[ Newbie Must-Read 3 ]
1. How to Deal with Strange Phenomena
-When you’re suddenly thrown into a strange environment, here’s what you need to do.
-Is there any cover to hide your body? Minimize the exposed areas to demons. If not available, make one yourself.
-Once found, calmly assess the situation. The first thing to determine is the type of field.
Refer to Volume 1, Article 48 for related information.
The knights were completely baffled as the ground suddenly froze over.
Beatrice peeked out only her face and surveyed the surroundings. A flustered Riharten and Dracen approached.
“Betti. Do you know anything about this?”
“N-no, I don’t know anything!”
“Could you be a spy?”
“I swear upon the Goddess, I’m not!”
“Then why are you the only one digging a hole?!”
‘Well, that’s what it said in the book…’
Though feeling wronged, Beatrice shared the information immediately.
“This must be training.”
“Training?”
The surrounding knights gathered around Beatrice.
“Yeah. If it wasn’t training, why would they change the weather conditions?”
The knights looked at each other with wide eyes.
True enough, if this wasn’t training, an alarm would’ve sounded by now.
“So what do we do now?”
“I recommend digging holes…”
“Why? That won’t help much against the cold.”
‘Because knowing Cecilia, she wouldn’t end it just with this…’
With hazy eyes, Beatrice surrounded her head with a circular blessing of light.
And her prediction was spot on.
“Look over there!”
“Gah!”
Countless ice spears floated in the sky.
Beatrice turned pale and hid inside her hole.
Cecilia watched this scene while holding Rude.
“Ho ho- that blonde knight isn’t bad? Good judgment.”
“Betti is the strongest.”
“You think so too, Lia? But-”
Despite his smiling face, Rude’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“The rest are hopeless.”
BAM—!
The rookies were running around in panic.
There was no order to be found.
Fortunately, the spear’s hardness was set low, otherwise several people would’ve been pierced.
“They’re still newbies.”
Cecilia didn’t give it much thought. This was merely initial suppression. Without setting the mood, their true abilities wouldn’t show.
“Sorry for taking away break time. You’ve been busy lately.”
Rude, who had been frowning deeply, smiled brightly at Cecilia’s words.
“It’s okay. Using magic like this once in a while is a nice change of pace.”
“In that case, can I ask for one favor?”
“Hmm?”
“Mix in some real ones please.”
Rude maintained silence for a moment before looking up at Cecilia.
“…Huh?”
“Train as if it’s real combat. Isn’t that a famous saying?”
“But… if real ones are mixed in, then it becomes actual combat.”
“It’s a request.”
“If it’s Lia’s request… I guess I have no choice.”
‘…Is this really okay?’
Rude reluctantly reached out into the air.
‘Well, if they can’t handle this much, they’d definitely d*e in the field.’
The spears that previously felt like blunt hits now carried murderous intent.
Getting hit in a vulnerable spot could be fatal. Though few in number, the important part was that real ones were mixed in.
“Then I’ll…”
“What more are you going to do here?!”
Rude was shocked by the ominous magical ripple.
SHING-.
As Cecilia attempted to half-draw her sword, Rude firmly pressed down on it with both hands.
“?”
“If, if we go that far, the kids will d*e. They’re still rookies, after all.”
Rude awkwardly laughed. First, calming Cecilia down was important.
“Are there actually people who’d d*e from something like this?”
Rude’s eyes widened.
‘Th-this is bad. Cecilia…’
She doesn’t understand the mindset of the weak.
Because she has never been weak herself.
At just six years old, Cecilia had already brought a Knight Order to its knees.
‘Commander…! There’s a serious problem with home education!’
But the heaven-defying Sword Heroine didn’t know these things well.
With a clear face, Cecilia pointed her sword at the sky and shouted.
“Tempest.”
Even just the ice spears were sufficiently threatening to them.
On top of that, when a massive storm began raging, the rookies felt like they were dying.
BOOM!
“W-was that just now…”
A huge crater was carved into the ground.
The ice spears, though numerous, shattered easily.
But that last one did not.
“It seems like some sturdy ones are mixed in.”
After realizing they might actually d*e, the knights snapped to attention.
They couldn’t afford to lose their lives after coming this far into the Windsor Knight Order.
“Those with defensive blessings should deploy barriers, and the rest should strike with swords!”
Riharten played a crucial role.
With his blessing of Iron Wall, he could block the most ice. Naturally, he became the leader of the rookie knights.
Once leadership was established, their response became systematic. These were people who had received basic military training. Everyone was confident in following orders.
After managing to deal with the ice to some extent, the hellish hail finally stopped.
“Phew-”
Numerous knights collapsed from exhaustion. Their bodies barely moved due to the cold, and getting hit even once hurt twice as much.
Thanks to Beatrice continuously using her Light Blessing to remove status effects, things didn’t turn out worse. Imagining otherwise was horrifying.
Anyway.
“It’s finally over.”
The knight who sighed in relief was met with countless stares.
“W-why are you all looking at me? Surely there’s nothing more after this?”
