Chương 275: Ruckus

Having heard the kind of worlds they had come from, I had been worried that they wouldn't be able to fight to kill, especially the goblins, as they were humanoid beings, which their former worlds seemed to have only possessed in the form of humans like themselves… And apparently, they barely even killed murderers in their own world, so I hadn't been too hopeful about their performance. Fortunately, my worries had been proven unnecessary.

They were a bit sick after each slaughtering their first goblin, but they quickly got over it, and after making them kill more of the green monsters, they grew used to it. It was important for them to learn that something being humanoid did not equal sapience, intelligence, or a civilised mindset–Well, that's what I was teaching them right now, but down the line, I intended for them to be capable of killing another person just like themselves without feeling guilt.

The world was dangerous, and there were countless reasons why sapients, regardless of whether they were of the same species or not, could direct their weapons toward one another. It could be because they were bandits or other kinds of criminal scum, it could be because of war, or whatever else. As future living weapons, they needed to be fully capable of taking sapient lives.

Naturally, I couldn't really drag living, breathing people over here for them to train on, and my methods would definitely be questioned and heavily scrutinised if I were to ask for prisoners sentenced to death… Even if there were quite a lot at the moment, as Aesther was busy emptying the jails. It could be considered too brutal a way to teach, even if I personally believed that it was the optimal manner to approach it…

Alas, I knew well now that the other instructors and even the geezer did not agree with my methods, no matter how effective they were. Regardless… The trip was going well. I eventually moved from the goblins to the second most populous creature of these woods, some sort of wild dog thing with stripes on its fur and several rows of teeth like sharks. As odd as they looked, they were quite small and, just like the goblins, normally moved in great numbers.

Both creatures did not rely on wits or a refined hunting technique. They just buried whatever they wanted dead with sheer numbers. It was a fairly good strategy in my opinion, but due to all being absolute weaklings, the moment anything with actual strength showed up, they could do nothing literally. For example, I could let a whole pack of them try to chew me for hours, but they would absolutely never even damage my armour.

They would just smear it with saliva and their own blood from breaking their own teeth on me. Of course, they thrived here precisely because their strategy went unopposed. The main source of conflict was from them and the goblins throwing cannon fodder at each other without it meaning anything, as they would replace the dead within a month at most, and there were already hundreds upon hundreds of them lurking.

That's why I instructed my bodyguard to just ahead and kill some if necessary when catching breathing training dummies. After several hours of consecutive one-sided duels, it was time for a break as noon arrived. Eat and rest. We'll spend the afternoon reinforcing what you just learned and correcting the mistakes you made while sparring. I gave them a rundown of what our schedule would be like.

The advantage of going on a trip like this was that they wouldn't have any other classes today, so I could hog all of their time and give a much more comprehensive and detailed lesson than usual. Hopefully, the day would end with their brains filled with my lessons, and perhaps I would even have the occasion to test something else to further train them, even when they didn't realise it. I wonder, though… Do you think Aesther will try to marry them off like they're a princess and princes?

An Unwanted Presence definitely has value in the sense that they are very valued, so it wouldn't be surprising if they tried to establish connections in this manner. I suppose it depends on how much they trust the Unwanted. If they believe that their weapon might favour the one they get married to, they'll probably do their best to either keep them alone, or to get someone on their side to seduce the Unwanted Makes sense, I shouldn't have to deal with this, then.

I needed to complete my mission, so I needed to think about all possibilities and have plans prepared, just in case. Which was part of the reason why I was doing my best to be respected as an instructor, I wanted my word to have weight when it came to the otherworlders and their potential future. I didn't want to be the kind of teacher who could just be replaced at the snap of a finger. I needed to be valued, and I needed my pupils to like me.

Thankfully, I already had experience being an instructor even before I took up this mission, and it was a shame that I couldn't pull out my credentials, because I had recently learned that Jinine, the black demoness I had taught long ago, had actually turned out very well. She was a respected knightess in Malkazert nowadays. Alas, I couldn't really take credit for it in the current state of things… I am sure I can get those three to a similar level. They have pretty big advantages over most people in this regard.

They just need to learn how to properly make use of their gifts. Speaking of which… What should I recommend Williams buy once he has a good amount of experience to spend, Nara? This boy is definitely thinking about getting an affinity for an element, but I get the feeling that it would be more efficient to spend his funds elsewhere, especially since I doubt that the prices will stay the same. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I bet the stronger he'll become, the higher the prices will get. Well, it depends on the element, I suppose. Some elements can seem unnecessary, as basic mana can accomplish a lot on its own already, but certain elements allow for the simple casting of spells that would be complicated normally, and there are basically an infinite number of elements about even the most bizarre of things, so it could be worth looking through the list in his system…

Personally, I would first focus on enhancing his aspects of mana, though. They are the lifeblood of a mage, and some are basically impossible to improve for a regular spellcaster, but then again, those that can be improved naturally shouldn't yet have any experience spent on them Right, I'll have to discuss this with him. Baker only needs to keep going with training. His quirk doesn't require any choices. It merely restricts the way he has to cast his spells…

And Rose, I'll just need to advise her on what to do with her special inventory. Aah… I wonder how far I can take her, but regardless, she'll be- I raised my left hand and closed it upon a wooden bolt that had been on its course to fly right past my head and end its course inside Baker's chest. I crushed the bolt to splinters, and without having to say a thing, one of the accompanying knights shouted.

