Chapter 57

[57] The Training Ground’s First Session

I had been so captivated by the magnificent scenery—something rarely seen in the real world—that I’d forgotten this place had been remodeled specifically for my training.

It wasn’t a tourist attraction.

“Should I expect the training to proceed much as it did before?”

“It’ll be a little different. Mind training to help you use Dragon Speech, and sparring to draw out the dragon’s power dormant within you. Those parts will be the same, but we’ll be adding one more thing.”

“What is it?”

When I asked about the new training method, Rokan answered with an inscrutable smile.

“This is where you first managed to use Dragon Speech properly, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I really thought I was going to die.”

I could still remember it vividly.

The excruciating pain, so intense that I’d thought dying would be preferable; the rush of joy at using Dragon Speech for the first time; and even the days I spent suffering from the aftereffects.

Rokan’s words brought all those complicated feelings back to me.

…It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

The pain had been incomparably greater than the exhilaration.

“So, I plan to add a new training exercise modeled after what happened back then. That eccentric went to all that trouble for a precious successor who dreams of becoming a dragon in a human body. It would be rude not to put it to use.”

“That’s true, but…”

Did he mean I had to go through that horrible pain again?

Every time I trained, at that?

Rokan seemed to believe this was the most efficient way for me to grow in the shortest amount of time.

And, so far, I had to admit it seemed like the best option.

Still, having to experience that pain more than once…

Going through it once had been more than enough.

Maybe the memory of it showed on my face, because I seemed to grimace without realizing it.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be exactly the same as last time. I don’t have some strange hobby of deliberately causing you pain.”

Rokan spoke in a gentle voice, telling me not to worry.

“I have no intention of pushing you that far. I’ve modified the existing magic circle, so I can adjust the difficulty precisely. You won’t have to suffer like you did back then.”

His reassurance helped, but something still felt off.

So, he was going to work me until I was just about to pass out, no matter what?

I knew I had to do it.

But I couldn’t help worrying, with the fear from that experience still etched into my memory.

“Come on, don’t be such a baby. You’d have to jump into a pit of fire for Shasha, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, I would!”

That’s right. I was scared, but all I could do was steel myself and get on with it.

If it was anything like last time, I wouldn’t die. And if things got dangerous, Rokan would step in and help.

I took a sword out of my subspace and gripped it.

Then, to steady myself before training began, I gently rubbed the ring Sia had given me.

“I’m ready.”

“Good. We’ll start easy. I’ll watch for a bit, then adjust the difficulty in real time to suit you.”

To begin the training, Rokan took a crystal orb from his subspace and poured mana into it.

Figures began appearing across the empty field, one after another—the soldiers I’d seen before.

And, just as I’d feared, wyverns began appearing in the air as well.

The scene looked so much like the one I remembered.

Even the number of enemies seemed similar. They must have recreated the conditions from that day perfectly.

“…Lord Rokan, didn’t you say we’d start easy?”

“It only looks that way because there are so many of them. You can handle it.”

He said the difficulty had been lowered compared to last time, but the memory was so vivid that fear tightened my body.

I’d first used Dragon Speech against those enemies, but I’d also experienced fear and pain so overwhelming that they eclipsed the exhilaration.

Maybe this was…a kind of PTSD.

But still.

Wasn’t overcoming that fear and learning to control it exactly what would bring me closer to the level I wanted to reach?

At a glance, the situation looked similar to last time. But everything was completely different now.

So I’d face them without fear.

With my sword giving off a faint gray aura, I charged forward without a moment’s hesitation and began to dance with my blade.

Rokan had been right: we were starting easy. Everything felt far more manageable than it had back then.

The aura at my sword’s tip grew stronger, and the soldiers fell like leaves before the wind, unable to fight back.

Then, at some point—

Aura began to shoot from my sword without me even realizing it.

The sword aura flying from its tip struck the wyverns in the air.

There was a world of difference between coating your sword in aura and releasing that aura toward an enemy.

Swordsmen were naturally at a disadvantage in ranged combat. But if they could do more than simply generate aura—if they could release it—they could overcome that limitation to some extent.

Back at the academy, one of my professors had said you could judge a swordsman’s level by whether or not they could unleash sword aura.

That alone showed how dramatically I’d improved.

This was an advanced technique I’d never even imagined I could use. And now I was performing it with my own hands without even realizing it.

As far as I knew, only a handful of B-rank swordsmen could use this technique.

The sword aura I unleashed was still weak, but managing to produce it at all was an achievement.

When I glanced back, Rokan was watching my training with a satisfied smile.

“You’re doing well. I can feel the energy coming from you, and seeing the aura gathered around your sword makes it clear just how much you’ve grown.”

They say praise can even make a whale dance.

Then how about I put on a proper sword dance?

For an ordinary Hunter, it would make sense to practice controlling sword aura properly. But my priorities were different.

One thing was one thing, and another was another.

[Freeze.]

I focused on the energy of my sword, warmed up by battle, and on the faint trace of dragon power I could feel within my body.

