find a semblance of comfort in this hell.

At first, the students badly wanted to get assigned to the elite units. But when they really got deployed to those units, they couldn’t help but begin pulling on their hairs. They felt frustrated as they regretted the choices that they had made in the past.

Including Carl Stein, there were about 21 students who came to the rear. In fact, most people believed that being assigned to the units in the rear would make their lives comfortable. However, this was the Northeast. And there was no perfect rear in the Northeast.

Even if they were in charge of the military supplies, they would still need to block the monsters once they appeared in their vicinity. They would even go on dangerous missions to procure military supplies for the units in direct combat.

In short, there was no unit in the Northeast that was exempt from dangerous situations. Everyone would have to work diligently regardless of the unit that they were assigned to as long as they remained in the Northeast.

However, being assigned further from the frontlines meant that these dangers and risks to their lives would still be reduced even for a bit. So the students prayed that they would be assigned further away. But, their hopes and dreams were brutally broken. Most of them had been assigned to units that were stationed in the frontlines.

“Anyway, Iron is really unlucky. Why was he assigned there?” 

“I know. Isn’t that a place where you go in 2~3 years if you’re really unlucky?” 

“Honestly, when I heard that I was assigned to a guard post on the east of the frontlines, I wondered if I ever sold the country in my past life for me to be this unlucky. You know? But it seems like it was Iron who really sold the country.” 

“Ah… I want to cry. That’s the Winter Mountains!” 

Many of Iron’s contemporaries looked at him in pity.

They believed that they would still be alright if they were assigned to those dangerous places since they had undergone a lot of special training before. And even if they do get assigned to the frontlines, they believed that they could do well since they got used to it during their senior year. As long as the environment was not harsh, they believed that they would be able to push through.

However, the search and reconnaissance unit in the frontlines was rumored to be a place with an environment that was far worse than the most dangerous place, the frontlines.

First off, the environment was unfamiliar. After all, they would only go there for the first time. Second, they would constantly be in tension from all of the danger that could possibly attack them. The students even heard that the people there had to live with dry food because their supply and demand couldn’t be smoothly fulfilled.

Those things were already annoying. But from what the students heard, Iron was going to the Winter Mountains. This meant that on top of those annoying things, he also had to endure the extreme cold.

“Ha…” 

Iron sighed deeply as he lamented the conditions that he had to endure.

He just tried to reduce his military life even for a bit. At one point, he even wanted to advance the knowledge in the academy. He thought that since he was already here, he should graduate safely with his colleagues. So he studied tactics together with them and conveyed his thoughts to boost their overall power.

He even ran around to leave good impressions on the soldiers. He thought that he should leave good impressions so they would treat him amiably if he ever was assigned to the frontlines. 

The problem was he jumped too much to the point that he caught the eyes of those at the top. 

“Is it because of the monster tactics? No. Then, was it the plans for the Northeast? No… I think it was still fine up to that point. So where did it go wrong? Aaaack! Maybe I should have just done it moderately? Would it have been better if I stayed and served in the military for two more years?” 

Some students patted Iron on the soldier as he continued to pull his hair out thinking about his imminent deployment to Winter Mountains. However, their pats were no more than teasing. After all, the pats came from the students who were assigned to the rear to take charge of the military supplies. 

“Work hard for a few years. Anyway, we’ll rotate our arrangements.” 

“The next place will definitely be a safe place.” 

“That’s right. I heard that the people who suffered first will be able to soak themselves in honey later.” 

“I guess we’ll have a hard time later.” 

“Everything will be better soon. Why don’t you just continue to grow there? It won’t be dangerous for you later if you do that.” 

Iron clenched his fist when he saw the other kids smirking as they said those words. Just like the children said, they would be rotated later. But would he even be able to go to a safe place after being assigned to Ghost? The answer was a definite no. He was even more likely to  be dispatched to more dangerous places. 

The higher your level the safer you’ll be?

There was never a thing like that. First of all, Ghost was a place where only those at the 5th Stage gathered. They were a completely elite group. So no matter what he did, he would not be able to escape from danger. 

The 5th Stage was a stage that he was only able to climb incompletely after placing a fragment of the dragon’s heart in his body. It was the incomplete stage that he had climbed only after doing countless things to his body. Ranging from body remodeling to inlaying mana stones to injecting elixirs. 

