Chapter 19: Defying the Star

Combat proficiency assessment.

As the name implies, it’s to verify whether a soldier possesses the combat ability appropriate for their rank.

It’s the same as the regular assessment, but what’s different is that this is done without warning.

‘For regular assessments, you get months to prepare. The slackers just cram for it at the last minute.’

Kim Hyun-joon glanced around and spotted a few soldiers looking visibly anxious.

These were the ones who only started working hard right before the regular assessment.

“Ah… We’re screwed.”

“Are they going to cut our leave? I haven’t even been doing physical training lately.”

“Why did they suddenly switch it to a mock duel?”

It was already bad enough to have an unannounced inspection, but now the assessment method had been changed to mock duels as well.

If you received a strong warning, in the worst case, your leave could be restricted.

That was as frightening to soldiers as being sent to the guardhouse.

‘A mock duel, huh. I’d like to go up against Kang Chul-soo at least once.’

The reason Kim Hyun-joon was intrigued by Captain Park Ho-seok’s words.

It was because he wondered if he’d get a chance to duel Corporal Kang Chul-soo.

‘Before I regressed, he used me like a sandbag. Damn bastard.’

Back then, Corporal Kang Chul-soo would sometimes call him out to the training grounds, claiming he was feeling an itch in his body.

Then, under the guise of training, he’d push Kim around in all sorts of ways.

‘I was weak then. My so-called spear skills were nothing but a simple thrust.’

Unable to deal with Kang Chul-soo, he ended up as the sandbag every time he went to the training grounds.

For a Corporal, he was unusually strong for a swordsman.

He’d been waiting to see when he’d be called out this time, but so far, Kang hadn’t mentioned anything about dueling.

It was obvious. He must have thought he might lose this time.

That guy was petty and sneaky.

That’s why he never brought it up.

“We’ll proceed with duels between those of the same rank and specialty, so be ready to move as instructed.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Captain Park Ho-seok’s next words, Kim Hyun-joon joined the spearmen’s line.

Corporal Kang Chul-soo was a swordsman, so there wouldn’t be a chance to face him in this round of duels.

It was a bit disappointing, but that was fine.

Even if not today, the opportunity would come eventually.

As long as they served in the same unit, it was only a matter of time.

“Don’t think you can just coast through this. I can see everything.”

“Understood!”

Captain Park Ho-seok and a few other officers held evaluation forms as they began calling up soldiers.

Though there was a facility specifically for duels, since these were mock duels, they conducted them right in the training field.

Each duel lasted five minutes.

If compared to a martial arts match, it was the equivalent of one round.

Though it was a short time, it was enough for the officers to judge the soldiers’ abilities.

They only needed to identify those who were below standard.

“What’s with you? You’re a sergeant and you’re already gasping? Why’s your stamina so bad? Are you out of breath after just five minutes?”

“Your sword grip is a mess. You’re lucky you haven’t been hurt until now.”

The mock duels began with the swordsmen.

Officers were slashing red X marks all over the evaluation forms as if they were possessed.

The criteria were much stricter than during the regular assessment.

The officers from the Special Support Brigade measured by the book.

They showed no mercy to soldiers who didn’t meet the standards.

“You’re strong, but what’s with that posture? Haven’t you learned military swordsmanship?”

“Corporal Kang Chul-soo! I’m sorry, sir!”

“If you think you can overpower monsters just with brute strength, keep doing it that way.”

“No, sir! I’m sorry, sir!”

Corporal Kang Chul-soo won his mock duel, but instead ended up getting scolded.

The officers had been bothered by how he simply bulldozed his opponent with brute force.

‘Chul-soo, you really haven’t changed.’

Corporal Kang Chul-soo’s swordsmanship still showed no improvement.

Kim Hyun-joon watched him return to his spot with a scowl, and let out a chuckle.

Before regression, he hadn’t even been able to deal with such crude and reckless sword swings.

Now, he figured he could win easily without much effort.

“Next!”

No sooner had the swordsmen finished than the archers’ mock duels began.

Private Jung Ye-na and another archer faced each other, bows in hand and keeping their distance.

Beeep!

At the signal, the archers rapidly drew their bowstrings.

Dodging and weaving, they exchanged arrows at each other.

Although the tips of the practice arrows were made of rubber, getting hit still hurt quite a bit.

Well, they were fired by Hunters, after all.

You might think that archers would just stand at a distance and trade arrows, but that wasn’t always the case.

“Urgh!”

“Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

Private Jung Ye-na, who had been dodging and waiting for an opening, suddenly closed the distance and claimed victory.

What can an archer do at close range, you ask?

The bow she raised as if to strike was made sturdy enough to be used as a blunt weapon in emergencies.

If you took a proper hit from that, even a Hunter wouldn’t get off unscathed.

“Good judgment and quick reflexes.”

“Her shooting accuracy is good, too.”

Private Jung Ye-na passed the assessment with ease.

Though a few more soldiers earned decent evaluations after that, the majority ended up being scolded.

“Next!”

The mock duels proceeded quickly, and soon it was the spearmen’s turn.

The officers scolded the spearmen as they watched their matches, but not as harshly as with the previous soldiers.

They knew that the Flying Dragon Unit didn’t have a proper spear instructor, and support for spearmen was lacking.

So, there was a bit of leniency.

But that didn’t mean they were generous with the evaluations.

‘As expected, even up to Corporal, all they do is thrust.’

The spearmen Kim Hyun-joon observed were all just looking for chances to thrust.

Because the attacks were all straight-line, agile spearmen would twist their bodies and evade the blows several times.

The idea of deflecting a thrusting spear simply didn’t exist among the spearmen.

‘Well, if I didn’t have my Hidden Trait, I’d be the same.’

