novelraw Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: A Strange Training Method
I opened my eyes on the hospital bed.
It was still dark outside.
2:30 AM.
My body had woken up first again today.
3 AM, the time when humans are said to be the calmest.
Waking up early at this hour was already familiar.
In the first place, this body itself wasn't the type to sleep a lot.
Strangely, even if I slept for only 2-3 hours, I felt like I had slept for 8.
I moved my body slightly.
“It’s really all healed.”
I looked at the Fatigue Recovery Potion bottle I had drunk yesterday.
Ddiring-!
[Fatigue Recovery Potion: Wounds and fatigue are all gone! Temporarily grants the user ‘Medium’ level healing power.]
[Note: The effect only applies to registered learners.]
A description window that popped up naturally.
It looked exactly the same as the products sold on the market, but the effect was completely different.
The effect, for now, seemed to only apply to me, the ‘learner.’
“Medium level healing power, you say.”
Medium level healing.
An intermediate healing technique used by B~C rank healers.
A recovery skill that couldn't heal everything at once, but could stop bleeding and instantly heal injuries like bruises or cuts.
It was at a level where it could temporarily boost a collapsed combat power.
Having experienced it myself, I could feel it.
Because the pain and bruises that were so severe I could barely move had vanished without a trace in a single day.
‘At this rate, I should definitely drink this after a battle or after using Hundred Night Yaksha.’
Above all, ‘healing’ is a concept that is one step above the Rehabilitation Art I originally had.
Rehabilitation Art increases the speed of natural recovery, but Healing Art directly repairs the damaged area.
And it wasn’t even elementary or lesser, but ‘medium.’
“It would be a good idea to stock up on a few more.”
It was a plain evaluation made from having experienced the effect firsthand. This is definitely useful.
Even if the price of 5,000SP is a bit of a burden.
“The other products seem useful too.”
The problem is SP.
I’ve been trying to save it, but whenever I need it, it’s always insufficient.
Naturally, a thought came to me.
‘The reasons to collect SP have increased.’
And it was then.
Ddiring-!
[Tactical Manual]
-Learner-customized education will now be conducted.
-Learner’s demand: SP shortage, desires more and more difficult learning.
-……Preparing customized education…….
“Eh?”
Preparing what? I was bewildered.
And looking at the message window that popped up after that, I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
-Customized Task: A special training task has been prepared to obtain a large amount of SP.
- Tailored to the learner’s environment while attending the academy, it has been organized mainly with ‘high-difficulty training’ that can be completed in a short time.
-Let’s complete the following daily training at the Zero Academy training ground.
- High-Gravity Adaptation Training (0/1)
- Agility Training (0/1)
- Low-Oxygen Running (0/5km)
.
.
.
A list that continued on like a receipt, with no end in sight.
‘This is a pain. I was planning to go to the training ground anyway.’
I had planned to go to test Hojin’s new technique.
Though I hadn't expected to go with such a shabby training list.
I knew very well what would come at the end of this list.
Because the Tactical Manual uses ‘punishment’ along with rewards under the pretext of ‘motivation.’
It would probably set a penalty like Burning Pain or Crushing Pain again.
Just as a sigh was about to escape at the familiar bullsh\*t.
[Poor Performance Penalty: Testicle Loss]
“Eh?”
Loss of what?
I couldn't close my mouth.
***
Bbibibik-! Bbibibik-!
Early dawn, not even 5 AM yet.
The alarm rang loudly.
Taak-
Though it was turned off right away.
“Hoo-.”
Seol Hayun let out a deep sigh.
Her eyes were still closed.
‘10…… 9…… 8…….’
Seol Hayun slowly counted to ten in her mind.
As soon as she finished counting, her eyes shot open.
After that, there was no hesitation.
She quickly tidied her room and finished preparing to leave in an instant, then immediately left the dormitory.
The destination was only one place.
The training ground of Zero Academy.
At the training ground, she was always the first.