Considering that his goal in this life was the 5th Stage, it was safe to assume that his safety would never be guaranteed until he got discharged. 

With those thoughts running through his mind, Iron felt depressed. The only thing that he could do was enjoy the remaining days of his freedom in the academy. 

Thanks to their hard work in the frontlines, the professors and the instructors did not really touch the graduating students. Originally, it was their custom not to touch the graduating students to give them a bit of freedom before their graduation but since they spent almost their entire year at the frontlines, the professors did not appear in the academy as much as possible. In other words, they were given complete freedom. 

With a few days left for their freedom, he was able to establish his friendship with his colleagues firmly. 

“Today’s main event! The last confrontation between number 1, Iron, and  number 2, Ariel!” 

“Uwaaaaaa!” 

“Let’s see the final rankings!” 

“This is Ariel’s only time to break him!” 

“Let’s go and bring down the dirty Iron who uses cheap tricks!” 

“Ice princess! Please break that dirty steel!” 

The students did their own final ranking battles ahead of their graduation ceremony. 

Cardro, the current number 3, also challenged Iron and Ariel but the result was as disastrous as before. He rolled around for a year but it was still not enough to compete with Iron’s experience. And Ariel was just Ariel. The rest of the students also tried to challenge Iron but they were blocked by the frustrated Cardro. So in the end, only the two of them were left. 

“I’ll definitely do it this time.” 

“Haha… Let… Let’s go easy.” 

Iron couldn’t help but sweat when he saw Ariel caressing her sword with a wicked look on her face. 

“I should at least beat you with my sword.” 

Ariel was determined to beat Iron in terms of swordsmanship. After all, Iron was someone who was proficient and talented in all the other aspects. So she wanted to show him that she trumped him with her sword.

She quickly increased her momentum. 

“Ha… haha… hahaha…” 

Ariel looked sharply at him as she pointed her sword at his face. Iron immediately calmed down even though he was flustered just a bit earlier. 

Iron was the only one who trained with the Imperial Basic Swordsmanship until the end of their numbered days. Up to the middle, there were a few people who continued to follow him and trained with it. But in the end, they transferred to a new sword technique that they could use during actual battles. 

“This time, I will pierce that defense.” 

“Is that so? Try it then.” 

Ariel flew in the moment Iron took a firm defensive posture. Dozens of afterimages containing blue mana appeared within seconds of her attack and dug into various points in Iron’s body. However, Iron easily parried them with his sword as he sidestepped using the footwork from the Imperial Basic Swordsmanship. 

This was something that could only be done if he had a lot of room to play with. Ariel’s swordsmanship was beyond imagination but her swordsmanship was still completely under the grasp of his steel-like defense. In addition, Iron’s stance remained steadfast and unchanging. He looked completely contrary to Ariel who was already panting in exhaustion. 

His work of compressing his mana into his sword to get a grasp of the 4th Stage ever since his 5th year was not without merit. Right now, even though Ariel was attacking him with her overwhelming strength, the mana that lighted his sword did not waver even the slightest. 

“Uwaa… That’s crazy. Is that really possible at our age?” 

“Iron is also amazing. He can receive those attacks easily. He might look like he’s being pushed back but he’s able to block everything seamlessly.” 

“What’s more, Ariel is the one who’s getting tired. Look. The mana in Iron’s sword remains steady.” 

The children’s eyes widened in surprise as they watched the confrontation between Iron and Ariel. However, regardless of Ariel’s strength, she remained at a disadvantage. The result was so glaring that the children could notice it at once. 

Just like the children had said, Ariel was really exhausted. Unlike her overwhelming attacks earlier, her attacks had already started to slow down.

‘It’s not your turn yet. I did not live my previous life in vain just to get defeated by a child who hasn’t reached the 4th Stage yet.’ 

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Iron’s posture changed from defensive to offensive. 

This was the time for him to lay down the pressure on Ariel. He used the simplest and most solid sword to put pressure on Ariel.

His sword was something that anyone could stop. But as soon as it was blocked, a shockwave burst forth. This was because the more steel-like sturdy mana filled his sword, the more shock his opponent would feel upon impact. In addition, since his sword was as hard as steel, there was bound to be less impact on his side than on his opponent’s side. 

This was the difference that would give him his win. His sword might look simple, straightforward and even unsophisticated, but this sword was the most efficient on the battlefield. 

