Chapter 55: Chapter 55
“Ambition is a good thing, but don’t be reckless. Listen to your instructor more in your daily training.”
Waynes offered a few words of encouragement, then led Morris and the others away. After they had gone far enough, Karel leaned in close to Ron and asked in a low voice:
“What were you just talking about? Why is the Instructor so happy?”
“Hmm?”
Ron was momentarily stunned, looking at Karel with some surprise. After confirming that the other party wasn’t joking, his heart felt as if it had just weathered a massive earthquake.
The conversation between him, Waynes, and Morris just now hadn’t been conducted in hushed tones. In fact, when he made his final declaration, he had practically been shouting. So why hadn’t Karel heard a single thing?
Was it a soundproof barrier? Or the so-called voice transmission?
After experiencing the Domain of Chaos trial just now, Ron was absolutely certain that this world possessed magic, which was the collective term for supernatural power.
Magic was entirely capable of blocking sound.
As for the so-called voice transmission, that was a trope from the martial arts novels of Ron’s homeland. The Knight Path of this world also started from the body, so it could be considered an otherworldly version of martial cultivation.
From that perspective, it wasn’t impossible for a Knight to achieve the so-called voice transmission.
But exactly which one it was warranted deeper investigation!
Ron decided to find an opportunity to inquire about it with Instructor Morris after this training session concluded. As for Karel’s question, Ron considered it for a moment, but still chose not to tell the truth.
After all, if Waynes were willing to let others know, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to avoid them.
“Young Master Waynes just came over to offer a few words of encouragement. As for the Instructor, he’s so happy because our performance earned Young Master Waynes’s commendation.”
Karel was somewhat skeptical of what Ron said. After spending the past month together, he had come to know Instructor Morris reasonably well, and the man didn’t seem like someone prone to wide emotional swings.
Ron hadn’t told the truth.
But Karel also knew Ron reasonably well, and guessed that Ron must have a good reason for saying it that way, so he didn’t press the matter further.
…
Next, the two of them carried the still-unconscious Dimi, Justin, and Pat into the sentry post, one under each arm, and sat them against the outer wall of the watchtower.
Once everyone had returned to the sentry post, Chief Instructor of Apprentices Arnold came forward to announce:
“Regarding your performance in entering the Domain of Chaos this time, Young Master Waynes is highly satisfied. According to the pre-established rules, you killed a total of four Wastelander elders, so everyone will be rewarded with four additional Inheritance opportunities.
“Furthermore, the seven apprentices who left the Domain of Chaos on their feet will each be rewarded with two vials of Ignition Potion.
“Now, look after your teammates and wait for them to wake up. You still have one more training session this afternoon. Everyone who completes the training will be rewarded with one vial of Ignition Potion.”
“Yes,” the seven answered in unison.
After the Domain of Chaos trial, Ron couldn’t quite muster much enthusiasm for the afternoon training. He even speculated that perhaps because the seven of them had received extra Ignition Potion rewards, the territory had deliberately found a way to let the others obtain one as well.
This way, at least no one would return empty-handed.
…
Around noon, the unconscious apprentices had begun to wake up one after another.
Although Dimi of the Blood and Fire Squad had lost consciousness early on, he woke up rather late. Upon waking, he nearly kicked apart the campfire in front of everyone with one foot, shouting loudly:
“Ron, save me!”
“Dimi, wake up, we’re back!”
Ron pinned Dimi firmly against the base of the watchtower wall. Only when Dimi’s eyes had completely returned to clarity did he let go. “How are you? You okay? Hurry up and eat something, there’s training this afternoon!”
At this point, the others chimed in one by one, briefly recounting what had happened after his disappearance. Upon hearing that after he vanished, it was Ron who had led everyone to find the trial target, Dimi suddenly felt somewhat sheepish.
He grabbed Ron’s arm, his voice brimming with gratitude as he said, “Ron, thank goodness you were there. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to face the others from now on.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Instructor Morris said that the Domain of Chaos trial is normally the ultimate training after a full three months of apprentice training. We went through it early, and everyone’s performance was already exceptionally good.”
Although saying this carried a slight suspicion of aggrandizing himself, it was also the easiest way to help Dimi let go of his burden. Ron himself didn’t particularly care about how others perceived him.
…
After resting, the afternoon training was indeed exactly as Ron had anticipated. Having already undergone a Domain of Chaos trial, what training could possibly compare to the environment of the Domain of Chaos?
They merely moved around the sentry post perimeter, and the instructors had the apprentices attempt to separate from the formation individually to face the external mental pressure alone.
If they hadn’t experienced the Domain of Chaos, this training might have posed a certain degree of difficulty. But with the experience of the Domain of Chaos under their belts, the apprentices adapted remarkably fast.
While they couldn’t behave outside the territory as comfortably as they did inside, compared to the wretched state of their journey here this morning, they had improved by countless leaps and bounds.
Although the training wasn’t very difficult, the apprentices’ gains were still quite substantial.
Whether it was their physical and mental growth, or the rewards given by the territory, everything was very decent, second only to the harvest from the Domain of Chaos trial.
But accidents continued to arrive one after another.
At roughly three or four o’clock in the afternoon, when the sky had already begun to dim slightly, a piercing whistle blast carrying extreme penetrative power suddenly rang out from the south.
“Whistle… whistle whistle whistle… whistle!”
Whistle blasts with the same pattern rang out three times in succession. Ron quickly decoded the information conveyed by the whistle: Hostile force detected in the south, currently moving northward. Rear units, prepare for combat at a moment’s notice!
One small segment of whistle syllables was one Ron hadn’t learned before, but the meanings behind the other syllables were already deeply ingrained in his memory.
Even without knowing what that unknown piece of information was, the true purpose of the signal could be judged from the subsequent information alone. Nine times out of ten, it indicated some sort of enemy.
Aberrant Beasts, Evil Spirits, or perhaps some other powerful enemy.
Thinking of this, Ron immediately issued a command:
“Karel, Justin! Assemble!”
While summoning the other team members, he mentally estimated the direction and distance of the whistle’s source. Before long, all members of the Blood and Fire Squad had returned inside the sentry post.
“There might be a battle soon. The signal just now came from not far to the south, roughly a *li* away.”
“Might be even closer,” Dimi added. “Ron, you probably didn’t account for how the southern forest dampens the sound. Factor that in, and the actual distance should be even closer!”
“You’re right, that was my oversight. Dimi is correct. Considering that there’s a forest over there, the actual distance might be less than five hundred meters!”
“Do you think the higher-ups will have us participate in the battle?”
“What are you thinking? That’s a real combat signal. We’re not qualified to participate in a battle like that yet.”
The moment Ron’s words fell, he saw Instructor Morris hurry back from outside. Catching sight of Ron and the others, he immediately made a hand gesture, then strode straight into the interior of the watchtower.
Seeing that gesture, Ron’s heart jolted. It was the hand signal to prepare for full combat readiness.