Novels by Abdulmalik Yusuf

Isabelle was one of the most popular fighters. It was not just due to her relation with the Low Quarter. Her grades were outstanding enough to place her among the top three, and her appearance was beautiful. Even Bruk had expressed his favor to Isabelle on several occasions.But there she was, sitting across from the worst fighter, Kaelen, eating her lunch.Isabelle, sitting with him? Except for those who were just in the same session as Kaelen, a majority of the fighters glared fiercely in his direction.“I thought Seraphina had developed only two training methods. Assimilation and amplification. You mentioned ‘combating’ earlier. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.”“Is that so.”However, combating was also the most dangerous of the three methods. Kaelen cut a large piece of salted meat and scoffed it down. It was extremely delicious.“At first, I thought you were just saying whatever came to mind. But from the trainer’s reaction, the answer seemed to be correct.”“What are you

It would be meaningless to show his anger here. Kaelen was a fighter while he was a trainer. If he stooped to his level, his authority would only plummet. Ulric smiled and clapped his hands.“Good, good. All right. Some things are more important than class. I’m sure you wouldn’t waste all that time. Certainly, you’ve got plenty to show for it.”“Thank you.”“In that case, let’s stop with the idle chatter and begin.”Ulric opened and skimmed through the textbook. With a smile, he said.“Kaelen, here’s a question for you.”The fighters held their breath. Ulric’s questions were notorious for being tricky. He never asked questions that could easily be guessed. Moreover, the punishment for not answering correctly was severe. In addition to docking grades, there were times when fighters had to stand until the end of class. To make matters worse, Ulric’s target was Kaelen, who had never even attended his lessons before.“What were the three artifacts used by the Rune Knight King, Sir

“Ah, of course.”Ulric was a balding middle-aged man with half his hair already gone. The protruding lower lip, slanted eyes, hooked nose, and bulging belly made him look more like a thief than a rune master.“I look forward to your kind cooperation.”At Elara’s words, Ulric burst into laughter.“Don’t worry. Trainer Elara herself bowed and begged me to do my best! Haha!”He made sure to strongly emphasize the “begging” part. Elara neither bowed nor begged, but she nodded once because she did not want to waste time childishly arguing with him. Ulric headed to the training ground grinning ear to ear. In the first place, he did not really hate teaching classes. Rather, it was more of a preference.Most of the fighters in the Low Quarter displayed trust and respect to their trainers. Even if they were displeased, few people showed it openly.Ulric liked that. It was the reason he tried so hard to become a trainer in the Low Quarter. He struggled to the point of having nosebleeds,

“Goran!”Antony rushed over to examine Goran.‘He fainted?’Why all of a sudden? Antony’s eyes turned to Kaelen. He was sitting at his desk again, reading his textbook.‘From the timing, I’m sure this fucker did something.’But did he have such a talent? Wasn’t he just a lowly fighter who could only use the Rune of Strength?Just as Antony tried to speak, the gate opened and Trainer Elara came in. It was already time for morning training to begin. Her gaze reached Antony, who wobbled where he stood, and Goran who was out cold.“Antony, what is going on? Why is Goran laying on the ground?”“T-that’s… he just suddenly fell down.”“Suddenly?”Puzzled, Elara approached Goran. She then turned him over and examined his condition.‘These are…’Elara’s face hardened. She felt faint, lingering traces of rune essence on Goran’s stomach so weak that they would go unnoticed if it weren’t for her keen perception.‘These are traces of martial arts skills using rune essence.’It meant

“Such a shame. The coward couldn’t even kill himself properly.”As Bruk spoke confidently, the man called Goran next to him shook his head.“Nah. Someone saw that son of a bitch sneak a bunch of sleeping pills from the city’s healer yesterday. He must’ve heard the rumors that you could die a painless death by swallowing a bunch at the same time.”“He must’ve not taken the pills then.”Bruk agreed with the other man Antony.“I think so, too.”“Damn it. Want to make a bet, then? I bet ten meal tickets that he died.”“Then I bet that he didn’t.”“Same.”“Let’s do five each.”Looking at each other, they grinned. The other fighters in the training ground glanced in their direction distastefully. No matter how they thought about it, Bruk’s wickedness had gone too far. It was unbelievable how he could bet on others’ lives so easily. Even so, there was no one who dared to openly defy him.It was not just his behavior that kept some of them quiet. Bruk had better skills and was from

Roric breathed deeply, the brisk night air permeating his lungs. It had an unpleasant odor. Kaelen’s memories let him know precisely where he stood.‘The city’s eastern yard.’It was the worst training ground in the district. Because it was near a garbage disposal site and a stable, the air smelled foul. Even worse, it took as long as 20 minutes to walk to the main square. As a result, there were less than 10 people living in the large space.Roric surveyed his surroundings and found an area where rune essence thickly concentrated. It took little effort since the area in question was the city's junkyard. It was a place hardly visited by others and was left mostly untouched. Hence, the nearby natural rune essence had been preserved to some extent.‘But what a shame…’Roric thought of the places he used to train at in the past.Glaciers that no human set foot upon, rivers of flowing lava, and summits that seemed to pierce the heavens… All of them were natural areas that allowed hi