Leon intended to revive the Holy Knights but he knew that finding Holy Knights in this day and age was no easy task.
Yakt Spinner was a rare exception but more importantly, the Holy Knights needed soldiers to support them.
It was for this reason that Leon scraped together a group of low-level Hunters, including the old Dae-sung.
They would be armed with spears and shields and become an iron wall of support for the Knights.
"I wouldn't say they're underwhelming, but they're just okay."
"Well, they're hunters, so they have good basic physical strength, right?"
Ha-ri didn't know what Leon's world was like but generally speaking, Hunters, despite their low rank, were extremely talented soldiers.
"Hmm. Look at them. They've just dealt with four thousand orcs that were all dying, and they look so tired and exhausted."
"What?"
Ha-ri didn't immediately understand what Leon was talking about. Even if most of them had been irradiated to death, there were still over a thousand orcs left.
Even if they were sick orcs, shouldn't they be exhausted from running around trying to catch them?
"I don't want to give regular warriors the rank of knight. However, they are superhumans in their own world."
"They are…aren't they?"
"Then they should be at least on the level of this king Endbringers. I don't want them to be Elderric Master Guards or Rohana's Divine Watchers. But even with the protection of Lionheart, they're not even on par with the Baltaric Orc Crushers."
"...Your Majesty, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Leon realized he had said something Ha-ri would not understand. But even so, he couldn't help but compare the Hunters with the soldiers he had shared honor with.
"To put it simply, the Baltaric Orc Crushers could take on five orcs alone, ten if the War Knights were present and with this king, they could slaughter thirty."
"...That's not a knight?"
Orcs are the most difficult and powerful monsters in the Gate, aside from the medium and large monsters. A high-level warrior can take on even a B-ranked Hunter one-on-one.
They could slaughter thirty of them, and they're not a knight? Even Ha-ri couldn't handle thirty orcs by herself.
"What kind of existence is a knight in Your Majesty's world?"
"I'd say you're about the level of a squire."
Ha-ri was stunned. Even though she was young, she, the youngest A-rank hunter, was only at the level of a squire?
There were only three Knight Ranks in Leon's system right now: Squire, Apprentice Knight…and Holy Knight.
Ha-ri realized that Leon's standards were vastly higher than even the Hunters of modern Earth.
'If Lord Yappy is a Holy Knight…are you saying that all Holy Knights are above S-class Hunters?!'
If Leon's Holy Knights were to revive in the modern era… wouldn't that be a cataclysmic event that would upset the balance of military power in the world?
"For now, we should at least raise their level to that of professional soldiers."
"Uh, how will you… do that?"
What is the training method of King Lionheart? Would they be able to undergo such training?
At Ha-ri's expectant gaze, Leon said nonchalantly.
"Physical training."
* * * *
Koo Dae-sung, team leader Kim Do-han, and 49 other Hunters gathered at a makeshift training center in the Naju Plains.
"Wow, they paid so much for the training?"
"That's right, we don't have to worry about making ends meet for a while."
Even when they were told to train, they couldn't help but come back, because they felt the same exhilaration they felt at the Orc Gate and actually felt stronger.
All the buffs of Lionheart and of Orc Butcher, plus, they got the Orc Hunter talent and the War Knight's Man-At-Arms talent, so they can't help it.
The Orc Hunter buff was only available when fighting orcs, and the War Knight's Man-At-Arms buff was only available when fighting with Leon.
Besides, it would be better for their future if they were paid to come here for training than to be a porter at the gate.
"By the way, Mr. Koo, what's wrong with your face and your lips?"
As Team Leader Kim Do-han said, Koo Dae-sung's face was all over the place.
"Did you…participate in a gate raid?"
"Yes…my body was tired, so I went to the blue gate...."
After the battle at the yellow gate with Leon, Koo Dae-Sung felt an unknown sense of exaltation and omnipotence.
He wondered if he had really gotten stronger and if he could fight better than usual, so he joined the blue gate raid as a party member.
It was a goblin hunt, but he wasn't as strong or fast as he had been at the Orc Gate, and he returned home battered by the goblins' crude clubs.
