Squad 13 won consecutively. They proved that their victory over squad 9 had not been a fluke; they won the battles one after another like it was a piece of cake.
Squad 10 and 2 had gruesomely lost versus the newly formed squad 13. Squad 13 had only four members and everyone was required to participate every time.
The 4 member squad had a limited number of formations, and were well known by all. Even so, squad 13 could not be defeated.
'Extraordinary military operations.'
This had been everyone's reaction. Everyone had said their victories were due to having a strong psyker like Kuro. However after winning two and even three consecutive victories, their opinions had begun to change.
Squad 13's core reason of victory was due to its squad leader Han Lee. He had groundbreaking insightfulness and sharp decision-making talent, on top of a chilling objectiveness that could grasp an opponent's weaknesses.
-Canute, run.
Han sent a message. On the opposite side, Canute was hacking away at the forest while running in sporadic directions. The opposing team focused on tailing after Canute. Canute quickly lowered his body.
'In boss battles, only the appointed bosses are required to be defeated for victory. There is no need to annihilate the entire opposing team.'
Han narrowed his eyes. Amongst the opponents, he could spot the boss wearing a different colored battle suit.
Hwwing!
The wind violently blew. Han's body tilted from the wind. He was on top of a twenty meter tall tree, equivalent to about the height of a five or six floor building's height.
-Start.
The squad moved according to Han's command. Canute lured their opponents. The opposing squad stood below the tree that Han was hiding in.
"Huuu."
He took a deep breath. The top of this place made him feel dizzy. Although his bones had been strengthened exponentially, he would not be able to avoid serious injuries at this height. If he fell head first, it would be an instant death for him.
'Fear.'
Han mumbled. The adrenaline pumped into his blood. He focused his eyes onto the boss of his opponent.
'There is no need to worry. I've practiced many times with Kuro.'
It was easy to use telekinesis to move an inanimate object. The next stage of difficulty was a moving object, The hardest was to use telekinesis against living life forms.
"I'm going."
Han jumped off, letting his body free fall. Gravity strongly pulled on his body.
Suddenly, Han's body jerked. The speed which he fell decreased. Kuro was catching Han's fall from far away with his telekinesis.
'The acceleration is still pretty fast. Tch.'
Han put his arms into an X. He let his body freely fall onto the opponent's boss below.
KWa-JiK!
"AAAck!"
As Han fell, he tumbled along with his opponent. It was the sound of his bones breaking. Han fumbled his arms to grasp onto the boss' neck.
"Wh-what?!"
Di-ring!
It had been a short squad battle. Their data bracelets had signaled squad 13's victory.
The opposing boss suffered heavy impact injuries like he had been hit by a hammer. Han, who had fallen from the height, took the fall mostly to his chest, and narrowly escaped death.
"Ugh, I broke my left arm. It hurts a lot."
Han confirmed their victory before he rested against the tree. The emergency medic looked over the injuries, and transferred them to the recovery hall.
"Han!"
Squad 13 gathered around him.
"I'm okay. This was a cheap price."
Han furrowed his brows while letting the medic examine his injuries.
"Your left arm has been fractured. There is a crack in your right arm. Get on the car."
The medic spoke shortly, letting Han onto the emergency vehicle. There was a single instructor to help guide the medic around Ark.
The instructor and Han spoke while looking over the injured.
"This is serious, he just narrowly escaped death."
"Reducing the speed of the fall from the tree was harder than I thought. Actual battles and practices are too different."
"Even if you're able to reduce the falling speed with telekinesis, how can you dare to fall from a tree of that height? Your guts must have inflated."
"Now your arms are like this."
The medic applied a splint onto Han's arm. The instructor blankly looked towards Han.
Squad leader, Han Lee had obtained four consecutive victories. His resourcefulness and tactics are outstanding and extraordinary.
'He has deep insight to use everything, beginning from the geographical terrain to all types of psychic powers. Additionally, he does not hesitate to daringly make gambles.'
Squad 13 was a popular topic of discussion amongst drill instructors. The thirteenth squad exceeded all of the drill instructors' expectations. It had been no different in this squad battle as well.
