Chapter 14

Mad Swordsman of the Shadow World (14)

“Section 5?”

Though his face was somewhat youthful, the boy had cold eyes.

As if he had misheard, he looked at the person beside him and asked.

“Say something that makes sense. Those bastards are perpetual last place. This exam was already decided too.”

“Exactly. But apparently they declared that if they don’t place in the top three this time, someone’s arms will be cut off.”

At the words of the trainee from the same section, the boy let out a faint laugh.

“Those Section 5 bastards. They’ll all end up one-armed.”

But the trainee in front of him shook his head.

“No, I heard one guy made that promise.”

Because he was usually good at flattering the instructors, he often brought back all sorts of information.

But rather than wondering where he had heard such detailed information.

The boy.

“Who was it? Who did something that reckless?”

“I don’t really know his name... Anyway, because of that, it seems the Section 5 bastards are really gritting their teeth this time.”

“...Interesting.”

The corners of the boy’s lips rose.

He did not know why the entirety of Section 5 was being stirred up over a wager one person had made with an instructor.

‘There must be a reason.’

Perhaps, like himself, that person had completely taken control of the place.

But had Section 5 ever had someone like that?

‘Don’t tell me Balk?’

The boy shook his head.

Balk could be considered one of the more useful ones in Section 5, but he did not have the capacity for something like that.

No matter how much he thought about it, no one came to mind.

However...

“Well... it doesn’t matter. We just have to make them pay the price for making such a reckless wager, don’t we?”

“Right.”

When the trainee nodded, the boy stood up.

Then the boy turned and spoke to the instructor standing beside him.

“Instructor, then we’ll begin training.”

“The exam is soon. Don’t overdo it.”

“Yes.”

An atmosphere completely different from the training grounds of the other sections.

As though acknowledging the boy, the instructor merely stood with his hands behind his back and watched.

No, how could he not acknowledge him?

Ever since that boy entered this training ground, Section 3 had always been the strongest on Hell Island.

Isaac.

‘A mere fourteen-year-old...’

Who could have imagined that he would completely dominate this section?

Raulic, the instructor in charge of Section 3, soon looked at Isaac standing in front of the trainees.

As long as that boy was here, Section 3 would continue to hold first place.

“I never knew producing results could be this easy.”

This Token Defense exam as well.

Raulic merely wore a broad, delighted smile.

________________

Section 5 was filled with more intense heat than ever before.

“Faster!”

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“Push! Push harder!”

It was a strange training exercise where they shoved each other while running, but even with foam forming at their mouths, they did not stop.

Because they believed it was training absolutely necessary for the upcoming exam.

“Agh!”

“I-I can’t do anymore...!”

“Huff... huff... huff...”

And Theron was among the trainees gasping for breath.

“Hey, you okay?”

“More... or less? Hoo...”

At Perka’s question, Theron straightened his back and let out a deep breath.

Theron was struggling just as much as everyone else.

Of course, he could have circulated mana and moved with ease.

‘Thanks to the Blood Jade Fruit, both my stamina and strength have increased. But... this still isn’t enough.’

He could not rely solely on the growth caused by the Blood Jade Fruit.

He needed to become stronger and continue growing beyond his current level.

And there were people watching Theron.

Bengle and the junior instructors stood some distance away, looking at Theron as they muttered.

“Instructor, do you really think those bastards can pull it off?”

“...There’s one week left. We’ll know once the exam begins.”

Truthfully, he did not think they could do it.

No matter what happened.

He still bore the disgraceful title of the worst instructor here, so he was merely watching.

“If they fail, I’ll just cut off that bastard’s arms and throw him out.”

Bengle muttered as he took a sip of alcohol from a small flask.

For now, simply watching the boy struggle desperately was entertaining enough.

The result would come later anyway.

‘I don’t... think they’ll succeed.’

Right.

Even if he gave them every benefit of the doubt, seventh or eighth place would already be fortunate.

But third place?

Bengle snorted.

But Theron also knew what Bengle was thinking.

There was no trust in the way he looked at them.

But...

‘...I’m not satisfied enough with the training so far, but at least we’ve built a basic foundation.’

However, considering the places where they had trained, it had all been either inside the training grounds or on flat dirt roads.

Both the previous exam and the upcoming one took place in forests.

So now, they needed practice running over terrain similar to the exam site.

‘Spending the next week just getting used to that will be enough.’

Theron turned his gaze toward the instructors.

Seeing them snicker while watching the trainees still was not pleasant.

‘For now...’

This was a time when he had no choice but to bow his head.

Theron stood up and approached where the instructors were.

“Instructor.”

“What is it?”

“If it’s all right, may we train outdoors from today until the exam?”

“Outdoor training?”

Bengle frowned.

At Bengle’s unfriendly gaze, Theron hurriedly continued.

