134 – Guardian Tree Ghost (13)
Vivi’s aide, Gerald, and escort captain Fenrir were watching the 1st year Combat Division class while wearing their robes at an appropriate distance from the training ground.
“Are you looking for an instant sense of power?”
At Fenrir’s question, Gerald shook his head. If that was the case, it would have been a matter of pointing out a fourth-year student and taking him. All he wanted was to measure Damian’s skills.
“This is just a formality.”
It would be nice if Damien’s skills were excellent, but it didn’t matter if he was poor. Rather, Bibi will gladly accept this, and use the incompetence as an excuse for his own act of emotional retaliatory action.
Because of their lack of skill, they make them do humiliating chores such as washing their feet or polishing their shoes.
Gerald wasn’t too happy about this place because he knew exactly what kind of picture would come out.
Of course, some level of skill verification was necessary. The road to the principality was not entirely safe. In case of emergency, it should be at least enough to preserve one’s own life.
At the training ground, Associate Professor Gael spoke.
“You will fight this monster for a week from today. And if you don’t hit meaningfully during that period, you’re at the bottom.”
Students made half-crying sounds with disgusted expressions on their faces.
Fenrir, the captain of Vivi’s escort, looked at the monster and said.
“This is Kiraqlo. I wonder how they airlifted that ferocious bastard from the North.”
Hooked nails and thick teeth. And even a poison needle that pierces through most of the upper skin at once.
When a normal human is captured, they are torn to pieces before they can say goodbye.
Of course, the risk factors were thoroughly cut out, and all that was left for Kiraqlo was bull-like leg strength and agility.
“Now, is there anyone who will volunteer first?”
Being the first runner was no different from being willing to become a test subject and provide strategy hints.
Gael rolled his eyes disapprovingly and gestured to the assistant. Then the lottery box was placed in front of her.
Gael put her hand in and pulled out the paper at once without rummaging.
“Pecorino! Come out and pick out your weapon.”
Everyone’s eyes were focused on one boy at once. A boy, like a man about to die, closed and opened his eyes, and stepped forward.
While he was choosing his weapon, Gael and his assistant freed Kiraqlo’s restraints.
As soon as the iron bars were opened, Kiraqlo jumped out at a terrifying speed.
“Ah, ah!”
Seeing this, Pecorino stopped picking out his weapon and slammed his butt in surprise.
But no one laughed. The rest of the students were equally surprised.
Pecorino sighed like a man suffering from a toothache, then picked up a spear and stepped in front of Gael.
Gael asked.
“Why did you choose the spear? Is that your main weapon?”
“No, but because it has the longest reach. To target weaknesses….”
Gael cut her off and shoved Pecorino on the back.
“Okay, I’ll give you five minutes.”
I didn’t even have time to prepare my mind, and I immediately pushed myself into a fight.
“When you step out of that circle, you get a failing grade forever. Keep in mind.”
“Ah, ah….”
Pecorino gripped the spear with both hands and shrank like a frightened rat.
Several times, as if stabbed with a spear. Pecorino didn’t even touch the point of his spear properly in close proximity for two minutes.
It just stimulated the monster’s nerves.
Gael shouted in frustration.
“If you don’t fight properly, we will break your restraints.”
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Scared to speak, the chain that restrained the monster’s hind legs loosened even longer.
Kiraqlo made a loud noise and rushed straight ahead.
Pecorino was attacked without a chance to resist.
“Oops! Ahhh! Sal, save me!”
Kiraqlaw laid him on the floor and scratched him. If his hooked claws were still there, he would have already been dismembered. Right now, it was just a blunt knurl running wildly through his body.
Gael took out a special artifact and approached the monster. So, as if frightened, he left Pecorino and crawled into the cage.
Gael grabbed Pecorino by the back and dragged him out. He was half insane.
Half of the students who saw that scene wrinkled their arrogance as if they were disgusted, and the other half turned pale. If it were just a monster, it would have fought well, but Kiraqlo’s repulsive appearance made it even stronger.
