Isekai Kansha - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Beginner Training Complete

"Considering what happened yesterday, there’s a good chance we’ll run into enemies early on. Stay sharp."

""Got it.""

At Jin’s warning, everyone responded and moved forward cautiously. Just in case, Jin used MAP once to scan for monsters stronger than himself, but at least within the range from here to town, nothing turned up. Convinced they would only face monsters they could handle, Jin closed the display and focused entirely on training.

The forest today, too, felt solemn, the air crisp and clear. As they walked, Jin honed his senses—not just for the presence of enemies, but unconsciously also picking up his companions’ breathing and positions. He even thought he could sense something like the "breath" of the forest itself, something he hadn’t noticed yesterday.

"!?"

That breath wavered for a moment, giving him an odd sense of wrongness. A heartbeat later, his Presence Detection caught multiple signatures approaching.

"Something feels off. Stay alert."

Jin didn’t specify, wanting the others to heighten their own focus. After a short wait to let them search, he gave further instructions.

"Something’s coming in from slightly ahead, to the left! Frontline, intercept! Watch for blind spots behind the trees. Dan, start chanting—thin their numbers as soon as they show themselves. Rachel, Meg, support!"

Jin rattled off orders quickly. Almost immediately, Shelly reported a sighting.

"Mad Wolves. At least four!"

"Understood. Frontline, don’t let them through!"

""Yeah!""

With a spirited shout, Albert and Cain stepped forward to meet them. Just before they clashed, Dan’s Fire Arrow flew and dropped the lead wolf.

The rest lunged, but Albert and Cain locked down two, while Shelly and Jin handled the stragglers. Without letting a single one slip to the rear, they wiped the enemy out with ease.

"Hmph. Piece of cake."

Albert bragged the moment the battle ended.

"Albert, Shelly—keep watch on the surroundings! Sorry, but the rest of you, do the dismantling."

The instant you think you’ve won is when you’re most vulnerable. To drive that point home to Albert, Jin gave the order and joined him in standing guard, making it clear he wasn’t letting his own guard down.

When the dismantling was done, Jin called everyone to gather.

"Listen up. Just now, we managed a clean fight because we caught them first. But what if we hadn’t noticed them until they were right on top of us? Or worse—what if we were ambushed? Think about it carefully."

Jin seized the opportunity to drill the lesson in.

"You all know by now: the reason we came through without injuries was because our scouting worked. Same as yesterday. Finding the enemy first is that important. So for a while, I want everyone on full alert. Use your eyes, ears, nose, skin—anything you can. If possible, even your mana. Throw every sense you have into detecting the enemy. Even if you can’t pick them up right away, if you’re focused, you’ll feel something just before they strike. Got it?"

"Yeah." "Understood." "Got it." "Fine by me." ""Yes.""

Everyone agreed without hesitation—they all understood how vital detection was.

As they set off again, the group fell silent, each straining their senses. Jin could feel how much more focused they were compared to before. And just as they neared the forest’s edge, he caught another presence. This time, the enemy seemed to be lying in wait outside.

"Something’s strange. Focus especially on the forest’s edge."

He didn’t give details, only urging them to concentrate harder. Once they emerged and had a wide view, Jin ordered them to stop and keep scanning.

The waiting enemy, realizing they’d been noticed, began to move. At the last possible moment, Jin shouted:

"Right front! Same formation as before!"

"Ah—!?" "Roger!"

Slightly late, the others fell into position. Shelly, however, had locked onto the right direction.

"Mad Wolves—eight of them! That’s a lot!"

"…Strike the enemy! Fire Arrow!"

At Jin’s cue, Dan unleashed the spell he’d been holding. But this time, the wolves didn’t fall so easily. All eight charged in, three slipping past the frontline.

"Hah!"

Jin swung his spear in a wide arc, halting the trio.

"Rachel, take the ones that slip through!"

Jin stabbed one through with his spear, dropping it. Another lunged at him in his moment of opening, but he avoided with Footwork. A third bypassed him, rushing at Dan and the others, only to be stopped cold by Rachel.

The frontline had already taken one down, and the battle tilted in their favor. Jin finished off his second wolf without trouble and was about to rush in to support the vanguard when—

A surge of danger pressed against him. He whirled and used Burst Acceleration to dive to Meg’s side.

Clang!

A harsh metallic sound rang out as Jin’s spear locked with an enemy’s fangs. Just barely, he had intercepted the strike.

What he saw was a Mad Wolf larger than the rest, its fur jet black.

"Kh…!"

Jin held it back, but the weight of its bite made his spear groan.

"—Haaah!"

With a shout, he swung the wolf off and forced it back. The black Mad Wolf leapt away, nimble and unscathed. Seizing the moment, Jin dropped his spear, drew his wooden sword with his right hand, and shifted to a twin-sword stance.

