Free Web NovelChapter 25: The Night Before Departure
After several days passed, the day of the Educational Tour neared. Students had already started packing and planning what they could carry on the tour. Since it was the first time for most of the students to travel to another nation like Beastriheim, it was a brand new journey for them. All of them were excited. Of course, all of them except for one unlucky person—or perhaps, he could be called the most lucky one.
In the night sky, the atmosphere was silent. A cold breeze drifted through the surroundings, and not even the sound of birds chirping could be heard. Only the owls stayed awake after midnight.
A boy stood alone in the training ground—or at least, he thought he was alone. He had been running around the field for what felt like hours, swinging his wooden sword as if his life depended on it.
Horizontal, vertical, diagonal. He continued to slash, swinging the wooden sword directly at the training dummy.
Even the dummy seemed tired from getting hit continuously. The boy’s final strike completely broke the dummy into two pieces.
"Hah... hah... hah... finally!"
He gasped for air and closed his eyes, letting the cold night air wash over him. His whole body was sweaty, but a hint of a smile tugged on his lips.
[Ding! Your Proficiency in Swordsmanship has increased slightly...!]
[Ding! You have fully mastered the Basic Swordsmanship!]
Alden looked at the system interface while bringing a towel out from his inventory. He wiped his sweaty face.
"It seems I have grown quite much. My muscles also seem to have tightened, and my body feels fit and healthy. It seems my late-night training has become quite effective for my growth."
"I was also able to master ’Basic Swordsmanship’, which might take other students months to master, in just less than a week. It seems the ’Growth-Acceleration’ is quite an effective ability."
He put the towel back into his inventory and walked toward the edge of the training field to place the wooden sword back on the weapon stand. Then, he walked over and sat on a nearby bench.
"Let’s take a look at my Status Window. I have to know exactly how much I have grown..."
[DING!]
[STATUS WINDOW]
[Name: Alden]
[Titles: None]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Talent: Unclassified]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Rank: D]
[Bloodline: Dormant]
[Affiliation: None]
[Elements: Wind, Water, Fire, Ice, Darkness]
[STATS]
[STR: 45/100] [AGI: 55/100]
[DEF: 43/100] [INT: 57/100]
[HP: 250/250] [MP: 155/155]
[LUCK: SSS+]
[Techniques:
• Basic Swordsmanship (D+)]
[Abilities:
• Growth-Acceleration (SSS++)
• ???
• ???]
[Skills:
• Hunter’s Mark (Rare Grade)
• Infinite Nexus (Divine-Grade)]
...
"It seems in this past week, I have gotten almost all of the basic elements except Earth by completing quests... My stats have also increased very much."
Because of his relentless training, Alden reaped many fruits. Along with the new elements, he also got several stat boosts after completing his daily quests, leading him to achieve a minor breakthrough. He now stood firmly in the D-rank.
Alden stood up, stretching his body, and took out his smartphone to check the time.
[03:34 AM]
"Sigh... It seems I am quite late. Let’s hurry. Today is going to be the tour to Beastriheim. I have to take a little rest before going."
He started leaving the training ground after putting his phone back into his pocket.
The phone he just checked was given to him by the academy. It was provided in order to properly update the students for classes and supply study notes. Since it was given by the academy, the staff had overall control over it. It couldn’t exactly steal the students’ privacy or read private messages and calls, but they could still track its location if a student committed any inappropriate behavior or went missing. It was for the students’ safety, as well as for constantly tracing them so that students couldn’t leave the academy grounds without prior permission.
The students could still travel around the local city where the academy was situated, but they couldn’t go beyond that border.
As Alden’s figure disappeared from the training ground, a girl appeared in view from behind a massive stone pillar.
Her silver hair fell smoothly down her back as she gently tugged a loose strand behind her ear.
She walked out into the open training ground. Her lavender eyes looked around the empty field as she walked toward the bench he had just sat on. She gracefully took a seat there.
"Hmph... It seems you have become a training junkie, Alden. You have started neglecting me and ignoring me."
She remembered a moment just a few days earlier. She had proposed dinner with him again, but he firmly refused and walked away. She also remembered him actively avoiding sitting too close to her in class.
She remembered him giving her short, distant answers to the questions she asked.
"It seems you are purposefully avoiding me so that you can stay out of trouble. That is the most probable reason I can think of..."
Her face was expressionless in the dim light of the training ground. She stared at nothing in particular. Her eyes were intense as she clenched her fists tightly on her lap.
"But it is futile. I am not going to hold back anymore. If you just run away when I behave kind in front of you, then it seems I just have to change my tactics now."
"It seems I have to become bold now, won’t I, Alden? You won’t be able to escape me that easily."
She stood up, smoothing out her nightgown, and started walking toward the exit. She paused and cast one last glance toward the empty training room.
"If you do not change by the time this tour ends, then it seems I will have to just take extreme measures, exactly like the time I did in my previous life. And I am sure you will definitely not like that. Hehe..."
Her smile was bright, but it didn’t quite match her intense, obsessive eyes. She turned around and walked away. The training ground reached a quiet silence once again, as only the flickering overhead lights illuminated the center of the empty field.