Gerald asked Fenrir.
“What grade is that student in?”
“Based on the entrance exam, it is ranked at the upper middle level. It’s disappointing for something like that.”
“Hmm….”
Gael said in a contemptuous way.
“I want at least one person to show a proper image. It’s because I lose face in front of the knights of the duchy.”
Some of the students glanced at the place where Gerald and Fenrir were standing. Even if Gael didn’t bother pointing it out, some of them knew where they were.
The situation observed by outside personnel. If they were embarrassed in this place, there was nothing shameful from the students’ point of view.
Gael drew lots and called the next turn.
“Rescon! Come out and fight.”
Rescondo, who was called, stood forward with a dead body, no different from the previous runners.
He took up his longsword and stepped forward.
Then Gael asked with his hands behind his back.
“Why did you choose that weapon?”
He said, trying to hide his nervous expression.
“Because the cow is the most ripe in the hand.”
“Good. Let’s try.”
With both hands firmly gripping the handle of the sword, Rescon immediately charged Kiraqlo. Then he swung his sword vigorously, but it was blocked limply by his long legs.
Because of being overly vigilant, I only cut my long legs with no effect, but I couldn’t make a proper impression.
Fenrir, who was watching the scene, said.
“It’s better than the previous student, but not a big difference. The grades are similar.”
Gerald brushed his chin, thinking inwardly. He was a freshman, so he didn’t expect anything in terms of skills.
When Lescon saw Kara Claw’s behavior grow more ferocious, he threw down his sword and struck him down.
Assistant Professor Gael looked at Lescon, who fled, with a stern expression.
“Throwing a sword is the worst of the worst.”
“Professor, I don’t know anything else, but spiders have serious trauma….”
“Do you think the monster you met on the street will be considerate of your inner circumstances? You are at the bottom.”
“… !”
Gael had no hesitation in giving the lowest score.
As he watched the next battle, Gerald yawned. Seeing this, Fenrir hinted.
“Three skilled knights are the ones to stick with. It’s a bunch of students who are only in the 1th grade. Again, don’t expect too much.”
Soon after, Gael called Victor, who was in the top 10 combat division.
He immediately stepped forward and checked his weapons.
And Gerald sensed that the air flow in the training ground was changing.
In the movement of holding the sword and shaking it, I felt a certain heaviness and composure. Even Gerald, who was not very good at swordsmanship, could feel it.
He turned over the papers and checked Victor’s background.
“From the Brotherhood of Claudinas. Interesting history.”
The Claudinas Brotherhood was a mercenary group with branches all over the continent, with the goal of completely eradicating the demons.
“Now that I’ve met my opponent, my eyes are rolling.”
And the other students seemed to sense it too.
I could guess that this time the results would be different from before.
Victor took up his longsword, warmed up and stepped forward.
“Can I fight right away?”
“Yes.”
The battle went on immediately. Victor rushed straight into Kiraqlo’s face. The monster tried to knock down Victor, who was running towards him with his front paws.
Then he took a diagonal roll and swung his sword at his left foreleg.
That sword strike accurately cut into the soft tissue of the legs, and the green bodily fluid splattered out with a squeaking sound.
Chwiik! Acquire!
The sword-slashed legs folded as if they were crumpled. Kiraqlo then spat out in pain and took a few steps back.
A light exclamation escaped from the mouths of the students watching.
Victor got to his feet and swung his arm once, brushing the bodily fluids from the blade. All of these movements were neat and tidy.
Then Victor ran again and slid, this time attacking his right front leg.
Chack!
The right leg was completely tattered due to the sword strike.
Knowing that Victor uses two forelimbs for attack and the other for movement, he disabled it in advance.
Chwii profit! Acquire! Kiraqlo struggled in pain.
He didn’t stop there, he leaped, lowered himself as if to tackle, and slid under Kira Claw’s belly.
Seeing that, Fenrir shook her head.
“It’s a risky idea.”
It was possible to attack the lower abdomen without a hard exoskeleton, but it was a positioning that was easy to be attacked.
