When semester evaluations began, the industry that unexpectedly boomed was none other than the quarry.
[The showdown with the Rock Troll] marks the finale of the semester exams.
For this reason, the academy purchased large quantities of high-quality marble and hard rocks mined from quarries.
However, only the nobles and merchants who managed the quarries enjoyed prosperity.
Things were not going well for the workers working under him.
On the contrary, it was a time when overwork became more severe.
Boom! Boom!
A shallow facility without even proper quarrying equipment.
All that was there were pickaxes, huge hammers, and nails.
The mountain was cut away, revealing a huge rock, and quarries were pounding it without rest.
“Hit them in order! Don’t lose your posture!”
“Don’t be stupid!”
“Don’t relax, or you’ll break your neck!”
There is a lot of yelling mixed with shouting.
In jobs where one mistake can put one’s life at risk, this is probably unavoidable.
But even this was only sensitive because they had to dig out a huge rock in its entirety, and normally they weren’t bad people.
They just have to earn money and their lives are precious, so they are only aggressive when they work.
In the meantime.
Dismissed!
“This stupid kid!”
One of the new workers who came in today ended up having an accident.
The faulty joint caused cracks to appear throughout some parts of the rock, and the cracks gradually grew larger.
Jeez-!
“Huh, huh?!”
“Stop making a fuss like a fool and take cover, you fools!!”
The loud voice of the foul-mouthed foreman.
Since even one mistake could lead to a major accident, there had to be a manual, and the best manual was to just run away to a safe place.
When everyone was running in such a hurry.
“Now, just a moment…!”
One of the rookie workers had a stiff leg.
Your legs must have lost strength in an unexpected situation.
“Goose…!”
A colleague called out the worker’s name and tried to help him urgently, but it was already too late.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Cracked rocks the size of a boulder fell one after another.
Humans become infinitely helpless in the face of disasters such as landslides.
People’s faces turned pale and it seemed as if one person would turn into a handful of blood today.
Snap!
One man grabbed the worker by the scruff of the neck and escaped the falling rocks.
“…uh?”
“Wake up, you rascal. How long are you going to be like this?”
“… … .”
“You’re not cut out for this job. Find something else.”
“… Thank you.”
“It’s too late to say thank you.”
“… Yes.”
The worker nodded slowly at the advice of the man who saved him.
As you said, it seems like it’s not my constitution.
* * *
“Mr. Rohan! Thank you so much, if it weren’t for you I would have just thrown away a casket.”
“What about the invoice? I guess they didn’t even get the invoice.”
“Would you stop saying such unlucky things?”
“If you’re grateful, give me more allowance or something.”
Worker Rohan responded curtly and silently returned to his work.
Even though there was such a huge rockfall, no one cared and the work started again.
This sight was in some ways terrifying, but the workers accepted it.
There was an accident, but it was just an unexpected accident.
In a world without labor unions or even workers’ rights, who would worry if an accident happened?
Honestly, these kinds of accidents were a daily occurrence, and would you believe that there were people who were happy that the large amount of rocks that fell would make things end quickly?
“You know, I told you above that I’ll take better care of you. Since I don’t have to pay the labor cost for the person who caused the accident anyway, I’ll just give it all to you.”
“That’s definitely a nice gesture of appreciation.”
Kang! Kwajik!
“… Hey, you’re pretty good at it. Have you ever worked anywhere else?”
The foreman was paying attention to worker Rohan, and upon witnessing his skills, he exclaimed in admiration.
Because the skill was so extraordinary.
“I just have experience from various places.”
“Haha, you’re an experienced person, and an excellent one at that!”
The real start of quarrying work began with preparing rocks and other materials so that they could be loaded onto wagons and other vehicles.
After all, I can’t move anything that’s too heavy.
And the only tool given to cut the rock was a pickaxe, and not many other tools were available.
Therefore, only the strength and skills of skilled workers were needed, and in a quarry where life and other things were always at risk, skilled veterans were valuable personnel.
‘He’s no ordinary guy, see that consistent hitting?’
Crunch! Crunch!
Every time the pickaxe passes, the rock is smoothed away.
It is not something that can be done simply because you have good strength; it is a skill that requires tricks and techniques.
Excellent!
‘I have to scout him even if it means paying a little more!’
There is a talent shortage in every industry.
The foreman’s eyes lit up.
‘… I’m so sad, it’s strange that only older men like me so much.’
Rohan, the stoneworker.
No, the worker knight who had changed his name and become a quarryman for a short while couldn’t hide his trembling expression.
When I confirmed who the intense gaze from behind was, I felt sad.
That Taechang guy got such intense stares from a beautiful noble lady, but this is all I get… .
