### Episode 44: Vengeance Battle (1)
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A few days later, Professor James’s introductory lecture for the Department of Combat began.
—
Last time, he had only given a rough outline, so the students hadn’t focused much and the atmosphere was somewhat chaotic. However, now that the lecture had officially started, the students’ eyes were burning with passion.
After all, the man standing before them was a legendary figure known for conquering battlefields with nothing but his fists. Any person who yearned for strength would want to hear this man’s lectures.
“Nice to see you again, kids. Ah, don’t mind that; it’s just one of my bad habits. And let’s face it, you guys are still greenhorns.”
He had a rough speech style due to spending most of his youth on the battlefield from a young age, and it was indeed true.
“I assume there are no exceptions in this department. Some of you are here just to learn how to punch, while others might’ve turned to this field because swords didn’t suit them. Or perhaps… there are things you don’t want to talk about.”
Ouch!
I flinched involuntarily when he glanced over at me and spoke.
Professor James, catching my flinch, smirked and continued his lecture. What a terrible person…
“But none of that matters here. The only thing you need to do in my lectures is this: get stronger!”
With a loud thud on his chest as he declared his ambition, the students erupted in a passionate cry of trust—”Ohh!” Though actually, how on earth does a person’s chest make a sound like pounding metal…?
“I don’t care about your reasons. Anyway, by the time you graduate from this department, no one will be able to beat you barehanded. Got it?!”
“Yes, understood!”
It was an almost military-like roar.
I forcefully suppressed the trauma that was rising again and focused on the professor’s next words.
“Good posture, everyone. So, now I’ll reveal today’s first lesson. What you will do today is…!”
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War hero’s first lesson.
Will it be ghost-like silent steps? Or perhaps extreme throws? One punch that can change the weather?
“Running!”
“Wha—?”
—
“Huff… huff…”
“Crack… hack?!”
It had been 40 minutes into the class.
I wiped the beads of sweat flowing down my temple and looked around. The training yard was littered with students who had collapsed from the endless running.
“Endurance. Endurance is key! Whether you’re learning swordplay, martial arts, or even magic, it all comes down to how much physical strength you have. That’s why today, our first lesson will be nothing but running! No limit. You run until you can’t anymore!”
Without giving us a clear goal, the professor’s instruction left us all puzzled. But when I started running first, one by one, everyone else followed.
By the time we’d reached the 60th lap…
“Whoo… wheeeewww!!”
“Muuh… muh… muuuul…”
Students were collapsing all over the place, unable to surpass their physical limits.
I was quite exhausted too, but I hadn’t collapsed yet, so I continued running while adjusting my pace.
Truthfully, it had been a long time since I had pushed myself to my limit like this. I was also curious about how much endurance I had.
“Huff… Hey… Rab Netoire!! Huff… Huff… Are you… huff… already tired?”
While consciously regulating my breathing, I noticed Maiten come up beside me, panting as he spoke.
“Sure, it’s tough, but we’re far from giving up, right?”
“Grr… Same here! This… this is nothing compared to daily life in our family! Haha! This one’s for me today!”
And with that, Maiten surged ahead, running with renewed vigor.
‘Running like that, he’ll collapse soon…’
Sure enough, after two more laps, Maiten had turned pale, collapsed on the ground, and was lying there with his eyes rolling.
Judging by the thin, withered look of him, it seemed dehydration and exhaustion had caused him to lose consciousness and fall.
“Alright, everyone, good job. Rab Netoire, you can stop now. That’s enough.”
Upon hearing the professor call out, I noticed that I was the only one still running.
I stopped running and slowly walked toward where everyone had gathered. Professor James looked at me with a mixture of surprise.
“Amazing… Looking at your body, these aren’t muscles built from exercise… Did you perhaps run every day since you were a child?”
“No, I was just naturally gifted. I did focus on training for about a year, though…”
Rab’s surprising trait: even without exercise, his body was perfectly toned.
Apparently, before I took over his body, he would go out playing, eat greasy food, and be obsessed with chasing women, but his physical condition never changed, no matter what.
It was really a God-given body. Despite living such a wasteful life, this sturdy frame was truly remarkable.
