The First Day of Training

The First Day of Training

Lavna fully demonstrated the qualities of an outstanding subordinate. All her leader had to do was give a general direction, and she would handle every detail flawlessly. She had taken care of everything Pei Renli had thought of—and everything he had not.

But then again, since Lavna had investigated everyone, Pei Renli could take the opportunity to ask about Kaya.

"I did conduct a thorough investigation of the person you mentioned. I can say with certainty that there are absolutely no traces of any curse on her."

So the curse was just a rumor?

"While I do not know the reason, I must remind you that not all the rumors about her are false."

There was no smoke without fire. Even if the curse was fake, that girl definitely had some other secret. Otherwise, people would not be talking about her so much.

Pei Renli was still lying low. If he were as formidable as the previous Demon King of Tyranny, he could afford not to care, but for now, it was best not to get involved in something that clearly looked troublesome.

Pei Renli agreed with Lavna's advice. His top priority right now was figuring out how to survive. Satisfying his curiosity was neither necessary nor important.

As long as it had nothing to do with a curse, that was enough. He did not have to worry about being affected by one.

"By the way, where are you sleeping tonight?"

The dormitory was a single room with only one narrow bed.

"I can go more than ten days without rest. While you sleep, I will stand watch for you."

Just imagining it—Lavna standing beside the bed like a wooden post in the dead of night, her glowing eyes staring at the sheets in the darkness...

"You should go back..."

How the hell was he supposed to sleep with that atmosphere?

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

Lavna did not insist. She reached out, picked up Puni, who had just cleaned the dormitory, and walked toward one of the walls.

Then her entire body seemed to melt into the wall, or perhaps pass through a still surface of water. In the blink of an eye, she vanished.

That was teleportation. Apparently, it was Lavna's innate ability. She could take one or two people with her when teleporting, with the sole limitation being that she could not teleport somewhere she had never been before.

Pei Renli reached out and touched the clean wall. Every time he saw Lavna use her teleportation ability, he found it incredible.

After all, he had never actually seen real magic on Earth.

But soon, he would not merely be watching anymore.

The Adventurer Training School trained students in combat, and magic was naturally included.

Since it was not yet dinner time, Pei Renli simply lay down on the bed and casually opened the Demon King System.

The system interface could be opened and closed at will, though Pei Renli was still not very practiced with it.

It still covered his entire field of vision, and the information displayed had not changed much. In particular, the huge hourglass steadily draining away on the interface did not seem noticeably lower yet.

That was good news. At least it proved he would not be thrown into the Demon King Arena again anytime soon, and Pei Renli had plenty of time to prepare.

The only change was the "Reputation" beneath his name and level.

It had gone from 0 to 5.

Reputation could be exchanged for abilities and items. In short, the way to gain Reputation was to make a big splash.

Reputation was more or less equivalent to influence. The greater the influence, the higher the Reputation.

That was why Pei Renli had made a Jade Voice Broadcast during the principal's speech. After that incident, everyone in the school remembered him vividly...

Though that method had been a little socially fatal.

Then again, there were not many living people in the entire school to begin with, so he only had 5 Reputation. He could not even afford the cheapest healing potion, but at least it proved Pei Renli's idea was correct.

Still, as he had said before, Pei Renli always felt that there was something wrong with the Demon King System. Unless necessary, he did not really want to use its functions. Finding another way seemed more reliable.

Pei Renli had one excellent trait: he was not picky about beds and adapted well to unfamiliar environments. No matter where he went, he could maintain a normal routine.

Since his phone had run out of battery, Pei Renli had nothing to do at night. The result of going to bed early was waking up early.

Honestly, every time Pei Renli opened his eyes, he worried whether he had crossed over again. His previous experiences had nearly given him PTSD.

But waking up early was not just because he went to bed early. Mornings at the Adventurer Training School really did begin very early.

"Run faster! At your current pace, you cannot adapt to long-distance travel, much less save your lives from monsters!"

The sky had only just begun to brighten when all the students, whether they lived in the dormitories or commuted, were driven onto an open space resembling a sports field and told to run laps around its perimeter.

The man who had just spoken was a bearded teacher in his thirties or forties. Apparently, he was responsible for teaching wilderness survival and the use of ranged weapons.

For adventurers, basic physical fitness was extremely important.

Thus, everyone's first lesson was running laps around the field.

Pei Renli had never imagined that the first thing he would do upon waking up was run fifteen hundred meters.

For Pei Renli, whose usual life consisted of going to work when he had things to do and playing games when he did not, this amount of exercise was far too much.

"Buddy, can you still hold on?"

