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nThanks to Alan D. ($150) for sponsoring this chapter too!

nThe Hero Preparatory School managed a single Dungeon for practical training.

nThe Dungeon’s entrance was on the school’s grounds… in other words, inside the capital of Orbaume. It was originally outside the city, but as Orbaume developed and grew, it expanded beyond where the Dungeon’s entrance was.

nIts difficulty was C-class, and only Rank 2 and 3 monsters appeared on the upper floors – the perfect difficulty for students at the Hero Preparatory School to do practical training.

nThere was also a great deal of variation in the interior environments of the Dungeon – stone ruins were the most common one, but there were also caves, forests, deserts, and swamps. This allowed the students to gain all kinds of experience.

nOn top of that, monsters spawned at a higher rate than ordinary Dungeons, which made it even more suited for practical training. Even if dozens of students hunted the monsters inside every day, it would never run out.

nBecause it was only C-class, even in the unlikely event that a monster stampede were to occur, the teachers at the Hero Preparatory School would be able to contain it, so there was no risk to the public safety of Orbaume.

n“Today’s objective is for you to experience a Dungeon. Not to clear it. Don’t forget that,” Dandolip said as a word of caution to the students. “Many of you have never experienced a Dungeon before. I can understand that you’re anxious and excited. However! What you’re about to experience is not an adventure into the unknown. People have known everything there is to know about this place for centuries. Many adventurers step into this place as if it’s just another ordinary day, hunt the monsters they’re looking for, harvest their materials, and return home safely. The purpose of this training is to make you capable of doing the same.”

nMany lost their lives by getting carried away because they were careless and overconfident in their own abilities. Others lost their lives because their anxiety and fear caused them to panic.

nDandolip… or rather, Randolf, believed that it was the duty of Adventurers’ Schools to prevent as many of those tragedies as possible.

nTo begin with, the word ‘adventurer’ isn’t an accurate word for it. Adventurers are more like hunters or exterminators that are specialized in dealing with monsters. Most of them are laborers that earn their keep by hunting known monsters in known hunting grounds, then bringing back their materials to sell. But there are too many fools who die because they misunderstand their own profession. Adventuring should only be done by those who still want to do it after cultivating the skills and experience they need.

nThese complaint-like thoughts ran through Randolf’s mind, but he knew that speaking them out loud would only serve to dampen the students’ eagerness. In fact, it could even have the opposite effect, causing those who were strongly competitive to act recklessly in defiance.

n“You can go on adventures into the unknown as much as you like after you’ve acquired the skills and experience you need and graduate from this school,” Randolf said. “The Storm of Tyranny, a party of S-class adventurers from the Amid Empire, reached the legendary Demon Continent and returned to tell the tale. The Five-colored Blades from our own nation defeated a Pure-breed Vampire, and even now, they are surveying Alda’s ‘Dungeon of Trials.’ And the one over there, Va…”

nVandalieu was fiercely shaking his head.

n“Err, you have long lives ahead of you. Think of now as the time for you to develop your strength for the future!” Randolf said, concluding with words that he didn’t really believe.

nOther than Vandalieu, the students had a bright look in their eyes. Even the pompous children of nasty noble families were adorable at times like this.

nThe Storm of Tyranny have apparently attacked a duke of the Amid Empire, as well as a Church of Alda, so it’s possible that their Guild memberships have been revoked. And the youngsters of the Five-colored Blades didn’t look much like heroes to me… Well, there’s no need to tell them what they don’t need to know. Still, are you that opposed to me mentioning you by name? Randolf thought, looking at Vandalieu.

n“Listen up,” Randolf said. “First, divide yourselves into the parties you decided beforehand, come and get your ‘commission,’ then enter the Dungeon in turns. Each ‘commission’ has its own task, and once you’ve finished it, go to the instructor who will be waiting by the stairs that descend from the third floor to the fourth floor. And then your practical training for today will be complete.”

nAfter that, Randolf gave a brief explanation of the rules… such as not interfering with other parties and not settling personal grudges here. And then the first party entered the Dungeon.

n“See you later, Van!” said Pauvina.

