The Beginning of Knife King's

The next day, I went about my usual daily routine. When I finally had some free time, I went into my room and lay down on my bed for a while.

"What should I do today?" I mumbled to myself, unsure of how to spend the day as I continued lying there.

"Ah, that's right."

I retrieved the last notebook I had obtained from the dungeon from my inventory, something I had learned to do from the previous notebooks.

"Alright, let's see what techniques this one has to offer."

I opened the notebook and began reading it. Time flew by, and half a day had passed before I finished.

"Channel your energy throughout your body and imagine wearing armor, huh?"

I decided to give it a try. Concentrating, I focused the energy onto my right arm. A purple aura began to envelop it. Then, I visualized the aura forming into armor.

"Got it!" I smiled, pleased with my progress.

But then, a sharp pain surged through my arm.

"Argh! What's happening? Why does it feel like my arm is about to break?"

I quickly stopped using the skill before the pain could worsen. As I deactivated the aura, I realized that I still couldn't fully control the technique. I rested for about ten minutes before trying again.

Attempt after attempt, failure after failure, I kept going.

"Haah… haah… it took a while, but I finally did it."

After countless tries, I managed to maintain the aura armor for ten minutes. As I wielded the power, I felt its overwhelming strength coursing through me.

"The sun's already setting…"

RUMBLE!

I heard the ground tremble beneath me.

"Hm? A horde of monsters heading this way?"

I quickly left my room and dashed toward the city gates. When I arrived, I saw soldiers preparing for battle.

"Hey, kid! What are you doing here? There's a horde of monsters—tens of thousands of them—coming this way! Go find somewhere safe to hide!" shouted a knight preparing to defend the city.

"Tens of thousands, huh? Then I'll take care of them all myself," I replied.

"Are you insane? I said get somewhere safe!"

THUD.

I rendered the knight unconscious and pulled up my hood. Leaping onto the city gate, I smirked.

"Time to warm up for tomorrow."

THUD. THUD. THUD.

ROOOAR!

The monsters charged toward the city with ferocity, intent on breaking through the gates. Oddly enough, they seemed to be fleeing from a rampaging bear behind them.

"Well then, let's get started."

I drew my blade from my inventory and darted toward them.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

In mere moments, I had slain a thousand monsters.

"Now, let's test this new power."

Focusing my energy, I enveloped my entire body in the purple aura and formed the armor.

WHOOOSH!

I created numerous blades using fragments of my energy.

"Take this!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The energy blades rained down on the monsters faster than the speed of sound, annihilating them as if a storm had descended upon the battlefield.

"Not bad. This might work as a trump card."

Within a minute, the horde was wiped out.

"Finally broke my previous record. But this form does hurt a bit if I keep it active too long."

I deactivated the armor, quickly retreating to avoid being seen.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Hopefully no one saw me…" I muttered as I ran back to my room. Once inside, I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, I hurried through my routine and rushed to Selena Academy for my first day of entrance exams. On the way, I overheard villagers talking about the monster horde that had been slaughtered at the city gates.

"Finally, I'm here. So this is Selena Academy…"

As I stood there, marveling at the campus, I heard a familiar voice.

"Ren! Over here!"

I turned toward the voice.

"Seri! Have you been here long?"

"Not really, just for a bit."

We walked together toward the exam grounds, chatting about what kind of test we might face. Eventually, we arrived at a wide, open field where the other candidates had gathered, buzzing with excitement.

"Everyone! Please settle down. I'll now explain the details of the exam," announced the headmaster, amplifying their voice with magic.

The crowd fell silent, listening intently.

"The rules are simple. Form a group of up to four people and survive inside a gate we've prepared for one day. Those who succeed will be admitted to the academy. Those who fail… please leave immediately."

As soon as the announcement ended, everyone scrambled to form groups.

"Well, this is unexpected. Mind if I team up with you?" Seri asked with a hopeful look.

"Sure, but I'm not exactly talented," I replied.

"No problem. I specialize in support magic and can stack buffs!"

We found two more members to join our group. One of them was a red-haired girl with ruby-like eyes who seemed to be looking for a team.

"Alice! Over here!" I called out.

"Ren? Is that you?"

"Yeah, the same sword-obsessed kid from years ago."

THUD.

Alice ran to me and hugged me tightly. She had grown a lot but still felt like the same person I remembered from five years ago.

"I've missed you so much, Ren!" she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Sorry for what happened back then, before you left for the capital."

"Enough sweet talk, you two. We still need one more person," Seri interjected.

"Is she your friend, Ren?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, we've only been friends for two days, though. Her name's Seri."

"Nice to meet you, Seri," Alice said, shaking her hand.

Just then, I heard someone nearby.

"Please, join my group!"

"No, thank you," a girl's voice responded firmly.

Curious, I walked over.

"But I can help you pass the exam!"

"She's already part of my group," I interrupted.

"Right, Lena?"

"Yes," she replied, her face lighting up with relief.

The other student scowled at me before storming off, muttering something about how I "wouldn't die a good death."

"Ren… is it really you?" Lena asked, touching my face as if to confirm.

"Yes. I survived that incident," I said with a nod.

THUD.

She embraced me, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wept quietly. After a moment, she composed herself.

"You said you had a group. Who else is in it?"

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Ren! Did you find someone?" Alice called out.

"Yeah. Lena, meet the others."

"Lena Livia. I specialize in casting support magic," she introduced herself.

"Miss Lena, you know Ren?" Seri asked, her face growing pale.

"Wait, Seri knows Ren too? We need to talk after this exam," Alice said.

"I'm Alice. Nice to meet you," she said, shaking Lena's hand.

"Alright, are we all ready?" I asked.

"Yes!" they answered in unison.

"Then let's enter the gate."

After registering with the proctors, we stepped into the C-Rank Gate.

End of Chapter12