Chapter 1: The Training Camp Begins!
“Ooh, amazing.”
Standing on the deck, I felt the pleasant breeze on my skin as I looked at the surrounding scenery.
The blue sky filled my vision. Watching the majestic nature below shifting at an incredible speed, the words escaped my mouth before I knew it.
“Still, this is my first time on an airship…”
“I’ve been on one a few times. Though this is my first time on a ship of this caliber.”
On the deck of the airship racing through the sky, Gareth and I exchanged words.
The Airship Valizeus. It’s the latest model owned by the Romus Royal Family. It uses a high-output spirit power engine utilizing the Soul Stones of high-ranking spirits, and its exterior, made from a divine tree thousands of years old, possesses powerful defensive functions. It’s said that ordinary attacks can’t even scratch this airship.
“I wonder how much money went into this airship?”
“Well, I think enough was spent to let you live a life of leisure until you die.”
“That’s endless…”
As expected of the Royal Family, they are loaded.
Maybe I should aim to be a Court Spirit Master after I graduate from the academy.
“Still, a training camp in the Zemekia Mountains, huh?”
“I’m not great with that place since there are so many high-ranking spirits there.”
It’s a mountain range stretching east to west across the southern part of the Romus Kingdom. Like the Forest of Judecca, it’s known as a place rich in nature and spirit power where many spirits reside. In particular, since high-ranking Dragon Spirits live near the summits, climbing these mountains is generally forbidden.
“They won’t bother us if we don’t interfere with them unnecessarily.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The spirits there are relatively calm, so as Gareth says, as long as we don’t pick any weird fights, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Even so, making the Zemekia Mountains the camp site… as expected of the Princess, she’s bold.
“Yaaawn—”
As I was talking with Gareth, the sound of a cute yawn reached my ears. I turned around to see Lily appearing on the deck with a sleepy expression, her steps unsteady and dangerous.
“Lily, don’t come out on the deck while you’re half-asleep. It’s dangerous.”
“Requesting a piggyback…”
“Why did we bring someone like this to the camp? Let’s drop her off.”
“Her performance in this semester’s Degree Battle was good. Or rather, Lily was originally in the top ten until she was kicked out by a certain someone.”
“…………”
Come to think of it, I was the one who tanked her rank. I recalled the memory while looking at the blank face of Lily, who was leaning her weight against my back.
“Look, we’re going to arrive while we’re talking.”
“It really is huge…”
A massive mountain range loomed before our eyes.
I could see the shape from a while ago, but seeing it up close made me realize its scale all over again.
“Oh, you were already out on the deck.”
“Misha.”
The owner of this airship, Misha, appeared from inside accompanied by her attendant, Sena. She called out to us while turning her gaze toward the Zemekia Mountains.
“We will be landing soon, so please gather your luggage and get ready to disembark.”
“Right, got it.”
While Gareth was replying, I was desperately shaking Lily to wake her up.
“Hey, Lily, wake up. We’re getting off.”
“Two more hours…”
“I’m gonna throw you off.”
Despite already showing signs of being a total mess, the training camp was about to begin.
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“Training Camp” sounds like a grand title, but I figured it would just be a slightly harder version of our usual training in a different location to change the mood.
Participating with such a light heart, I realized how naive that thinking was as soon as the camp started.
“Huff… puff… huff…”
Sweat poured from my forehead as I breathed painfully, climbing up the steep mountain path.
A little ahead of me, Gareth, who seemed to have slightly more leeway than I did, was skillfully avoiding rocks while climbing, though he was also sweating. Following behind his master was Beowulf, looking as cool as ever as he hopped along effortlessly.
“Rourke, impossible. I’m gonna die.”
“Even if you say that, I can’t help you. Just do your best.”
Behind me, Lily, who seemed to be at her limit, was looking for help with hollow eyes, but I didn’t have that kind of luxury right now. Normally, I’d tell her to have her contracted Minotaur carry her, but apparently, the rule is that a Spirit Master should be strong themselves, not just their spirits, so using spirits for transport has been forbidden.
As a result, the summoned Minotaur could do nothing but carry her luggage and watch its master anxiously.
Well, even if that rule didn’t exist, it wouldn’t matter to me since I don’t have a contracted spirit anyway.
“Whew… whew…”
“Huff… puff…”
As soon as we arrived at the Zemekia Mountains, we were made to change into athletic clothes, and then the mountain climbing began abruptly. We, who were advancing along the rugged path, were quickly beginning to feel exhausted.
