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༺ Combat Training Class (2) ༻
The atmosphere around Eon changed.
Although Eon was just standing still in his place without doing anything, everyone present instinctively sensed that his aura was far from ordinary.
An intangible pressure that seemed to suffocate and oppress the surroundings with just his gaze.
The murderous intent clung tightly to the students' necks.
"Ugh…!"
"Kuuk!"
Most of the students were frozen, unable to breathe properly.
A few students, including Gwyn and Batar, reflexively drew their swords. Only a handful of students who had experienced murderous intent managed to react.
Marian was also one of the frozen students. She felt goosebumps all over her body, and her intuition warned her that making a wrong move could lead to disaster.
"Think of me as your enemy from now on."
Eon moved at a leisurely pace, as if he was taking a walk in the rain.
Although Gwyn could track his movements this time, she didn't dare to rush in recklessly. Even though Eon was just walking, no openings were visible.
"You can come at me with the intention to kill."
In other words, it meant that no matter what they did, they would never be able to kill him.
Eon slowly approached the Cornelius, Lucius, and Zaius trio.
The three students, overwhelmed by Eon's intangible pressure, could do nothing but watch as he approached them, frozen in place.
Eon spoke calmly, like a teacher giving a lesson to a student.
"Provocation can be quite effective in actual combat. An agitated opponent tends to make more straightforward attacks. The stronger the enemy, the more you need to disturb their rationality, so that the weak have even a small chance. That's one thing I can praise you for."
The trio felt as if death was approaching them.
Logically, they knew that couldn't be the case. It was absurd to think that an instructor would kill a student within the academy.
However, the chilling sensation on their necks made Cornelius's brain mistake this moment for a life-threatening crisis.
If he didn't want to die, he had to do something.
"Aaaaargh!"
Cornelius swung his sword with all his might.
Eon easily caught the off-track trajectory caused by fear with his fingers.
"Uh…?"
"But it's also easy to become the target of an agitated enemy. If your opponent is strong enough to defeat you within a second, whether they're agitated or not, you should avoid pointless provocations. There will be no mercy from a raging beast."
Eon swung his arm like a whip.
Thump! Cornelius, struck hard in the chest, was sent flying several meters without even being able to scream. He tumbled on the wet, muddy ground.
Cornelius was buried in the mud and didn't move at all.
Seeing someone being thrown like a toy, most of the students panicked.
"Aaaaah!"
"Ru, run away!"
Marian, witnessing the scene, felt her mind going blank.
'Is it okay to do that to a student? He was thrown like a ragdoll! He's not moving, did he die?'
Contrary to Marian's concerns, the situation wasn't as serious as it seemed.
Thanks to Eon's precise control of strength, the impact was dispersed throughout Cornelius's body, leaving him without any broken bones or bleeding wounds. It was almost like a miraculous feat.
So, he wouldn't die. Although it might be painful enough to pass out, it wasn't fatal.
However, the students didn't recognize that fact. All they saw was the instructor hitting a student who appeared to be dead, not moving at all.
In that moment, the students' fear became real, which was exactly what Eon was aiming for.
"When facing an unbeatable enemy, running away is an excellent strategy."
Eon did not chase after the fleeing students hastily. Instead, he seemed to give them time to escape by walking even more slowly.
"Don't blame yourself for being a coward. Sometimes surviving to fight another day is the best way to win. Of course, whether your opponent will let you go is a completely different issue."
Gwyn drew her sword, slowly steadying her breath.
Crouching in the bushes, she completely suppressed her presence. The rain's sword skill suppressed her metabolism to an inanimate level. At this moment, Gwyn's heartbeat was only one-third of its usual rate.
As Eon unknowingly passed by Gwyn's hiding place.
Gwyn's body moved like lightning.
"Well done. You've learned well."
"Ugh…!?"
What seemed like a perfect ambush missed its mark.
The price of the failed ambush was high. Eon struck Gwyn's exposed back with his fist.
"Guh!"
Gwyn fell to the ground like Cornelius but didn't drop her sword or lose consciousness.
