“Luan Bednicker.”
I was in second place.
And since second place received eight points, I was at 20 points. Or was it 21...? I wasn’t really sure.
Since it wasn’t that important to me, I hadn’t made it a point to remember.
In any case, as soon as it was declared that I was second place, I felt many eyes fall on me and heard murmuring all around me.
The nobles especially gazed upon me with suspicion...
Considering I was still hearing talk of me selling the sword of the house and all that, it seemed it would be a while before my bad reputation changed.
“Young Hero Luan didn’t show great results in terms of defeating monsters, but he was the only one who correctly understood the intent of the test.”
Evan, who was standing near me, reflexively asked, “The intent of the test?”
“Didn’t the Instructor of Survival tell you before he left? To survive in any way you can.”Ah.
Survival.
Many of the young heroes were probably thinking about that word right now.
“Luan was the only one among you who cared not just for his life but for the lives of others as well. It was enough to grant him second place even without taking the monsters he defeated into account.”
The young heroes nodded.
A few of them glanced at me with gratitude, and I recognized them as the ones I had saved.
“Finally, first place: Charon Woodjack. He was the one who defeated the most monsters the quickest and most precisely. a feat comparable to an official hero. Congratulations.”
Charon looked at the Instructor of Martial Arts before an annoying smile appeared on his face.
So he did know how to smile.
The Instructor of Martial Arts smiled and continued, “Now, I will explain the special reward. Young Hero Charon will be granted the authority to add a rule to the training camp.”
Charon flinched for a moment.
“What does that mean, ‘add a rule’?”
“It’s just as it sounds. For example, one of the rules in this training camp is ‘young heroes who possess less than 10 points cannot use the cafeteria at dinner’. You have the authority to change that rule, Charon.”
The Instructor of Martial Arts moved his fingers as if drawing an image.
“For example, you could change it to ‘those who possess less than five points cannot use the cafeteria at dinner’, or perhaps ‘the cafeteria is open to anyone regardless of their points’, and so on.”
Hearing that, a few young heroes gulped as they glanced at Charon.
They probably had less than 10 points right now.
“Or maybe something like this? ‘Only the one ranked first in points can use the cafeteria at dinner’.”
“...”
“...”
Most of the young heroes looked up at the platform with grim expressions.
Only now did they realize just how much power this special reward possessed.
Charon paused for a moment before asking, “Since it is such a powerful authority, I suspect that there are some restrictions.”
“Of course. You cannot add any nonsensical rules. For example, ‘Charon Woodjack receives one point per hour’. Something like that?”
“...”
“However, the rule you create can be beneficial to you. That is why this is a special reward.”
“When must I decide?”
“There isn’t a deadline, but the earlier you create your rule, the better it will be for you, as this rule will only apply during the training camp.”
“...”
Charon became quiet as he fell into thought.
I could tell that he was trying his best to come up with the best rule possible for himself. I got the sense that he was very obsessed with coming first for some reason. Ɍ
Wouldn’t he use this additional rule to solidify his position?
The Instructor of Martial Arts changed the topic as if to lighten the mood.
“In any case, today is already the third day of the training camp. Haha, time really flies, doesn’t it?”
However, this sudden change in topic broke the minds of the young heroes.
“...Three days?”
“Not three months?”
“Th-there’s no way. It’s been at least three weeks.”
“We need to spend five more weeks and then four more days on top of that? Is that a joke?”
“Heh. Hehehe. Kill me...”
I understood that each day of the training camp felt quite long...
But that just meant that the curriculum set by the instructors was very dense.
If it hadn’t been planned out properly, they wouldn’t feel this way.
“Everyone, please quiet down. Since you must all be quite tired, the morning lesson will be about the theory regarding martial arts.”
Hadn’t he talked about theory last time as well?
And he didn’t tell us to stand up, so everyone remained seated and just nodded.
The Instructor of Martial Arts sat on the edge of the platform to meet the eyes of the young heroes as he spoke.
“...As stated previously, martial arts began as a skillset to allow oneself to protect their body from opponents who were bigger, stronger, and faster.”
The Instructor started with a recap of the last lesson.
Due to the boring revision, I nearly let out a yawn.
There was nothing more boring than listening to something you already knew.
Afterward, the Instructor of Martial Arts began to talk about his own martial beliefs, which was even more useless for me.
Of course, listening to the thought process of others was a good way to increase one’s view of the world, but I had already committed myself to my own martial path.
I was currently in the process of refining that path, and I planned to stay on this path for a while.
Advice from others wasn’t particularly helpful at this stage.
After all, I wasn’t in the process of adding anything to my martial art. Instead, I was carving away at it.
That was why I stopped paying attention and began to quietly think about something else.
Firstly, my spar against the Instructor of the Hunt yesterday...
