"AA-Aaah!"
The Chinese boy ran at Simon, causing the latter to become flustered.
The boy's telekinesis powers were not strong enough to be useful in actual battle so they started battling it out with their fists.
"Stand at attention. Get down you brats."
The children who were slow got thoroughly beaten. The specially made stick was unable to break bones but was substantial enough to make a nice bruise.
Bam! Bam!
The drill instructors instantly suppressed the two and stood between them.
"Fighting already? Hopeless little brats. Simon Dell? You're so confident with a skill that might be a little bit useful at your grandfather's birthday? If that's all you're capable of, then you're nothing but a huge embarrassment."
The sergeant singled Simon out and punished him once again with more force. Simon's eyes glistened with tears. The children realized at this moment.
'Our enemy isn't the ones next to us, but that person. The drill sergeant!'
The sergeant continued to curse the children while lashing out beatings.
Ironically, the air became less stifled. The children were able to come together after finding a common enemy in the sergeant. Everyone became livid as they talked behind the sergeant's back with one another.
"As expected, children are so simple."
The instructors monitoring them laughed.
A different sergeant spotted a particular Korean child. It was Han Lee.
"That brat is a little different. He is very calm. He doesn't spout nonsense and doesn't join in on the bad-mouthing either."
"I doubt it. At that age children don't have much insight in life."
Han already understood the situation. The drill instructors were monitoring them and looking for the right time to come into the room. They had been waiting for the exact time when the children would fight amongst one another to create an event in which they would be able to unite as one.
After analyzing the situation, Han joined in on bad-mouthing the sergeants with the others. Han planned to completely understand the situation and get by without standing out too much. He was still too unfamiliar with this place to act rashly.
***
Han and the other children were given three weeks to get familiar with the Ark. After three weeks, they would be incorporated in with the first years.
Ark was organized by years, but in actuality, as long as anyone finished the curriculum they would be instantly transferred along side the next year of students. There were only a few students who were placed in their rightful years.
"That's good. At least we can stick together for three more weeks."
The children befriended one another quickly. They were children, so their discrimination against other countries and race had not developed as much.
When they saw an opportunity to befriend others, they had no hesitations.They had their own cliques, of course, but they didn't view each other as enemies.
All of the children had been dropped into an unfamiliar place and had walked the same road.
They quickly learned basic military jargon and commands during this time. During afternoons, they were busy with psyker power training classes.
"Simon Dell, you trained with the Royal England School of Psykers?"
A soldier who fought as an acquired psyker in the First Wave of Aggression spoke. Currently, he worked as one of Ark's instructors.
"Yes, that's right."
Simon got up with confidence. He had a lot of pride. He was one of few psyker recruits who had received formal training beforehand.
England, and a few other countries, also ran their own psyker training schools. Of course, all advanced training was done through Ark.
"That's good. Have you been enlightened on your personal psyker characteristic yet?"
"Not yet."
First Sergeant Red looked to the children. A few children tilted their head upon the word characteristic.
"Simon, catch this pen that I am about to throw with your telekinesis."
Simon's eyes glowed blue. Whenever someone used their powers, their eyes would light up.
He concentrated and grasped the pen with his telekinesis, freezing it in mid-air.
"Excellent, Simon."
Simon smiled hearing the sergeant's complement. Sergeant continued his words.
"But this is all you can do even with formal training. That makes you trash."
Simon's expression stiffened. Sergeant Red was never friendly to the children he taught. Simon's expression was filled with anger and shame.
Ark's goal was the creation of 'psyker soldiers.' These soldiers needed to surpass all types of despair, and hunt dragons. Having strong mental strength and endurance was a basic requirement.
The sergeant didn't stop his lecture or his abusive language.
"Are you angry, Simon? Do you want to cry? If you want to suck on your mother's milk some more, we'll be more than happy to send you back."
Sergeant Red's face was only inches away as he spoke in Simon's face.
Simon was about to burst into tears. It wasn't because he was scared but because he felt wronged. Even so, he suppressed his feelings. If he cried in front of all the other kids, he would be nothing but a huge disgrace.
"No need."
Simon replied quietly. Sergeant Red kicked him back to his original position.
"Isn't he too much?"
"Simon's irritating, but isn't it wrong to treat another human that way?"
The children whispered amongst one another. Many children who disliked Simon also sympathized with him.
Han looked at Sergeant Red disapprovingly out of the corner of his eye.
'I'm used to that kind of treatment already.'
Han had grown up underprivileged and lacking in comparison to other children.
He was still young, but he prioritized the safety of his younger siblings over himself. He had to become an adult much faster than other children.
There were many times he suffered horrible beatings from adults because he had gotten caught stealing their food. He would consider it a lucky day if all they did was throw abusive language at him.
"All of you who can't even match up to this Simon trash is an even filthier pile of trash. Do you think I'm too much? I think this situation that we're in is f***g s***t. I have to make you bastard brats who can't even use telekinesis into psyker soldiers. Soldiers who will be able to fight against dragons."
Sergeant Red's expression became furious. He continued his impassioned speech while insulting their characters.
A few of the children began to cry. When Sergeant Red saw the children crying he started to laugh wildly.
"When the dragons appear, will you cry and look for your mommy? Do you think she will fly over to you like supermom and slap the dragon silly while changing your diapers? Far from it… all that'll happen is death. If you don't fight, they will eat you alive. Then, your family and friends will die. This situation is s**t, but you're humanity's future and hope. I'm not speaking figuratively. You're really our last hope. Inborn psykers are able to see results ten times greater than acquired psykers from the same amount of training. That means that even if you train for a short amount of time, you can become stronger than any of the sergeants here."
A few children felt their heroic spirits rising in their hearts after listening to Sergeant Red's speech. They were the key to humanity's future. The word "hope" had made their hearts race.
'He's an eloquent speaker.'
Han felt like he would be taken in by his speech. Han meditated over his own goals.
'I don't care about war. What I need at the moment is good results so that my younger siblings can eat well.'