WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 57: The Training Ground’s First Use

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The spectacular scenery, rarely seen in the real world, had distracted me for a moment, but this place had been remodeled for the express purpose of training me.

It was not a tourist attraction.

“Should I assume the training will proceed in a similar way as before?”

“It'll be a little different. Mind training for using Dragon Speech, and sparring to draw out the dragon power dormant within you. Those parts will remain the same, but one more thing will be added.”

“What is it?”

When I asked about the new training method, Rokan answered with an unreadable smile.

“This is where you first used Dragon Speech properly, isn't it?”

“Yes. I really thought I was going to die then.”

I still remembered that time vividly.

The excruciating pain that made me think dying would be better, the thrill of using Dragon Speech for the first time, and the days of suffering afterward from the aftereffects.

At Rokan's words, the complex feelings I had experienced then seemed to come back to life.

...It was not a pleasant feeling.

The pain had been incomparably greater than the thrill.

“So, I plan to add training based on the circumstances of that time. That eccentric guy worked hard to make it for the precious successor who dreams of becoming a dragon in a human body. It would be rude not to use it.”

“That is true, but...”

Did he mean I had to go through that awful pain again?

Every time I trained?

Still, Rokan seemed to think that method was the most efficient way for me to grow in the shortest amount of time.

I also thought it was probably the best method for now.

But having to endure that pain more than once...

Going through something that horrible once was enough.

Remembering that pain must have made my face twist without me realizing it.

“Don't worry. It won't be exactly the same as back then. I don't have some strange hobby of deliberately causing pain.”

Rokan spoke in a kind voice, telling me not to worry.

“I don't intend to push you that far, either. I modified the existing magic circle, so I can finely adjust the difficulty. You won't feel pain as you did then.”

Rokan reassured me, but I still felt uneasy.

In other words, didn't that mean he would work me until just before I passed out?

“...”

I knew I had to do it.

But because of the fear ingrained in me then, I could not help worrying.

“You little whiner. For Shasha's sake, shouldn't you be ready to jump into a pit of fire?”

“Yes, sir!”

Right. I was scared, but I just had to focus and do it.

I would not die if it was like last time, and if things became dangerous, Rokan would step in and help.

I took my sword from my pocket dimension.

Then, as a way of steadying myself before the training began, I lightly stroked the ring Sia had given me.

“I'm ready.”

“Good. We'll start lightly at first. I'll watch for a while and adjust the difficulty to suit you in real time.”

To begin the training, Rokan took a crystal ball from his pocket dimension and poured mana into it.

Then, figures of soldiers I had seen before began appearing one by one across the empty field.

Along with them, as I had expected, wyverns began appearing one by one in the air.

It looked far too much like the scene from before.

Even their numbers seemed similar to what I remembered, so he had probably recreated the environment from that time perfectly.

“...Lord Rokan, didn't you say we would start lightly?”

“It only looks that way because there are many of them. You can handle it.”

Even if the difficulty had been lowered from before, the vivid memory of that time made my body shrink back in fear.

I had used Dragon Speech against them for the first time, but I had also experienced terror and pain overwhelming enough to surpass that thrill.

This was probably... a form of PTSD.

'But still.'

Only by overcoming and mastering that fear could I finally draw closer to the heights I wanted to reach.

The situation looked similar to before, but everything was completely different now.

So I would face it without fear.

With my sword giving off a faint gray aura, I charged in without a moment of hesitation and began my sword dance.

Rokan had been right about starting lightly. Everything was easier than it had been then.

The aura at the tip of my sword grew denser, and the soldiers fell like autumn leaves without managing a single counterattack.

Then, at some point...

Sword Aura began extending from my blade without me even realizing it.

Sword Auras shot from the tip of my sword and began striking the wyverns in the air directly.

Having Sword Aura form on a sword and being able to release that Sword Aura at enemies were entirely different matters.

Swordsmen were naturally vulnerable in long-range combat, but once they could release aura rather than merely generate it, they could overcome that limitation to some degree.

Back at the Academy, one professor had said that a swordsman's level could be divided simply by whether they could release Sword Aura.

That alone showed how dramatically I had improved.

It was an advanced technique I had never even imagined I would be able to use, yet I was now using it with my own hands without realizing it.

As far as I knew, even among B-rank swordsmen, only a few could use this technique.

The Sword Aura I released was still weak, but successfully manifesting it at all was meaningful.

When I glanced back, Rokan was watching my training with a satisfied smile.

“You're doing well. Both the energy I feel from you and the aura gathered on your sword make it clear how much you've grown.”

They said praise could make even a whale dance.

Then perhaps it was time to dance with my sword properly.

For an ordinary Hunter, practicing how to control Sword Aura properly would have been the right priority.

But my priorities were different.

That was one thing, and this was another.

[Freeze.]

Feeling the energy in my battle-warmed sword and the faint dragon power within my body, I tried using Dragon Speech on the enemies spread out before me.

