Monday morning.

The front of the dormitory was crowded even at a glance.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Because this is the first time the entire first year has gone outside.

‘Half excitement, half nervous.’

Abel, who had finished preparing early and came out, thought while looking at the students.

On the day of departure, the percentage of those who felt nervous increased, but overall the atmosphere was floating.

‘Well, it’s better than everyone trembling in fear.’

If it’s floating on top, I can give it a warning, but if it’s frightened and depressed, there’s no answer.

When Abel was thinking so positively.

Someone put a chin hand on his shoulder.

“Abel! Since when have you been with me?”

It was Daniel.

My hair was half wet as if I had rushed out.

“A long time ago. What were you doing late?”

“I was practicing taijutsu and realized that I was a little late.”

“Did you go to the training ground today? Do you have any stamina left?”

“huh.”

Abel lost his words for a moment at the clear answer.

Abel shook his head and said.

“Let’s not talk.”

“huh? why?”

No matter how much I talked about it, Abel didn’t answer because his mouth only hurt.

“now. Everyone stand straight!”

It wasn’t long before teachers showed up and quickly took control of the situation.

The cadets quickly settled down in an orderly manner, and by the time about 10 minutes had passed, they were completely organized.

After the teachers figured out the number of people, they shouted in a loud voice.

“Go all!”

The cadets started moving along with the teacher in the lead.

The destination was none other than the front gate of the academy, and when I arrived there, I saw a line of transportation.

It was a means of transportation called a horse-powered car or an automatic carriage.

“Now, go in order, starting with Class A!”

In it, it was divided in half.

Abel followed the others and got into the far left car. And soon the teacher in charge also rode along.

This time, since it was going outside, each class had a teacher in charge, but it was Cowl who was in charge of Class A.

“Sit down quickly! We’ll be leaving soon!”

As Kaul clenched his fists as he spoke, the cadets quickly sat down as if they had squeezed them.

Woo-woo-!

Not long after, a loud magic resonance resonated.

There were no windows, so I couldn’t see outside, but I could feel it was slowly moving forward.

‘I felt it the other day, but it’s like an armored vehicle.’

In this world, these vehicles powered by magical power were ‘yet’ mostly for military use.

It is said that the focus is on efficiency rather than comfort.

‘There are things that aren’t, but there’s no way I’d use something like that for a first year cadet.’

Normally, I wouldn’t feel dissatisfied with such things, but it was true that I let out a sigh when I thought of the destination of this outdoor training session.

This is because it takes at least 12 hours to reach the plains of Telif.

In other words, I was told that I had to sit in this hard, narrow seat for 12 hours a day.

“You have departed. It will take quite a while to get there. It will probably arrive late in the evening.”

Then, Kaul opened his mouth.

He said to the cadets while shooting sharp eyes.

“Once you get there, you won’t have much time to relax until the practice is over. So don’t chatter while we go, just sleep.”

It wouldn’t have been very persuasive if he had just said that, but Kaul added a word.

“Anyone who talks is a penalty.”

Those words were very effective.

Kaul closed his eyes with his arms crossed after making the cadets shut up.

Abel, who had no intention of chatting in the first place, also quietly closed his eyes.

However, sleep did not come after a while.

It’s because I went to bed early yesterday for today’s sake.

‘Let’s meditate.’

Abel eventually gave up sleeping and started meditating.

Originally, he often meditated to cool his head, but after learning mana breathing, he hadn’t missed a single day.

There were two things emphasized in the Optirum breathing method.

Fairy tales and inner contemplation.

The former was the literal core, closely related to the method of accumulating mana.

On the other hand, the latter case was a little ambiguous.

According to the contents of the book, practitioners can know themselves better through inner contemplation.

The more you know yourself, the more efficiently you can do the same thing.

It means that even when you practice, you instinctively realize how to do it.

Looking at it that far, it seemed to have a great effect, but the problem was that it didn’t really touch me.

It’s only natural that I haven’t been able to properly grasp what it means to contemplate on the inside.

‘It’s probably because I’m still lacking in training.’

While Abel thought about that, he slowly began to meditate.

The first thing I had to do was clear up my thoughts.

Erase the thoughts floating around in your head.

Eliminate the need to focus on meditation. And in the end, even the idea that you are meditating is erased.

Empty everything.

After making such a white drawing paper, I start to draw something on it.

It was Abel himself.

It’s like observing from a third person’s point of view.

This is a difficult part for many, but Abel did not have any particular difficulties with this part.

This is because the existence of Abel was to some extent a stranger to him.

How often have you observed your body since you first woke up here?

Who was the original owner of this body? how did you live What would you have done?

To know that, I observed my body tirelessly.

And the result of that observation was right in front of my eyes.

‘Abel.’

