The Immortal Genius Spear Knight (6)
Whoosh!
Damian charged at the instructors who were running ahead with a wall in front of them.
Clearly, they possessed abilities far superior to the recruits. But…
‘At the end of the day, they’re just training instructors.’
Moreover, they seemed to be novice instructors who had only been in the role for two to three years.
Tatadadadadak!
“Huh?”
As Damian ran, one of the larger instructors who was running ahead smirked and approached Damian.
“I have nothing personal against you, but you’ll have to move back!”
And just as expected, when the instructor tried to bump into him with his shoulder—
Swoosh
“What the…?”
Damian deftly avoided the instructor’s body slam and leaped into the open space ahead.
Whoosh!
Damian swiftly overtook the instructors and, seeing their surprised expressions, said,
“Excuse me.”
Grinning,
Mockingly giving a smile was precisely the point of this operation.
As the youthful-looking Damian started running ahead, the instructors couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
Did such a rookie just overtake them?
“What are you doing? Stop that kid!”
“Yes, sir!”
At the instructor’s command, two instructors quickly surged forward and charged at Damian. But—
Tatadadadadak!
Instead, Damian increased his speed and started running forward faster.
The recruits following behind were wide-eyed with astonishment at Damian’s performance.
Among them, Apel couldn’t contain himself and burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha! What’s up with that guy!”
But as Apel laughed, he then grinned and said,
“I can’t lose either.”
If someone else had done that, he would have just scoffed, but seeing a peer charge ahead like that, he couldn’t stay idle.
As Apel started to run forward, other recruits also glared with determination and shouted,
“Let’s go too!”
“Just tear down the wall!”
As all the recruits picked up speed and charged at the instructors, the instructors couldn’t hide their panic.
“What, what is this!”
“Uaaahhhh!”
The atmosphere changed in an instant.
The instructors observing the second platoon where Damian was, showed slightly perplexed expressions.
“It seems the second platoon has a slightly different atmosphere.”
“It looks like some strange guy has joined.”
“…Shall we deploy more instructors?”
At this rate, there was a possibility that the entire second platoon might pass.
But then…
“Hahahahaha.”
Raymond, who was observing the situation, burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking.
He simply couldn’t contain his laughter.
“Raymond instructor?”
“Leave it be. Suggesting we deploy more instructors would be like advertising that we’re manipulating the exam. It’s all part of their skill too.”
Interrupting the recruits during the long-distance running test was like an obstacle.
In real battles, far more ridiculous things happen all the time.
Compared to that, interference from instructors was just a trivial matter.
It might seem unfair, but Raymond believed that this level of unpredictability was something the recruits had to handle.
“Damian…”
“The opposite scenario is also true.”
Instructors must also face ‘variables’ from the recruits’ sudden actions.
How well they handle these variables and perform their roles is also something they need to learn.
“Still, my eyes weren’t wrong.”
Creating such variables…
Of course, the atmosphere changed because others responded to his actions.
If others had just watched, it would have been a solo struggle.
‘However…’
Raymond knew very well that sparking even a small flame like that was never an easy task.
Those who always stood out ahead knew how to ignite such sparks.
Raymond smirked as he looked at the second training ground.
The test had turned into a mess, as if pace didn’t matter anymore. But there was one thing they missed.
“…Can they keep that pace for 15 kilometers?”
He chuckled.
Without knowing it, they were already in the second test.
***
“Hik…Hik…Hik…”
What’s going on? How many laps have we run?
With the feeling that the world was spinning and nausea rising to his throat, a recruit barely suppressed his urge to vomit and checked the number of laps he had run on the track.
Twenty laps so far.
Since one lap of the track is 500 meters, they had run 10 kilometers.
But then…
“Ugh!”
Why was it so hard after just 10 kilometers?
Unable to hold back, the applicant leaned over the side of the track and vomited.
“Huk…huk…huk…”
“I’m gonna die…!”
More than half of the recruits running on the second training ground had pained expressions and were groaning as if they were about to die.
Some couldn’t control their trembling legs and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
“Everyone, pace yourselves…!”
“…Yes!”
“Gasping…”
The instructors, struggling to catch their breath, also slowed their pace.
It had been a long time since they had given up on trying to hinder the recruits.
The senior instructor looked at the recruits running.
Most of the recruits, who had started with an over-pace, were exhausted and couldn’t run anymore.
Some recruits had paced themselves from the middle, but even they seemed to be struggling.