She would turn on the lights of the training room before anyone else and have the quiet training ground all to herself.
This was like a ritual.
Throughout her middle academy life, that routine had never changed, and it would be the same at Zero.
But something was strange today.
The lights of the training ground were already brightly lit.
It was supposed to be a system where the lights automatically turn off when there are no people.
‘Someone is already here.’
With a feeling of half disappointment and half surprise, Seol Hayun suddenly became curious.
Who on earth could it be?
She entered the training ground.
And she could see it.
The sight of Ryu Jinwoo training with bandages on his body.
‘Grandmother will be angry if she finds out.’
From a certain point, her grandmother, Ju Yeonhwa, only talked about ‘Ryu Jinwoo.’
How is that brat doing these days, is he still walking around with that foolish face of his, acting insolent. Things like that.
It seemed she was more interested in him than in her own granddaughter.
‘Thanks to that, it’s a bit more comfortable, though.’
If it were in the past, she would have talked her ears off about her own growth, asking how much her magic power level had risen, if there was any magic power imbalance, if her understanding and research of spells were going well, if she was following the prescribed diet and training routine, and so on.
‘……But, why am I hiding?’
Without realizing it, Seol Hayun had hidden herself behind a thick pillar near the entrance.
Somehow, it had become a situation where she was secretly observing Ryu Jinwoo.
Inside the circular training ground, Ryu Jinwoo was swinging a sword.
It seemed like a simple motion, but when seen with the ‘5G’ mark on the training ground’s information board, it was by no means simple.
It meant he was swinging a sword while enduring five times the normal gravity.
Repeating the act of thrusting and swinging the sword with a steady posture, without wavering.
Seol Hayun silently watched those persistent movements.
‘I heard his injuries were severe.’
The time was just past 5 AM.
But he already looked like he had trained a lot.
You could tell just by looking at his hair, soaked in sweat.
Then how early did he come?
It was somewhat sickening.
If it were to a certain extent, a sense of rivalry would arise, but there’s a limit.
Ryu Jinwoo, who had been swinging his sword for a long time, stopped for a moment and stared blankly into the air.
Strangely, his eyes moved subtly from left to right, as if reading something.
“Haa-.”
Ryu Jinwoo, who let out a sigh as if something was done, lay down as if collapsing.
Seeing the light convulsions, it was certain that he had already gone through an immense amount of training.
He then drank a beverage that looked like a fatigue recovery potion and began to take a short rest.
‘Is it over?’
Watching Ryu Jinwoo, who hadn't moved for a few minutes, Seol Hayun thought about revealing her presence.
But Ryu Jinwoo shot up.
Strangely, he looked full of energy.
Ryu Jinwoo, who had stood up again, fiddled with the control panel of the training ground.
Before long, the floor of the training ground opened, and a target appeared.
It was an ‘Impact-Absorbing Training Dummy’ installed for cadets to practice their techniques.
Ryu Jinwoo stared at it, loosened up his body, and gripped his sword.
And at that moment, the texture of the air changed.
His body shot forward in an instant.
With an explosive acceleration, the tip of his sword extended as if shot out in a straight line.
Kwa-jijik-!
The target was shattered to pieces.
Leaving behind a mark of having been pierced from the inside, unable to withstand the impact that had just been applied.
‘Don’t tell me…… a spell?’
Seol Hayun repeated in surprise.
It wasn't a simple thrusting motion.
It was a precise technique that aimed for both penetration and destruction simultaneously.
Moreover, it was a flow that seemed familiar.
In an instant, she thought of Instructor Hojin.
Could it be Instructor Hojin’s spell?
At the thought that suddenly came to mind, Seol Hayun shook her head.
No matter what, that couldn't be it.
‘Besides, Ryu Jinwoo is definitely a Non-Awakened.’
Ryu Jinwoo is a Non-Awakened who does not possess a magic circuit.
It is impossible for him to generate magic power on his own or to organize the structure of a spell.
