New Trainee

Early in the morning, when tractors usually come and go, there are four-legged beasts running on the ground without hesitation.

-Clack clack!

Farmer Choi Young-gam greeted them with a smile at the sound of the rough breathing and loud hoofbeats of the horses.

"Oh, Your Majesty. You're full of energy this morning."

Leon stopped in front of Choi Young-gam, who took off his hat and bowed slightly.

"Old man Choi, you're working hard early in the morning."

"I came to catch some bugs. Do you want to have a drink with the students?"

"It's riding training."

"I see."

Choi Young-gam, a priest of Demera, the goddess of life and abundance, was happy to see the temple growing day by day.

He felt helpless when he saw his land rotting without bending his waist, but now he was so happy.

All this happened after he came here. Choi Young-gam bowed his head again with gratitude toward Leon, who started to run again.

The scarecrow he hung behind him seemed to bow with him.

Leon, who ran with more than 44 students and horses early in the morning, started to teach the students at a nearby open space.

"There are many skills in riding, but the most important thing is to become friends with your horse. The ones you can rely on in the battlefield are your comrades next to you, and your horse is your closest comrade."

Kim Jae-hyuk raised his hand at Leon's words.

"Your Majesty, how can we be friends with horses that don't understand human language?"

"That's a reasonable question. The scholars of the empire said that they were the masters of beasts, not friends."

Leon made Stallion walk slowly and looked around at the students and horses who were staring at him.

"Horses are smarter than you think. But at the same time, they are also very timid."

Stallion stopped in front of Kim Jae-hyuk's horse as he walked slowly. Then Kim Jae-hyuk's horse did something unexpected.

"Uh, uh?"

Kim Jae-hyuk's horse lowered its neck softly. Not only that, it bent its legs and lay down in front of Leon and Stallion, as if bowing.

"Why is this guy doing this?"

Leon said to everyone in front of Kim Jae-hyuk, who was confused.

"Stallion is a being that can be called the king of horses. Kim Jae-hyuk's horse obeyed Stallion's authority and lowered itself."

It was natural. Stallion was a divine beast, and its existence was at the top of the hierarchy among horses.

The horses of the students would all obey Stallion's authority.

"However, you have to be close enough to reverse this hierarchy with your horse. It must be willing to challenge spears and swords for the rider on its back."

Leon gestured and Stallion snorted. Then Kim Jae-hyuk's horse stood up stiffly.

"Horses are timid, but they will gladly charge at beasts if they are with their riders. Why do you think that is?"

Chen So-yeon raised her hand.

"Is it because they trust their riders?"

"That's right. Whether it's a beast or a densely packed infantry with spears and swords, the horse throws itself into it because it believes that its rider on its back will solve it."

Build such a trust relationship, a relationship that can entrust your life on the battlefield.

"From today on, you will ride your horse for two hours every day and spend time with it. You also have to learn how to wield a lance while riding."

"Your Majesty, does that mean you're taking two hours off our daily training?"

It was Kim Jae-hyuk's question. Leon hit him hard.

"Fool! Why do you reduce training when you can just sleep two hours less? When I was a knight, I didn't sleep for two hours a day!"

There he goes again. Back in my day~.

If someone else had said it, they would have laughed it off as yeah, sure~. But they had to admit it when Leon said it.

They had been in the army for a month, but they had never seen Leon lie.

"And there will be a new student added."

"Yes?"

"At this time?"

The students tilted their heads at Leon's words. All those who could come from the academy had already come. They were those who gave up the draft offer from the guilds and came here.

In other words, those who did not come here had already finished their salary negotiations with other guilds.

If they want to tear up their contracts and come to TTG Guild now, they would have to pay a huge penalty.

"This person will train with you from now on and challenge the knight's title in the future."

Thump thump, a rider came from over the ridge toward them.

The horse walked on the ground as it pleased, and the rider swayed and tried to calm the horse somehow.

Unlike the young students who quickly became familiar and moved their bodies, he had a sad expression that showed his age.

He walked for a long time and finally bowed awkwardly in front of Leon and the students.

"TTG Guild first generation recruit Koo Dae-sung. I look forward to working with you."

The man's expression looked insecure.

TTG Guild first generation recruit Koo Dae-sung looked at the second generation recruits who were approaching their graduation ceremony and felt nostalgic.

They were like that a month ago. Their rank, which they thought would be D forever, rose to C and they could clearly feel their growth.

Above all, the moment they cleared the orange gate with the help of a knight, which was considered impossible to attack, was a joyous one.

Of course, the gate that Koo Dae-sung and the generation recruits cleared was not an ordinary gate, but a variable gate with demons in it.

Koo Dae-sung looked back on his situation.

He was a modern man with no qualifications and a high school diploma. In his twenties, when it was natural to have a lot of specs, he had a card called awakened.

Awakened. Hunter. The superhumans of this era.

But Koo Dae-sung had no talent. The title of perennial D rank was humiliating even among hunters.

Hunters his age usually advance to C rank. Even if they don't have a unique skill, they can at least go out to orange gates.

On the other hand, Koo Dae-sung couldn't even access the orange gate as a porter.

Koo Dae-sung had a goal while moving from one rented room to another. A goal he wanted to achieve.

S-rank hunters. The heroes who live a brilliant and cool life. The real heroes who receive people's praise and clear the gates.

It's something that perennial D-rank hunter Koo Dae-sung can't even dream of. But──

'If I follow his teachings, can't I become stronger?'

Koo Dae-sung's life has been going well lately.

He met a survivor from another world by chance. Thanks to him, his rank went up and he was able to get the precious orc warrior's heart potion.