‘It’s so funny, damn.’
Although he was overcome with anger, he silently devoted himself to his quarry work.
He was continuously digging with a pickaxe while wearing a thick mask to block out quarry dust and other things.
“Whew! Whoosh!”
It’s hard to breathe.
The mask itself is custom-made and blocks out quarry dust and fine dust with a 99.9% probability, but it seems that the alchemist merchant’s words that it makes it damn hard to breathe were true.
That’s why the more you move your body, the faster you use up your energy.
But he was perfectly happy with this damn mask.
It’s probably around this point that I feel like I’ve reached my limit.
Kaang! Kaaang!!
‘It’s fucking hard!’
My hands start to tremble as I try to break a stone that is exceptionally harder than other stones.
The foreman may have thought it looked like he was breaking stones with ease, but it wasn’t easy at all.
The more you use a pickaxe, the more stamina you lose, and especially when you break something hard, the more shock is transmitted to your body.
In that sense, my body, which was breaking stones more than five times as much as others, was quickly reaching its limits.
Pain emanating from overworked wrists and forearms.
It was a sign that injury could occur at any time.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of signal wouldn’t be a big deal, but right now, I was extremely tired and my mind was becoming dizzy.
No matter how good your resilience is, there is a limit.
‘Training 18 hours a day is torture, after all.’
He had already been training all day long at the same pace as now for a period of eight days.
As soon as I wake up, I run for two hours.
Three hours of climbing a cliff carrying a log on your back.
Five hours of unarmed practice.
Eat meals intermittently, eat more than seven meals, and then take a nap.
And the rest of the time was spent entirely in the quarry.
It was as if he had not had a single moment of rest, and his mental and physical strength were slowly reaching rock bottom.
It was only for a day or two to endure by relying solely on the body’s innate regenerative powers, but it was natural for them to start to show their bare bones after eight days.
“… … .”
Kaaaaang! Kang!!
But he didn’t stop.
Instead, he hit the stone harder and more forcefully, repeatedly breaking it!
Hot!
I thought I already knew how to use my strength, but the more I tried, the more a new sensation surged through my body.
The movement and flow of power, as well as its concentration and embodiment.
As we repeat and master this, this embodiment becomes deeper and more intense.
Perhaps it is a training method that only he can use.
Only someone with a special constitution and who has repeated this process for years can do it.
And then at some point…!
‘It’s visible.’
My floor.
Worker Rohan, no, knight Lee Han, was focused.
Because right now, at this very moment, when you can see your own rock bottom, it was a crossroads.
A crossroads where you don’t know whether it will lead to growth or decline.
Hwaaaaak!
‘come!’
I realize it instinctively.
The ‘thing’ he had been waiting for, something that some warriors would consider lucky if they experienced it only once in their lifetime, had arrived!
A state of being lost.
Or a state of no-self.
I was in a state where I had forced myself to push myself to the limit.
Lee Han swung the pickaxe, forgetting even his own existence and the act of moving his body.
Now even Lee Han doesn’t know the outcome.
What path will this forced state of driving lead him to?
But Lee Han believed in himself.
All this time, I believed in my own efforts, in pushing myself to my limits to achieve my goals.
Kuung!
Kaang!
Kwajik!
Repetitive movements.
No, the present is one where even movement is forgotten, the eyes lose focus, and only the body is observed.
A tiny, very minor change occurred inside Lee Han’s body.
Woohoo-!
A subtle, or rather subtle, change in the flow.
which.
Crunch!!
─The best results were achieved.
“……ah.”
As his pupils, which had been out of focus for a while, returned to normal, Lee Han almost lost the strength in his legs.
“Hey, Rohan. Take it easy. If you push yourself too hard, you might end up in trouble.”
“… How long have I been like this?”
“Huh? It hasn’t even been a minute?”
“1 minute… .”
“Ji, is there really no problem? Ji, do you want to go back now?”
“… … .”
The foreman was worried that his precious ace would get hurt, while Lee Han, on the other hand, saw the results of his own work.
‘… Still, was it worth the challenge?’
The rock he struck down.
It was clearly incredibly hard, and up until now, it had been impossible to do anything but break it.
But now.
“Huh? Why is the cross-section of this stone like this?”
“Brother Rohan, how did you do this?”
“… Just, whatever.”
The pickaxe did not break the rock, but rather split it cleanly into several pieces like chopping firewood. Lee Han confirmed this.
“It just so happens that way.”
He simply shrugged his shoulders and answered.
The night of the 12th day of semester evaluations.
This was a knight who had completed his own ‘bulking up’ in preparation for an emergency.
