I Became the Genius of the Gigant Academy - Chapter 26:

“So, Abel. What is your true identity?”

Abel felt a cold sweat on his back for a moment.

‘True identity?’ 

The pressure on his mind made it hard for him to think straight. He had yet to learn what Magnus meant by asking the question. Abel managed to compose himself before speaking.

“I’m an orphan who used to live on the streets.”

Once he spoke, it was easy to continue.

“I was lucky enough to be allowed to learn at the Academy. Do you have a problem with my low status?”

“What? No way!”

Magnus hastily denied it, and at the same time, the pressure washed away.

“Status doesn’t matter when it comes to selecting the best and brightest for the Del Mordor Academy, and I didn’t ask that question with that intention in the first place!”

Abel was not relieved to hear the panic in Magnus’s voice. Because he had experienced it once, he’d been nicely talking to him, only to have him suddenly raise a sense of intimidation and ask an awkward question. His current appearance might have been deliberate, so Abel exaggeratedly responded with an impressed expression.

“I see, thank you!”

“Mmmm, yes. This conversation has taken a strange turn, but that is not what I wanted to ask you.”

Magnus turned back to Abel with a serious expression.

“Have you had any previous training in gigants or other training?”

“If it’s training, then……. I’ve been taught a few times when I was on the streets.”

“Oh, by whom?”

“Usually mercenaries or veterans. They were regulars at the bar where I worked.”

“……I see.”

Magnus nodded with a subtle face in response.

“It was a courtesy question because the investigation had already been done before admission was granted.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You’re going to be… No, you’re already getting a lot of attention. You’re very talented, and you’ve made some outstanding achievements.”

“You’re flattering me.”

“The point is, you’ll receive much more support in the future as long as you keep making achievements.”

Magnus continued, “So you’re going to be more on point or point it out clearly. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, I understand.”

His meaning was quite simple. Magnus was referring to the possibility that Abel was a spy or hiding something else.

‘It is said that the Empire is a great power, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any countries that can’t stand against them.’ 

The last Great War changed the landscape of the continent. The Empire was still regarded as the most powerful nation, but it was no longer as untouchable as before the Great War. Especially now, with the times as they are, there must be more alertness to the overflow of talent or spies.

‘I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.’

Of course, Abel wasn’t stupid enough to voice his suspicions. Magnus said something to the effect that he was only asking out of courtesy, that it was nothing to worry about. He then spoke again.

“Alright, it’s time to cut to the chase. Since we’re in the middle of the school year, there won’t be a separate award of commendations.”

“Yes.”

‘It was to be expected. I don’t think the imperial family intends to make a big deal out of this.’ 

“Instead, we have two awards for you. One is an activity fee.”

“An activity fee?”

“Yes. The Academy awards activity fees to cadets who show outstanding achievement to encourage them to go the extra mile, though they are rarely awarded this early.”

Magnus assured Abel that he would receive his activity fee every month from now on and that he was free to use it as he wished.

“And the second one is this,”

Magnus continued, handing him a silver plate. Abel’s eyes lit up as soon as he recognized it.

“Is this……?”

“Access to the private training grounds.”

Magnus explained, “Normally, private training grounds are not given to first-year Cadets. However, it’s a different story if you’re exceptionally talented and have made a name for yourself.”

The personal training ground that Magnus is talking about differs from a place where you can wield a sword with your bare hands. He’s talking about a training center where you can operate a gigante. As he said earlier, It’s a privilege that a first-year Cadets would never have. Magnus added a word to that.

“Of course, you can get other materials or weapons if you want. If you push yourself hard, you can also get a vision.”

“No, thank you.”

“Alright then?”

At Abel’s adamant reply, Magnus smirked as if he’d known his answer and pushed the training ground past Abel. If he hadn’t been in this position, Abel would have cheered. That’s how valuable the training grounds were. Much more than mediocre materials, armor, or even visions.

“Very well, then, that concludes our conversation for today.”

“Alright.”

Magnus rose from his seat, and Abel followed suit.

“I look forward to it, then.”

“Thank you.”

Abel bowed to Magnus and left the principal’s office.

“You’re out. Let me guide you to the first floor.”

Vern, who had escorted him to the principal’s office, was waiting outside. Abel followed him, fiddling with the pass in his pocket. He couldn’t wait to use it, but his excitement was short-lived.

‘I’ll have to be careful for now,’ 

Infamous Scans

Abel thought as they descended the stairs. Magnus said it was a courtesy question, but that couldn’t be true.

‘Because that’s what he was going for in the first place.’

If it was simply a matter of praise and reward, Magnus wouldn’t have come forward himself. The principal’s position of an academy is not one to be taken lightly, which means that Magnus had called Abel in for questioning in the first place. The good news was that he probably didn’t really suspect much. If he had any clear suspicions, he would have been taken to the interrogation room, not the principal’s office. Abel doesn’t intend to stop standing out, but he needs to refrain from doing anything that might raise unnecessary suspicion.

