The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 112

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (112)

A week had already passed since arriving at the base camp in Helikel Gorge.

Arteon still spent each day in the midst of busy routines.

The surprise of reuniting with his platoon members for the first time didn’t last long.

The joy was brief, and the resumed training immediately filled that empty space.

“Uaaaaaaah!”

A battle cry echoing through the dawn air.

Along with it, about thirty shirtless soldiers were running in formation around the outskirts of the gorge.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

“Damn it, I must be crazy…”

“That demon-like platoon leader… why was I so happy to see him… crazy…!”

The first day’s meeting was pure emotion itself.

But the emotion was brief, and with the resumed training came the beginning of suffering.

The dawn at Helikel Gorge now began noisily with the 4th Platoon’s morning run, and those who were initially annoyed now watched their run with curious eyes.

Soldiers from surrounding units who had awakened murmured as they watched the 4th Platoon led by Arteon.

“Another day has begun.”

“I heard the new platoon leader who came in is no ordinary person?”

At someone’s question, a soldier next to him looked at him with an incredulous expression and said.

“It’s Arteon. The master of Helikel Gorge.”

“…!”

“…Didn’t you know?”

“That, that person?”

Watching his startled comrade, the soldier clicked his tongue and said.

“Tsk tsk, you’ve been here for over a week and still didn’t know?”

“Then, then it makes sense. Unless they were soldiers who underwent that level of training… they couldn’t have accomplished such an impossible feat.”

Before long, Arteon’s name had spread throughout the entire unit gathered at Helikel Gorge.

There was no one who didn’t know the soldier who had achieved the greatest merit when recapturing Helikel Gorge.

Of course, thanks to that, even before the war began, the 4th Platoon had to endure the mixed gazes of amazement, envy, and concern from surrounding soldiers all at once.

“One, two, three, four! One-two-three-four! One-two-three-four!”

“Louder voices!”

When Arteon’s shout rang out thunderously, the soldiers ran while shouting even louder.

Though they were completely shirtless in this bitter cold, they didn’t feel cold.

Rather, their skin was burning bright red, and white steam was billowing from the platoon members’ bodies.

“…”

At that sight, Arteon’s eyes calmly observed the platoon members.

Every movement of the soldiers running beside him entered his vision.

‘These guys…’

He could feel that they had never slacked off even after he left.

Rather, their bodies had become even more solid than before.

The fact that there wasn’t a single straggler even in this high-intensity run was proof of that.

‘Moreover…’

What was even more surprising was that several of them had already reached the stage of handling mana.

While mana could be intensively gathered through mana cultivation methods, it could also manifest naturally through physical training.

Of course, the individuals themselves seemed unaware of it yet.

But it was clearly visible to Arteon’s eyes.

‘I don’t know how much time we’ll have ahead, but… this looks promising.’

To fight against those Kar Tribe bastards beyond this gorge, they needed to become at least one level stronger than now.

Seeing something that showed possibility, Arteon’s lips curved up subtly.

“Halt!”

“Huff…! Huff…!”

“Wheeze! Wheeze! Wheeze!”

“Almost… huff… died… huff… there. Huff… huff…”

Everyone heaved their chests greatly as they gasped for breath.

But not a single one of them had dead eyes.

And…

“Fall in!”

When Grain, who had been at the front, shouted loudly, the platoon members quickly aligned themselves in formation.

Arteon spoke.

“From now on, morning runs will continue at this level of intensity. And there’s one more thing.”

Arteon pulled out a mask made of thin cloth from his pouch.

“You’ll run wearing this.”

“A mask…?”

“Wouldn’t breathing be too difficult if we run wearing that?”

One platoon member asked cautiously.

Arteon nodded.

“That’s exactly why we’re doing it. It can strengthen your cardiopulmonary capacity even more than now.”

The cold air of the Northern Region sometimes doesn’t even allow comfortable breathing.

Therefore, if they trained like this in advance, it could be of great help in extreme situations.

But…

“…He’s a demon.”

“Crazy… he’s definitely trying to kill us.”

When several platoon members muttered quietly and grumbled, Arteon grinned and said.

“The soldiers who just complained, step forward. I’ll show you what real training is.”

“No, sir!”

“Platoon Leader, I love youuuuu!”

A sudden love confession echoing through the gorge.

At that cry, the other soldiers giggled and burst into laughter, but the one who had complained just swallowed nervously with an anxious expression.

They knew well that if you got on Arteon’s bad side, you really couldn’t even gather your bones.

At that, Arteon just chuckled and said to the platoon members.

“I’m planning to add new training from now on, so be prepared.”

“Could you tell us what kind of training you’re planning to do?”

Grain, who was at the front, asked cautiously.

Arteon answered.

“Mana cultivation methods and horsemanship.”

“…Excuse me?”

The soldiers’ faces instantly stiffened.

“We can learn mana cultivation methods?”

“And horsemanship too…? But is there any need to ride horses in the Northern Region?”

Questions spread, but the confusion was quickly suppressed.

“Quiet!”

At Grain’s shout, all the platoon members shut their mouths tight.

When the training ground finally became quiet, Grain looked at Arteon and said.

“We’ll prepare as ordered. Are there any additional instructions?”

“None. Take personal maintenance time until training time after breakfast.”

