Chapter 7

The Strongest Class (2)

It had already been two months since they entered Carcerium.

More than half of the 65th Class were still struggling because they had yet to master the Hittite Breathing Method.

On the other hand, even if they were few, there were inevitably those whose seeds of talent had begun to bloom.

It was a quiet dawn.

A gust of wind swept across the training field, where darkness had yet to give way to the morning light.

No.

Calling it a gust of wind would have been an understatement.

It carried far too much weight and force.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Explosive booms followed one after another, as though the ground itself were about to collapse.

The moment Ethan’s foot kicked off the ground, the air seemed to cave inward, sending clouds of dust flying.

The air filling his lungs was cold enough to make them freeze, yet his body was already burning.

A full-speed sprint.

This wasn’t simply running.

It was a sprint that drew upon every muscle in his body, a run designed to shatter the limits of the human body.

His speed was enough to blur his vision, his acceleration so tremendous that the world itself seemed to smear into indistinct shapes.

But then—

A strange presence closed in tightly from behind.

It was Nicholas.

Ever since Ethan had begun running and his performance had improved, Nicholas had abandoned his stubbornness and started running with Ethan every dawn.

…He actually kept up this far?

Ethan gritted his teeth.

As the tall Nicholas, whose muscular proportions were nearly perfect, began accelerating, his presence approached like that of a gigantic predator.

Faster.

The two men sprinted at speeds that exceeded their limits.

The air split apart.

The sound of the wind being torn open filled the training field.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground trembled faintly, unable to withstand their speed.

Every step generated an explosive recoil, and that recoil propelled them into their next stride.

Then—

[You have mastered Hittite Body Hardening.]

[You have exceeded the required experience for Hittite Body Hardening Level 1.]

[93% remaining until Level 2.]

Ethan’s body began boiling with heat.

The Hittite Breathing Method.

The deeper his breathing became, the more intense the pressure spreading through his body, as though his heart were crushing itself.

His blood grew hotter.

His blood vessels expanded, while his muscles momentarily became as dense and hard as steel.

His regenerative abilities increased explosively as well.

I think I finally understand why they make us learn this breathing method.

Through this breathing method, Ethan felt as though he was finally beginning to understand why tax collectors were considered monsters.

The changes after truly mastering the breathing technique were astonishing.

Even now, while running, his body was undergoing rapid transformation.

The moment his muscles tore from being pushed beyond their limits, they immediately recovered, settling into an even stronger form.

Fatigue didn’t accumulate.

Rather, the harder he ran, the more activated his body became.

His muscles had completely changed.

The flexibility of his body was almost unbelievable.

For a brief moment, he could bend his joints nearly 270 degrees. He could even momentarily dislocate his shoulder and then restore it instantly through the recoil of his muscles.

It was as though his body were being reborn.

It’s probably the same for this guy.

Ethan glanced at Nicholas, who was still right behind him.

It was difficult to read Nicholas’s expression because he was wearing a breathing apparatus, but his eyes clearly conveyed one thing.

I’m going to beat you today.

I can’t exactly let you win.

The corners of Ethan’s mouth lifted.

Faster.

He took another step.

In an instant, the ground exploded beneath his feet.

BOOM!!!

With a tremendous cracking sound, Ethan shot forward as though he were tearing the training field apart.

Thirty minutes before morning training began.

Hiss!

Ethan and Nicholas removed their breathing apparatuses simultaneously after finishing their run.

Normally, they would have been gasping for breath and drenched in sweat, but their breathing had become considerably more stable.

No.

More precisely, Nicholas was exhausted, yet he was maintaining his composure.

We’ve been running together for more than two months, so it’s kind of strange that we’ve barely spoken to each other.

Until now, Nicholas had been so taciturn that whenever Ethan tried speaking to him, he received no response.

But they had a full thirty minutes to spare today.

Maybe he’ll actually answer me this time.

Without expecting much, Ethan opened his mouth.

“You adapt incredibly quickly.”

“It feels strange hearing that from you.”

Nicholas answered rather coolly, contrary to Ethan’s expectations.

Still, once they had broken the ice, it became a little easier to continue talking.

“My name is Ethan.”

“As if I wouldn’t know that.”

“I’m twenty years old. I used to be a pickpocket in Arvan. What about you?”

“…”

Nicholas seemed genuinely flustered by Ethan’s unexpected revelation about his past.

He clearly had no intention of forming friendships with his fellow trainees, but the person he had been competing against all this time had revealed his identity.

Ignoring him completely wasn’t really in Nicholas’s nature.

