Black Online

12th floor, Cubic Town, Traveler’s Heaven Store.

Ring~ Rock tapped on the golden bell on the desk, and the chiming bell sound echoed through the store.

"Coming!"

A shout came from the back.

"...Why are we here?"

Fang Raon whispered to the cute girl that was standing beside him.

"I am not quite sure."

Della said with a wry smile.

Sure, it seemed like they were here only for some travel equipment, but they weren’t in need of anything like that.

In that moment, the store’s owner came from the back, and once he caught sight of them, his vibe changed.

It became wider. Happier. More excited.

’The locals really like their player customers. We pay a lot, after all.’

Fang Raon thought after seeing that happy smile.

"What can I get you?"

He put his hands on the desk and asked with a smile.

"Two training bags. Extra heavy for good measure. Also add some heavy training boots to that as well."

Rock said.

"Right away!"

The store owner went to the storage, and a moment later, he came back with two heavy-looking bags and two boots.

"Check if they fit."

Rock handed the boots over to Fang Raon and Della—and they quickly tried them on—but Della handed hers back.

"Too small for me."

She said.

"Another pair. Size lower."

Rock said.

With a nod, the store owner went back to fetch another pair and quickly came back with another pair this time around.

Della then tried it out and was much happier with it this time around, and she then looked at Fang Raon.

His boots fit him nicely.

"Thanks."

Rock handed him the square coins for the purchase, and the store owner accepted it with a happy smile on his face.

"Put these on."

Rock tossed the two bags at them, and they caught them, but they almost fell down from the weight.

"Do you mean that we are supposed to walk with these on all the way to the training camp?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Do I hear complaining?"

Rock raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, I was just curious."

Fang Raon tossed the bag on, and he then tried lifting his feet, and because of the heavy training boots, it was actually quite difficult.

And because of Della’s small frame, she looked adorably small in comparison to the bag, and it really didn’t look like she could handle the weight.

However.

She stayed upright, even though there was a look of discomfort on her face.

"Let’s get going."

Rock said with a smile.

They left the Traveler’s Heaven Store, went straight for the town’s gates, and soon left the safety of the Safe Town.

With the help of Read, Rock scanned the nearby area for any hostile signs, but there wasn’t any at all.

’Doesn’t hurt to be careful. These training bags might fool some idiotic players that we have a lot of stuff.

’Now, the training begins.’

Rock cracked his knuckles and looked at the two, who were already struggling to walk, even though they were only walking on even ground.

It would get much... much harder, as they have to hike up hills with immense elevation changes.

"Ahh..."

Della almost fell backwards because of the weight of the bag, but Raon barely managed to grab her by the arm and pull her back up.

"Thanks..."

She said shyly and moved her hair out of her face.

"If I fall... I hope you’ll return the favor by saving me."

Fang Raon said with a wry smile.

"Giggle~ I will!"

Della said with a smile.

’Aren’t they in a jolly mood? Haha, we’ll see how long that lasts!’

Rock looked demonic with an evil chuckle escaping his lips, and the two looked at him with weird looks.

At that moment.

They started to notice that it was getting harder to walk as they were beginning to ascend up a small hill, but it was only going to get harder from this moment onwards.

"Ngh!"

Fang Raon gritted his teeth, and he had to lean forward so that his bag wouldn’t drag him backwards.

Slowly, his heavy feet began to carry him up the incline.

Cawk~ cawk~ Crows cawed on top of the trees, looking at the humans below with their beady eyes.

"At this training camp, Della, you’ll be expanding your mana while also focusing on your physical training.

"Even though you’re Mage, it doesn’t mean that you should be lacking and underestimating the importance of physical strength!

"And you, Raon, will be learning the Five Pillars of Strength while also improving all of your attributes, and... you’ll also learn to dance!"

Rock said with a smile.

’...Dance? For my Aurel’s Blade Dance skill?’

Fang Raon looked surprised.

"I’ve sought and found a dancing teacher for you. She is already waiting in the training camp. I can guarantee you that she won’t be taking it easy on you!"

Rock shouted.

"Yes, Master!"

Fang Raon shouted.

At that moment.

Rock looked ahead. There was a raised wall of natural rock in front of them. It would be easy to just walk around it.

However.

Rock jumped over it with ease, and he then crossed his arms and looked at the two of them, who were about to walk around it.

"No shortcuts. Climb the wall. We’ll be only going on a straight line here."

He said.

Fang Raon and Della looked each other in the eye. They gulped. Then, together, they started climbing the wall.

The wall was barely three meters tall, but with this heavy backpack and boots, it really wasn’t an easy climb.

"AARGH!"

Fang Raon grabbed the top of the wall, then pulled himself up, and saw that Della hadn’t yet completed the climb.

He was about to offer his hand to her, but then Rock slapped his hand away.

"No more helping. She needs to do this by herself. Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to come to this training camp in the first place!"

Rock said.

Even though she was his granddaughter, and he loved her dearly, he wasn’t going easy on her at all!

"Ah... Ah!"

Della let out a cry as she dragged herself up the wall, which took all her strength, and she barely had any strength left to stand up.

"Stand up. We’re not finished yet."

Rock said coldly and began walking up the incline, and Fang Raon slowly followed behind him.

But he looked behind at Della, to see how she was doing, and she barely managed to stand back up.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead, and with a determined look in her eyes, she dragged her feet behind her as she followed right after them.

’Good.’

Fang Raon smiled.

...

Cawk~ cawk~!

The crows screeched loudly as they soared high above, and then, they flew away from the humans.

It was like they were called for somewhere.

They soared between branches, moving with precision, and then they arrived at some kind of a mausoleum.

It was made of rock. It had a thick door.

There was a hole in the mausoleum wall, and the crows flew straight through it, and they flew around in the darkness.

But then...

They landed on top of a head. A stone head. It was a statue’s head of a long-haired woman.

Right under the statue, there was a golden scroll. It looked like many other skill scrolls, except it was golden.

It was a special one, for sure.

And at the wall, there was an inscription..

[The resting place of Aurel]

...

"Huff... Huff..."

Fang Raon panted heavily.

In that moment, they arrived at a location with lots of trees, so close to each other that it would be hard to squeeze the heavy bag through.

So far, the trees that they had seen were very scattered about, so they weren’t a problem except now.

"Straight line!"

Rock shouted, and he easily walked between two trees.

And then, Fang Raon tried following behind him, but the bag got stuck.

"Come on!"

He screamed, and he then grabbed the straps and forced himself through the narrow opening of the trees.

The bag was lucky it didn’t get ripped.

Then.

Della followed behind, and she had an equal amount of trouble, but eventually she got through the opening as well.

"I got an idea."

Della said with a cheeky smile.

Fang Raon looked at her, and he just smiled and nodded and let her do whatever she was planning to.

Della looked at the trees ahead of her, and instead of going through them, she formed a fist and punched.

Her punch ripped through the trees and sent splinters flying in all directions.

The trees were destroyed.

"..."

Rock turned to see what she just did, and he narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t outright forbid her from doing that.

However.

He added a mental note to punish her for that with an extra amount of training over at the training camp.

He again looked demonic with an evil chuckle leaving his lips.

"Ahaha... I think your grandfather is planning something."

Fang Raon said with a wry laugh.

"Hmph!"

Della pouted and said, "I am not afraid," but inside, she was actually quite a bit afraid of what her grandfather might do.