Survive as a Prison Guard in the Game

Chapter 166
Purgatory (3)

Purgatory wasn’t just for those on the Bern Continent, it was a place where people of various talents came together on a larger scale.

Harungel Swordsmanship Academy.

“Sword Saint?”

It could be the Sword Saint he knew, or it could be someone else with the same name.

Someone must have seen him from inside because after standing there for a while, someone stepped out.

A man wearing leather armor.

He looked to be in his late forties, and his muscles were visible all over his body, as if he had trained hard.

A single eyebrow arched as the man approached.

“Hmph. To give you a brief introduction to our Harungel Swordsmanship Academy, it was founded by a Sword Master who is active in the upper league here.”

“Sword Saint?”

“Ah, since you’re new here, you might not recognise him, but follow me in. I’ll explain to you what this place is all about.”

“Do I have to attend once I come in?”

“Ehhh, it’s not like that. Just come on in, have a quick cup of tea, and if we hit a mutual understanding, huh? Got it?”

The man patted his shoulder and gave a friendly smile. Since he needed to get some information, he followed the man inside.

The inside of the building looked like a wooden styled academy.

“I’m Sam, the director of this place.”

“My name is Redin.”

“That’s a nice name, Hahahaha.”

He was ushered into what appeared to be an office and sat down in the chair Sam indicated.

A moment later, Sam sits down across from him and hands over a cup of tea.

“Here, drink this. It’s a local speciality that calms the mind and body and helps improve concentration.”

“Does drinking this stuff work?”

“Well since there’s no concept of hunger, people don’t normally eat, but this type of tea is a favorite here.”

He considered if the tea was poisoned.

Basically, combat outside of the league was forbidden in this place.

If he were to die, so would the other man.

He thought there was no need to hide poison between people who don’t know anything about each other.

*Sip*

As Redin sipped the tea lightly, he felt a sense of clarity wash over him.

“Oh…”

“Not to brag, but if you come through our academy, you can have that almost every day. No other place can even dream of it.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing Redin’s reaction, Sam began to explain with evident excitement.

“Continuing the story from earlier, there are a total of three leagues here. The lower league, where the Expert Advanced dominates. The central league, where those who have just entered the master level compete. And finally, the upper league, which is at the top of the master level.”

*Translator Note: Shoutout to Chereads Site, Howl_Howl for stealing and copy/pasting my Translation.*

“It seems like the Sword Saint is active in the highest league.” chimed by Redin.

“That’s not all.”

Sam smacked his lips.

“Even in the upper league, there are those who can be counted within ten fingers. In Purgatory, those ten are called the Transcendents.”

“Transcendents….”

“Lord Sword Master is one of the transcendent beings who can be counted on one hand. If someone inherits the enlightenment left by them, the Central League can be likened to a direct express train.”

It sounded good on paper, but regardless of what Sam said, the academy was completely devoid of dead people.

The other training academy adjacent to this one had about a dozen.

Which was more than a little odd.

A place that’s supposed to be run by someone in the top five of the upper league, a transcendent.

The lack of people indicates that something is amiss.

“How many people attend this place?”

“To be honest, there was only one person, but they left a few days ago.”

Sam shook his head in pity. Then he lifted his index finger and held it in front of Redin’s eyes.

“But you have to understand. The absence of students here does not diminish the quality of the enlightenment.”

“…..”

“They just haven’t been able to keep up with the Sword Master’s enlightenment, and I have a feeling you might be able to.”

“Are there any requirements for attending this place?”

“All you need is a strong body and a resilient mind.”

“Can I hear what I’ll be learning?”

“You can learn the Sword Master’s swordsmanship here. Starting from the early stage techniques like Gale, Gust, and Storm Slashes, moving onto mid-stage swordsmanship such as Crescent and Full Moon Strikes, and finally advanced techniques.”

It seems that what he know of Harungel was true.

He is still working on the mid-tier swordsmanship techniques Harungel left behind.

Refining the [Eclipse Strike] and mastering the advanced swordsmanship will indeed be a great help in future battles.

“How about this? No one else is here, so I can coach you one-on-one.”

“Sounds good.”

Sam smiled approvingly and reached out his hand. When he took hold of the hand, Sam shook it rapidly with a bounce.

“And there’s one more thing I want to ask you.”

“Just say the word. I’ll tell you everything.”

“Can I attend other academies as well?”

Sam rolled his eyes, a dark expression on his face.

“If you’re learning swordsmanship… it would be best to focus on our academy for that.”

“I know how to handle magic as well as swords. It would be helpful to attend to them together.”

Sam’s expression returned to its normal color.

“Magic? That’s fine. You can attend as many as you want.”

“Got it. So, does learning swordsmanship start today?”

“Do you have a match scheduled?”

“It’s tomorrow.”

“Then come back after the match, because the rule here is that you can’t have lessons at an academy the day before a match.”

“Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow then.”

He glanced around once more as he left the Academy, finding that there were fewer people attending the academy as a whole.

“I’ll have to be diligent tomorrow.”

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In Purgatory, the day begins at nine o’clock.

