Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114
A silence fell over the training grounds.
All the Taton Knights, who had been in the middle of training, kept their mouths shut and stared at one spot.
Dirk was there.
He was panting heavily, barely lifting his sword with trembling arms.
His legs were also shaking. It would not have been strange if he lost his strength and collapsed on the spot.
“Dirk.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You still have stamina left. Excellent.”
“I can do more!”
Dirk shouted as if screaming his lungs out. In the first place, it was a situation where he could not even produce a voice without doing so.
His armor was dented as if it had been struck by a mace, and he could not even remember how many swords had already broken.
“This is combat with a Magical Beast. It’s different from facing humans.”
“Yes, sir! I am learning that for sure!”
“Your stance is good. Here I come again.”
“Yes, sir!”
Dirk gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
He glared at Reinhardt’s heavy iron club.
The iron club seemed to move, and then, it was right in front of his nose.
Dirk brought his sword against the club at an angle, remembering Reinhardt’s advice to deflect the impact.
But it was not enough.
“Keok, kuheuk!”
CRASH! BANG!
Dirk fell, armor and all, and rolled on the floor.
Since he was in full armor, the impact from the weight was also substantial.
Dirk stared at the ceiling.
His vision was slightly blurry. This impact felt particularly strong.
“Let’s stop here.”
“No, no, sir! I can do more!”
Stop here?
Dirk hurriedly tried to get up. But his body would not listen to him at all. Only the clattering sound of his armor joints echoed anxiously.
“Be wise, Dirk. There is plenty of time.”
“……Yes, sir.”
“Come back when you’ve collected yourself. You can wash off your sweat.”
“Is that all for today’s training?”
“That’s all.”
“Understood.”
Dirk soothed his disappointment and gathered his tired body.
Somehow, groaning, he got up and took off his heavy armor.
His body felt as light as a feather.
Dirk, who usually laughed off the weight of his armor as nothing, felt like he could understand the feelings of the other trainees today.
“Ugh.”
Only then did Dirk realize that everyone around him was watching.
They were the knights of Taton.
They had become knights early on, which meant that, in a way, they were all Dirk’s seniors.
‘Hehe, this feels better than I thought.’
Dirk suppressed his twitching lips.
In the first place, physical pain was nothing. When you got into fights in the back alleys, breaking a bone or two was a common occurrence.
As long as he could receive such gazes of admiration, Dirk was confident he could roll on the floor dozens of times with pleasure.
“I’ll wash up and be right back.”
“Do so.”
Dirk puffed out his chest and left the training grounds.
And only after there was no one watching did he start grinning and laughing.
‘Knight Dirk, you say. A knight directly instructed by Sir Reinhardt.’
Among the gazes he had received earlier, there was definitely envy mixed in.
In a way, Dirk was like Reinhardt’s only disciple.
Dirk returned to his quarters and washed up.
The fact that he had a private room also pleased him anew.
He found himself humming. His whole body ached, but his smile showed no sign of fading.
“I can do this. I might have a talent for it.”
Dirk muttered, roughly drying his hair with a towel.
He had, after all, endured Reinhardt’s training.
For a full three hours.
He had endlessly parried attacks that were beyond human strength and had learned how to respond with his body.
“The man who fought and won against ten men. The ignorant and strong Dirk.”
Back in the days when he was still struggling to live in Lockfort.
It was a nickname someone had given him.
Ignorant but strong. Dirk had quite liked that evaluation.
If you’re a little stupid, you just have to move your body more.
If it’s difficult, you just have to do it until it works.
If you lose a fight, you just have to pick a fight until you win.
Fortunately, Dirk had strength and stamina.
He had the will to constantly challenge, get broken, and still get back up again.
“I’ll smash all your heads in soon. This Sir Knight Dirk will.”
Having quickly tidied himself up, Dirk muttered so and left his quarters.
He headed to where Reinhardt would be waiting.
‘But why did he tell me to come to the commander’s office?’
It was a somewhat curious point.
Reinhardt had instructed him to come to the commander’s office as soon as he was ready.
Not his own quarters, but the commander’s office.
‘Does he have something to say to the Commander?’
After thinking for a moment, Dirk tilted his head and gave up.
He would find out when he got there anyway.
“Sir Knight! I’m here!”
“Come in.”
Dirk, feeling slightly nervous at the thought of meeting the commander, opened the door.
But when he peeked inside, only Reinhardt was there.
“Oh? Is the Commander not here?”
“He has stepped out for a moment. Come in and sit.”
“Yes, sir.”
The commander isn't in the commander's office?
Honestly, it was strange, but this time too, Dirk did not question it.
“You look well. Are you not tired?”
“Not at all! I can do more. You have no idea how sturdy I am.”
“……You do seem so.”
“I’ve already fully recovered. The food at Taton is so generous that I think I recover faster.
Eating is the most important thing for recovery, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
Dirk’s food intake was three times that of others.
Considering that most knights ate a lot, it was an enormous amount.
“It was the same when I was at the training grounds. I couldn’t understand why the other guys said it was tough. I mean, we ate a lot and slept well, so what was so tough?”
“Dirk.”
“Yes?”
