[Trantor - Night]


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    <strong>Chapter 9 - The First ss (1)</strong>


    After the memorable (?) reunion with Juliet, I focused on quietly fortifying myself during the remaining suspension period.


    Swish.


    The moment I woke up in the morning and opened my eyes, I drew the sword ced by my bedside and sliced through my neck.


    I immediately began meditation, feeling the scorching pain as the primordial fire seared my chest.


    Though my magic would increase on its own even without meditation, concentrating my mind through this process allowed me to umte far more magic.


    ''The painsts for about five minutes.''


    Within this time frame, I could sense the power of the primordial fire and umte magic.


    “Sss, huu.”


    I repeated long, deep breaths, focusing on the mental image within me.


    Whoosh!


    In my mind, I visualized a vast, seemingly endless me.


    As I cautiously stepped forward, staring at the fiercely burning fire that looked as though it would devour the world, I reached out toward it.


    My physical body burned, and my soul zed.


    I grasped the raging mes.


    The intensified agony violently tore at my body.


    The pain was so terrible that an ordinary person would immediately foam at the mouth and lose consciousness upon feeling it.


    ''It''s okay.''


    I can endure it.


    I can withstand it.


    Pain is familiar.


    This kind of pain is nothingpared to the countless deaths I''ve experienced.


    ''Move.''


    I willed it to move, but the massive mes didn''t budge.


    They simply left a small ember in my palm, the size of a candle me, as if shaking off a bothersome insect clinging to them.


    I carefully moved my arm so that the ember in my palm wouldn’t go out.


    ''This is what I managed to bring back this time.''


    Though it was a pitifully small amount, considering the intense agony I had felt as my body and soul were incinerated by the raging mes, I was grateful for even this much.


    I slowly brought the candle me in my palm to my left chest.


    And then—


    “Huu.”


    I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes.


    The pain, which had felt like a red-hot iron branding my chest, had vanished without a trace.


    “Oh, I umted quite a bit this time.”


    By focusing on creating a mental image and concretizing the act of ''bringing the fire'' through meditation like this, I could umte far more magic than if I merely endured the pain and sweat for five minutes.


    ''This is simr to the breathing technique.''


    I recalled hearing from Yuren that, even with the same breathing technique, the amount of magic umted could vary greatly depending on how well one could visualize and concretize their mental image.


    Back then, no matter what I did, I couldn’t umte any magic, so I had dismissed it, but now—


    “So this is what it feels like.”


    Knowing that the amount of magic umted depends on my effort and skill motivated me.


    ''Though the limit is four times a day.''


    I swallowed a bitter smile and sheathed the sword I had used to decapitate myself.


    Gray ashes, remnants of my ''revival,'' were scattered across the bed sheet.


    “Cleaning this up every time is a hassle.”


    The blood that sprayed out when I cut my neck would disappear along with the body''s regeneration, so there was no need to wash the bed sheets.


    However, cleaning up these ashes that remained in ce of the blood was equally troublesome.


    ''I''ll have to think of another way.''


    shing my neck with a sword was simple and caused the least pain, but the blood spraying out and my head rolling off were too messy (though it disappeared quickly), making me feel the need to find a more clean and straightforward method to end my life.


    ''I need toe up with a cleaner, more concise way to kill myself.''


    But for now, I didn’t have the luxury to dwell on new methods of suicide.


    “Let''s wash up.”


    It was Monday, marking the start of the week and the day I would attend my first ss after returning.


    * * *


    Early morning.


    The hallways were filled with cadets moving to attend their morning sses.


    “Hey, it''s Dale.”


    “Oh, is he the one from the rumors...?”


    “They say he even beat up Juliet this time.”


    “But wasn''t he ranked deadst in theprehensive evaluation?”


    “That''s why everyone is going crazy! They say he was hiding his power all along.”


    “What, does he think he''s the protagonist of a y?”


    On my way to the "Practical Combat Training" lecture room, I overheard the murmurs of the cadets lined up in the hallway.


    It seemed the incidents I causedst week had be quite a topic of discussion within the school, as every cadet I passed was talking about me.


    ''I didn''t want to be this much of a hot topic, though.''


    Well, I understand.


    If I were in their shoes, I’d be curious too if I heard that the lowest-ranked cadet in the school''s history suddenly seemed like apletely different person, beating up everyone around him.


    ''I don''t want to stand out too much, but...''


    That didn’t mean I nned to hide my power and skulk around.


    In the past.


    No, at this point, I suppose I should say in the future.


    I couldn''t remain the "lowest-ranked cadet" if I wanted to help those I once struggled to keep up with.


    Click.


    I ignored the whispers around me and opened the door to the ssroom.


    “……”


    “……”


    The cadets'' gazes focused on me, and an awkward silence settled in.


    “Haa.”


    Thinking that this kind of atmosphere would continue for a while made me let out a sigh.


    ‘Where’s Iris?’


    My gaze naturally turned towards the window at the far end.


    There, I saw Iris looking at me with a glint of interest in her eyes, and next to her, Cami ring at me as if she was ready to kill me on the spot.


    ‘I really should apologize to Cami.’