"We're being attacked!" It seemed like the first bolt had been an attempt at being sneaky, as the second volley was made up of dozens of those same bolts, and my instincts were telling me that this was only the beginning. I pulled upon 'Steel Shaping' and formed a dome of steel around the three Unwanteds behind me. The wooden bolts came crashing upon its surface, exploding into pieces as they made contact.

The wood used to make them was strong, and the tool used to launch them was effective, but my manifested steel was not so easily pierced. With 'Steel Manipulation', I slightly lifted the dome and led it with the three otherworlders amidst the trees, where they would be even safer. The knights took positions to defend the dome alongside the mages.

It seemed like they intended to stay fully on the defensive, which might seem odd as it didn't seem likely that the attackers would give up any time soon, but I could feel a certain kind of negative emotion in the air. They didn't quite trust each other. They were afraid that one or several of them could have been paid off to harm the Unwanted Presences.

In this form, I couldn't really sniff them all individually, so I didn't know how correct it was, but regardless, I summoned bodyguards inside the dome directly for further protection. Meanwhile, I looked up at the positions the bolts had come from. I had specifically picked this clearing because the nearest elevated positions were quite far away, but it seemed like it hadn't stopped anyone from taking accurate shots at my pupils. Perhaps it had made things more difficult, but definitely not impossible. Now…

Are they from another nation that does not want powerful otherworlders in the hands of the reborn Aesther? Or maybe they are from groups who oppose the existence of Unwanted Presences as a whole? Or perhaps, it was a bunch of system fanatics who had somehow learned something about the abilities of the trio. Who knows? I'll find them. I held up my blackboard for the others to see before rushing off into the forest. One important thing to note was that they were using wooden bolts.

It wasn't really common and made me think that they were aware of my abilities relating to steel. After all, if I could manipulate it, then it came to reason to think that I could sense it as well… Hence, they decided to forgo steel bolts altogether. Not a bad idea, but they should have gone a step further and not used steel at all for their weapons and armour. I could smell them like a bloodhound.

"Holy shit! She's fast as hell!"

"She's a knight, of course she's quick, you dunce! Load the damn crossbow–Not this one, you fool!" I heard two different accents just now. Unless I am misremembering, this sounded like a Malkazertian and Beelmartian, a rather unusual duo, I must say. Especially since the countries they come from are supposed to be allies of Aesther now, and from what I know about the continental alliance, an operation like this one made no sense.

There was no reason for any of them to be scared of three measly otherworlders, no matter how gifted they were. Just because they had a better start than most, it didn't mean much when there were three-digit old powerhouses just lying around, probably itching for a fight to remind themselves of their younger days. Mmh… I burst out from a bush and landed sight on the two attackers.

A demon and a human, the demon was a pretty big guy who looked like a lizard with bull horns, and more importantly, he was holding up a very specific kind of crossbow. Just as I had been wondering why they thought a crossbow would help them… I had gotten the chance to shoot one of these crossbows exactly twice in my life, and both times had been very fun. This thing was hefty and burdensome, but it could fire several heavy bolts in a second when activated.

The ones I had tested had been capable of firing ten and fifteen bolts, respectively, but this was more than twenty years ago, so I presume that things have evolved since then.

"Say hello to our little friend, you bitch!" The human spoke, and the demon fired. Once again, they were wooden bolts. Huh… Are they idiots? There were two important things to note about this style of crossbows, besides the fact that they were incredibly fun, and it was that they fired the bolts in succession, not all at once, and that the crossbow itself was quite a refined piece of craftsmanship… … A piece of craftsmanship containing steel.

With just a push of 'Steel Manipulation', I flung the crossbow off the side as I dodged the initial flurry by simply moving to my right. The crossbow was heavy enough that the demons were pulled alongside with it, unable to immediately correct their aim. He didn't even look away from the weapon, so he didn't even see the strike that decapitated him.

"S-Shit! I surrender!" I brought out a little trinket from my pocket, though it would be best described as a one-way ticket.

"I said I was surrendering!" I elbowed him across the jaw and sent him right to the Gravescape. Weakling. No way this is an actual professional. I'll have to check if they are all like this…