Chapter 16 - Hero x Goblin
It was only after five days of basic physical training that the students were allowed to touch a weapon, but as soon as they were, things progressed quickly.
Now, in addition to the standard morning training sessions, they would also spend time handling weapons and, eventually, practising actual combat.
The majority of students had assumed that various weapons experts such as legendary swordsmasters would come in and teach them techniques directly, but the reality was not so exciting; rather than having masters show them how to handle different weapons, they were simply coached by Camilla and some of the other knights of the Third Division.
At the end of the day, even a single royal knight was someone who possessed immense talent when compared to an ordinary person, and there was no need for exceptional people to be brought in just to teach some kids how to swing a blade.
Unsurprisingly, there were a few people who were oddly adamant about learning particular weapons because they thought it looked cool, but most stuck with the expert’s recommendations.
Woosh-!
The Heroes, grasping their respective weapon of choice with a grip fuelled by tension, got used to the feeling of the weight in their hands and the natural movement it made when swung.
Of course, there were those who could get a feel for the tool and adapt quicker than the others, but there wasn’t a single student who lacked talent as much as their expectations led them to believe. For those on the lower end of the spectrum, a spear was said to be the easiest and most effective weapon to pick up and learn for a beginner, however, swords also weren’t that difficult to grasp in the grand scheme of things.
Since not everyone in the class could be using the same weapon, there was bound to be some variety due to things like talent for a specific weapon type or simple preference.
There was also a need for deep consideration. After all, the style of fighting they learn now would most likely be stuck with them for the rest of their lives, so the students were given relative freedom of choice regarding the matter.
Alas, there was no way for the students to magically figure out what weapon suited them the best; all they could do was manually pick each one up and briefly practise with it to get a feel of what it was like.
On the other hand, for many of the higher-ranked students, there was no great need to agonise over what weapon to pick or style to learn, as the benefits granted to them through the Summoning Ritual often leaned towards one side or another, such as Nicolas being practically forced to become a dagger-wielding ‘rogue’ thanks to his Presence Erasure skill, or Ashley’s Spirit Hunter title and class giving her extraordinary proficiency with the bow and short-sword.
The prime example of the class when it came to talent, however, would have to be none other than the owner of the definitive Hero title―Chris―who instantly found himself captivated by the art of the sword the moment he grasped its hilt.
Finally, after a few days of practising with their new weapons against the provided target dummies, the class had finally reached the minimum level of preparation required to face actual combat.
“Today, you will face your first test as trainee Heroes.”
The moment they had been anticipating greatly for the past ten days; ever since the moment they came to be known as Heroes.
Camilla announced their first task:
“You will be pitted against one of the weakest and most common monsters in our world; the goblin.”
Defeat a goblin.
Naturally, the students had known all about goblins through various forms of media back on Earth, but this was a different world. There were multiple interpretations of what a goblin was even back there, so what was called goblin in real life could truly be anything.
Thus, there were varying expectations of what was to come.
“For now, you will fight individually and not as a party. Don’t think you can slack off and let others do the work for you.”
Standing a little isolated from the rest, Ryan stood with his arms folded, a silver-red spear with a length of over two metres leaned gently against his shoulder; as a Special-rank Hero, the kingdom spared no expense in obtaining the highest-grade equipment for his personal use.
“......”
He was intrigued by the concept of monsters in general, and after learning about them previously during education, even he felt his heartbeat quicken at the thought that he was about to come face-to-face with one for the first time.
Having previously borrowed some books from the royal library with Kaitlyn’s help, he found a few studies related to the subject in order to solidify his understanding.
Monsters―similar to animals, yet vastly different.
The primary reason for the distinction between the two is the existence of mana crystals.
The students had been taught this by the scholar, but the reason monsters belonged to a different classification than animals is that, upon death, a monster’s remaining magical energy, or mana, crystallises into a gemstone-like substance that stores said mana.
Animals, including humans and demi-human species such as Demons, do not experience this phenomenon. For this reason, monsters belonged to a tree of existence entirely separate from that of the Animal Kingdom, despite everything else about them being eerily similar.
It was from these studies that Ryan fully realised the truth about their summoning as "Heroes".
Those bastards didn’t even call us here to kill an objective threat like monsters, right? All they give a shit about is international warfare between countries. Like, fuck, it ain’t even my country; why should I give a damn?
“Tsk...!”
