The Legendary Rune Knight Returns

Chapter 5

“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 that this was the work of a rune knight. Moreover, it was not something a mere fighter could have done.

Quick and intricate. She was certain that there was not a single trainer who had this level of skill. Who could have done this? Elara’s eyes wandered around and reached Kaelen. He was engrossed in reading, not sparing any attention to Goran who had fallen nearby.

“Tell me the details.”

Elara’s razor-sharp, azure eyes swept through the training ground. Every fighter who met her gaze flinched. After a moment’s hesitation, Bruk stepped up and said.

“Goran and Kaelen were talking for a moment but…”

Those two? Talking? Even Elara, who treated her fighters indifferently, knew of Bruk’s relationship with Kaelen. They were not on friendly enough terms to talk.

Bruk paused mid-speech when he met Elara’s gaze.

“he just suddenly collapsed.”

When Elara looked away from him, Bruk felt a cold sweat down his back. Then Antony said.

“T-Trainer, how’s Goran?”

“… He seems like he’ll be knocked unconscious for a while. Don’t worry, it’s nothing life-threatening.”

“What made him collapse?”

“… Well, I think I’ll need to examine him further.”

There was no need to tell the fighter about the martial arts as he would not understand. Elara paused briefly, then said.

“I’m taking the morning session off.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll arrange for a substitute trainer. Everyone, wait in the training ground.”

Elara intended to study Goran’s symptoms in more detail. While unlikely, it could have been the work of an outsider.

“Which trainer will take over?”

“Trainer Ulric arrived earlier today. I know he doesn’t have anything scheduled this morning, so I’ll ask him.”

At Elara’s words, the fighters fell into despair. Trainer Ulric. He was also one of the three most notable trainers in the Low Quarter, which included Elara. However, his evaluation was the worst among the fighters.

Although Elara had a cold personality, she was deeply respected by the fighters. Her abilities were remarkable and her high-quality classes were easy to understand.

But Ulric was different. He behaved pretentiously even though he had the worst skills among the trainers and was extremely harsh. None of the fighters liked him. He had a severe inferiority complex, especially towards Elara, as well as another trainer named Adelia. If Elara asked him to substitute, he would certainly accept to do so thinking he got one over on her.

Elara left carrying Goran on her back.

The fighters sighed and prepared for Ulric’s session. At that moment, Bruk approached Kaelen and spoke bitterly.

“What did you do?”

“…”

“No, there’s no way you could’ve done anything my eyes wouldn’t catch.”

Bruk concluded that it was just a coincidence and laughed to reassure himself.

“Don’t ditch afternoon practice.”

Then he looked straight at Antony and said.

“We should skip training.”

“It’s Trainer Ulric’s class, though. Will it be okay?”

“It will. I’m sure Trainer Ulric will understand.”

As Bruk said so with a grin, Antony also smiled. Ulric realized that he could not touch Bruk.

He finally looked at Kaelen. Even with the commotion that occurred just a short while ago, there was little change in his expression.

‘Yeah, keep up that attitude. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of face you’ll make when I crush you.’

He was going to end it with breaking an arm, but now he thought it would be better to take an eye, too.

With that, Bruk and Antony left the training ground.