Chapter 6: Practice (part 1)

Early in the morning, Ian wake up to the sound of the attendance check alarm that went off every day at 6 o’clock. 

He open his eyes and meditated for a while, and after about 10 minutes Ian went to the bathroom and lightly washed his face to freshen up.

After waking up, Ian changed into his sportswear and went straight out of the dormitory to the training ground prepared for the cadets inside the academy.

The training ground was unnecessarily wide and grand, probably because it was a space for practicing with all kinds of huge and powerful summons.

Ian ran on the track in the middle. It was also a track to check the physical abilities of the summons, but often the cadets ran there to improve their stamina.

“Huh, huh… ”

Although his current body was incomparable to his previous body, the track prepared for summons who easily surpassed humans was too daunting for even a trained cadet to run.

It took close to 30 minutes to run one lap, and considering that he was running close to his full power for the entire 30 minutes, it could be seen how ridiculously wide it was.

‘It’s quite demotivating when you consider the difference in power…’

It wasn’t for nothing that people left the fate of the continent to the summoners. It was no longer uncommon for a knight, a battle specialist who had trained his whole life, to lose to a 1-star summon.

It was difficult for a platoon of battle hardened soldiers to face off against a 2-star summoned creature, and a 3-star summon couldn’t even be captured by the force of an army!

Summoners with such power in the Empire were given the title of nobility and placed under their command for a reason.

It was also for that reason, that the Academy cadets tried their best to summon a higher tier summon.

After successfully circling the track, Ian’s breathing became rough and he sweated profusely.

“Whew… shall I go back?”

When Ian returned to the dormitory, it was already 7 o’clock, and it was time for the cadets to wake up one by one.

Ian showered and headed to the classroom. 

In just one day, the way the cadets looked at him had changed drastically.

It was a little difficult for Ian to get used to.

***

“I will start conducting a proper class from today.”

The instructor, Oliver, looked at the cadets and declared.

‘Since it was a proper class, it would probably be similar to the classes I had taken so far, full of wrong theories that were of no use.’

As if reading Ian’s thoughts, the instructor continued to speak while looking at him.

“Until yesterday, the summoning ceremony for all the cadets had not yet been completed, so we had no choice but to hold a theory class.”

‘Oh, it was because of me…’ 

Thinking about that, Ian bowed his head. He had a conscience, so it was unavoidable.

“Everyone, change into your gym uniform and come to the first training ground.”

After that, the cadets went to their respective rooms. Since the dormitory was fairly close to the academy, everyone went to change clothes in their room.

Of course Ian went to his room as well.

After he changed clothes and arrived at the training ground, the other cadets arrived late one by one.

After confirming that all the cadets had arrived, Oliver gathered them all together and summoned his summoned beast.

Standing next to a solid stone turtle whose whole body seemed to be made entirely of stone, he explained the contents of today’s practice class to the cadets.

“Each summon has their own unique skills. Anyone know what it’s called?”

“It’s called Origin Arts.”

“Correct, and the origin arts are owned by all summoners, but not all summoners can use them. Why?”

“Because they don’t have a strong connection with their summon.”

“Yes. Summoners who don’t increase their intimacy with their summon wont be able to bring out the full abilities of their summons.”

Oliver spoke proudly as if what he was saying was true, but as Ian listened to it, he felt his world collapse.