Chapter ~ 10
Some time after the outdoor training began, the instructors were holding a meeting at the residence located in the center of the forest.
With the exception of a few instructors who were out managing the children, almost everyone had gathered in one place. From Senior Instructor Bruno to Colin, who had been assigned exclusively to Number 25, there were nineteen instructors present.
Including those who could not attend, there were thirty-six instructors in total.
Considering that every single one of them was a veteran-level knight, it was enough to show just how seriously they took the children’s education.
“Hmm.”
Bruno, who had been looking over several areas through the crystal balls installed throughout the forest while reviewing the reports, spoke.
“Things are going well. Very satisfactory.”
The trainees were developing quickly—just as expected, or perhaps even faster than expected.
The group leaders’ leadership abilities were impressive, and there were quite a few aspects of their strategies during the outdoor training that surprised even the instructors.
“Number 1, the leader of Group 1, has remarkable decisiveness. He established a grand strategy for victory from the very first day. I wouldn’t call it perfect, but he’s taken a step toward his objective faster than anyone else.”
A young instructor praised Number 1, but another instructor disagreed.
“I’ll acknowledge his decisiveness, but he’s far too aggressive. I can also sense an arrogance in him—the belief that he simply cannot be wrong. People who succeed like that often suffer a crushing setback when they finally run into an obstacle.”
“I’m also somewhat concerned that, apart from Number 5, he doesn’t really have anyone he considers a close subordinate. Anyone would want to keep talented people close, but if he openly flaunts that preference, the children who aren’t included among them are bound to become dissatisfied.”
Bruno acknowledged that all three evaluations had merit and looked down at the map spread across the table in front of him.
It had only been a week, yet the map had already become remarkably detailed.
Group 1 controlled the largest territory, followed by Groups 2 and 4.
As for Group 3, which consisted of talented collateral descendants, its territory had completely collapsed, leaving its members scattered in all directions.
‘Group 3 was simply too unlucky. Number 3’s response itself was appropriate, but Number 1’s aggressiveness exceeded all expectations.’
The scouts of Group 1, who had begun searching the forest from the second day onward, had located Group 3’s base and area of operation after only about three days.
Fortunately, despite the circumstances, Number 3 had managed to defeat several scouts.
But Number 1 immediately moved.
The moment he realized that only a few people had been lost, he took all of his children and advanced toward the direction in which the scouts had disappeared.
Even after suffering several casualties, Group 1 had nearly twice as many people as Group 3, and they descended upon them before Group 3 had any chance to formulate a countermeasure.
‘Most of the capable ones, including Numbers 3, 6, and 7, managed to escape. If they join another group, they could become an interesting variable.’
Group 3 was annihilated, leaving behind only around ten defeated stragglers.
The children who had lost their badges were handed over to the instructors. After receiving treatment, they were now being trained using their experiences in the forest as fuel for further growth.
Being ambushed and ambushing others.
Cooperating with others to attack, and being subjected to coordinated attacks.
Overwhelming a smaller force with superior numbers, or resisting a larger force despite being outnumbered.
The battles these children had never experienced inside their sheltered training environment would undoubtedly become a major turning point in their development.
“Groups 2 and 4 became non-aggressive toward each other after their one encounter.”
Their numbers were similar, and neither side had a clear advantage from the terrain where they had encountered each other.
If they had fought, either side would have suffered heavy casualties.
They must have realized that and agreed not to attack each other.
But compared to Group 1, which had rapidly expanded its strength and influence, they were still in a lukewarm state.
Group 1 had already experienced a battle in the forest and even won it once. Their morale and combat power had now reached the point where they could probably handle both groups simultaneously.
“Still, the remaining members of Group 3 are approaching both groups. Once they hear this news, I imagine the attitudes of both sides will change.”
“Number 4 won’t surrender, will he?”
“That child simply tries to obtain the maximum benefit based on his own abilities. He’s neither afraid of fighting nor cowardly. I don’t think he’ll surrender without putting up a fight.”
As Bruno listened to their discussion, his gaze shifted toward one person.
The instructor who had been assigned to Group 6—and Number 25—alone.
It was Colin.
“Instructor Colin, how is Number 25 doing?”
“Uh…”
Colin momentarily forgot what to say before barely managing to answer.