It would have made for quite a scene if I had succeeded just then, but unfortunately, my Dragon Speech did not work properly.

Before using Dragon Speech, I had worried, “What if my Dragon Speech works and cracks this space?” So unlike before, I had only aimed to freeze the enemies.

It seemed I had worried for nothing.

Perhaps I had become too arrogant after my recent growth and Rokan's praise.

“You still seem to have plenty of energy. In that case.”

Rokan touched the crystal ball.

For an instant, light flashed from the soldiers and wyverns before disappearing.

“Let's continue raising the difficulty.”

* * *

“Haah, haah...”

After the training ended, I collapsed where I stood, breathing heavily.

There had been a time when I sparred with Rokan and swung my sword nonstop for an hour. This felt exactly like that.

No, perhaps this was even worse.

First, being hit by monsters created by the system did not mean I felt no pain at all.

Rokan had adjusted the magic circle set up here, but I still felt a slight amount of pain whenever the monsters struck me.

It was not unbearable pain, but it kept building up in my body until it was screaming that it could not endure any more.

And there was one more thing.

Rokan had truly worked me until the very moment before I collapsed from exhaustion.

He watched my training process from behind in real time and finely adjusted the difficulty. As a result, I remained in a state where I felt as though I would collapse from exhaustion, yet somehow did not.

Ugh, I couldn't catch my breath.

Nearly exhausted, I drank the potion Rokan handed me and recovered my strength.

“This is your first training session in the new training ground. I'd like to hear your thoughts.”

“I thought I had already experienced hell before, but I didn't know there was a hell more painful than that.”

I had expected to begin with a light warmup, but I had not expected such intense training from the start.

If I kept training like this, I could probably get results faster than expected.

But it really had been hard enough to make me want to swear.

“It was difficult, certainly, but I'd been hoping for it, so it's disappointing.”

“Dragon Speech?”

“Yes.”

There had been precedent. The Hunter Association and Rokan had confirmed that my growth rate was abnormally fast. Finally, Rokan himself had said this place offered the best conditions for using Dragon Speech.

So I thought I might be able to use it at least once, even by accident.

“Can one be full after the first bite? From what I saw, it wasn't too bad. Now then, I'll give you feedback on the training just now.”

Rokan sat on a bench and patted the seat beside him, telling me to sit there.

“Today, we should first discuss what you need to correct. What do you think was the most important reason you could not use Dragon Speech today?”

“Could you give me a moment?”

What had I lacked today?

I fell into thought to find the answer.

Judging by the way he said it, there seemed to be something I had missed. I also felt that something had been lacking, but I could not think of what it was.

Saying I could use Dragon Speech before only because I had removed the control device and could fully use my power felt like too much of an excuse.

Even as I searched through my memories of the two hours of training, I still could not find the answer.

When I failed to get a sense of it, Rokan gave me a small hint.

“The basics.”

“Ah!”

It was only one short word, but the moment I heard it, something came to mind.

“I think I focused on other things and neglected the basics, just as you said. If we're talking about the most important basic, then it must be... willpower.”

The most fundamental thing of all.

Intense willpower.

Thinking it over, I had not truly felt that within myself today.

Perhaps I had let my guard down without realizing it because this environment was ideal for using Dragon Speech and because of my recent achievements.

Most of all, unlike last time, when I had successfully used Dragon Speech, I did not have the desperate will to survive and escape this place.

There was no excuse.

“...Now that I realize it, I feel ashamed.”

My head naturally lowered in embarrassment.

Rokan and Sia were both doing their best to help me achieve my goal, but I had been thinking too complacently.

Even if the environment and circumstances had changed, I should have had the same desperation as before.

“Yes. As long as you understand, that's enough. Just don't make the same mistake again.”

Rokan lightly patted my back.

“That doesn't mean you did poorly. Your knack for using your power was good, and your control over its strength was generally good as well. It's also commendable that you didn't push yourself too hard and use powerful Dragon Speech.”

Rokan continued by telling me what I had done well and what had been somewhat lacking.

“Thank you.”

“Well then, you seem to have rested enough. Let's finish today's training with some mind training as a cool-down.”

There was more training besides this?

The training today had been so intense that I thought it would end there, but contrary to my expectations, that was not the end.

Well, what could I do?

I had taken a potion and rested enough, so I had to do it.

After resting, I finished today's training with light mind training under Rokan's guidance.

“Ugh, I'm tired.”

“You worked hard. The training was more grueling than usual, but you followed along well.”

“You worked hard today too. Thank you.”

I was so tired that I would probably collapse the instant I got home.

If my body had been fine, I would have wanted to stay here and enjoy the scenery before going home. But I was too tired to feel like doing that.

My mind was so foggy that it would not have been strange if I fell asleep right then.

But one thing Rokan said was enough to wake me up.

“Minjun. I thought about what you said earlier, and I think it would be best if I formed a guild after all.”

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