'To be on standby on top of a tall tree, making his team lure the opposing squad, before he made himself into a human bullet to focus his attack onto the opposing boss.
Han received treatment in the medical ward. Normally, people needed to install pins to stabilize the bones again, but he had been artificially strengthened in the incubator so he would be able to make a clean recovery in a single month. After a detailed examination, Han returned to his dorms.
"How's your arm?"
"I can make a complete recovery in 3 weeks.
"That's good to hear."
The remaining squad members were all waiting for him.
"Sorry, I couldn't properly follow our plan."
Kuro apologized bowing his head. Kuro also realized that he failed to control as well as he had done during their past practices.
Due to his own mistake, the speed of Han's fall had not decelerated enough. Han shook his head.
"It's good enough that you didn't let me die. It's fine."
Han pat Kuro's shoulder.
'It was an unreasonable request from the start. It's amazing that he was able to follow through to this level.'
It was extremely difficult to control a living human with his telekinesis alone. If it were easy, all psykers would use their telekinesis to make themselves fly.
After the end of the victory party, he returned to his own room.
He carefully looked through today's squad battle recording. He also watched the battles of the other squads without fail. His eyes burned with longing of victory.
'I will win, and win again. I will continue to win.'
Han's longing to win overflowed. During his first year, he moved and acted solely for the sake of his younger siblings. Now, he had become the squad leader and had to shoulder everything in his squad. His heart was filled with nothing but the wish to continue winning.
Han rested from training due to his arm fracture. Instead he focused on studying the theories he had been neglecting for the past while. Han's left arm was plastered as he walked into the lecture room. This place could seat about a hundred students. The second years looked to Han and began murmuring amongst themselves.
"It's Han Lee, the thirteenth squad leader."
"His squad has been on a roll with victories, must be nice."
"I heard he used to be in the seventh squad, what was the seventh squad leader doing letting a talent like that rot? I don't think he participated in a single squad battle back then."
"He probably doesn't have an eye for realizing true talent."
The opinions of Han all drastically differed based on which squad the student belonged to. Some looked to him favorably, while others looked at him with spite.
There was one definite fact though, due to the thirteenth squad's consecutive victories, they had become the main attraction. Proportional to him, Squad 7's leader Kato's overall assessment score drastically fell.
"The core members Han and Kuro originally belonged to squad 7."
The more people praised squad 13, the more horrible people's opinions of Kato became. It had become plainly apparent that he could not properly deploy his squad.
Han sat on his seat and opened his notebook. The remaining squads who had completed their morning training also filled the lecture room.
'Kato Souki.'
Han looked toward squad 7 who had seated themselves in the far opposite side of the room. Kato fiercely glared at Han, then turned his gaze around. He had intense malice.
'It can't be helped that he dislikes me. I had lowered his own assessment score, and I also stole Kuro from him.'
Han mumbled to himself and looked forward.
'But Kato, if you think I'm a mere coward, then your standard is only to that level as well.'
Han understood Ark's training methods better than all the students here. Han had ignored the hateful glares of the seventh squad as he focused on the lecture. When lecture ended, Han's data bracelet flashed. He read over the message.
-Squad battle confirmed in two days. Squad 13 versus squad 7. Aerial battle.
Han furrowed his brows.
'The instructors are aware that I won't be able to use my left arm for awhile. We must have at least 4 members participate in the squad battles.'
Han couldn't focus on the lecture anymore. He tapped his knee with his fingers as he lost himself in his own thoughts.
'Do they wish I'll lose? Against squad 7? The instructors understand everything. What is their intention setting up such a squad battle?'
After seeing the end to the squad battle of the second years, Master Drill Instructor Greseman looked over Squad 13's data. After a conference with the rest of the drill instructors, he proceeded to announce the following squad battle for squad 13.
"We normally give squads in recovery some time to recuperate, but it's an exception this time. Squad 13 has many victories under their belt. It's time they taste failure."
"They had an exceptional streak of victories. Han Lee and squad 13 must learn how to lose as well."
The instructors unanimously agreed. Learning to lose was also a lesson to be learned. They must be taught the bitter taste of failure before they become drunk off victory.