"You're going to hurt yourself, boy, you need to tone it down."
"Yes...."
Ha-ri shouted as loudly as she could as she entered the hall.
"His Majesty Leon Dragonia Lionheart and his Holy Knight, Sir Yakt Spinner, please enter!"
At those words, everyone stopped dead in their tracks and at Leon's mere appearance, they stopped as if they were a single unit.
"Congratulations on passing the simple test. You're not quite good enough to enter the gates of this king, but that's something we can work on."
The Orc Gate was a simple test?
They've cleared the Orc Gate, a yellow-rank gate, even as low-rank hunters.
If it wasn't for Leon, who couldn't tolerate the very existence of orcs, turning the entire group of over four thousand orcs against them, they wouldn't have killed so many orcs to receive the talent 'Orc Hunter'.
"As I watched you fight, I saw a number of problems but the most important was your bodies."
The Hunters didn't take too kindly to that and rightly so since hunters vary tremendously in physicality depending on their rank.
Right now, a C-rank Hunter is stronger than three D-rank Hunters and the difference grows exponentially with each rank.
'It would be possible for Han Ha-ri to kill all of us by herself....'
Han Ha-ri, the youngest A-rank Hunter in the country, could kill all the Hunters in this room with her physical strength alone and with her unique skill, Blessing of Fire, the difference would only increase.
"We've decided to start with your training. From now on, you will be thoroughly trained according to the Lionheart Kingdom Army Training Manual."
-Regular military training?
-Medieval military training?
-Well, it shouldn't be that hard.
They were hunters and whether they were working as porters in the field or training to become advanced hunters, it's not a profession that lacks discipline.
But their limits were clear: they could never fly, and they could only remain low-rank hunters.
They didn't think a little training from the Lionheart King of a medieval fantasy kingdom was going to change that.
"Hmph, so much distrust. But I understand. Unlike my subjects, you are ignorant."
Koo Dae-Sung raised his hand cautiously, Leon saw it and authorized him to speak.
"Your Majesty…how do you propose to…train us?"
"I think you need to train your body."
"Uhm…something like muscle training?"
"What is the principle of muscle training?"
Koo Dae-sung thought for a moment before answering.
"The organs of the body…have something called a repair mechanism. When muscles break down and regenerate, they become stronger and bigger."
"Right. Overloading the body and stretching its limits. Everything in the world grows that way."
It was the most basic methodology of training. Activate the muscles and overload them again and again as they go through periods of regeneration and rest.
"Sir Gratas the Holy Knight Giant Slayer, the creator of the army training manual, once said, 'The more you beat a man, the stronger and harder he becomes.' That's a great quote."
"What?"
People aren't railroads, so how can they get harder by being beaten?
"Then how should the professional soldiers who defend the kingdom be trained? Obviously, they must be trained differently than peasants, and Lord Gratas has come up with the following suggestions for the most efficient training!"
Leon's cheerful voice filled the Hunters with anxiety.
"We will tear them apart, pound them, and rebuild them. Not only will their torn and regenerated muscles be stronger, but they'll also have increased strength to take more hits."
"...?"
"What?"
Koo Dae-sung and the other Hunters stared at Leon in disbelief.
"From now on, pound each other like you're going to kill each other, until every muscle in your body is torn and your fists are shredded!"
It would be better if they broke to the bone. No, break them intensively!
"Oh, no, no, no, that's not quite right!"
In fact, human bones and muscles get stronger and thicker the more they are broken. Martial artists don't train their fists by pounding on steel plates for nothing.
"If we do that, we'll hurt ourselves first!"
"Why would it hurt?"
It was a question Leon didn't have the energy to answer. Why would a person get sick? Because the body has a limit, an upper limit.
"Ordinarily, the protection of a War Knight would suffice, but count yourselves lucky to have before you the Guardian of the Grail."
Leon held out the Holy Grail as the cold, golden grail emanates a radiance that can move one with its mere presence. And the fully functional Grail was more than just a glowing golden goblet.
"Eh? Mr. Koo, you."
"Yes? Huh?"
