4. To the Northeastern Military Academy…… (3)
There was only one standard that separated monsters from mutant animals.
Whether or not they could use mana.
Mutant animals were beings that had transformed because they could not accept the overflowing mana into their bodies.
On the other hand, those that instinctively accumulated it in some stable manner became monsters.
As their bodies slowly changed to suit mana and evolved so that they could store mana within themselves, one peculiar trait appeared: blue blood.
It was not some baseless nonsense that mutant animals had red blood while monsters had blue blood.
And gnolls, too, though weak, had blue blood; befitting monsters that accumulated mana, their movements far surpassed those of ordinary animals.
“Kuhuk!”
“F-fall back!”
When several were struck down without even managing to respond properly, the children slowly began showing signs of retreating.
Seeing that, Jayden clicked his tongue and stabbed the foremost gnoll in the throat.
The gnoll had been distracted by the frightened children, and Jayden’s surprise attack pierced straight through its neck, killing it.
“Don’t fall back! If you do, they’ll think you’re easy prey and charge even harder!”
As Jayden shouted and pushed forward, the terrified children responded to his words and rushed ahead after him.
They may have been mutant animals, but they were still ones who had experienced real combat, so they did not simply freeze in fear and swung their swords.
On the other hand, those who had not adapted to the killing intent emitted by monsters remained frightened to the end, unable to move.
-Yelp!
-Kiiing~ whine!
After Jayden thrashed the few gnolls at the front, some of the gnolls avoided him and targeted the other children. Like the canine monsters they were, they skillfully avoided him and the thirteen-year-old children, instead aiming for those who looked weak.
Then even the children who had only been trembling in fear realized they were being targeted and began resisting with their iron swords.
Weak monsters or not, this was real combat, and blood began to spray as children started getting injured.
Even so, as was common in battle, the excited children, flooded with adrenaline, did not stop fighting until every last gnoll had been killed.
“Hah…… hah…….”
“Those who absolutely cannot go on, wait here. People will arrive soon to escort the wounded.”
Once all the fighting was over, Sky Lance appeared again, said that, and began walking slowly ahead. Jayden and the other children followed him with strained expressions.
But this time, the number of children walking after Lance had decreased greatly. More than half had essentially given up during the fight with the gnolls.
Even though neither mutant animals nor monsters appeared after the gnolls, the children looked like they were about to die. They had to climb a steep mountain with their stamina and mana already depleted.
The tension of not knowing when or where another attack might come.
Their exhausted stamina.
Their mental strength drained to the limit.
The mountain path to the academy was a test of all these things.
As far as the Northeast was concerned, students who could not even endure this much would eventually fall behind even if they entered the academy.
And only by testing them this strictly would half-baked people refrain from even attempting the exam.
Befitting an academy located in the dangerous region of the Northeast, everyone admitted here had to be as strong as a weapon of war.
It was a place where one had to be strong not merely in body, but in mind, in order to survive.
That was why those with weak wills were filtered out from the very beginning.
“Hah…… hah…….”
Even while breathing roughly, Jayden followed Sky Lance with dogged tenacity.
His legs trembled and his breath caught in his throat, but he followed Sky Lance to the very end.
A few others were still following along besides Jayden, but by then their number did not even reach ten.
All of them followed Sky Lance with their eyes unfocused, teeth clenched.
But children’s stamina had its limits.
Soon, they began to stagger and collapse one by one, and Jayden also wavered.
At that, Sky Lance finally came to a stop.
“You all did well.”
Sky Lance smiled broadly as he looked at Jayden and the others.
“You passed the first test splendidly.”
At Sky Lance’s words, not only the collapsed children but even Jayden showed expressions of incomprehension.
They could not understand how they had passed when the military academy was still nowhere in sight.
“This test was meant to assess your will from the start. It was never truly a test to see whether you could make it all the way to the military academy.”
“Ah…….”
Jayden stared blankly at Lance’s words.
“I’ve seen enough of your will. You can probably expect good scores.”
“Then…… did everyone who gave up earlier pass as well?”
“Most of them? Though those who were terrified and gave up first will probably have a hard time passing.”
As Lance said that, he pointed a finger at the sky.
Then a crystal orb, its concealment dispelled, came into view, fixed to a bird’s talons and watching them.
“They’ll probably watch through that and judge. One thing is certain: all of you are in the upper ranks.”
“Were there others taking the test besides us?”
“Of course. You were the last group.”
At Lance’s words, Jayden nodded lightly.
“Those of you still here can even look forward to early graduation. So work hard. It’d be even better if you applied to become knights.”
When Sky Lance spoke with a genial expression, only then did all the tension leave Jayden and the other children, and they sank down as if collapsing.
Lance looked at the children with that same good-natured expression, gave them a short rest, and then began climbing the mountain together with the people coming up from behind.
Unlike before, they did not simply walk blindly, but climbed the steep mountain while taking proper breaks, and at last arrived at the place where the Northeastern Military Academy stood.
The academy, located halfway up the mountain, did not look like a good facility at a glance.
Not only was it old in many places, but because it stood on the mountainside, it was covered in vines growing over the buildings.
