Daru heard voices around him as he slowly stood up from his slumber capsule:
"Damn it, damn it! I want to play more!"
"Nooo! F*ck, I lost a life!"
"That's what you get for hunting Swordspawns higher than what Instructor Talon recommended, dumbass."
"Sigh…time's up already?"
Most of Class 70's students complained about the lack of "play time", as though the Sword Trials were a game instead of a horrifying challenge that threatened Neo-Earth's destruction.
They couldn't be blamed, as the Myriad Sword Realm was truly designed like a fantasy world found only in the absolute apex of MMO games.
It could even be considered significantly better.
After all, the gods were divine and wouldn't make mundane mistakes like game developers would.
There were no shitty bugs, no glitches, hitboxes are flawless, damage registration is instantaneous, and best of all, everyone is playing in ultra settings, infinite frames per second!
…A few moments later, Zach and his lackeys also stood up and exited the room while casually chatting with sincerely delighted smiles on their faces.
"Man, we have to endure this five-hour bullshit for at least half a year? I was having a blast and could've leveled up more!"
"Yeah, by the way, what level did you achieve before the realm kicked you out?"
"3, what about you?"
"Also 3, but I'm only two thousand experience points away from level 4!"
"Heh, why are you so proud then? I'm already level 4, halfway to level five." Zach chimed in with a loud voice, clearly wanting the whole class to hear his voice before he left.
Silver Serpent and Lionbreaker slightly frowned at the information.
They were also level four, but only around a fourth of the way to level five. They lost to False Witness by a slight margin.
The two lackeys glanced their goddess' way, frustrated after noticing that she was looking at Zach with narrowed eyes, clearly regarding the guy as higher than them.
'Damn it…' the two could only curse in their heads, vowing to work harder tomorrow.
Due to the sheer pleasure and anticipation their first day on the Myriad Sword Realm brought them, everyone was lost in their own thoughts, and so Daru weren't bothered by the goon squad.
Like them, he simply left the classroom, a lot of things on his mind.
His stomach was already growling in protest, so he headed to the cafeteria to claim whatever was free and purchased more with his savings.
He had to eat properly, as he needed energy for the swordsmanship classes later.
Daru ate a well-balanced diet of meat, veggies, rice, and fruits, resting for an hour before taking a quick bath, donning his pair of training clothes of black shorts and a white shirt, and heading to the sixth training field an hour earlier than his scheduled classes.
He had never been and would never be satisfied with only a two-hour training session.
Daru planned to do a few drills on his own before joining the two-hour mandatory swordsmanship class.
The campus was enormous, as it needed to house the entire student population of Cluster 4's southern region.
It took Daru fifteen minutes of jogging before he arrived.
Had he decided to walk, he would've had almost no time to perform drills.
The sixth training field was massive, sporting two running tracks side by side, with a lot of roofed space in the middle filled with all sorts of advanced dummies and machinery.
Truly a haven for Daru, whose eyes were already sparkling at the sight.
Ashton High certainly wasn't as loaded as Cluster 4's Southern Bladeborn Academy.
Gulping once, he quickly headed over to the weapon rack and admired the wide variety of blunted wooden weapons for a few moments before picking up a training tachi.
He then carelessly placed his training bag on one of the benches, ignoring the gazes of the other early birds like him as he ran towards the simplest training dummy with a pumped smile on his face.
Daru's face card leaned more on the valid side, so his simple yet earnest action captured the attention of a few maidens, though only for a moment.
Some people even recognized him.
However, they didn't look at him with the same awe and respect they once did, given his current reputation as an F-ranker.
To Daru's surprise, someone was already striking a dummy: a five-foot-four-inches-tall young woman with a gorgeous face perfectly framed by her long, blueberry-colored hair.
The sound of her wooden longsword echoed throughout the sixth training field.
Daru only glanced her way for a moment, admiring her dedication to the sword before proceeding to strike his own dummy, slowly first to practice proper forms, footwork, and stances before gradually increasing speed and power.
A few ill-tempered and confident individuals sneered at him, noting him as a showoff.
The sixth training field was assigned to four classes.
Naturally, a sense of competition would fill the air, particularly among these classes, and it would be the instructors' responsibility to keep the atmosphere constructive despite the fiery enthusiasm of the students.
They had to make sure no grudges that would be "resolved" in the sword realm would develop.
Soon, more and more students entered the fences of the sixth training field, and naturally, more people inwardly sneered at and mocked the overly enthusiastic individuals like Daru, thinking they were doing this for attention and were probably not that good in actual fights.
Except for the blueberry-haired young woman, mainly due to her gorgeous appearance.
Most simply admired her beauty and disposition reminiscent of an ice fairy.
Inevitably, the instructors arrived, and the first afternoon swordsmanship class began.