“Ugh!”

Ariel couldn’t help but groan from the impact she received from blocking Iron’s sword. The shock was so strong that she staggered back for a few steps.

Her expression changed. It was as if she thought that she couldn’t be like this. So, she immediately pulled up her sword and became serious.

‘Is this the Meteor Shower?’

Meteor Shower was one of the techniques in the Galactic Meteor Swordsmanship. Countless blue streams flew in like a meteor shower that was pouring down from the sky. This was a technique that cloaked the real attack through the dozens of blue streams. The only thing that was different was that her sword was continuously stabbing even though there shouldn’t be any motion from her sword. 

If she was in the 4th Stage, she would be able to show the full power of this skill through the mana that was contained in her sword but she was forcefully applying the technique by continuously stabbing her sword that contained the mana. In this way, she was able to mimic the dozens of flying blue streams and send an attack to him.

In other words! All of the blue light that was flying towards Iron presently existed as afterimages of a real stab. However, it was possible for him to distinguish where her attack would be real and with enough substance to cause him damage since her mana was scattered in the middle. After all, she hasn’t reached the 4th Stage yet.

“Heup!”

Iron breathed harshly before he began to break down and crush Ariel’s sword one by one. This was actually a simple and naive way but this was the only thing that he could do. With his steel-like momentum, he literally cut off the dozens of sword lights that flew towards him all the while moving forward towards Ariel, who was busy preparing for the real attack.

Then, a sword containing enormous mana, that looked like there were dozens of swords merged together, flew straight towards Iron. At the same time, Iron attacked Ariel with the wide slash that he was most confident in. 

Baaang!

Their victory or defeat would be determined once the dust from the huge impact between their clash settled down. 

Once everything was clearly seen, everyone could see that Iron’s sword was still overflowing with mana while the mana in Ariel’s sword scattered helplessly. Although Iron had stopped in the middle since this was not a battle of life and death, it was still obvious to the people around them on who was the victor. If they had done it until the end, she might have died already. 

“I lost.”

“I would have lost if you still had one more year.”

Iron said bitterly but Ariel just shook her head. 

“It will probably be the same. It has always been the same… Hoo… I don’t know when I’ll see you again but… if we see each other again I hope we can cross swords once more.”

“Alright. I hope you go easy on me by that time.”

“You exaggerate…”

Ariel stood up, patted her pants and asked for a handshake. Iron smiled before shaking hands with her. Then, they both joined the small party that they held in the academy before their graduation.

The next day, the dean, who appeared after a long time, congratulated the students and gave them his last congratulatory speech.

“To the students of the 127th batch of the Northeast Academy, I’m proud of you. I hope each and every one of you will shine brightly in the Northeast.”

The graduation ceremony ended after the dean’s words. All of the students said their farewells to the people that they grew close with. Even the professors came to say goodbye to their students.

“Hoo… We’re now sending the last numbers from the old Northeast Academy.”

“Yes?”

Iron couldn’t help but ask dumbly when he heard the professor’s words from the side. Even the other students stared wide-eyed at the professor. 

“What do you mean… last numbers?”

“Literally. Command said that they were going into investigation not too long ago. They have received reports that made them suspect that a monster wave is coming. If they find solid evidence, the Northeast Academy will either be closed or transferred to another place. If that’s the case, then it will become the new academy. By that time, the existing numbers will become meaningless.”

“Ho…”

“Th… Then what about our juniors?”

“What the hell!”

The students panicked as they asked about their juniors. But before they could even inquire further, the officers responsible for each unit began to calmly take the panic-stricken students and disappear one by one. 

Finally, the Ghost that Iron saw the other day came to find him today. 

“You will now be appointed as the 4th Platoon Leader of the Winter Hawk Unit. You have already seen the mission book so you know about this already. Right?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no rush. You can use 1~2 years to adapt. You don’t need to overdo it. The commander said that you just need to focus on adapting during that period of time.”

“I understand.”

“I think you’re already ready… Shall we head out right away?”

Iron nodded heavily upon hearing the Ghost’s words. Then, he climbed on top of the drake with his head filled with both worry and fear.

***

Notes

[Platoon] – Consists of 3~4 squads. Around 15-40 soldiers. Those at the rank of Lieutenant can be appointed as a platoon leader.