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Chapter 177: A New Training Begins (2)

As the knights moved to the training grounds, their lips were pouted.

What could the Lord be so busy with all the time?

We could take it a bit slower.

“Ugh, I don’t think my body has fully recovered yet.”

“Ouch, it hurts so much!”

Some knights were whining, but Ghislaine pretended not to hear as she moved on to the training grounds.

Even without her stepping in, Gillian was looming behind, glaring and pushing the knights forward.

Upon arriving at the training ground, the knights wore puzzled expressions.

There were dozens of platforms set up, each about a person’s height, but they couldn’t figure out what kind of training equipment it was.

As if to clear their curiosity, Ghislaine ascended to the central platform and announced,

“From now on, we’ll be practicing falling techniques.”

At that, the knights looked even more bewildered.

Everyone knew a falling technique or two. It was only natural, as mercenaries trained for combat and were unfamiliar with mana circulation methods.

The knights chuckled and spoke up.

“We know how to fall!”

“Hey, you underestimate us.”

“We can manage the basics!”

But Ghislaine shook her head and continued,

“From now on, you must master what I teach you. No more nonsense, just follow along.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ghislaine jumped down from the platform to demonstrate.

Landing on one arm and shoulder, she rolled her body to disperse the impact in a lateral fall technique.

The knights snickered at the sight.

“Come on, we’re knights who can use mana. How is that impressive?”

“Right? That looks pretty lame. I doubt we’ll need to use it.”

“A knight rolling on the ground like that… Doesn’t that seem a bit shabby?”

“Can’t you show us something else? There are much cooler falling techniques, right?”

Since becoming knights, those who were full of hot air all chimed in.

Now that they learned mana, they wanted to show off a bit, but why did they have to learn such an embarrassing technique?

It looked silly, and they doubted they’d ever need such a lousy technique.

To the knights who were grumbling, Ghislaine said nonchalantly,

“Truly essential survival techniques seldom look pretty. Efficiency comes first. Now, everyone, give it a try.”

The movement itself wasn’t difficult, so the knights followed easily.

The platforms were only about the height of a person, so there was no danger. They approached the training relaxed, thinking it was just basic training.

Ghislaine walked around to check their postures, correcting anyone who was out of line.

Thanks to their prior experience and familiarity with other falling techniques, they quickly adapted to this new method.

“Hmm, good. You all picked it up fast.”

At Ghislaine’s words, the knights laughed heartily. This was indeed training suitable for beginners.

“My Lord, this hardly counts as training. Where could you even call it training if it took less than a day?”

“Oh, I guess our lord is bored. Just say it honestly.”

“Shall we have a drink later?”

Since most were mercenaries, they didn’t easily change their casual attitudes even after becoming knights.

As Gillian frowned and stepped forward, Ghislaine waved her hand with a smile.

“Enough. Let’s hold off on play for now. Practice to get a bit more familiar. You’ll be using this often from now on.”

The knights looked puzzled and asked,

“What do we use this for? That falling technique seems a bit intense on the arms. Will you teach us other stances?”

There are various types of falling techniques. The direction and stance one falls during a fight depend entirely on chance.

Among them, the technique Ghislaine showed looked rather ineffective.

However, Ghislaine shook her head and answered,

“This is the only one I’ll teach. The rest, you can use as you like.”

Though they couldn’t understand why she was teaching such a subpar falling technique and not others, the knights didn’t question it further.

They just assumed since they were still recovering, she wouldn’t make them do anything too rigorous.

The knights quickly became accustomed to the exercise and dropped from the platform while rolling to the side.

Seeing that, Ghislaine told the waiting servants,

“Raise the platform a little higher.”

As if prepared ahead of time, a low wooden platform was placed atop the original one.

Though the height increased somewhat, it was still not threatening. The knights succeeded once again without difficulty.

In fact, some found it more entertaining with the added height.

As if knowing their sentiments, Ghislaine continued,

“Raise it a bit more.”

It certainly got more fun. The knights, who had been bored from resting, eagerly participated in training.

But shortly after, the same phrases followed.

“A bit higher.”

“One more time.”

“Right there, just a little more.”

“Just go ahead and make it even higher.”

At some point, the height reached a level where they couldn’t endure without using mana.

The knights swallowed hard as they looked at the towering platforms.

Initially, they grabbed onto the platforms to climb up; midway, they used a small ladder. But now they needed to use a long ladder to ascend.

If a normal person without mana fell from that height, their arms and legs would be shattered.

“……”

A flurry of questions swirled in the knights’ minds.

Why on earth do we have to fall from such a height? Does falling from that height even mean anything?

As everyone stood still, Ghislaine urged,

“What are you waiting for? Keep training. Why just stare?”

One knight cautiously asked,

“Um… My Lord, it doesn’t seem like this height can be handled with just a falling technique.”

“What are you talking about? You all can use mana now. This height is still safe.”

“If it’s meant to be protected by mana, then what’s the point of a falling technique…?”

“It’s so you can hold up. Concentrate all your mana on the arm and shoulder that hits the ground as you fall. You’ll practice reinforcing specific body parts with mana too.”

With quick insight, one knight stammered and asked,

“S-so, does that mean we don’t need any other falling techniques…?”

Ghislaine, looking impressed, nodded deeply at the knight.

“Falling from a great height renders other methods irrelevant. But using the falling technique I taught you will only break one arm, and you’ll be able to get up and fight.”