Team Leader Kim Do-han looked at Koo Dae-sung in surprise, as his bruised face had suddenly recovered and become clearer.
'That cup?'
Koo's guess was spot on.
"All warriors will recover in the place where the Holy Grail is placed. Even if they didn't drink the holy water directly, their bones would be healed and their torn muscles would regenerate. Fatigue will also be moderately restored."
The Hunters were stunned since this recovery ability alone made the Holy Grail at least a Unique Grade treasure.
"Five hours starting now beat up everyone in sight. You must be completely alone, facing attacks from all sides and in all directions, and beat down the opponent in front of you."
Hit and be hit. There is no winning or losing.
"As long as the Holy Grail is present, you will continue to recover. If… after five hours, any of you are still standing, I will beat you myself."
In a nutshell, beat each other until you outpace the Holy Grail's recovery.
Get hit, beaten, hurt, and broken since you will recover anyway.
'He's crazy! He's crazy!'
'We're actually training in this ignorant way?'
The Hunters stared at each other awkwardly then as they remained motionless for a moment, Yappy swung a wire.
-Karang!
An eerie sound rang out, like the crack of an overseer's whip to speed up the slaves building a pyramid.
"Die, die, die!"
"Die!"
The Hunters tangled with each other and swung their fists as five hellish hours of hitting, pounding, and breaking had begun.
At first, Koo Dae-sung dodged the attacks as best he could, pounding away at the man in front of him but there were 49 people in the ring. There was no escape, and it was less than ideal to just blindly pummel his opponent.
"Aaaaah!"
He grunted and was about to swing his fist when he realized that the person in front of him was familiar.
"Koo, Mr. Koo, it's me! It's me!"
"Ki, Team Leader Kim?"
"Wu, we don't have to beat each other up, let's join forces!"
"Ha, but...."
That was when a sharp noise pierced their ears as a 'live bullet' that was precisely calculated threatened only the two of them.
-Crack.
There, above the head of Ha-ri, who was making a sad face at the mess, was Yappy, glowing with an emotionless red glow, pointing a minimalist-sized machine gun at them.
"What the hell…!"
Feeling threatened, Koo Dae-sung swung his fist at Team Leader Kim in front of him and as Team Leader Kim fell backwards, Koo Dae-sung screamed.
"This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!"
But his screams were short-lived as they were drowned out by hunters from all directions.
It was past noon and the five hellish hours were over.
"Alright, that's enough! It's time to eat!"
Leon clapped his hands and the Hunters collapsed to the ground, bloodied and swollen, but thanks to the Holy Grail's regenerative powers, didn't have a single broken bone. Or, more accurately, the broken bones were reattached and they were able to fight again.
"Ugh…I really thought I was going to die."
"I've never heard of such an ignorant training method."
No matter how hard they beat each other, the Hunters felt no pain. All they felt was an unquenchable hunger and thirst.
"I'm hungry."
"We need to eat something."
"I heard that the blessed rice here is so famous…Are we going to have it?"
Everyone was looking forward to the hottest "blessed rice" in the Naju Plain since it was a rare item that is said to cure cancer, make you healthier, and increase your 'physical resilience' just by eating it.
It had recently become a YouTube sensation, and the Association had announced its benefits. But what they found was food they had never imagined.
"...."
"...."
The Hunters scratched their heads at the 'lunch' in front of them, as they didn't understand what the intention behind it was.
"Uh… Ms. Ha-ri, what is this?"
At the questioning stares, Ha-ri gave a guilty look, but Leon remained calm.
"Water."
"No, that's not… I know."
"It's water with salt and sugar."
"Oh… I see."
The Hunters looked like they were about to say something, but when they caught Leon's mischievous gaze, they lowered their eyes.
"What is it?"
"I feel like my common sense is being denied."
"After all we've been through, our only meal is water with salt and sugar?"
Was this some kind of big deal that they didn't understand?
Yappy approaches the bewildered Hunters with his robotic arm holding a salt shaker.
-Salt. Who needs more?
Lord Gratas the Giant Slayer army training manual rule zero: You only need to feed a trainee enough to keep him from dying.
Proper feeding is something that starts with the regular army.