Chapter 4: Training

In the last few decades, thousands of heroes had been born in the heat of battle, but like shooting stars, the brilliance they emitted faded with time until it was engulfed in complete darkness. The fierce struggle constantly consumed even the strongest among this select group of individuals; great names that stood out disappeared in the blink of an eye as if they had never existed. However, some extraordinary individuals managed to persevere in the face of adversity, slowly climbing the mountains of corpses made up of their predecessors. These exceptional beings saw death before them hundreds of times, but somehow always prevailed. The world government, realizing the need to boost the morale of its armies, decided to further exalt these heroic figures, leading to the creation of the global ranking and the establishment of a new nobility that was granted only through appropriate contributions and merits.

Currently, there were only 10 noble families, which coincided with the top 10 positions in the global ranking. Each noble family was required to include the term "Good" as a suffix, a word with a simple and clear meaning, to return to the "good" times when humanity could coexist in peace.

After a brief explanation by Tania, who had a certain fondness for these topics, they returned to the main topic of discussion.

"Ten years ago, during the Caribbean War where humanity suffered catastrophic losses, a man rose up and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers. During the retreat, he protected the key point of the operation with his life, enduring seven straight days against enemy waves," the group of young people turned to look at the blonde-haired girl peacefully drinking mint tea.

"My grandfather said it was five days," she said, taking her tea cup with both hands and putting on an expressionless face as if she were bored of listening.

"It was rumored that he was a young peasant who reaped the souls of his enemies."

"By that time, he was 60 years old, not exactly young..." Lina responded, mocking him inwardly.

"Due to his multiple feats and his power being in phase 4, he was recognized by the world government, giving birth to the Airgood family, which refers to the central element of his power," Tania said, seeking approval from Lina.

"He's currently a phase 5 reaper."

"You forgot to mention that they became disgustingly rich and were granted lands as was customary in ancient times," Kaller added with a hint of mockery in his words.

Bruno and Tania, who were unaware of the connection between these two, tensed up upon hearing these words, while Luis chuckled lightly at the comment.

Lina stuck her tongue out at Kaller and looked in another direction, ignoring his words.

Cough cough cough

With a fake cough, Tania interrupted the awkward silence.

"Sorry for rambling on, but I'm a bit of a fan of these things, and it's the first time I've been able to meet a noble," Tania wanted to say "General Riskgood doesn't count," but she closed her mouth at the last moment, afraid he might appear before her. The Riskgood family was a military tradition family that had earned their title in the early years of the war; their leader was the general commander of the world army, said to be the strongest man in the world.

"Don't worry, it's normal for me, I'm used to it already. By the way, I'm a phase 2 mage," Lina quickly added while still sipping her tea.

"I'm a phase 2 bard."

"That was obvious," the rest of the group thought simultaneously.

The mage and the bard were specializations of the wizard's path, while one focused on offensive power and damage spells, the other was of the support type, able to provide multiple benefits, making it quite versatile and important for a squad.

"I'm a phase 1 warrior," Bruno turned and showed the group the pair of twin swords hanging from an elegant black backpack.

"Also, as you may have noticed, I know Tania from before; we were classmates in elementary school."

"We're also classmates, but in military school," Kaller glanced briefly at Luis and Lina.

"I'm a phase 1 fighter."

"I'm a phase 2 archer," Luis added finally to finish the introductions.

The sun set on the horizon, and the star group, as Tania called them, set up their camp. They had completed the first task with ease and got along well despite their different personalities. Other groups had come to blows during the day and had not set up any camps, so they would probably sleep on the ground and outdoors.

The star squadron consisted of Tania, a cheerful and mischievous girl; Bruno, on the other hand, was the serious type who kept her in check; Lina was the conceited girl who loved to annoy the rest; Luis, on the other hand, was serious and irascible, with little patience for Lina's jokes and Tania's displays of affection. Finally, Kaller was a cold individual who showed no emotion, speaking calmly and acting mechanically as if he were a robot, his manner of acting made Tania and Bruno somewhat uncomfortable as they didn't know how to interpret it.

The next morning, a line of students stood waiting for the day's instructions, a group of soldiers were on stage making various preparations, while a figure approached steadily and moderately escorted by General Riskgood and another man with a full, white beard.

"Greetings, soldiers," the figure in the center placed his right hand over his left chest as he scanned the area; multiple medals shone on his military uniform, he had almost twice as many medals as General Riskgood.

"Allow me to introduce myself; I am Commander Stevenson, and you will all be under my command for the next month. I hope we work hard together," a malicious smile formed on the commander's face, causing the students to sweat cold and remain in position.

"Today and for the next seven days, we will shape up those scrawny bodies. Therefore, each squadron must fulfill a series of pre-established challenges. If they fail to do so, they will answer as a unit, so give it your best," Tania, who had turned pale at some point, turned to look at the rest of her comrades; her arms and legs were thin, and she had a rather mediocre physique compared to the well-built bodies of the others, even the small and tender Luis had developed muscles.

A series of soldiers introduced themselves and explained certain matters; after about an hour, the meeting was concluded, and the squadrons had to get to work.

"Soldier, here are your instructions," a woman with her hair tied in a ponytail handed Lina her tasks; she had been appointed as squad leader, so she had to take care of these matters.