“Understood.”

Tension and anticipation.

Though that strange emotion was mixed together, the platoon members’ eyes were different.

They had suffered to death under Arteon, but they knew best how much they had changed since then.

Smirk.

Seeing those eyes, Arteon turned around with a smile on his lips.

‘If I can learn the mana cultivation method and become able to use mana….’

I could rise to at least intermediate 2nd Star in one go.

If all the platoon members reached that level….

‘A single platoon… would have company-level combat power.’

My heart was already starting to race.

But just then.

“You seem pretty busy these days?”

“How long have you been watching, sir?”

“Since you gathered the guys and started talking about mana cultivation methods.”

Isaac’s eyes narrowed.

There were hundreds of different mana cultivation methods, but their effects varied greatly.

Mana cultivation methods with excellent effects were so precious they couldn’t be bought with money, and nobles passed them down as family secrets.

“What level is the mana cultivation method you’re sharing with the soldiers?”

“At the very least, it’s intermediate level.”

“Intermediate? You’re going to share something like that?”

“Yes, it’s the mana cultivation method I’ve been learning.”

That was a lie.

What I was trying to teach the platoon members was a mana cultivation method I had learned in my past life.

Though achieving mastery was difficult, its early growth rate was comparable to advanced… no, even supreme-level mana cultivation methods.

‘However….’

After 3rd Star, gathering mana becomes difficult, and breaking through requires tremendous effort.

In a way, it could be a method to limit the platoon members’ growth.

‘But reaching 3rd Star alone would keep them from dying easily.’

Especially in this Northern Region where tomorrow couldn’t be guaranteed.

Of course, with enough effort, they could rise even higher.

Like I had in the past.

Arteon organized his thoughts and looked at Isaac.

“But that’s not what you came here to ask about.”

“…Looking at you, I really have to call you magnanimous. Giving away such a precious mana cultivation method….”

But Isaac soon shook his head.

“Never mind, that’s your prerogative, so it’s not my place to say anything. It’s not about that—there’s someone who wants to see you, partly to see your face.”

“Me, sir?”

“The Battalion Commander. You should have greeted him at least once anyway, so let’s go.”

At Isaac’s words, Arteon nodded and followed behind him.

Since he always had private meetings with Belkain, the supreme commander, it seemed he had never gone to greet the officers below him.

It might have seemed arrogant. 

‘Maybe it’s fortunate that this opportunity arose.’

Later, he would need to coordinate with them to carry out operations.

Arteon headed with Isaac to where their unit’s Battalion Commander was located.

Soon, as they entered where he was.

“Have a seat. This is the first time seeing you like this.”

“Steel Heart! Lieutenant Arteon. I greet the Battalion Commander!”

Arteon saluted with a crisp military greeting.

The Battalion Commander waved his hand dismissively.

“Enough with the formalities. More than that, I’m pleased to meet the hero of Helikel Gorge like this. Do you know who I am?”

“Of course. It’s an honor to serve under Lieutenant Ruocal.”

“Haha, you flatter me. But I called you here not for any other reason, but to see your face and greet you like this, and because I have a favor to ask.”

Arteon glanced at Isaac.

Isaac shook his head slightly.

It meant he didn’t know what this was about either.

Then the Battalion Commander got to the point.

“You must have heard about the newly reinforced troops. Exceptionally, most of this reinforcement consists of regular army.”

Until now, most of those coming to the Northern Region were either demoted from Central or came as a form of labor service for committing crimes.

But now that they needed to advance north in earnest, Central had composed most forces with properly selected regular army.

However….

“But there are also some prisoners along with general volunteers. After all, if this northern advance succeeds, it would be an exceptional achievement for the Empire.”

But the problem was that even though it was “some,” the scale was quite large.

Arteon asked cautiously.

“How many are coming to our battalion?”

“That partial force is about three thousand men. About five hundred of them will be assigned to our battalion. So we need an instructor to train those personnel… how would you feel about taking it on?”

At those words, Isaac stepped forward.

“Lieutenant Arteon alone, sir?”

“Not alone, of course. We’ll naturally organize instructors, but I’m thinking of appointing Lieutenant Arteon as the chief instructor. What do you think?”

Recently, he had observed Arteon training his platoon members.

The training methods, as well as how they followed him, were worthy of being an example for other soldiers.

“If those personnel’s level improves, our unit’s strength will definitely become stronger.”

“….”

Though it sounded like a request on the surface, Arteon knew.

‘There’s no such thing as requests in the military.’

It was just a difference between doing it nicely or by force.

Besides, if he was being assigned instructor duties….

‘This is a chance to properly fill the 4th Platoon’s roster.’

Usually, about 40 men could be considered a platoon’s full strength, but currently the 4th Platoon only had 30 men.

If he trained five hundred men, couldn’t he salvage about 10 of them?

Arteon organized his thoughts.

And then, the Battalion Commander looked at Arteon again and said.

“Will you take it on?”

It would be troublesome to delay any longer.

Arteon immediately nodded.

“It’s an honor to be entrusted with such an important mission. I will do my best in the training.”

“Reassuring. I’ll let you know when the reinforcements arrive.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, and one more thing.”

The Battalion Commander paused for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and continued looking at Arteon.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————