I Became the Genius of the Gigant Academy - Chapter 47:

Everyone who had been sleeping opened their eyes to the vibration of the ground. Their nerves must have been sharpened by their continuous battles, so even if they were resting in a safe base, they still wouldn’t have been able to sleep peacefully. It hadn’t been long since they had fallen asleep, so Abel checked the time.

‘It’s been about 10 minutes.’

There is still quite a bit of time left. Abel briefly gathered his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“Now that everyone is awake. I have a suggestion.”

“Huh, suddenly?”

Daniel, who was the first to wake up, asked puzzledly. Abel nodded his head.

“Yes. I thought about it after coming to this base.”

“What is it?” Lying down with his eyes open, Kalian slowly raised his upper body and asked.

Abel answered briefly, “How about collaborating with another group?”

“Collaborate? With another group?”

“Yes. As we approached, I noticed the base was too wide for just one group to stay in. So I thought that several groups could stay in it at once.”

Abel continued with his words.

“So, after thinking that another group might come here, I suddenly wondered what cooperating would be like.”

“It’s a bit… unexpected,” Kalian spoke in an uneasy tone, but Abel didn’t mind.

“Honestly, it wasn’t that easy to get here, was it?”

There was no denying it. Although no one was fatally injured, there were dangerous moments.

“Still, I don’t see any reason why we need to cooperate with other groups,”

Kalian replied, still sounding displeased. Instead of replying with an equally sulky tone, Abel spoke calmly.

“Then why don’t we cooperate for a day or so? If there are many people, we can have a lot of rest, plus it would be less dangerous. Although we can only get two hours rest here right now.”

At the mention of the physical aspect, Kalian didn’t say anything.

‘As everyone gains experience, it would be much easier, but it’s not something we should discuss right now.’

Abel thought and waited quietly for a response. After a while, Kalian spoke up.

“Okay. One day, then.”

“Alright. I’m in.”

“Me too.”

“Then, I’m in……”.

After Kalian spoke in favor, the others chimed in. The vote was unanimous.

“Well, I’m going to go out now.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. That vibration you heard earlier sounded like a gigant moving.”

“Oh, right. Do you want me to come with you?”

“That’s okay. It’s not like I’m sure of it anyway.”

Abel dismissed Daniel’s offer and rose from his bead. He arranged his collar and stepped outside where he could see the gigants standing not far away. There were five of them in total. All of them were of the Milles class.

Just as Abel expected, another group arrived. The battle must have been fierce because all the gigants were in bad shape.

‘Judging by their condition, they should be heading to the workshop,’

Abel thought and headed for that direction. It wasn’t long before he reached the workshop, where he found the group disembarking from their gigants. Some of them were familiar to him. One of them had flaming red hair. It was Hannah.

“Hannah!”

“Huh, Abel?”

Hannah turned to Abel’s call, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Why are you here?”

“Why are we here? We came here to rest.”

“Oh, it’s kind of spacious.”

Hannah nodded in agreement at Abel’s words.

“Then, why did you come out of your rest to say hello to your sister?”

Hannah asked, lifting her chin in a haughty manner. It was a joke they often played as they grew closer. Abel smirked.

“What sister? You’re too short.”

Infamous Scans

“What?!”

Hannah glared at the sudden outburst, but Abel didn’t seem to mind.

“We don’t have much time, so I’ll cut to the chase. Why don’t you come with me for a while?”

Hannah was about to say something harsh, but Abel’s suggestion shut her up, and she narrowed her eyes.

“Together……?”

“Yes. Your group and our group. Oh, do you have a leader?”

“Not really, but I’ll decide with them whatever we discuss. But why do you want to cooperate all of a sudden? Is there a problem?

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that the practice is harder than we thought.”

Abel gestured to Hannah’s gigant with his chin. She and her group’s gigants were in worse shape than Abel’s. Hannah rambled for a moment, then answered honestly.

“It has been a little rough. Is that why you’re asking me to join you?”

“Yeah. It will be the same whether we’re facing five or ten enemies, and there’s nothing in the rules that says we can’t cooperate.”

“But…”

“I’m not saying we have to stay together till the end. We can stick together for a while and then split up if it’s not as dangerous as we thought.”

Abel didn’t intend to stay with them till the end in the first place, knowing that the academy would step in if things got out of hand.

‘I guess they are not yet intervening because they think it’s still within their control.’

But that thought wouldn’t last more than two days. Hannah thought for a moment, then spoke up.

“Let’s talk about it later. How many hours do you guys have left?”

“An hour and forty minutes?”

“It’s not much. Which way is the resting tent?”

Abel gave her a quick location, waved goodbye, and returned to his resting tent.

“She’ll probably take the offer.”

At first glance, neither Hannah nor her group seemed to have much of an option. It was a bland combination. Since Hannah seemed optimistic about the proposal, there was a good chance she would accept.

“The important thing is to find the artifact by tomorrow.”

First of all, once Hannah accepts the offer, things will get a lot easier. Even if access to the artifact wasn’t a regular occurrence, the Milles-class gigant is a powerful source. Abel went into his tent, organizing the information in his head.

“How’d it go?” Daniel asked as he entered the tent.

“Oh, you’re here. It’s Hannah’s Group.”

