〈 Chapter 257 〉 Wow! Double the Nightmare! (3)
*
Thirty minutes had passed since the class started.
In the open training ground, half of the students lay flat on the ground. The remaining half were not in good shape either, most of them gasping for air while propping themselves up with their hands.
Despite the chilly weather as winter approached, beads of sweat formed on the students’ foreheads. The droplets trickled down their necks, making them feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Basic martial arts.
It was supposed to be a course teaching martial arts, yet for the past thirty minutes, it had been nothing but rigorous physical training. The surviving students looked at the ground, reflecting on the last thirty minutes.
Basic physical training.
A training designed to build muscle on the body and increase basic stamina to endure physical strain. It was the kind of training that the students of the Battle Magic Department had often experienced.
‘But…’
Should this be called basic? They could only shake their heads. The intense training, relentless and without a moment to catch their breath, made their bodies scream out in pain.
The students who entered with light hearts had either collapsed or had long since left the lecture on their own.
Looking around, the remaining individuals were familiar faces from the Battle Magic Department. Only those who had endured Apuria’s nightmares remained.
“Shall we end the warm-up here?”
The students, who were exchanging bitter smiles while glancing at each other, quickly turned their heads at the voice that came from the podium. There stood the Hero they had long admired.
“Um, I apologize. You all seem to be keeping up too well; it seems I’ve pushed it a bit too far. I will shorten the warm-up time from now on.”
Galahal descended from the podium with a wry smile.
The way the students looked at Galahal had already changed slightly. The students from the Battle Magic Department felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
‘What is this…’
An intense déjà vu washed over them.
The scent of familiar nightmares emanated from the unfamiliar hero. Just as the students were casting suspicious glances at Galahal…
“Professor Rania?”
“Ah, yes.”
Galahal called out someone’s name, and a familiar voice echoed from somewhere. In the direction of the voice was Rania, dressed lightly.
Dragging sound.
She was approaching, dragging something along the training ground floor. Naturally, the students’ gazes shifted to what Rania was pulling.
“…A binding magical tool?”
Someone recognized the item’s identity.
A binding magical tool. A type of magical tool that imposes weight on the body. While it was commonly found in the physical training room, what Rania was dragging was something different.
It wasn’t a sleek and cleanly designed binding magical tool placed in the physical training room. It looked like a hunk of metal with a magic stone embedded in it, fulfilling its original function.
“Oh.”
Lac, who had been watching the magical tool, spoke up.
“That’s something warriors used. I heard it’s used for training knights. Oyakal boasted about having bought it in bulk.”
The students flinched at the mention of the item.
“Lac…? You mean it’s used for knight training? What does that even mean?”
“I heard from the warriors that civilian-grade binding magical tools can’t really tear muscle properly; they said it’s too weak, so they bought knight-specific binding magical tools.”
Binding magical tools meant for knights.
“Hearing the scraping of that metal, it seems that’s likely.”
“Oh. You recognized it?”
Galahal nodded as he approached Lac.
“I used these in battle. I thought it might be useful for you all, so I brought them along; it seems they could help with your training.”
Galahal smiled brightly.
His pure smile radiated pure goodwill. There was no way such a heroic smile from the most heroic of heroes could carry any malice.
Boom!
“I brought it here.”
“Thank you, Professor Rania.”
Galahal began to lay out the binding magical tools on the ground, pulling items from the pouch Rania had brought. Even after distributing them to the students, a dozen or so remained.
“I will demonstrate.”
Clink.
Galahal fitted a bracelet-style binding magical tool onto his arm. With a dozen or so magical tools on his body, he reached out into the air.
Holy Spear (??)
A platinum-colored light gathered in Galahal’s palm.
The gathered starlight formed a beam, ultimately shaping into a spear.
The holy spear, the emblem of Galahal.
The students’ eyes sparkled at the emergence of this legendary weapon. It was their first time seeing a sacred sword or a holy spear so closely. Just as their eyes gleamed with excitement for a moment…
Whir!
