Chapter 14. First Lecture (3)
The practical training for the Great Beast Warfare class in Joint Tactical Theory required students to use only the designated training weapons provided by Professor Hazen to break through illusionary beasts and activate a magic stone.
They couldn’t use their own primary weapons, and they had to detect the magic stone in terrain favorable to the beasts.
By second year, this would be easier. But for first-years who were still heavily reliant on weapons and lacked detection abilities, this was a difficult task.
In other words, this was a setup for failure. Through failure, students were expected to learn the patterns of beast warfare, its dangers, and what to do in emergencies.
But even in such planned failures, exceptions always arose—and the current footage, shared through projection magic, showed one such case to all students.
Group 5, consisting of Drenor, Sonia Serium, and Ceres Laplace, moved at high speed.
Drenor was even carrying Sonia at his waist as he ran.
Despite the jostling ride, Sonia reported as best she could:
“Multiple small beasts on the left, two large beasts on the right!”
Drenor tossed Sonia upward and took the left side, while Ceres cast [Fall Delay] on Sonia and handled the right.
Drenor swung his massive greatsword and slashed down the small beasts in an instant. Sonia used her staff, as tall as herself, to cast the 4th-circle wind magic [Hurricane Spear], piercing through the large beasts.
Once the beasts were dealt with, Drenor caught Sonia midair.
“Ugh…”
“Need a break?”
“No… I’m okay…”
Then Ceres asked Sonia,
“Are we getting closer to the magic stone?”
“If we keep going like this, we’ll reach it.”
“Alright.”
There was no real “teamwork” among them. Sonia simply detected beasts and the magic stone, and Drenor and Ceres crushed everything in their path.
With just that simple premise, they reached and activated the stone within the time limit.
Time taken: 12 minutes and 13 seconds.
Hazen restored the damaged forest using magic tools and smiled.
‘I may need to rearrange the groups at my discretion.’
While not quite on the level of Astrea, Laplace was still a famed magical family. The other two were commoners.
Ceres and Drenor were the top of the magic and combat divisions, respectively, but since there’s a gap between entrance exams and real battle, this combination had seemed balanced.
However, Drenor turned out stronger than expected. Despite not coordinating, Sonia subtly balanced the team and helped them pass.
‘Ceres being excellent is expected, but Drenor… he’s impressive.’
Having mastered all weapons to a first-class level, Hazen could tell immediately—though Drenor didn’t yet have the strength to wield a greatsword properly, he controlled it effortlessly with skill alone.
What’s more, he had enough room to keep his gaze fixed on the magic cast by Ceres and Sonia.
This imbalance probably needed correcting, but Hazen had already declared that teams wouldn’t be changed, so it was set.
Satisfied with discovering another promising student, Hazen announced,
“Group 5. Twelve minutes, thirteen seconds. Quite a good result for a first attempt.”
Some students applauded in amazement, but only Sonia looked pleased. Drenor and Ceres simply exchanged blank looks.
“Not bad. But why didn’t you use your specialty—spatial magic?”
“I was hungry.”
“…?”
“Using big spells makes me hungry faster. And sleepy. So I just didn’t bother.”
“…I see.”
“Also, why a greatsword?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re good with it, but it looks uncomfortable. So I can’t guess why you use it.”
“I have my reasons. Why are you curious?”
“Just thought it might be fun.”
Drenor still couldn’t figure Ceres out, and Ceres quickly lost interest and walked off.
Thus ended Group 5’s practice, and next up was Group 6—Reina, Ridipin, and Ban.
Reina with a sword and Ban with a wand were typical enough, but Ridipin with a bow and Ban carrying a quiver were unusual.
Hazen raised an eyebrow but let it pass, seeing no rule violation.
“As I said, you have 15 minutes. Begin when the signal is given.”
A moment later, a fireworks spell signaled the start, and they ran forward.
At first, no beasts appeared, so they ran unimpeded.
But after about 10 seconds, beasts began rushing in from all directions.
“Grrrrrr…”
“Graaagh!”
Wolf-like and bear-like beasts charged at Group 6, but they skillfully dodged without stopping.
30 seconds into the practice.
It would be nice if they could keep dodging—but it wouldn’t be that easy.
In just 20 more seconds, beasts surrounded them from behind, while more closed in from the front and both sides. They were about to be encircled.
Yet Group 6 showed no sign of panic.
Reina surged forward, slashing beasts that came at her. Ridipin provided covering fire with warning arrows. And Ban—
Set the forest on fire.
Fwoooosh!
A [Fire] spell from his wand blazed across the left, rear, and right flanks.
Students gasped at the spectacle on the projection. Hazen let out a small chuckle.
‘What a brute…!’
The forest was naturally advantageous for beasts. Turning it into human territory was basic strategy in great beast warfare.
Group 6 executed this beautifully.
Ban’s fire burned the trees. Ridipin shot down trees to create barriers, sealing the sides.
Beasts flooded toward the front and rear instead. Because the trees had fallen in a zigzag, the rearward beasts were delayed.
‘To blatantly overturn the common sense that fire in forests is dangerous… definitely not normal.’
Ban’s idea of just setting everything on fire was shocking—but Ridipin’s archery, knocking down trees with pinpoint shots, was no less so.
‘A direct line from the Lightjaz family with this kind of talent? But she hesitates with every shot… And Ban matches that hesitation perfectly? Ban Astrea, you’re insane.’
Moreover, Hazen knew—the magic stone was straight ahead.
Which meant they’d detected it in an instant. Combat students lacked magic tools or aura to detect, and no one had reached the aura stage yet.
So Hazen assumed Ban used detection magic.