nShe, Reinhardt, and the rest of their party entered the Dungeon before Vandalieu. The task written on the ‘commission’ they had drawn was to pick medicinal herbs that grew on the second floor.

nPain, who was sitting on Pauvina’s head like a hair ornament, gave a small squeak.

nWith him there, there wasn’t even the smallest chance of something going wrong.

n“See you later,” said Vandalieu.

nHe was still on his own. It wasn’t as if parties couldn’t change their members once they were decided, but Vandalieu had declined to join any of his classmates’ parties, as he had decided to belong to Elizabeth’s party.

nIncidentally, the rule that new students could only form parties with students in their own classes for their first month was something the school had put in place to prevent students being left on their own or parties being formed with a poor balance of abilities.

nIf upperclassmen were allowed to form parties with any newcomers, many students would try to rely on the upperclassmen or the capable students in their own grade, while the upperclassmen would try to pick out the newcomers that were more capable.

nIt would not be good if the parties formed by the ones left after that process were to end up being only students who wanted to be frontline fighters, or only students who wanted to be mages.

nThus, the school forced new students to form parties within the limits of their own class. Of course, these parties that were formed under these restrictions sometimes disbanded because of clashes in personality between the members.

nBut by the time this generally happened, a month would have already passed, and the students could simply form new parties.

nThere were some adventurers who worked with the same party members for their entire lives, but there were also others who began frequently joining and leaving parties when they were a student and continued that later in life.

nThere was no small number of adventurers who did that in order to find a party that was right for them.

nBut in any case, it was unusual for a student to remain alone even during the practical training. It was normal for them to at least join a party temporarily, just for the practical training.

n“Sensei, our commission says, ‘Gather thirty Magic Stones,’ but… we don’t think we’ll be able to do it. What should we do?” another student in Vandalieu’s grade asked.

n“I think you should work together with another party,” said Vandalieu. “Maybe you can help people whose commissions don’t ask for Magic Stones, and take their Magic Stones in exchange. Or you could even trade the other materials you harvest for Magic Stones.”

n“Are we allowed to do that?!”

n“I don’t think there’s a problem with it. The rules only prohibit us from interfering with each other; working together isn’t prohibited… The Adventurers’ Guild encourages adventurers to help each other out, after all.”

nDespite being on his own, Vandalieu was answering questions and giving advice to the other students in his grade. Having gained the respect of the other students to whom he had previously given advice during training, he was now being treated like one of the teachers.

n“Sensei, you can’t do that. You’re right, of course, but we need to let the students figure that kind of thing out on their own,” said one of the teachers.

n“I’m sorry, Harbinger-sensei. But I’m a student, you know?” Vandalieu reminded him.

n“Ah, you’re right. You got me there, Sensei!” Harbinger said with a cheerful laugh.

nHarbinger was the instructor that had put up a fight against Vandalieu until the very end during his first day of school. Even after that, despite the fact that the students had been assigned to self-study, Harbinger had asked Vandalieu to serve as a practice battle opponent for all of them, including himself.

nIncidentally, the other instructors didn’t treat Vandalieu as a student, either. The instructors of Pauvina’s class were also lenient in this regard. They knew he would speak like a teacher, but they didn’t pay much attention to it and treated him as a student in name only.

nAs Vandalieu answered the questions of the students that approached him, his own turn came.

n“Our ‘commission’ is… defeating the Stone Golems inhabiting the second floor and transporting all of their materials back. Quite the difficult task,” said Vandalieu.

nPete gave a questioning hiss.

n“Pete, the materials harvested from Stone Golems are the rocks that their bodies are made of. Van-sama is saying that it is quite difficult because it is a troublesome task to carry hundreds of kilograms of rock while fighting against monsters,” said Eleanora.

n“… Is it reeeally?” said Eisen.

n“For ordinary adventurers, it’s a difficult task. For ordinary adventurers,” Eleanora repeated for emphasis.

n“It’s as Eleanora says. It would be troublesome if I get carried away and end up assigned with extra tasks, so let’s put on a ‘wow, this is really difficult’ face,” said Vandalieu.