The reason the Spirit Masters were struggling so much was partly due to the brutal rules and the difficulty of the path, but even more so because the physical enhancement through spirit power wasn’t functioning well. It must be because the spirit energy here is incredibly dense. The enhancement formulas were becoming chaotic and failing to work properly.
As a result, the camp participants, who were climbing with almost nothing but their raw physical ability, were quickly starting to scream. In fact, several participants had already dropped out and were being carried down the mountain by the accompanying teachers. Lily was actually doing a decent job staying in it.
“……Eek!?”
“Whoa!”
I noticed Leia, who was a little ahead of me, tripped on a hole in the ground and was about to fall, so I used what little physical enhancement I could muster to dash forward. My movements were worse than usual, but I managed to support her small body.
“Th-thank you… very much.”
“Yeah, just watch your step. It’ll be bad if you fall.”
“Y-yes…”
Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal, but right now physical enhancement isn’t working right. Falling badly in a place like this could lead to a serious injury.
“Are you having trouble using spirit arts too?”
“Yes, the formulas keep getting disrupted.”
As expected, Leia was also struggling because she couldn’t use spirit arts properly. Her face, drenched in sweat, was filled with exhaustion, making me worried.
[…]
While I was thinking that, a small dragon with flapping red wings hovered in front of Leia’s face.
I wondered what it was, and it turned out to be her contracted spirit, Salamander, which had transformed into a cute mascot-like form, a far cry from its usual majestic appearance.
It probably judged that its usual size would be in the way of the other participants and scaled itself down. The Salamander, which had been flying ahead while carrying Leia’s luggage, apparently came back when it saw its master almost fall.
[Gru?]
“I’m fine. Senpai helped me, so I’m not hurt.”
[Gru, Grururu.]
“!! Enough, you just carry the luggage!!”
[Gugo!?]
Salamander was likely speaking to Leia via telepathy or something.
Judging by Leia’s response, the first part was genuine concern, but it must have said something unnecessary afterward, because she slapped it across the face, sending it rolling on the ground. That looked like it hurt.
[…………]
“Senpai, let’s go.”
“A-Are you sure?”
I couldn’t help but call out to Leia as she tried to walk away, leaving the twitching Salamander behind, but she acted as if she didn’t care, picked up the luggage the Salamander had been holding, and moved forward.
“…………”
Well, come to think of it, even if it’s small, it’s a high-ranking spirit. Leia’s slap probably didn’t even itch, so there’s no need to worry.
“I thought a wild Dragon Spirit was attacking, but it’s just Valhart’s contracted spirit.”
“………Committee Chair.”
The one who appeared was the Disciplinary Committee Chair, Loxley, who was smoothly climbing the mountain with a full set of silver climbing gear made of Metal Slime. I couldn’t help but think it was a bit of a cheat since the gear was so perfect, but since it wasn’t against the rules, I guess it counts as “safe.”
“I was moving along while keeping an eye out for spirit attacks, but it’s quieter than I expected.”
“Well, with this many spirits and Spirit Masters around…”
High-ranking spirits like Angels and Dragons were climbing in a group. Normally, no one would think to attack a swarm of various monsters like this.
At least, I certainly wouldn’t.
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“Anyway, I didn’t expect you to be here. You said you wouldn’t participate in the Great Spirit Martial Arts Festival, so I thought for sure…”
He had been as adamant as I was about refusing to enter the festival, so I was convinced he wouldn’t come.
“No, I still don’t intend to participate in the festival. Being here is strictly part of my training.”
“I see…”
The Chair’s goal was strictly to train himself at this camp. It’s already three times as hard as I imagined, so it might be effective in terms of training.
“For now, I’ll focus on guarding the perimeter. I’m counting on you too if anything happens.”
With that, the Chair headed back down while poking the ground with his Metal Slime staff. He probably went to check on the people behind us; he has incredible stamina.
“I mean, even if you say you’re counting on me, I really can’t do anything…”
No joke, I can’t do anything right now. In this unstable environment, I can’t connect my paths properly with spirits for temporary contracts, so there’s a chance I’d fail. In this situation, I’m basically just a regular person with a lot of spirit power.
Looking ahead, I saw two students advancing even further than Leia and Gareth.
Misha continued to advance without slowing her pace, wiping away sweat and looking exhausted, and even faster than her was Akari Tsukikage.
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