“Nicholas. I was with the Cloud Mercenary Corps, located in the northern part of Astar. I’m twenty-three.”

“Oh! That explains it. You definitely had that kind of atmosphere about you.”

Nicholas spoke to Ethan with a half-wary gaze.

“By the way, I didn’t know someone with a criminal background could become a tax collector.”

“Is that a problem? You probably won’t believe me, but my sponsor threatened me, so I had no choice but to come here.”

At Ethan’s sly response, Nicholas tilted his head back slightly.

“Not particularly. You don’t seem like a bad guy.”

“People often tell me my personality is practically angelic.”

“…I don’t know about that. Judging by what happened in the waiting room, your personality can be a little difficult to pin down.”

Nicholas inadvertently let out a small laugh, and Ethan stared at him with a momentarily bewildered expression.

The memory that flashed through Ethan’s mind was the scene of him kicking Rex away without mercy simply to survive.

“That was…”

Ethan was just about to explain what had happened back then when a suspicious shadow began looming behind them.

“Oh-ho. You’re both out early again today. Ethan, Nicholas.”

The owner of the shadow was Walter.

Flinch!

At the sound of his voice, Ethan and Nicholas immediately stopped talking and put their breathing apparatuses back on.

Soon afterward, the other members of the 65th Class appeared, wearing the same equipment.

Looks like those guys have a little more breathing room now, too.

Ethan watched two people among the group.

One was Rebecca, proudly displaying her gleaming red hair.

The second was Koren, who kept his eyes closed while displaying an air of complete relaxation.

Their growth wasn’t quite on the same level as Ethan and Nicholas, but there was no doubt that the two of them had also mastered Hittite Body Hardening.

“Good. Then shall we work hard on the course training again today? The minimum required time for completing one course is one hour.”

The moment Walter finished speaking, all the members of the 65th Class wore gloomy expressions.

Walter once again revealed a vicious look in his eyes.

“What? Did you come here to play? You all look like dead fish. The minimum required time is fifty minutes. Understood?”

What?!

Everyone, horrified, immediately stood at attention and shouted.

“Yes!”

At the same time, the 65th Class began tackling the course.

The first course was climbing a ten-meter-high wall standing in the middle of the training ground.

It wasn’t ordinary rock climbing.

There were ten-kilogram mana-stone shackles tied around their hands.

The weight had been increased by another five kilograms a week ago.

And they had to breathe using only their skin.

Raw strength alone wasn’t enough to climb.

Unless they used Hittite Body Hardening, they would break an arm or fracture a leg the moment they fell.

Behind Ethan, who was climbing at the front, one trainee slipped and lost his grip on the rock.

Crack!

“AAAAAAARGH!”

The moment he fell, his leg fractured, and he let out a horrifying scream.

But the sound quickly disappeared beneath the surrounding chaos.

I don’t have enough stamina.

Ethan was struggling just as much.

Because he had trained more intensely than the other trainees, he could activate Hittite Body Hardening somewhat more easily.

However, claiming that balance had to be maintained, Walter had increased the weight of Ethan’s shackles by another ten kilograms.

Nicholas had received an additional five kilograms.

Grind! Grind!

The moment Ethan put strength into his arms and legs, his veins swelled as though they might burst.

But when Ethan steadied his breathing, Body Hardening activated.

His torn muscles gradually recovered, drawing out strength he hadn’t even realized remained inside him, and Ethan barely managed to reach the top.

“I… I did it.”

Ethan lifted the corners of his mouth, feeling the satisfaction of accomplishment.

But apparently, Walter found the sight extremely irritating.

He stepped on Ethan’s fingertips.

“Instructor… What are you doing?”

“Ethan. Climb without using your feet. Again!”

What kind of sadistic bullshit is this?!

Ethan was just about to protest when—

Smack!

Without hesitation, Walter kicked Ethan’s hand away.

Ethan plummeted once again from the ten-meter height.

KWA-BOOOOM!

Ethan twisted through the air like a cat before landing on the ground with an enormous crash.

The impact was so loud that several trainees climbing the wall lost their balance from the vibration and fell.

Crack! Crack!

“AAAAAAARGH!”

Cries of pain rang out one after another.

Ethan, however, trembled violently with frustration as he glared at Walter.

Walter, on the other hand, spoke with an utterly shameless expression.

“You still haven’t learned proper breathing.”

“Unless you push your body’s mana sensitivity to its absolute limit, you won’t even be able to get over a single wall.”

His words were true.

Even after two months, those who had yet to master the breathing technique couldn’t climb even three meters before being eliminated.

