Tom had seen and read about many things in his life. He took pride in the education he had received under the tutelage of the Church. But even with all the knowledge and all of that experience he could not tell exactly what was happening in front of his eyes.
Currently, the disciples of the temple were doing exercises, which in itself is nothing surprising, but doing such a strenuous task without mana was unheard of. The first attempts at following the orders of Moirai ended in a catastrophe and they kept on losing their balance as their faces crashed into the ground because their body gave in.
This matter was not surprising to Tom, it was the shock visible on the face of Moirai that had caught him off-guard. Moirai seemed to be visually disturbed by the display from the secluded players. But why was he that displeased with them? Is it not common sense, that the body without magic is just weak flesh?
He could only shake his head, he sometimes forgot that he still was in this simulation of a world long before their time, a lack of common sense was more than obvious from the likes of Moirai. It was a wonder in itself, that Moirai could possess this level of intelligence in the first place. Tom admired the ones responsible for the creation of this world and their ability to form something so lifelike.
Even while being aware of the circumstances he still forgot about the circumstances surrounding himself while following the madness around that was known as Moirai. He finally understood why so many people willingly spend time in this kind of environment.
Many valuable lessons and new perspectives came with all of the things he saw unfolding in his presence. Though he did not know that the things he considered to be normal, deviated by a lot from the experiences of every other player.
Since he did not come into contact with any other players thanks to Moirais constant missions he did not ponder too deeply about all the things he witnessed. For him, this was just an everyday occurrence and something new that happened was something he looked forward to learning from.
He was as much as an outlier as the other people he was surrounded by although he had yet to realize this detail. For the time being, he just pitied these poor players.
" You might wonder why I force you to do something so utterly ridiculous. It is easier if I give you a quick demonstration. One of you come at me and attack me however you want. Do not hold back and use your magic"
One of those temple disciples stood up as fast as his legs were able to and launched himself at his current teacher. But In comparison to the previous fight, something strange happened. Moirai threw an attack but then just dodged every attack that was thrown at him with ease.
No matter what his attacker did he failed to connect even one attack. Everyone was surprised seeing this, looking back at their previous bet the fight had been a lot more even-sided and not as demoralizing as this one. He did not stand a chance as Moirai just emotionlessly danced around him.
Tom was wondering why his aid did not use his full strength in the previous bout and took that many hits on his own accord, what was his motive behind that decision? Moirai was not a person, who would do something like this for fun or without any purpose in mind. What advantage would receiving so many hits bring to him?
It was really hard to deduce, what the motivation for something like this might have been especially since he was currently doing the exact opposite of what he had done prior. If he had shown this level of ability from the beginning then the fight would have ended way earlier.
Right now the previous fight full of tension had turned into a demoralizing demonstration, which caused the entire audience to have a serious expression on their faces. They clearly knew that the results would not change regardless of who would be fighting against him.
It was a bitter realisation, but right now they did not stand a chance. Yet, the gap between their abilities became really obvious, once Moirai started to attack. A heavy kick to the leg of the disciple before he could stabilize his footing the next attack found his way into his stomach.
Without giving him any chance to retaliate the flurry of attacks continued. The disciple was flinging his arms widely just trying to get a hit in but was still unable to reach Moirai at all. A knee strike to the face drew blood for the first time, but the show was far from over.
The body of the disciple was covered in attacks from nearly all angles and he was not able to fend them off despite trying his hardest. His nose caved in after a vicious blow from the elbow, his eyes began to swole after many attacks hit its target. Pained groans and ragged breathing escaped his teeth but there was no escape from the pain he currently was forced upon him.
Blow after blow landed on the body causing everything ranging from bruises to cracked ribs. This painful experience became visible on the face of the player, who had been happy just moments prior. No one had expected, that this demonstration would turn out to be like this.
Tom thought to himself, that the person right in front of him was certainly regretting the decision to volunteer right now and by looking at the face of Moirai, it did not seem like he was finished with it.
This person was not the Moirai he knew, it was an entirely different NPC. His entire persona had changed, even the aura that he was currently emitting was fear-inducing. Tom found it strange, that Moirai could have such a side to him. How could a pitiful punching bag like Moirai, act like this, he could not comprehend how such a difference in character was even possible.
The new side of Moirai appeared to not be interested in the development of the onlookers, neither was he truly invested in the fight he was currently involved in. No, rather than a fight, this could only be called a one-sided beatdown.
Tom had to seriously reevaluate everything he knew about this NPC, which abilities he had underestimated. While the mana usage of the secluded temples was second-class and could not compare to real magicians, it was remarkable that a physical body was able to damage them, although it took him multiple attacks to reach such a result.
In the next second Moirai, used his foot and pinned his opponent's foot to the ground not letting him move an inch. Before his opponent could realize it, the next wave of attacks was approaching him. Despite his best effort, the unfortunate player could not escape from Moirai. Painful cries and yelps escaped his mouth as his body was bombarded with vicious strikes.
Even the counterattacks had ceased as this unfortunate player had lost the ability to defend himself at all. This fact did not cause Moirai any concern as he resumed to beat at him mercilessly. Punch after Punch landed on his opponent leaving more and more lasting damage.
