Login in to Alandal

“Agh!”

Ian scrambled to his feet in a panic. He quickly looked around and saw several beds. 

It was the training camp.

“Was that…a dream just now?” He questioned, before shaking his head.

It was definitely not a dream. The memory was too vivid to simply dismiss. It was someone’s real past.

The problem is…that seems like it’s my past.

The person had the same name as him, and even the parents resembled him. He couldn't forget the way his soul shook when he saw them.

Ian closed his eyes and recalled the two faces who he had just seen.

Parents.

Ian never had them. He had been raised by his grandparents from birth, or so he thought. The word “parents” was foreign to him.

“Damn.”

After contemplating for a moment, he shook his head again.

There was no need for him to get excited or melancholy about the thought of having parents. They were gone.

Parents aside... At least I know why this guy joined the army.

Although the only scene he had directly experienced was the death of Ian’s mother, he did not have memories of his life thereafter either. It was undoubtedly someone else's memory, but the way it naturally popped up in his mind as if it were his own felt both bizarre and normal at the same time.

To avenge...and to restore the honor of his family’s name.

That was Ian Ignis’ goal; he wanted to restore his household, to take revenge against the ones who ruined his family by branding them as traitors. He subsequently made the decision to join the army in order to become stronger and to distinguish himself in battle. He believed that if he could just win his spurs, it might be the stepping stone to reviving his family.

Ian also understood that the Ignis’ family did not collapse under the emperor's order. The crown prince had been the main perpetrator of it all.

Ian clicked his tongue. He boiled with anger at the mere thought of the prince. It almost seemed as though he had become Ian Ignis.

Ian quickly changed his line of thought, concerned that one wrong thought would give him an identity crisis.

It’s not bad to head to the battlefield to make a name for himself, but…this guy can’t sense the slightest bit of mana?

Ian may be talented with the sword, but he couldn’t sense mana, and apparently, he was not alone. Ian Ignis, the owner of the body, was also unable to sense mana.

Ian was dumbfounded by such confidence to head to the battlefield despite not being able to use mana.

What if he came across a knight…?

He pondered, a smirk cracking on his face.

He and Ian Ignis shared too much in common to view them as separate people. 

He thought he should slowly ruminate on the problem.

***

Perhaps it was thanks to Ian putting his all into running nearly 60 laps that Luke didn’t make them do more drills. His colleagues even shot Ian a grateful look. Most of them had been unable to finish. Including Ian, there were only three people who had been able to run to the end.

They thought they would have to do additional training because they hadn't accomplished their goal, but instead they were able to finish early because of Ian. They were ever so grateful.

However, their training resumed the following day, and it kept on.

After a few days of training, Ian was able to completely accept his reality. Wherever this place was, it was where he had to live from now on, so Ian tried his very best in everything. It wasn't hard since it was what he had always done.

Ian believed that everything Luke taught them would help with his survival in the future. Furthermore, today was finally the day they finished basic physical training and started practicing with a sword.

On the way to the training ground, Ian turned to Jason, who was walking alongside him.

"You said you were a mercenary, right?"

“Yeah.”

“Then did you fight in the war with the Kingdom of Camillo?" Ian tossed out a question.

It was the name of the kingdom from his memories. The mansion had been burned down and the people killed because they had tried to plot a rebellion against Camillo.

"The Kingdom of Camillo? I did, a couple of times. It's not a place I wanted to visit. Battlefields are all usually the same, but... Camillo’s forces were nasty, especially their knights."

"I see. I’m guessing the knights are really strong?"

"Rather than being strong, they’re merciless and brutal when they kill their enemies. But there’s something worse than Camillo’s army...” Jason continued explaining.

Ian got more information than he had expected from Jason who told him about the empire’s relationships to the surrounding kingdoms. Some of the information was boring, but Ian listened attentively, knowing that the stories would be useful to him.

Just like they were now.

"Still, it wasn't that bad fighting people of the same species. What was awful was dealing with the monsters.”

"Monsters?"

Ian showed an interested smile. He expected there could be monsters here, but he hadn’t been sure until Jason provided more details.

The empire and most of the kingdoms had built their armies to keep each other in check, of course, but it was mostly to fight off the monsters. This was fortunate for Ian. It wasn’t that he had never killed a person, but he was more comfortable battling monsters than humans.

Luke interrupted their conversation.

"Lads! You will become soldiers of our esteemed empire. I have no plans whatsoever to train such men lightly. Understand?"

