I Became the Genius of the Gigant Academy - Chapter 38:

“What you are about to learn, as the name suggests, is a martial art devised by Lord Allon himself.”

Karl explained slowly, “Naturally, all of you will wonder how I know this.”

“To begin with, I have no blood relation with Lord Allon. Special skills such as martial arts are passed down through blood or family members. They are rarely taught to outsiders.”

Karl stretched out his hands before continuing, “But Lord Allon passed on his martial art skills to all five of his students at the time.”

“All five of them?”

Daniel asked in surprise because that was so unusual. Karl nodded.

“Yes, and what I learned was taught to me by one of them, Wolfred of the Iron Wall.”

At the name Wolfred, everyone looked surprised once again. Though not as famous as Lord Allon, he was in his own right.

‘An appendix who made his name during the Great War.’ And Abel was familiar with his name.

Wolfred was the commander of the Northern Army, and despite his old age, he was a force to be reckoned with. It was said that without him, the current empire would have been reduced to two-thirds. Karl smirked at the three’s reactions and continued.

“Judging by the look on your faces, I can tell you are wondering what his relationship with me is.”

No one denied it. So Karl explained further.

“During the great war, I participated as a member of the Imperial army, and I was under him then.”

At the time, Karl said he had received some lessons directly from Wolfred. Martial arts was one of them.

“So technically, the name of the art is the Allon-Wolfred art. Sir Wolfred once modified it.”

Karl pointed out some of the differences.

“He redefined the martial art to be more linear in its movements and more geared towards dealing with large groups of people, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier to learn.”

After warning them they’d probably have difficulty mastering it, Karl turned to Daniel.

“As we discussed earlier, Daniel will be learning the defensive part of the martial arts.”

His gaze then moved to May, “And you, May, will learn the movement and offensive part. Finally,”

Karl looked at Abel.

“Abel, you’ll learn everything in general. However, how much you can learn from it depends on your effort and determination. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

Abel answered vigorously. Daniel and May did the same. Karl observed everyone’s reaction and continued.

“That’s all for the explanation, so everyone, let’s get started,”

Karl said with a vicious grin plastered on his face.

“Let’s begin the hell training.”

»————- ★ ————-«

Exhausted students were scattered all over the training ground after the physical training. Typically, they would have collapsed on the floor and staggered back to their dorms like the undead, but the situation was different this time. Most of the students were looking in one direction with sympathetic eyes.

“Hump, huh.”

“Wow”

Their gazes fell on three students. Daniel, May, and Abel.

“This is hard…”

Abel, May, and Daniel were pale and groaning from the exertion. Even Daniel, customarily called a monster in terms of physical strength, was groaning in pain. Just then, Karl’s sharp voice pierced their ears.

“Daniel, your posture is horrid! Concentrate.”

“Yes, yes!”

Infamous Scans

Daniel, whose shoulders sagged slightly, came to his senses and straightened his posture. Abel watched out of the corner of his eye and thought to himself,

‘This is going to kill me.’

There was no exaggeration about the ‘hell’ that Karl had described. As soon as the training started, Karl showed no mercy. Compared to this, his usual behavior in class was merciful.

“Abel! You too!”

“Yes!”

Distracted for a moment, Abel straightened his posture to Karl’s sharp reprimand. Abel was now in a position commonly referred to as the Mabo. That alone was hard, but something else bothered him even more.

“None of this means anything if you don’t harness your mana!”

Karl reminded him. Maneuvering. Even Daniel, a physical fitness freak, was struggling because he had to do the mabo stance and use his mana at the same time. Mana operation is originally an act that consumes a lot of mental and physical strength—trying to do it simultaneously as Mabo was too much to handle. In addition, they couldn’t even rest for a moment, thanks to Karl pointing out whenever their mana management was disrupted as if he had seen it with his eyes.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,”

Abel breathed heavily. Of course, this training wasn’t forced. Instead, it was a reward. It was just so hard that he felt weak, even knowing that. But Abel thought as he gritted his teeth,

‘I can do this.’

It’s only hard if you keep thinking it’s hard. Abel consciously cleared his mind, concentrating on Mabo and his mana management, just as he did when raising his synchronization. How long has it been?

“Stop!”

Karl’s voice snapped Abel back to reality.

“Ugh.”