Galahal lightly twirled the spear and assumed a stance.
Soon after, he began to swing the spear. The platinum spear tip sliced through the air with a sound.
Whoosh.
The motion of swinging the spear was clean.
He stabbed vertically and swung horizontally. At times he twirled the spear, thrusting, and at other times, he lifted it. These were the fundamental movements of spear technique.
There was no tremor in the fundamentals (??).
As if to emphasize this, Galahal’s movements featured no waste whatsoever. Even with more than ten binding magical tools attached to his body, the path traced by the spear was remarkably smooth.
Huff.
Galahal let out a brief breath and spun the spear down to thump it onto the ground. Boom, the earth rumbled. One by one, the students began to clap while watching that spectacle.
Amidst the applause, the slightly awkwardly smiling Galahal looked at the students, holding onto the spear’s shaft.
“I’m aware of the martial arts you all will learn. It’s the martial arts used by knights and these are the most basic movements.”
Galahal demonstrated the movements in sequence.
They were clean and decisive actions. It was clear that this was not just a one or two-time repetition.
“I, too, learned basic martial arts just like you. I repeated physical training while wearing the binding magical tools you all are holding.”
The students gazed at the magical tools in their hands.
The iron-made magical tools were heavy.
“Right now, it seems I’m wearing a ton of them, but when I first started, wearing even one was difficult for me.”
“…Excuse me?”
Confused glances were cast at Galahal.
He was a hero, blessed with divine essence from the stars. It was hard to believe that someone like him struggled with something like this.
As if accustomed to such gazes, Galahal gave a bittersweet smile and continued speaking.
“You may find it hard to believe, but it’s true. When I was an apprentice hero, I couldn’t even spar with Sir Trinitan, my training instructor. It was quite embarrassing for a hero.”
The cowardly Destel began highlighting his prowess since his apprentice days.
He had defeated Sir Trinitan just a week after becoming an apprentice hero and was deployed to the battlefield.
Kyle, the strongest hero, had already achieved numerous accomplishments during his apprenticeship.
But Trinitan could not withstand even a single exchange against Kyle during his apprenticeship.
Galahal was different.
“I lost, trained, and lost again. It wasn’t until six months later that I could finally secure a victory against Sir Trinitan, who was my training instructor.”
He received the least starlight.
No talents for handling weapons.
No natural abilities or support (??).
“The weakest hero in history.”
Galahal said.
“That’s what my title was during my apprentice days: A hero that’s worse than a knight. A hero whose starlight was wasted. A simpleton unworthy of being called a hero.”
In the face of ridicule, Galahal trained alongside the knights.
He swung the spear while sacrificing his sleep and repeated training while wearing the binding magical tools.
Because he was lacking compared to others, he worked harder than anyone else.
“At first, I wore one; then I increased it to two, gradually increasing it one by one. Effort never disappoints you.”
“…”
“Well, it might also be that the growth of heroes is swift.”
He made that comment as a joke, but no one laughed.
The students looked at Galahal with disbelief. Such a tale was unheard of anywhere.
Galahal was never a strong hero from the get-go.
He obtained his strength through effort.
The students all knew this fact.
However, they never expected it to be to such a degree. They knew what the man standing before them was called.
The truest hero of heroes.
No one dared ridicule the Galahal of now.
Even philosophers who debated the futility of being a hero fell silent in front of Galahal’s constructed achievements. He had accomplished feats that warranted this silence.
‘The start of such a hero was like us now.’
Or perhaps even worse.
They could hardly accept such a statement.
Yet, they did not think that the man in front of them was lying.
“Actually, I’ve been observing you all over the past few days.”
Receiving the students’ gazes, Galahal spoke.
“I’m amazed.”
You bunch are amazing.
“You stand out at such a young age. You understand your talents and hone them. While many waste their shining talents, you are cultivating and growing yours.”
Galahal smiled gently.
“That’s wonderful. Truly.”
It was an unembellished statement.
And thus, it resonated deeply.
“I’m worried that I might be taking away the time of talented students. After all, the most I can teach you is this kind of training.”
