Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Keep Going

The last three weeks felt like a blur as we moved into the last week of training. The monotonous training routine simply blended every day into one giant, indistinct mess.

Dinners now were quiet, quite unlike the first day’s bustle. Even Henry and Henrietta, usually somehow enthusiastic even after our grueling training, were quiet today. I, meanwhile, was perfectly fine with the silence, and Sein, as usual, was fighting for every last breath even as he sat down to eat.

There was a question on my mind though, so I lifted my head toward Abby. For a brief moment when I faced her, my face burned a bit, momentarily filling my skin with the sensation of a horrible sunburn. But it faded away as rapidly as it arrived, and I was just left with the sight of her picking out the vegetables in the slop we were served.

“Hey Abby.”

“Hm?”

“Have you thought about going into intelligence?”

“A little. I don’t know if I can though. They don’t tend to let warlocks into those roles.”

Henrietta bobbed her head in agreement.

“Summoners are always the first to get picked for intelligence roles, and ordinary people get second pick after them. Anyone with fighting ability is forced to fight. The only way a warlock gets off the front lines is if they’re good at enchanting, and that takes special training the military doesn’t give away easily. Only the Magisterium offers those classes beforehand.”

“Hm. Then I have another question. What’s the difference between this place and the others? Why were the warlocks separated when being sent to basic training?”

“Well, we’re being prepared for the front lines. That’s why they’re teaching us how to fight on walls and in formations. The other warlocks are stronger so they’re being sent to back or midline positions.”

“...”

I stuffed a spoonful into my mouth in contemplative silence.

You’d think it would be the other way around. But when a soldier had valuable talent, you made sure they had enough time to fulfill that talent. There was no sense in throwing them as-is into the meatgrinder of the front. It wasted more than just one life. A soldier with talent was worth many times more than their peers without. They’d kill off a dozen Authority 7s to save one potential Authority 10.

This was exactly the position of those within this squadron. Nobody here exceeded Authority 5, and none were as talented as those from the Magisterium. Having extracted most of their meager talent, the military would use them according to their fixed value; they were worth no more than the time they could buy by throwing their lives on the line.

And putting them into intelligence positions would do nothing more than waste their power. There were enough ordinary people who could fill those positions. On the contrary, there would never be enough warlocks to be sent forward to fight.

Yet another aspect of this grim reality. I shook my head and resumed eating. Putting too much thought into it would get me nowhere.

Abby’s piercing gaze found mine.

“What about you John? Will you go into intelligence?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. I should still be fighting though. I don’t plan to sit behind a desk all day.”

“A summoner who fights. I still have a hard time believing it. You really are special.”

“I’m just doing what I can.”

I shrugged, Abby looking up at me for a bit.

“You’ve got a lot of scars. You’ve already fought a lot.”

“Somewhat.”

“But it’s dangerous. You don’t have barriers or a strong body. You’re just an ordinary man.”

“Well, that just means I have to use the one tool at my disposal.”

“... Your mind?”

She tilted her head inquisitively. I nodded in response.

“Well, that, and extraordinary violence. My weapons are the best at killing, better than any sword or magic spell, and at a longer range as well. So although I’m physically weak, I just compensate by killing everything else first. But yes, I have to be smart about things. I have to place myself in advantageous positions. But so does everyone else.”

“I suppose. Still, I can’t imagine fighting like that. At least I have my barrier. You don’t even have that.”

I shrugged. I had long gotten used to fighting like I did. And it wasn’t like complaining would help me anyway.

After dinner passed we only had one more formation drill to do before we retired. Or, at least before everyone else retired.

I looked down at Sein. We were frequently punished due to how slow he was. He still couldn’t keep up with the rest of the squadron.

But I wasn’t totally upset. I didn’t particularly care, but you could say I’d been coaching him through it.

And tonight we had another 2 miles to do. As we stood in the Bay awaiting the order to start running, I spoke.

“You’re getting better, Sein.”

“...”

He didn’t respond, but his Aura spoke in his stead. He was shocked, if not a bit wary.

I rolled my eyes at that.

“You’re losing weight and gaining stamina. Keep this up and you might be able to hit the physical ability standards by yourself. But you haven’t been speeding up. It’s time to start pushing.”

“Cooper! Get going!”

We got the command from the instructor. I waved Sein along.

