Battle Race in the Fantasy World

Battle Race in the Fantasy World – 84

EP.84 It Was There, Now It’s Gone

More than a week had passed since Kyle had been absent from the academy.

Kyle, who usually came to train every day unless there was a special reason.

With his absence, the indoor training hall had taken on a somewhat quieter atmosphere.

In that indoor training hall, a male student was once again engaging in an intense workout.

“Huff, huff….”

The one focusing on arm exercises with dumbbells in both hands was none other than Ian.

Ian, who usually practiced swordsmanship in the outdoor training grounds, had been confining himself to the indoor training hall for some time now.

And although not to the extent of Kyle, he had begun working out with an intensity that surprised others.

‘I thought my physical condition was sufficient.’

He knew the state of his body was important for wielding a sword.

So, before even picking up a sword, he had put in painstaking effort to get his body into peak condition.

After much effort, he had reached a point where he could fight orcs barehanded without a single dagger.

He had thought that was enough, that he could wield a sword without any issues.

And until now, there had been no problems.

He had never lost his grip on his sword due to lack of strength, nor had he collapsed from exhaustion before his opponent.

No matter what monster or opponent he faced, he had never once felt that his physical abilities were lacking compared to his swordsmanship.

‘Until I clashed with Kyle.’

Kyle Jonathan. Meeting him had been a shock from the start.

Whether it was engaging in a direct strength contest with an ogre, which no human could win against,

or subduing an armed opponent with just his bare hands,

Initially, Ian had thought Kyle must be using some special technique or an excellent mana cultivation method.

He hadn’t paid much attention, thinking it wasn’t a big deal.

But it didn’t take long for Ian to realize.

Kyle was just strong, without any special abilities.

He had put in several times more effort and training than Ian, and it had paid off.

He was stronger than Ian. Not just a little stronger, but overwhelmingly so, to the point where Ian couldn’t even think of challenging him.

And Ian realized one more thing amidst all this.

‘I was lacking. I was extremely lacking.’

Next, as he gritted his teeth and lifted the barbell, Ian thought this.

He had thought he was giving his best, that it was enough.

But that was just his own standard, a result of his inability to let go of his arrogance.

He needed to try harder. He needed to go further. He needed to be more rigorous.

He finally realized that there was no end to learning and training.

He had thought that being able to fight orcs barehanded was enough.

He had thought that no one else had trained their body as rigorously as he had.

But Kyle had fought ogres barehanded and even slammed them to the ground.

They say comparing oneself to others is foolish, but this was a comparison he had to make.

‘I was overly confident. No, it’s more accurate to say I was arrogant. I forgot that someone better than me could work harder and become stronger than me.’

A frog in a well, that’s what he was.

Had he wandered for too long? He had lost touch with reality.

There were plenty of strong individuals in the world who could be called monsters.

The Empire’s top ten were like that, as were those whose names were not known, and Kyle was one of them.

Yet he had been complacent, only looking at his own level and feeling satisfied.

“Huff, huff!”

He felt a strong desire to become stronger, a conviction that he must.

This led him to the conclusion that he wanted to spar with Kyle for greater stimulation.

So he requested a duel, but Kyle’s condition for it had left Ian bewildered.

At first, his pride was deeply hurt. He had put in so much effort, and it felt like it was being disregarded.

But it didn’t take long for that pride to completely disappear.

And in its place, a desperate desire to become stronger began to fill the void.

He wanted to be recognized and have a proper clash with Kyle.

‘Honestly, I feel like ditching the academy and heading to Jonathan.’

He didn’t have much attachment to the Imperial Academy.

While it was a bit disappointing that he couldn’t study more advanced swordsmanship here, he could endure it.

More than that, he wanted to run to Jonathan and ask to be trained.

He wanted to experience firsthand how Kyle had become so strong.

However, there were still many things he could learn at the academy.

And though he didn’t show it, he felt a bit reluctant to part with the friends he had made here.

First, there was Tisha, then Leto, who he had grown somewhat closer to, and others as well.

Perhaps he had been lonely without realizing it, and having people around made him reluctant to leave.

Leaving the academy meant parting with the first friends he had ever made.

Thud-.

After setting down the barbell, Ian caught his breath and looked at the next guidebook.

For reference, in this indoor training hall—what Kyle called a gym—there was an exercise guide Kyle had organized.