Thanks to this, I could start exercising without much trouble after I took over.
“If that’s true, then I envy you. A body like that is something you’re born with… Anyway, good job. From now on, though, it wouldn’t be bad to experience your limits at full speed without worrying about your pace.”
“Understood, sir.”
Professor James gave me quite useful advice before turning his attention to the collapsed students.
“Now, you’ve all had the time to realize how weak your stamina is. No matter how great your skills or strategies are, without stamina, you’re useless. From now on, my morning lectures will focus on building endurance, and you should try to improve it even in your spare time.”
“Yes… sir.”
As students weakly answered after all the running, the professor clicked his tongue dismissively.
“Collapsing after running such a short distance… Kids these days. In my time—”
—
After listening to Professor James’s nostalgic complaints, it was time for the second lecture.
“Since we’ve had our stamina assessed, now it’s time to measure your skills. The best way to gauge that is through sparring, haha.”
Professor James, who preferred practical lessons, began asking the students to engage in sparring right from the start.
There are teachers who teach the basics step-by-step and those who push their students through intense, Spartan-style training that simulates real combat. But this feels a bit too Spartan, doesn’t it?
“Don’t worry. You guys aren’t skilled enough to impress me anyway. The purpose of this sparring session is simply to evaluate your skills and gauge the department’s overall ability level. We’ll have random matches now, but after this, the students will be ranked, and lessons will be adjusted accordingly. You can’t teach walking to someone who’s already running, can you?”
‘Sort of like grouping by difficulty levels.’
It’s like dividing students into levels: A for those who know both the basics and techniques, B for those who only know the basics, and C for inexperienced beginners, with tailored lessons accordingly.
Though it might be more work to teach everyone this way, it has the advantage of evenly boosting the students’ overall growth rate later.
‘I thought the professor would find it bothersome, but he seems to be teaching properly.’
While silently approving of Professor James’s teaching methods, I was waiting for my sparring partner when an all-too-familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Sir, I have something to say.”
“Hm? Maiten? What is it?”
“Please pair me with Rab Netoire for sparring and let us go first.”
Surprisingly, not only me, but the professor and the students also looked at him with puzzled eyes at his sudden request.
“Maiten, I know what happened to you during the entrance examination… But are you really trying to humiliate him again like this in public?”
“… I can’t say I don’t have the intention of getting revenge, but let me explain. Both Rab Count and I are among the top-tier in this department. Watching our fight might help other students as well, allowing them to gain insight and boost their competitive spirit. Wouldn’t that be efficient?”
Though his words sound ambiguous, in truth, he just wants to defeat me publicly.
So he’s still mad about that incident during the entrance ceremony.
‘Even so, there’s no way the professor will approve of such an unreasonable request…’
“Hmm… Not a bad point.”
‘What nonsense?!’
At a time when I’m already receiving angry glares from everyone because of the opening speech, if you agree with this, my position will be even worse!
“Indeed, these two are exceptional even within this department. While Maiten follows a textbook, conventional fighting style, Rab’s is untamed, wild, and instinctual. It’s probably because he learned the basics of martial arts quickly and then customized the rest according to his physical abilities.”
“…That’s correct.”
He hit the mark.
Although I had invited retired soldiers to my residence to learn fundamental combat forms, the foundation was based on using mana. For me, it was difficult to completely replicate it, so I modified it using magic.
As a result, my originally controlled and pure techniques became wild and violent.
Impressed by Professor James’s sharp analysis of the high destructive power but tough-to-control state I was in, I couldn’t help but admire his keen insight.
“Then, having these two people with opposite tendencies fight here will also be a good opportunity. Through the fight, they could possibly fill in each other’s weaknesses.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“Hmm… Well, then you’d just be a coward who ran away from a manly duel and denied the students a chance to grow.”
“Then I’ll be the coward and—”
“By the way, the difficulty of my personal lessons with you will escalate from hard to hell mode. Even if you plead for mercy, I won’t stop.”
“… I’ll do it.”
How despicable to resort to that kind of blackmail.
While inwardly cursing Maiten for making an unreasonable suggestion, I slowly ascended to the sparring ground.