“For the first half mile, you’re going to move at least twice as fast as usual. I don’t want you thinking about the rest of the run. I just want you to get through half a lap at a proper pace. The standard you have to meet is one mile in 7 minutes. You’re nowhere near that but that’s okay. To start, I want you hitting the half mile mark in 3 minutes.”

“I-I don’t think I ca-”

“I didn’t ask if you could. But I’ll give you some incentive anyway. Hit that time, and you won’t have to do the second mile the instructor gave us. Understand?”

“... Yessir.”

He nodded as I adjusted my mind, assigning my Spark to count the time.

“Alright, I’m running with you. Starting… now. Move.”

I waved him along, the two of us moving at a fast jog. It was barely five seconds in before his breathing got heavy, but he kept up.

I kept glancing at my side. I was running at precisely a three minute pace, perhaps a few seconds faster. It was easy to visualize and pace myself with my Spark.

And Sein kept up for the first quarter. Of course, that was at the cost of most of his stamina. It was clear that he wouldn’t make it from my perspective, and maybe even from his. Either way, he started slowing down.

I yelled.

“Come on! One half left! Get the hell up here!”

“Agh!”

I heard a grunt as he forced his legs to keep moving. Compared to before, he was much better at pushing through pain. I had spoken to him about such things almost every day. After all, I had a plethora of experience with this stuff.

3 quarters in and the guy was suckng down air so hard I thought his lungs were going to explode. He also became unsteady, so I yelled again.

“Don’t you dare stop! If you stop you’re never getting up again! One foot in front of the other! The burning doesn’t mean you can’t keep going!”

“Ugh! I… Agh!”

He grunted with every breath, his feet trudging a pace behind me.

I kept track of the time as we got closer.

“Move! It’s right there! Come on! Get here!”

I sprinted ahead and stood at the line, counting down.

“Five seconds! Run!”

“Agh!”

“Three! Two! One!”

“Huh!”

He threw his leg across, stumbling over and coming to a halt.

I nodded.

“2 minutes and 58 seconds. Right on the mark. You’ll have to run around that pace for double the distance 3 weeks from now. It seems almost impossible, but- Hey, stay on your fucking feet! Walk around if it burns too much!”

I flicked him as he tried to lay down. That was another thing I didn’t let him do.

“I know it burns, but you’re not as tired as you think. It just fucking hurts. You never run that fast because you’re always anticipating the miles ahead, so now that you kicked it up a gear, your body is being shocked awake. Still, it’s good that you met the mark. 3 short weeks and you’re already getting better. Now you just need to keep going. Start walking. You got a half mile.”

I waved him along. He picked his body up, ever so slowly starting to trudge forward.

Then, he stopped and buckled over, puking up his dinner.

I shrugged. It wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of fuel on his body.

“I’m going to run my miles. Stay on your feet. The burning will subside eventually.”

I took off with that, doing my portion of the run while timing myself out of curiosity.

At a race pace I crossed the half mile mark in two minutes flat, feeling decent. Then I kicked it up a gear and crossed the mile mark in three minutes and 41 seconds.

That got me plenty winded, but I was still disgusted. A little bit of Vigor and I could shatter Earth’s mile world record.

And I still did another mile at a jog pace. When I was close to finishing though, I spotted Sein lower himself to the floor.

I rushed over and yelled.

“Hey! Get up! The dorms are right fucking there!”

“How… How do you do this…”

He mumbled from the floor, and with my acute vision I actually saw him crying.

I let out a long sigh.

“Boy, I’ve been training my body for years, and harder than most knights. I just don’t have their disgusting strength because I’m a summoner. Even then though, it’s not like my fitness came naturally to me. I’ve never been like you but I’ve also never been allowed to be like you. You’re a noble kid right? What’s your father?”

“... Count.”

“A Count. In some random city out in the territories, that’s probably god-like. You didn’t have a place like the Magisterium to keep you in check, and your father’s nobility let you slack off and turn into this sack of lard. There’s really no excuses. You did this to yourself, all while knowing it would bite you in the ass one day.”

“I…!”

I felt his anger rise as I kept talking. He actually mustered the energy to yell back.

“I-I’m a Count’s son! My father still serves, and I’m graduating even if I don’t meet those stupid standards! And I heard you’re nothing but a commoner! What do you think my father will do when he hears-!”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Ugh!”

