Chapter 11
Had it been a little over a week?
Berton found himself almost speechless when he saw Theron.
The boy looked completely different from when they had last spoken.
Sure, Theron was only a child in the middle of his growth period.
But even then, could someone's appearance really change this much in such a short time?
And more importantly...
"..."
There was a strange presence coming from Theron's body.
It almost felt like Berton was looking at a knight who had completely concealed his power.
That's impossible.
Berton shook his head, denying the thought.
Why was he thinking something so ridiculous while looking at a twelve-year-old boy?
He turned away.
"What are you doing? The test is over. Finish things up."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
Bengle turned toward the returning trainees.
"The test is over! Everyone, return to the training facility!"
Their first real "test" rather than ordinary training had ended.
Eight trainees from Section Five had failed to return.
And only nineteen had passed.
Out of the forty-two trainees who returned, fewer than half had succeeded.
Bengle glared at them as if he wanted to kill someone.
The result was far below what he had expected.
That heavy atmosphere followed them all the way back to the training facility.
Clack!
When the trainees returned to their rooms, the junior instructors guarding the hallway sneered at them.
"We'll have to see the results from the other sections first, but if you're near the bottom... you might as well consider yourselves dead."
"You remember what the instructor in charge said, right? If your test results were bad, you'd pay for it."
They were already frightening the trainees as if the rankings had been decided.
Several trainees began trembling as they imagined the punishment waiting for them.
However...
"Damn bastards. All they ever do is beat us. They never teach us anything."
"Exactly. If they'd told us how to collect those flowers properly, we would've done much better."
Renil cursed, and Tioren immediately agreed.
The two usually argued constantly, but today they seemed perfectly united.
"But Theron... is he okay?"
"Don't bother him. He looks exhausted."
"...Of course he's exhausted. He had to take such a long way back because of us."
At Perka's words, Renil nodded.
The three looked toward Theron, who was lying down.
He certainly looked much more exhausted than usual.
But...
"Was Theron always that tall?"
"...So I wasn't imagining it? When he came out of the Shadow Forest, I thought he was a different person."
Everyone nodded at Tioren's words.
Before, Theron had barely reached their chins.
But when he walked out of the Shadow Forest, he was almost at eye level with them.
"And his body looks stronger too."
"What the hell happened to him inside that forest?"
How could someone change that much in only a few days?
Still, their attention quickly returned to Theron's condition.
Even when training had been extremely difficult lately, they had never seen him collapse and lie down like this.
The three simply watched him with worried expressions.
That night.
Since the test had ended, there was no additional training or schedule.
For once, the trainees were allowed to rest in their rooms as if they had been given a holiday.
Of course, with the threat of punishment depending on their results, none of them could truly relax.
Rustle.
Once night fell and all the trainees went to sleep, Theron slowly opened his eyes.
"Haaaah..."
He quietly checked that all three of his roommates were asleep.
Theron had gone to bed the moment they returned from the test.
Part of it had been because he was tired.
But there was something he needed to check.
He sat cross-legged and straightened his back.
Then he slowly gathered mana and activated the Dark Tempelst Mana Method.
Whoooooosh!
For a moment, it felt like a breeze passed through the room.
Then everything became quiet again.
Warm energy flowed from Theron's body.
This is ridiculous.
He had known that the Blood Jade Fruit changed his body.
On the way back from the Shadow Forest, he had clearly felt the powerful energy flowing through him.
But he had not been able to properly measure how much he had changed.
"..."
The amount of mana inside Theron was several times greater than before he ate the Blood Jade Fruit.
At this level...
Two-Star.
No.
He was already at the very peak of Two-Star, almost enough to reach Three-Star.
More importantly, only his mana had not increased.
His body had strengthened enough to remain balanced with his new power.
At this level...
I might even be able to defeat the Executioners inside the training facility.
The Executioners were different from the instructors who trained them.
They were soldiers sent in immediately whenever serious trouble occurred.
The problem was that they were completely different from ordinary soldiers.
They were not quite at the level of knights, but they were far stronger than normal soldiers.
Theron rarely encountered them under normal circumstances.
However, considering the places he intended to go in the future...
Conflict with them would eventually be unavoidable.
"Let's think slowly. I still have plenty of time."
The Blood Jade Fruit had allowed Theron to move his plans forward by several months.
But he knew something very well.
When someone experienced a sudden increase in strength, losing control of their emotions could ruin everything.
And now that the first test was over, there was something else he needed to prepare for.
"...A lot of blood will be spilled soon."
The tests themselves were dangerous.
But the competition between each section was what truly tightened the noose around the trainees' necks.
Section Five would probably rank near the very bottom after the first test.
Naturally, Bengle would beat them again.
The entire section would become gloomy.
