Chapter 20: Chapter 20 – They are Here

Author Note: Bonus Chapter for reaching the Power Stones target! We did it, all!

***

"It really has been a long time." Rania stepped back with a smile and patted my shoulder.

I could finally breathe. She said she was Level 55, right? That was quite high for people in this world. As expected from her, someone that was praised for her talent in Swordsmanship and Holy Magic.

"I see that you've grown strong. I still remember you always cried on my chest whenever you felt sad. But now, you can defend yourself without any problem. I am really proud of you. However, I still need to give you a punishment for getting late. Let's end our reunion here for now and continue after school."

"Alright." I nodded. We were still in the class, so I could understand why she wanted to talk more after school.

But the punishment… I wondered what kind of punishment a 'huge masochist' had in hand for me. But she wasn't a sadist. If she gave me unreasonable punishment, I wouldn't follow it and walk out of this training ground.

I still had pride, after all. However, seeing Rania's relationship with me, I didn't think she would harshly punish me.

Putting her hands on her hips, Rania flashed a bright smile, exposing her white teeth. "Hmm, let's settle it by running around the training ground 5 times. That's not too hard, right?"

That was… easier than I thought. This training ground was approximately around 100x100 meters. So running around this training ground 5 times meant I just needed to run for 2 KM.

With my status, I could easily finish that in less than a minute.

"I can do that." I nodded, showing my willingness. "What are you doing after this, Rania?"

When I said that, Rania flicked my forehead playfully. It didn't hurt, but I held my forehead with my hands.

She looked at me while raising her index finger in a scolding manner. "Call me instructor in the school. Feel free to call me by my name outside the school. But use instructor or teacher to address me inside. Got it?"

Well, what should I say? Instead of looking scary, she looked rather cute. Maybe because I began to think of her as a mere masochist sister instead of my instructor.

"I will return to the teacher's office after this. As for you, finish your punishment and return to your class. I don't need to watch over you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Great." She nodded, satisfied. "See you after school, Arthur." She walked toward the exit while skipping happily.

Anyway… 'Shall I run at full speed now?'

I grinned and stretched my legs. The duel with Adam was way too easy. That didn't even count as an exercise. And I wanted to have one in this class.

"Let's run 20 laps instead of 5 and add some sword swings. I will be rusty if I don't move my body."

***

"Arthur! Right here!"

Eliza called out to me and patted the seat beside her.

I finished doing the punishment that I added on myself rather early. In the end, I only took around 15 minutes to finish 30 laps instead of the initial 20 that I wanted to do. Then I used the training sword to do 100 horizontal swings and 100 vertical swings.

After exercising a little, I wasn't even sweating. But it was still satisfying. As expected, I needed to move my body every day to keep my condition at its best. Even if my status was high, if I didn't swing my sword every now and then, I would become weaker.

And I hated being weak.

There was no class until lunch, but most of the students had their books out, studying diligently. Even Eliza also read a book before I arrived. As proof, there were 3 books scattered on the table in front of her.

"Did instructor Reynala give you a harsh punishment?" Eliza asked worriedly as I sat beside her. "She did, didn't she? You even arrived late."

"No, actually," I replied with a smile as I looked at her. "She only told me to run around the training ground 5 times. But I felt like that was a chance to exercise, so I ran 30 times instead of 5 and did some sword training. I want to say the class earlier was… a bit too easy."

Eliza looked at me in disbelief, but I couldn't help anything if she didn't trust me. I returned to class even if I didn't need to because I waited for Sana and the people from the church to arrive. Lunchtime would arrive soon, and probably, the church would arrive in a few minutes.

At that time, it would be quite a surprise for these students who concentrated on their studies.

But before the church arrived, the lecture hall door was opened. The one who entered was Adam, and he wasn't in good condition. His face was a bit pale, probably from the trauma of getting killed for the first time. And he glared at me hard. His eyes were filled with hatred as he walked to his seat.

'Look at this guy. He didn't learn anything from what had happened earlier.'

If it were me, then I would lay low and hide myself to train myself first. Doing what he did would only make him get targeted without him being able to defend himself. I was sure he would just offend other people other than me if he did something like that.

Why was I so sure? Because I was once weak. To survive, I needed to hide myself. I offended one person once, and I almost died because of that. I was only Level 5 when Horizon Online became a death game. Most people had already reached Level 50, which was really high.

But that wouldn't work for Adam because I had already planned to screw him up when he showed up in that café. He was a threat even when he was weak.

"Look at him." Eliza spat out with a malicious tone. "He got killed because he offended you, but he looked at you as if you killed his whole family."

"Hahaha, just ignore him." I brushed it off with a laugh. Adam's glare was only like a baby compared to those Player Killers in Horizon Online. There was not even a bit of bloodlust mixed in it.

After seeing me killing him easily, Eliza didn't look worried about Adam now. She returned to her study while I put my head on the table, sleeping.

A few minutes later, I jerked up because I heard something.

With my hearing that got enhanced by my status, I could hear many heavy footsteps approaching from afar. A clang of armor also rang with the footsteps, probably belonging to the church Knight.

'They're here.' I grinned under the shadow of my face.

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