Victor thrust a knife into Kiraqlo’s abdomen.
It is true that he was fatally wounded, but he could not stop breathing at once. Kira Claw slammed his ass down reflexively like his wasp. It was the last desperate effort to stick the poison needle.
This took several blows to Victor’s thighs. Had the sting not been removed, he could have died.
Victor drew his sword and thrust it back into his stomach, then rolled him out.
Kira Claw struggled, spraying bodily fluids on the floor, until she head-butted himself against his bars and stopped breathing.
Gael nodded his head in satisfaction for the first time.
“Very good.”
Victor gasped for breath and brushed the dirt off him.
“Thank you.”
“The decision to aim for the front legs first was excellent, but it was not good to go under the belly. It was possible to inflict a fatal blow on the enemy, but it was a judgment that put one’s own life at risk. We will improve that part later.”
Fenrir, who was watching from a distance, also acknowledged Victor.
“Bold and sensible for his age.”
Victor re-energized the boring practice.
The problem was that the battle he fought was incomparably superior to the previous one, so the burden of the next turn was much greater.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t help but be compared to Victor.
The assistant removed Kiraqlo’s corpse, removed the veil from the cage prepared for reserve, and undid the monster’s anesthesia.
This Kiraqlo was bigger than the previous one.
In the meantime, Gael drew a piece of paper from the lottery box and called the next runner.
“Damian! Come on next.”
When his name was called, Gerald, who was going through the files, stopped what he was doing and raised his head.
Damian. It was the reason Gerald had come to this place.
Soon after, a brown-haired boy stepped forward from among the waiting crowd.
I had the impression that the theater stage was much better suited than this dusty training ground.
‘That child is Silverin’s disciple…’
On paper, I belonged to the axis with low grades among the upper classes of the Combat Division.
A new Kiraqlo, ready to go, jumped out of the cage. He must have been starving for several days, and as soon as he saw his prey, he rolled his paws so that his restraints tightened.
He was big and fast, and above all, he looked more savage.
Fenrir clicked her tongue in pity.
“Gee, that’s going to be a nightmare for that pretty boy.”
Damian was likely to stay in the role of highlighting the performance of the next runner, minus Kiraqlo’s energy.
Damian stepped forward and picked up the shortsword without much hesitation.
While all the previous runners chose long-reach weapons, he went against everyone else’s expectations and chose short-reach weapons.
He could never predict how he would fight.
Damian stepped into the arena line. He stretched the blade of his sword to the ground and slowly moved clockwise while confronting Kira Claw.
What impressed Gerald was his eyes.
Recklessness felt in a tight chain. A monster that wants to plow the ground and rush at its prey.
Was it an illusion?
Intense venom lingered in Damian’s eyes as he greeted them ten paces apart.
The miasma that appeared during the brief moment of time was slowly erased by the camouflaged composure and tranquility that followed.
Soon after, Gael announced the start.
“Fight as you please.”
And the moment he finished speaking, Damian, who was standing upright, swung his arm.
The blade of the sword flashed and flew through the air.
It got stuck in one of Kiraqlo’s eyes.
He couldn’t believe how he did it.
-Kiaaagh!
Following the final scream, Kiraqlo’s movements stopped as if time had stopped.
And with a thud, he fell down, raising dust.
The whole area was completely engulfed in silence.
Just when everyone thought it was over, strength began to return to Kiraqlo’s legs that had stopped moving.
And then, with the sword stuck in his eye, he slowly stood up. He shuddered in pain, but he seemed to be alive and able to move.
Damian raised his hands in surrender and stepped back. It was an act of avoiding a dirty fight.
“I can’t do it. I’ll stop here.”
Gael looked at Demi In and narrowed his eyes.
He gave the monster a proper blow, but he couldn’t kill him. And since he threw away his sword, he could not see the end.
It was such an ambiguous performance that it was excellent to say that it was bad, and it was somewhat regrettable to say that it was good, but it had a strong gambling nature.
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