Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 13

The difficulty of the regular training the 3rd Infantry Platoon was undergoing was much higher than Roden had thought.

The proof was that he was already out of breath by the end of the first training exercise, the run.

It was a part that made him realize anew just how much Ernst had neglected his training.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have exercised a bit during the few days of rest.’

A four-day break.

This break was extremely boring for Roden.

It was because he could read all the books he borrowed from Chevalier in just a few hours.

It was no exaggeration to say that he had spent most of his time lazing around in bed.

Of course, it wasn't that Roden had only played around.

He made an effort to grasp the state of the war, which he couldn't know through Ernst's memories because Ernst had not been interested.

‘First of all, the fight between the Imperial Army and the Allied Forces began with the Ingens Empire's invasion.’

A period of peace that had lasted for decades.

The Ingens Empire, which had steadily accumulated wealth during that period, invaded the eastern kingdoms to escape its boredom.

The first target was the small kingdom of Minutus.

And the Kingdom of Minutus tasted the humiliation of being erased from the map within a few hours of the empire's invasion.

Afterward, the empire, riding on its momentum, simultaneously invaded Aratio, Livar, and Zacht.

And the three kingdoms fell into a great crisis, pushed back by the power the empire had been quietly amassing, and in the end, the Kingdom of Zacht also met its demise.

It had only been three days since the empire's invasion began.

As the situation unfolded this way, the eastern kingdoms felt a sense of crisis.

‘At this rate, the east will be devoured by the empire one by one.’

Thus, it was Mediale, the powerhouse of the east, that proposed the formation of the Allied Forces amidst the sense of crisis.

And not to be outdone, Mediale's eternal rival, Certator, also actively stepped forward to form the Allied Forces.

Thanks to this, the east gained a focal point in Mediale and Certator and quickly formed the Allied Forces.

‘For a moment, opinions were divided on who would be the Commander-in-Chief, but this problem was also quickly resolved when the Mediale's First Sword, the Glockner family, took a step back.’

The Allied Forces, finally formed with a perfect structure.

Fifteen days after the Imperial Army's invasion, the Allied Forces' counterattack began.

And for a time, the Allied Forces pushed the front line westward with fearsome momentum and even aimed for the territory of the Ingens Empire.

However, once the briefly bewildered Imperial Army regained its senses, the Allied Forces had to be pushed back to the east again.

What was fortunate was the fact that the Imperial Army could not advance any further than this.

The Imperial Army's strength had also waned a little as its supply lines lengthened.

Currently, the Imperial Army and the Allied Forces each had three corps engaged in a power struggle at the strategic points of the war.

These were the Plumen River, which the 1st Corps was blocking, the Yugum Mountains, which the 2nd Corps was defending, and the Aequor Plains, which the 3rd Corps was trying to occupy.

The Plumen River was the best supply route spanning the east and west.

And the Yugum Mountains were the Allied Forces' armory, where high-quality iron ore was produced.

‘Finally, the Aequor Plains, which has the greatest connection to Roden, is a kind of arena. If we can just occupy it, we can greatly push the front line and boost the army's morale.’

All three were places that neither the Imperial Army nor the Allied Forces could afford to lose, and it was certain that the tide of the war would change greatly if even one of them was pushed back.

However, since neither side had been able to advance for a long time here, it was possible that the border would be drawn as it was and the war would end.

‘Or a picture where cracks appear within the Imperial Army, or within the Allied Forces, and one side self-destructs.’

In any case, this was the state of the war that Roden had grasped by pretending to take a walk for a few days and eavesdropping on the soldiers' conversations.

He had even met Chevalier in the middle of it and cross-verified that what he had found out was correct, so it could be said to be certain.

However, it did not take long to obtain this information either.

So, if Roden had set his mind to it, he could have taken the time to conduct light training separately.

But Roden had fallen into laziness and done nothing, and now he was resentful of his past self.

That was how difficult it was to undergo the regular training.

“Pant, pant.”

As Roden bent over and gasped for breath, Chevalier approached.

“Are you alright?”

He wasn't alright, to be honest, but Roden waved his hand and replied.

“I'm fine. Move on to the next training.”

He wasn't saying he was fine simply out of stubbornness.

It was because he had to conduct the same training as the soldiers to grasp the principle of how aura proficiency rises.

For the sake of research, he had to endure no matter how hard it was.

Chevalier looked down at Roden, who said he was fine while gasping for breath, for a moment, then raised his voice.

“Well, then we'll move on to the next training right away. Next is basic skills training.”

Fortunately, the second training was something Roden could handle well enough.

It was because Roden had mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship thanks to the strange phenomenon.

To be honest, he was confident he could do the basic skills training better than anyone else.

But,

“First, 500 overhead cuts!”

The number Chevalier mentioned was beyond Roden's imagination.

In the first place, he began to doubt whether it was even possible for a person to swing a sword 500 times.

However, even after hearing Chevalier's command, the soldiers drew their swords from their scabbards as if it were a matter of course.

Then they began to swing their swords in a motion that was neither too fast nor too slow.

‘A-are they really doing this?’

While Roden was dumbfounded.

“What's wrong? Are you perhaps not alright?”

Chevalier asked, and Roden drew his sword and replied.

“No. I'm fine. I was just about to do it.”

And so, Roden repeated every motion 500 times, from the overhead cut to the low thrust.

