CHAPTER 38: SMOOTH AS SILK

The basic military training had ended for the day. Eric actually performed better than the last time, finishing the warm-up drills with minimal strain and performing the swordsmanship drills with everyone else until they all got tired.

Eric guessed they must have swung the sword about 400 times today, cutting the air before them, turning on their feet, training their upper-body and working on their balance.

All these he did perfectly, but he only managed to get just as tired as he was the last time, even though the drill time was longer and more strenuous. He saw he adapted faster than any of the other students would have in just two days.

He got a notification from the system as well. The same upgrade he received the last time. His Endurance stat was now at 25 points, while his Dexterity was on 30. The system had awarded more points to Dexterity again.

But what Eric really wanted an upgrade in was his Agility and Strength. He’d always enjoyed beating his opponents due to his speed ever since he was little. But most times, he couldn’t deal much damage because he was lacking in strength.

His greatest hit so far was the one where he smashed Styles’s head with the training sword, but that was because he was using the Killer Dash skill at that point. He wouldn’t have dealt that much damage without the skill. So he desperately wanted an upgrade in Strength and Agility, so he could deal more damage and be able to move faster also.

Currently, his Strength stat was on 25 points and his Agility on 50 points, which was his best stat out of all, except for Luck which is currently on 100 but can decide to take a nose dive at any moment.

His Willpower stat had never bothered him. With 32 points, he’d been able to block every effect used by mages against him, even an S-ranked mage like Winter. So Willpower wasn’t a major concern for now, even though the system warned it was very much important due to how chaotic and bloody his journey was going to be. There was still time to think about that anyway.

Something else was on his mind now, and that was his role as a Scout-in-training.

Before, he couldn’t have cared less that he’s been assigned Scout, because he never cared about the academy or anything. He was only here so the Red Hue Guild wouldn’t be in trouble. But his curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to see Master Max and ask him why they thought he was best fit for a Scout.

According to the students, that was the worst rank in the military, as Scouts do not have the essential attributes of a swordsman. They only run around passing information about the enemy’s camp. But Eric knew he must not have done that badly in the test to be awarded the lowest rank. He’d seen other students during training who are far worse than him, yet they still had the white ribbon on their arms.

Well, since he couldn’t find Master Max after that day, there was only one place to get answers. And that was the Scout’s training center. He dodged Silver and Gary as he weaved through the crowd of students, but still felt Opal’s watchful eyes on him while running out.

He must remember to have a talk with her later. Because he was starting to look like a main quest to her.

The academy had uploaded the academy’s map into every student’s system, so it was easy for Eric to navigate his way to the Scout’s training center. He stopped in front of a small building that was designed with different colors and shapes of old marble. Taking a look at the ribbon on his arm, he discovered they were almost similar; no definite color, no definite shape.

At the top of the building was inscribed the words "Rughar’s Last Wish." Eric guessed that was the name of the building, and it must have been in honor of the person called Rughar.

He stepped in quietly. For some reason he decided against announcing that he was here. He trod in slowly and carefully, like a thief.

Inside the building was eerily quiet, but as he edged closer to one of the open doors, he felt the movement of shadows darting into the corridor from the room. It looked like there was someone dancing rigorously, judging from how the shadows were moving so fast. But he could not hear any noise and even more strangely, he could not hear the sound of feet against the floor or the sound of robes blowing as the person moved, as was supposed to be associated with such a fast dancing exercise.

He finally mustered all the courage and peered into the room through the window. He saw a man alone in the middle of the room which was surrounded by candles. It was weird because he first thought it was a woman.

His hair was long, and he let it fall all the way down to his shoulders. He wore a tight-fitting uniform that was designed just like the camouflage ribbon Eric wore on his arm.

The man stopped moving suddenly, as if he had discovered someone was watching him. He turned his face towards the side of the room where Eric was watching, and Eric saw that the man had a black blindfold on. It was tightly bound over his eyes.

Eric feared he had been discovered at first, but then he became relieved when he saw the blindfold.

According to him, no one had that much awareness. The man must not have seen him. The sudden pause was probably part of the dancing. So he kept watching.

The man continued dancing, this time more gracefully. He brought out twin daggers from his belt and started using them in the air while his footwork added more grace to the otherwise awkward arm flailing.

Eric was astonished. To the normal eyes, it looked like a traditional dance technique, but Eric finally saw it wasn’t just a dance with the way the man pointed the daggers. He was practicing different fighting stances while moving fluidly and as silently as possible.

Eric realized the candles surrounding the man were placed there so he could move carefully and not blow the candles out while at the same time move and attack powerfully.

It was strange and interesting.

Eric had seen people train around candles so their swift movements could blow the candles out, but this man was doing the complete opposite, yet trying to achieve the same result of powerful strikes as those other men. It was the first time Eric was really impressed by anyone.

Suddenly, the man stood on one leg, jumped in the air and spun three times before landing. By the time he landed, the twin daggers were no longer with him.

Eric’s eyes bulged.

He hadn’t seen the daggers leave the man’s hands, but now he could see them moving in opposite directions now. One was flying towards him while the other was heading to the other window.

It was moving too fast to dodge, but Eric reacted instinctively all the same, bending down immediately. He tripped due to his own sudden movement and landed on his butt.

Luckily, the dagger wasn’t heading directly towards him, else he wouldn’t have dodged it. Him escaping by bending down was only due to the fact that it flew over his head instead of directly at him.

He was struggling to get back up when he heard the door swing open.

Out came the fluid dancer, rushing over to Eric, with his blindfold still on. He pointed a thin sword at Eric’s neck and said in a very soft voice lacking any kind of threat or violence:

"Who sent you?"