All the air rushed out of his lungs after I drove my foot into his juicy gut.

Then I bent down and grabbed his sweaty hair, pulling him up to eye level as he struggled to breathe.

“Listen, fatso. I don’t give a damn about your father. I’ve dealt with nobles far more powerful than him. I’ve also killed people with fathers more powerful than yours. In fact, you remind me of one of them, an unfortunate fat body who was left decapitated on the roadside. So believe me when I say that you do not want to find out how little I care about your tiny slice of nobility.”

“Haah…”

I watched him as he started shivering, cowering under my mere gaze. Was he seriously that terrified by a few words? I almost rolled my eyes. The guy looked like he was about to piss his pants.

I pushed his head away before sighing. Then I thought of something and reigned in my Aura, watching him visibly calm.

I let out a curious exhale before squatting back down.

“I’m trying to help you, Narren. You’re a sad little existence, but you’ve got so much more potential than you’ve allowed yourself to see. You’re just scared. You’d rather look as pathetic as possible so that no responsibility or danger gets thrown toward you, rather than actually make yourself capable of handling those things. And now, you’ve been tossed at my feet. You’re unfortunately my current responsibility, but I have no issues trying to help you improve. I mean, you’ve already done so well. You’ve got some grit. Definitely a far cry from the sad sack of shit you were when you first arrived.”

“Ugh…”

He grunted while raising himself to a seated position, his breathing unsteady.

I looked at him. He’d already lost at least 50 pounds, if not more. He was visibly skinnier, and was running far better than he did the first week. It was amazing progress, and hardly took anything by my standards.

I tapped his leg with my foot.

“All you have to do is keep going. Of course, once we finish, you’re not my problem anymore. You could go right back to that sad little life and I wouldn’t know nor be able to do anything about it. You’d be totally off the hook, free to hide behind your father. But both of us know how much you hate that. I doubt you’ve ever been satisfied with yourself, let alone proud of the things you’ve done. Fortunately for you, you’ve got no choice while I’m here. I’m going to get you as close as fucking possible to that seven minute mile, if not past it. You can hate, curse, and threaten me all you want. Whatever helps you cope, because you’ve got plenty of work ahead of you, and you’re not stopping now.”

I walked off with those words, heading back into the dorm, though not before leaving one more command.

“Shower before you get into bed.”

……

Another week passed, and Sein seemed to have had his attitude culled by our little talk. He was getting better by the day. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The instructors loved handing out extra running. They were probably trying to get Sein in half-decent shape as well, because although they could be bent, the standards still existed. They couldn’t be completely flaunted. At the very least, they had to actively attempt to get him better, even if the attempt didn’t work.

I didn’t care either way, because now Sein had become a little pet project of mine. I’d make him run more even if they didn’t.

By the end of the week, he managed to improve by a whole 20 seconds in the half mile, hitting 2 minutes and 37 seconds. I knew he already had the strength since he always carried so much weight with him. And now that he was losing weight and gaining stamina, he was improving at lightning speed.

When the fifth week came the instructors focused on the last bits of formation drills. We learned how to get organized within an army, the kinds of orders that might come down from superiors and how to follow them, as well as how to work in smaller tactical teams of five to six.

As a ranged summoner who could actually dish out damage, I’d be treated almost exactly like a warlock. I didn’t know what exactly was waiting for me after basic, but chances were, I’d be fighting with moving platoons.

Not all battles were fought defensively from bases. That’s all us Magisterium students could experience for our safety. The military in fact led many offensives to rout Scourge invasions. There were mobile battalions beyond the bases. Those were the deadliest places to be, though they also included the strongest combatants the Kingdom could offer.

People like Umara would be stationed on bases. But since I wasn't with her, I’d probably get put into a more active position. Either way, I’d be using all the knowledge they gave me.

We entered our final week. That’s when we started to conclude the educational parts of basic training, moving on to things like target practice and getting to know what would be expected of us. We hadn’t had a chance to use much magic at all, so they started getting us primed again.

As for graduation, it wasn’t anything like on Earth. Once finished we’d simply have a little ceremony with our dress uniform, get our Ensign ranks, and move on.

However, testing to meet standards also occurred during week 6. That week was both Sein’s hardest and easiest week yet.