He even received pointers from Chevalier in between.

“Too fast.”

“This time it's too slow.”

“It's fast at the beginning and then slows down later.”

It couldn't be helped.

No matter how much Roden had mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship, his arms were losing strength, so he couldn't control the speed as he wished.

It was the same for the soldiers who had nonchalantly drawn their swords and started training.

The soldiers didn't just have a problem with speed control.

Their entire posture had collapsed.

On the other hand, Roden's posture never broke, even if he got faster or slower.

It was a part that showed anew that Roden had reached a high level in the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship.

After swinging the sword so diligently, lunchtime arrived.

It was a real relief that there was a lunch break.

If they had just proceeded to the next training, he might not have been able to endure any longer.

Roden mixed in with the soldiers and ate the stew that was served for lunch.

It was made by soaking dried meat, and it didn't taste bad.

However, perhaps because his arms were trembling, more than half of the stew on his spoon kept escaping the tray.

Watching this, Chevalier, who was eating next to him, asked.

“Are you alright?”

Roden nodded with a half-dazed expression.

“Yeah. I'm fine.”

In fact, Roden was quite surprised by the sight of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, including Chevalier, conducting the regular training.

To think that they had been continuing such difficult regular training all this time.

It was enough to make him feel a respect he didn't have before.

Moreover, it wasn't as if Chevalier had it any easier just because he was the instructor.

Chevalier was doing all the training with the soldiers, including running with them and even the basic skills training.

Rather, since he had to discipline the soldiers in between, it was a situation where Chevalier had no choice but to have it harder.

‘But this is originally the duty of the Platoon Leader, not the Deputy Platoon Leader, right?’

When he thought of this, he, who was Roden until a while ago but not Ernst, felt sorry for Chevalier for no reason.

But it shouldn't be misunderstood that Roden had decided to help Chevalier.

Far from helping,

‘Please continue your hard work in the future, Deputy Platoon Leader.’

he was thinking this.

Because he was a busy person with his research.

‘Ahem. Everyone has their own role in life.’

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Roden coughed inwardly and engaged in self-rationalization.

Self-rationalization was an ultimate skill that Roden had favored since his days as a 1st circle mage.

***

And so, the honey-like lunch break ended, and the 3rd Infantry Platoon began their afternoon training.

The third training was a mock battle conducted in two groups.

Even though it was training conducted with wooden swords, it was quite bloody.

They charged fiercely as if they were really going to kill their opponents.

However, as it was training that resembled a real battle, it seemed quite helpful.

Even for Roden, who had never properly swung a sword on a battlefield, it was a way to learn a sense of combat.

‘By the way, these guys… don't they seem to hate me?’

Strangely, there were many soldiers aiming for Roden.

Even when Roden intentionally tried to fall back, his own teammates kept pushing him from behind.

Thanks to this, Roden had to fight one-on-one, as well as many-on-one battles, consecutively, just like in a real battle.

Thwack!

In the end, Roden, who couldn't avoid the kick from the 1st Squad Leader, Zailo, collapsed to the ground with a thud.

At the same time,

“I've taken down the enemy commander!”

Zailo shouted loudly with joy.

The opposing side in the mock battle rejoiced at this voice.

And his own side.

‘Ah. It wasn't my misunderstanding.’

Even Chevalier had a wide smile on his face.

As if satisfied with this, Chevalier announced the end of the third training.

“Alright, the mock battle is over. Now, we will conclude today's training with a final round of basic skills training. 250 overhead cuts!”

Basic skills training again.

Roden was astonished at the incredible intensity of the regular training.

The number of repetitions had been reduced by half, but it was still difficult.

‘Can I make it to the end?’

Roden began to swing his sword with this question in mind.

Unlike before, groans burst from the mouths of the soldiers swinging their swords with Roden.

“Ugh.”

“Hey, over there, aren't you going to do it properly?”

“Aack.”

“Your hands keep dropping.”

“Ughh.”

“If you don't do it properly, I'll increase the number of repetitions!”

At Chevalier's ruthless declaration that he would increase the number of repetitions, the soldiers corrected their positions and shut their mouths, but only for a moment.

Groans burst from the soldiers' mouths again, and they gradually turned into screams.

But even the hardest things have an end.

The same was true for the regular training.

“Training complete!”

Finally, Chevalier declared the end of the training.

At the same time, people started collapsing on the spot one after another.

Chevalier watched the scene calmly and said.

“We will take a 10-minute break and then return to the barracks.”

Only after hearing Chevalier's words did Roden sit down and rest.

Screams no longer came from the soldiers' mouths, but to Roden, it felt even louder.

It was because the muscles all over his body were screaming.

In the first place, this was the very first time Roden had ever exercised like this.

A similar experience remained in Ernst's memories, but that was all.

An immense pain that the brain had clearly intentionally erased from memory because it was too painful.

This pain was constantly tormenting Roden.

‘Ugh. I'm going to die.’

What was even more annoying for Roden was the fact that even after completing all this regular training, he had not been able to figure out the principle of how aura proficiency rises.

‘What on earth is the method? Why isn't aura accumulating?’

It was when Roden was thinking this.

‘Huh?’

When he came to his senses, he saw that the mana in its natural state was gathering around Roden.

Moreover, it wasn't simply gathering.

The mana was slowly seeping into his screaming muscles.