Before such a foe, he realized—a steel spear alone wouldn’t be enough.

And so Jin closed in on his enemy, thinking it would be too dangerous to let it slip behind him.

"Hah!"

Mixing in light feints, he pressured the black Mad Wolf—deflecting its attacks, dodging, and deliberately blocking whenever it tried to break past him. All the while, he struck steadily with his wooden sword. Each blow landed heavier than its appearance suggested, and the damage piled up.

After what felt like both an instant and an eternity of tense fighting, the Mad Wolf’s movements slowed—its bones perhaps fractured under the assault. Jin raised his weapon high and brought it down onto its skull.

"Phew."

Jin exhaled, finally felling the formidable beast. Then, belatedly realizing he had neglected to check on his surroundings, he hastily looked around. Behind him, Greg and all the others were gathered together, unharmed.

"Sorry, everyone. I was so tied up I couldn’t give any orders."

As a leader, his first thought was to apologize.

""No, that was more than enough.""

Everyone replied in unison, half exasperated.

"I figured you were out of the ordinary, but I didn’t think you’d actually take down a mutant." 

Greg spoke with a wry tone. A "mutant" was, as the name implied, a normal monster that had, for some reason, undergone a transformation that drastically boosted its strength. Rare to encounter, this one was assumed to be the leader of the Mad Wolf pack that had mutated. Naturally, even Greg and the others hadn’t expected it. When Jin had suddenly rushed forward, they quickly realized the situation and tried to close the distance. But when it became clear that Jin was not only holding his own but pressing the fight, the veterans chose to hold position, keeping watch for any other threats.

"Well, fine. Any injuries?"

"I’m alright. No wounds."

Jin answered Greg. His body, after all, couldn’t be hurt in the usual sense.

"Ah, Meg. I didn’t get injured, but… could I trouble you for some recovery?"

The hits and impacts had worn him down somewhat, and he thought Meg might appreciate fulfilling her role as healer if she hadn’t already used magic earlier.

"Right. Jin, let her patch you up. Everyone else, start dismantling."

At Greg’s order, the newcomers scattered. Gain and Moose handled the mutant Mad Wolf. Jin retrieved his spear and walked over to Meg.

"Alright then, Jin-san, here I go. Mana, gather here and heal this man’s wounds—Heal."

With her chant, healing magic wrapped around Jin, warmth flooding his body. It was his first experience receiving recovery magic, and secretly, his spirits lifted.

"Thanks, Meg. That really helped."

"I’m glad I could be useful. And… thank you for helping me earlier."

Meg smiled, returning his gratitude with her own.

"Haha. Guess that makes us even then."

Jin chuckled back. Before long, the dismantling was complete, and everyone regrouped.

"Good work, everyone."

Jin offered words of appreciation.

"You were amazing, Jin! Taking down something that strong all by yourself."

Shelly praised him, but Jin couldn’t accept it so easily.

"No, if anything, I’m sorry for being tied up the whole time. More importantly, when we first engaged, did anyone notice anything?"

He hadn’t sensed the enemy until the very last moment. If something else had attacked while he was fighting that monster, it would’ve been disastrous. The thought chilled him, so he turned the discussion toward everyone’s detection.

"I think I kind of felt something…"

"Yeah, me too."

"I also thought something was out there."

Each of them had sensed something, to varying degrees. Shelly in particular seemed to have the sharpest grasp. Jin wondered if she might even be awakening a skill.

"Shelly, did you do any hunting before?"

"Good guess. I used to tag along with my father when he went hunting."

That explained it—experience trumped all.

"Alright, it’s good everyone picked up on something. Keep training like this, and you might all acquire Presence Detection someday. And since it’s obvious by now, I’ll just say it—I already have that skill."

The group gave him looks of surprise, as if to ask, Are you sure you should be telling us this? A couple hadn’t even realized it yet—Shelly and Albert, of all people.

"I might’ve been relying on it too much, though. Remember how that mutant ambushed us just now? Truth is, I didn’t sense it until the very last second. Either my skill level isn’t high enough, or that thing was good at concealing its presence. Which means even once we gain skills, we can’t depend on them completely. This time, we got lucky—but going forward, don’t lean on them alone."

""Got it.""

They all nodded at Jin’s reflection. At that moment, Greg, who had been watching, spoke up.

"To add to what Jin said—yeah, the stronger the beast, the more likely it is to have skills. That one probably had Presence Concealment or Stealth. Those are the opposites of Presence Detection. In such cases, it comes down to who’s more skilled, as well as the state of the one using it. Skills aren’t just for acquiring—you need to train them to be effective. You lot just got yourselves a valuable lesson."

Greg grinned, then continued with their plan.

