Chapter 13:
It was a shock to everyone. A gigant was flying.
“Huh?”
Karl, who had been watching from a distance, gaped. The other cadets in the class were the same. May, who had been dozing off before that, watched the two gigant, which must have weighed dozens of tons, soar through the sky. For what seemed like an eternity, the flight ended with a loud crash.
Chloe stared at her opponent and saw that it was only a first-year cadet on the gigant—a young person who had only been in school for two days.
“Hahaha, haha.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the unreality of it all. The others were also surprised by the unreality of the scene. But Karl, being the teacher that he is, quickly regained his composure and said with a serious expression.
“Is this a dream?”
»————- ★ ————-«
Luckily, the damage was minimal. The Miles-class Gigant wasn’t flimsy enough to be shattered by a single blow to the torso, so Abel and Karl, who were inside, were unharmed.
Once the dust had settled, Abel spoke to Karl. At first glance, Karl looked confused.
“Now, you can go there…… ”
He wasn’t sure if he should reprimand or praise him as a teacher. Abel’s behavior was shocking enough to embarrass even the most experienced teacher. The behavior of a cadet who had only been in the academy for two days was utterly unbelievable.
Chloe is a cadet with a reputation for excellence among the third-year cadets who have trained and practiced extensively.
Abel hadn’t just backed off her gigant a bit; he’d blown her away. He was blown away himself, but that didn’t matter. Karl was silent for a moment, staring at Abel, and then, feeling the stares of the cadets in the distance, he spoke again.
“Was that…… Was that a vision?”
He recalled the strange movement he’d seen when he’d first approached Chloe’s craft, the explosive power he’d displayed at close range. Karl knew it was no ordinary Gigant operation. He was also a Gigant rider who had fought many battles long before becoming a teacher.
Abel answered Karl’s question casually.
“Uh, yeah. It’s something I’ve been developing recently.”
“Really?” Karl asked in disbelief.
Abel looked at Karl with a confident look. The reason why he said he developed it was because it was the most natural thing to do. Right now, it could be said that he learned it accidentally or had a family vision. But later? This wouldn’t be the last time he’d receive a skill as a quest reward. He couldn’t afford to put it in moderation every time. If he makes more excuses every time, he might get more suspicious. It’s better to go out confidently from the beginning.
‘I’m going to get a lot of suspicion at first, but it will make a lot more sense in the long run.’
It’s not unprecedented, anyway. In the first place, all visions exist because someone created them. Of course, the people who made them were often called geniuses.
Given his current situation and the future of the world, he owed it to himself to be as visible and as splendidly as possible. The world was too hard to live in if you hid your powers, or at least that’s what Abel was trying to convince himself.
“Hmm, that’s a lot” Karl gave him a skeptical look, but he didn’t tell him to lie. He knew Abel was the senior who had started the rumors about the statue.
“You mean it’s really a monster.”
Looking at Abel with a complicated eye, Karl said
“I see. It was a bit drastic, but it was a good move. You achieved your goal by means your opponent didn’t think of. You’re not trying to cause a fume in the greenhouse, so it’s silly to criticize the radicality of the means.”
With that, Karl pulled two pieces of paper out of his pocket and handed them over. They were vouchers for one kilogram and ten kilograms of Telisium. The bottom was stamped with the official seal of the academy, which only the headmaster possessed.
“Go to the workshop and give this to them. You will receive it on the spot, use it to make anything you want or trade it for something of value. I never thought I’d have to give it away.”
Karl grimaced. A teacher’s salary wasn’t exactly cheap, but ten kilograms of Telisium was worth a lot of money.
“I bought it to make my own armor,” Karl said, holding out the paper with a shaky hand.
“I……”
“Huh?”
“Can I take it?”
At Abel’s question, Karl realized he’d been wringing his hands tightly.
“Mm-hmm. Sure. Here you go.”
Karl nodded awkwardly, and Abel snatched the gift certificate as soon as Karl’s strength was released from his hand.
“Thank you.”
Abel smiled with satisfaction and tucked the paper into his arms. Then, he followed a somewhat disheveled Karl back to where the other cadets stood waiting. Afterward, practice resumed. Perhaps encouraged by Abel’s performance, those behind him were surprisingly able to get up at least and run. Daniel, in particular, surprised everyone when he managed to get himself up.
After three steps, his foot was twisted, and he fell to the ground. Still, Karl was satisfied and gave Daniel a gift certificate for Telisium. After a few more failures, it was time for the final round.`
“May, come forward.”
May, who had been shrinking again, jumped at the sound of her name being called.`
“Uh, yes.”
Abel watched with interest as she climbed aboard the Milles at Karl’s command. Though she dozes of all the time and has a black expression, Abel knew very well that May’s talent was out of the ordinary. She was superlative in terms of potential alone, so perhaps he wouldn’t be surprised to see her…….
“No……. It didn’t work”.
Miles didn’t even flinch. Karl tried to comfort May telling her not to be discouraged, that it was originally difficult, but Abel thought otherwise
“No, it’s not like she even tried in the first place.”
There was no way she could even get it up and running. It was obvious she didn’t make an attempt and just came back out. But Abel was the only one who noticed it because no one else in the room knew the extent of May’s talent.
