4. To the Northeastern Military Academy…… (2)
With the mana awakening test as the last step, formal training at the camp came to an end.
After that day, one by one, everyone left for their respective second training camps.
Those who had not even the slightest shred of talent to bloom their mana returned to wherever they had originally come from, while most headed to the training camps of the corps they had drawn by lot.
There, they would train for another three to four years while supporting rear-line units, then be moved to the front.
The children whose flames had turned blue, like Jayden, were to go to a military academy, and fortunately, the academy’s opening ceremony was not far off, so they could head there right away.
If not, they would have had to receive additional training at the camp like the other children before being selected to go.
“Take care. Let’s definitely meet again someday.”
“Yeah.”
After seeing off the last child remaining from his squad, Jayden sat alone in the room, feeling a faint loneliness.
The squadmate who had stayed with him until the end because he had to travel the farthest had left as well, and now Jayden truly had no choice but to wait alone.
After waiting a few more days like that, he too began preparing to leave for the northeast.
At the place Jayden arrived, some thirty children were waiting, and not a single one was the same age as him.
All of them were older than Jayden, though they were still only around thirteen; no one seemed older than that.
‘Does that mean you have to reach somewhere near the second stage by thirteen?’
Remembering what Lieutenant Colonel Milwaukee had said, Jayden made his own guess.
Even after awakening mana, people were divided once again according to talent, so only after reaching a minimum observable level would one finally meet the qualifications to apply to the northeast.
That was why, with thirteen as the standard, only those who had reached the vicinity of the second stage by then met the requirements.
“That one’s young, huh?”
“Wow, did he get picked right away?”
“That’s amazing.”
While everyone was whispering after seeing Jayden, a knight entered. He was a man with blue hair, and the moment he stepped inside, Jayden immediately sensed that the officer from earlier had been no more than child’s play. It did not seem as though he was deliberately letting his presence leak out, yet the surrounding air felt as if it had turned sharp.
“Some thirty of you, huh……. Quite a lot gathered, all things considered. Good to meet you. My name is Sky Rance. I belong to the Second Knight Order under the Northeastern Command. I volunteered personally because I wanted to come fetch my juniors.”
‘Sky Rance!’
The man who had risen to Master in Jayden’s previous life was Sky Rance. One of the very few individuals who had survived in the northeast was now standing right here.
Even at this point, he was someone called an elite, and later on, his talent would explode even further.
‘Even now, he should easily be beyond the fifth stage, so why……?’
Jayden could not understand why he would bother doing this kind of task, but he remained quiet. The man possessed talent as absurd as the youngest one, so there was no need to get on his bad side.
“To tell the truth, I’m scheduled to head to the front lines, and I ended up taking this mission while I was at it. I’m sure you’re all nervous, but the northeast is still a place where people live, so I hope you won’t be too frightened.”
Sky Rance spoke with an amiable expression and immediately led the trainees and the others toward the Wyvern Tower.
Unlike other places, where people traveled through warp gates or by mana vehicles, those bound for the northeast traveled on wyverns.
The reason was security. The northeast was a place where even slow-moving airships were not permitted, so they had to move by riding wyverns.
“Uuoooooh…….”
During the wyvern flight, several of the children whimpered in fear or were left dazed by the fierce wind.
They could have used mana, but because aerial monsters appeared every now and then, they had no presence of mind to do so. They were not small monsters, either, but large ones, which made it all the worse.
When they finally arrived at the Wyvern Tower in the northeast in that frightened state, Sky Rance smiled and spoke.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Sky Rance, the one who will escort you to the academy, and also the examiner who will test whether you are qualified to enter it.”
At Sky Rance’s words, everyone’s eyes widened. Jayden, who had known a certain amount of information in advance, was not particularly surprised, but the rest of the children could not adjust to the suddenly sharpened gaze of the otherwise good-natured-looking Sky Rance.
“The test is to travel from this Wyvern Tower to the academy beyond that ridge. I will personally deal with dangerous monsters, but I won’t stop the rest.”
At Sky Rance’s words, everyone’s gazes began to tremble.
There were probably not many among them who had experienced actual combat. At most, perhaps the oldest, thirteen-year-old children?
Even that would likely be at the level of children’s games.
And yet, at the possibility that they might now face a proper real battle, the corners of everyone’s eyes trembled.
“Climb to the academy alive. That is the test you will undergo.”
With those words, Sky Rance took the lead and began descending the tower.
Along the way, soldiers could be seen saluting him.
“Among the soldiers you trained with at the camps, the talented ones are sometimes assigned here. As you all saw, they’re no less impressive than knights, are they?”
“That’s right.”
At Jayden’s answer, Sky Rance smiled.
“By the time they’re discharged, they all seem to have become elite noncommissioned officers. So even if you become officers later, I hope you won’t look down on NCOs and soldiers. Unless they’re greenhorns, they’re all veterans.”
As Sky Rance spoke from his own experience, he gave advice as valuable as gold and jade for the sake of the juniors who might make mistakes in the future.
