The Instructor of the Hunt silently opened and closed his mouth several times as if in shock.
While he was doing that, I began to think.
For now, ignoring the rules and form of the battle I’d just had, I realized that there was not much more I could gain by fighting here.
Which meant that there was no point in prolonging this battle.
“I lost.”
“...”
Although losing the fight was a shame, it was more regretful that the spar had to be in this format.
In a spar or mock fight, it was much more difficult for the weaker fighter to defeat the stronger fighter.
That was because they couldn’t launch extreme attacks that might cost both their lives.
But the moment such a restriction was removed, it could no longer be called a spar.“...”
The Instructor of the Hunt looked at me with calm eyes. Since his face was rough to begin with, I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking.
He probably wouldn’t take my declaration of defeat as me taunting him, right?
“...No matter the format of the spar, you lost in the end, so you will have two points deducted.”
“Yes.”
I calmly accepted the deduction.
Naturally, losing those two points didn’t feel good, but I felt I had gained something far greater than that.
The spar I’d just had with the Instructor of the Hunt was, to lay it out in the open, one of the highest-level battles I’d had since my regression.
Although that was a bit mean to Kayan who had sparred against me for an entire week, it was the truth.
Since I had gained inspiration for the latter half of the White Sun Form, I planned on thinking about a new basic technique in between my circulations.
At this point, the Instructor of the Hunt spoke up.
“However...”
“...?”
“The level of martial arts you displayed, your quick responses to new situations, your tenacity, and even the fact that you maintained your focus until the end and attempted a counterattack... and also because I had to go back on my word, I reward you three points.”
So...
Since I’d had two points deducted and gained three additional points...
In the end, I was up one point.
I was a little shocked as I responded, “Thank you,” but the Instructor of the Hunt had already turned around.
At that moment, I felt a sharp glare coming from someone.
As I turned my head to see who it was, between the young heroes, someone a head taller than anyone else was looking at me.
His name was...
Charon Woodjack?
The only son of Hyde, the one called the Strongest Ranger in The Empire.
I had never really spoken with him, but I knew that he was as famous as Hector and Sellen.
What are you looking at? I mouthed, but Charon silently turned away.
What was his deal?
***
After the day ended, as I lay down in my bed, Evan spoke to me.
“You were pretty impressive today.”
“In what way?” I responded, my eyes closed.
“You fought the instructor.”
“Well, I still lost.”
At that, Even let out a dry laugh.
“It’s only natural to lose. The Instructor of the Hunt is also called ‘the Undefeated Warrior’. I’ve heard that he is known throughout the Eastern Plains.”
I wasn’t particularly tired; rather, I was going over the spar in my mind.
He was interrupting me, so in an annoyed tone, I replied, “Sure.”
Thankfully, Evan seemed to pick up on it as he shut up.
Hm.
I hated having to care about how other people thought, but I felt like I needed to become close with this person for now, so I thought up a topic we could talk about.
In the end, I had to open my eyes and ask, “You won today, right?”
“Yeah. Did you watch me?”
“No. If you’d lost, you would look pretty sad right now.”
“That’s true.” Evan smiled. “I fought against the youngest daughter of House Rubyeta today.”
“Oh ho.”
She would become a big shot in the future.
House Rubyeta had considerable authority even among the Great Houses, and Sharyl Rubyeta, the youngest daughter of that house, was someone even I had heard about.
In the same vein, since Evan was famous in his own right, the spar between them had probably garnered some attention from the other young heroes.
“She was strong. Honestly, I won half because of luck. I heard that she usually uses a blunt weapon, but the instructors didn’t prepare weapons like that.”
Truthfully, it was probably harder to create blunt weapons than to make swords or spears out of wood.
Maces would be impossible, and even if they were forced to make one, it would probably only be something like a club.
“...But I still won. I proved that my father’s martial arts are strong.”
“Did you learn your martial arts from your father?”
Evan pridefully responded, “Yeah. He is my one and only teacher. No one in the world thinks highly of my father. Honestly speaking, it’s because he wasn’t able to produce achievements as a martial artist.” He smiled. “Still, my father is my pride. And with the ‘Raven’ he taught me... I will become successful.”
His calm voice carried a trace of passion.
I knew very well in what situation people sounded like that.
That was the voice of a disciple proud of and truly respectful of their master.
“...”
I still didn’t know much about Evan.
Before my regression, I had only heard rumors, and I’d only known scraps about House Helvin.
Naturally, I didn’t know anything about their family head—Evan’s father—either.
However, listening to Evan now, I learned something.
Evan’s father seemed to be a good teacher.
“What’s your definition of success?”
“Huh?”
Evan hesitated for a second at my random question, but he managed to respond eventually.
“Joining Heroes and becoming a hero... helping a lot of people... and eventually, defeating the cult and the Demon Lords and bringing peace to the continent?”
Surprisingly, Evan’s goals aligned with mine. If he didn’t lose sight of his goal, he would become an ally of mine in the future.
“But my goal right now is to safely complete the training camp.”
“I see. Good luck.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Evan randomly thanked me. I closed my eyes and didn’t respond.
Thankfully, Evan wasn’t stupid, so he didn’t try to continue the conversation.
