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After Professor Alexander’s groundbreaking lecture, Gilbert threw himself solely into Academy life. It was still too early to bring out his game knowledge.

Tactical Combat was a console game. Thus, it had a main storyline, with additional elements merely serving as extras to enjoy the game.

For instance, sub-quests and mini-games interspersed within the main story, along with the overall Academy life, borrowed directly from the training game system to extend playtime and provide additional entertainment.

In that sense, Academy classes were often skipped with a simple “attended class” message unless they were directly tied to the main or sub-stories.

However, even if Gilbert could use the game system, it didn’t mean this wasn’t reality. He lived in this reality, awakened to the extraordinary ability of the game system, where getting hurt was painful and overexertion led to fatigue.

In other words, he couldn’t skip lectures or take time for sub-quests at his convenience. While the game showed day and night cycles and time passing, without progressing the main or sub-quests, time didn’t actually change.

Just because a week passed in playtime didn’t mean a week passed in the game. Thus, there was no rush, and he could take on all the sub-quests and main quests he wanted.

But now, in this reality, it was impossible to tackle all those sub-quests. He was an Academy Cadet with a schedule to follow.

He couldn’t neglect training in preparation for the unpredictable main quest, so his life was a tight schedule, spinning like a hamster wheel.

“Phew. My mana stat has gone up a bit.”

Gilbert exhaled deeply in his private room at the training facility, slowly loosening his stiff body. After attending proper mana lectures and mastering the techniques, he was using basic Mana Meditation to boost his Mana Ability Stat.

Though he had been frustrated just days ago about not being able to freely progress sub-stories, the fact that proper lectures could increase his mana stat was encouraging.

If he hadn’t had a talent for Mana Meditation, things might have been different, but his physical specs were unmatched on the continent, so the thought of lacking talent was just paranoia.

Honestly, he breathed a sigh of relief. If Control Skill Stat was needed to move a Colossal Mech like his own body, Mana Ability Stat acted as the bridge connecting it.

The basic mechanism of a Colossal Mech involved contracting with an Artificial Spirit and Mana, where the spirit acted as the brain, allowing the Knight to move the mech as desired.

In other words, Control Skill Stat was like motor skills, while Mana Ability Stat was like sensory nerves. The Mana Battery was akin to the motor nervous system.

If Mana Ability Stat was insufficient, the Artificial Spirit, acting as AI, couldn’t properly control the Colossal Mech system, and no matter how skilled the pilot, they might not even take a proper step without stumbling.

Typically, a Colossal Mech’s operational limits were marked by two things: the mech’s own Mana Battery and the Knight’s Mana Core, which had to supply mana to the Artificial Spirit. It was like hardware moving without software running.

To prevent such situations, the mana stat had to be boosted, which was why Knights were so fervent about Mana Meditation. Of course, focusing solely on Mana Meditation was a shortcut to becoming a so-called “useless character,” but that didn’t apply to Gilbert.

Gilbert calmly felt his dormant Mana Core and realized he had to act on something he’d postponed since enrollment.

The Mana Meditation Technique passed down in the Heart family wasn’t bad. Even by game standards, it was an A-grade technique, a family secret not to be leaked.

But in his mind, he knew how to obtain the world’s supreme Mana Meditation Technique.

In his game playthroughs, he had never failed to acquire it, except when aiming for the “Clear with Basic Mana Meditation” achievement.

With the supreme efficiency of this technique, no one could match him in Colossal Mechs. Even the main character, Ian, wouldn’t interfere with the mech he aimed for, balancing the scales.

While he aimed to strengthen the main character’s party, he needed means to protect his own life. One of those was the Mana Meditation Technique. He didn’t plan to monopolize it, but he wasn’t about to hand everything over to the main character.

The reason was simple.

If he had many cards to play, he should use them all. Going all-in wasn’t his style. Moreover, he didn’t consider Ian an infallible stock. The main character’s invincibility was possible because it was a game, and he was the one playing it.

And this wasn’t a virtual reality game.

It was a harsh world where one misstep could mean death.

In other words, it was reality.

***

Long ago, there was a legendary Knight.

Before Colossal Mechs appeared in the world, he was the continent’s sharpest sword, roaming with just one blade.

With a single swing, he split the earth and rivers.

Wherever he was, victory followed, and his golden hair shone with glory.

He was a Knight, a King, and a great ruler.

He rose to unify the chaotic continent, becoming both its sword and shield.

Historians called him the Knight King or the Conqueror.

The unyielding sun.

The golden Knight King.

But even he, who seemed invincible, faced decline due to betrayal by trusted vassals.

Hanging on the edge of a cliff, betrayed by those he trusted, he remained the Knight King until his last struggle, and the sun finally set.

History records him as “unyielding.”

A hero like a lion.

He was called the Lion King, Terodamas.

***

After reading the Lion King’s chronicles at Demia Empire Academy, Gilbert closed the book.

The continent’s history was filled with countless shining heroes. Though Gilbert wasn’t particularly interested in such lore, if he had to name one figure he knew, it was the Lion King, Terodamas.

Even in his final struggle, he took a third of the rebels with him to the afterlife, and at the end, he unhesitatingly offered his neck to a general who had once taken an arrow for him on the battlefield.

A King who lived like a lion, unyielding and bold.

That was the Lion King, Terodamas.

Gilbert knew this story not out of admiration but because it was deeply tied to a sub-quest he was about to undertake. The Lion King was also known as the continent’s greatest swordsman.

His swordsmanship, said to split earth and rivers with a single strike, touched the heavens, and the Mana Meditation Technique he compiled was said to encompass the world. Though now considered a relic of respect for the great Lion King, Gilbert had no doubt about its authenticity.

In Tactical Combat, one could obtain the Lion King’s legacy through sub-quests, including his swordsmanship, Mana Meditation Technique, and his sword.

The sub-quest Gilbert was about to undertake was for the Lion King’s Mana Meditation Technique, Lionheart.

In the game’s lore, Lionheart was the supreme Mana Meditation Technique, unmatched in stability, mana compression, and speed.

Its performance lived up to its title as the greatest in history, and obtaining it, combined with the main character’s unique skills, made it a cornerstone for becoming the ultimate Knight.

Gilbert, aiming to undertake this sub-quest, had come to the library to read the Lion King’s chronicles.

Though it was a chain quest likely to be tedious, and unlike the game, triggering it didn’t guarantee smooth progress, he was determined to obtain Lionheart.

Despite his Mana Ability Stat being decent, it was below the Academy average. He didn’t memorize all characters’ mana stats, but he knew the S-grade main characters’.

Currently, the highest among Demia Empire Academy Cadets was Seraphima Rector Infractus, the Princess Knight, likely at 50, equivalent to a 5th Grade Knight.

After a month of intense training, Gilbert’s stat was 35, still below the lowest 6th Grade Knight.

His near-miraculous Piloting Skill in the Entrance Mock Battle was due to his abnormally high Control Skill Stat and accumulated experience. Even if someone else achieved the theoretical limit of 100 in Control Skill, it might still be impossible.

Gilbert borrowed the Lion King’s chronicles and went to find the history professor who held the key to the sub-quest.

 

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