I thought about the martial arts he’d shown me, the characteristics of his movements, the flow of the battle, and the way I’d responded to him, and I compared it all to the battle I’d had against the monsters in the dead of night while thinking of ways to refine the basic techniques of the White Sun Form.
During that battle, I had thought up a few techniques that could be used with the Sword of Seven Sins.
Since I’d thought them up quite recently, they weren’t complete yet, but I could see how useful they would be after I refined them.
However...
Could I say these swordsmanship techniques were part of the White Sun Form?
Honestly, nothing said I couldn’t.
In the first place, the White Sun Form was a compound martial art consisting of finger, fist, palm, and kicking techniques.
It could also have claw techniques if any fit the overall style, so there was no reason I couldn’t add sword, blade, or spear techniques in the future.
However, I didn’t know if that was the right direction to take my martial art.
Was there some criteria that needed to be satisfied for a technique to be added to the White Sun Form?
If there was, what was it?
At what point could I say that the White Sun Form was complete?
This was a problem.
Because this was my first time acting as the creator, I couldn’t help but look at it in a completely different way from others.
The techniques in the first half of the White Sun Form already made it an excellent martial art.
Its destructive force didn’t need to be discussed, and its tones were clear.
Just like the Martial God had said, it might be too focused on destruction... but that could be considered a trait of the White Sun Form.
Even still...
I feel like I’m missing something.
I decided to treat this missing thing as the final piece of the martial art needed for it to be considered complete.
Even though I didn’t know what it was, I felt that if this feeling was satisfied, couldn’t I say the martial art was complete?
I don’t think I’ll be able to find it any time soon.
It might be the case that this was a problem I would need to mull over for my entire life as a martial artist.
I decided to leave it here for now. I opened my eyes a little to cool down my burning head...
And I immediately felt that something was off.
The Instructor of Martial Arts was still sitting on the platform, but Evan was standing in front of him for some reason.
* * * * *
* * * * *
What’s going on?
Thankfully, there was someone nearby who could tell me the answer.
I scooched over and tapped my target on her shoulder.
“What?” responded a sharp and aggressive voice.
As expected, she was a prickly person no matter the time or situation.
“I was sleeping and just woke up. What’s happening?”
“You were asleep? You’re such a mess...”
“So what’s happening?”
Sellen looked at me like I was a worm.
“..That instructor was talking about secret martial arts techniques and then Raven got brought up. Those two got into a bit of an argument over it.”
Raven was the name of the secret martial art handed down within Evan’s house, House Helvin.
“An argument?”
“The Instructor said Raven is a useless martial art and should be discarded to learn something else.”
I looked at Evan.
So that was why he was wearing that expression.
With a serious expression, Evan said, “...I don’t believe there is a martial art that can be the strongest in all situations and can defeat all other martial art techniques in every instance.”
It seemed the argument was still ongoing.
“Just as you say, Instructor, Raven might not be as complete as other martial arts, but you cannot conclude that it is a weak martial art.”
“Not a weak martial art... That’s funny. From what I know, didn’t your father, Sir Doz Helvin—who also learned Raven—never win a single spar with it?” With a smooth voice, the Instructor of Martial Arts continued, “If what you say is correct, shouldn’t he have won at least once?”
“...”
Evan became silent.
Honestly, you could object to the Instructor of Martial Art’s stance right now.
What Evan had said was right.
There were no weak martial arts.
Only weak martial artists.
However...
Could Evan, the one who respected his father more than anyone else in the world, say such a thing? That it wasn’t Raven that was weak but his father?
“The Knight of Total Defeat...”
At that, I heard a few young heroes try to stifle their laughter.
The Knight of Total Defeat was famous.
He was a knight who had gone around the entire empire and challenged people to spars after declaring he had created a secret martial art.
I had heard that many people in The Empire said the wandering martial artist had done something unsightly as one of the Great Houses.
Most of the nobles furrowed their brow at him.
Even if his results had been great, he would’ve been criticized for his lack of class, but he hadn’t even won a single one of the countless spars he’d participated in.
That was why the world insulted him as the Knight of Total Defeat.
“Young Hero Evan, I do not like pressing my points, but for your sake, I will say this one more time.” The Instructor of Martial Arts erased the smile off his face as he continued, “If you wish to become stronger, abandon Raven.”
Evan’s head lowered at the insults all around him.
I thought I could see black smoke come out of the top of Evan’s lowered head.
This might get dangerous.
***
The schedule for the training camp was packed.
However, even the greatest of talents would crumble if they were pressed too hard.
There were moments of rest sprinkled throughout the intense schedule.
Excluding the free time after dinner, mealtime was when we could most relax.
Although the instructors were still around, they wouldn’t interfere unless the young heroes started fighting.
Even if we spoke loudly and argued, we would be left alone.
