Overwhelming Firepower

Alexander and the others of S-class were headed to their classroom. The prince was also part of this group. As they were standing in front of their classroom before they entered, the prince spoke to them.

”Before we enter, seeing as you guys seem to already know each other, I wanted to formally introduce myself as well.”

The moment the prince spoke, Alexander and the others stopped.

Even though Elion had spoken politely, the fact remained that he was still the Third Prince of Norvaegard. None of them could simply ignore him.

Nina was the first to react. She stepped forward and gave a proper curtsy. ”It is an honor to meet Your Highness. I am Nina Drexford.”

Ryan, who had been standing beside her, showed a relaxed smile and was not perturbed even in front of royalty as he spoke. ”Ryan Veros, it’s nice to meet you, your highness.”

Nina glanced at him for a brief moment, as if wondering whether that was proper enough, but in the end, she said nothing.

Mina, on the other hand, became visibly nervous. Unlike Nina and Ryan, she was a commoner, and speaking to a prince was not something she had ever imagined doing.

She hurriedly lowered her head. ”M-Mina Escartin, Your Highness.”

Alexander quickly followed after her to make it less awkward for Mina. ”Alexander Wyrd, Your Highness. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Compared to Mina, Alexander’s voice was steadier, but he was still clearly nervous. After all, the person in front of him was not merely a noble. He was a prince of Norvaegard.

Lastly, Elion’s gaze moved toward Cael. The two looked at each other for a moment before speaking in his usual flat tone.

”Cael Thornehart.”

That was all. There was no bow, no curtsy, no long greeting, and no unnecessary words.

Ryan’s lips twitched slightly, while Nina’s expression stiffened for a brief moment. Mina looked as if she was worried that Cael had just committed some great offense.

Elion, however, did not look offended. Instead, he smiled faintly; this was what he expected a Thornehart to be like.

”It’s been a while, Cael.”

Cael looked at Elion for a few seconds before nodding. ”Yes, it has...” Elion looked at everyone with a brighter smile. ”Well, now that everyone has introduced themselves, it’s my turn.”

Elion placed one hand over his chest and lowered his head slightly.

”I am Elion Viron Vaelgard, Third Prince of Norvaegard. Starting today, I will be your classmate and the representative of S-Class. I hope we all get along.”

Once they were done with introductions, the group entered the classroom. The S-Class classroom was more spacious than Alexander had expected.

The desks were arranged with enough space between them that students could move freely without bumping into one another.

Weapons could be placed beside the desks, and there was even enough room for sudden demonstrations if the instructor wished to do so.

At the front of the room was a large board, and beside it were shelves filled with books, wooden training tools, and several documents.

Alexander looked around with slight amazement. Everything was different from what he expected. He was getting excited to learn more.

***

While the freshmen were looking around their new classrooms, Lucen was in his very own classroom, which was one of the training grounds.

Unlike the other training grounds, which had a weapon rack with different types, in this one, there was only one kind of weapon: guns.

There was the revolver that was being sold to the public, and an older version of the bolt-action rifle.

Aside from those two, there were several wooden dummies, moving targets, and reinforced walls. Lucen looked around and remembered that this was the training ground of the second strongest party member, the one who would be on par with Cael, the sword fanatic.

Of course, that person had not appeared yet. At least, not in this route.

’Well, with how much the route has changed, I do not even know if she will appear the same way anymore.’

Lucen placed one hand against his chin as he looked at the training ground. The space was wide enough for movement training, shooting drills, close combat, and even simulated battle scenarios.

The reinforced walls were thick enough to withstand aura-enhanced blows, and the barriers carved into them could absorb stray shots.

It was far better than what Lucen had expected. He then shrugged his shoulders. ’Not like I’ll be using this place that much anyway... I guess that it’s about time a few students come here seeking to learn how to use guns. I guess I can take a few non-main cast members, if they’re good enough.’

The hero and his original party were, of course, the targets that he wanted to teach, as that would bring him closer to seeing how this route unfolds, making it easier to maneuver.

If he knew what kind of new enemies would show up, or at least had some kind of idea, he could better prepare himself.

Of course, he did not plan to just teach those guys; he was going to test other students as well. Maybe there is a hidden character in this new route that could show potential.

Of course, that did not mean he would accept everyone who came. As he said before, that would ruin his plan of secretly guiding the hero party to become much stronger than any route.

He just wanted to add more potential power to the hero group, as he saw that this route should be harder than any other, a pretty much impossible difficulty. As he was thinking that, he suddenly came to a realization.

’If the difficulty of this route is supposed to be set at the maximum, that means even at the start of the game, the undead legion is already quite powerful... Well, nothing I can do about it since the location of that f*cking lich always changes. The best I can do is prepare for whatever army he brings and send scouts to find him.’

As Lucen thought of that troublesome lich, he clicked his tongue. No matter how many things had changed, that undead bastard remained one of the most annoying enemies in the story.

His difficulty changes depending on how long it takes for you to find him. As he was thinking about such things, a few students finally arrived.

”Sir Lucen, we wish to join your class.”

Lucen turned toward the entrance of the training ground. Based on the emblems on their uniform, they were second-year students.

There were six of them. Four were from the knight department, while two were from the mage department. Their eyes were filled with excitement and curiosity.

”I guess you could, but first you need to pass a test.”

The six students looked at one another. Normally, any student can join any class in the Royal Academy, but it did say in the poster that Lucen’s class was special.

Still, none of them expected to be tested immediately.

One of the knight department students stepped forward. He looked to be the oldest among the six, and from the emblem on his uniform, he was from B-Class.

”What kind of test will it be, Sir Lucen?”

Lucen looked at the six students for a few seconds before smiling.

”A simple one.”

For some reason, the moment Lucen said that, the six students felt that it would not be simple at all.

Lucen walked toward a table where several revolvers had been placed. Then he picked up one of them and held it in his hand.

”This is the revolver currently being sold to the public. It is rather outdated compared to the other things we made, but it is still leagues above any bow. The first test is, I want you to show me how you will shoot.”

”But we don’t know how to use that weapon.” One of the students commented.

”Don’t worry, it’s a simple thing to use. Watch me, first load the chamber with bullets.”

Lucen opened the cylinder and placed the bullets inside one by one. The six students watched carefully.

”Once the bullets are loaded, close the chamber, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.”

Lucen raised the revolver toward one of the wooden dummies. He quickly fired several shots, each shot penetrating the same spot.

Lucen turned back toward them. ”Simple, right?” He tossed the revolver in his hand to the nearest student, who caught it by reflex.

”Now show me what you’ve got.”

***

After a while, several dozen students had come to join Lucen’s class, but none of them had passed.

The first part of the test, which was shooting the dummies that do not move, seemed easy enough at first.

The revolver was an easier weapon to learn to use, and with their suprehuman abilities, the distance of the target they were able to shoot rather accurately despite it being their first time, and also being surprised by the recoil.

Yet that was not enough; Lucen wanted them to perform the same shot at least once, the shot of hitting the same spot consecutively. Even doing it three times would allow them to pass the first test.

But, even with their superhuman abilities, their proficiency in using a weapon they had never used before became their undoing.

A few mages tried using telekinesis or other spells to change the trajectory of the bullet, but Lucen failed them immediately.

When Lucen was already getting disappointed, an unknown female student from the mage department was able to pass the first test.

She was able to perform the same consecutive shots as Lucen, and that was not even the most surprising part; the most surprising part was that this sharpshooter student was actually blind.

’Now this is getting interesting.’ Lucen thought to himself as a wide grin appeared on his face.