“Move your arm.”
“My arm? Like this?”
Dirk moved his arm here and there. He rotated it in circles and bent it.
There was some muscle soreness, but it was at a level that would heal with just a good nap.
“Were you…… always like that?”
“Yes. I was always like that. A long time ago, when was it? I was stabbed with a knife during a fight in Lockfort.”
Dirk brought out a pleasant memory.
“It hurt a lot back then too, but I was all better after about two days. The other guys were horrified. They asked how I was already walking around.”
“Two days?”
“Yes.”
Dirk grinned and nodded.
He had no idea. Because he had been like that since he was very young, he clearly thought of himself as just being a little sturdy.
However.
Reinhardt knew for a fact that this made no sense.
‘What is this guy?’
***
When he faced the wolf Magical Beast.
Dirk had drawn his sword and charged bravely.
He had left a cut on its claw, then got hit and flew like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground.
‘Come to think of it, it was the same back then. He came to his senses in just a few hours.’
Moreover, his only injury was a minor fracture.
‘That didn't make sense either. A fracture? A fracture after being hit by a Grade 3 Magical Beast?’
For most humans, the moment they were directly hit by that paw, every single bone in their body should have turned to dust.
Of course, he was wearing armor and had received some training as a knight trainee.
Still, it was not an impact that should have ended with such a light injury.
“Dirk. How much time do you need to fully recover your condition?”
“Uh, I think I’ll be fine after a nap. About two hours.”
“Go and sleep.”
“Pardon?”
“Go rest.”
“Understood. Should I come back in two hours, then?”
“Yes.”
Dirk seemed somewhat puzzled, but he obediently followed the instruction for now.
‘This is absurd. If that’s a talent, it’s a talent. Is it one of those things? The more you get hit, the stronger you become?’
Dirk had a natural talent for physical senses.
But it was only at a ‘slightly superior’ level, not enough to be considered a genius.
‘And on top of that, he’s got toughness. An astonishing level of recovery. His learning speed seems fast too.’
It meant the more you pushed him, the stronger he got.
And at a very fast pace, at that.
Then it was obvious what kind of training Dirk should undergo from now on.
‘Continuing as I have been is the best way.’
Combat training against Magical Beasts.
It was a very brutish training method of learning how to fight opponents stronger and larger than oneself.
Which meant it was a perfect fit for the current Dirk.
Reinhardt spent the time formulating a specific plan.
And when about two hours had passed.
“Sir Knight! Are you in there?”
“Come in.”
Dirk returned with his usual energetic expression.
He was clearly overflowing with vigor.
He looked as if he had returned after resting soundly for several days.
“Have you recovered?”
“I’ve recovered completely. I’m full of beans. I feel like I could fight a Magical Beast right away.”
“Good. Let’s go again.”
“Pardon? Where are we going?”
“To the training grounds.”
“Oh!”
Despite hearing it was for training, Dirk’s expression brightened even more.
It was an innocence no different from a little kid who had just received a gift.
“Wasn’t today’s training over?”
“That was the plan. But your recovery was too fast.”
“I’m fine with that! In fact, I was a bit disappointed, you know? I, Knight Dirk, will see any training through to the very end!”
Reinhardt led Dirk to the same training grounds where they had trained before.
The knights who were engrossed in their training all turned around and were aghast.
“Why is Dirk here?”
“Seeing as he came with Sir Reinhardt……”
“Don’t tell me, again?”
“I think that ‘don’t tell me’ is correct.”
Amidst the commotion.
Dirk, as if he had never been tired, even smiled as he took his position.
In front of him stood Reinhardt, holding the familiar iron club.
“There are various types of Magical Beasts. Some are huge like last time, and some are smaller than a fist. Their habits are also diverse, and if you are not properly prepared, they will sever your lifeline in an instant.”
“Yes, Sir Knight.”
“For a while, you will learn how to deal with the large ones. Do you know what the training you are undergoing now means?”
“Yes. That one hurt more.”
What does this mean? After a moment of thought, Reinhardt soon understood.
‘He means he’s learning what to do when facing a strong opponent. It seems he’s got a general idea.’
Dirk was not particularly smart.
But he had intuition.
Judging from his experience fighting the wolf Magical Beast, he seemed to have grasped Reinhardt’s intention behind swinging the club.
“When fighting a giant Magical Beast……”
Reinhardt was about to give a plausible explanation but changed his mind.
Dirk needed an education tailored to his level.
“It will be a pattern of continuously getting hit and then landing a proper counterattack.”
“As I thought! I’m confident when it comes to getting hit.”
“You can’t just get hit. you have to get hit smartly.”
“So it hurts less?”
“Yes.”
Dirk nodded with a serious expression.
His eyes were contemplating how to get hit with less pain.
“The first goal of the training is to take my attack and still maintain your stance.”
“Understood.”
Reinhardt raised the club.
Dirk’s eyes shone as he took his stance.
“As I said, take it smartly.”
“Yes. I’ll try to use my head.”
“No.”
At the words ‘use my head’, Reinhardt shook his head firmly.
“You must not use your head. Feel it as you get hit. You’ll figure it out as you go.”