Not long after, only the sounds of breathing could be heard in the room, and in this quiet night, sleep soon took us...
...
...
[Alert! All young heroes, wake up now!]
...For just 10 minutes.
[There is an emergency! Monsters have invaded the camp! All young heroes, prepare for battle and gather on the field!]
What was going on now?
* * * * *
* * * * *
After putting on my clothes as fast as possible, I ran out of the building.
Thankfully, due to the loud voice of the instructor, even though most of the young heroes here looked like they had just woken up, they still managed to come out and stand in the field.
Atop the platform was an instructor we hadn’t seen before.
“I am Soimond, one of the instructors. I will omit my self-introduction, so focus on the situation at hand. Currently, the magic barrier surrounding the camp has been broken for an unknown reason.”
“Pardon?”
The young heroes all paid attention in shock.
“Since a lot of people are gathered here, the monsters of the forest will soon surround us. The instructors are stopping the ones at the frontline, but a few monsters will unfortunately slip past them.”
Soimond took another breath.
“You understand what I want to say, right? Survive in any way you can.”
“...”
“With that said, I will go join the other instructors.”
He descended from the platform, and we all watched his back as he disappeared into the forest.
Only now did the young heroes gripped by uncertainty squeeze out their voice.
“Monsters are coming here?”
“Th-they have to be lying, right? I heard that the magic barrier created in the Forest of the Butterfly was created by Sir Asad. There’s no way it would break that easily...”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Hector corrected the stupid-looking young hero—looking at him, it was Karis again. “Sir Asad’s barrier only covers the fences of the main house. It doesn’t seem like he created a barrier into the deepest parts of the Forest of the Butterfly. Even if he had, it would be more of a sealing barrier that stops monsters from leaving.”
“N-no way...”
Karis’s face fell in despair.
I also agreed with what Hector had said... but I was still certain that this was another test.
There isn’t a single instructor here.
It would’ve been fine if Instructor Soimond hadn’t left, but it was odd how the young heroes were left all by themselves.
Another instructor or two at the frontlines was unlikely to change the outcome, and since that was the case, leaving an instructor here to guide the young heroes would be more effective.
Are they trying to test how we deal with emergencies?
Considering how we would need to fight against the cultists in the future, this was one of the more important topics to cover.
How many people noticed?
Although it wasn’t a hard fact to deduce, it was difficult to remain calm in situations like this unless it came to you naturally.
Or you had a lot of experience.
Experience.
This was one of the only factors missing from the geniuses gathered in this training camp.
And a fight with their lives on the line... would explosively increase their experience.
Twenty percent...
The death rate of young heroes in Bednicker’s training camp.
Among the young heroes here, at least 20 percent would die.
Since that was the case, even if a young hero was about to die tonight during this test, the instructors wouldn’t intervene.
I started to get a sense of what direction this training camp was taking.
Krrr...
A frightening presence was felt from beyond the trees.
The young heroes, pale with fear, pulled out their weapons and naturally stepped backward, away from the sound.
Obviously, not all of them did this.
A few took battle positions while remaining calm.
The first to act seemed to be Charon Woodjack.
I could tell that he had walked the line between life and death many times from a young age. He was probably one of the only young heroes here who had sufficient combat experience.
Afterward, Hector, Sellen, and Evan took up their positions as well.
In a way, they were all the people who had received points during the run before.
I didn’t join them.
Since they would do fine by themselves, I had something better to do.
I finally have a chance as well.
I drew the Sword of Seven Sins from my hip.
Its appearance was lacking, but since it was still the relic of a king, it probably wouldn’t break even if I swung it too hard.
Crunch!
The tree was toppled as the monster revealed itself.
“It’s here!”
“Th-that’s...”
“Uck...!”
It looked like a centipede, but it was as big as a house.
It also wasn’t alone. Small copies of it that looked like its offspring were crawling all over it.
Centipedes were disgusting even when they were centipede-sized, and this one was much worse because of how big it was.
Many young heroes were surprised at its striking appearance, but thankfully, none of them seemed to fall into panic.
Although the instructors treated these kids like brats, that was more just to set the tone...
Objectively speaking, the ones at the training camp right now were all pretty decent in their own ways.
Rumble!
The first to charge was the swam of baby centipedes.
“Damn it!”
“We need to fight!”
The young heroes held up their weapons.
At this point, they were probably thinking of fighting them in the ways they were comfortable with, but that would be difficult to keep up until the end.
No matter what, during this battle, they would experience at least one moment of danger... and to overcome that danger, they would need to employ every trick they had at their disposal.
I expected that was the reason the instructors were putting on this show: so that the young heroes could get used to using the mysterious powers called Blessings.
After thinking up to that point, I halted for a moment.
What about me?
I had received a blessing as well.
I had received a blessing, but I still didn’t know what it was.
Compared to the others, it was like I wasn’t even at the starting line.
But even in that position, I had thought myself better than the other young heroes.
Don’t be overconfident.
In a sense, this was overconfidence and vanity.
“Heup.”
I remembered my master’s advice as I calmed my heart.
I suddenly had a thought.
Maybe, in this training camp...
Did I also need to figure out how to use my blessing?