In a blink of an eye, Tom saw a tooth flying straight out of the mouth after a devastating elbow strike had connected. A cry of pain and sorrow escaped his mouth as he began to spit up blood. Seeing this Moirai just removed the leg he used to pin his enemy and the body just dropped on the ground as if it was a puppet which strings had been cut.
Moirai casually walked closer to the body that looked rather lifeless if not for the shallow breathing that could still be heard. Without giving the player a chance, another kick to the ribs found its way to the player. The resulting crack resounded through the area leaving the others dumbstruck.
Could this still be called a demonstration? At the moment it rather felt like Moirai was adamant on taking the life of his adversary. Without any visible change in emotions, he stomped onto the chest causing a heavy and dull sound. Resting his foot on his body he began to explain.
" What is your purpose? What do you fight for?"
Absolute silence came in return, the crowd had yet to realize what Moirai had achieved and they found themselves unable to gather enough focus to take in what their benefactor was trying to teach them.
" Why are you risking your lives? What are you willing to die for?" The voice hollered through the surroundings yet no one could muster a reply. Tom just watched on with a renewed interest.
" Let me give you an answer. You guys are soldiers, you do what must be done. If you are told to crawl, you will crawl, if you are told to jump you will jump. An order is absolute and will be fulfilled regardless of the cost."
A wicked expression appeared on the Face of Moirai as took a meaning gaze at the crowd of players that referred to him as benefactors. This expression did not mean any good for any one of them, but strangely they the exact opposite. Their mind began to race and the began to tremble in anticipation. This meeting brought two groups together that normally should have never met and without knowing it, they would become a lot more human, than they ever could have imagined.
Moirai continued his speech as his mannerisms turned more and more savage.
" We are not simple tools of murder, no soldiers are much more than that. We protect, serve and save others from danger and harm. We explore and scout the surroundings for others. When others have to retreat we stay back to let them escape safely. A soldier is all of this."
This speech resonated deeply with the audience and gave them a new outlook on their lives. In this new outlook, they found themselves filled with determination.
"Right now, you're not a soldier. To become a soldier means to be ready to go through hellish suffering and painful training just to serve. Are you ready to take on this burden and call yourself soldiers?"
They all nodded at the same time and began to swear loudly that they would not hesitate or falter. This vow came from the bottom of their hearts and contained all their convictions. In the end, they even bowed to Moirai, not daring to raise their hands before Moirai told them to.
" But even if you become soldiers, do not lose your sanity. When you are told to stall for time, do exactly that but do not throw your lives away for next to nothing. Because even a soldier, is still someone and nobody should ever tell you otherwise."
Everyone looked at Moirai dumbfounded after hearing the last words, why was he currently contradicting he had said up until now? If a soldier is meant to follow orders and is expected to give everything up simply because of an order, how can this kind of person even dream about having an own opinion?
On Moirais face a genuine smile could be seen, as he resumed to explain his point to the confused listeners.
" A soldier should follow orders without a doubt, but a man can only be strong and achieve the impossible when he fights for what he believes in. I do not ask you to become obedient tools, that just do what they are told to. Those tools will be thrown away once they have lost their purpose. "
" There are many people who want to see me fall and rejoice in my misfortune. It took me a long time to figure out how to go on. I have decided for myself that I will never do these people the favour and give them the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart. There is only one person I could trust and that was myself."
"I myself was responsible for what became and will become of me. No one else will ever decide about me, that was and is my code."
The crowd could not fathom the train of thought that Moirai had, but they felt that there was a lot of weight and pain underneath all of those words. They noticed, that although this kind of opinion was foreign to them, it still left behind a lasting impression.
" That is my motivation as a soldier I believe in myself. So, if you want to succeed, do your best in the upcoming training and find something you deem worth believing in."
These kinds of thoughts caused difficulties for them because they had never thought in this direction before. Worries of this kind were usually declared as God's will and thus nipped in the bud. But they were earnestly searching for something they could put their entire trust in.
" Once you have found that one special thing for you, you will be able to obtain the strength you seek. This is the result of finding my answer."
Moirai slowly walked back from the body, that was still lying there without any movement and made his way to a house, that now stood empty. After a quick breath, he threw a punch at it and a loud and heavy sound reverberated through their air, the impact caused them to shutter thinking what might happen if an attack of that level would hit them.
The house itself could not stand the immense strength contained in that blow and turned into rubble as it collapsed. Moirai looked rather pleased with the result but did not turn around to show this kind of emotion. He continued his speech without facing them.
" Becoming strong means, that you have to surpass yourself over and over again only then can you consider yourself to be truly strong. Once you are content with your strength you have already lost the chance to become truly strong. Being complacent is not something, anyone of you should ever even dare to think about. Even I consider myself to still be a weakling."
Tom looked at Moirai wondering what his aid truly was aiming for by telling those disciples all of this.
Moirai turned around with a teasing grin on his lips as he spoke.
" Break is over, give me another round of pushups without using mana"
A groan came back as a reply, but they still did what they were told, but this time around there was a lot of more determination that could be felt coming from them. As for the poor disciple that had to endure the demonstration, Moirai had his thoughts and plans about his future.
Whether being unconscious or the current training was the better alternative stands to question, which no one could truly answer. Only Moirai continued to smile at his new soldiers, while no one knows what exactly went through his mind.