One.

Then another.

One by one, they lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

The second course was to find Carcerium coins that had sunk beneath the water.

Ting!

Walter threw a pile of Carcerium coins from a table into a pond five meters deep and spoke.

“Before you search for the coins, anyone who couldn’t climb the wall will have to start the first course again.”

Only around eight trainees had survived long enough to reach this course.

Ethan steadied his breathing and thought,

This consumes far more stamina than climbing the wall. And I can’t maintain Body Hardening.

In a way, it was obvious.

Maintaining the breathing technique underwater was impossible in the first place.

“Stop squirming around, Ethan. You have to find twenty coins.”

For reference, the other trainees only had to find ten.

Once again, Walter had given Ethan a particularly brutal assignment.

But this time, rather than harboring resentment toward Walter, Ethan reminded himself of the true purpose of the exercise.

The essence of this training wasn’t simply finding coins.

The purpose of this course is to see how long I can maintain Body Hardening.

If he couldn’t maintain Body Hardening while searching for the coins underwater, he would immediately be eliminated.

And activating such an intense physical enhancement while submerged was extremely difficult.

As time passed, his stamina was rapidly depleted.

“Huff… huff… I can’t do this anymore.”

“Blegh!”

Before even five minutes had passed, three trainees had already been eliminated and climbed out of the water.

“Start the first course again.”

As always, Walter showed not even the slightest mercy.

“…”

The faces of the eliminated trainees were filled with despair.

Meanwhile—

Underwater, Ethan’s arms and legs were becoming increasingly stiff, and his entire body felt as heavy as lead.

He hadn’t even found all the coins yet, but his limit was already approaching.

Stay calm. My body isn’t going to collapse just because I can’t breathe properly after all the training I’ve put it through.

When you’re in a hurry, go around.

Ethan had always found that saying particularly frustrating.

But now that he was cornered, he decided to prioritize direction over speed.

And then—

He felt a faint remnant of Body Hardening remaining inside his body.

A tiny amount of strength that hadn’t completely disappeared.

Ethan wondered if he could summon it again.

It’s not as much as what I can absorb through my respiratory tract, but I can still breathe to some extent through my skin.

Body Hardening itself hadn’t completely disappeared.

If so, rather than strengthening his entire body at once, he could gradually spread the remaining strength from the areas where it was beginning to fade.

Like gently blowing on an ember before the flame completely died out and bringing it back to life.

Ethan steadied his breathing.

He focused on his legs, released the tension, and then gradually spread the power through his body again.

It was definitely less taxing than before.

It felt as though he were smoothly continuing Body Hardening without ever allowing it to break.

This is it…!

Ethan’s expression changed.

Rather than stubbornly enduring everything, he was making use of the strength that remained.

By doing so, he could maintain Body Hardening for far longer.

[You have reached Level 2 of Hittite Body Hardening.]

At that moment, the coins lying on the bottom came into view.

Ethan began picking them up one by one.

After finishing their training, the trainees who were resting all stared anxiously at the lake.

“…Don’t tell me he’s dead?”

Someone muttered.

The other trainees exchanged uneasy glances.

Quite some time had passed since Ethan had jumped into the water, yet he still hadn’t surfaced.

“We haven’t had a single fatality so far…”

“Could we really be about to have the first death in our class?”

“Don’t say things like that.”

The murmuring gradually grew louder.

Numerous trainees had broken their arms, twisted their legs, and even lost consciousness during training.

But not a single person had died.

Could that record finally be broken today?

“…”

Walter silently stared at the lakeside.

He showed no signs of impatience.

He simply waited in silence.

His expression remained calm.

And then—

“Pwaaah!”

A massive splash erupted from the water.

A moment later, Ethan burst through the surface with tremendous force.

His wet red hair glistened, and his soaked clothes clung tightly to his body.

But what shocked everyone most was his hand.

As Ethan walked out of the lake, he emptied the coins he had been clutching onto the ground.

One.

Two.

Three…

More than twenty metal coins rolled across the stone floor with a series of metallic clinks.

The trainees’ mouths fell open.

“Holy shit…!”

“He actually picked all of those up?”

“How did he do that without breathing…?”

Even while breathing heavily, Ethan straightened his shoulders proudly.

Then he slowly raised his gaze toward Walter.

The corners of his mouth lifted.

With an air of confidence, he asked,

“What else do I have to do next?”

For a brief moment, silence descended.

Then someone among the trainees let out an exclamation of astonishment.

And soon afterward, an uproar erupted throughout the group.