After my spectacular failure to master both the sword and the bow, Alira and Valkira refused to give up immediately. Over the next few hours, they desperately tried introducing me to a dizzying array of alternative combat weapons: a heavy vanguard spear, a complex chained throwing knife, and even a massive, unwieldy spiked shield.
Unfortunately, I managed to fail catastrophically at every single one of them. I nearly impaled my own foot with the spear, tangled myself like a mummy in the chain, and flat-out fell backward under the sheer weight of the shield.
"I... I truly feel a profound sense of pity for you," Valkira said, her usually fierce face softening into an expression of pure, unadulterated charity.
I winced, quickly turning my desperate gaze toward Alira instead. The elf archer hesitated for a moment, her emerald eyes actively shifting away from mine as she suddenly found a nearby patch of dirt incredibly fascinating. It was painfully obvious—both of my highly competent teachers had completely given up on me.
"Hahaha…" I let out a hollow, profoundly awkward laugh, though a sharp sting of genuine disappointment settled deep into my chest. "Well... maybe I just don't possess a single drop of natural talent for physical combat techniques."
"Then why don't you try learning how to cast magic instead?" Verixa asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked up from building a small fortress out of twigs.
"Magic? Hmm…" I murmured, rubbing my chin. I thought back to the one and only time I had tried to channel magical energy while locked inside the demon city's dungeon. "Okay. Let's try it. Alira, Valkira… please teach me how to use magic."
"Teach you?" Valkira blinked her crimson eyes in utter bafflement. "What is there to teach? Is it not a completely natural bodily function?"
"What do you mean by that?! You must have learned how to manipulate mana from a mentor or a teacher, right?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"Zacken," Alira explained gently, her voice carrying a trace of sympathy. "Perhaps because you were raised on Earth, you do not understand the mechanics of this world—but magic here comes entirely naturally to living beings. It is exactly like breathing. No one ever truly teaches it to you; it is simply an inherent part of who we are from birth."
"Yeah, exactly," Valkira added, nodding. "Asking us to teach you how to channel magic is like asking us to teach you how to blink your eyes. We don't actually know how to explain the process to someone who doesn't just feel it."
"I see… so I'm completely hopeless then," I muttered, my shoulders slumping as I slumped onto a rock in total defeat.
"Aha! I have a brilliant idea!" Verixa suddenly declared, puffing out her tiny chest proudly as a smug, mischievous grin flashed across her face.
She walked over, pointing a tiny finger dramatically at my nose before giving me a dramatic wink. "My royal father once told me that when people are pushed into a corner of absolute trouble, their bodies naturally unlock completely new skills just to survive! Maybe if you go face extreme danger entirely by yourself, your hidden Earthling survival instincts—or even a legendary unique cheat skill—will finally awaken!"
"Are you completely out of your mind?!" I groaned loudly, grabbing my hair. "Struggling to survive back in my world means working overtime to pay rent! Struggling to survive in this world—a place filled with bloodthirsty apex predators that can eat you alive if you blink—isn't a 'training exercise,' kid. It's state-mandated suicide!"
I whipped around, looking desperately at my two powerhouse guardians. "Right? Back me up here, guys!"
"Human…" Valkira's demonic aura suddenly flared with a terrifying, blood-red fury. She gripped the hilt of her sword, pointing the sheathed blade directly at my forehead. "Did my ears just deceive me, or did I just hear you call our supreme queen stupid? If Her Majesty suggests a training regimen, her word is absolute law."
I gasped, my heart leaping into my throat. I turned to Alira in a blind panic, hoping elven logic would save me. But the archer was merely stroking her chin, locked in deep, analytical thought.
"Actually, perhaps Verixa's idea isn't entirely without merit," Alira finally concluded, looking back up at me. "If it is you we are talking about, Zacken, standard methods clearly do not apply. We should give this experiment a try."
"Huh?!" I screamed, stepping back. "Why are you suddenly siding with the demons on day one?!"
Naturally, my protests were completely ignored.
A mere ten minutes later, I found myself walking entirely alone down a narrow, shadowy dirt trail, the dense canopy blocking out most of the morning sun.
