Squeek.
The second year drill instructor Greseman was watching the squad battle through his monitor. He watched a couple of the key parts of the battle over and over. Greseman was a man with a protruding chin. He was as obstinate as his chin protruded. Han was not particularly fond of the obstinate type of instructors.
"Reporting sir, Drill Instructor Greseman."
Han raised his chin a bit. He observed Greseman's expression. Greseman didn't let any of his inner thoughts show on his face.
'It's easier to deal with Sergeant Red. That man just swears then gets mad.'
Greseman spoke to Han in a low voice.
"It doesn't seem like you used bombs. You wouldn't have had any methods to get them, either. Based on your history, you're not so stupid to go ahead with such a plan."
"We filled the storage space with oil. Jose used his ignition ability to burst it into flames."
"That must have required a lot of practice. The timing of the explosions is very perfect. It wouldn't be considerate to call it a bomb."
"We slathered a branch in oil and threw it to perfect his timing of utilizing his ignition ability."
"So this is the tactic that you and squad 13 prepared. Han, do you know how much one airbeat cost."
"I am aware that they are expensive."
"If you are sent home, you won't be able to pay back the cost even if you labored for your whole lifetime."
Greseman drove Han to a corner. Han closed his eyes and fiercely opened them again.
"I feel like the important point of today's meeting is to decide whether I broke the rules or not. Isn't this why you called for me?"
"If we are nit picking, you didn't break any rules. However, you should have been aware this would have become a controversy. The results are as such, you did not break any. Some drill instructors would praise you for finding such a loophole. However, we will not tolerate this a second time. Go and report this to your instructors."
"Understood. May I add my own thoughts as well?"
"Speak freely."
"If I was a psychic soldier facing against a dragon, this would not become a controversy, and nobody would ask me if I knew how much an airbeat costs. Dragons will not overlook someone because they are poor. We must utilize all methods in order to kill the dragon race. I only assumed our current situation for our battle. Our training program is constructed in a way to utilize every possible method in order to create the strongest soldier to win against the dragons, isn't that right?"
His words were eloquent and flowed smoothly like water. Greseman nodded.
"You speak like Sergeant Red. You are dismissed. Squad leader, Han Lee."
Greseman said as he interlocked his fingers together. Han saluted and left the room. Greseman laughed as he watched Han leave. He replayed the squad battle once again and mumbled.
"He's unbelievably manipulative. He slips out of everything like a snake. However, this is even more of a reason that he must taste failure. Though, it seems he won't let himself lose easily."
Greseman began setting up the stage for a more elaborate loss. Greseman calmly looked over Han's data.
'He doesn't have a single loss or major mistake. He climbed the ranks in perfect order like a robot. It's time he must taste the bitterness of failure.'
All squads have had at least one loss with every five wins. The squad battles are said to be selected at random, but Greseman and the drill instructors use the data to make sure squads don't consecutively win more than 5 times.
The evening run had ended. Han went to shower, and used the towel to dry his hair as he left the changing room. Kuro came running from the opposite side shouting something.
"Han! Look at this! Look at these requests for squad transfers."
Kuro shook the documents. Han's left hand was still in a cast so he remained motionless.
"Don't get so worked up. Speak slower."
Han had already been aware. The squad leaders were always the first to receive the squad transfer requests first to their data bracelets. He shrugged his shoulders.
"There are six requests! Now, we can become a ten member squad as well!"
Squad 13's main weakness was that they only had four members. Squads with many members had over twenty members.
"I already knew people would request to come into our crew around this time. They're probably mostly those who are reserve members. They're not able to participate in the squad battles in their own squads, but in a squad like us with little members they can immediately participate in the battles. Additionally, we have been on a roll with consecutive wins."
Everyone's opinion of squad 13 had gone up drastically. Talent was rampant in Ark. As soon as squad 13 raised their reputation, the way the other students viewed them had changed. On the contrary, squad 7 who could not properly utilize such talents was reprimanded.
"Hey, squad 13!"
He ran into Squad 5, Dimitri, just outside the shower facility. Dimitri waved his giant hands.
"Dimitri, the shower facility is empty. Go wash before the other squads get here."
"I watched your victory streak well. You're good. I should have joined you in squad 13. Haha."
Dimitri said cheerful empty words. He was now squad 5's leader. The previous leader had transferred to year 3. He was leading squad 5 well with his manly leadership abilities.
Han noticed that Dimitri's body was covered in bruises.
"Did you go tumbling down the stairs? You're a mess."
"I picked a fight with our previous squad leader before he would be transferred to the third year to see who was stronger."
"I must have been a hearty fight."
"Nope, I got done in without a chance. Third year transfers are really strong. They're on a different level. I got plainly beat."
Han and Kuro was surprised by Dimitri's optimistic words. Dimitri had a strong competitive spirit. He wasn't one to admit to a loss easily.
'If Dimitri speaks this way, it must be so.'
Han had already noticed this of the third years. He read through the third year training curriculum carefully. In his opinion, second years already go through enough training drills. There wasn't much need to make third years continue these military training drills.
'Third years would be incorporated into real battles out in the world. It wasn't training, but real battle. The first and second years use most of Ark's practice and training facilities. The facilities for the third years were greatly lacking in comparison.
Han became lost in his own thoughts. The third years were existences hidden behind a veil. He had rarely come across them, becase they had no form of exchange at all.
"The tasks for squad 13 comes first. Let's think about this later."
Han erased all thoughts of the third years from his mind. He returned to his dorms and looked through the data for the new transfer requests.
'I'm not surprised to see there are not any outstanding individuals. But there's no reasons to disqualify them…. There is one Korean.'
The next day, squad 13 welcomed the 6 new members. They had arrived with their luggage to squad 13's dorms. They introduced one another in front of the dorms and exchanged their data bracelet IDs.
"Let's work hard, squad leader."
"The squad battles had left a deep impression for me. You're great."
With new members, the dorm became crowded. When they were only four, it had remained quiet. But with ten, it was now noisy with chatter. They also received twice the amount of supplies.
"Hmm, welcome to squad 13."
Han said awkwardly. This felt different than when he was the class leader. He was the one to create squad 13.
Additionally, all the members of his squad had joined with their own free will. The sense of responsibility he felt for everyone felt heavy.
"You are all probably aware, but we are a new squad. We have not been challenged in many ways. Within one week, we will select your specialty field through various training drills. I've seen your data, but I'm sure the reality will be different. Afterwards, I will separate everyone into groups and hand out roles. Does anyone have objections?"
The gathered squad observed one another. Everyone remained quiet. Han dismissed everyone. The squad members scattered to finish their own tasks.