The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 17: weapon training

Due to the other hunters’ awkward movements, his swordsmanship naturally caught the eye of the training instructor.

“Alright, stop your movements! Private Kim Min-joon, step forward to the platform!”

At the instructor’s words, the soldiers’ gazes were fixed on Kim Min-joon.

‘What is this?’

He had just been swinging his sword leisurely.

“Private! Kim Min-joon! Understood!”

I have to show them what I can do now.

Kim Min-joon stepped onto the platform.

“Okay. The instructor observed the other soldiers’ movements and noticed that there were many awkward and choppy parts. Watch what Private Kim Min-joon does.”

The instructor instructed Kim Min-joon to perform postures one through four.

The sergeants and corporals seemed uninterested, but they still glanced at him.

“Yes, understood.”

Kim Min-joon performed the postures slowly enough for the soldiers to watch and learn.

The instructor watched silently with his sunglasses on.

“Stop the movements here.”

“Stop the movements!”

“Do you see this gap here? You need to maintain this distance to be able to block monster attacks effectively.”

The instructor approached Kim Min-joon, pointing his baton at his legs.

The soldiers were frantic trying to follow his movements.

“Oh, this feels like being an assistant.”

Everything was fine, but poking people with a baton was a little excessive.

“Okay, now the next four! I said the lower body is important for postures one through four. As for posture four…”

The training continued until a 20-minute break was given.

“After the break, we will continue the training! Make sure to hydrate yourselves!”

“Yes!”

In the trainer’s words, the hunters left their positions momentarily to drink water.

At the moment when Kim Min-jun was about to step down from the podium, the trainer spoke up.

“Kim Min-jun, well done. You impressed the trainer. Eat this later.”

The trainer put something into his pocket.

“Private! Kim Min-jun! Thank you!”

It was a red package.

Chocopie.

“… Is this how they reward us?”

Both the educators and the trainers seemed to love Chocopie so much.

“Min-jun.”

As he stepped down from the podium, Private Lee Dong-jin came up to him.

Judging by his sweat-drenched upper body, he seemed to have been working hard during the training.

“Private Kim Min-jun.”

“You’re good at Hunter swordsmanship. If it’s okay with you, can you show me some moves during break time?”

“No, I’m not that good yet. But if it helps, I’ll show you as much as I can.”

“No, you’re good. I might have to learn from you.”

Lee Dong-jin’s main weapon was a sword.

He performed precise swordsmanship according to the textbook in front of Kim Min-jun.

“He’s doing everything perfectly. I can’t find any flaws,” Kim Min-jun thought.

He could tell that Lee Dong-jin had received a lot of training.

It was like a textbook example of Hunter swordsmanship.

“Private Lee Dong-jin, I can’t see any areas where you need improvement.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Um… Honestly, every time I fight monsters with a sword, I’m never satisfied with the results.”

Lee Dong-jin said with a slightly gloomy expression.

He was worried that he was falling behind compared to other hunters when it came to attacking monsters according to the manual.

“Don’t we have practical training later? I’ll observe you closely then.”

“Sure, thank you. I’ll ask for your help.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Since he was my senior who had taken care of me to some extent, I felt that I should help him out a bit.

“Everyone, gather!”

After 20 minutes passed, the training instructor’s voice signaled the start of the next training session.

“The main weapon training will end with a confrontation with the monsters!”

The instructor pointed at the monsters trapped behind the iron bars.

Goblins.

Among the low-level monsters, they were a strong species that had quick and sharp minds, so being careless around them could lead to big trouble.

“Keyeok! Human!”

“I’ll kill you!”

Instead of clubs used as weapons, the goblins were holding training sticks made of a softer material.

“All privates return your weapons and step back. Commence!”

“Commence!”

Although the privates were unable to take the promotion test for a year, they were able to receive the same training as others. However, since the monsters for the confrontation were goblins, the privates were excluded from this training. They were usually used as targets for training.

“Come out one by one from the front and get ready.”

“Yes, understood!”

Kim Min-jun was assigned to be the last one in the order, so he watched and learned from the senior soldiers’ approach to the monsters.

“As soon as you’re ready, start!”

“Yes!”

At the instructor’s signal, the iron door opened.

The first battle was fought by Private Lee Dong-jin.

“Let’s see how he does it.”

Lee Dong-jin approached the goblin carefully.

“His stance is good, but there seems to be a problem from the start.”

It was taking too much time.

“Dong-jin! I told you to only engage in reconnaissance missions against monsters you don’t know! Why are you wasting so much time against a goblin!”

“Private! Lee Dong-jin! Sorry, sir.”

Kim Min-jun’s judgement was correct.

The training instructor also pointed out the same mistake.

“Being careful is good, but that doesn’t mean you can waste time.”

Small mistakes could lead to big accidents. However, that didn’t mean that they could waste time either.

From the moment they enter the dungeon, the hunters’ stamina starts to drain.

“Private Il-dong-jin, it took you 8 minutes to take down one goblin! No matter how good your stance and response are, it’s meaningless if it takes too long!”

“I’m sorry, sir!”

Even the somewhat trained privates could take down a goblin in less than 5 minutes.

It was definitely slow to take 8 minutes with their main weapon.

“Hey, Il-dong-jin, if you keep that up, you won’t be able to make it to sergeant. Don’t be scared, charge forward.”