An orphan wandering the streets.

All he knew was that. No, to be precise, it was ‘only’.

Abel’s gaze turned to the pattern engraved on one side of his body.

This did not exist in the game. never heard of or seen.

So he guessed.

This must be a new clue related to Abel’s identity.

-It came about when I first encountered the blade tail.

– Absorbed the power when you defeated the blade tail.

As of now, I only know of those two. There were more things I didn’t know than what I knew.

So, Abel was looking forward to this practice to some extent.

Because it was a chance to face much more types of fragments of the giants. Of course, there were also concerns.

Abel set aside such expectations and worries and focused on checking his body.

To check the inside beyond simply looking at the outside.

What is contemplation?

It refers to observing something with a calm mind, leaving the subjectivity behind.

So, Abel erased the insignificant information and prejudice in his head and looked ahead with clear eyes.

That he was a boy who was an orphan.

That he might be hiding some special secret.

After erasing those things, there was only a boy who was so unfamiliar that it gave me goosebumps in front of my eyes.

He looked at the boy for a while.

But at some point, his gaze turned to the pattern engraved on his chest.

I tried to take my eyes off him several times, but I couldn’t take them off as if there were magnets attached to his eyes.

At that point, Abel gave up trying to look away and went with the flow.

The pattern gradually grew in size in Abel’s eyes.

grow and grow again

At one point, it was carved on a huge wall, not on the body.

It was such a huge wall that I had to bend my head almost all the way up.

heartbeat-.

While looking at the wall, something like a heartbeat echoed from somewhere.

pounding, pounding-.

Abel took a step forward. Then he reached out to the huge wall.

Shuk-.

The moment your fingertips touch the wall.

The sound of his heart beating loudly and roaring like thunder pierced his ears.

The moment the pattern saw Abel and Abel looked at it.

An indescribable presence pressed down on Abel.

“Huh!”

Abel involuntarily inhaled.

Right after that, the presence that weighed on his body, the huge walls and patterns, and even his own body disappeared in an instant.

When everything disappeared and my eyelids opened on their own.

The first thing that caught my eye was a dim light.

In that state, I only rolled my eyes to see boys and girls dozing.

Not immediately understanding what was going on, Abel just stared blankly at the scene.

It wasn’t long before Abel remembered that he was driving to a field practice.

‘This is not in the car.’

Sitting around are the cadets of the same class.

When I turned my head a little further, I saw Kaul sitting by the entrance.

okay. It’s not in the car.

When Abel realized that, he involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

“Abel. are you okay?”

At that time, Daniel, who was sitting next to me, whispered in a low voice.

Abel nodded slightly and replied.

“huh.”

“For a long time, he was sweating and suffering as if he had a nightmare.”

“I?”

“uh.”

Abel heard this and touched his forehead.

Then I felt a cold sweat. And I could feel the sweat dripping from under the clothes I was wearing a beat late.

A sticky feeling of discomfort ran through his entire body.

‘For a while?’

Feeling suspicious, Abel asked Daniel.

“What time is it?”

“huh? I don’t know the time. The instructor said it would be mealtime soon.”

Mealtime soon meant that at least three hours had passed.

It was a surprise to Abel.

I’m sure I only meditated for a short time, but it means that 3 hours have passed by.

Abel told Daniel that he had a brief nightmare and recalled the memory of the time he was meditating.

‘Something was different.’

I had been steadily contemplating the inner world before, but this was the first time I had experienced something like this.

No, it’s the first time that I’ve focused so deeply in the first place.

Usually, at least an hour at most, I would wake up with all my concentration.

Thinking about that, I wondered if seeing the pattern and the wall had the biggest impact.

Usually, I used to end up drawing and imagining my own body.

‘The strangest thing is that wall.’

From a certain point on, the pattern was engraved on the huge wall, not on Abel’s body.

It also had old or broken traces everywhere, just like a real wall.

Abel had never had a similar imagination.

‘The pattern on the huge wall.’

Perhaps it was a clue to the identity of the pattern engraved on Abel’s body.

Abel remembered one of the sentences he had read in a breathing book.

-Through inner contemplation, practitioners may come to know themselves that they did not even know. What goes beyond the body and mind and sinks deep into the soul.

Perhaps, it reminded me of the memory of this body called Abel.

He wiped his face with one hand to keep out of sight.

It’s a headache in many ways to think about a question that can’t be solved right away.

As usual, Abel pushed a question into a corner of his head first.

The car continued moving without stopping except during meal times.

By the time the sun that had risen high in the sky went over the horizon again, and the bright moon took its place.

“It has arrived!”

Kaul shouted in a loud voice, and the cadets got out of the car one by one.

Abel also got off with the others and looked up at the sky.

The round moon floating there was somehow embracing an ominous light.

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