"May the best man win..." Zephyr muttered under his breath before turning his attention to his group’s instructor. The soldier was still staring at him, but this time it was a blank stare. Zephyr couldn’t really make out anything from it.
The soldier eventually tore his gaze away with a soft sigh, snapping back to attention.
"Okay, I’m gonna keep this short. I am Private Jones by name. Not much older than you all..."
"Just as the Sergeant said, I was in your shoes just a few years ago," he shrugged.
"I don’t need to tell you my life story and whatnot. All you need to know is that I’m here to teach you the basic skills you need to even stand a chance in close combat."
"If you started out like me, with a two-node mana core, then you’ve most likely already begun to learn [Galestrike]."
Most of the recruits nodded in assent.
"Well, I’ll tell you straight up now that without putting effort into this class, you can’t bring out the best of Galestrike." He suddenly became solemn, chanting under his breath for a short while before the air started to coalesce around his arm, shimmering like it was water. He immediately went through the proper motions like an artist at work.
The air ripped loudly as he punched out.
It was flawless. From the chant to the final execution. Everything was perfect. His body seemed to move so fluidly, in sync with his thoughts. That was the only way it could be described. There were no excess movements to be seen.
Zephyr and the rest of the recruits were in awe. Private Jones’ execution didn’t pale at all in comparison to Mr. Wilson’s display the previous day.
It made Zephyr start to question why someone was even here teaching them instead of serving a noble house.
Were there many people like Private Jones, and this was considered normal or even subpar at his level? Was the competition really that crazy?
’I’ll have to put in my best effort if things are actually like that...’ Zephyr sighed inwardly.
’Regardless, I still think this display doesn’t compare badly to Mr. Wilson’s. Maybe slightly lacking the same level of power, but still... this guy’s strong.’ Zephyr clenched his fist in anticipation. It was good to know that they weren’t being handed to just anyone to teach them. Their instructor was good. And Zephyr looked forward to defeating him.
Private Jones exhaled and calmly relaxed his posture, scanning the fervent gazes of the recruits in the process. He caught the glint in Zephyr’s eyes, and a small smirk couldn’t help but play on his lips.
"Just like that." He shrugged.
"You’ll never reach that level of execution if your body is not in perfect sync. So pay attention... especially those who awakened with two mana nodes."
The recruits nodded in assent, eager to get started.
"First things first, we’re starting with stretches..."
The combat training class continued till around 9 a.m., after which the recruits were released for breakfast, sweating and exhausted, but with smiles on most of their faces.
Even those who didn’t take the class seriously seemed to be satisfied. Maybe it was the fact that they’d all been dreading the class after the beatdown of the previous day, so anything that was thrown at them today just seemed like child’s play.
Regardless, it was productive. Zephyr absorbed everything Private Jones taught them like a sponge. His enhanced memory, coupled with his superior physique, meant he could keep up with Private Jones at every turn. The guy just had to display something a few times and Zephyr could replicate it, even adding his own flair to it.
Private Jones didn’t seem particularly surprised by this. If he was, he was very good at masking it. The others though... not so much. Most of his group members had thought they were done for after Cedric left their group, but now things were looking up with the level of talent Zephyr displayed during the class.
It wasn’t only Zephyr though. There was also another guy who picked up what they were being taught pretty fast. Not anywhere close to Zephyr’s level, but fast. A tall, bald guy with an ever-present solemn look on his face. He was also one of the merchant kids, so some level of skill was expected anyway.
The second person was no merchant kid. It was a girl with a resting cold face that made her seem unapproachable, but when she smiled, she looked like a totally different person. She was of average build, in fact bordering on scrawny, with no particular defining feature apart from her great smile that brought out her beauty. She also picked up the basic combat instructions very quickly. In fact, not at all lesser than the bald-headed dude.
"That’s two people," Zephyr thought. It was naive to think he’d be the only one gunning for the top spot from his group. There were going to be others too.
Zephyr didn’t mind though. Not that he was underestimating them, but his sights were set on other people, like Kathelyn, and Cedric in particular... who, by the way, was already walking towards him as he walked to the cafeteria.
"Hey." Cedric nodded in greeting.
"Easy work, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. It was just the basics though, so we shouldn’t feel too lax," Zephyr responded casually.
"Though I can see how this’ll help in casting Galestrike more effectively."
"Yeah, I think I’ll talk with Mr. Wilson today about teaching me the steps for the next spell in the Gale Series."
Zephyr turned to look at him. "Aren’t you taking things too fast? We’re supposed to be consolidating today."
"I already have. The spell comes easy to me now. Even during movement, I can split my attention and still cast Galestrike." To prove his point, he picked up a stone and began tossing it up and down with one hand while he chanted under his breath and focused the spell on the other hand.
The air began to coagulate around his right hand while he was still tossing the stone with the other, much to Zephyr’s amazement. He continued until the final step before he dissipated the spell, breathing out.
"See?" he huffed. It had not been as easy as he made it seem, Zephyr could tell. But still...
"Man... the benefits of multiple nodes..." It just made Zephyr all the more eager to get books about mana nodes that would help him and Aegis figure out how to implement this CPU thing.