‘Well, everything’s fine for now,’ 

Abel said, trying to shake off his heavy thoughts while continuing his steps.

»————- ★ ————-«

After a week’s rest period, classes were held as scheduled.

“Everybody, don’t stop running! It’s a damn shame we had a week off!”

Mr. Boyle, the physical education instructor, yelled, his face contorted into a grimace.

“Except for the top three, it’s 10 laps more!”

The cadets squeezed every ounce of strength they could muster and ran. But even then, the top three were already decided.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

“Okay, Daniel, go rest over there!”

Daniel was the first to cross the finish line. Daniel breathed evenly and lowered his head slightly as if he wasn’t even close to exhausted. Then, Abel was the second to cross the finish line.

Abel’s fitness had grown significantly in such a short period. The academy was simply the best place to train. Although, he didn’t neglect to train before entering the academy. He could train all the time except during class hours, and thanks to this, he crossed the finish line in second place.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Professor.”

“Huh?”

Abel cleared his ragged breath and turned to Boyle.

“Can I run some more? I think I’m still lacking.”

“You want to run some more?” Boyle’s eyes widened at the question, and he raised his hand.

“You’re a good cadet, very good! Run as much as you want.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Abel bowed slightly as he felt Boyle’s thick hand pat his shoulder, then started running again.

“Professor, I’ll like to run some more, too!”

“Alright!”

From behind, Abel could hear Daniel shouting in a motivated voice in the background. The cadet, who arrived for the third time, was looking at the two as if they were crazy.

There was a good reason why Abel wanted to run again even though he was already almost out of physical strength. It was because he knew the system of the game too well.

In this game, all stats rise better when pushed to the limit. In addition, the fact that his physical strength is on the verge of rising also played a great role.

‘Just a little bit more…’

Abel kept running. One after another, cadets dropped out of the top three, but he didn’t stop. Eventually, in the end, only Abel and Daniel were running around on the field.

“Are they crazy?”

“This is hard for a sane person to do… I can barely lift a finger.”

The other cadets stuck out their tongues as they watched. But unlike Daniel, who was indeed a monster, Abel was slowly reaching his limit. No matter how determined one is, there are limits, and just when he was about to give up.

[Your physical strength has increased by one level.]

A message flashed in front of Abel’s eyes. He checked it, squeezed out the last of his strength, and ran, stopping short when he reached the finish line.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

“Great job, Abel!”

Boyle looked at Abel and praised him in a loud voice. Then he shouted for the other cadets to hear.

“The important thing in physical fitness is the will! Willpower! Just like Abel here…..”

Abel quietly opened his status window before his eyes, hearing Boyle’s voice in one ear and mesmerizing it in the other.

[Abel] 

[Race: Human]

[Physical strength: C] 

[Attunement: S] 

[Hp: C] 

[Possession: gigant Lupus] 

[Skills: lightning bolt, overflow, shadow step, double attack, beginner gigant…..]

At first glance, the status bar didn’t make much difference. But a new window popped up as Abel stared at the ‘physical strength’ section for a few seconds.

[Physical strength: C] 

– Stamina: C 

– Strength: C

-Agility: B 

-Flexibility: C 

………

It was the details of the stats. Every stat was made up of a number of details, and the grade was the average level of those details.

‘I’ve just gone from D to C in Stamina. If I do well, I can raise my grade to B within this semester,’

Abel smiled slightly and stretched his bent upper body.

“All right, let’s give Abel a round of applause!”

While Boyle had the cadets clapping their hands, Abel wondered what he was talking about.

“Wow….”

Of course, the exhausted cadets couldn’t have reacted enthusiastically to Boyle’s boring speech.  In any case, Boyle saw Abel’s grit and finished his lecture ahead of schedule. Taking advantage of the distraction, Abel reached into the stash of stamina pills he had prepared and took one.

“Whoosh.”

His body, as heavy as a soaked cotton ball, felt light as a feather. He wasn’t completely fine, but at least he wasn’t too sore to move. Just then. Daniel, who had been running with Abel until the end, came up to him.

“Abel!”

“Hmm?”

“Lecture ended early. Do you want to go to the training ground?”

Abel looked at Daniel in disbelief. And thought to himself,

‘Is he really a monster?’

Even if he had taken a health restoration pill, there was no way Daniel had any, which meant he still had a lot of stamina. This was truly abnormal. Abel shook his head and replied.

“No, I can’t. I have somewhere to go.”

“Somewhere? Where?”

“There’s this place like that. I’ll see you later at mealtime.”

Abel replied moderately and started walking. He headed to the personal training center.  It was the first time he’d been there since his lecture schedule.

Of course, he wasn’t just going to look around. As Abel walked quickly, he slipped his hand into his bosom and felt something heavy. It was a box containing a Gigant heart. Today he was going to transplant a Gigant heart into Lupus.

[To be continued.]