“The buildings are old, but the inside is more usable than you’d think.”
As Lance said that and went inside, everyone entered the building with expressions that seemed to wonder whether training could really be done in such a place.
But the inside of the building was completely different from the scenery they had seen outside.
All sorts of magic artifacts were installed, and the walls finished in clean marble gave off an antique atmosphere.
“Surprised, right? People who only see the exterior usually treat the Northeastern Academy like a den of beggars, but that’s not the case. We deliberately left it that way. You could call it a kind of tradition.”
“Ah…….”
The scenery had been created to embody both the refusal to forget the past and new innovation within the building.
The other children seemed impressed by that as well, and stared blankly at the interior.
After passing through the clean interior of the building and arriving at their destination, they found children in similarly beggarly states waiting in the great hall.
Once more than three hundred children, including Jayden, had taken their places in the great hall, an old man stood on the platform.
“It is good to meet you all. I am Crimson Halo, in charge of this Northeast.”
Several children who knew the name Crimson Halo let out exclamations of admiration. That was because the one who had once held the position of Northern Commander was Crimson Halo.
Though he had handed his post over to Jeden Wicks, the current Northern Commander and one of the Masters, Crimson Halo was one of the Empire’s thirteen Masters and a veteran who had overseen the North for a long time.
“You all look tired from coming all the way here, so I will say only one thing and end this.”
Crimson Halo said that and looked around at the audience.
“This is a region more dangerous than any other place in the Empire. So do not let your guard down for even a moment. The moment you do, your lives will be taken. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
At Crimson Halo’s shout, the children answered reflexively.
As if satisfied with their voices, he glanced to the side and nodded slightly, and a man spoke quietly.
“Everyone, applause for the Northeastern Commander.”
Clap clap clap clap!
Everyone clapped because they were told to, but for a moment, doubt appeared on the children’s faces.
It was because they wondered why Crimson Halo had been called the Northeastern Commander when it was known that there were only five commanders in the Empire.
It was true that Crimson had once been the Northern Commander, but he was currently known to have retired.
They wondered if the man had misspoken, but neither Halo nor anyone else showed any sign that a mistake had been made.
‘An unofficial commander, then.’
He had heard of it in his previous life.
Special regions like the Northeast unofficially held the status of a command.
The empire had the Northeast and the southern jungle region, and the southern and eastern kingdoms had similar systems as well.
Every nation in the three great danger zones unofficially maintained commanders and special forces.
Just as everyone was wearing puzzled expressions, the academy dean finally stepped up onto the platform.
“I am Dean Landon. Since you’re all tired, I’ll keep this brief.”
The dean paused for a moment and looked over the students.
Though they looked like utter beggars, the momentum he felt from them was not bad at all. Nodding briefly at the sight, the dean continued.
“This place is different from other academies. With a halfhearted mindset, you will never survive here. This academy will turn you into weapons of war. It will require countless hardships and endless endurance, and if you withstand all of that, an even greater hell will be waiting. So brace yourselves.”
After Dean Landon stepped down with that warning, the students were soon guided to their respective dormitories.
As expected of a military academy, there were female students as well, so they entered separate women’s and men’s dormitories, where the sorting process began in even greater detail.
As written in the reports, dormitories were assigned according to the provisional traits that had been designated.
At the same time, each student was assigned their own number based on the number written on the bedding in their assigned dormitory.
Jayden’s new number was 13.
‘Does that mean I’m thirteenth?’
There were twelve more people above him, but it was satisfying enough.
Thinking that, at this rate, early graduation might be possible if he did well, Jayden took a refreshing shower and fell asleep.
But at dawn the very next day, he came to understand why this place was insane.
“Wake up! All students are to assemble at once in full combat gear. I repeat. All students are to assemble at once in full combat gear.”
As the wake-up announcement came through a magic device, a warning alarm suddenly began to blare.
“The current situation is real. Everyone is to assemble in full combat gear.”
Since the dawn announcement was telling them to gather in full combat gear, everyone stared blankly for a moment before scrambling to get ready.
Jayden, on the other hand, as if his experience from his previous life had not gone anywhere, swiftly prepared and headed straight for the parade ground.
To be honest, even Jayden had assumed while getting ready that it was a situation meant to scare the children, but every academy professor was rushing out with weapons in hand, and the soldiers guarding the academy had already begun fighting.
‘This is insane. Actual combat from the very first day?’
The faces of the children, who were about to experience real combat on their first day at the academy, were the very picture of a mental breakdown.
They had all rushed over in a hurry, but faced with what looked like a genuine large-scale battle, they had no idea what to do.
In that situation, only Jayden calmly observed what was happening.
“Since training has not yet begun, the new students are to stand by here.”
Even the professor seemed caught off guard by the unexpected situation; after saying only that, he vanished in a flash. In such circumstances, the children’s bewilderment only grew, and the academy, too, could not hide its confusion at a situation it had never anticipated.
And such an unforeseen situation was more than enough to make someone into a hero.
At the center of it stood Jayden, armed with years of hard-earned experience.