nVandalieu’s solo party consisted of Eisen, as well as Pete, who had shrunk himself to the size of an ordinary Great Centipede, both of whom had previously been registered at the Tamers’ Guild. There was also Eleanora, who had been registered at the Tamers’ Guild just the other day. And finally, he also had a couple of Undead from Silkie’s grounds with him.

nWhen he registered Eleanora, the Guild Master of the Tamers’ Guild, Orlock, had asked: “You’re sure that you want to register this young lady as a familiar?”

nIn response, Vandalieu had asked, “Do you not mind a Vampire walking around the city unregistered?”

nWith that, Orlock had grimaced and authorized Eleanora’s registration.

nHe had seemed reluctant to put a collar on Eleanora, who simply looked like a young woman to him. But that reluctance had vanished with Vandalieu pointing out that Eleanora couldn’t walk around unregistered, and Eleanora’s angry outburst of, “Are you saying that I am unworthy of being Van-sama’s servant?!”

nA beautiful red-haired woman, a beautiful plant-like woman with several branches growing from her back, a centipede with sparks flying from its horns, a gardener wielding a large pair of scissors that looked like they could cut a human in half, and a chef armed with an enormous butcher’s knife.

nDespite being accompanied by these, Vandalieu claimed to be ‘solo.’

nNo matter how one thought about it, it was an excessive gathering of fighting forces.

nBut one of the objectives of this practical training was to allow students to experience completing a commission in a Dungeon, so the rule was to allow students who were tamers to bring their familiars with them.

n“It’s our turn. Let’s go,” Vandalieu said.

nNaturally, Vandalieu and his companions didn’t struggle, nor did they break any rules. They defeated the Stone Golems on the second floor, divided up their remains equally to carry back, then cleared the third floor. They helped any students in trouble on the way, and completed their ‘commission.’

n… He did, however, send Chipuras and the other light-attribute Ghosts, as well as a single stealth-specialized Demon King Familiar, down the stairs to the fourth floor.

n“In order to make future practical training easier, find out every floor’s structure, what monsters live on it, and the distribution of harvestable plants and minerals! Vandalieu-sama’s ‘Labyrinth Creation’ isn’t perfect when it comes to unknown parts!” said Chipuras.

n“Be quiet, so that you’re not noticed by the monsters or the other students, Berkert!” said Daroak.

n“I-I won’t be noticed, I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not… here? Who… am I?!” Berkert shouted in confusion.

n“Berkert, don’t think about anything difficult. Let’s just play hide and seek. The seekers are everyone in the Dungeon except us,” said the Demon King Familiar.

n“Yeah! I’m going to play hide and seeeeek!” Berkert screeched.

nAnd so, Vandalieu learned the layout of the entirety of the Dungeon that was being managed by the Hero Preparatory School.

nMeanwhile, Vandalieu was also conducting training in one of his Inner Worlds.

nA Rock Golem – a humanoid monster made of rock – approached with a groan that sounded like boulders being rubbed against each other.

nUlrika raised a throwing knife and threw it at the Rock Golem with all her strength.

nThe knife flew at the speed of a bullet and found its mark, piercing straight through the Rock Golem’s torso and creating a hole in its body.

nThe Rock Golem groaned in shock, but Ulrika was just as surprised.

n“Impossible! The knife pierced straight through the rock?!” she exclaimed.

n“Why are you so surprised? You’re the one who threw it,” said Mari.

n“I mean, it’s rock! A knife, thrown by a person, pierced it! It’s normal to be surprised, isn’t it?!”

n“Seriously? We’ve already been told that the laws of physics are different here, haven’t we?”

nUlrika was half-panicking at her successful attack, and Mari stepped forward to take her place. She used ‘Metamorph’ to transform her slender hand into an enormous fist covered in a hard carapace, then used that to strike the Golem.

nThe Golem groaned again as cracks formed from where Mari’s fist landed, traveling across its entire body. A moment later, the entire Golem crumbled into pieces.

n“… Hmm, this really is amazing. I know I made my fist very hard, but to think that I can use it to break boulders to pieces without even using magic…” Mari murmured.

nIn the end, Ulrika and Mari were both surprised.