"Am I really doing this right now? Am I actually letting a ten-year-old dictate my life expectancy?" I muttered to myself, kicking a loose stone.
"Just keep going already! Don't look back!" Verixa's distant voice echoed from behind the treeline.
"We have carefully mapped out the designated path for you, Zacken! If you follow the markers properly, you will be perfectly fine!" Alira shouted reassuringly from afar.
I let out a massive, thoroughly defeated sigh. "Yeah, right… 'perfectly fine.'"
I took inventory of my pathetic stash of survival supplies: a single leather water bottle, a small handful of wild fruits, one singular smoke crystal, a survival knife lightly infused with a tiny fraction of Verixa's demonic energy, a few spare lengths of sturdy fiber string, and the hand-drawn parchment map provided by Alira.
Eventually, the narrow path began to curve, leading me to a sudden, confusing fork where the trail split into two completely identical, overgrown directions.
"Great. Let's see… maybe this legendary elven map will actually be useful for once," I grumbled, unfolding the parchment. I stared down at the drawings for three seconds before my brain short-circuited.
The entire map was just a massive, densely packed cluster of intricately illustrated trees. There were no landmarks, no trail markers, and no labels. Just trees.
"Hahaha—are you seriously kidding me right now?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, violently slamming the parchment down into the dirt. "How on earth am I supposed to know which tree is which when I don't even know a single plant species in this entire universe?!"
Deeply irritated, I decided the sensible thing to do was turn right back around and march straight back to the clearing... only to look around and realize, with a sudden jolt of cold panic, that every single direction now looked completely identical. I was thoroughly, entirely lost.
Hours passed.
After wandering aimlessly through the dense, oppressive thickets of the foreign forest until my legs felt like lead, I finally collapsed in a miserable heap beneath the roots of a massive oak tree.
"How did my life turn into such a disaster?" I groaned, staring up at the canopy as giant, comedic anime tears began streaming down my face. "No legendary cheat skills, no reliable companions who don't threaten to kill me, zero currency to my name, technically a wanted traitorous criminal by the human empire… and now I'm going to starve to death because I got defeated by a map made of trees."
Rustle.
A sudden, sharp movement echoed from the dense bushes directly ahead of me.
My eyes lit up, and I instantly sprang to my feet, waving my arms frantically. "Finally! Thank god, someone actually found me!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Hey! I'm over here! Valkira! Alira! Verixa! Over here!"
The bushes parted. But instead of a beautiful elf or a loyal demon knight, a pair of massive, glowing yellow eyes emerged from the darkness—attached to a gargantuan, wart-covered, frog-like reptilian monster.
I froze instantly, my voice dying in my throat. In a split-second reflex, I ducked behind the thick trunk of the oak tree. The gargantuan amphibian stepped into the clearing, its nostrils flaring as it sniffed the heavy air. A cold bead of sweat trickled down my forehead, the silence so absolute that I could hear it hit the dirt like a tiny drumbeat.
CRACK!
With a sudden, violent swing of its muscular, webbed arm, the beast cleanly sliced the entire massive oak tree in half, completely exposing my hiding spot. Its yellow eyes locked dead onto mine, and thick, viscous saliva began dripping from its gaping maw.
The monster raised its massive fist, intending to crush me into a human pancake.
"Nope! Absolutely not!"
I screamed, barely diving out of the way as the fist pulverized the earth where I had just been standing. Lunging to my feet, I began sprinting as fast as my legs could physically carry me through the dense brush, the heavy, thunderous stomps of the monster vibrating right behind my heels.
"Damn it! Think, Zacken, think!" I panted heavily, my lungs burning as branches whipped against my face. "You don't have magic, you don't have strength, but you aren't an idiot!"
Suddenly, a tactical spark ignited in my brain. Reaching into my tracksuit pockets, I yanked out the singular smoke crystal and a length of sturdy fiber string. "Okay... time to execute my very first genius plan in this world."
Slowing down for a fraction of a second, I rapidly tied one end of the string around the crystal and threw the projectile backward, looping it securely around a thick, exposed fire-tree root running across the path.
The giant monster leapt forward blindly, its massive foot catching the taut string.