"Normally, we’d leave you rookies to continue on your own. But with a mutant showing up, we can’t take chances. We’ll follow at closer range—but keep at it, we won’t interfere unless needed. Understood?"

""Yes, sir!""

And so they set off again. Once they left the forest, instead of heading straight to town, they advanced in a wide zigzag, practicing detection as they went. After one rest stop along the way, they made it back safely.

No further mutants appeared, and aside from one small pack of eight Mad Wolves—which posed no real threat to the now-alert group—they returned to town without issue.

From there, they headed straight for the guild training grounds and lined up before the instructors. They had been scheduled to finish by evening, but ended up returning earlier than expected.

"Alright, first off—good work, everyone."

Greg offered words of appreciation.

"We had the unexpected accident of being ambushed by a mutant, but you all made it back alive, and that’s what matters. Over these two days, each of you has learned a lot. I won’t go through them one by one here, but make sure you hold onto those lessons in your hearts. Of course, writing them down would be even better. And above all, don’t forget—every single person here, including us instructors, is your comrade. Got it?"

""Yes, sir!""

"Good. Then this concludes the beginner’s training course!"

""Thank you very much!""

The trainees bowed in unison at Greg’s declaration. Jin, too, felt deeply that these two days had taught him so much.

"Alright, with the course finished, let’s talk about your reward."

At Greg’s suddenly casual tone, Jin tilted his head, not quite sure what he meant.

"I’m talking about the Mad Wolf materials you all took down. We’ll split them fairly."

Greg’s party had been the one gathering everything, so Jin hadn’t thought they would be entitled to anything as trainees.

"As for the mutant Mad Wolf… Jin, you were the one who practically took it down alone. Given what it is, I intend to hand that over to you. Everyone alright with that?"

""Of course.""

"Yeah, I didn’t do anything anyway."

"Fine with me."

Everyone voiced their agreement without complaint.

"Um, what do you mean by ‘given what it is’?" Jin asked.

"It means it’s valuable. Rare, and its pelt makes excellent armor material. I’d say it’ll fetch at least one large gold coin."

So explained Greg. But Jin already had armor on order from Gantz. And a pelt wasn’t much use to him, not like leather backing. More importantly, he felt it wouldn’t be right.

"I already have armor being made for me. And more than that—taking down that mutant was a party effort, not mine alone. Let’s sell everything and split the money equally."

That was Jin’s firm answer.

"You sure?" 

Greg asked calmly, as if he had expected this, even as the newcomers and Gain looked on wide-eyed.

"Yes, of course." 

Jin nodded. It was the proper thing to do.

"Alright. We’ll do it your way."

"Actually—if I may?" Gain spoke up. "Could I buy the pelt directly from Jin at guild price? I’ve been meaning to replace my armor, and mutant pelts are incredibly rare. I’d love to get my hands on it."

It was true—the moment such material became armor and hit the shelves, the price would skyrocket several times over. Even wholesale, it was costly.

Jin owed Gain, and if he would put it to good use, there was no reason to refuse. As he thought that, his eyes met Greg’s, who was grinning. Realizing something, Jin grinned back, then turned to Gain.

"How about one-point-two times guild price?"

"Ugh!? …Would you settle for one-point-one?" 

Gain stammered.

"Hehe. Alright, I’ll accept that. But if there’s an appraisal fee at the guild, that’s on you, Gain-san."

Jin hadn’t meant to bully him, so he accepted without fuss.

"Of course. Thank you!" 

Gain beamed. Then Jin turned back to Greg.

"By the way, Instructor Greg. We don’t have any plans after this, right? How about a little celebration?"

"Good idea, Jin. We always hold one after training… though it usually comes out of my pocket, so don’t expect much." 

Greg answered with mock disappointment. Jin, smiling mischievously, looked over his fellow trainees.

"Hey everyone—what if we donate that extra ten percent I wrangled out of Gain-san to fund the party?"

It would be about one small gold coin—roughly a hundred thousand. Enough to treat thirteen people to a decent feast.

""I’m in!""

Everyone agreed happily.

"In that case—thank you very much for the treat, Gain-san." 

Jin turned back to him with a mischievous grin.

Gain looked dumbfounded for a moment before finally understanding, then burst out laughing.

"Ku-ku-ku… fine, I’m a man of my word. I’ll pay guild price for the pelt, and cover the entire party tab myself. One small gold coin won’t be enough anyway."

"Haha! If it’s short, I’ll lend you the rest."

"Yeah, that’s right. Ku-ku-ku, this is priceless."

"Ufufufu."

"Ahahaha."

""Hahahaha!""

Gain laughed as he turned the deal into one even less favorable for himself, and Abe and Moose chimed in, their voices full of amusement. Like the night before, everyone laughed heartily together.

Surrounded by companions, Jin felt truly happy as he laughed and exchanged a firm handshake with Gain.

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