    But seeing her like that, I knew that if I spoke to her now, instead of an apology, anothermotion would surely arise.


    “Ugh.”


    I ignored their stares and sat down in my seat.


    As I sat down, the awkward silence that had settled in the ssroom began to break, and a murmur started to fill the room again.


    As I slightly opened my ears to listen, I could tell that most of the murmurs were about me.


    “Alright, rookies. Stop the chatter and take your seats.”


    Professor Lucas entered the ssroom and opened the door.


    His gaze scanned the room and eventuallynded on me.


    “If you fall asleep in my ss one more time, you’ll be flying out of here, so be prepared.”


    “Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.”


    “As long as you understand.”


    Professor Lucas nodded without saying anything more when I bowed my head properly.


    Even though it was a fluke, the rumor that a cadet’s punch had sent him flying must have made the rounds among the professors.


    The fact that he brushed it off with just a simple warning showed Professor Lucas''s character.


    ‘The reason I somehow managed to graduate, even if only by a narrow margin, wasrgely thanks to Professor Lucas.’


    As I was reminiscing with a satisfied smile, he spoke up again.


    “Alright, before we begin the lecture, let’s take attendance.”


    As he started calling out names, Professor Lucas wandered around the ssroom.


    I wondered why he was walking around while taking attendance, and at that moment—


    “Dale Han.”


    “Here.”


    Swoosh.


    As he passed by, Professor Lucas discreetly handed me a small white note.


    ‘What’s this?’


    Tilting my head in curiosity, I unfolded the note.


    [Remember this! The only reason you got me was because I was caught off guard! If I had been serious, a rookie like you wouldn’t even be worth a punch!]


    “……”


    I take back what I said about him not holding a grudge.


    ‘How petty can this guy be?’


    When I looked back at Professor Lucas with an exasperated expression, he cleared his throat awkwardly and avoided my gaze.


    Right.


    At least he has the decency to feel embarrassed.


    ‘He’s quite an amusing guy.’


    Suppressing a chuckle, I tucked the note into my left breast pocket.


    “Alright. Everyone’s here.”


    After finishing attendance, Professor Lucas stood at the podium and looked around at the cadets.


    “What’s the name of today’s ss?”


    “Practical Combat Training, sir.”


    “That’s right. This ss aims to gain experience and knowledge for future real-lifebat against demons or monsters.”


    Professor Lucas nodded and continued his exnation.


    “Cadet Albert.”


    “Y-Yes, sir!”


    “What do you think is the most important thing in preparing for realbat?”


    After contemting, Albert stood up abruptly and clenched his fist.


    “I… I think it’s the ‘courage’ not to be afraid when facing the enemy.”


    “Courage is something you use when you pack your lunch.”


    “Pardon?”


    “Hahaha! What do you think? I heard this joke from Professor Bianca the other day. Pretty funny, right?”


    “Ah… Yes.”


    Albert sat down with a bewildered expression.


    Professor Lucas stepped down from the podium and ced a hand the size of a pot lid on Albert’s shoulder, smiling broadly.


    “Laugh.”


    “Excuse me?”


    “I said,ugh.”


    “Ahahaha!!! Comparing ‘courage’ to a lunchbox! Professor Bianca sure has a great sense of humor! Ahahaha! Ah, I’mughing so hard my stomach hurts!”


    “Yes, yes. That’s more like it.”


    Professor Lucas nodded in satisfaction, while Albert clutched his stomach, genuinely trembling (probably from tension).


    “Well, let’s get back to the main point.”


    With measured steps, Professor Lucas returned to the podium and spoke with a serious expression.


    “The most important thing in realbat isn’t useless courage; it’s ‘experience.’”


    Even cadets who are terrified at the mere sight of a monster’s eyes will get used to it after they’ve sliced through a few monsters.


    “And you can never gain realbat experience in a confined ssroom.”


    Thud.


    The professor lightly tapped the podium and pointed outside the window.


    “Get out. Today’s ss is an outdoor session.”


    At the mention of an outdoor ss, quiet sighs of resignation could be heard around the ssroom.


    “And for this session, you’ll be forming teams of three, so feel free to gather your party members. You have 15 minutes.”


    At the mention of a party session, the ssroom buzzed with activity again.


    Some cadetsughed confidently, while others wore worried expressions and began ncing around nervously.


    ‘A party session, huh.’


    A party session.


    It was a word that made me sigh involuntarily.


    Considering that most people form parties after graduation to officially start their hero activities, it’s a good idea to let the cadets experience party formation during their training.


    ‘But every time, I was thest to find party members and had to team up with people I barely knew.’


    The atmosphere in those hastily formed parties was nothing short of terrible.


    ‘This time….’


    I looked around, just in case.


    “Ugh.”


    As expected.


    With all the rumors flying around about me, there was no way any cadet would want to team up with me.


    I was already resigning myself to being thest to form a party and teaming up with someone whose name I didn’t even know when—


    “Dale.”


    A familiar voice came from behind.


    “Would you like to team up with us?”


    When I turned around, I saw the saintess smiling warmly at me.


    [Trantor - Night]


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