Smash!
The crystal shattered instantly under the pressure, violently detonating into a massive, expanding cloud of pitch-black, suffocating smoke that completely blinded the beast. The creature let out a confused, panicked roar, thrashing wildly in the dark.
"Now's my absolute chance!" I shouted.
Circling rapidly behind the disoriented beast, I spotted a sharp, jagged broken branch lying near the fire-tree root. Grabbing it with both hands, I lunged forward and jammed the makeshift spear directly into one of the creature's massive yellow eyes.
The monster shrieked in agonizing pain, its body thrashing with pure, destructive violence. It slammed its heavy head down toward the earth in a blind rage. As it did, I noticed the sharp, splintered edge of the broken oak tree stump sticking out of the ground directly behind it.
"Perfect!" I yelled, leveraging the sheer momentum of its chaotic thrashing.
Yanking out the survival knife infused with Verixa's demonic energy, I channeled every single ounce of adrenaline in my body and threw the blade straight at the monster's exposed throat. The magically enhanced blade struck true, the force of the impact knocking the massive creature completely off balance.
With a deafening crash, the beast fell backward—impaling its heavy torso directly onto the razor-sharp edge of the broken tree stump.
The monster let out one final, gurgling roar before its body went entirely limp, collapsing with a heavy, echoing thud that shook the forest floor.
I immediately dropped to my knees beside the carcass, drawing in massive, ragged gasps of air as my adrenaline began to fade. "Hah… hah… so this… this is what they consider a normal training exercise, huh?"
I forced a weak, thoroughly exhausted grin at the dead monster. "Guess… maybe I'm not entirely useless after all."
Wiping the thick layer of dirt and sweat off my face, I stood up and looked around the quiet clearing. Strangely, the intimidating, dark forest suddenly felt a little less terrifying. That was when I noticed a faint, pulsing glow in the distance—a soft blue shimmer cutting through the shadows like a guiding light.
Curious, I carefully pushed through the thick, interlocking branches until I emerged into a wide, pristine clearing. Standing directly in the center was an ancient, moss-covered stone archway—the exact same mystical symbol Alira had carelessly illustrated on the very corner of her tree map.
"This must be the final destination…" I murmured, taking a step forward.
To my complete surprise, three incredibly familiar figures were standing right near the base of the archway. Alira was watching me with a calm, serene smile; Valkira stood with her arms tightly crossed over her breastplate; and Verixa was waving her hands proudly in the air, looking exactly like a kid who had known the outcome of a movie all along.
"Took you long enough, human," Valkira teased, a smirk playing on her lips.
"So?!" Verixa asked eagerly, bouncing over to me with sparkling eyes. "Did you feel it? Did the intense brush with death work?! Did you experience a magnificent spark of hidden power? What is your unique cheat skill?!"
I blinked at the three of them, still completely out of breath, my tracksuit torn and covered in green monster blood. "…Yeah, I felt a whole lot of things, kid. Mostly pure terror, physical trauma, and absolute evolutionary exhaustion."
The three of them let out a collective, synchronized sigh, trying their absolute best not to look visibly disappointed by my lack of a magical awakening.
Alira stepped closer, gently placing a warm hand on my trembling shoulder. "It is alright, Zacken. Perhaps a unique skill simply requires a longer incubation period to manifest."
"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," I muttered, carefully brushing the remaining dirt and leaves off my clothes. "By the way, your brilliant 'face danger alone' survival plan almost resulted in me being digested by a giant, mutant frog."
Valkira smirked, resting her hand on her hip. "Then you must have done something right during the encounter, considering you are still standing before us and breathing."
"Right, right," I grumbled, stretching my incredibly sore back. "Next time we design a training arc, how about we brainstorm a plan that doesn't actively involve me nearly dying a horrible death?"
The three of them began speaking at once, trying to calm down my frantic ranting as I waved my arms around in sheer frustration. But despite their warm smiles and reassuring nods, I could still catch the faint trace of lingering hope in their eyes. They really had expected a miracle.
In the end, I gave up complaining and marched right past them down the trail, crossly mumbling under my breath.
"Unique cheat skill, my ass…"