This time, everyone’s gaze shifted to Beatrice.
While everyone was covered in wounds, Beatrice was perfectly fine. She looked a bit tired, but that was it.
It was thanks to the hole. Unlike others who had to protect their entire bodies, Beatrice only needed to block one spot.
“Betti! What do you think will happen next?”
“……I think it’s just the beginning.”
Beatrice awkwardly replied while digging her hole deeper with a trowel.
“Why are you still digging holes!”
“Just the beginning?! What do you mean?”
Beatrice timidly placed dirt right in front of her and spoke.
“Lady Cecilia gave me a book, and it said…”
She recounted one of the things she had studied.
-Demons always try to target human weaknesses.
-Understanding this nature allows us to predict demon behavior in reverse.
-If they drained our stamina, the next attraction will likely require using stamina. If they caused fear, they’ll likely target emotions.
The knights pondered upon hearing this.
“Our weaknesses, huh.”
“……It’s not like we have just one or two.”
Indeed. The knights who endured the ice storm were already out of stamina and mentally unstable.
“What do you think?”
Once again, everyone’s gaze fell on Beatrice. She spoke uncertainly.
“I don’t think Lady Cecilia would make it complicated.”
“Then.”
“The next one might be related to the cold. It’s freezing.”
She was right. From the snowfield-like earth, continuous cold emanated.
The piled-up ice also transmitted the same chill. The problem was that using blessings to ward off the cold would deplete their remaining mana.
“That’s right. It’s highly probable that it’s related to the cold.”
“Should we gather firewood?”
“That’s it!”
Having made a decision, the knights went to cut wood from nearby forests.
After stacking it neatly, Beatrice concentrated her light into a single point to ignite the fire.
“Wow, now we can survive.”
“Thank goodness. We can somehow deal with the cold.”
The knights regained some confidence. Working together yielded progress. It was a moment of realizing how precious it was to not be alone.
In the short time, they also developed considerable camaraderie. However, within that, a hint of competitiveness also blossomed.
‘It’s no wonder they passed the official test to join.’
‘Aren’t they the only division under Lady Cecilia in the Windsor Knight Order?’
Especially the gazes toward Beatrice were peculiar. Despite being a fellow rookie, she already seemed ahead of the others.
WHOOOOSH—.
At that moment, a bone-chilling wind blew.
While everyone shuddered, the wind grew stronger.
“It’s starting!”
“It’s a blizzard! Get ready!”
“The fire! The fire’s going out!”
By the time they desperately tried to save the fire, it was already too late. In the fierce blizzard that made it hard to even open their eyes, not even an ember could be found.
“d*mn it! She may look cute, but she’s a devil incarnate!”
Unable to bear it anymore, Dracen shouted. Beatrice paled and trembled.
“What’s wrong?”
Dracen, puzzled, looked where Beatrice was pointing.
Cecilia was staring right behind them.
Dracen fainted on the spot.
Seeing the knights trembling, Cecilia felt a slight pang of conscience.
‘Did I overdo it?’
But this level was necessary to reduce the mortality rate.
The biggest cause of d*ath among rookie knights in the field was usually failing to reveal their true capabilities.
Many obstacles could be overcome by properly utilizing their blessings, but often they died prematurely due to blocked thoughts or loss of concentration.
That was a sad thing.
“Do you like the picnic spot?”
“Yes!”
They gritted their teeth against the cold and shouted.
Standing still was difficult due to the blizzard.
“I’m glad you like it. I put a lot of thought into it.”
Cecilia casually mentioned while clasping her hands behind her back.
“For the next two weeks, you’ll train with me.”
“H-here?”
“Yes.”
Their faces showed shock at the mention of two weeks.
‘So they like pretty faces, huh?’
There was no doubt they were thrilled at the prospect of being personally trained by the beautiful Sword Heroine.
“The goal is survival. In the future, you’ll have to fight demons in environments harsher than this.”
‘Although that’s not the only reason I planned such training.’
In fact, Cecilia had another motive.
Extreme environments.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, a Windsor knight should know how to fight in such conditions.
However, it wasn’t a common occurrence. These were still rookies. Dungeons capable of changing the weather were controlled by upper-level demons.
Naturally, they hadn’t experienced such situations yet.
The reason Cecilia deliberately put them in this harsh situation was different.
‘Now that I’ve gathered so many, might as well test them.’
Newbie gacha!
Blessings varied, and their limits were diverse. Cecilia didn’t know all the performance details of those many blessings.
And now, with their stamina bottomed out, it was the perfect time to see their limits.
After all, humans pushed to their limits often display unbelievable strength. Cecilia was curious.
‘I wonder how many of them can surpass their limits. I hope there are many S-ranks.’
Cecilia sincerely hoped they would become strong. With that intention, she said.
“Everyone, close your eyes.”
“Eh? Yes.”
The rookie knights closed their eyes. It was pitch black.
“That is your future.”
“!”
‘Everyone’s having fun.’
Cecilia felt proud. It was a joke she had spent five whole days thinking about for today.