When asked why he made it, Kyle said it was because other students kept asking him about his workout routine.

He didn’t like his exercise time being interrupted, so he made the guide saying, ‘Follow this!’

He even put in a lot of effort to draw illustrations, and they were quite well done.

Thanks to that, others could roughly follow Kyle’s recommended workout methods.

Of course, most gave up after a few attempts.

‘There’s a break coming up, so I’ll use that time to visit Jonathan.’

As he adjusted his posture while looking at the guidebook, Ian made up his mind.

He needed to become stronger. While he had to be diligent now,

he decided that later, he would visit Jonathan, Kyle’s hometown.

He wasn’t sure how they would react, but it seemed like a place that smiled upon those who worked hard.

Just looking at Kyle, one could see how sensitive he was to people not putting in effort.

So, Ian decided to work hard and train enough to be recognized by Kyle.

When he finally visited Kyle’s hometown, he wanted to at least hear that he had worked hard.

With that thought, Ian shouted out his determination and pushed his body even harder.

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In this way, there were times when the original storyline was followed.

In the original work, Ian also spent time at the academy and hit his limits.

His problem was his arrogance, thinking there was no one his age better than him.

Eventually, when he couldn’t even perform his sword techniques as before, Ian fell into despair for the first time.

One day, as he grew increasingly anxious and frustrated, not knowing how to become stronger,

he heard about a place called Jonathan by chance and decided to visit during the break.

There, he declared his desire to become stronger to the people who lived solely for combat and training.

Originally, they were people who should have been wary of outsiders, living in their own world.

However, due to the setting, they remembered their youngest son and brother who had died of illness nine years ago.

The head of the family, as well as his son and daughter, accepted Ian and trained him.

In just two months, Ian grew tremendously and returned to the academy.

As the protagonist, he then overwhelmed everyone with his newfound strength and rose to the ranks of the strong.

The reason for the introduction of Jonathan, which didn’t quite fit into this world, was precisely that.

To elevate the protagonist to a strong position in a short period, it had to be an overwhelmingly powerful place.

Additionally, to limit its appearances to just once, it was established that they had no interest in worldly affairs.

The reason they helped Ian was because he was the same age as their youngest son who had died.

“Hyaaah!!”

But now, things were different. The flow of the original story had changed significantly.

The biggest difference was that the youngest of Jonathan, who should have been dead, was alive.

He had entered the academy, met new people, and was now in the west, shouting strange battle cries.

“Wadaaat!!”

He was excitedly fighting against Mathieu, one of the Alliance’s strongest, the Three Heroes!

“Grr!”

The Alliance’s Three Heroes, Mathieu, could only absorb the shock after retreating more than ten steps.

In contrast, Kyle remained standing in the same spot, grinning.

‘Is this even possible? What kind of… what is this!’

Breathing heavily, Mathieu looked at Kyle standing before him.

Not once had he been able to seize the offensive. He had to remain on the defensive the entire time.

Each attack was brutally strong and insanely fast.

Just when he thought he had evaded, he was already within range again, and when he thought he had blocked, Kyle was already in his blind spot.

Moreover, despite being so strong and fast, Kyle should have been exhausting his stamina rapidly.

Yet, it was Mathieu, the one defending, who was growing tired.

‘If this continues, I’ll be defeated. If that happens….’

After all, he was a member of the Kingdom Alliance. He didn’t particularly like the Empire.

He had lost friends, seniors, and many others in past wars.

Even though it had been quiet for over thirty years, his discomfort towards the Empire hadn’t disappeared.

In such a situation, losing to someone from the Empire, especially a young man like Kyle, was unacceptable.

Gritting his teeth, he unconsciously grasped the vial in his pocket.

A vial he had been instructed to use without hesitation when facing an overwhelming enemy.

He had even sworn never to hesitate in using it.

‘Should I use it?’

His pride as a warrior clashed with his pride in not wanting to lose.

What should he do? What decision should he make?

A few seconds of contemplation felt like hours.

“Mathieu.”

At that moment, Kyle, who had approached him, spoke.

“Don’t do it. No matter how you think about it, that’s not right.”

Mathieu flinched at those words, showing a bit more hesitation.

But soon, he made his decision and slowly withdrew his hand from his pocket.

Immediately, Kyle smiled brightly.

Mathieu’s hand was empty.