Chapter 117 - end of 1st day training
Eithen stepped into the training area.
I watched him carefully.
At first, I was curious.
After all, Chloe had called him one of the most talented members of our generation.
But...
The longer I watched him fight, the more my interest disappeared.
His swordsmanship was decent.
His mana control was good.
His physical abilities were above average.
But there was nothing particularly impressive about him.
I could already think of more than ten different ways I could defeat him.
So this is the person Chloe called extremely talented?
I sighed internally.
Not bad.
Just not special.
I quickly lost interest and turned my attention elsewhere.
Unfortunately...
Luna hadn’t forgotten our previous conversation.
She leaned closer.
"So..."
"What did you tell Elara?"
I glanced at her.
"Nothing important."
She narrowed her eyes.
"You’ve been saying that for a while."
Then she looked toward Elara.
"What did this guy tell you?"
"He usually talks nonsense."
"If he said something ridiculous, just ignore him."
My mouth fell open.
I stared at her in disbelief.
"You..."
"Have you completely lost faith in me?"
"What do you even think of me?"
Luna looked at me calmly.
"A bully."
My eyes widened.
"Me?"
"A bully?"
"Name one person I’ve bullied."
Luna immediately pointed at herself.
"Me."
"Who else?"
"You’re always finding ways to bully poor little me."
I was speechless.
"..."
"You little—"
I pointed at her.
"Who is always hitting me first?"
"You’re an evil princess who pretends to be good!"
"Don’t let her innocent appearance fool you."
"She is absolutely evil!"
A black line appeared across Luna’s forehead.
Her hand slowly rose.
I immediately pointed at it.
"See?"
"She is pure evil."
Luna’s hand stopped in midair.
If she hit me now, she would prove my point.
But if she lowered her hand...
I’d give her that smug expression she hated.
She stared at me.
I stared back.
A few seconds passed.
Then—
Thump!
She hit me.
I quickly dodged.
"See?"
"She has no heart!"
"She just attacked a poor, innocent person!"
Elara burst out laughing.
But Luna wasn’t finished.
She reached toward me and pinched my arm.
I immediately pinched her back.
Then I gave her a smug smile.
"See?"
"I’m not someone you should mess with."
Luna rolled her eyes.
She hadn’t even registered the pinch as pain.
Elara quickly intervened.
"No, no."
"Princess, you misunderstood."
"It’s actually like this."
"My family is also planning an engagement for me."
"So I asked Gray how he felt when he found out about his own engagement."
Luna’s expression immediately became thoughtful.
She slowly turned toward me.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"So..."
"What exactly did he tell you?"
Elara explained everything I had told her.
Luna listened quietly.
By the time Elara finished, Luna’s fierce glare toward me had disappeared.
I looked at her, offended.
"See?"
"I told you."
"She is completely evil."
Luna ignored me.
"You really said all of that?"
I shrugged.
"It’s true."
Before Luna could respond, the instructor finally stopped the spar between himself and Eithen.
Eithen stepped away from the training area.
Then Elara’s name was called.
She smiled at us.
"It was really enjoyable spending time with you two."
"But it’s my turn now."
She walked toward the training area.
Luna and I both nodded.
"Good luck."
"Do your best."
Elara smiled before entering the arena.
We watched her fight.
And this time, I paid close attention.
Elara’s combat experience was impressive.
Her movements weren’t merely technically correct.
They were refined through actual experience.
If I fought her under certain conditions, I could tell that I would fall behind in combat experience.
Even the instructor praised her for it.
Interesting...
I wondered what she had gone through to develop that level of experience at our age.
Eventually, her match ended.
After a few more participants finished their spars, the instructor called us over.
Everyone gathered around him.
"Alright."
"Training for today is over."
A few participants visibly relaxed.
But then he continued.
"Starting tomorrow, we won’t be training here."
My eyes immediately lit up.
"We’re moving into the wilderness."
"You need actual field experience before you even think about entering the Secret Realm."
My excitement immediately increased.
The wilderness?
That sounded much more interesting than simply training on a field.
Beside me, Luna’s eyes were shining as well.
The instructor dismissed us.
I immediately turned toward Luna.
She grinned.
"It sounds like fun."
I nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah."
"Tomorrow’s training is going to be amazing."
Elara looked between us with a strange expression.
"Are you two okay?"
"You do realize tomorrow is wilderness training, right?"
"It could be dangerous."
