Chapter 15
After the morning’s battle exercises, the trainees were given a brief break.
The instructors, who had watched the morning battles, stood up with satisfied expressions.
“Hahaha, I’m really looking forward to the sh between the 1st and 3rd toons.”
“The 2nd toon wasn’tcking, but the 1st toon was just too strong.”
“But the 4th toon… seems to have a lot of issues.”
Hearing the other instructors’ments, the 4th toon leader let out a deep sigh.
It seemed like the team had fallen apart after the crawling exercises.
‘…There’s nothing I can do about it.’
That was the extent of their capabilities.
The disappointing part was that a few of them seemed to be trying to hold it together, but the atmosphere didn’t change easily.
“So, in the afternoon, it’ll be the 1st toon versus the 4th toon, and the 2nd toon versus the 3rd toon?”
“That’s right. Then, the winners will face each other again.”
“Looks like it’ll be the 1st and 3rd toons in the final match.”
After the break, the afternoon would bring another round of battles with different opponents.
The instructors chuckled knowingly as they walked away, seemingly already aware of the results.
As the sweet break time was granted to the trainees…
“It wasn’t as tough as I thought.”
“The 2nd toon wasn’t bad.”
“The 4th toon lookspletely shattered. Their morale seems pretty low too.”
At someone’sment, the other toon members nodded in agreement.
“Those guys were ming each other like crazy earlier, saying who did well and who didn’t.”
“Clicking their tongues! It’s not like losing a team match is any one person’s fault. It’s because they didn’t work together.”
“There are always people who me others no matter where you go. Seems like there are a lot of them in the 4th toon.”
At that, Kyle let out a sly grin.
“Hehehe! We won’t lose, but if any of us starts ming others, I’ll fold them backward, so be prepared.”
“…Kyle, when you say that, it sounds serious, so please don’t say it like that.”
“Damn, I’m already imagining being folded backward.”
“That’s a pretty gruesome imagination you’ve got there.”
The other toon members shuddered, jokingly, but…
“…I’m serious.”
Kyle’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
Damian, who was watching, then spoke up.
“Enough with the nonsense, eat this.”
“Ah! As expected from our toon leader. You already brought rations?”
Seeing Damian with the rations, the other toon members cheered.
As Damian sat down, the toon members gathered around him and asked.
“Damian, the next match is against the 4th toon, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. The only ones left are the 4th toon.”
At Damian’s calm answer, the toon members seemed to grow even more enthusiastic.
“That narrow-eyed bastard who called you a brat. I’ll smack him right in the face with my shield.”
“Sorry, but I already called dibs on that. You just clear the path.”
“But judging by what they did earlier, it seems like it’ll end too easily.”
“You never know. They might suddenly gain strength and fight like berserkers when they face us.”
“Still, how dare they speak rudely to our toon leader! Ugh!”
By now, Damian had be an indispensable presence to the 1st toon.
As the toon members noisily chattered, Damian just smiled while eating the rations he had brought.
And when the sweet break was over…
“3rd toon wins!”
The match between the 2nd and 3rd toons ended in a one-sided victory for the 3rd toon.
Though the 2nd toon put up a rough resistance midway, it was difficult to break through the 3rd toon.
“Wow… those guys are pretty good.”
“They’ve got some skill.”
The 1st toon members, who were watching, secretly admired their performance.
What stood out more than anything was how well-coordinated they were. However…
“They still can’t beat us.”
“Now it’s time for the 4th toon.”
“We’ve been waiting for this moment.”
The 1st toon members’ eyes were already burning with anticipation as they prepared to face the 4th toon.
Seeing this, Damian started organizing their formation and addressed the toon.
“Alright… the enemy is already exhausted. And as we saw earlier, their teamwork ispletely broken.”
The way they fought amongst themselves after losing to the 3rd toon was embarrassing to watch.
It was fair to say there was no teamwork left.
Instead of being one cohesive unit, they were just forty individual soldiers standing separately.
“But I don’t n to go easy on them. In fact, I n to crush them quickly and thoroughly.”
“Agreed.”
“Of course! We’re on the same page.”
“Those guys. They need to pay for running their mouths.”
The toon members united, raising their resolve. Damian grinned at their enthusiasm.
“We’ll finish this quickly, so stay focused.”
“Okay!”
“Roger that!”
Even though Damian was only thirteen, the fact that he was theirmander was all that mattered to the 1st toon.
And then, the instructor’s shout echoed.
“Begin!”
“Let’s go.”
At Damian’smand, the 1st toon moved forward.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
In a triangr formation, the 1st toon quickly advanced towards the 4th toon’s rectangr formation.
The 4th toon was so weak that they could be easily overrun even without a formation.
But to be certain andplete…
‘I’ll destroy them.’
As Damian’s eyes shed, Kyle charged forward with a shout.
“Urahhhhhh!”
With shields in both hands, he mmed into the front line of the 4th toon.
Bang!
“Ahhhh!”
“What the hell!”
“Aaaahhhh!”
Kyle’s charge, which urately prated the gap between the soldiers, caused their formation to copse like a sandcastle before a wave.
It’s understandable.
Experiencing Kyle’s strength for the first time is nothing short of shocking.
The narrow-eyed leader widened his eyes as he saw his front line break through so easily.
Not that it made much difference.
“What are you doing! Push harder and hold the line!”
These idiots!
He wanted to curse them more, but there was no time.