“Yes. There were many things we fell short on during the last exam. If the next exam happens to involve a forest, I think training on hills would be more useful than training here on flat ground.”

“...”

At Theron’s words, Bengle narrowed his eyes.

Did this bastard know something?

But no information related to the exam had been leaked.

Bengle seemed to think for a moment before nodding.

“Would the hill beside the training camp be enough?”

“That’s enough.”

“Fine. One instructor will accompany you during training. If you try anything foolish while you’re out there... I’ll consider the promise between us void.”

It meant they would return to how things had been before.

Theron nodded.

“Understood.”

“Then work hard.”

With those words, Bengle entered the training camp.

Theron let out a relieved breath, then moved toward an empty place.

“Now...”

Theron recalled his memories of the past.

More than any other exam, the Token Defense exam remained exceptionally clear in Theron’s memory.

Because during that exam, he had narrowly escaped death and obtained the Blood Jade Fruit.

‘The terrain... was roughly like this.’

Using a tree branch, Theron drew the terrain of the Token Defense exam site on the ground.

Searching through his memories, he retraced the places where one could hide and the areas where many battles had taken place.

It had been more than ten years ago, yet he remembered it vividly as though it had happened yesterday.

‘The five teams moved from five different starting points.’

He knew where Section 5 had started in the past.

‘But the exam order has already changed. The starting points could change as well.’

It was troublesome, but he had to prepare strategies for every possible route from each starting point.

And had about an hour passed?

Creating the strategies was easier than expected.

Even if the starting points were different, the terrain inside the forest itself did not change.

However, there was one thing he needed to consider carefully.

‘Section 3.’

He had to pay attention to how those bastards moved.

‘Isaac... if it’s him, then definitely.’

Theron thought of Isaac.

He was cautious, yet possessed an extremely belligerent personality.

In fact, back then, Section 3 had observed and monitored the trainees from the other sections as though they were true hunters.

And at dawn between the second and third day.

‘That was when... tremendous chaos broke out.’

It was not a pleasant memory, but Theron calmly recalled it and mapped out the situation.

Section 3 was the group they needed to watch most carefully, but he also had to keep the trainees from the other sections in mind.

They had filled in many of their weaknesses through training, but even so, they would still look like prey to the others.

‘We could turn that weakness around and use it instead.’

If they used their perceived vulnerability as a weapon, they might be able to create an opportunity.

Once he finished organizing his thoughts, Theron stood up and looked toward the trainees.

“Everyone, gather over here!”

His comrades, who had rested for about an hour, quickly gathered at Theron’s words.

Theron then looked at the terrain map of the forest drawn on the ground and spoke.

“This is roughly the terrain of the forest where we’ll take the exam. I don’t know where our starting point will be, but...”

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Theron marked five places with the tree branch and spoke.

“It’ll probably be one of these.”

At Theron’s words, everyone surrounding him nodded with serious expressions.

But...

“Theron, how do you know something like this?”

“When I went to Chief Instructor Berton’s office for a meeting last time, I caught a glimpse of it. It’s the same place as this exam.”

“...You’re incredible.”

“You had enough room to look somewhere else in front of the chief instructor? I couldn’t even make eye contact with him.”

At Theron’s words, everyone looked at him as though impressed.

But Theron ignored it and continued speaking.

“So what we need to do over the next week is very simple. Run, shove away any enemies who attack, and escape.”

Obtaining a token was not especially difficult.

The important part was protecting that token until the time limit ended.

“There will probably be... people hunting inside there. Once we obtain our tokens, we need to learn how to hide and escape.”

“...Hunting.”

It was a word that somehow gave them chills.

But just as Theron said, they could somehow imagine the Section 3 trainees behaving exactly like that.

“From now on, we’ll train on the hill beside the training camp. Not on paths, but over rough ground covered with bushes and stones. You need to become skilled at running over terrain like that.”

For the next week.

‘From now on, all we need to do is train to become familiar with forest terrain while avoiding injuries.’

Of course, that alone did not make their situation dramatically better.

But the fact that the trainees here had already united as one was a significant accomplishment in itself.

In the past, they had moved separately and eventually all fallen apart.

Theron recalled the Token Defense exam from his previous life.

An exam that had truly given not only him, but most of the trainees, a hellish experience.

Inside it, the trainees were divided into hunters and prey according to their ability.

In the past, Theron had been prey.

Very weak and appetizing prey at that.

But...

‘This time, our positions will be very different... very different.’

And...

‘One week from now...’

Once the Token Defense exam began, he would inevitably clash with that bastard.

Because Isaac was never someone who would hide himself and merely endure until time ran out.

‘...Isaac.’

What should he say when he met him?

Now that he had returned to the past.

At the thought of meeting him again, Theron strangely felt his heart begin to pound.