Gordon, who couldn’t stand injustice, shot up and yelled,

“Why do we need to train like this?! It’s not like we’re fighting giants!”

“It’s not meant for combat.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“It’s for when you need to jump or fall from the castle wall.”

“……”

You go up the castle wall to guard, not to jump off it.

Whatever the falling technique was, jumping off the castle wall meant you’d likely get surrounded and killed by enemies.

It seemed the Lord had jumped off a few times in previous wars, thinking everyone else could do it as well.

“Do we really have to do this? Is there ever a reason to fall from a high place?”

When another knight asked, Ghislaine nodded as if it were obvious.

“While fighting, anything could happen. Training prepares you for those situations. It’s best to practice if you want to improve your chances of survival.”

“Guh…”

The knights started rising to the platforms one by one, unable to refute Ghislaine’s words. Their faces were grim and pale.

They could no longer train with relaxed smiles like before.

One slip-up could mean not just an arm but also other parts getting shattered.

Screams erupted from everywhere as knights fell.

“Ahhhh! Help me!”

“It hurts so much!”

“We’re just junior knights!”

No matter how much mana they could use, there was a limit to the height these junior knights could endure.

Plus, due to the nature of the mana circulation methods they had learned, using up all their mana would make them cough up blood, so they could only use it momentarily right before hitting the ground.

As a result, their mana control skills improved quickly, but on the contrary, their bodies and minds deteriorated once more.

“Ugh, my arm is turning purple.”

“Is this really effective? Is there no plan to just push us all off the castle wall?”

The knights continued their training, groaning. Many had their arms covered in bruises. Those who messed up with the falling techniques ended up with their whole bodies turning blue.

Fortunately, since it wasn’t a real battle, Ghislaine adjusted the height somewhat, so they just ended up with bruises.

After several days of rolling about, the knights finally mastered the “survive with one broken arm” falling technique perfectly.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Next training. This time it’ll be closer to a real battle.”

“Huh?”

At the location Ghislaine led them to, there was indeed a very high platform set up.

The height of that platform wasn’t just typical castle wall height, but more akin to the walls of the royal capital Cardenia—very tall.

The knights looked up at the platform and assured themselves.

At the junior knight level, if they fell from here, they were guaranteed to die.

Naturally, intense reactions erupted.

“My Lord! Falling from here? We’ll never survive!”

“We’ll all just die!!”

“What’s bothering you this time?!”

Ghislaine, seeming unbothered, spoke softly.

“Relax. How could anyone just jump down from there? I’m not that reckless. I’ll lower a rope, and you’ll practice coming down quickly using that.”

“Oh, I see.”

The knights felt a bit reassured at last. Climbing up and down a rope from the wall was common and important training, so no one doubted Ghislaine.

Ghislaine set up a long platform at the top of the structure and expertly tied a long rope to lower it down.

“Now, one at a time, come down.”

Having done it a few times at Castle Penris, this wasn’t very difficult training for the knights.

The difference was that they were hanging from just a single rope in thin air, with nowhere to step on, and it was high, making it a bit scary.

The first knight called quickly grabbed the rope and began descending.

It wasn’t because it was familiar; he aimed to finish this scary moment as quickly as possible.

As he hastily descended, he suddenly stopped moving, breaking out in a cold sweat.

‘The rope… is short? Why is it short? It shouldn’t be short!’

He still had quite a way to go before touching the ground, yet the rope seemed a bit short.

The knight quickly climbed back up and shouted,

“My Lord! The rope’s short! There seems to be a problem!”

From above, Ghislaine’s voice came down.

“Don’t worry. It’s supposed to be like that. When you reach the end of the rope, jump down as I showed you.”

They say that a lion will push its cubs off a cliff to raise them strong. But the knights weren’t interested in becoming lions at all.

“I don’t want to! How could I jump down from here? What on earth is the purpose of this training?!”

“Because it’s necessary. Ah? What’s this guy doing? Climbing up? Not jumping down?”

Ghislaine swiftly drew her sword from her waist. The knight was climbing back up way too fast after learning a bit.

Whoosh!

As Ghislaine swung her sword, the rope snapped, and the knight who had been climbing up began to fall.

“Ahhhhh! This is bullshit!”

While cursing out loud, the knight instinctively took the falling position. Thanks to the hellish training he’d undergone.

In a crisis, his body moved on its own… Honestly, he hated the training, but it was undeniably effective.

The knight focused all his mana on his arm, just as he learned.

If he didn’t, he’d surely die. Facing death, he even gained a small realization.

Whoosh!

The knight intensely focused, experiencing the phenomenon of time slowing down.

Boom!

As he hit the ground, he rolled as much as he could to disperse the impact.

Indeed, to survive, looking cool was of no use. Sad but true, Ghislaine was right.

The pain was immense, but his arm didn’t break. The training had really paid off.

“I-I survived! I survived! Hahaha! Cough!”

As he burst into joyful laughter, the knight fell over, coughing up blood.

Even though his arm didn’t break, that didn’t mean there wasn’t an impact when hitting the ground.

Fully dispelling the impact would require more mana and precise technique, but that was a hard task for a junior knight.

Ghislaine looked back at the knights waiting behind her and grinned.

“See? You can all do it, right? Next.”

The knights, with tears in their eyes, grabbed the newly prepared rope and began to descend again.

Any knights from this abnormal territory… truly should never have been part of this.

And so the knights began their training of vomiting blood once more.

 

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