Abel looked at her with a strange curiosity in his eyes. The reason he was so interested in her was simple. He knew that there was no point in being stronger alone. It wasn’t his business anyway so he tried to let it go.
Why did you join the Academy in the first place? To be included in the main story?
“If I wanted to live a comfortable life, I would have worked for Vulcanus.”
Abel’s skills were honored by Vulcanus, an artisan who was unrivaled among human artisans. This means that he could have lived an uneventful life, even if he hadn’t become an artisan. But Abel did not. He knew the future. He had joined the academy to prevent the destruction of this world, a world that would be destroyed if he did nothing. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Karl’s gravelly voice.
“Now, some of you have done amazingly well, but it’s hard to have a hard time getting things up and running, so don’t be too hard on yourself,” said Mr Karl as he looked at the cadets.
Infamous Scans
“I’m sure you’re all exhausted by now, so I will call it a day! Good job, everyone!”
The cadets’ faces lit up at the sound of that. The class ended 15 minutes early. Abel thought to himself, maybe Karl is a better teacher than he thought.
“Shall we go?”
“Sure.”
After class, the cadets chatted among themselves.
Even if the class had ended early, it was only the first class of the day, and it was too far to return to the dormitories to rest for a while. Karl watched as the cadets talked amongst each other and then said one more thing.
“Next lesson is on elementary martial arts, isn’t it? If you go to that building, there is a small park there. If you have nowhere to rest, take a rest there.”
“Oh, okay!”
The cadets bowed their heads respectfully at the kindly blindness and began to move on. Abel was about to join them, naturally, but he was stopped
“Is your name Abel?” Chloe asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“You were pretty good earlier. You surprised me,” Chloe said with a smile.
Abel, who knew that she was naturally cheerful and sterile, was unfazed and smiled back.
“Thank you,” he replied.
“That’s great. I look forward to seeing you at the first practice.”
With that, Chloe waved and walked back toward Gigant.
“First practice.” It would be in four weeks at the earliest, but given the tight curriculum, it would pass quickly.
And Abel was looking forward to practicing his skills here. As he watched Chloe climb into the gigant, he turned to see his classmates walking away. It would be four weeks at the earliest, but given the rigorous curriculum, it would fly by. And Abel was looking forward to the practice.
Just as he was about to say to himself, “I’ll give them a break,” he spotted one of them standing in the distance.
“Abel! Let’s go!” It was Daniel.
“Uh, sure.”
He didn’t really have a reason to refuse, so he nodded and took off shakily. But Abel regretted his choice in less than five minutes. Daniel was more talkative than he expected to the point where it hurt his ears.
He said, “I swear, when you made that sudden move earlier, I thought my heart would fall out of my chest……. I remember when I first rode a gigant….. So, ah, are you listening to me?”
“—–Yes.”
»————- ★ ————-«
Daniel was physically fit. He had always been a hard worker, and he trained many times since he had been adopted by an earl. As such, he was confident in his own physical strength, but the Academy’s Curriculum was more than three times as demanding.
“It wasn’t just the exams,” Abel thought, biting down on his chin for good measure.
“It wasn’t until I saw the game arc that I clicked.”
He hadn’t given it much thought because it was just a few clicks in the game. He should have known from the crazy rolls on the test in real life. The Academy curriculum is more challenging than he could have ever imagined. When he showed up to the martial arts class already drained of stamina from riding the gigant, Abel rolled like crazy for nearly two hours. But even that was better than the last fitness class, because he felt like he was going to die. By the time it was over, even Daniel, that was so confident in his fitness, was a wreck.
“Whoa.”
He signed, knowing this would be his life for the rest of his days. Initially, the Gigant Rider program aims to create a superhuman, not an ordinary human. However, it wasn’t all that bad.
First, he received 11kg of telisium in his first class. He can think of dozens of things to make with just 1 kilogram, not to mention 11 kilograms. It was definitely possible to boost power significantly.
“You have to take care of your own gigant.”
Though it’s an academy, they didn’t unify the specifications of Gigant. Rather, they actively recommended upgrading it. As far as the giants were concerned, having a lot of money was considered a talent. Either that, or you were so monstrously talented that the Academy supported you.
Abel alone had already gained eleven kilograms of Telisium and was soon to receive a Miles-class gigant. This was a place like that.
‘I need to take what I can get,’ Abel said, interrupting his thoughts on the Academy to return to his original topic.
It wasn’t just the Telisium that was gained; there was income in addition to material things. Abel closed his eyes tightly to see it for himself. And then a bright light emerged from the darkness. It wasn’t just the status window but a new one floating above it. Upon completing your first day at the Academy, a new system would open up today.
[List of achievements]
[Visit every location in the Academy]
[Get your own Gigant]
[Achieve a perfect score in pracy]
[Call Karl a Gorilla]
[Make at least 5 friends]
[……].
The game achievement of this game was famous for its generous rewards. The reward given for achieving 100% was beyond imagination. Abel was excited for a reason. He scanned through the challenge with excitement and stopped at one point.
“This can be achieved tomorrow.”
The item was none other than “a first encounter with the debris of a ghost.”
[To be continued.]