Lina observed the other squadrons preparing for their activities, noticing a pattern that was repeated in several groups she knew. Her teammates, who were of the support type, were grouped with others of the offensive type; all the groups seemed to have at least one support-type wizard and one warrior. Even in their case, they had a formation of a warrior and a fighter for the vanguard, a bard in the center providing support to the whole squadron, and a mage along with an archer in the rear guard; it was a fairly complete formation that could respond to any problem.

"My grandfather warned me, this exam is going to be quite complex due to recent events," the aliens had become

more active in the last year and had launched counter-attacks at various strategic points, achieving significant victories; turbulent times were coming again.

5:00 PM, military camp.

A blue-haired girl was panting heavily; her military uniform, which was supposed to be a green tone, was completely gray due to the dirt. Tania had fallen multiple times due to exhaustion; the physical training had been relentless, and most of the students on the wizard's path were moribund.

"I-I-I'm done," struggling to utter a simple word, Tania collapsed on the ground. Kaller and Bruno took her by arms and legs to carry her to their camp.

"It was... it was... infernal this first day," stuttering, Luis muttered those words as he dragged his feet towards the camp; behind him came Lina, who looked terrible with a lifeless face and eyes.

"It was similar with your grandfather," Kaller said as he walked ahead of the group, carrying Tania from one side. Sebastian Airgood, known as the reaper, had put young Kaller through the same thing for 2 years; he made him train his body to the limit in search of a solution to his problem, but he didn't succeed.

"You were a damn scarecrow; it was natural for you to train your body," Lina said irritably as she sought a breath of fresh air.

Without feeling inclined to respond to the exhausted Lina, Kaller kept walking, glancing at Bruno out of the corner of his eye; this guy showed some tiredness, but overall, he was fine.

Noticing Kaller's gaze, the dark-haired young man with long hair tied in a ponytail proceeded to explain himself.

"My father lived in the now-extinct Brazil; he experienced firsthand the invasion and the helplessness of being weak. He lost his entire family during the adaptation period but managed to survive. Over time, he met a woman, and they had me. Because of those traumatic experiences he suffered, he trained me from a young age in the path of the warrior, hoping I wouldn't have to experience that helplessness of being weak," with a firm step and looking ahead, Bruno finished his story while the rest of the group listened in silence.

Minutes passed, and the star squadron arrived at their camp; the orange sky indicated that the sun would soon set, so this infernal day was coming to an end. Dozens of students could be seen around, their emaciated bodies and unfocused gazes; a few others came in the same condition as Tania, carried by other comrades.

"It's been shit."

"Tchh, damn, they designed the test for warriors and fighters."

"The wizards got screwed."

"I can't feel my legs or arms."

A series of complaints could be heard from the students; most of them were from those who followed the wizard's path.

"What do you think will happen to those who didn't make it?" Luis asked as he uncorked a bottle of cold water.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," Kaller replied, thinking of some ideas that came to mind.

"I heard they're given strict punishments," Bruno added, thinking about something.

The members of the star squadron continued chatting for a while until it got completely dark. From a distance, only points of light could be seen shining in the different camps; they decided to prepare the shower and bathe quickly before it got later and the temperatures dropped. Some squadrons that had people with fire abilities could enjoy a warm shower; others could manipulate water and have a rejuvenating bath to relieve the accumulated fatigue of the day; the innate abilities of the members played a fundamental role in coexistence and contributed to the quality of life of the group.

"If only they had assigned someone like that to us," Lina thought as she took a shower with cold water; as squad leader, she had to go fetch the food rations, so she decided to bathe as soon as possible to present herself clean and smelling good.

After a while, Tania was sitting with her back to Lina while she dried her hair with her hands.

"Ah... it feels so good. I love you, Lina."

"It's nothing, but don't get used to it; I'm not a hairdryer," Lina replied with a furrowed brow.

Bruno and Luis were preparing a potato stew with pork while Kaller set the table with plates and cutlery, patiently waiting for dinner time.

"Ready, guys, come eat," Bruno said with a radiant smile and eyes focused on the stew; he had lost his usual seriousness due to hunger.

BAM BAM BAM BAM

A sound spread throughout the camp; it sounded as if someone were banging on a metal plate or something similar.

"Soldiers, congratulations to all of you on your first day. I'm proud of your effort and teamwork shown by most of you; you are men and women of good values and strong conviction. Unfortunately, rotten apples always mix in, like rats they steal your food and have the audacity to act as if nothing happened. Therefore, tonight, everyone will see the punishment given to these kinds of people," as the sudden but brief speech of Commander Stevenson ended, holographic screens appeared throughout the camp.

"What's going on?"

"Where am I?"

"I don't understand anything."

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Dozens of confused students appeared in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, with no preparation whatsoever; they looked around without understanding what was happening.

"Tonight marks the beginning of the corrective night exam; you all must defeat someone from an opposing squadron. If you fail to do so or lose during the course, you will spend the night in the jungle without the possibility of food," the faces of all the students turned dark, and they swallowed slowly, their eyes fixed on that holographic screen, feeling a deep fear of what was to come. The students thrown into the jungle wanted to cry and protest, but thinking about how the punishment could worsen, they decided not to do so.

"It's going to be fun," Kaller said as he soaked a piece of bread in the stew.