(Actually, Ban was just following a map he remembered from the game.)
While Ban burned the forest and Ridipin built barriers, Reina alone pushed through the front line.
Unlike the destructive Drenor, Reina methodically and precisely took down beasts one by one.
‘Maybe not quite top of her year, but definitely apprentice knight level already.’
And so, Group 6 reached and activated the magic stone in just 5 minutes and 21 seconds.
A new academy record—3 minutes faster than the previous best of 8:33.
Hazen looked at Ban.
‘Is he trying to hide his skill or show it off…?’
Watching the trio high-fiving cheerfully after such a ridiculous result, Hazen let out another chuckle.
[Sub Event – Great Beast Warfare Training Week 1 has ended.]
[You gained experience points.]
[Skill proficiency slightly increased.]
[Hidden Mission – Set a New Record completed. Affinity with Hazen Rouser has significantly increased.]
I stretched and casually dismissed the system window.
Compared to rescuing Ria Hailin, this was easy. Just follow the plan.
As I was cooling down, Reina beamed and held out her hand.
“Let’s high-five! High-five!”
Ridipin and I raised our hands and smacked them together with hers. “Yay~!” Reina cheered.
Ridipin blushed and looked down, though she was smiling.
“U-Um, did I help…?”
“Of course! That ‘thwack! thwack!’ with your arrows? I couldn’t have taken down trees like that!”
“T-Thank you…”
After being praised by Reina, she glanced shyly at me, so I praised her too.
“You did well. You’re still struggling with your trauma, but I didn’t expect you to follow my plan this closely. I’m impressed.”
Ridipin couldn’t shoot living things due to her trauma, so she was limited to terrain manipulation and distraction in combat.
She hesitated often, making timing tricky—but for someone like me, a veteran [Spell Breaker], she was still plenty usable.
“R-Really? I’m not useless?”
“Of course not. If you were, I’d have dropped you already.”
No need to keep her around unless Reina insisted.
Ridipin gasped, startled, and Reina awkwardly chuckled while tapping my shoulder.
“W-What he means is, you did great, Ridipin!”
“R-Right…”
Just as things got awkward, Professor Hazen approached.
“Group 6. 5 minutes, 21 seconds. That’s the fastest time in Great Beast Warfare practice history.”
The students murmured.
“I knew it was fast, but five minutes?! That’s cheating!”
“I thought they were all nobodies except Serenia…”
“Is it because they’re all highborn nobles?!”
Some denied reality, others sank into despair, while some stared at us with interest.
Even the famously apathetic Ceres Laplace took notice.
As tension built, the next group’s practice started and the attention scattered.
“Dammit! Just do what I said!”
“Better to go alone than work with you!”
“You idiot!”
They didn’t cooperate, acted selfishly, made mistakes—and the next three groups were quickly eliminated.
The typical result of group work.
Professor Hazen restored the forest with magic and called the students together.
“Many of you couldn’t even reach the 15-minute limit, let alone activate the stone. But don’t worry too much—this exercise was designed with failure in mind.”
The dark expressions lightened a bit.
“Your time at Iris Academy is all training. What matters isn’t success but what you learn. In that sense, Group 6’s practice is worth reviewing.”
He projected footage of our run and paused often to explain our strategy and intent.
“Creating advantageous terrain in Great Beast Warfare is critical. Here, Ridipin Lightjaz’s archery was vital. Not only did she knock down burning trees with single arrows, she got the angles right too.”
Ridipin blushed deeply and smiled shyly.
“Reina Serenia’s swordsmanship was strong and precise. She could compete with second-years.”
“Thank you!”
After Ridipin and Reina got their praise, I figured it’d be my turn next. I even looked forward to how Hazen would phrase it.
“And Ban Astrea… didn’t do much besides casting 1st-circle fire magic.”
…What?!
Sure, I didn’t technically use detection magic—but I did find the magic stone! And who do you think made the plan?!
But I couldn’t break character as a useless playboy, so I just looked at him with a betrayed expression.
He smirked back as if to tease me.
You better be glad you’re a professor…
After more tactical review, Hazen shut off the projection.
“That’s it for today. Since so many failed, today’s lecture ends early.”
With extra time, students resumed unfinished fights or talked about the next class.
Our group was no exception.
“Ban! Don’t be down! Sure, the professor didn’t praise you, but we know we couldn’t have done it without your plan!”
“I’m not really down…”
“C-Cheer up!”
“No, seriously, I’m not…”
Even as I insisted, Reina and Ridipin kept trying to comfort me.
I was only mad at Hazen, but being comforted made me feel even worse.
“Anyway, Reina—are you busy during lunch?”
“Not really? I was gonna train like always. Oh! Are you asking to train together?”
“No. Let’s go to the Stia Workshop.”
“Oh, right. You asked before.”
Stia Workshop was as famous as the Trihi Pavilion.
Originally named something else, it was redesigned by legendary artisan Stia Vesta and renamed after her.
It was filled with tools and equipment for crafting, but due to its hazards, only second-years could use it—unless you were top or runner-up of your division, in which case you could bring two guests.
“Well, since we’re already in the same group, let’s take Ridipin too!”
…That’s a bit of a problem.
But before I could say anything, Ridipin smiled brightly.
“C-Can I really…?”
“Of course! Right, Ban?”
With her so happy, I couldn’t say no. Besides, it didn’t make much difference if it was just Reina or both.
“If our top student says so, I must obey.”
“Awesome! But first—let’s eat!”
“You must be really hungry.”
“Well, we did move a lot, and today’s menu at the cafeteria is actually good—I mean! It’s just lunchtime, that’s all!”
Her trying to deny her foodie reputation was kind of cute.