His concentration went off, and at the same time, his legs lost all of their strength. Abel nearly fell to the ground but held on and stood upright. Daniel and May did the same. Karl looked at them and spoke in a stern voice.

“From now on, you will do this for two hours in every training session until you get used to it. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

Karl smiled with satisfaction only after hearing their loud reply.

“Well, you all did well on your first day. It’s not much of a reward, but I’ll show you something nice.”

With that, Karl began to assume his stance slowly.

“Keep your eyes open.”

Karl spoke with a serious expression, and suddenly the atmosphere was different. The air around him seemed to weigh down on the cadets. Karl stood in that position for a moment, then slowly, very slowly, he extended his fist forward. Abel’s eyes widened involuntarily. It felt as if a massive tsunami was crashing over him.

Thud-

At that moment, Daniel was seen stumbling backward. He must have felt something similar to Abel because he also stepped back. All Karl did was extend his fist forward slowly. It was only when he slowly withdrew his fist that the feeling completely disappeared.

“I know it looks like I’m just throwing a punch, but that’s the essence of what you’re about to learn.”

Karl said, his voice heavy and hushed.

“Physical training may seem less important than martial arts. Even if you operate a gigant, you still fight with a weapon, but that’s a case of knowing one and not the other,”

Karl continued in detail, “Proper training is the foundation of everything–when you swing a sword, thrust a spear, and hold a shield. It applies to everything. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

“Now, that’s it for today. Get some rest. Rest is part of the training. Understood!”

“Okay!”

“Yes.”

With that, the training was over. Abel waited for Karl to leave, then turned to Daniel.

“Let’s get cleaned up and go get some food.”

“Okay… May, let’s go!”

Daniel picked up the half-conscious May. The three of them quietly walked back to the dormitory, unlike usual.

»————- ★ ————-«

They didn’t miss a single day of training. Even on Saturdays, when there were no lectures, they had to train. This was due to Karl’s claim that if they took two days off, they would lose their touch.

“I guess I should be thankful that I get at least one day off.”

Abel muttered in a strained voice. Whatever training you do, you get used to it, and it becomes less complicated as you get used to it. But Karl’s martial arts was an exception. When you think you’ve reached the hang of it, he tightens the difficulty. Thanks to that, every training session was always as hard as the first.

“That’s how much the instructor is serious about what he’s teaching us,”

Daniel muttered in response to Abel’s comment. Daniel seemed to be in a better mood than usual, and the reason was obvious.

“You seem to be in a pretty good mood today, don’t you?”

“Am I? Why?”

“Why? Because you’re off training for the next week.”

Daniel smiled at Abel’s words. True to his word, there was no training for the next week. It wasn’t because Karl suddenly became merciful or because he had other things to do.

“Resting is not an option. We’re supposed to be practicing.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Next week is a field trip. Naturally, since they’d be outside the academy, they couldn’t train.

“Still, I’m excited to go outside. And I’m also worried.”

“It’s probably not going to be easy. I’ve heard stories of people going out to practice and returning with all kinds of hardship.”

Abel said in a dry voice. Many first-year students were as excited as Daniel about going out on a field trip. Of course, they didn’t do it without realizing they were going to face hardship. Despite what they know, the very idea of operating a Gigant on a mission outside is something that is expected of them.

‘But…’

Abel’s face stiffened as if he’d just remembered something. But then, someone ran into the cafeteria and shouted.

“The location of the field trip is out!”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the boy who brought the news. With his slightly flushed face, the boy exclaimed loudly.

“It’s the Telif Plain!”

Telif Plain. The moment those words left the boy’s mouth, the Cadets’ reactions were precisely twofold—those still looking forward to it and those stunned. The reason for the latter’s stony faces was simple. They were familiar with the infamy of the Telif Plain.

It was where the most significant battles took place during the Great War, and after the war, it was the place of the Colossus. Initially, It was once a home for some people and a small city, but now it is almost entirely uninhabited. It is an unusual place for a place to train. But Abel wasn’t surprised by the location of the Telif Plain.

Of course, the Academy didn’t choose the location for the training without thinking. An area that had already been perfectly ‘cleaned’ and strictly for training purposes. It wasn’t the location that Abel was worried about. Instead, it was something else.

‘The enemy outside.’

In this practice, something far more dangerous than the Wall of Glory was scheduled to happen.

[To be continued.]