In the afternoon, at the square, it was time for swordsmanship training.

The Training Camp's horn sounded.

Liens and Ben quickly hurried towards the square with the crowd.

When they arrived at the square, Liens saw that the spot where wooden swords used to be piled was now neatly arranged with iron longswords.

"Is this… are they finally going to let us use real longswords?"

Liens thought to himself.

It had been almost four months since the Instructor started teaching Basic Swordsmanship.

Their numbers had also dropped from 100 to less than 40.

They had always used wooden swords as their training tools. Although the Training Camp's wooden swords were not light and had a good feel when struck, they were ultimately very different from real longswords.

Liens deeply understood this point.

He couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he thought of the scenes where he used wooden swords against enemies in the Instance and was cut to death by those guards. He instantly felt a bit annoyed and wished he could enter the Instance right now to hack those guards to death seven or eight times.

"What's wrong? Your expression is a bit strange." Ben noticed Liens's unusual look and asked him.

"Nothing… I just suddenly remembered some unpleasant things from the past, and I feel a bit uncomfortable."

Liens also realized his emotions were off. After adjusting himself, he shook his head at Ben and explained.

"Unpleasant things, huh… You must be thinking of the dead from before."

"Whenever there's a new change in the square in the afternoon, it means the training content has changed again."

"That means the possibility of deaths has increased again. It's normal to feel a bit uncomfortable when you see your own kind suffer."

Ben also sighed a little when he heard Liens's reply.

His gaze was fixed on the longswords placed not far away, somewhat deep, as if he was recalling something.

Ben, whose dream was to become a bard, had richer emotions, and nothing touched the heart more than death.

Liens was silent.

After several months of getting along, he had come to understand Ben's personality somewhat.

Therefore, he understood that Ben's words were actually for himself; he was the one truly feeling for his own kind.

Were the appearance of these longswords good or bad?

Only when the Instructor truly announced the training content would it be clear.

Liens didn't wait long. The Instructor, who seemed to never change his clothes, came before them once everyone had gathered.

However, it wasn't just the Instructor who never changed his clothing style. Spot an error? Visit the original post on M&VLEMPY&R.

Except for Marvin, everyone else in the entire Training Camp basically wore the same clothes repeatedly.

It was like a prison, where different clothes represented different statuses.

"You should have already seen the longswords placed over there."

"That's right, those are the weapons that will be distributed for you to use shortly."

The Instructor said calmly, his words confirming Liens's earlier guess.

"First, congratulations. From this moment on, you are very close to successfully graduating."

"From now on, you no longer need to practice Basic Swordsmanship, nor do you need to undergo morning physical training."

The Instructor paused here for a moment, seemingly giving Liens and the others time to react.

Upon hearing this, Liens did not feel any excitement.

He still understood the principle of 'the last leg of a journey is the hardest'.

Until he truly left this Training Camp alive, everything was still uncertain.

Moreover, even if he successfully graduated and left here alive, he would become a Slave outside.

Thinking of this, he really couldn't be happy.

Only freedom… only escaping the status of a Slave and gaining freedom was his constant goal.

Furthermore, Liens actually felt a tiny bit of reluctance towards the Training Camp.

This place was full of people he wanted to kill. He wouldn't feel any guilt for killing those people in the Instance or even in reality.

The existence of those people satisfied his craving for slaughter.

But what if, after leaving, he only encountered strangers with whom he had no grudges? Could he still bring himself to do it then?

Liens's answer to himself was — yes, he could.

The brain lesion and countless acts of slaughter had greatly altered his worldview; he was not averse to killing now.

However, the education he received in his previous life made him somewhat dislike the act of turning the butcher's knife on strangers.

"I hope I can quickly find a group of guys who annoy me after I get out."

Liens silently thought to himself.

"From today until the graduation assessment, there is only one thing you need to do every day."

"Fight, continuously fight."

"Next, each of you will receive a longsword. You will need to wield the longsword and engage in duels."

"What you need to do is defeat your opponent or kill him."

"In short, it's just like your previous duels, only the weapons have been replaced with real longswords."

"No passive dueling, otherwise, death!"

The Instructor continued with a serious expression.

Upon hearing the Instructor's serious declaration, the Trainees who had initially been excited, thinking they would finally make it to graduation, felt their hearts sink considerably.

Dueling with real swords? This was pushing them to their deaths.

A wooden sword striking a person, apart from hurting a bit, didn't cause much problem.

But if a real sword cut someone's body, it would at least be a bleeding wound, and a deeper one would be a fatal injury.

Battles change in an instant; who could guarantee they wouldn't get injured?

Moreover, this was referring to a situation where one was always the victor.

It was impossible for a loser not to be injured and still be considered defeated… As seen from previous duels, the Instructor would not allow such a situation.

If you haven't even fought with all your might, how can you be considered defeated?

And once the Instructor deemed it a passive duel, the outcome was death.

The current situation made even Liens feel a bit troubled.

Previously, he had kept his duels at a fifty-fifty win-loss rate, maintaining a middle position so as not to become too conspicuous due to consecutive victories.

As for the guards' whipping punishment, he had long grown accustomed to being beaten; he just endured it and it passed.

But now, with real sword duels, he couldn't afford to lose.

Losing meant getting injured, and injury would affect his condition. If his condition became too poor, even if he was very strong, it would be difficult to guarantee he would continue to survive the duels.

Duels weren't just one match, but round after round, just as the Instructor said, like the previous wooden sword duels.

"This is troublesome. Many people might die in this situation, Liens… Do you think we'll be the ones who survive?"

Ben said softly to Liens beside him, a worried look on his face.

At this moment, the scene was a bit noisy, because Ben wasn't the only one speaking.

Facing the pressure of death, even with the Instructor's deep-seated authority, it was difficult to keep everyone quiet.

"Let's try our best to survive. Besides that, we have no other choice."

Liens replied to Ben with a solemn expression.

Liens was thinking about how much strength he should display later and whether he needed to… kill people?