5. Experience Never Disappears (1)
No matter how notorious the Northeast Academy was, it wasn't such a cold-hearted place that it would demand anything from students who hadn't even been taught anything yet.
The problem, however, was that due to the Northeast Academy's location, monsters were strewn about the surrounding area.
Even if the professors tried to teach kindly, the surrounding conditions wouldn't allow it, so in the end, they had no choice but to teach strictly for the students' sake.
Because of that, they had intentionally set up camp in a place teeming with monsters for training like actual combat, but this had occasionally caused problems.
Each time, they would cooperatively exterminate the monsters with the students, but unexpected incidents like this one would occur.
Since something like this happened during the period when they should be focusing on basic training rather than monster extermination, the professors had no choice but to move busily.
Moreover, the situation was even worse this time because the new students who had just arrived yesterday were involved, and the scale of the monster invasion was more than double what the academy had estimated.
"Where are the reinforcements!"
"It will take three hours!"
"Damn it!"
At the old professor's words, the young professor said as much and raised his weapon.
While the monsters' level wasn't so high that the professors and security forces couldn't block them, their numbers were too great.
The cunning ones were gathering from all directions, targeting the young prey assembled on the training ground.
"See, I told you to install a barrier in advance! All to create that damn 'realistic' scenery! Argh!"
One professor spat out in anger while swinging his weapon. Even as he did so, several minor monsters continued to break through.
"Block them so they can't reach the freshmen as much as possible!"
"Prioritize dealing with the ones the freshmen can't handle!"
Already, too many monsters had swarmed in, so they had no choice but to distinguish between those to prioritize and those not to.
Even as they did so, the monsters climbed over, and finally began to reach the children gathered on the training ground one by one.
"Did they break through?"
Jaiden muttered upon seeing that even the lowest grade monsters had gotten this far, and immediately prepared to move.
While the other children had come wearing only their main weapons and light armor as instructed to come fully armed, Jaiden had brought absolutely everything.
There was a dagger prepared for basic military training, a gun that could fire magic rounds, a sword, and so on.
Although guns weren't considered very useful against mana users and monsters, if they were magic rounds made by grinding mana stones and the target was the lowest grade monsters, it was hard to find a better weapon than this.
Bang!
"As expected, experience doesn't just disappear."
The small gun modified to fit a child felt right the moment he shouldered it.
It was a shame that it wasn't adjusted to his frame, but he only needed to get in close and blast them.
"A gun?"
"Did that guy just shoot a gun?"
"Is that a magic round? It sticks into monsters pretty well?"
While everyone was buzzing at the sight of him shooting, Jaiden moved again. Then some of the children also grabbed their weapons and began to move.
Those children holding guns like him also began firing at the monsters.
But they couldn't do it as well as Jaiden.
No matter how talented they were, there was no way they could hit all the nimble monsters.
Moreover, it was bound to be even more difficult since they didn't know the monsters' characteristics.
"For goblins, cripple the body first. If you aim for the head for no reason, you'll miss. Their arms and legs are thin too, so you have to slam the torso."
"But they're wearing magic-treated light armor?"
Jaiden offered advice in a passing tone to a student flustered by the goblin's nimble movements that he was experiencing for the first time.
Then the boy made a tearful face, still finding it difficult.
Since goblins weren't brainless, they knew well what their weaknesses were.
As they were among the top ten most cunning monsters, it was only natural that they would be equipped with gear to protect their weaknesses.
"It doesn't matter. Even if the magic round can't penetrate, it can still deliver impact."
Saying so, Jaiden demonstrated personally. After slamming a magic round into its torso, he drew his sword toward the goblin that had flinched from the impact and sliced it clean through.
Though it wasn't a mana-imbued sword, the strike carried tremendous force, sending the goblin's head flying as its body collapsed.
"Take them out like this. If using a sword is hard, just unload into their heads with your gun."
"O-Okay."
Leaving behind the student who nodded, saying he wasn't sure if he could do it but would try his best, Jaiden moved once more.
This time, a pack of gnolls he had met during the exam were rushing in from one side.
"Killing mutts is the easiest."
Dozens of gnolls were swarming in, but Jaiden smiled brightly looking at his fully armed state.
After checking his remaining rounds, Jaiden charged at the gnolls while spraying bullets all at once. And he instantly blew off the heads of a couple of gnolls that had paused momentarily at the gunshots.
Though it was a student-use sword, it wasn't a trainee's blunt iron sword but a properly sharpened blade, so it was more than enough to blow off the gnolls' heads.
After that, kobolds that only inhabited mines came running while sniffing about like dogs, and even a giant rabbit appeared from nowhere, but he thoroughly struck their weaknesses and took them down.
Since he hadn't climbed a mountain like during the exam, nor consumed his strength through consecutive battles, he could literally fly around.
Because of this, before long, the children had gathered around Jaiden and began fighting while mimicking his combat style.
In truth, if they followed Jaiden's lead, they could easily handle the monsters.
"Now I'm starting to feel warmed up."
His body reacted to the proper actual combat he hadn't felt in a long time, and the light of mana that had been sluggish until now gradually began to etch itself all over his body.
Thinking that he could enter the perfect second stage if he just moved a bit more intensely, Jaiden began to move even more fiercely.
Desperately wishing for more monsters to come in, he went mad cutting down the lowest grade monsters.