I tried using Dragon Speech against the enemies spread out right in front of me.

It would have made for quite a sight if I’d succeeded, but unfortunately, Dragon Speech had no effect.

Before trying it, I’d set my goal at freezing the enemies, unlike last time. I’d been worried, “What if my Dragon Speech works and cracks open this space?”

It seemed I’d been worrying for nothing.

Maybe I’d gotten too carried away by my recent progress and Rokan’s praise.

“You still look like you have plenty of energy. In that case…”

Rokan ran his hand over the crystal orb.

For an instant, light flashed across the soldiers’ and wyverns’ bodies, then vanished.

“Let’s keep raising the difficulty.”

Actually, maybe this was worse than last time.

For one thing, getting hit by the monsters created by the system still hurt, at least a little.

Rokan had modified the magic circle set up here, but I still felt a faint sting every time one of the monsters hit me.

“Hah…hah…”

After the training session ended, I collapsed right where I stood, panting heavily.

It reminded me of the time I’d sparred with Rokan and swung my sword nonstop for an hour.

The pain hadn’t been unbearable, but it had kept building up in my body until I felt like I couldn’t take any more.

And there was something else.

Rokan really had pushed me right to the point of exhaustion.

He’d watched my training in real time and fine-tuned the difficulty as I went. Thanks to that, I’d been left in a state where I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion, but never quite did.

Ugh, I’m out of breath.

On the verge of collapsing, I recovered my strength by drinking a potion Rokan gave me.

“This was your first training session in the new training ground. I’d like to hear what you thought of it.”

“I thought I’d already experienced hell, but I never knew there was a hell even worse than that.”

I’d thought we’d start with a light warm-up, but I hadn’t expected such an intense session from the very beginning.

If I kept training like this, I might make progress faster than I’d expected.

But damn, it had been tough.

“It wasn’t just the difficulty. I was looking forward to something, so I’m a little disappointed.”

“You mean Dragon Speech?”

“Yes.”

There had been a precedent. The Hunter Association and Rokan had both confirmed that my rate of growth was unusually fast. And finally, Rokan had said this was the ideal place to use Dragon Speech.

So I’d thought I might be able to use it at least once, even by chance.

“You can’t expect to be full after your first bite. From what I saw, it wasn’t bad at all. Now, let me give you some feedback on that training session.”

Rokan sat down on a bench and patted the spot beside him, inviting me to sit.

“Today, I’ll start with what you need to work on. What do you think was the most important reason you couldn’t use Dragon Speech?”

“Could you give me a moment to think?”

What had I been lacking today?

I thought it over, trying to find the answer.

From the way Rokan had put it, there must have been something I’d overlooked. I’d also felt that something was missing, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

Maybe I’d been able to use Dragon Speech last time because I’d removed the control device and could use my full power—but that sounded like a poor excuse.

Even after searching through my memories of the two hours of training, I still couldn’t figure it out.

When I couldn’t find the answer, Rokan gave me a subtle hint.

“Fundamentals.”

“Oh!”

It was just one short word, but the moment I heard it, something clicked.

“I was so focused on other things that, as you said, I neglected the basics. And the most important basic of all is…willpower, right?”

The most fundamental thing of all.

A powerful will.

Thinking back, I hadn’t felt much of that today.

Maybe the environment was ideal for using Dragon Speech, and my recent progress had made me careless without my even realizing it.

And most of all, unlike the last time I used Dragon Speech properly, I hadn’t felt that desperate will to survive and escape this place.

There was no excuse.

“…Now that I realize it, I’m embarrassed.”

My head bowed on its own.

Rokan and Sia were both doing everything they could to help me achieve my goal, but I’d been taking things too lightly.

Even if the environment and circumstances had changed, I should have been just as desperate as I’d been back then.

“All right. As long as you understand, that’s enough. Just don’t make the same mistake again.”

Rokan gave me a light pat on the back.

“That doesn’t mean you did badly. You handled your power well, and your control over its intensity was good overall. It was also wise not to push yourself into using an overly powerful Dragon Speech.”

Rokan went on to talk about what I’d done well and what I could have done better.

“Thank you.”

“Well, you seem to have rested enough. Let’s finish today’s training with some mind training, which will also serve as a cool-down.”

Wait, there was more training?

The session had been so intense that I’d thought we were done for the day. But, contrary to my expectations, that wasn’t the end of it.

Well, what could I do?

I’d had a potion and gotten a bit of rest, so I’d better get to it.

After resting, I followed Rokan’s instructions and wrapped up the day’s training with some light mind training.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

“Good work. Today’s training was tougher than usual, but you kept up well.”

“You worked hard today too. Thank you.”

I was so tired that I’d probably collapse the moment I got home.

If I weren’t so worn out, I would have stayed here a little longer to enjoy the scenery before heading home. But I didn’t have the energy for that.

I was so dazed that I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d fallen asleep right there.

Then Rokan said something that brought me fully awake.

“Minjun. I was thinking about what you told me earlier, and I’ve decided it would be best for me to start a guild after all.”