But the technique just now clearly utilized a power similar to magic power.
The concentration and release of power, the acceleration of the air at the tip of the sword at the same time as the target was pierced.
It was a technique that could not be created with simple muscle strength alone.
She had felt it before, but there was definitely something about Ryu Jinwoo.
‘Magic power implementation through a device?’
Seol Hayun searched her own memories.
Among the actual Non-Awakened, there are cases where they implement artificial magic power phenomena through equipment or auxiliary devices.
As far as she knew, if the Non-Awakened Ryu Jinwoo wanted to handle something similar to magic power, that was the only way.
Of course, the density and responsiveness of artificial magic power are far inferior to that of an Awakened.
The difficulty of operation is also high, and both the output and precision are lower.
That’s why it shouldn't have been something to be greatly concerned about.
‘At that level, he’s handling it with complete freedom. The output is also considerable.’
At this very moment, Seol Hayun was witnessing a counterexample.
He freely handled a magic power phenomenon that was clearly artificially created, as if it were his own limbs.
Unbelievable precision.
How much effort, or talent, would be required to operate a device to that extent?
Even though it was a question she had come up with herself, she couldn't get a feel for it at all.
“Heu-eup.”
A moment later, Ryu Jinwoo began to let out a pained sound.
Seol Hayun soon understood the reason.
Artificial magic power created through an external device imposes a recoil on the user.
Because it is not their own power.
Ryu Jinwoo must be experiencing that recoil.
But the surprising thing happened after that.
He operated the training ground’s control panel again and took out another new target.
And he performed the same technique one more time.
The target was torn to pieces in the same way.
And at the same time, Ryu Jinwoo collapsed to the floor.
A pained groan was heard.
Even more severe than before.
She thought it would end there.
But it didn't.
One more time. Ryu Jinwoo forced his body up and repeated the same action one more time.
A total of three times.
Naturally, Ryu Jinwoo collapsed after that.
His body twitched for a moment and then stopped moving.
Seol Hayun immediately approached Ryu Jinwoo.
Sweat was pooled around him. As if water was leaking.
The blood mixed in here and there in the puddle was somehow eerie.
When she turned over his collapsed body, he was fortunately breathing.
But the traces of pain, such as a nosebleed, were evident, and he was even unconscious.
“Where in the world is there such a foolish training method?”
Seol Hayun muttered as if in disbelief.
Ryu Jinwoo didn't even respond, as if he had lost consciousness.
Does he always train like this?
Usually, people exercise control.
According to their own condition and the situation.
But Ryu Jinwoo’s method was not like that.
As if to test his own limits, he swallowed the recoil and continued to strike.
Until he fainted like this.
Seol Hayun picked up the glass bottle lying next to Ryu Jinwoo.
It was the drink he had had before practicing his technique.
“Fatigue Recovery Potion?”
Is he training while drinking this?
Seol Hayun began to examine it carefully.
The appearance, the smell, and even the few remaining drops were of a normal fatigue recovery potion.
In other words, it was something that wasn't of much help.
Seeing him train, she had thought he might have drunk some elixir that rapidly heals the body.
Ryu Jinwoo had just been overworking himself with nothing but his bare body.
‘I’ve heard of training until you feel like you're going to collapse, but I’ve never heard of training until you actually collapse.’
The phrase ‘feel like you’re going to collapse’ is usually used figuratively.
This was the first time she had seen a case where the training was concluded by actually collapsing.
Seol Hayun raised her head and looked at the target.
A dummy torn to shreds like a rag.
What it showed was Ryu Jinwoo’s tenacity.
A persistence that could not be explained by the simple word ‘reckless.’
At the same time, she thought this might be the secret Ryu Jinwoo had.
The secret to how he, despite being a Non-Awakened, had been able to come this far without breaking.
Seol Hayun thought as she helped Ryu Jinwoo up and laid him on a bench in the corner of the training ground.
That her curiosity about Ryu Jinwoo seemed to have grown even more.