Everyone was walking too frantically to realize it, but advice that came out like this would later become a great help in their lives as officers.
“It’s probably the same elsewhere, but at the Northeastern Military Academy, many choose to become rangers rather than knights. Since high-quality weapons are supplied, there’s no need to step forward and swing a sword yourself. Thanks to that, replenishing the knights is always a struggle.”
As Sky Rance said that, he showed a regretful expression.
“It would be nice if some knights came from among my juniors.”
Muttering as if to himself, he walked a little faster. Then, in the blink of an eye, they exited the tower and entered mountainous terrain.
They walked through the forest in a single-file formation, skillfully making a path through a place where there was none.
Sky Rance lightly cut with his sword here and there, and the tall grass was sliced away cleanly, creating a path in an instant.
“Huff…… huff…….”
“Hah…… hah…….”
Everyone began using mana while breathing heavily.
‘It’ll be hard if they start using mana already…….’
Jayden was tired as well, but it was still bearable, so he endured with his body without using mana.
Those three or four years older than him also seemed to have experience, as they were holding back their mana use as much as possible.
And Jayden’s judgment proved correct.
—Kyaaak!
“A wildcat? No, why is it so big!”
“Where did the knight go!”
“Are we supposed to fight it?”
It seemed there was more than one, as several of them leaped in, aiming for the children. And Sky Rance slipped away discreetly, observing with hawk-like eyes how the children would respond.
Under the examiner’s observation, Jayden quietly drew his iron sword.
The blade was dull, but with his enhanced physical strength, he could beat them to death. When Jayden drew his iron sword like that, the others also began drawing theirs one after another.
They might be mutant wildcats, but everyone on this side was a mana awakener as well.
There were far too many of them to be intimidated by a mere few beasts.
—Kyaaang!
True to its nature as a wildcat, one of them targeted a frightened child, and Jayden charged forward first. Then the others, having regained their composure, also rushed in as if afraid their credit would be stolen.
They had realized that if this was a test, each and every thing that happened here would be reflected in their scores.
And before long, as if everyone had noticed that fact, they began moving not out of fear, but to gain even a few more points.
The talents of those gathered here were too exceptional for them to be frightened by a mere few wild animals.
But this was only the beginning.
From here on, monsters for whom mutant wild animals were child’s play were waiting.
Thinking of that, Jayden conserved his strength and stepped back after catching the first one.
Then, inspired by Jayden taking the lead and overcoming their fear, the children each drew their swords and began beating down the wild animals.
When many of them struck from all sides, the wildcat’s life was snuffed out in an instant.
The moment he confirmed that several wildcats had died like that, Sky Rance revealed himself.
“Not bad, juniors. Fairly decent.”
Saying so, Sky Rance briefly cast his gaze toward Jayden, who had moved first, then immediately started walking again.
A short while later, another mutant animal appeared without fail, but it was swiftly dealt with.
Having experienced it once, a measure of composure began to return to the children’s eyes.
This time, however, Sky Rance was not waiting for it to end before moving on, but was walking slowly some distance away.
If they failed to deal with things quickly, they could lose Sky Rance, so Jayden only took care of the wild animals that charged at him and followed after Sky Rance.
The others seemed to notice as well, and rather than trying to handle everything perfectly, they focused on keeping up with their companions.
“Hahk…… hahk…….”
“Hoo! Hoo!”
No matter how much they had awakened to mana, they were still children whose bodies had yet to fully mature.
Unlike Sky Rance, who was walking at a leisurely pace, the children had to keep moving while dealing with the attacking wild animals, and they gradually began to tire.
On top of that, the situation began to worsen.
Small monsters had begun targeting the children and attacking them.
When a flock of mutated birds that seemed to appear from nowhere attacked the children, Jayden was the first to step on a tree and leap into the air, bringing several of them down.
The others followed his example, moving to attack the birds instead of simply swinging their swords at random.
Some threw stones, while others gathered together to respond.
But even that had its limits, and in the end, a few of them sustained minor injuries.
Their stamina was dropping, and though the wounds were small, the children were beginning to be injured. Despite walking slowly, it became increasingly difficult for them to keep up with Sky Rance.
‘Is he testing our will?’
As it seemed as though they were being tested to see whether they could continue without giving up even as the physical strain grew, like some kind of self-discipline training, Jayden also gritted his teeth and kept moving.
He had gone through hardships of this degree plenty of times in his previous life, so it did not feel particularly difficult.
The farther they climbed up the mountain, the more mutated animals attacked them, and their level also began to rise noticeably.
Drunk on the mana mist and strengthened by it, the hides of the mutated animals were as tough and hard as those of monsters, so they did not die easily.
And at last, something that could truly be called a monster appeared.
“A gnoll…… is it?”
It looked like a dog, but seeing as it walked on two legs, it was definitely a gnoll. And given the nature of its kind, there was no way only one would be roaming around.
When more than a dozen gnolls appeared, Jayden gripped the sword in his hand tightly and drew it.
The frightened children also drew their swords and tightened their grips.