Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

When Abel and Diron left the Square, the people there didn’t leave for quite a while, and the place was clamoring with noise as they fussed over the incident.

“Di-Did the statue just move?”

“Not exactly. A blinding light just shone out of it... huh, what was that? Hm? Is it just me? I mean... I don’t get what just happened, do you?”

“That boy with black hair put his palms on the statue’s pedestal and then...”

In the Square, along with the cadets, some professors had some free time and had come there to rest. They also happened to witness the event just then. And that’s why the news of this spread among all the cadets and professors of the Academy.

So, it wouldn’t take long before the news reached those higher up who knew the truth about the legend.

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. The Magic Sensitivity Professor, Prof. Thelven said he witnessed the whole thing himself.”

“Hawh, how could that...”

It was just a fascinating event for the cadets and professors at the academy. For the higher-ranking officials though, it was a completely different ballpark because they realized the meaning behind the incident with Abel.

The Principal and a few professors started verifying the truth behind the rumors that were going around. It didn’t take them a long time, and they found the rumored boy’s identity.

Abel.

The boy who received a letter of recommendation from the renowned Count Klein herself.

After learning about his impressive background, they kept an even closer eye on him.

»————- ★ ————-«

Abel was running. His whole body was sweating like crazy, and his breathing was really rough. Yet he had zero thoughts about taking a break.

But an end comes whether he likes it or not.

Abel had been running for a long time, and his legs just gave up at a point. He tried getting up a few times but had to give up eventually. He just lay on the ground looking at the sky.

“Huh phoo.”

Abel kept gasping like crazy for a few minutes and slowly got a hold of himself.

“Urgh.”

He didn’t have the strength to start running again, but he couldn’t just stay lying over there because it wasn’t his private training ground.

Abel got up and stumbled while walking. He avoided the knights who were running close by and went in the direction of a building.

“You must be tired.”

The maid Marigold was waiting there for him and handed him water, a towel, and so on.

“Thank you.”

Abel took them from Marigold and just collapsed in the chair.

He was training for a month by then. However, the difficulty level was the same as the first time because as he managed to increase his physical strength, the amount of training increased simultaneously to keep him on his toes.

‘I was pretty regular with my physical training before coming here too, but...’

After the training here, Abel realized that his previous training was just child’s play.

“Are the knights really human?”

Abel started running at the same time as them, yet they didn’t even seem to break a sweat. He kept grumbling about it while looking at them run around.

Just then, someone beside him spoke in a deep voice.

“Abel-nim is also doing well.”

(TL/N: ‘-nim’ is an ending attached to people’s names to be polite. So it’s used among people who’re not at an equal status – either due to age or social status)

When he heard that voice, Abel immediately stood up and replied.

“I’m still far from being good, Sir Diron.”

“You’ve only trained for a month. It won’t take long as long as you keep up as you are now.” Diron said this with a smile on his face.

His first impression hadn’t been that good. But as Diron trained him for the past month, the two became a lot closer to each other.

Diron’s impression of Abel had also improved in the same way. But considering that he saw Abel follow the formal knight training regime for around a month, it was kind of impossible for him not to see Abel in a better light.

It was the last day of having fun with others like this while training.

“But I must say I’m sad I won’t train under you from now on, Sir Aldor.”

“At the Academy, you’ll be trained by remarkable individuals. I’m pretty sure you, Abel-nim, will improve at a monstrous rate.”

Tomorrow was the day of the Academy entrance test.

His training for the test ended early, and he was going to rest for the rest of the day afternoon so that he’d be in his best physical and mental condition the next day.

Abel had a smile on his face when he looked at Diron and said, “Thank you. I’ll pass for sure.”

“I don’t doubt that at all.” Diron grinned and replied.

Marigold had been waiting for the conversation to end, but she had to cut in and say, “Young Master. It’s time for recovery now.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Abel chatted a bit more with Diron and got up to leave.

“Okay then. I’ll get going now.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Abel said goodbye to Diron and followed Marigold. While walking, he reflected over the last month.

His training was so severe that he couldn’t find the words to express how difficult it was for him.

He’d get up at 4 in the morning and train till 8 at night. After that, he’d just have dinner, collapse on the bed, and fall asleep in no time.

And he repeated that every day throughout the month.

No matter how persistent a person was, that amount of training could break them. But it was worth it.

With that monstrous training regime, the results were no joke either.