It seemed the young heroes who had been wary of the instructors had realized this fact as well. Because of this, the cafeteria became quite lively.
After finishing her meal, Sellen approached me.
“Looks like you’re being targeted by someone annoying.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know him before?”
“No.”
“Did you do anything to wrong him?”
“No.”
“Then is he just keeping you in check so he can get first place?”
Sellen’s eyes turned slightly.
Not far away from us, I could see Charon eating his own food, and there were a lot of people around him for some reason.
“Looks like he’s quite sociable. Even though he looks like a wolf or something.”
Sellen snorted when I said that.
“You’re acting like you don’t know. Humans are bound to create factions, and the ones here are mostly nobles who have been learning politics since they were kids. They can probably smell a good source of leftovers even better than a dog.”
“I don’t think he’s the type to leave behind leftovers for them.”
“Well, he’s strong, and he’s good-looking as well.”
I agreed with the first part, but I tilted my head at the second.
“Good-looking? Even though he has a scar on his face?”
“It doesn’t matter if he has a scar or three eyes or whatever. If he’s good-looking, he’s good-looking. Rather, a unique mark like that can make him even more handsome.”
“Hey, if people are trying to get closer to handsome guys, I should be pretty popular as well.”
At that, Sellen slowly turned to me.
“Have you ever looked in a mirror?”
“...”
“Well, sure, you’re not ugly or anything. But compared to Charon or your brother, don’t you think you’re a bit lacking? How can I put this... It’s like your face tried to be handsome but gave up halfway.”
Even at Sellen’s shocking comment, I calmly nodded.
“So it’s not an ugly face trying too hard.”
“How optimistic.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyway, that’s not all. The decider is probably the ‘authority to add one rule’ he received today. Depending on how he uses it, the other kids could benefit as well.”
“Aha.”
“And the most important part is that Charon is smart enough to use all those people swarming him right now.”
This girl...
I thought she wasn’t doing anything, but she had even calculated that as well.
Sellen tapped her head.
“Right now, he has no weaknesses. There’s no point talking about his strength, and his proficiency with his blessings isn’t at the level of a young hero either. And he has enough wisdom to use the ones who are approaching him. Even though he’s just the son of a ranger, he’s weirdly adept at a lot of things.”
“Hmm...”
“And since someone like that is trying to mess with you, it looks like you’ll have a hard time this training camp.”
What’s that pitiful expression she’s giving me?
“...But don’t fight him too hard. Ignore him if you can.”
“Why?”
“Because soon, fighting like that won’t mean anything.”
I looked at Sellen.
I could see traces of fear in her. I had seen it many times in this training camp.
“Hey. Sellen, by the way—”
I was cut off by a loud shout.
“Take that back!”
The voice was so loud that it was enough to make my ears ring.
It was also a voice I was familiar with.
A kid with a small body was grinding her teeth.
Opposite her, a female young hero was scoffing at her with her arms crossed.
“Why should I? It’s true. You weren’t able to do anything because you got scared.”
“...It’s not that I got scared. My body just didn’t move.”
“That’s what we call getting scared. Really, you giants...”
I pointed to the girl shaking her head and asked Sellen, “I’m pretty sure she’s...”
“Sharyl Rubyeta.”
“Yeah.”
The youngest daughter of House Rubyeta.
The one who had sparred against Evan.
I had seen her in passing a few times, but this was the first time I was directly paying attention to her.
So hair like that is physically possible.
Her hair looked like it had been styled by a tornado.
From what I had heard, you needed a special tool to consistently roll your hair up to maintain that look...
But since there wasn’t a tool like that here, wouldn’t her hair return to normal over the course of the training camp?
“I... have inherited the blood of the Great Giant Ymir.”
“So? Who here hasn’t inherited the blood of a hero?” Sharyl said with a cold voice. “Of course, you’re not the only one who looked pitiful. However, you’re a giant, a crazy race who can’t distinguish between friend and foe when you go on a rampage.”
“...”
“I’d rather not die to a giant. So if a situation like yesterday’s comes up again, please don’t try and fight, just go into a corner and curl up. Got it?”
Mir ground her teeth, but she didn’t say anything in response.
Sellen gestured with her chin.
“What are you going to do?”
“About what?”
“Which group are you going to stand with in this training camp?”
“What group? We’re not kids.” I looked at Sellen as I continued, “You’re not going to join a group either.”
“Hmph.” Sellen continued, “You’re right. Still, I suggest you pick a faction.”
“Why?”
“Because that’ll give you the highest chance of survival.”
Sellen tried to leave as if she had said everything, but I wasn’t going to let her.
I hated things ending after I felt like I’d lost.
I tried to grab her wrist, but Sellen dodged out of the way a little and I ended up grabbing her hair.
“...”
“...”
“Let go.”
“Yep.”
Not even I could try and stop her again after that.