nKanako gave them a nod. “I think that’s just how it is. Rock Golems are Rank 4. Ulrika, your throwing Skill is Level 5, and Mari, your ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ is Level 5 as well. You both have high Attribute Values, too. So it’s nothing to be surprised about,” she told them.

n“… It looks like you’re completely used to how things work over here,” said Ulrika.

n“I think I’m going to need a little more time to get used to it,” said Mari.

nIt seemed that the two of them still weren’t accustomed to what was extremely ordinary in this world.

n“I wonder what this world’s physics are really like?” said Ulrika.

n“I think this world’s laws of physics are considerably different to Earth or Origin. It would be physically impossible for hundred-meter-tall Colossi and Elder Dragons to exist on Earth, after all. And to begin with, we’re in a world inside a person’s body. It’s best not to think about the complicated details,” said Kanako.

n“You’re right about that,” Ulrika and Mari agreed simultaneously as they looked up at the sky.

nThe sky beyond the white clouds was a pulsating, flesh-colored… ceiling. The place they were in now served as proof enough that the laws of physics here were very different to those of Earth or Origin.

n“Now that you’ve been convinced, shall we move on to the next one?” said Kanako. “Van, bring out the next one, please!”

n“Yes, yes. ‘Get up,’” the Vandalieu of this Inner World commanded, creating another Rock Golem and sending it towards Ulrika and Mari.

n“Next is… ‘Helix Strike!’” shouted Ulrika, throwing another knife, this time with a ‘Throwing Technique’ martial skill.

nAs the Rock Golem groaned and approached with lumbering footsteps, it was struck by a knife that was rotating rapidly, and a large hole was made in its torso.

nThe Rock Golem crumbled with a thundering noise, and Ulrika stared at it, dumbfounded.

n“Impossible… The power is on another level. All I did was use a martial skill… No, I suppose this is the power of martial skills? Or is it because I’ve become a Dark Human?” Ulrika wondered.

n“There’s no incantation needed, and it only takes a small amount of Mana, but produces this much power. Is there really a demand for mages in this world?” Mari asked.

nMartial skills could be used without an incantation, at the cost of just a small amount of Mana, as long as certain conditions were met… such as using the weapon needed to activate the Skill’s effects.

nMari wondered if there was a need for magic at all, given that martial skills existed.

nKanako gave her a wry smile. “You only feel that way because you’re strong,” she said. “Normal people can’t use ‘Helix Strike’ with that much force… Well, being able to use ‘Helix Strike’ is proof that Ulrika isn’t an ordinary person. And becoming a Dark Human alone won’t make you that strong. It’s true that the ‘Strengthened Muscles’ Skill increases your strength, but you need to gain more experience… though it seems that you’ve acquired the ‘Superhuman Strength’ Skill instead for some reason, Mari.”

nUnlike the reincarnated individuals that had been reincarnated in Lambda so far, Ulrika and Mari’s Statuses had not been adjusted by Rodcorte.

nThat was why they had some differences, such as their skill with firearms being ‘Artillery Technique’ rather than ‘Archery.’

nBut because they had received Vandalieu’s guidance and divine protection, their Attribute Values and the Levels of their Skills were far higher than those of the people of Lambda.

nThus, it was inevitable that their martial skills had extraordinary power.

nToday’s training was for them to get accustomed to their new bodies, as they were now Dark Humans, and to get used to using martial skills, which didn’t exist in Origin.

n“Now then, shall we make it something more like a real battle? I’ll have the two of you change Jobs at least once today! … We can’t lip sync in this world, so we need the stamina to sing while we’re dancing,” said Kanako.

n“Wha–?! Have you changed our objective?!” Ulrika exclaimed.

n“Ulrika… The truth is, I’ve been having a hard time recently, trying to persuade a certain person, so I’ve got a lot of stress built up,” said Kanako.

n“That’s not good! But what does that have to do with us?!” Ulrika protested.

n“Vandalieu, Kanako is irrationally taking out her stress on us,” said Mari, tattling on Kanako.

nBut the result didn’t change.

n“Well, the two of you do need training, and when your physical capabilities improve as a result, it’ll become an important asset for you both,” the Vandalieu of this Inner World said.

