Chapter 124

Lexus’s training continued.

In fact, it was questionable whether one could even call it training—it was closer to sheer one-sided violence.

From first-years to fourth-years of the Tactical Combat Department’s Stingray scholarship students. Dozens of them were being beaten down unilaterally by a single man. He was like a demon or an oni in human form.

At this point, it was hard to tell who actually had the numerical advantage.

“Incredible. Is this really all you’ve got? Hm? You call yourselves Stingray scholars, and this is all you can manage against one old man? Hey, just tear that Stingray emblem off your uniforms and hand it in. Who would ever believe that my juniors are a pathetic bunch like you?”

At that, a few who had been lying on the ground staggered to their feet, teeth clenched in stubborn defiance.

They gripped their weapons and charged at Lexus with all their might, but they couldn’t even graze the hem of his clothes before tumbling back to the ground again.

“Ehh, tch tch. Even Academy kids aren’t anything special. Back in my day, by the time you hit fourth year, this level of attack was something you’d brush off with, ‘Ha, that tickles,’ before countering right back.”

Even as he spouted such nonsense, Lexus was coldly analyzing each student’s abilities one by one.

‘Not better, not worse. Just average across the board. If you raise them, they’ll at least be worth their tuition, I suppose.’

The fourth-years were exactly at the fourth-year average, and the third-years were appropriately third-years. A few stood out here and there, but none had grown past looking like students yet.

All except for one.

‘That one… is a little dangerous.’

The one wearing a strange mask.

To be honest, his skill was only slightly above the others. But the snap decisions he made in the heat of combat were far from ordinary.

‘Wasn’t he the one the Crown Prince picked?’

Yes, his name was… right, Silence.

He seemed to have set his modules for a close-range assassin type—skilled in infiltration, stealth, and disruption. When Lexus’s eyes wandered for just a second, Silence would seize the smallest openings in a way that was downright chilling.

‘He doesn’t hesitate. His judgment is sharp. He knows what he’s good at, and he knows exactly how to make use of it.’

Given enough time, someone like that would only keep growing.

It made sense that the Crown Prince had personally chosen him. But there was one regretful issue…

“Hey.”

“[…]”

In an instant, Lexus slid to Silence’s side and hooked his leg, toppling him. Planting his foot firmly on the boy’s chest, Lexus spoke in a leisurely voice.

“You’re good, kid. But your modules are a mess. Doesn’t your sponsor buy you proper ones?”

“[…]”

“Say something.”

“[…They told me it’s too early for me.]”

“Too early? For what?”

“[…They said to focus on treatment first.]”

As expected.

Lexus had noticed his stance occasionally faltering mid-battle, as if wracked by some fit. It seemed he was undergoing treatment for some condition.

Lexus scrutinized Silence’s body carefully and quickly realized the problem.

‘Junk Chip…’

His brow furrowed with sudden rage.

“You idiot! Who told you that was any good? Damn it, if you hadn’t messed with ‘that,’ your body would’ve—! Hah!? You shattered your own jewel, you fool! Do you even realize!?”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Lexus beat Silence mercilessly, his strikes so heavy the floor seemed to tremble. The boy’s LED mask sparked and flickered under the assault.

Without knowing why, Silence took the brunt of the fury directed at other students as well, until at last he collapsed unconscious. Lexus turned his gaze to a girl sitting on the ground nearby.

Brown skin, reddish-brown hair.

Quite tall.

‘She was in the special class too, if I recall.’

Her name was… ah, right.

Raina Alton.

She was the one Aaron had given him an oddly specific request about.

–“That girl Raina… I’d like you to see if she has any talent outside of combat.”

–“You mean to pull her off the frontlines?”

–“No. I mean to find a way her ‘other’ talents could still be put to use in battle.”

So that was it.

Now he understood.

It was unfortunate for her, but Raina Alton had no gift as a fighter.

Of course, just having the compatibility to become an Adaptee through nanomachines was already impressive. But with only that, she was little more than a drifter swept along by the power of her combat modules.

To put it bluntly, in terms of combat talent alone, she was even weaker than the “average” students Lexus had judged earlier.

‘So what is this “other talent” of hers…’

Since the Crown Prince himself had said it, she must have something special. But for now, Lexus couldn’t see it.

‘For now, I’ll keep watching her.’

He came to that conclusion, then cast his eyes around the room. After nearly an hour of fierce combat drills, the students were completely exhausted.

No, more precisely—not a single one of them could stand upright anymore.

‘Did I go too far?’

Oh well.

He decided today’s training should end here. Just then—

“L-Late apologies! I was delayed due to Student Council matters!”

At that moment, a student entered through the training hall doors. The instant Lexus saw her face, he couldn’t help but whistle.

Striking silver hair, pure white skin.

Eyes of violet more alluring than any demon’s.

The fatigue around her gaze only added a peculiar charm to her features.