The rough binding magical tools gained the students’ attention.
“I truly hope this helps you.”
Just as Galahal finished speaking…
Clink.
The students silently began to wear the binding magical tools.
Even after hearing those words from someone they admired, no student questioned the class anymore. One by one, with the binding magical tools on, they looked at Galahal.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Galahal smiled contentedly.
“Since this is the first class, let’s take it easy.”
2.
It was anything but easy.
The gazes of the collapsed students were dull. Only two survived the training that literally tortured their bodies.
“Whoa…”
Lac, seemingly pleased after sweating for the first time in a while, admired the muscles attached to his arms…
“Phew.”
Belnua wiped off the beads of sweat while exhaling.
The rest of the students from the Battle Magic Department felt like they were crawling like worms on the ground. They gazed up at the blue winter sky, panting heavily.
The winter sky was bright blue.
Feeling the chilly breeze, the students let out hollow laughs. Their bodies were exhausted, but they didn’t feel bad at all. They felt accomplished after spending their ‘basic martial arts’ time meaningfully, something they had previously spent on mere stretching.
What they felt was a sense of achievement. And the exhilaration that came from receiving praise from the hero they admired.
Galahal consistently checked the students’ postures during class, offering advice. Just the fact of being taught by a hero was a significant mood booster for the students.
“The morning class was uplifting.”
“Yeah, it felt nice, but…”
The students’ gazes quickly darkened.
Their eyes were fixed on Rania, who was chatting amicably with Galahal.
‘The class after this morning class.’
That would be the class taught by the figure known as Apuria’s nightmare. In their current state, with heavy bodies that would surely fall asleep at simply shutting their eyes, they had to attend the nightmare class.
With despair looming ahead, the students sighed deeply as if the ground was going to swallow them.
Whether Rania knew their turmoil or not, she was beaming with laughter as she conversed. The students glanced at Rania and Galahal out of the corners of their eyes.
『What’s going on between those two?』
『Could it be…』
『No way. Professor Rania?』
『Maybe a hero like him can withstand one of Professor Rania’s strikes?』
Hero Galahal.
Apuria’s nightmare, Rania van Trias.
Both possessed sufficient backgrounds and appearances to draw the attention of anyone around. As scenes of the two conversing often played out, it was only natural that various rumors circulated regarding the two.
Even the students from the Battle Magic Department were not exempt.
The sight of the two striking up a conversation while possessing remarkable appearances was indeed a picturesque scene. The intrigued students discreetly moved closer to them.
“…”
Then began to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Wow, you taught well!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I learned a lot. That should suffice.”
In a casual tone, Rania spoke.
“But you were a bit too considerate.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You could have pushed them a bit harder, you know? From what I saw, they seemed to keep up just fine.”
“Um, but increasing it gradually is the right…?”
…Push harder?
A chilling sound reached their ears.
With eyes wide open, the students glared at Rania. Naturally, the nightmare paid no heed to the human gaze.
“No, that’s not necessary.”
Rania shook her head.
“Those who’re pushed will keep up with it. Just like you said, they’re overflowing with talent.”
“Indeed… I think I was mistaken by judging by my own standards. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Galahal nodded in agreement.
Looking impressed, Galahal nodded appreciatively, while Rania looked on with pride.
Brightly glimmering blue eyes.
What was reflected in those eyes was certainly not something sweet between a man and a woman. The contrast between the sweet tales that wandered through Apuria and the reality was like night and day.
That gaze.
‘That’s… a gaze that sees kin.’
A chill ran down the students’ spines.
The nightmare whispered to the hero. Yet the hero succumbed to the nightmare’s whisper. At that very moment, a new nightmare was on the brink of emergence.
“Oh! So that’s how you do it?”
“Right. Is there even a need for gradual increases? First, you should pummel them overwhelmingly, knocking them out of their senses…”
“Indeed… Apuria has its own education methods that suit it. I’m gaining insights again.”
The students felt a gnawing realization.
A new nightmare was about to be born in Apuria.
*