“He subdued the wolf we placed at Campsite 13. He’s been riding it around while hunting and conducting independent training. He hasn’t encountered any trainees from the other groups yet. At this rate, it appears he could survive stably for several months.”
“……”
“……”
The meeting room suddenly became silent.
For a moment, they wondered if Colin was joking.
But judging from his expression, that clearly wasn’t the case.
Bruno, like the other instructors, was completely dumbfounded.
“…What did you say?”
They had certainly expected good things from Number 25.
But they hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.
Bruno’s magnificently groomed mustache trembled.
Completely unaware that chaos was being caused somewhere in the forest because of him, Leonard was simply concentrating on his training.
Cliff climbing.
It was a training method known in the martial world as Wall-Crawling Technique (벽호공, 壁虎功).
He had to pull his own body weight upward using both arms, and if he misjudged where to grab or where to place his feet, he would either fall or slip down.
It was a method capable of training not only physical attributes such as strength and stamina, but also mental qualities such as courage and judgment.
The cliff Leonard was climbing wasn’t particularly tall, but a small stream of water was flowing down its surface.
‘Moss-covered areas are dangerous, but places made slick and smooth by water are even more dangerous.’
Stones that had been exposed to running water for a long time were as slippery as marble polished perfectly by stonemasons.
Unless he possessed enough strength to dig his fingers directly into the surface, he would have to search for another point to grip.
Yet Leonard placed his hand on one of those slick, smooth rocks.
‘…No matter how slippery it is, it’s still nothing more than an irregularly eroded rock. If I carefully feel around with my fingertips, there should be a spot where I can barely support my weight.’
His forearms and back muscles tingled from repeatedly climbing up and down, but his mental strength paid no attention to the pain.
All five senses were sharpened to their limits, focusing entirely on his fingertips.
He searched for the tiny imperfections in the stone, as though licking the surface with his tongue.
And the moment he became certain that he could climb—
He pulled his body upward without hesitation.
“Hup!”
Just like the string of a bow being pulled taut and then released.
Leonard launched his entire body upward as though it had been fired from a bow, finally reaching the top of the cliff.
Heat poured from his muscles as they relaxed, and faint steam rose from his entire body.
An overwhelming fatigue weighed down on him, to the point where moving even a single joint of his little finger was difficult.
“That’s enough for today.”
Knowing his own recovery ability well, Leonard didn’t push himself any further and relaxed his muscles.
Yuga Technique wasn’t simply about increasing the body’s flexibility.
It strengthened the elasticity of the entire musculature, allowing the muscles to tense and relax only when necessary, thereby improving recovery as well.
The muscles in his arms and back, which had swollen from excessive exertion, quickly returned to normal.
“Woof!”
At that moment, a cry from far away made him look up.
‘It’s back.’
The wolf burst out of the forest at full speed, then made several enormous leaps and bounded up the cliff.
Its physical abilities were on an entirely different level—not only compared to humans, but even compared to ordinary wolves.
Displaying that tremendous strength, the wolf approached Leonard and immediately lowered itself to the ground, dropping several rabbits it had carried back.
Despite carrying several rabbits in its mouth at once, it had somehow managed to leave very little damage on them.
“Thank you.”
Even if Leonard told it that was enough, it would probably go out and bring back more anyway, so he simply stroked around the wolf’s muzzle.
As a result, he had saved the time he would otherwise have spent gathering food and could devote himself entirely to training.
“Grrr…”
The wolf rolled around happily beneath his touch.
“Did you find the children?”
“Woof!”
“Which direction? This way? That way?”
“Woof, woof!”
“The east? How far away were they?”
The wolf had been answering Leonard’s questions without difficulty, but at that question it tilted its head for a moment and shook it.
“Growl?”
“You can’t understand this one? Well, near or far doesn’t really matter.”
“Whiiine…?”
“I’m not scolding you.”
Leonard patted the anxious wolf several times.
‘For something this enormous, it really behaves like a puppy.’
Of course, it probably only acted this way in front of him.
Then—
“Grrrrr…!”
The wolf suddenly rose from where it had been lying down.
It bared its teeth while glaring toward one particular direction in the forest.
Leonard immediately understood what that meant and raised his eyes.