nWith that, he used ‘Golem Creation’ to combine a countless number of boulders into dozens of Rock Golems.

nThe newly-created Rock Golems roared as they moved with surprisingly good coordination, surrounding Ulrika and Mari.

n“Come! Defeat this army of rocks and take a step towards being an idol!” said Kanako.

n“Ugh, I think your definition of ‘idol’ is completely different from mine!” said Ulrika.

n“I agreed to take lessons, but… I didn’t expect them to be like this. Ah, I want to hurry this up so I can see Mama,” said Mari.

nUlrika took out more throwing knives and Mari used ‘Metamorph’ to give herself crab-like pincers and the legs of a beast as the two of them engaged the Golems in battle.

n“To tell the truth, I agree with you, but… it would be sad if you couldn’t use the transformation equipment that I took the time to make for you, so please do your best,” Vandalieu said. “Well, I’ll need a little more time for your equipment, since I’m having trouble with making Deeana’s equipment.”

nFor now, he was thinking of giving them general purpose transformation equipment and equipment armor that could be worn over it once they were done with this training.

nMeanwhile, a short distance away, Bokor, Yukijoro, and Gabriel were steadily getting through their physical combat training. The three of them had never received combat training before, and they were unable to use any magic other than their limited death-attribute spells, so it had been decided that it was too early for them to do training that was similar to real battles.

nAnd some distance away from them, Hiroshi and Mei were being trained by Banda.

n“Get ‘em, everyone!” said Mei.

nAt her command, her horde of Undead began attacking the Stone Golems and Wood Golems that were being used for their training. The chimeric beasts created by Rikudou’s experiments, which were now Undead, stopped the Golems from advancing, while the president Ghosts attacked at long range using Poltergeist abilities. On top of that, the Undead experimental subjects were using limited death-attribute magic and physical attacks, slowly chipping away at the Golems’ numbers.

nMeanwhile, Hiroshi had already finished defeating his Golems with his magic.

n“Banda, I want to try fighting a dinosaur,” he said.

n“Hiroshi, it’s too early for you to be fighting dinosaurs,” said Banda. “I’ll make a dinosaur-shaped Golem for you, so you’ll have to make do with that for now.”

nThere were two reasons Vandalieu had limited the enemies used in today’s training to Golems that he had created. One was because fighting against beast-type or demi-human monsters would be too much for Ulrika. And the other was because he wanted to provide a good education for Hiroshi and Mei.

nIn Lambda, it was fine to kill monsters in order to eat their meat and harvest their materials. But Hiroshi and Mei were still children. Allowing them to kill living creatures themselves and get used to the sight and smell of flesh and blood flying through the air would be questionable education.

nHowever, because Vandalieu had failed to devour Rikudou’s soul, he didn’t feel at ease with just keeping them safe in this greenhouse-like environment with their strength remaining the same.

nThat was why he was having them train against inorganic Golems.

n“Yeah, okay. But I want to be able to defeat them before Mom and Dad get here so I can show them my progress,” said Hiroshi.

n“Then I’ll show you around the museum in Talosheim sometime. There are lots of dinosaur bones… or rather, Undead that were made using them,” said Banda. “We got some Twin-headed Tyrannosauruses and Satan Ammonites last year, too, and there’s a corner where you can touch a trilobite.”

n“Seriously?! I’m pretty sure Twin-headed and Satan and whatever only exist in this world, but I wanna see a trilobite!”

nIt seemed that the museum with Undead made from the dinosaur corpses Vandalieu had received for his third birthday had continued to expand since then.

nAnd so, Vandalieu conducted training sessions both inside and outside his body.

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nSkill explanation:

nGorging

nAs the Skill’s name suggests, it is a Skill that allows the user to gorge themselves on food. When the user intakes food beyond their daily requirements, they store the excess nutrients and calories up to a certain amount, then consume them when they need to in order to avoid starvation.

nThe amount of nutrients and calories that can be stored increases with the Skill’s Level. It is generally not a Skill that can be acquired by humans, but there is the occasional rare individual who does acquire this Skill.

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