"A surprise attack is also a good choice. It's foolish to confront someone stronger than you head-on. There's a reason why people say there's no line of work like the ambush business. Chivalry doesn't save lives."
Eon walked toward Gwyn, who was struggling to get up, and threw a punch.
Each seemingly casual blow made a sound like it was slicing through the air.
"You made good use of the terrain and the weather. This kind of weather is perfect for ambushes. The falling rain erases the sound of footsteps. Your only mistake was that your opponent was aware of the ambush from the start."
"Gah! Ugh!"
Gwyn could barely block Eon's punches. Even though her body was not in its normal state, as someone trained in the rock sword's skill of counterattacking, Gwyn couldn't land a single blow and was only able to block.
At this rate, they were done for. At that moment, a loud scream rang out.
"Woaaaah―!! Holy Mother, watch over me!!"
Batar charged in, kicking the ground like a wild boar. He had thrown his sword somewhere, and with his bare hands, he sprinted and punched with the force of a siege weapon.
Eon chose to deflect the brute force instead of taking it head-on. His hand traced a smooth trajectory as it caught Batar's arm and pulled.
"Kuh…!?"
The next moment, Batar was thrown helplessly into the air.
It was the clever technique of Saryangbalcheon, which used the opponent's power to change the direction of their force.
Gwyn couldn't avoid Batar flying towards her. The two tangled and rolled on the ground, unable to get up. Gwyn couldn't withstand the accumulated impact, and Batar suffered a concussion from his head being shaken violently.
Eon brushed off his hands and said,
"Teamwork can be a good strategy, too. However, if you don't coordinate well, it's worse than fighting alone."
The two students, who were unmatched in close combat among the first years, were defeated in an instant. It was obvious what would happen to the other students.
Whether they were running away or hiding in trees, all of them were eventually caught by Eon. When they were caught, they screamed and panicked as if they were facing the Grim Reaper.
While the students screamed and panicked, Eon calmly dealt with them from beginning to end.
When Eon approached Elizabeth after defeating Zaius and Lucius, she raised both of her hands without hesitating for a moment.
"Relying on the mercy of your opponent is also one of the ways to survive."
Eon nodded his head and left the spot, as if he were announcing a pass.
Somehow, Marian was the last one left.
She swallowed her dry saliva as she watched Eon approaching her.
It was her plan to get the highest score in all of Eon's lessons to make him look at her again. So she didn't want to give up so easily just for that plan.
But…
Marian looked at Eon's fist.
It would hurt so much if she got hit by that, right?
Yes. Too much for her.
"I'll surrender too."
Marian quickly surrendered.
It was fortunate that Elizabeth had surrendered first. Otherwise, she might not have even thought about surrendering.
Except for Marian and Elizabeth, the other students were still rolling on the dirt floor.
Eon, having captured all the students, calmly opened his mouth.
"You must have felt the unfairness during today's lesson. The difference between my level and yours is stark, so it's natural to think that you wouldn't stand a chance."
"That's only natural. Because the battlefield is always unfair. Humans are weak. Goblins, considered the weakest, are only so when compared to adult men; compared to a child of similar stature, they are much stronger. If it's an orc, even trained veteran soldiers have to risk their lives. Not to mention ogres or trolls."
"In actual combat, you will always be forced into unfair fights. Battles do not occur only when I want them to. If it hadn't rained, if my body's condition wasn't worse than usual, if it had been one-on-one… All these assumptions are useless on the battlefield."
"In the upcoming combat training classes, I will teach you how to survive in such unfairness."
As they listened to the explanation, Elizabeth cautiously raised her hand.
"Excuse me, Instructor."
"What is it?"
"Everyone has passed out."
"..."
Although the lengthy explanation was good, everyone except Marian and Elizabeth had fainted and couldn't hear Eon's explanation.
Eon brushed back his wet hair and sighed briefly.
"…We need to call a healing priest."
Marian deeply regretted her decision to attend this lesson that day.
To read all 300 fully translated chapters and the first 25 chapters for free, visit patreon (p(A)treon.com/Guts02)