Chapter 119: Combat Class!

The first weekend after the start of school passed in the blink of an eye.

After returning from the Ghost Mansion, Erika spent the entire Sunday catching up on sleep.

Perhaps it was due to experiencing the ghost disturbance late at night and playing chess with Vivian until dawn, the girl’s already weak body had unknowingly reached its limit.

“See you later, Erika! Don’t tell my sister we met!” “Mhm, bye.”

Her body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton. She collapsed onto her bed as soon as she got back to the dormitory and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. When she hazily woke up, it was already Monday morning.

She opened her eyes. Familiar… huh? Why isn’t it the ceiling?

Erika suddenly realized someone was leaning over the head of her bed, looking down at her. The deep sea-blue eyes revealed their owner’s identity.

Few people the girl knew possessed such clear, azure eyes.

“Morning, morning, get up.”

It was Big Guy.

Here to wake her up?

In principle, students of different tiers were not allowed to wander into the dormitories of other tiers, mainly to prevent excessive bullying like chasing fights into living quarters.

But unfortunately, Big Guy barged in without a care. After all, she was the fifth-ranked student in the year. No one dared to stop her.

Thus, the poor Mithril-ranked student Erika was cornered in her room by the Platinum-ranked villain Emil!

Oh no, even worse—cornered in her bed!

“Get up already?”

Urged by Big Guy, Erika rubbed her sleepy eyes, pulled up the strap of her nightgown that had slipped down while sleeping, and finally sat up in bed.

She glanced at the clock. It was already 8 AM. The first class usually started at 9, so if she hurried, this timing was just perfect.

“Why are you getting up so late? I even had to come pick you up?”

Pick her up? What kind of weird boyfriend talk is that…

Oh! After mentally reviewing her schedule, Erika remembered that her only class on Monday was ‘Introduction to Combat.’ But wasn’t that a class she shared with Big Guy?

Before a big question mark could fully form above the girl’s head, Big Guy, who was half-sitting on the bed, directly inserted her hands under Erika’s armpits and lifted her into the air, holding her up like a big cat.

“Eek!” “Hurry up and wash your face!”

Under Emil’s intimidating gaze and booming voice, Erika’s sleepiness slowly began to fade.

Beside them, Axis and Lisette, who were lying in bed, also started rubbing their eyes, waking up groggily. “What’s going on so early in the morning…”

Big Guy really had no sense of public decency.

In the end, worried that Emil might cause unnecessary trouble for those around her, Erika quickly finished washing up, showering, and getting dressed, preparing to attend the morning class.

Introduction to Combat seemed to be a practical course taught by a former famous mercenary?

Although it was a practical class, since it had the suffix ‘Introduction,’ it was likely designed to be more accessible for beginners and novices.

“I didn’t expect Miss Emil to also be taking Introduction to Combat.”

Big Guy probably didn’t need to learn any combat theory, right? She had already matured into a powerful warrior tempered by blood and sweat in real battles, a level not easily reached through mere training.

However, Emil seemed to have her own thoughts.

“Maybe I can learn some tips for using the battle-axe better.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Then hurry up. Don’t you know you’re supposed to be seated 10 minutes before class starts?” Was Big Guy actually more of a model student than imagined?

She had assumed this girl would be the last one to slip into the classroom, lazily sitting in the back row, leaning back on her chair and pointing fingers at the teacher.

Introduction to Combat was naturally a class held outdoors.

The spacious training ground was littered with worn-out practice dummies, and the air carried a faint smell of kerosene.

The sand-covered ground was scattered with broken armor fragments, wooden blocks and straw from dummies, and even things like fingernails and teeth could be found, making it clear this was no friendly place.

“Hmph, just a bunch of boring weaklings.”

Emil glanced around at the people gathering in small groups of three or five, seeming to lose interest as she snorted with disdain.

Since most of the people taking this Introduction to Combat course were Mithril or Brass rank, it was indeed hard to find anyone who could catch Emil’s eye.

But Erika was very interested in them, looking at the crowd with an expectant gaze—the kind one might have when looking at lab mice.

Looking at these well-equipped Hero seedlings with their varied weapons, the girl couldn’t help but wonder how effective her magic would be against them.

Although it was somewhat of a sneak attack, she had managed to defeat Bond, who was around sequence 300 in Mithril rank, and those restless zombies weren’t even a match for her.

She wasn’t getting arrogant, but Erika felt she could probably handle more than half of the people present without issue?

For this class, she’d set a vague goal: to properly understand and evaluate her newly acquired magic, its usage limits, power, and so on.

Just like in a game when you get a new skill, isn’t it natural to burn through your MP bar to learn its limits and performance?

“Look at that blonde girl, the odd-numbered one! Top ten in the sequence, right?”

“Really? I thought I was seeing things. Why would a single-digit ranker attend an introductory class like this?” “Who knows? How could we understand what monsters are thinking? Maybe she’s from the Student Council?”

A pair of pointed ears caught the sounds of people whispering while looking at Emil. As expected, Big Guy attracted attention wherever she went.

“Alright, class is starting. Everyone quiet.” At that moment, someone clapping their hands walked out from inside the training ground. It was a middle-aged man with brown hair, a short beard, and a black eyepatch over one eye, probably in his thirties.

He was a strange fellow with a prosthetic-like aid on his left leg and a pirate hook replacing his right hand. His forearms, exposed under short sleeves, were covered in scars. However, he wore leather belts and holsters around his waist and shoulders, loaded with various tools.

The first impression was, ‘He’s really been injured a lot.’ Although most of the Ark’s professors and instructors gave off that vibe. This was because the Ark mostly hired active Heroes who were later unable to continue due to age or injury to serve as instructors, professors, or staff here.

“Well then, I am Lucial Andrew, a former Gold-ranked mercenary from the Duchy of Ankar. You can call me Lucial, or Brother Lu, or just Bro.”

Hearing this casual and relaxed self-introduction, Emil let out an appreciative sigh. “Oh—” “This guy’s a real tough one.”

Meaning he’s your type of muscle-head, right?

It was easy to guess he was the kind of iron-blooded warrior Emil would be interested in. But even without Big Guy’s comment, the girl could sense the man’s strength.

Even with missing parts, it felt like he could punch Cielciel to tears—no, punch her into the afterlife—without any problem.