As he frustratedly tapped his foot on the floor and seethed with irritation about an unrelated topic, no one dared to approach the evidently irked Hero(?); instead opting to watch the knights wheel in a bunch of steel cages from the other side of the training grounds.
"What's that...?"
Bang bang, rattle--!!
"......"
Faces quickly paled as the students realised the source of the resounding chaos.
“Gieeeeehhhh...!”
The contents of the cages were evident.
“The hell...?”
“Ugh...”
Although they expected it to a certain extent, did they underestimate the utter vileness of the creatures they would face? Many of the students found themselves subtly trembling as they stared at the unspeakable things that were far more repulsive than they could have possibly imagined.
Moreover, the belligerent behaviour of the goblins as they violently shook and clung to the sides of the cages made some students flinch. As they grinned ear-to-ear and revealed a set of yellowish teeth like rows of stained glass, it only caused them to appear even more intimidating.
“Gehehehhh...!”
“Eugh, fuck, it’s tongue is slobbering everywhere...”
Few were those who could remain poker-faced in front of the savage creatures, and even fewer were the ones who didn’t grow weak-kneed at the reality that they would soon be clashing blades with them.
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Although, there was no way the kingdom would provide such disgusting creatures with a proper way to defend themselves, so the students stood at a clear advantage.
“......”
All that ran through Ryan’s mind was the rewards he would be receiving after showing exemplary results at today’s training.
After all, didn’t the princess say it was a meritocracy? Even if she was a snake-like scum, there’s no way she would cop out of giving him his much-deserved rewards.
“Alright! As you can see here, we have one goblin for each of you guys. To be honest, I don’t expect all of you to kill them today. I don’t think most of you are ready for it. But, we’ll be having each of you step forward two at a time to fight with the rest of you observing. Engrave into your minds what the primal, animalistic fighting style of a monster is like, and steel yourself.”
Although it might be considered insulting to some that they weren't capable enough to take on a mere goblin, no one could refute Camilla’s words.
“Remember. The purpose of this training is for you to practice your weapon mastery, so you are prohibited from using any skills during the fight.”
As students stepped up in pairs to have individual duels with a goblin, the pressure laced upon them was only amplified by this atmosphere where dozens of pairs of eyes were glued on the person fighting.
“First combatants. Three. Two. One. Fight!”
With Camilla’s command, the knights at the first two cages released the hatch.
Rattle, BANG-!!
“Giii, aaaaaahhh...!!”
As the goblins were unleashed, they each scrambled out of the cage and darted towards the student closest to them like wild beasts.
“Eek-!?”
The first student reflexively shut her eyes and folded her arms inwards as she turned her face away.
The second student acted similarly, collapsing to his butt on the floor with trembling knees.
“Gehehe, gii...!”
“......”
Watching the pitiful performance, Camilla, whose arms were folded, only closed her eyes.
Shiing~!
Thud-- thud-!
In an instant, the two goblins had collapsed dead on the floor beside a pair of stone-faced knights, dunking the training grounds into a brief silence.
“...Hero Rachel. Hero Lucas. You have failed the test.”
“......”
“......”
There were no casualties, no injuries.
Not even a slight risk of such a thing occurring.
The students were unable to lose even if they wanted to, and the knights were not permitted to allow that to happen.
Still, even with that lifeline; the knowledge that they would be safe no matter what...
It was scary.
Not just the goblins’ appearances or behaviour, but the act of taking a life itself.
It was incomprehensibly difficult for these kids to raise a blade against a living creature when they had never done so before, even if it was something that was aiming to take their lives.
“Second combatants.”
Still, they had no choice but to try.
And so, the test continued.
"Woah-!"
There were countless instances in which the student lost their footing and was put into a bad position.
"...!!"
Those who simply froze up when faced with such a disgusting opponent they knew wanted to kill them.
Slash-!
Those who could not bear the sensation of slicing a living creature’s flesh with their own hands.
"Geeeeh...!"
The goblins were not equipped with so much as a scrap of leather as armour nor a stick as a weapon, and yet. Even barehanded and standing at half their size, they frightened many of the students into submission with merely their overbearing presence.
The monsters’ terrible demeanour and ugly characteristics were too different from what the kids were used to.
Witnessing themselves unable to properly fight even the weakest monster dunked many of the students’ previously egotistical selves into immense shame and humiliation.
It wasn’t just that they had failed to pass the test, either.
The students who couldn’t land even a single attack received no level-up due to the experience being taken by one of the knights.
