Julie arrived at her office at eight thirty in the morning.
She was informed by her assistant Russell, who was standing by the door, of a certain young man who had been waiting for her for half an hour. His diligence gained approval from the strict assistant.
She was somewhat surprised but then again considering what she had learned of him from earlier this wasn't anything out of the question. She told her assistant to bring him to her office.
Few moments later, she gazed at him, who always seemed to like wearing that black leather jacket at all occasions. This thought put a subtle smile of amusement on her face as she greeted him,
“Good morning, student Blue. It seems your diligence has also leveled up along with you. To think you were already here since eight. A fine attitude that will help you much in the future.”
“A very good morning to you, Lady Auburn. I shall continue to maintain it.”
“Since you're here, let's go then. There's no need to waste any time.”
She said before heading out the door opened by her assistant promptly while he followed behind her. They soon arrived outside in front of a massive teleportation circle.
This would be the same place where students will be gathered to go to that special facility months later.
He seemed to be surprised that the assistant didn't go with them anymore after both of them entered the circle. Seeing his surprise she decided to clarify by saying,
“The Mountain of Triumph has a set limit of people that could visit it. Except for relevant people, any outsiders are strictly prohibited. This time I asked the principal to grant you permission for the three day training period over there.”
“Of course, I will go with you to supervise personally. Though without Russell it will be a bit of a hassle for me but that place is called a special facility for a reason. Even me, a noble, isn't exempt from the rules, you know? Hahaha.”
She laughed a bit after watching his unnecessarily serious expression at each of her words. It seemed that every word uttered by her was being treated as being utmost important for him. This reaction of his amused her a bit as this young man's gestures, in her opinion, was appropriate after being put in a formal event.
Now in their casual setting, it was funny to say the least.
The teleportation circle flickered for a moment before teleporting them to their destination shortly. Their perception changed as the previous empty ground surrounded by buildings switched to an interior of a wooden hut. The difference was that the size was easily a hundred meter wide, indicating that the place was designed for the reception of more than the two people it hosted now.
So Julie’s three day period of supervision on Paladin Blue, which she secretly treated as a retreat from work, finally began.
°°°°
Blue exited the reception room and looked back to only see a small wooden hut in a dense forest.
The space inside it was naturally modified and enlarged but outside remained the same exterior of when it was built. He took a look around and got some ideas about this special facility.
He saw in the distance an enormous red crystal mountain that pierced through the clouds with its peak being out of sight. Surrounding this crystal mountain was a dense forest and he also saw many void words used with treasures and specific resources. It was hidden from sight but not from him as he could read the entire formation that had been set up with the void words to preserve the peculiar environment of this special facility.
There were no other people or buildings present except for them and the small wooden hut.
He looked at Julie who was walking ahead as she led him to a place where he would be training for the next three days. He actually put the matter of training as a second priority for now.
The moment he learned that the pesky assistant wouldn't be following them around and that there would be no other individual present there except for them he had already redrafted his plans.
Though he got much information about the Mountain of Triumph from Clara and Nicole but this particular information such as the limit on people and the permission for only relevant personnel was not known to them thus he didn't get to draft properly earlier.
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With new information came new schemes.
He put the first priority on progressing his relationship with Julie who saw the least amount of completion on his plans even though she was the end goal for his academy life. If there was a list of most important targets then the first place will undoubtedly go to Laura but the second place will be taken by Julie easily.
That was just how important she was to him.
He walked behind her before she brought him to a clearing where the red crystal mountain’s foot could be seen in the distance. The surrounding place gave him a sense of danger even though his Premonition ability remained silent.
“Um, this place is?”
“You noticed it, right? This is the periphery of the Mountain of Triumph where you will train for the following days. Just the aura in the surrounding gives away a faint sense of danger to those who still haven't reached the appropriate level to go to that crystal mountain.”
“Lady Auburn, doesn't that mean that I am still unqualified to approach the place? So how will I train here?”
“Your level is indeed too low for the mountain but the periphery, this clearing to be precise, is still usable for you. There might be some confusion as to how an empty place like this could even help you in any way, right?”
“Yes, your ladyship. I still haven't figured out how I am supposed to go about this.”
“So let's settle your schedule. First of all, when the clock hits nine in the morning you will go to the clearing and try to progress ahead as far as your limit allows you to. After reaching the limit you will practice with your main weapon, the bident, to increase its mastery stage further. I am sure the academy has given you a spear art to practice before but from now on you will practice the one I give you. This will continue until you exhaust your stamina.”
He raised a hand to pose a question and she nodded to allow so thus he asked,
“What did her ladyship mean by as much as my limit allowed to progress ahead? Is there perhaps a hidden obstacle to this empty clearing?”
“Good question. There is indeed a hidden obstacle but it is a bit different as the entire periphery is the obstacle for you to even progress a single step. If we go a bit further, the gravity ahead would increase by every step you take. This phenomena is present on the entire periphery till you reach the crystal mountain. Of course, with a higher level this degree of gravity wouldn't have any effect on a player but currently your low level would pose a significant burden to take even a single step.”
“However, it is also an opportunity for your current level as the gravity would put enough pressure on you to truly reshape your usual training schedule. Your aura vein, body and mind would be working in overdrive which will result in an increased amount of progress in your training.”
“So it is an increased gravity training. I understand now. Thank you for clearing my doubt, Lady Auburn.”
“As your supervisor it is my obligation right now, so feel free to ask me any questions.”
“I will gratefully do so. Then does the training schedule conclude with the weapon mastery training?”
“Negative. It is only the first stop. After you recover your stamina we will switch to skill proficiency training. Just like earlier you will go again till you approach your limit and then on that spot you will begin your training on the skills of Blight Paladin class. I am obviously of a different class so there will be some variation from how I teach you there but rest assured that I have enough reference materials and experience to do it perfectly.”
“I dare not be dissatisfied with your teachings. Anything I could possibly glean from your noble self is an opportunity I shall cherish dearly.”
“Fufufu, it's good that you're satisfied.”
She laughed softly as she looked at him with an appreciative gaze before continuing,
“This will also continue till you exhaust your limit. Since your body is purified then naturally we wouldn't be wasting time on a lunch break or anything. We will jump on to the next one. After going back again the aura attribute comprehension training will start. I won't be teaching you about your space element attribute during that time but instead a treasure will be given to you which will help you in comprehending the space element on its own.”
“There's actually a treasure that is able to do that? Lady Auburn, I don't know if such a precious item—”
He didn't get to continue with his “hesitant” and “humble” words as Julie interrupted to encourage him,
“Student Blue, have I not said before that any opportunity that comes your way must be seized to keep progressing further on the path of a player? This is an opportunity for you because of the hard work you put in to achieve the top result among your peers. So there's no need for any hesitation as this is something you deserve. Is that clear?”
“... Yes, your ladyship. I will gratefully follow your arrangements.”
“Hmm. Then let's begin. Here's the new spear art you will train on from today. You don't have to revert to the previous one again. For your information, it is a much higher quality and more profound than the one you learned earlier. It will seamlessly connect with your previous art without having to abandon anything you learned earlier.”
She had sent him a document on his smartphone that contained the new spear art before she finished her explanation.
Though he didn't need such things, which was akin to an ignorant babbling in front of a master, as he could even create a far better spear art manual if he wished. His main weapon mastery of bident, a spear type weapon, was so high that there was no match for him in this field within the entire Inner Area of Abyss back at the original Endless Void.
But of course, now he had to show off with this trash manual in front of the humans.