Chapter 3
A day passed.
Just as Theron remembered, the instructors gathered the trainees from each section and tested whether they had memorized the Mana Method.
Naturally, very few had memorized everything.
"You worthless bastards! Are you trying to embarrass me again?!"
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
"P-Please! Spare me! I'm sorry! Aaaagh!"
The instructor showed no mercy.
The trainees curled up and screamed as they were beaten.
The instructor responsible for Section Five was Bengle.
The training facility was divided into ten sections.
Section Five was almost always near the bottom.
There were a few talented trainees, including Perka, but the overall ability of Section Five was lower than the other sections.
Bengle held up a blood-covered metal pipe and pointed toward the next trainee.
"You. Recite it."
"Th-Th-Th-That..."
"You little bastard... Get down!"
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
Eventually, Bengle threw away the metal pipe and started stomping on the trainees with his hard military boots.
No one dared to stop him.
Most of the fifty trainees were beaten.
Those who had memorized more were beaten a little less.
But even then, the punishment was still brutal.
"Haah... Are you the last one?"
Eventually, Bengle stood in front of Theron.
The moment he saw Theron's face, he spat into his palm and picked up the metal pipe again.
"Idiot Theron? You bastard. There's no way you memorized it. Just get down..."
Bengle had never seen Theron do anything properly.
He pointed toward the floor as though there was no reason to even test him.
But...
"I memorized all of it."
"...What?"
Before Bengle could finish speaking, Theron answered calmly.
Bengle's eyes shook.
Even the boys lying on the floor raised their heads.
Everyone looked surprised.
Theron lifted his head and calmly began reciting the Darkfin Mana Method.
"The key to the Darkfin Mana Method is absorbing mana from the atmosphere and gathering it inside the mana core. From the core, the mana is lowered toward the perineum, then raised along the mana circuits beside the spine into the first channel. After passing through both shoulders, it moves through the heart channel and spreads throughout the entire body."
Theron's words flowed without hesitation.
Bengle's eyes narrowed.
Theron did not sound like someone who had simply memorized the words.
He sounded like someone who fully understood their meaning.
"After the mana is spread throughout the body, it is important to gather it again at the fingertips and refine it. If the mana flow becomes unstable, reorganize it at the fingertips before moving it again. And then..."
"Enough. That's enough."
Bengle stopped him.
There was no reason to hear more.
Theron's explanation had been perfect.
Bengle turned his head.
Just a few days ago, this brat was completely useless...
Had being beaten so often finally knocked some sense into him?
Still confused, Bengle looked over the other trainees.
"I'm giving all of you one more day. Anyone who hasn't properly memorized it by then should prepare themselves. And..."
Bengle's eyes turned vicious.
"The midterm test is coming. If Section Five comes in last place again... I'll personally make sure a few of you don't survive."
The trainees went pale.
They had already seen several people die from the instructors' beatings.
Fear instantly settled over the trainees of Section Five.
Everyone except one person.
Theron.
Theron returned to the room and sat down.
At that moment...
"Hey!"
"What the hell happened to you? Did you really memorize that entire book?"
Perka asked.
Renil immediately shouted from behind him.
"What the hell?! How does this make any sense? Idiot Theron was the only one who memorized everything?"
"Perka almost memorized everything too. And Jiaron from the room next door memorized all of it. You're the only person in this room who couldn't memorize anything."
Tioren looked at Renil.
Renil's face twisted.
"Damn it! It's not that I didn't memorize it! I just got nervous in front of the instructor and my mind went blank!"
"If you can't say it in front of the instructor, that's the same as not memorizing it."
"You bastard!"
Renil looked ready to jump at Tioren.
Perka stopped them.
"Both of you, shut up for a second. Theron, did you really memorize all of it?"
Perka looked serious.
Theron stared at him.
Memories from his previous life flashed through his mind.
He owed these boys.
I still have a debt to repay.
In his previous life, they had helped him simply because they shared a room.
Because of that, they had gotten into many conflicts with trainees from other sections.
Perka in particular had been injured because of those fights.
That injury later contributed to his death during training.
Even then, Perka had never blamed Theron.
And...
The other two were the same.
Renil had a rough personality.
But after living in this place for years, anyone would become rough.
The fact that these three had managed to remain human in this environment was almost impressive.
Remembering the past, Theron unconsciously smiled.
Renil frowned.
"You bastard. What are you smiling at?"
His anger turned toward Theron.
Renil had been beaten half to death after failing to answer.
Theron had passed perfectly.
His sudden feeling of inferiority had turned into anger.
But then...
"Forget it. Sit down. I'll help you."
"What?"
"Trying to blindly memorize everything won't work. I'll help you, so sit down."
Renil looked awkwardly at Perka and Tioren.
They both nodded.
"Like this?"
"Just sit comfortably."
"Urgh!"
Renil had been beaten so badly that simply sitting hurt.
Theron stood up.
"First, you need to feel mana. That's the most important thing. Once you can feel it, move it according to the circulation formula in the book. Then you won't need to force yourself to memorize the words. Your body will naturally remember them."
"...You already felt mana?"
"Idiot Theron did?"
Renil called Theron an idiot almost every time he spoke to him.