“Yes!!”

Everyone cursed on the inside. However, they knew an act of defiance towards their instructor would lead to an increase in the amount of training, so they had no choice but to answer obediently. 

“Good. Starting today, everyone will learn the basics of swordsmanship for about two weeks. If you are to survive on the battlefield, you will need to buckle down and learn to properly wield the sword."

The recruits tensed up at their instructor’s words.

Ian, on the other hand, wasn't particularly impressed. He had risked his life in dozens of battles before, relying on his sword for survival. The only difference now was that the war he was fighting was against people. 

Though the scale here is going to be huge. 

 Ian was used to the company of many hunters when battling a single monster, and he knew this would be more challenging.  Soon, he would be in a war against countless foes. He knew he would not be able to rely on his allies watching his back when he was fighting an enemy, and he could lose his life to an unseen enemy on his flank, perhaps losing his life to an arrow coming from his blind spot.

But that was the nature of war.

"You will learn just one stance today, the cross-cut.”

Luke, holding the wooden sword, got into position, and swung.

Whoosh.

The sound of the sword slicing through the wind could be heard as it cut across. Ian was slightly in awe at how clean his strike was.

"It may be the most basic stance, but it's a stance that has saved the lives of our comrades many times!"

Ian nodded. Although the stance was basic, he knew it could save the lives of those who executed it properly.

"Anyone want to give it a shot?" Luke asked, looking around.

No one stepped forward.

"I will grant two extra slices of bread to the man who executes a cross-cut that I’m content with.

Their mouths watered. The bread was tempting, but they weren’t confident. While everyone was hesitating, Ian raised his hand.

"I'll try it."

Ian was experienced in the art of swordsmanship and had applied his skills in actual battles. He had learned the basic fundamentals, and the cross-cut was the first skill he had practiced.

Though at first, I rarely practiced my sword skills properly.

The hunters’ skills could quickly and easily be upgraded as they fought or eliminated monsters. However, since Ian was incapable of using mana and had difficulty hunting them, he had no choice but to upgrade his skills through practice and application.

He soon took his stance and raised the wooden sword with a plaque.

Ho…?

His ready position was well-grounded. Luke could tell from watching him that Ian had been a swordsman who wielded the blade for a long time.

Ian swung his sword, executing the perfect cross-cut.

Luke nodded at the display.

"Very smooth. The tip of your sword did not waver, and your stance was stable. Two slices of bread, as promised!"

"Thank you." Ian replied calmly before returning to his spot.

After seeing Ian receive his promised slices of bread, all the recruits eagerly raised their hands to attempt the cross-cut, but all of their attempts were messy.

Luke knit his brows together and snorted as he opened his mouth to make a retort.

"Lads! After seeing each of you with your weapons, I have realized how dire the situation is. I can't trust you all to protect this empire!"

“…….”

Everyone shut their mouths and bowed.

"You will all practice the cross-cut stance 10,000 times before you are permitted to eat your lunch. That’s 10,000 swings. Everyone ready, start!"

Ian frowned.

“He’s insane…”

10,000 times. It was no easy amount. Yet, they had no choice. Luke was observing them. In the end, the recruits had no choice but to swing their swords with a sigh.

How many times had Ian swung his sword?

Then another bizarre thing occurred.

[Your stamina has increased by 1.]

Come again…?

A notification sound went off in Ian's ear.

***

Ian couldn’t help but to pause for a moment when he saw the notification window pop in front of him.

Simply repeating a move would raise a stat? Again, this was something he had never heard of happening before.

At least, that had been the case so far.

It befuddled him that such unusual events kept occurring.

Ian smiled and then glanced at Luke. The instructor stared at him with a puzzled look when he stopped swinging his sword. Although he wasn't tired, Ian pretended he was by bending down.

Status.

It was only natural for him to check his increased stats.

Ian's translucent stat window popped up immediately.

[Ian Ignis]

Level: 17

Occupation: None

Title: None

Power: 22

Agility: 26

Stamina: 24 (↑1)

Wisdom: 22

[Skills Possessed]

- Intermediate Swordsmanship

- Intermediate Martial Arts

- Peer

His stamina had indeed gone up by one. Confirming it, Ian closed the window and looked up.

"This place... I like it here." He murmured.

It was a place where things that had once been impossible and nonsensical before suddenly seemed to be a natural possibility.

Ian was beginning to like it there more and more.

He recommenced his training.

"Hya!" His voice escaped as he exerted his arm strength.