He became strong enough to lift tons of iron easily, fight one-on-one with orcs, and do things that were impossible for him before.

He didn't deny that meeting Leon was a great fortune. He could also make enough money here.

But he wasn't satisfied with this situation.

He became stronger by consuming the orc warrior's heart and the blessed crops. But that was it.

His growth stopped without increasing, and he couldn't guarantee that something like the orc warrior's heart would happen again.

Being a perennial D-rank and becoming a C-rank doesn't make him that much stronger and he felt that when he saw the academy students.

The students that Leon brought as knight candidates had dazzling talents.

It was like heaven to Koo Dae-sung, even if Leon was dissatisfied but they were B-rank at that age…

They had unique skills and could easily do things which were impossible for Koo Dae-sung.

Such dazzling, fantastical talents.

The world they live in is too different. Unlike Koo Dae-sung, who decided to enlist to try to raise his rank once, they wanted to become knights from the beginning and their growth rate was incomparable to him.

He was envious and wanted to become a knight like them.

As Leon said, unlike soldiers who only have to do one thing well, they are superhumans who can do anything.

'O Goddess Arianna. O God Petos. Thank you again today.'

Koo Dae-sung thanked the two gods first and suddenly remembered the goddess of life and abundance that the farmers worshiped.

The one who purifies the land contaminated by miasma and feeds the believers with blessed crops. There is no hierarchy among the gods, but is there anyone more important than this in the world at this point?

The farmers are so grateful to Demera and offer a tenth of their crops to the altar for a reason.

'Is it a disrespectful thought?'

To appreciate Goddess Demera more than others.

Koo Dae-sung thanked Demera separately and went back to his dormitory. He passed by the training ground where a solemn aura was emanating and suddenly remembered the thing inside.

"There was a hammer, right?"

The hammer of the Holy Knight Georgic was said to be an epic item with tremendous power because it was a relic itself.

There were many challengers, but Koo Dae-sung never thought of lifting the hammer.

He knew his place.

He dreamed high, but he was pessimistic about his place. He thought it wouldn't even budge anyway.

"Is there no one…?"

He didn't even look at the hammer because he didn't want to be humiliated. Koo Dae-sung realized that there was no one around and sneaked up to the hammer.

"Wow…"

The appearance of the hammer was really solemn and noble.

It felt like the impurities were washed away just by looking at it, and the hammer stuck firmly to the ground.

The head of the hammer, of course, and even the handle was beautifully engraved with patterns.

"What if I try it once…"

Koo Dae-sung touched the handle of the hammer. He lifted the hammer with all his strength from the beginning, but──

Squeak!

The hammer twitched. Only enough to feel a little bit of air.

"Ugh…!"

Koo Dae-sung let go of his hand and the sound of the hammer hitting the ground was loud.

"Huh…! Is it still not working?"

Well, I know my place… Koo Dae-sung was about to turn around in disappointment when it happened.

"This is… quite surprising."

It was Leon's voice.

After the Great Change in 2002, countless gates appeared on Earth.

They each have their own concept and rank, but among them, there are some that are priority targets for subjugation.

The first priority is high-rank gates.

The higher the rank, the higher the risk of dungeon break, so it's a matter of course.

The second is gates that open in wastelands.

After the Great Change, humanity lost as many wastelands as its population.

Nothing can grow in land contaminated by miasma, and people can't live there either, so it's natural to stop contamination itself.

But among all these threats, there is an exception that becomes a top priority for clearing as soon as it is observed.

In this case, the government takes the lead and issues a 'conscription order' to forcibly mobilize hunters.

The US and Japan have already notified that they will dispatch attack teams. The problem is not that.

"Why now…"

Oh Kang-hyuk, chairman of the Association, sighed at the repeated reports and identical observation information. The observation equipment was too accurate to be mistaken, even with cross-verification from neighboring countries.

"Dragon Palace… It's practically confirmed."

Sea gate AKA Dragon Palace.

Gate appearances are usually observed on land. Naturally, people expected gates to only appear on land, and they didn't care about the sea at all when there were no satellites to observe gates after the Great Change.

But 25 years ago, the world's first sea gate appeared in Tokyo Bay.

The Tokyo Bay gate, which was left alone until dungeon break occurred, not only annihilated Tokyo Bay but also contaminated the entire coast and turned marine life into monsters.

It was the worst gate disaster in history, and Japan had to waste 15 years to end this disaster.

That's why Dragon Palace gate is a priority for neighboring countries to cooperate and attack together in an international situation where national self-interest prevails.

He had already received reports from America and Japan that they would dispatch attack teams. The problem wasn't that either.

"Every year… there's a storm warning. This year seems especially strong, but that's not the problem."

Oh Kang-hyuk turned on the news. The weather information that was broadcasted as an emergency bulletin on public broadcasting.

[Yes, I'm now in front of Ulleungdo Island. Typhoon Nabi, which was expected to move to the Pacific Ocean, suddenly changed its course and is moving slowly toward Ulleungdo Island.]

[Nabi, which is expected to be the biggest typhoon of the year, is surpassing the record of Cicada in 2003 with a speed of 64.5m per second, and serious damage is expected for the residents of Ulleungdo Island.]

A storm warning that happens every year seemed especially strong this year, but that wasn't the problem.

The direction of the Dragon Palace gate and the typhoon overlapped.

"Gather the hunters. Urgently! And…"

Oh Kang-hyuk added.

"Contact Leon, the Lionheart King of TTG Guild, as a top priority."

Oh Kang-hyuk instinctively felt that Leon, the mysterious king who performs miracles and receives the love of the gods, was the only solution.