Unlike Pei Renli, who looked exhausted and on the verge of breathing his last, Alton beside him was very relaxed. Halflings might be short, but they were fast runners.

"You there! No chatting! Move it! Anyone who keeps dawdling will get no breakfast!"

After being scolded, Alton shrugged and quickened his pace, passing him.

He had already lapped Pei Renli once...

Among the more than sixty students, Pei Renli was the only one in such miserable shape. The others might not have looked completely at ease, but at least none had fallen behind.

It was no wonder. The dangers of a magical world were far beyond anything on Earth. Everyone received militia training as children, and those entering adventurer school were not there to learn how to fight. They were there to learn skills, knowledge, and experience related to adventuring.

In other words, most of them already had some training. Complete ordinary people like Pei Renli, who knew absolutely nothing, were rare. Even Gary, who was used to wearing heavy armor, ran faster than him.

After finally finishing the morning run, Pei Renli, already gasping for breath, was dragged to the cafeteria to wolf down some breakfast before hurrying to the classroom.

It was still the same teacher. He drew a picture of a plant on the blackboard and pointed at it.

"This is Star Sword Grass, an herb with slight healing properties and one of the essential ingredients in many alchemical potions. However, it looks extremely similar to many common weeds. You must remember how to identify it. What? You cannot remember? Trust me, once you accidentally eat poisonous grass, you will remember."

He had a point, but the reason everyone felt they could not remember its traits was because the teacher's drawing on the board was so sloppy that it rivaled an abstract painter's work...

Wilderness survival was naturally a subject adventurers had to master, but the teacher spoke quickly and urgently. Pei Renli, who was exhausted from running, really could not guarantee how much he would remember.

Fortunately, he was sitting down for class, so Pei Renli managed to recover some of his strength. However, the next lesson was combat training...

Most students who entered the Adventurer Training School already had some training, but there were also some ordinary people. To ensure that they could all become qualified adventurers, the school taught some basics during the first month.

For everyone else, this was basically a review of old knowledge, but for newcomers, keeping up with the pace was rather difficult.

The others nearby were trading blows with wooden weapons, while the teacher occasionally pointed out mistakes in their movements.

But when it came to Pei Renli...

For some reason, perhaps because he had been hit with some kind of buff, Kaya happened to be his sparring partner.

Her dazzling red hair was tied into a ponytail for easier movement. With a wooden sword in hand, she looked even more dashing. Purely in terms of appearance, she truly was stunning.

But the others all looked at Pei Renli as if to say, "That guy is doomed," as though he were about to be infected by a curse.

Yet Pei Renli felt that facing Kaya head-on was more stressful than any rumor about curses.

The moment the signal to begin sounded, Kaya, wooden sword in hand, launched herself forward and rapidly closed the distance.

Left? Or right?

He had no time to think. She was already in front of him.

Having absolutely no idea how to fight, Pei Renli could only raise his wooden shortsword. The next instant, his palm went numb, and the sword was knocked from his hand.

"Does closing your eyes help? Watch your opponent's attack path properly! Do it again, and you'll run three thousand meters."

Sure enough, the teacher scolded him.

When a sword came swinging at him at high speed, even knowing it was a wooden practice sword did not stop him from reflexively closing his eyes. Pei Renli came from a peaceful world—where would he ever have received this kind of training?

It was indeed a problem. Pei Renli knew he had to overcome that habit, or surviving in the Demon King Arena would be difficult in the future.

Kaya, acting as his sparring partner, did not seem dissatisfied at all. Once Pei Renli picked up his shortsword, she charged at him again.

Kaya clearly had some foundation in martial arts. Her movements were swift and crisp, without any unnecessary flourishes, and she was incredibly fast. Often, he could not even see where her attacks were coming from.

The result was that Pei Renli's shortsword was knocked out of his hand again and again. Eventually, his wrist became completely numb.

—He was numb in every sense of the word.

After he finally endured the combat training, the third lesson that morning was ranged weapons training. The class covered simple ranged weapons like slings, as well as powerful military weapons such as longbows.

A straw target stood before each student. Since it was the first class, the teacher told them to try whichever weapon they were skilled with or interested in, wanting to see their general level.

Pei Renli knew his own limits. He did not choose a heavy crossbow or a longbow, instead selecting a shortbow that was less powerful but easier to use.

With a thud, the arrow left the shortbow and struck the target—right in the bullseye!

"I hit it!"

After missing eight arrows in a row, Pei Renli had finally landed one.

Koura, standing beside him, tugged at Pei Renli's clothes.

"Hit my ass! You hit my target!"

Watching archers on television, it looked like archery was not that hard to learn, but that was really just how it looked...