Chapter 224- Powering Up

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

The boys who had begun their combat training for the first time in their lives were taught by masters of their own trade, and this showed after a few weeks.

The three who had been left with the Colonel to train had gone through hell and back.

The countless exercises that they did were exhausting, leaving their muscles so sore each day that they didn't know if they would be able to wake up the next morning. They didn't even know how many times they had to swing their blades in a single day- too many to count.

They did so much running that their hearts felt like they were about to burst, and plenty of reflex training as well.

Finally, they were allowed to spar with one another.

These fights were hard fought, but usually ended in draws where there was no clear victor. The boys all grew at a very similar pace, and learned from each other how to fight.

Logan became a master of blades, and learned how to dance about while quickly and quietly striking at the vitals of his foes.

Walter became a reliable and flexible fighter, who was able to anticipate the moves of his enemies and block their attacks accordingly, swiftly parrying and counterattacking.

Byron became a sturdy tank, able to maximize his own endurance to attacks, and he was able to increase his strength by many times over. If he were to be locked into a battle of pure physical strength with an opponent who was the same size as him, it was already over.

These three now faced one final exam.

To fight as a unit against their instructor.

They had no magician nor healer, and their archer was off elsewhere- not to take part in this fight. This was to be a three on one, to show their instructor that they had grown as warriors.

The Colonel stood inside the arena with his arms laid out on the fence, his hatchet in hand. Not once before had they actually witnessed the Colonel's fighting style.

"I purposely hid anything from you all about myself and my style, in order to prepare you all for this final exam. After all, it wouldn't show me much if you learned my own habits and defeated me that way. In battle, you will face countless opponents- ones which you have never faced before, who have habits that you will have to either pick up on the spot, or die then and there. There are no do overs or repeats. The winner lives, and the loser dies. That is the life you boys have chosen, and I've done all I can to make it so that you all are the winners. Now show me. Show me that you all are worthy of being the one who survives."

The Colonel grabbed his hatchet, swinging it around before grasping it firmly in one arm, holding his other arm barehanded as if he was ready to catch something.

The three entered the arena, fully geared and ready to fight. Byron took the front with Logan on his left and Walter on his right.

"Yes, Sir!", the three exclaimed as they approached the wall of a man.

He was a hurdle that they would have to climb.

If they could not defeat him here, then how would they become the greatest mercenaries?

This was what Logan thought, as he prepared to surround the man, but the Colonel kept his back to the fence, not allowing anyone to get behind him so easily.

'He's smart. If he were to step in the middle, we could surround him, but since he's keeping his back to the fence so I can't do that.'

The three approached him, and Byron readied his large club.

He swung in a horizontal arc from right to left, causing the Colonel to dodgeroll to the left where Logan was.

Logan took this as a chance, jumping forward and slicing with his right arm, only to be met with the hatchet of the Colonel, who had just completed his roll, and stood up. Logan was thrusted back into Byron, who caught him as Walter re positioned himself, running onto the attack.

The Colonel jumped up while the three were preparing, ready once more to fight.

"Is this all you kids can think of? Perhaps I've wasted three weeks training you. You'll never defeat me at that rate.", he taunted.

Walter was not phased by the taunt as he ran forward with pure eyes, ready to meet any attack that the Colonel made with his shield.

'Don't allow your enemy to taunt you. If you lose your composure, you've already lost.' Those were the words of the Colonel. It was ironic that right now he was using the very tactic which he warned against.

The Colonel struck the raised shield of Walter hard enough to chop a log in two, but fortunately the shield was sturdy enough to take such a beating. Walter however, was not.

He stumbled back just as Logan had, unable to handle the force with which the Colonel had attacked him with.

'How is he able to strike with such power, with that tiny little hatchet?', Walter wondered.

The Colonel merely smiled.

"You all are doing fine with balance, but it seems that my strength is too much for you to handle. Then, here I come."

The Colonel ran forward like a madman. Walter had fallen backwards and was on the ground, and meanwhile Logan stood behind Byron, who stood forward to take the attack.

"Meeting me head on? We'll see about that!"

The Colonel charged forward, taking a swing at the club which Byron was using to defend himself. However, something outside of his expectations happened.

Byron shifted his stance so that the swing of the hatchet hit at an angle, and the Colonel stumbled forward, towards Logan, who jumped back out of the way.

In that instant, Logan jumped forward once more, tapping the Colonel on the back after he tried to roll out of the way.

"That's it."

The Colonel was filled with shock and surprise.

"Hahaha! Amazing. I'm really surprised, Byron! Did you think up of that on your own, or did I give off some type of hint? You tricked me into thinking that you were going to meet the attack, but instead parried it. If things went wrong, I could have easily laid an attack on the back row and you would have lost a member, but it seems that Logan here was aware of your plan and ready to react."