Spear techniques were by no means easy.

He himself had struggled a lot just to master the basics.

“Next!”

As the order proceeded, it was soon Kim Hyun-joon’s turn.

Swaek!

The starting signal blared as soon as he gripped his spear.

The opposing spearman, as if he’d been waiting for this moment, lunged forward and thrust deeply.

He aimed for the abdomen.

If it were any other soldier, they’d have dodged by twisting their body or taken the hit, but Kim Hyun-joon was different.

Ting!

With a calm expression, he spun his spear and deflected the attack.

“W-what was that?”

Deflecting the blow was just the beginning.

He’d used the fourth form of Imperial Spearmanship, which he’d recently learned.

“Guh….”

The spearman who struck first was pushed backward by a wave-like force.

He tried to hold his ground, but couldn’t.

It felt as though a huge force was shoving him backward.

The moment he tried to get back up, a spear was already aimed at his throat.

“Is it over already?”

The mock duel ended in an instant.

The soldiers watching were left with their mouths agape.

There hadn’t been such an overwhelming result in any of the previous duels.

Moreover, among all the spearmen who’d only demonstrated simple thrusts, Kim Hyun-joon was the first to show a technique besides thrusting.

“Did you see that? He spun his spear to parry it!”

“The other guy just toppled backward, unable to resist. How did he do that?”

“If someone had just watched, they’d think it was staged.”

Even the soldiers who didn’t know much about spearmanship could tell how impressive it was.

It looked simple, but a bigger spearman than Kim Hyun-joon had lost without being able to do anything.

“Hmm… Private Kim Hyun-joon.”

“Private Kim Hyun-joon!”

“We don’t have enough data, can you do it a few more times?”

Even Captain Park Ho-seok wasn’t sure what to make of the previous duel alone.

“Yes, sir! I can do it!”

The subsequent duels ended just as quickly.

Some opponents ended up slamming their chins into the ground, while others dropped their spears entirely.

At this point, even a Private could tell that Kim Hyun-joon’s spear skills were on another level.

‘He’s beating Privates so easily. And he doesn’t even look tired after going multiple rounds.’

He’d long since passed the assessment criteria.

Captain Park Ho-seok wanted to get a better measure of Kim Hyun-joon’s abilities.

His spear skills were overwhelmingly superior to the other soldiers.

He wondered if Kim Hyun-joon might be able to show something even more.

“Private Kim Hyun-joon, I’ll assess you myself with an additional test.”

Captain Park Ho-seok stepped forward, sword in hand.

The claim of an additional test was just a pretext.

Truthfully, he simply wanted to gauge Kim Hyun-joon’s abilities more closely.

The other officers, knowing Park Ho-seok’s tendencies well, simply shook their heads, thinking, ‘Here he goes again.’

“I’ll attack with a downward slash. Try to respond.”

“Yes, sir.”

While everyone was bewildered to see an officer step in so suddenly, Kim Hyun-joon was actually intrigued.

Such an opportunity was rare for an ordinary soldier.

How strong were those called elites among the Hunters, really?

What would it be like to face Captain Park Ho-seok’s sword?

Those thoughts filled his mind with curiosity.

“I’m coming in now.”

Captain Park Ho-seok even kindly announced the direction of his approach.

It wasn’t because he was underestimating Kim Hyun-joon.

The gap between officer and soldier was simply that vast.

Fwhoosh!

“!”

The moment Park Ho-seok finished speaking, he vanished from Kim Hyun-joon’s field of vision.

By the time he came to his senses, the captain was already right in front of him.

‘He went easy on me, and I still couldn’t track him?’

Even knowing where the attack would come from, he couldn’t keep up.

There was no sign of mana being used, so it wasn’t a skill.

He might have used a trait, but probably not.

‘No way an officer would use that against a regular soldier.’

What had happened was purely the result of a difference in stats.

Swoosh.

The sword rose slowly as if in demonstration.

The following downward slash carried strength beyond imagination.

‘What the hell! How is this so strong?’

Kim Hyun-joon’s stance collapsed in an instant.

It felt as if a giant were smashing down from above.

He’d never planned to block the attack head-on.

He intended to use Imperial Spearmanship to deflect as much as possible.

But the blow was far too heavy.

He couldn’t even think of deflecting it.

‘Urgh…’

Kim Hyun-joon knelt on one knee, using his spear shaft to block Captain Park Ho-seok’s sword.

His hands shook uncontrollably.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push the sword back.

“Hmm. That should be enough for the assessment.”

Captain Park Ho-seok nodded once.

‘Who says you get to decide when it’s over?’

From the perspective of a mere Private, even this much was impressive.

Not only had he reacted properly to an officer’s attack, but he’d also managed to block it.

But Kim Hyun-joon had no intention of stopping here.

‘I swore I wouldn’t give up after regressing.’

He didn’t want to lose.

Gripping his spear tighter with burning determination.

“!”

Captain Park Ho-seok, about to pull back his sword, was surprised by the sudden surge of strength.

The sword was slowly being pushed back.

It felt as though a dying ember had suddenly flared to life.

‘This guy… He’s using mana.’

It wasn’t hard to notice the change.

Kim Hyun-joon was unconsciously channeling the mana within his body.

‘It takes years of training to use mana like this.’

Instead of releasing it outward, he was using it internally to enhance his body.

It was one of the fundamental skills expected of graduates from the Hunter Officer Academy.

Yet even officers called elites had to spend considerable time and effort to master it.

And yet, an ordinary soldier had done it.

How long had it taken even Park Ho-seok himself to achieve that?

‘He’s still rough, but the fact that he can use mana this way is impressive.’

Captain Park Ho-seok once again put strength into his sword, which he’d been about to withdraw.

It was too soon to end things here.