19 The Instructor
They proceeded to do a few more tests of physical ability, all of which Kaden performed above expectations in.
Damien was only growing more and more suspicious as each test passed. Whenever Kaden took a look at him, he was watching him with a thoughtful expression.
Kaden didn't feel like he could blame him, towards the end even he was starting to feel a little bit suspicious. It was like his physical ability had improved a ton since that day the aliens first appeared, despite the fact that he still hadn't managed to cultivate.
They tested his hand eye coordination, his reflexes, and his speed. None of his ratios matched up with what they were supposed to.
After finishing up and returning to the lobby, Kaden was handed a new identification card by the bureaucrat.
The man had been waiting in the lobby all this time, just waiting for them to finish.
Kaden held up his new card, taking a look at the differences. There were a few.
Where the job section before had him listed as cleanup crew, it now said ADF Recruit instead. The color of the card was also different, the generic white having been replaced by a bright red.
Because of his new status, he could only collect his rations at the military distribution center. This also had an added benefit that meant he had no need for those ration coupons. Instead, the center would keep track of it for him.
All members of the Aether Defense Force would be given three rations a day. This was something that he was already looking forward to.
As soon as he was let go, he went off towards the military distribution center. It had been a long time since he was able to eat his fill.
The center was located in the same district as the Radiant Era Dojo, so it didn't take too long for him to arrive.
He went inside the building, that was very reminiscent of an army cafeteria. It was like a huge hall, with tables and chairs avaliable for you to sit and eat your meal.
Clearly the army was treated a lot better than the civilians.
The line was short too, and Kaden was soon at the front, handing over his card to the worker.
Seeing the card and Kaden's age, the worker's eyes widened slightly but he remained professional and grabbed a packet, giving it to him.
Kaden was surprised to see that it was not a standard military ration packet like he had expected.
Instead it was a bright red like his card, with 'ADF Ration' stamped on the front. He had thought that he would just be getting standard military rations like the soldiers, but it seemed that that was not the case. The City Administration were clearly doing all they could to entice more people to join.
He took his packet and went to sit down at one of the empty tables.
On the walk over, he could feel people staring at him, whispering all sorts of things.
But it wasn't whispers of awe, surprise, or even respect. No, it was more like everyone here was looking down on him.
A soldier even walked past him while muttering "Idiot," under his breath.
He sat down at the table, choosing to just ignore them all. Clearly everyone already knew about the ADF, and nobody thought much of it.
It wasn't surprising, after all the ADF was open for everyone to join, but very few were willing. These people looked down on him for falling prey to the scheme. In their eyes he was just a reckless idiot, willing to join a suicide mission simply for a bigger meal.
Kaden scoffed, not caring how they saw him. He would let these people believe whatever they wanted, it didn't matter.
Tearing open his packet, he dumped the contents out on the table before him.
There was the standard contents that he had come to expect from a ration packet, but the piece of wolf meat was at least twice as big.
Other than that there was also a protein bar, a granola bar, a small packet of mixed nuts, and peanut butter to spread on his crackers.
It was a lot more than there was in the civilian ration. The added items were also perfect to save and snack on through the day.
He ate almost all of it, only saving the two bars which he put in his pocket to eat later.
As he got up to leave, some of the soldiers were still watching him, their eyes full of derision.
Without sparing a glance at them he threw his empty packet into a recycling bin and left.
*****
In the afternoon, Kaden attended his first training session.
In total there were just fifty of them present for the session. They sat on the floor, waiting for the instruction to begin. Every single one of them had signed up for the ADF.
At the front stood Damien, glancing over the lot of them. In his eyes it was a good number, more than he had expected.
But the truth was that fifty wasn't much in a city that already housed over 100,000 people before what people had started referring to as the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, the population had boomed by over 30,000 in just the span of a few days.
That only fifty people out of so many were enticed enough by the benefits to join, indicated just how dangerous it was.
Damien knew that the City Administration wasn't very happy with the turnout. But their goal was different than his, he didn't need that many.
The City Administration just wanted meat shields, people to stand in front of the soldiers and bear the brunt of the attack. Bodies for the wolves to slaughter, people to die so that more soldiers could live.
Sure they could train more soldiers, but that took time that they didn't have. Most of the draftees simply weren't very skilled, they used up a ton of ammo and barely even managed to hit the wolves.
Nobody could blame them, as even the combat veterans were having trouble. The wolves were simply too fast and moved in unpredictable ways.
This was where the ADF came into play.
The true aim of the City Administration was to have the ADF distract the wolves with their lives and bodies. They would stand at the front and draw all focus onto themselves, and while the wolves were busy ripping out their throats, the wolves wouldn't be moving, making them easy targets.
Not even the new draftees would have trouble hitting targets that weren't moving.
This way they could save more soldiers, save ammo, and perhaps most importantly… Reduce the population of the city, lowering the tremendous strain on resources.
It was a cold blooded callous plan, but it wasn't what Damien had in mind. That wasn't why he agreed to be a part of it, to train everyone.
He himself had never been very talented in combat, he couldn't defend this city with his meagre skills.
But he knew cultivation, in fact, he could probably be considered an expert by Earth's standards.
His Aether count was high, but all of his ratios were absolute bottom tier. Bad hand eye coordination, bad reflexes, bad strength. The list just went on and on, it was like his physical abilities had been cursed.
He had trained arduously ever since Aether first appeared.
Just like others, he had been infatuated with Li Jie. When the man opened his first Dojo in China, Damien flew there to train under the legendary man himself.
But he just wasn't cut out for it.
In the end he was relegated to being an instructor in a small to mid sized city. He wasn't meant for the spotlight.
His hope was that someone else was. And as his eyes watched the crowd assembled before him, they fell on one person in particular.
A youth sitting by himself, with short black hair and clear blue eyes.
He hadn't expected his hopes to fall on someone so young, but the kid had impressed him a lot, being more than he could've possibly wished for.
He thought it was weird, strange, even somewhat impossible. But the kid was almost inhuman. As long as he could teach him to cultivate, he had faith that this kid would rise above and beyond.
With him, the city could survive this terrible sequence of events, and Damien would make sure that it did, no matter what.
People often got the impression that he was a silly person, a jokester, someone who had trouble being serious.
And sometimes that was true, he couldn't deny it. But at the same time, it was far from all he was.
He had flown from his homeland to a country far away, one where he didn't even speak the language. This was his passion, one that he had spent so much time and effort on. Now he would dedicate it all towards training this kid, using everything that he had.
The fate of the city and all the people living in it relied on it.
Relied on him making this work.
*****
Kaden felt that Damien's eyes were on him again and looked away.
The man had been staring intently at him on and off for a while now. To be honest it kind of creeped him out.