"Did you think that we would have faced off against you without a plan?"

"So that's how it was? Haha! It's my loss. I'm proud of you all."

The Colonel and Walter stood up, and dusted themselves off.

"Well, I think you all should be fine to go on at least some basic missions. Continue training. Keep practicing against more opponents. Gain experience, and become stronger. That's all I can tell you from this point on. Walter. Come here."

Walter stepped forward. He seemed to be somewhat down that he didn't do much during the fight aside from fall back.

"You did great to take that hit of mine. Not many in the field could face my power head on. Most would be sent flying, but you were able to contain it enough so that you only stumbled back a bit. You will get much stronger. Have faith in yourself."

Walter's face filled with color once more as he smiled, re-energized.

"Thank you Sir! I will do my best!"

"Boys, do you all remember when I told you that this would be the last day I can train you all?"

"I do, Sir. Why is that?", Logan asked. There was still a week before their training was supposed to be completed, after all.

"Unfortunately, I've been called into service by the command of the Emperor himself. All men who serve under the first legion are to report to Githard immediately to go on a Campaign into the monster realm. I'm going to fight real monsters on the battlefield."

"That's.... that's amazing, Sir! I can't believe that humans are finally going to be able to strike back at the monsters, and launch an army against them!"

"Well... that's assuming all goes well. I'll be frank with you all. I might die. I have no idea how powerful these monsters that we're going to face are, but I've heard that monsters could be powerful beyond belief, and that they get stronger the further past the walls you go. We're headed to the fishmen village, far beyond the walls, so I'll be honest."

The Colonel looked forward, as if reminiscing his past.

"I don't know if I'll make it back alive. But if I don't, I want you all to keep me in your hearts. I've passed my training onto you three, so even if I die, you all can carry on my legacy. Do you understand?"

"You're acting like your death is a sure thing, Sir! I'm sure that you'll be just fine! But, I understand. We will live on, carrying your principles with us."

"Of course!"

"Please don't worry about us, Sir!"

The three reassured the Colonel.

"Then, this is goodbye. I hope that I will be able to see you all again."

It was then that the Colonel gathered up his things, and set off.

The three boys would continue training on their own for another week, until Lorenzo approached them, panting one day.

The four boys including Cody were all in the training yard with the old man, and so they all headed over to see what the commotion was.

"It's.... it's terrible!! Have you all heard the news?"

"Lorenzo? Aren't you the one who was supposed to be teaching Abel?"

"Yes! That is me! But.... you boys.... something has happened!! Did you all not attend the meeting earlier held by Mrs. Fera? You have to come quickly!!"

----

Over the four weeks of training, Cody's fingers became wrought with calluses from holding the bowstrings so tightly, and from practicing so many shots.

It was absurd just how many times he had to shoot his bow.

From so many different positions and angles.

He started close, and eventually the distance became further and further.

Then, he started shifting his own angle around.

Once he had mastered this, he began shooting at moving targets.

Finally, he began taking shots and reloading while he was on the run.

It was a hellish crash course. The old man may have seemed excited to teach him, but some days he felt that it was more sadism than excitement.

Though, it had worked.

In just a few weeks, Cody had become far more skilled than he ever imagined himself becoming.

'This old man really is a prodigy at archery. He's insane. I mean.... the course was absolutely nuts. I felt like I was going to pass out each day, but even so! After only three weeks, I've become just as skilled as any trained military archer!'

Cody was very grateful to everything the old man had put him through, even if it was.... questionable at first.

The old man approached him with a smile and a laugh.

"Well, it looks like our little training session is finally over. But don't forget- you still have plenty of room to improve. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to contact me!"

"Thank you for everything! I'm sure I'll be able to leave my life as a farmer with all the things you've taught me!"

"You're welcome son. It brings joy to see someone so dedicated to becoming a skilled archer. If you weren't such a motivated student, then perhaps you wouldn't have made it this far."

Cody was finally ready to set off on a mission with his comrades, after a long month.

The day was finally here.

They could escape this farm life.

It was for exactly this reason which Cody had such a great respect for Percius. His policies allowed even peasants and foreigners to rise their way through the mercenary ranks, living a life of luxury and adventure. It was a dream come true. It was different from being drafted into the military, as that would lock one into service.

Cody was excited to begin his new life.

He made his way over to his three comrades, who were training in the yard near the sparring section, however as he made his way over, he saw the man who had been assigned to train Abel running towards the group desperately.

Had something happened?

The other three noticed this as well, and they all met up with the man.

"It's.... it's terrible!! Have you all heard the news?"