In no time, they had be a single spear, deeply prating the 4th toon’s formation.
“Protect the g! Shield bearers, block the iing enemies, and spearmen, attack from the sides!”
The narrow-eyed leader urgently gave orders.
The 4th toon members inside frantically tried to resist as they followed hismands.
But…
Whoosh!
In an instant, Damian leaped over the soldiers and dashed forward, causing the narrow-eyed leader’s face to darken.
“Do you remember?”
“…Ah.”
The conversation they had in front of the admin office.
The narrow-eyed leader looked at Damian with a startled expression. But…
“Do you think I’m a pushover?!”
The narrow-eyed leader thrust his spear at Damian.
‘Predictable.’
Before the opponent could even thrust his spear, Damian could see his movements clearly.
Swish!
The opponent aimed for his face with the spear.
Damian effortlessly tilted his head to the side, dodging the attack, and quickly inserted his spear between the opponent’s arm and his weapon.
Crack!
“Gah!”
With a swift motion, Damian pulled down on his spear, causing the opponent to scream in pain and drop his weapon.
“Idiot.”
On the battlefield, dropping your weapon is as good as signing your death warrant.
Damian looked at him with disdain before channeling magic into his left fist.
And then…
Thud!
With a dull sound, Damian’s punch connected with the opponent’s right side.
It was the same powerful strike that had knocked out even the monstrous Kyle with a single blow.
The narrow-eyed soldier didn’t even have time to scream before he foamed at the mouth and copsed to the ground.
Thud.
Damian immediately grabbed the g the soldier had been holding and dered,
“We are victorious.”
“Woooooo!”
“As expected of Damian!”
“Ah, that was so satisfying!”
The battle was over before they even had a chance to do anything.
It was arguably the fastest conclusion in all the toon battles.
The 4th toon trainees stood there with their mouths agape, shocked by the prowess of Damian, whom they had dismissed as just a kid.
“Didn’t they say he was thirteen?”
“I just heard something like a hammer hitting…”
Gulp.
With the narrow-eyed soldier knocked out cold, another trainee took overmand when the roles were switched.
But the result wasn’t much different.
“The 1st toon wins!”
As the 1st toon emerged victorious, the instructors who had been watching looked at Damian with satisfaction.
“He’s almost a prodigy.”
“He might even surpass us instructors.”
“Hahaha, I can’t deny that.”
As the instructors chuckled and chatted, suddenly…
“What’s so amusing?”
“…?”
The instructors’ eyes widened as a man suddenly appeared.
“Glory to the Kingdom!”
“Glory to the Kingdom!”
They quickly brought their right fists to their left chests in salute.
The middle-aged man nodded in acknowledgment.
He had wavy brown hair, a ck eyepatch—a symbol of his—and a thick beard covering his chin and the area below his nose.
His rough, cracked skin looked like it had been weathered by drought, but his eyes were sharp, like a well-honed de.
Leonhark Belkain.
Amoner-turned-honorary noble, he was one of the most renowned instructors of the kingdom’s 3rd Division, known for producing countless skilled soldiers.
He was highly respected by the other instructors for his past achievements and his current prowess in training.
Leonhark turned his gaze somewhere.
“Is that the youngster you were talking about?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
Leonhark’s gaze was now fixed on Damian.
* * *
A smallmotion broke out at the 3rd Training Camp.
An unexpected visitor had arrived.
“…What’s going on? Why is it so noisy?”
After finishing the morning and afternoon battles, Damian returned to the barracks and noticed themotion in the training camp.
One of his toon members who had gone to investigate returned to the barracks and said,
“It seems like someone important has arrived.”
“How important are we talking? Did the battalionmandere? Haha.”
Another toon member chuckled, but the one who had gone to check shook his head.
“If it were the battalionmander, we wouldn’t be standing around like this. We’d be cleaning the entire camp.”
“Haha, true. So, who is this high-ranking person?”
The one who had gone to check replied,
“They say it’s a famous instructor from the 3rd Division. A legend among the instructors. The other instructors were on their best behavior. Haha.”
Hearing that, Damian, who had been sitting in the corner, paused as he was tending to his shield and spear.
He then asked,
“An instructor from the 3rd Division?”
“That’s what they said.”
“What’s his name?”
“Ah, the name… I heard it. Was it Lian… Hart?”
“Leonhark.”
“Yeah, that’s it! Leonhar—wait, Damian, where are you going!”
Damian suddenly bolted out of the barracks, leaving his toon members puzzled.
“…What’s with him?”
Leonhark Belkain.
The moment Damian heard that name, he felt a shock run through him, and he dashed out.
‘No way… No way…’
Could it really be him?
The 3rd Division was connected to the 3rd Training Camp, but it was still a distant ce.
He thought it would be a long time before he met him.
As Damian ran toward the administrative office, he saw someone approaching from the opposite direction.
Damian slowed to a stop as he saw him.
It really was Leonhark.
“Hmm? Is this soldier Damian?”
“Oh, Damian! I was just on my way to find you.”
Brian, who was next to Leonhark, called out to Damian. But at that moment…
Snap!
Damian snapped to attention, bringing his feet together and cing his right fist over his left chest.
“Glory to the Kingdom!”
At his precise salute, Leonhark’s lips curled into a slight smile.
He then brought his own right hand into a fist and ced it over his left chest.
“Is your name Damian?”
“Yes, it is.”
Master…
Damian held back the words that were about to spill out and looked at him.