“I’m sorry, sir!”

“That’s right. Just fix that.”

“Understood.”

Next up was Kim Kwang-sik.

His main weapon was a special knife that resembled a saw.

“Kieeek!”

It took Kim Kwang-sik only 3 minutes to take down a goblin.

“Next!”

Starting with Kim Kwang-sik, the privates and sergeants skillfully fought against the goblins.

“The promotion test is 100% real combat! You could die if you make a mistake! Don’t be arrogant and maintain tension!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

Although they were doing reserve training in a safe situation now, there were no safety devices during the promotion test.

It was a completely perfect real combat situation.

As a result, it was rare for hunters to be injured during the promotion test.

“Come on, privates, do your best. You’ll never make sergeant like that.”

“Yes, sir!”

The training continued, and only Kim Min-jun was left for the final order.

“Kim Min-jun.”

“Private Kim Min-jun, sir!”

“You haven’t received proper main weapon training yet, and the opponent is a goblin. If you feel burdened, tell the training officer now.”

“I’ll give it a try!”

The training officer nodded at Kim Min-jun’s confident answer.

“That’s right. That’s the attitude a hunter should have. You can choose any weapon you like.”

“Understood!”

The black weapons were boring, but luckily there were some good ones.

Kim Min-jun headed to where the weapons were arranged and scanned them with his eyes.

“Let’s see, there’s only a spear besides the sword.”

It’s not very interesting.

I prefer hitting rather than stabbing.

“I wanted my own weapon. Oh?”

Kim Min-jun’s gaze stopped when he saw the last weapon.

“This is it. This feels good.”

It was a mace made from dungeon loot.

It looked like an iron bat at first glance, but it was quite heavy when lifted.

“Wow, it even has wire-like things wrapped around it to hurt monsters.”

It didn’t look bad on the outside, and it had a great grip too.

It felt good in his hands.

Kim Min-jun picked up the mace, which could be a weapon that hunters avoid.

“Why did he choose that kind of weapon?”

“Maybe he doesn’t know because it’s his first training.”

“If he hits someone with that, it’s going to hurt a lot.”

The seniors looked at Kim Min-jun’s iron bat with a puzzled expression.

The iron bat was so heavy that just carrying it around consumed a lot of stamina.

After swinging it a few times, he was out of breath without realizing it.

Even the sergeants with high strength stats challenged the mace, but there was no hunter who could handle it properly.

“But it’s still worth carrying, right?”

“Wow, it must be hard even to carry it.”

“The stat went up a lot.”

“Did he kill 30 mediocre monsters for no reason?”

The countless gazes of the hunters focused on Kim Min-jun.

Even the trainer briefly looked at the weapon, surprised by Kim Min-jun’s actions.

“If you’re ready, start!”

“Yes!”

The door of the iron cage opened at the trainer’s signal.

“Kre-e-ak! Humans! I’ll kill you!”

The last remaining goblin rushed in as soon as the iron bars were opened.

Eyes wide open.

An angry expression.

He had lost his mind with anger after seeing his comrades die in vain.

“Wait, this crazy guy?”

Spraying saliva at me, a goblin?

“Kre-e-e-ak!”

“Split in half and die, you bastard!”

Kim Min-jun swung the iron bat at the goblin.

Boom!

One attack was all it took.

With a swift strike from Kim Min-joon, it seemed as though the goblin had been cleanly cut in half and died.

“Kim Min-joon. Fifteen seconds! Excellent job,” the trainer said, looking down at his stopwatch and then back up at Kim Min-joon.

“….”

“Heh….” That was the same expression on the faces of the other hunters. They all looked at Kim Min-joon in amazement, unable to say anything.

“Did he really take down 30 mid-level monsters by himself…?”

“I knew it. Did he really get promoted to private first class for no reason? I told you!”

“Hey, I didn’t know he could take down a goblin in one hit.”

As they excitedly conversed with each other for a moment, the trainer interrupted them.

“The training isn’t over yet! Shut your mouths!”

“Sorry!”

The trainer calmed down the excited atmosphere. “As expected. He’s the kind of talent that should have gone to officer or military school,” he thought.

From shooting to emergency responses to the previous training, the results were impossible for an average hunter.

“Anyway, it’s good to have an excellent hunter in our unit.”

The trainer lowered his voice and opened his mouth again.

“As you just saw, monsters aren’t machines. There’s no set pattern. So the ability to respond to the situation is important.”

At the trainer’s explanation, the hunters who had remained silent nodded their heads one by one.

“Ah, who’s trying to take this away?” Kim Min-joon returned the hammer with regret. To think that there was only one such weighty and excellent weapon.

“I’ll have to use it again in the promotion test.”

The training continued as planned. Kim Min-joon enjoyed the training with a light heart.

“I’m here.”

And the next day, Saturday, finally came, the day of Kim Min-joon’s long-awaited promotion test.

“Let’s go to private first class!”

***

It was the early hour of 5 a.m., still too early to wake up.

Kim Min-jun and Lee Dong-jin were outside having a conversation.

“Private Lee Dong-jin, you’re too cautious when facing monsters. It may be necessary when dealing with a large number of monster entities, but I think it’s excessive when facing only one,” said Kim Min-jun.

They were talking about yesterday’s training.