“The recruits probably won’t make it within the time. At best, only a dozen or so will barely make it. So, pace yourselves too.”
“Yes… Understood… Gasping…”
“Nothing’s more embarrassing than not passing as an instructor!”
The burly instructor bit his lip and put strength into his legs.
Getting caught up in that young kid’s tricks and using too much energy was a mistake.
But compared to that…
…Is he a monster?
The senior instructor watched Damian running ahead.
When he first jumped ahead, he thought Damian was just a foolish kid.
But after three or four laps?
Despite the frenzied atmosphere, Damian was pacing himself impressively.
‘Even though he was still faster than the others…’
Suddenly, the senior instructor’s expression hardened.
Did he plan this entire situation?
‘That’s ridiculous.’
The senior instructor shook his head.
No matter how you look at it, he was just a boy in his mid-teens.
How could such a young kid plan this?
Moreover, how could he anticipate the others’ responses?
…It must have been a coincidence.
Otherwise, this situation would be hard to explain.
The senior instructor just stared intently at Damian running ahead.
“Huff… Huff…”
Damian, who was running while slowly regulating his breathing, glanced at the other recruits.
Most of them were already more than one lap behind Damian.
For those who lagged significantly, the gap was up to three laps.
‘All of those guys are out.’
About half of the recruits were barely walking rather than running.
Damian turned his gaze back to the front. But at that moment…
“Hey, Damian.”
Suddenly, Apel approached Damian from the side and called him. Damian looked at Apel.
“You look pretty fresh?”
“Did you plan this?”
“Plan what?”
At Damian’s question, Apel slyly smiled and said,
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Hahaha! You can’t fool my eyes.”
Apel glanced back at the few recruits who had collapsed.
“Those guys are all out. And the ones barely walking won’t make it in time either.”
More than half of them were practically confirmed to fail.
This was all due to the atmosphere Damian had created from the start, like a flame.
‘It felt as if they could pass the test just by overtaking the instructors.’
Apel had originally planned to maintain his pace and pass the instructors at the end.
But he unknowingly got swept up in the atmosphere Damian created and followed along.
“If we couldn’t use magic, we would’ve ended up the same.”
“If there’s a card you can use, there’s no reason not to use it. This too is part of the competition.”
“So you did plan it.”
Apel muttered. But then…
“Damian, why do you want to enlist?”
“Hmm?”
“If you can use magic, you’re not an ordinary guy.”
At Apel’s words, Damian chuckled.
“Are you bragging that you’re not ordinary?”
“Haha, does it sound like that?”
At Damian’s question, Apel burst into laughter. Then Damian answered.
“This is the only place for me.”
Is that really his reason for enlisting?
Apel looked at Damian with a puzzled expression, but then he showed a mysterious smile.
“I see.”
He felt that this guy, too, had a reason he couldn’t easily tell others.
Apel said to Damian,
“You’re quite an interesting guy.”
“You seem pretty interesting yourself.”
The two of them smiled at each other, and soon they completed the long-distance run, standing before the instructor.
Seeing the two who had completed the thirty laps first, the instructor spoke with a slightly surprised expression.
“B-Both of you pass!”
“A fun guy has entered the 3rd training camp?”
“Yes, Instructor Raymond from the 3rd training camp contacted us. He’s only thirteen years old.”
A black eye patch over one eye.
A fairly scruffy beard covered his chin and under his nose.
The man sitting in a seemingly disorganized room slowly stood up at his subordinate’s report.
His skin was cracked like a drought-stricken land.
But the calluses on his palms showed the marks of holding a weapon for many years.
Despite his skinny frame, the middle-aged man exuded a sharp presence when he stood up.
“That picky Raymond found him interesting. Now I’m a bit curious.”
The middle-aged man smirked. Then he asked his subordinate who had come to report.
“So, what’s so interesting?”
The subordinate began to explain the details of the 3rd training camp’s test as told by Raymond.
From the very first part where he used the Kingdom’s best spear techniques to the long-distance run that recruits found most challenging.
Especially about the actions of the guy during the long-distance run, which made the middle-aged man laugh.
“Hahaha, what a cheeky guy. So did he pass?”
“They say he overtook the instructors and passed first.”
“A thirteen-year-old kid with guts.”
Then his eyes gleamed with a sharp light. Finally, the middle-aged man asked his subordinate.
“What’s the kid’s name?”
“He’s called Damian.”