He’d been to several crowded places before, but it was the first time seeing such glamorous people gathered all in one place.

‘Most of them are probably rich kids, not nobles.’

With that thought, Abel walked up to the attendant waiting at one side.

“Please follow me.”

“Yeah.”

It didn’t take long till they reached the right place. Not even 5 minutes had passed. The attendant pointed to the building and said,

“You just have to enter this building.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Right after he greeted her thanks, Abel went inside the building.

This building was at least five times bigger than the building where he submitted his application. The whole place was ginormous. It was so huge that even with the crowd rushing in, it still had plenty of space to move around.

There was an attendant to guide the candidates to the seat. So he asked him and sat on a seat to the side. As time went on, more and more people entered the building.

Abel thought while glancing around the place.

‘Out of all these people, only a handful will remain.’

Gigant Academy got an astronomical number of applicants. But from all those applicants, most failed because of mana incompatibility. After filtering out all those applicants, these candidates were the ones gathered there, but even among them, barely 200 were here. That didn’t end there. Those 200 wouldn’t attend the Academy, have a lovely, friendly cadet life, and graduate.

‘Those who got to go through the process of becoming Gigant Riders were... the top 40.’

And the rest?

They would be trained for the operation of Tito and be unable to ride the Milles and upper grades because the Tito grade could be used even with a lacking magical ability.

However, among these riders, there were instances when late bloomers honed their talent later and were promoted, but those cases were rare. Further, among these 40, there were usually less than 10 people who’d graduate after the full 4 years and go on to become complete Gigant Riders.

‘But that’s kind of expected.’

Gigants were a valuable strategic resource.

A vast amount of resources were consumed for their production, and even with enough resources available, it couldn’t be quickly mass-produced with automatic processes in factories.

Yet this Academy used those Gigants just for ‘training.’ The tuition fee here was considerable, but the truth was a lot of money was put into running the place.

On top of that, they even provided the graduated Gigant Riders with their own Gigants.

‘So, by filtering over and over, only a handful of those with outstanding talent could enroll here... that was how it was described.’

And to be a part of that handful, Abel was standing there at his spot.

Thinking of that, he automatically started feeling more pressure, and just in time, someone’s voice drew his attention.

“Seems like everyone’s here.”

The voice came from the direction of the podium.

When he looked to that side, he saw a middle-aged man with pure white hair neatly styled towards the back with a well-groomed mustache standing on the podium.

He was the Academy’s principal.

From his looks, he looked like he was 40, but in reality, he was 60 years old. His clothes didn’t do a great job of hiding his sturdy solid physique; hence, why anyone could mistake him for being even younger than that.

Abel remembered his name.

‘Magnus. The empire’s living legend.’

He was a prestigious man with the title of being the Principal of the only Gigant Academy in the empire and was said to have no weaknesses.

When Magnus spoke up, Abel looked around at all the boys and girls gathered in the hall. Using a magical tool, his amplified voice spread throughout the entire hall.

“Your identity or family name will be completely irrelevant when taking the test. Your capability is the only thing that can get you into the Academy.”

As Magnus continued his speech, people in the hall became increasingly nervous.

Even Abel’s body turned stiff on hearing the living legend Magnus’s voice.

Magnus stopped for a moment, held up his arm and said.

“Okay then, no point stretching this any longer. Come in!”

Thud-!

When he gave the signal, all the doors of the building burst open.

The candidates who naturally stood in rows all turned to look at the back. Within a moment, all their eyes widened.

Clink, clink, clink-.

The sound of metal rubbing against metal.

A sound that would’ve been unnoticed if it was alone now sounded like thunder throughout the building.

Abel looked at those entering, and his mouth was open in surprise without him even realizing, not because he hadn’t something like that before but because the scale was something unimaginable he was witnessing for the first time in his life.

“Those right there are your test partners, my lads.”

Upon smiling, Magnus spoke with a younger voice.

But everyone’s eyes were fixed on the doors.

It was truly an amazing sight, with 100 Tito grade Gigants coming in through the doors.

Abel looked at them as if he was possessed, and suddenly, something popped up in front of his eyes.

[The “Best of the Bunch” Quest (2) will continue.]

[Secure the top seat of the Academy by passing the tests with overwhelming records!]

[Your reward will be a Gigant exclusive skill.]

Abel read straight through it and smiled.

It was exactly what he’d hoped for.

[To be continued.]