“Hannah? So it’s class C?”

“Yeah. We made an offer, but she said she’ll talk to me about it later.”

With that, Abel lay down on the bed. He took a short nap, got up, and ate when he had about twenty minutes left.

“Abel.”

Hannah came to meet him outside.

“The offer. I accept it.”

“That’s great. When are you leaving?”

“The same time as you are. Luckily, the Gigant is only damaged on the outside, so we should be able to make it just in time.”

“That’s good.”

It was good news because he had prepared to wait briefly.

“I’ll meet you out front, then.”

“Yeah.”

They talked briefly, and Abel headed back inside since they’d be seeing each other again when they’ll be leaving anyway. Abel told Daniel and the others that Hannah had accepted the offer, and within ten minutes, they were ready and out of the barracks, where they ran into Hannah and her group trying to get on their gigant. They were not in a hurry, so they exchanged a quick greeting and boarded their gigants. Abel and Hannah’s group left the base and traveled together.

»————- ★ ————-«

“I thought there would be more of an organized system.”

Hannah said not long after they left the base. It was just a light complaint, but everyone added a word to see if they could relate.

“I know. I didn’t think it’d be like this, telling us to survive and all.”

“I agree. To be honest, it was a little disappointing.”

Those were the words of Daniel and Kalian. And honestly, it was understandable.

No one knew the details of the practice until they got here. At least, since it is conducted by the academy, they would have thought of doing something according to the schedule. However, in Abel’s view, the practice program itself was effective enough.

‘This exercise is strictly focused on practical experience.’

During the practice, cadets have to operate a gigant for a long period of time under tension. In addition, it is common to fight one battle after another without proper rest.

That’s why your group or your own Gigant may break down or get lost. Or you may not be able to operate the gigant due to exhaustion of physical and mental strength, and this practice is to help you learn such an experience in advance.

‘That’s right. Whatever we can learn is normally included in the academy curriculum anyway.’

So, the practice itself is fine. The problem is that during this practice, an ‘accident’ could occur outside the scope of the academy’s system. Abel’s purpose was to stop it, and he couldn’t say anything out loud. He couldn’t tell them to endure it and work hard because it would help them with the practice.

“I know.”

Abel replied moderately and continued on his way. Surprisingly, they did not encounter any fragments for about three or four hours after they left the base. Although they didn’t say it openly, Kalian and others secretly expressed dissatisfaction.

We decided to move together because it was dangerous, but nothing dangerous happened. However, Kalian didn’t complain in the end. The moment they tried to rest, they were attacked on a large scale.

Whoo!

With a roar, dust scattered in all directions. Even Darin, who has good eyesight, couldn’t see this coming, for the attack came from beneath the ground.

The attacker was a fragment of a gigant named Razorclaw. It is oval in shape and covered in silver skin, with three sharp, elongated claws on its forepaws. They actually looked more like weapons than claws.

“Don’t get too close. Keep your distance!”

Abel shouted as soon as he realized what it was. Its sharp claws may have been the most dangerous thing about it, but there was something even more dangerous.

“Kijin!”

One of the Razorclaw grabbed the unresponsive Gigant tightly, and in an instant, the ground beneath it gave way.

Crrrrrrr!

“Ahhh!”

The nameless cadet struggled in terror. But the Razorclaw didn’t budge, and their bodies gradually sank into the ground. As soon as Abel saw it, he lunged for the gigant, pulling it before it was completely sucked in.

This was the most terrifying thing about the Razorclaw. They travel by building burrows beneath the ground, and when they hunt, they habitually drag their prey down those burrows. The Razorclaw wasn’t a small beast, nearly the size of a two-story building. You can’t let your guard down even if you’re riding a gigant.

‘There’s also a story about an entire village being wiped out overnight because of it,’

Abel thought, replaying the danger in his mind as he was about to begin the battle. The battlefield was confusing. No one was exceptionally skilled against a Razorclaw that could burrow in and out of the ground at will. Most of them were out-skilled and panicking.

“Whoa.”

Abel took a deep breath. At this rate, the damage was going to be way worse. It wasn’t enough to simply fight hard, so Abel opened his mouth.

“Everyone!”

His gravelly voice boomed and got everyone’s attention.

“Don’t get too close, keep your distance! And as long as you don’t get clawed and grabbed, they’re not too hard to deal with!”

The voice continued.

“If anyone else gets caught, slash its sharp claws immediately, or pull the captured person out, and don’t panic because you’re on a Gigant, so you won’t die immediately if you get sucked in!”

Bluntly, It wasn’t much of a comfort, but surprisingly, those who heard it gradually regained their composure. The situation gradually stabilized as Abel frantically swung his sword to kill the Razorclaws. When the number of Razorclaws was reduced from a dozen to three, Abel could catch his breath. But then.

Thump-

Suddenly, the pattern on Abel’s chest heated up, and his heart began to pound furiously. Abel instinctively turned his head to one side, and in the distance, he saw a human figure. It looked at him and disappeared instantly, and his heart stopped pounding viciously.

“Abel, are you alright?”

Daniel’s voice snapped Abel out of his panicked state. Abel answered, slowly turning his gaze.

“Yes.”

But his expression remained unchanged.

[To be continued.]