‘It has recognized the approaching presence as a threat. A direct descendant? Or someone of a similarly high rank?’
Although the wolf behaved obediently toward him, its combat power was enough to easily defeat dozens of trainees.
Even excluding Number 1, whose true ability remained an unknown variable, neither Number 2 nor Number 4 could guarantee victory against the wolf alone.
Unless they were a single-digit-ranked trainee, they wouldn’t even qualify as a threat to it.
A faint interest appeared in Leonard’s eyes.
And then—
“Haaah…! Hah! Haaah…!”
A girl staggered out of the forest.
Long black hair.
Her ponytail, tightly tied at the back of her head, swayed with each step.
Unlike her right arm, which held a wooden sword, her left arm hung limply from the elbow.
An injury severe enough to fracture or crack a bone was extremely rare among these children, whose bodies were so tough that ordinary impacts couldn’t even leave scratches.
“Number 3?”
“You?!”
Even though her senses had been dulled by pain and exhaustion, she couldn’t fail to recognize him at such close range.
The moment Number 3 saw Leonard, she reflexively jumped backward.
She still thrust the hand holding her wooden sword forward, but the usual confidence wasn’t there.
The exhaustion, injuries, and mental fatigue had all taken their toll on her strength.
When Leonard simply stood there and watched her without doing anything, Number 3 finally regained enough composure to speak with a confused expression.
“Number 25, why are you here? And what’s with that wolf?”
Leonard didn’t answer her question.
“You don’t need to know. Who gave you those injuries?”
“What? If you don’t answer my question first—!”
The tip of Number 3’s wooden sword trembled.
The moment she raised her voice despite her ragged breathing, she created an opening that wouldn’t have existed if she had been holding the sword with both hands.
Leonard’s wooden sword shot forward.
Smack!
The wooden sword flew from Number 3’s hand in a single strike.
She reacted a moment too late.
Before she could do anything else, she felt the tip of Leonard’s wooden sword touch her throat.
“…Damn it.”
Number 3 raised both hands with an expression of resignation.
Leonard spoke.
“What happened?”
“The truth is—”
The moment she opened her mouth, Leonard lowered his wooden sword.
Number 3’s eyes immediately flashed.
She charged at him.
“I was planning to do this, you idiot!”
It didn’t matter that she was unarmed.
It didn’t matter that one of her arms couldn’t move.
Moving more like a beast than a human, Number 3 suddenly lunged forward and launched a high roundhouse kick.
It was a genuine martial arts strike, more dangerous than being struck by most blunt weapons.
“You’re the idiot, Number 3.”
Without showing the slightest disturbance, Leonard avoided her roundhouse kick by barely a hand’s breadth and extended his leg.
The weakness of kicking techniques was that the practitioner had to maintain support while executing them.
Leonard kicked the back of Number 3’s knee.
She immediately tumbled to the ground.
“Kh…!”
Her legs were already weak from walking around all day with an injured body.
That single strike was enough to finish the fight.
She wouldn’t even be able to stand for several minutes.
Even then, Number 3 kept trying to get back up.
Leonard watched her for a moment, then put away his wooden sword and turned around.
“I’ll treat your injuries first, so lie there. If you attack me again, I’ll eliminate you.”
“Huh? Uh…?”
Number 3’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected words.
He wasn’t going to take her badge?
He wasn’t demanding answers to his questions?
He was going to treat her arm?
His behavior was so far beyond her expectations that she was left speechless.
He had even turned his back on her without tying down her arms or legs.
‘—If I ambush him from behind right now…’
Number 3 considered the possibility.
But she soon abandoned the thought.
For some reason, she had the feeling it wouldn’t work.
The wolf growling beside Number 25 was also a problem.
“What on earth is going on…?”
She was even more bewildered than when Group 1 had attacked her.
Number 25 had effortlessly subdued her despite her injuries.
And then there was that wolf, which seemed difficult enough to defeat even if her body were perfectly healthy.
She didn’t merely have no answers.
She couldn’t even begin to guess.
That was as far as Number 3’s thoughts went.
Her body had spent the entire day walking, running, and fighting.
It had been ready to lose consciousness at any moment.
“…Zzz.”
Overcome by a strange sense of relief, Number 3 immediately fell into a deep sleep.