They received no level-up of skills due to not fighting.
All they received was a massive humbling.
It reminded them that this world, and the act of fighting the Demons they were summoned here for in the first place, was not a mere game.
It was in fact very real, very threatening, and inexplicably terrifying.
As his turn eventually came, Ryan stared at the ugly creature dashing towards him.
“Giieeehhh...!”
“Huh? What’re you lookin’ at, shithead?”
The goblin jumped towards him with animalistic fervour. Reaching out its emaciated and clammy hands, the creature’s knife-like claws sought to lacerate his flesh.
But Ryan, having experienced a number of fights in the past, was quick to act in the face of real danger without flinching.
Thwack-!
With a heavy swing of the spear, he swatted the claws away with the shaft before pulling it back and stabbing forth in one swift motion.
“Gehehe...!”
The goblin nimbly ducked the attack and let out a mocking laugh as it rushed forth once more.
“Laughin’ at me? Dirty bastard...!”
Woosh-!
“Gieh!”
“......”
Maintain distance.
He reminded himself what Camilla had taught him about utilising a spear’s advantages.
No need to exert too much force.
The goblin charged and swiped its claws once more.
Thump-!
Rotating the spear as fast as he could, the butt rapidly spun and struck the goblin away, knocking it to the ground.
“G-geh...!”
Moving briskly, he didn’t give the monster a chance to recover.
“Die. Ugly son of a bitch.”
Stab-!
You have levelled up
Skill 「Spear Mastery」 has levelled up [Lv.1]→[Lv.2]
Skill 「Concentration」 has levelled up [Lv.1]→[Lv.2]
“Huuh... Hmph. There. Piss easy.”
Gazing down at the spear he had pierced into the goblin’s chest with a single thrust, Ryan briefly tensed his muscles and twisted the pole with a sudden pull, causing the monster’s heart to be brutally ripped out from within its shattered rib cage, spilling copious amounts of blood onto the arena floor.
What a sorry waste of oxygen these dirty bastards are.
Being one of the few students who managed to actually kill the enemy goblin by himself and with no hesitation, many stared at him with eyes of both envy and admiration.
“Well done. Trainee Hero Ryan Kashiko, you have passed brilliantly. There were no major problems with your performance. As a slight suggestion, however, I would recommend you not to open your mouth unnecessarily in the midst of battle as it may lead to self-distraction and leaking unnecessary information.
“Of course, insulting a human opponent in a duel is a viable strategy to provoke them and gain an emotional advantage, but there is always a suitable time and place for such tactics; and I don’t think a duel with a goblin meets that description.”
He ignored Camilla’s criticism except for the words that said he passed. Crouching down, he reached a hand towards the goblin’s exposed innards.
Squidge, squelch~
Sounds that made one’s skin crawl echoed as he fumbled around and pulled from within a bean-sized stone with a sepia hue.
“......”
Gazing at the stone that was smaller than a fingernail between his bloodied fingers, he thought.
So, this is a mana crystal, eh...?
He decided to take it with him for now, though there likely wasn’t much he could do with it. Roughly wiping his hands and the head of his spear with a towel brought to him by one of the accompanying knights, he spectated the rest of the class’ attempts at fighting the goblins.
For him, who had passed, it was rather entertaining to see those who disliked him fail miserably, but something unexpected he noticed was that many of even the higher-ranked students were failing to achieve victory.
“...Ah. Right, they can’t use skills...”
Although they didn’t think much of it at first, it was truly a debilitating restriction.
It was a good thing in that it allowed Camilla to see what stage everyone was at in regards to handling their weapons and facing a foe head-on in battle, but for the students who might ordinarily rely on their skills to do the heavy lifting, it could be considered unfair.
Here, it didn’t matter if one was high-ranked or low-ranked; even if the Status dictated that you were stronger, if you couldn’t concentrate all your focus on the fight and muster the willpower to kill the opponent, then you would inevitably lose.
Even Lucas, one of the first people to fight, was classified as a B-rank Hero but still froze up and lost.
“...Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue at the sight of Chris slaying his goblin fairly easily, Ryan watched the rest of the testing students with an eagle eye.
He wanted to use the opportunity to narrow down his list and mark those who he considered exceptional, with the intention of recruiting more people to his party.
However...
“No matter how you phrase it, you do know they aren’t going to want to join us, right?”
“...Kait.”
Somewhere along the way, he was about ready to concede such a plan.