Any physical fatigue would disappear after three hours of sleep, and there would be no need to eat since there was no sense of hunger.

After waking up, he briefly loosened up his body.

Walking towards the blue clock tower. He showed his certificate and entered the arena.

There were still a few hours until his scheduled match.

He had come early to watch as many matches as possible.

Heading to the bleachers, he settled into one of the available seats.

“Is that guy playing today?”

“From the looks of things, he’s going to move up to the Central League today.”

He had no idea who the guy was.

But Redin could tell that this guy had a unique quality to him.

Looking at the crowd, he noticed a different crowd than yesterday.

As his eyes watched the battle unfold on the field, his ears paid attention to the conversations around him.

Most of them were about the match.

There were quite a few expectations directed towards those referred to as “that guy.”

A short break was given as the morning’s matches came to an end.

The spectators remained in their seats.

Without needing to eat or experiencing bodily functions, he chatted with those around him, discussing today’s matches and sharing their thoughts.

“Are you sure you don’t want to attend an academy any more?”

*Translator Note: Shoutout to Chereads Site, Howl_Howl for stealing and copy/pasting my Translation.*

“Why would I need to?”

Hearing a topic that sounded interesting, he focused on it.

“I heard you can quickly rise to the level of a master if you learn there, right? There’s no harm in learning, is there?”

“Tsk tsk. You know one, but not the other.”

“Huh?”

“Sure, those bastards up there are just eager to share their own hard-earned enlightenment.”

“What?”

“So they could climb up even higher. They don’t give out enlightenment for nothing.”

“Huh?”

“Ugh. Now, look. It’s fine to give their own enlightenment, that’s all right, but what happens when the enlightened ones play in the middle league, and then move up to the upper league?”

“They’ll fight the Transcendents.”

“Yes. The Transcendents run academies so that they can breed and eat those who become masters.”

“Huh?”

“Exactly. They teach the skills they’ve learned, the swordsmanship they’ve mastered, so if you learn those things and move up, you can’t beat the original.”

That made perfect sense.

“Well, we’re still far inferior to them, but it’s best to break through the Master’s Wall on our own, so we can have originality and be competent in the upper leagues.”

“Ah… I see?”

From their conversation, he had a rough idea.

Why were there no crowds at the academy?

But that didn’t stop him from going to the academy.

Although there was a valid point.

That’s only true if one is a dead soul living here for the rest of their life.

There were only 19 days left for him.

If he wanted to reach the Master rank in that time, and advance as far as he could, it was best to devour enlightenment as he roamed the academies.

“The afternoon match will now commence.”

A resounding call echoed through the stadium, drawing the attention of the spectators.

Clearing his thoughts, he gazed out onto the arena.

A series of seemingly dull matches were taking place. The arrival of the black hooded figure brought a change to the stadium.

From those who whistled.

Some shouted in excitement.

The crowd cheered at the black hooded figure.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Is that the guy who’s been so popular lately?”

“It’s not normal to be hot, because they beat three opponents in a row on the first day, and then they’ve won three games in a row every day for three days now. That’s a 12-game winning streak.”

“Isn’t that something we have to do to get into the Central League anyway?”

“Yeah, but he’s a little special.”

“Like what?”

“He uses Demonic Energy.”

‘Demonic Energy?’ came the abrupt thoughts of Redin while listening to the conversation.

“What’s that?”

“Call it a dark power. In our world, it’s equivalent to a Heavenly Demon. Someone who uses demon energy or something.”

“So he uses the same power as a Heavenly Demon?”

“Similar.”

And that was the end of their conversation.

At the sound of the whistle, which signaled the start of the match, the black-hooded figure moved.

Without hesitation, he moved towards the opponent in front of him and swung the staff he held in his hand.

Tentacles of darkness sprouted from the ground, overpowering the opponent, and as he swung his staff again, black blades poured forth, shredding the opponent into pieces.

Such skill that easily subdued an expert of high grade.

“Match over.”

Everyone held their breath.

“Hazel, victory in the Ranked Battle.”

*Translator Note: Shoutout to Chereads Site, Howl_Howl for stealing and copy/pasting my Translation.*

With the announcement of victory in the ranked match, many spectators cheered loudly.

“Yaa! That’s awesome!”

“Aren’t all these guys who are moving up so fast now playing big in the Central League?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a talent worthy of the upper league.”

The black hooded figure turned and exited the arena. Redin held his breath as he watched his back.

The techniques displayed just now were clearly those used by the Demon Cultists.

If they were master-level skills..

He couldn’t be a priest, but rather an Apostle. That meant that this Hazel was one of the Twelve Apostles.

Redin wondered why an apostle would come here.

Could they have come here to lose their life?

He quickly rose from his seat and followed the black hooded figure out of the arena.

Today’s game was last, so he had a bit of time to spare.

*Flash!*

Back at the clock tower, he saw the Black Hooded Figure just exiting the door, and a familiar figure standing beside him.

It was the same familiar face as the NPC that was active in the Demon God Church.

“No way..”

Are they plotting some scheme to use the dead here?