"Lorenzo? Aren't you the one who was supposed to be teaching Abel?"

"Yes! That is me! But.... you boys.... something has happened!! Did you all not attend the meeting earlier held by Mrs. Fera? You have to come quickly!!"

----

Lorenzo taught Abel for weeks, and as each day passed, Abel continuously grew stronger and stronger.

'My goodness....'

'It seems like this boys progress just isn't stopping!'

'Is he ever going to slow down?!'

'He's already reached the 5th tier! After just a week!'

'It's been only three weeks, and he's reached the 6th tier!!! I've never seen anything like this before! It's absurd!'

'I have to get him.... I have to convince him to stay with me in my lab.... he should feel a great debt to me as his instructor, so now is the time! Now is the time to ask!'

"Abel, my boy!!!! I don't believe I've ever shown you my laboratory. Would you like to take a look?"

Abel stood while meditating, and opened his eyes to see his instructor.

"Oh! Thank you, Sir. If you would like to show me, then please do. By all means."

"Come with me, my boy. I would like to show you a little project I've been working on recently."

"I understand!"

Abel got up from his meditation and followed Lorenzo up the stairs, outside of the training facility, and into the lab.

"Hahaha! This is my pride which I am going to show you. My entire life's work!"

Lorenzo opened the metal door to his lab, and fog seemed to come out of the door as he opened it. It was a chilled room.

"Might be a bit chilly in here, but don't mind it! Come, come! Let me show you!"

Abel walked into the room, to see all sorts of contraptions. Bottles and books lined the shelves, and tables with experiments and tools on them lined the entire area.

There were caged birds and rodents all over the room, and they seemed to be squealing and chirping while trying to get out.

There was even a parrot.

"Squawk! I need to find a human to test this on! Squawk! I need to purchase that slave! He'll be the ideal subject! Squawk!"

"Haha! Looks like my parrot mishears some odd things. Anyways, please come over to take a look at the concoction, Abel!!"

Abel seemed to be somewhat concerned and filled with suspicion on seeing this room, but he reluctantly made his way over to the center table where a single potion laid, with a black mix that looked to be swirling around like a foggy mist.

"Do you see this? This is the epitome of magic! Everything that humans have ever been scared of for no reason is contained within this bottle! With this, I'm sure that even the weakest, most nonathletic, magic-less person could become one of the strongest people in the world! Just imagine though if it was used on someone powerful! Who knows how strong they could become!!! Abel, I'd like to run a final little exam for you..... this concoction here is what I use to increase the strength of a being dramatically. I'll keep the details hidden, but... well, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. I'm going to use this on...."

Lorenzo scrambled over to the sets of cages before scanning them and pointing out to each one of them, flipping his finger about.

"Which one should I choose??? Hmm!!! So many choices to be had! Ah, so much excitement! Ooh... I've never used this on a guinea pig! Let's go with this one!"

Lorenzo grabbed the cage which a brown and white guinea pig was contained within, and plopped the cage onto the lab table.

Lorenzo then measured out a single drop of the potion into the test tube before replacing the corks on both the initial potion and the tube containing the serum.

"Come with me to the basement once more! We will perform your exam immediately!"

"I understand, Sir.", Abel replied obediently, following Lorenzo.

Lorenzo carried the cage in one hand and the test tube in another, and Abel inspected both from behind.

'Is.... is he going to use that thing on the poor animal? I.... I hope not.... I don't know what it does, but it.... it feels evil. I can sense the mana coming from it. It gives off an aura of chaos and evil.'

Abel was led into the underground dungeon, where Lorenzo placed down the cage and undid the cork.

"After I do this, I'm going to get out of here. It's your duty to get rid of the thing. Do you understand?"

"I.... I understand.", Abel replied obediently. He was clearly torn though.

'He.... he is going to use it on the animal! And he expects me to fight it!?! And kill it!?!? I... I don't want to kill this innocent animal! But.... he is my instructor.... and the only reason I can be proud of using magic is because he taught me to do so.... so maybe I should just listen? Maybe I've been wrong about things.... maybe what my dad said wasn't true! Maybe magic really isn't evil! Maybe it is the people who think magic is evil that are evil, and we're the ones who are doing what's right! We need to progress! For the sake of everyone! That's right! He said that this concoction is something that will help the weak! So I have to accept it, even if I can sense evil coming from it!'

Abel made his decision, and watched as Lorenzo poured the serum into the cage of the guinea pig, who seemed to be clueless as to why he had a strange foggy liquid being poured on him.

Lorenzo then ran out of the room towards the exit, where he perched himself on the stairs to watch from there.

'Now then.... let's see if you can handle this, tier 6!'