“Well, well. So it’s you.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Iri Elisbell. That’s your name, isn’t it?”

She was the very student Aaron had said, “You may look forward to her.” He had wondered where she’d disappeared to, and here she was at last.

He disliked her tardiness, but given the circumstances, he decided to overlook it.

Iri glanced at the state of the hall and looked bewildered.

Naturally so—she had come expecting “training,” only to find her classmates strewn across the floor.

“W-What in the world is this…”

“Eh, too much trouble to explain. Let’s just say training turned out this way. I was about to wrap it up, but since you’re here, we’ll go a little longer.”

He beckoned lazily with his hand.

“Come at me.”

Quick on the uptake, Iri immediately assumed a battle stance. She unfolded the shield strapped to her back into three sections and raised it before her.

“Well, a shield, is it?”

A most interesting weapon indeed.

At that moment, Lexus noticed several students slowly getting back up. They had seemed far too exhausted to stand again, yet as if spurred by something, they forced their bodies upright.

“……Interesting.”

Muttering that, Lexus sprang forward without warning, charging at Iri and stomping down with his foot.

Kwaaaang—!

Even though he had held back, the shockwave swept through the training hall with tremendous force. The floor cracked, and a thick cloud of dust filled the air, obscuring all vision.

Wasn’t this the very reason they had agreed not to hold combat practice in the Stingray Dormitory training hall? Hopefully his employer would be generous enough to overlook this incident.

As such idle thoughts flitted through his mind, the dust gradually settled.

The moment visibility returned, Lexus was stunned.

“This is insane…”

Iri Elisbell.

She was standing there with her shield raised, completely unharmed.

‘She reacted to my speed?’

Even the fourth-years had been unable to keep up, their neural modules outpaced by the processing required. The elites of Stingray hadn’t managed it either. Yet this mere first-year girl had followed his movements?

‘What modules does she even have equipped…’

Lexus pulled up the module information Aaron had given him and checked her specs. He let out a laugh of disbelief.

‘A Lv.3 Recovery Enhancement Common Module. Two Lv.4 Arcane Modules? Is she out of her mind?’

Even with those two Arcane Modules, her setup was practically pure base stats.

“Well damn, this girl’s interesting.”

“……”

Iri fixed her gaze on Lexus in silence.

Her eyes were like a wolf staring down prey stronger than itself—calculating how best to bring it down with lesser strength.

She was slightly out of breath, unable to fully block the damage from his first strike.

But the fact that she had survived his opening attack at all proved her talent was on another level compared to the rest.

‘Let’s test her a little more.’

Intrigued, Lexus drew a small-caliber pistol from his holster. It was nothing special, just an ordinary weapon.

‘If she’s really an Adaptee, this’ll only sting a little.’

Since she was one of Aaron’s cherished students, he reminded himself not to go overboard and risk breaking her.

Resolving that, Lexus pulled the trigger—

Sssshk.

“……!?”

Iri slipped aside with sharp reflexes, dodging the bullet. Wondering if his aim had grown rusty, Lexus fired several more shots, but the result was the same.

It was as if she could already read the bullets’ trajectories. Either she dodged them cleanly or raised her shield to deflect them with ease.

“Wow~ Seriously~ Amazing…!”

Lexus couldn’t help but let admiration escape his lips again and again.

‘Aaron Stingray, just what are you? Where the hell did you find a monster like this?’

A grin spread across his face—the grin of a rascal who had survived sixty years.

[You have entered the Violet Hunting Ground.]

[Enjoy your hunt.]

The Violet Hunting Ground, after a long time.

The scenery was the same as when I had last come here to replicate ‘my personality.’

A burning sky. Dead grass and trees. Jagged rocks formed from cooled lava towered everywhere, and in the distance, a river of magma flowed.

The acrid stench of sulfur hung in the air.

[Warning. Body temperature rising.]

Activating cooling device.

[Warning. Toxic gas detected.]

Activating [Poison Immunity] Module.

The Violet Hunting Ground was modeled after a volcanic eruption zone. Even the toxic gases venting from fissures had been faithfully recreated, so the careless would be poisoned to death in no time.

‘Where should I begin exploring…’

Last time, when I came here to replicate my personality, I had only lingered around the starting point before leaving, so I had no information about the surrounding terrain.

‘First, I need to set up camp.’

In this volcanic wasteland, clean water or food would be impossible to find. Of course, I had prepared supplies in advance, but a safe base camp was still necessary.

I was about to step out carefully to scout the area when—

“……”

I lowered the foot I had raised, dropped to one knee, and dug into the ash-mixed soil in front of me.

“…That was close.”

What I uncovered was none other than a landmine.

Not some crude magical imitation, but a genuine product of human engineering—modern technology.

Which meant…

“They’ve finally appeared.”

After me, Ciel, and Araya…

A new Transmigrator had arrived.

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