He even borrowed magazines from the children beside him mid-fight, wildly firing magic rounds as he killed monsters.
Like a prepared specialist for killing monsters, he killed every monster that entered, so the other children also began to move fiercely, as if they couldn't afford to lose.
Like troops who had seized the advantage on the battlefield, over three hundred students burnt with fighting spirit and killed every monster in sight.
Then the teachers, worried that there might be students in danger, watched the students fight blankly.
Especially, they watched Jaiden rampaging like a fish in water at the front lines.
"He's like a veteran who's been on the battlefield several times."
"Right? The way he kills monsters by targeting only their weaknesses without expending much effort is truly remarkable."
To be honest, they had thought that Student No. 13 was quite outstanding, but the truth was they had wondered if he wasn't the most lacking in skill and talent within the top 20.
In reality, the students ranked 1 through 10 seemed to have already completed Stage 2 quite some time ago, and Students No. 1 through 3 had already begun preparations for the next stage.
Especially, the one who was practically a monster was Student No. 3. While No. 1 and No. 2 were fourteen years old, No. 3 was nine.
Yet among such monsters, it was No. 13, supposedly the least skilled, who was displaying an overwhelming presence.
"Experienced."
"Yes, especially the way he advises struggling students and pulls them along with him—he even shows the bearing of a commander."
"He doesn't even need to become a knight. He has more than enough talent to be a commander."
"I hope he comes back as a professor at our academy later. He'd teach well."
Though Jaiden's evaluation had skyrocketed after a single real battle, his mind was currently preoccupied with completing the perfect second stage, busy cutting down monsters and firing his gun.
"*Huff*... *huff*... None left?"
Perhaps because he had moved so hard, he caught his breath and looked around for monsters, but there were no more living monsters on the training ground.
It wasn't just Jaiden; over three hundred students had been cutting them all down, so if any had remained, that would have been the stranger occurrence.
-You have acquired the title 'The Freshman's Spirit!'
"Hmm?"
At the sudden mechanical voice, he reflexively raised his head, and a semi-transparent window unfolded along with an additional voice.
-You have displayed monstrous prowess at the notorious Northeastern Military Academy. This reputation shall persist as long as the Northeastern Military Academy exists.
-Title Effect: Dignity increased by 30%, Stamina increased by 30%, Mana slightly increases each time actual combat is performed.
-※Title effects can be stacked.
-You have acquired your first title. As a special privilege, you obtain a Magic Imprint. From now on, whenever you use mana, the rate at which mana accumulates within your body will increase.
-The instructors are amazed by your unbelievable experience.
-You have acquired the title “Hard-Earned Experience Never Goes Away!” As the title effect, when you know a monster’s weakness, your critical hit chance increases by 200%.
-For the first time, you have obtained two titles in succession. As a reward, your title effects will be enhanced.
Along with the explosive mechanical voice, his physical condition, which had felt as if something was lacking, became perfect. At the same time, a faint glow of mana began to circulate throughout his entire body.
Perhaps thanks to the effect of the Magic Imprint he had obtained as a privilege, he was able to enter the perfect second stage immediately.
“A monster……”
He looked at a child who was staring at him as if he were a monster.
The child with the number 140 pinned to his chest looked at Jayden, then at the children nearby who were covered in blood.
The children labeled 1 through 3, too, seemed to have had their fighting spirit stirred after seeing Jayden’s performance, and in the latter half they displayed insane feats of their own.
They were crushing their lack of experience with overwhelming skill.
With this single real battle, the gap between Jayden, students 1 through 3, and the rest of the students at the academy had been confirmed.
“Why are they only glaring at me?”
He had expected to be kept in check by the kids, since he had gone on such a rampage.
The problem was that even though numbers 1 through 3 were there, they were glaring only at him.
In truth, it was understandable. In terms of ability, the children who were slightly above him were the ones ranked 4 through 20.
But with the power of his accumulated experience, he had shown enough force to overwhelm even numbers 1 through 3, so they had no choice but to be even more wary of him.
They might think that with effort, they could somehow catch up to numbers 1 through 3, but since Jayden displayed a completely different kind of strength, from the children’s perspective, he was inevitably the one they had to keep in check the most.
‘How do I catch up to him?’
‘What kind of training do I need to do to become like that?’
‘What did that guy learn to fight so well?’
Perhaps because of thoughts like these, Jayden had, without realizing it, come to be regarded as the strongest in the academy.
But in truth, from Jayden’s perspective, numbers 1 through 3 looked like the real monsters.
Number 3, in particular, was truly monstrous.
Even though she was a girl and didn’t have much muscle mass, she was catching up to numbers 1 and 2, who were thirteen years old, with nothing but pure talent for mana.
‘The real monster is number 3. If she survives, could number 3 also join the ranks of heroes?’
The title of hero, said to be granted only to those among Masters who rose to the very top, or to the level of Grand Master.
Her talent was so dazzling that it made him think number 3 might have the potential to reach that realm.
‘She might even be worse than the youngest……’
The greatest talent Jayden had in mind had been the youngest, but today he felt that thought might change a little.
As he gazed at number 3 with envious eyes, the other children looked at Jayden in the same way.
Overwhelming experience that one could never possess at the age of nine.
However, without thinking of the envy and jealousy of the children who coveted that experience, Jayden headed toward the academy building, grumbling with an expression that said he could not understand why they were doing this to him when numbers 1 through 3 were right there.