”Attention all cadets! My name is Raven Von Matterhorn! I’m a retired soldier and my former rank was Captain! Starting today, I’ve been asked to train your pathetic asses!

“As of right now, you will all address me as Instructor Raven and nothing else while you will answer to maggots!

Am I clear, maggots?!”

“”Yes, Instructor!””

Standing right in front of the neatly filed lines of cadets was a tall and intimidating man.

He was bald and had prominent wrinkles on his forehead with dark circles around his eyes. He had a small beard growing from under his chin.

He was sporting a tight, black hoodie tracksuit that did nothing to hide his ripped, muscular body.

His mere presence seemed to have infused a sense of fear into the cadets standing on the concrete field.

What a weird name he had. Well, it’s not like I could talk since I too possessed a chunni name.

“Hmph!” Instructor Raven scoffed before yelling in the loudest possible tone, “I will be in charge of training you maggots in combat arts and help you utilize your ‘blessing’ to the fullest.”

Ahh, blessings.

I totally forgot about them.

I think I’ve explained them before? Let me talk about them a little anyway.

[Blessings] are akin to ‘Unique Skills’ in games and fiction.

Every [Blessing] is different from the other. They could have the same function but none will be exactly the same.

Their functions can range from simple tasks like letting an individual cast magic efficiently to more complex tasks like summoning divine weapons.

What? That last Blessing sounded broken to you all?

Hah. It’s because it is broken.

And guess who has it? Yes.

Nero Dekrauf i.e. the protagonist of this story possesses the Blessing called [Swords Of Heaven], which allows him to summon six divine swords that let him grant complete authority over the six basic elements.

The six basic elements being Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Light, and Darkness.

Of course, such a godlike ability does not come without a cost. The cost for summoning the divine swords for Nero was a bit of his life force every time.

So yeah, thank the author for not making him completely broken.

And yes, these Blessings are not something you should publicize to the world. If you possess a Blessing, you keep it a secret.

Why?

Well, because firstly, Blessings are rare. And by rare, I mean super rare.

Only one in a thousand kids are born with it.

Yes, Blessings are something you are born with. You can’t learn them, and you can’t steal them from someone who possesses them until they are alive.

Ah ha. The emphasis here is on ‘until they are alive.’

Blacksmiths can extract a dead person’s Blessings and use them to forge Relics.

So yeah, you can understand why you don’t want people to know what Blessing you possess.

Hmm? You want to know what my Blessing is?

Well, in the novel, Lucas had a Blessing called [Mana Burst] and honestly, it was not something broken but it was still pretty powerful.

[Mana Burst] allowed Lucas to reinforce his body by infusing it with magical energy for a split second.

The sudden flux of mana upon its activation would cause a burst of energy in the atmosphere and recreate a phenomenon akin to a jet blast.

Simply put, it was a skill that strengthened his body for a split second and caused an explosion to occur.

The more mana he infuses his body with, the bigger the explosion.

If used in conjunction with Fire magic, the result would be a flame explosion.

Unfortunately, Lucas only ever used it in the novel once before he was captured and put into prison for treason.

Sigh, now that I think about it, it was a good Blessing. Lucas wasted everything.

“So to start it off, run a hundred laps around the training field and follow it with three hundred squats!”

-“Is he joking?!”

-“Oh hell nah!”

-“I will die! I will seriously die a virgin!”

As soon as Instructor Raven barked at us and told us what to do, the cadets started crying and complaining.

Their wailing was reasonable.

The training field was huge!

Hundred laps around a field this big would kill us and after that, we have to follow it up with three hundred squats?

“If you all don’t start running immediately, I’ll double the laps and triple the squats!”

As if every one of us had discovered a newfound motivation, we started moving our feet and running laps around the training field almost instantly….

†

50 minutes later…

“Heehaaaaa! Huuuuf! Haaaaf!”

The sound of heavy panting resounded across the training field as cadets could be seen sprawled on the ground with deadpan eyes.

Everyone, except for a few main characters like Nero and Quinn, was on the verge of passing out.

…I too was one of those people.

My lungs were burning and my legs were aching so much as if they were cursing me for putting them through such abuse.

The sky was spinning and my dead grandma was waving back at me from behind the clouds.

…Huh?

Wait…

She was not waving back! She was calling me!

Hell no! I’m not dying yet! I’m not coming there! Fuck off, grandma!

Right when I was in the middle of my hallucination, Instructor Raven yelled again

“Get up, maggots! It’s time to learn some Martial Arts!”

Oh, hell no! This guy was dead set on killing us!

No! No matter what happens, I won’t get up! This cold, hard ground is mine now! I won’t leave it!

“Or do you all prefer to run a hundred laps more?”

Fuck you, Raven Von Matterhorn!

When I get strong enough, yours will be the first life I will take! Your name… is in my death note now!

While cursing the bald instructor in all the worst possible ways I could, I managed to move my shaking legs and weakly got up on my feet.

My whole body was screaming at me to stay down but I knew if I fell here, I wouldn’t be able to get back up again for the next few hours.

By the looks of it, everyone present here was in the same boat as me.

“Pathetic,” as Instructor Raven looked around the concrete training field, he couldn’t help but utter in a disgusted tone.

“To think that I’ve handed down the future of this world to the likes of you,” Instructor Raven continued to trash-talk as the cadets got up. “My daughter can stand up faster than you all and she’s paralyzed from the waist down!”

Oh my god! Will this guy ever shut up?!

“No, I won’t shut up until you all get up!” as if reading my mind, he yelled again.

Finally after a few minutes, everyone stood back on their legs and got in an attentive position.

“Haa,” shaking his head, Instructor Raven muttered as his gaze fell on the cadets’ sweat-damped lifeless faces. “I guess it can’t be helped.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Instructor Raven yelled at the top of his lungs, “Okay, maggots! Seeing your pathetic asses has moved me to pity. So I have decided to bestow upon you a breathing technique before I teach you any martial art. You will learn this breathing technique and you will be grateful for it. Got it?”

“”Yes… instructor…””

Out of breath and mustering a weak voice, everyone replied in unison.

Seeing such a pitiful sight, Instructor Raven shook his head again and began speaking

“Listen up, maggots! I want you all to close your eyes and take a deep breath from your nose until you can breathe in anymore. Once you can’t breathe, open your mouth and breathe in just once more.

“Then you release your breath in short bursts around ten to fifteen times. Do that while drawing in mana from your surroundings into your body. Start!”

As soon as the instructions were given, we started doing what we were told.

Taking in a long breath from my nose, I filled my lungs to their extreme by breathing once more through my mouth.

After then, I started releasing my build-up breath into short bursts while subconsciously drawing in mana from my surrounding in a meditative state.

“Huh…?”

And when I was done, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in astonishment. I was not feeling fatigued or tired anymore—at least not as much as before.

I looked around me and saw that everyone else was just as bewildered as me.

“Neat, right?” Instructor Raven commented. “It’s a simple breathing technique that helps in relaxing your body. It won’t vanish your fatigue completely so you will still need rest to function properly. Still, it would help you keep your body in its optimum condition for a long time which could prove to be useful in a plethora of situations. It’s called Breath Of Vitality.”

Aww, he’s not a bad guy.

He was thinking about us! And he even gave us such a useful technique! Man, this guy was an angel!

I guess underneath all his harsh exterior, he’s just a big softie inside. Heh.

Fine, I’ll take out your name from my death note, you big tsundere.𝔫𝔬𝒱𝗲𝓵𝑵𝖾xt.𝒸𝒪𝓜

“Anyway, now that you all are feeling good, do two hundred push-ups!”

Nevermind.

He’s dying by my hands alright.