Luna and I looked at each other.
Then we answered at the exact same time.
"And fun."
Elara stared at us.
A strange expression appeared on her face.
"You two really match each other."
We immediately looked away.
"Who matches with him?"
"No way."
Then we looked at each other.
Both of us glared.
Elara burst into laughter.
I ignored her and took out three juice packs from my Space Storage.
I handed one to Luna and one to Elara before keeping one for myself.
We drank our juice while walking back.
On the way, I noticed Amy and Elena had already been surrounded by the other members of their respective training groups.
We decided not to bother them.
As for Eithen...
He looked completely exhausted after the day’s training.
Chloe stayed beside him and eventually helped him back toward his room.
I briefly glanced at them before losing interest.
We said goodbye to Elara before Luna and I returned to our rooms.
After taking a shower and changing, we met again for lunch.
Amy and Elena eventually joined us.
Amy looked toward us.
"So?"
"How was your first day of training?"
I smiled.
"It was fine."
"But tomorrow is going to be much more interesting."
"The instructor said we’re going into the wilderness for training."
My eyes immediately lit up again.
"Isn’t that awesome?"
Amy noticed my excitement and smiled.
"That does sound interesting."
I nodded.
"Exactly!"
We continued eating while Elena and Luna talked together.
The conversation eventually shifted to various things about the training camp.
Before we realized it...
Time had already passed.
Soon, it was dinner time.
Mother and the Empress joined us, and naturally, they wanted to hear about our first day.
"So..."
Mother looked at us.
"How was the training?"
We began explaining everything that had happened.
The physical training.
The sparring.
The instructor.
The different participants.
And finally...
The announcement about tomorrow’s wilderness training.
As we talked, my excitement for the next day continued growing.
Tomorrow...
The real training would finally begin.
Mother and the Empress listened to us with amused expressions as we described the day’s training.
Judging by their faces...
We probably sounded less like children attending a serious training program and more like we had just returned from a vacation.
Once we finished explaining everything, Amy and Elena began talking about their own training.
Apparently, they had handled it extremely well.
They described their training with confidence, explaining how they had crushed through their exercises and found the whole experience surprisingly fun.
We continued eating while listening to their stories.
Eventually, Mother smiled.
"Alright."
"I’m glad you all are enjoying the training."
"But remember to be careful tomorrow."
"Wilderness training is different from practicing here."
"You never know when a wild monster might appear and attack you."
Her expression became slightly more serious.
"If the situation becomes dangerous, don’t try to handle it yourselves."
"If the worst happens, your instructor will step in and protect you."
We all nodded.
"Understood."
The Empress smiled as well.
"Then have fun."
"But don’t become careless just because you’re enjoying yourselves."
We nodded again.
"Understood."
After that, we continued our dinner while talking about tomorrow’s training.
Eventually, the meal came to an end.
Everyone began heading toward their rooms.
I also returned to my room.
Before entering, however, I noticed Luna nearby.
She looked extremely sleepy.
Her eyes were barely open.
A mischievous idea immediately appeared in my mind.
I quietly walked closer.
Luna didn’t seem to notice me.
Perfect.
I raised both hands.
Then—
CLAP!
I clapped loudly right beside her ear.
Luna nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Ah!"
She looked completely startled.
I immediately sprinted toward my room.
"Gray!"
"You...!"
I could hear her footsteps behind me.
I ran even faster.
There was no way I was letting her catch me.
Especially not when she was this sleepy.
I reached my room, slipped inside, and quickly locked the door.
A few seconds later, Luna arrived outside.
"Gray!"
I leaned against the door with a satisfied grin.
Then I called through it.
"Good night, Luna."
"Sweet dreams."
Silence.
Then—
Stomp!
"You!"
"You think you’re getting away with this?"
"I’ll catch you tomorrow!"
Her voice was filled with anger.
I could already imagine her standing outside with her cheeks puffed out.
A smile appeared on my face.
"Good luck."
I heard her huff before her footsteps slowly disappeared down the hallway.
I finally turned away from the door.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Wilderness training.
Monsters.
New experiences.
And, most importantly...
Plenty of opportunities to have fun.
I climbed into bed.
The moment my head touched the pillow...
I fell asleep like a log.
———-
A/N :-
DreyEA,thank you so much for the two Golden Tickets!
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Gibeling,thank you so much for the Golden Tickets!
I really appreciate the support!