System's POV
chapter-455-2

"The Monster Hunter Mode of GANDAM is the perfect place to gain combat experience against a wide array of monsters," Thirteen said as he eyed the Minotaur who was glaring in his direction. "You guys should use it to the fullest. That way, you'll be more prepared to fight strong opponents in the future."

It was not only the Hero Party who was paying close attention to what Thirteen was saying.

Viola, Sharon, and Louise also took note of his words.

Remi, who had already done live combat simulations with Rank 1 Monsters, smiled faintly.

Her brother made sure that she fought as many Rank 1 Monsters as possible so that she would be familiar with their attack patterns.

Compared to Mikhail and Shasha, who had to get up close and personal with real monsters during their time in Solterra, the children in Pangea now had the opportunity to fight these same monsters in the safety of their homes.

Although the experience would be painful, and their virtual bodies might die in the process, it was still a good way to train the children to fight before they fought actual monsters in real life.

"You should always hit places that will cripple the monster that you are facing," Thirteen continued his explanation. "During Jinn invasions, you will not be fighting one on one battles with monsters. You will be fighting one versus a group or one versus a horde of them.

"This is why when you use the GANDAM Simulator, always choose the option of fighting more monsters."

After saying those words, Thirteen looked at the charging Minotaur in front of him with a solemn gaze.

When the monster was near enough, the teenage boy once again threw something at the monster's face.

Thinking that it was another flash grenade, the monster didn't hesitate to raise its axe to cover its eyes.

A second later, the sound of a stone hitting the axe reached everyone's ears.

"If you do something to a monster that hurts them, they will remember it," Thirteen said calmly. "This is especially true for monsters with high intellect. So don't use the same move twice—they will be ready for it."

The Monster, who realized that Thirteen had only thrown a stone at it, roared in anger and embarrassment for having been tricked by the boy.

It then resumed its charge with the intention of avenging its humiliation.

Thirteen, who was unfazed by the monster's indignation, once again threw something to its head.

This time, the monster didn't stop its charge and continued to close its distance with the boy.

However, a second later, a deafening boom followed by a flash of light once again deprived it of its ability to see.

"Third time's the charm," Thirteen said. "Although the Monster will be wary of such things, the humiliation they feel after getting tricked would cloud their decision-making abilities.

"Because of this, you can attempt to trick them a second time, which will result in this situation."

But unlike what happened earlier, the Minotaur no longer swung its weapon blindly and stood completely still while waiting for its vision to return.

It was guarding a sneak attack from behind, making the Hero Party understand that the Monster had indeed learned its lesson and was wary of being attacked on its back a second time.

Suddenly, the Minotaur swung its axe backward, hitting the First Minotaur that was chasing Rianna earlier.

After running for a while, Rianna was getting tired, so she decided to make a last-ditch effort and return to Zion's side.

But after seeing that the monster was standing completely still, she ran past its legs in a hurry.

However, the Minotaur, who had been sneakily attacked from behind, thought that its enemy had once again targeted its back after hearing Rianna's footsteps.

But instead of hitting the human, it hit its comrade, making the latter scream in pain, and surprise.

"Anything can happen on the battlefield," Thirteen said. "So if possible, you should finish your battle as quickly as possible before another variable appears."

Thinking that its brethren had betrayed it, the First Minotaur swung its axe at the second Minotaur's neck, cutting in deep, but not enough to cut it off completely.

At that moment, the temporarily blinded Minotaur regained its vision and looked at its comrade in disbelief because the latter had attacked it.

Enraged by the betrayal, the Second Minotaur retaliated. Soon the two Monsters fought to the death.

But since the Second Minotaur was already mortally wounded and nearly blind, the one who won in the end was the First Minotaur and landed the killing blow on its comrade's body.

"If it's possible to use monsters to fight against each other, then do it," Thirteen stated as if everything that was happening was within his expectations.

However, everything was truly a coincidence. But since coincidences also happen in real battles, he decided that this was also a good time to explain these things to the Hero Party.

"Have you rested enough?" Thirteen asked the panting Rianna by his side.

"If you make me run again, I'll bite you!" Rianna answered in frustration.

Thirteen smirked. "There are times when you will have pig teammates on your team. So, when that happens, feel free to abandon them."

"What? You're calling me a pig now?!" Rianna wanted to smack the annoying boy, but Thirteen had already run in the direction of the surviving Minotaur with a dagger in each hand.

The Minotaur didn't hesitate to do the same thing because of its racial nature.

When the two were only a few meters away from each other, Thirteen threw one of the dagger towards the Minotaur's eyes, but the latter simply raised its axe a bit to block it, creating a tinkling sound as the dagger hit its axe.

It didn't stop its charge in the slightest, intending to ram the boy with its body.

But when the two were about to meet, the teenage boy suddenly disappeared.

The Minotaur continued its charge, passing the place where the boy disappeared in a heartbeat.

"Pay close attention to the battlefield," Thirteen said as he emerged from the fissure on the ground, which was caused by the Minotaur's overhead strike earlier.

"Sometimes, these things can play a major role in your survival. Okay, playtime is over. Time to finish this."

Thirteen only distracted the Minotaur earlier with his dagger, so that it wouldn't notice the fissure caused by the giant axe on the ground.

Now that his lesson was over, Thirteen fired two arrows in quick succession with the certainty that it would land on his intended target.

Sure enough, the moment the Minotaur turned around to check if it flattened its foe to meat paste, two arrows flew toward its head, hitting its eyes.

After that, it became a repeat of what happened during the first battle with the First Minotaur they fought earlier.

There was no longer any excitement.

It was just a one-sided beating with both Thirteen and Rianna firing their long-range weapons until the Monster died with resentment.

After the GANDAM announced that the battle was over, Thirteen removed the Neuro-Link from his head and looked at the members of the Hero Party with a solemn gaze.

"Your final assessment is over," Thirteen stated. "Now, who among you want to stay to be trained by me? I am telling you this now that I only have a month and a half to train you guys, so those who want to learn from me will experience Spartan Training.

"I will also not allow any of you to quit and waste my time. So if you plan to join, join with the knowledge that you will suffer. In return, I will raise your fighting ability and awareness with the little time we have for our training.

"Maybe, just maybe, that one month of training will save your lives when you return to Solterra this coming Winter Solstice. Again, who among you want to be trained by me? Step forward."

To Remi's surprise, the first one who stepped forward wasn't Derek.

It was Shana, followed by Mildred and Erica.

Derek, who thought that he was the only one serious about learning under Zion, was surprised about this sudden turn of events.

However, he also stepped forward since he planned to stay regardless of how harsh the training would be.

Roland did the same, making Joshua look at his party members with a solemn expression on his face.

Since all of his comrades planned to train, he also reluctantly stepped forward.

Rianna, Viola, Sharon, and Louise did the same, making the corner of Thirteen's lips rise slightly.

"Your training arc starts now," Thirteen said. "I look forward to breaking all of you at the same time."

Thirteen laughed internally, seeing that the result was better than he expected.

Since his entire party was now more or less his disciples, he would be able to use them against his Fated Hero, which he was certain would appear in the not-so-distant future.