3 months into training, the rainy season have started. The Astrochist have spent their time trying to learn while rain comes. For most of them who needs to train outside, it is pretty difficult to maintain their body condition. Training outside the field while there's a storm may give them a bad flu. But that is not the case for Pier's training routine.
"Come on! Move! Move! Move!" Pier shouted as he ran across the river without any problem. Nile and the other Elemental Users are exhausted by they still continued.
'Damn it, we've been doing this for like hours now!' Nile was panting really hard. His weak body is starting to rise. Unfortunately his expression doesn't tell anything about giving up or stopping the progress.
They went up across the hill to venture outside the field. Pier have discussed this process with the other grandmasters as well including Luong in which he told him that it is fine as long as they're safe within the measures.
"Pier, are you sure that this kind of training will help them?" Faye asked. Pier smiled as he turned his body to Faye.
"Yeah, you don't have to worry. This kind of training is pretty natural for those kids. I mean, they're the one who accepted the challenge so they need to take care of responsibilities." He said.
"But, the weather outside is pretty bad. What's the plan?" Luong asked.
"The weather is not the enemy, it's their own individual adaptation for their environment. Even if their surroundings are pretty intense, it shouldn't be a bother for body since they've been conditioning it long before I arrived here." Pier answered.
"Wow, you've done your research." Brook smiled as he responded.
"Heh! Well, even if I have a lot of meetings in the front line, I still need to take care of the agenda here. That's the order of the officials. I cannot do anything about it." He answered.
"Okay, we've set up the plan. What about the path you guys are taking? The field is pretty small for them to have their training. What are you going to take?" Faye asked. Pier approached the bulletin board with a large map on the center of it. He pointed out a bunch of places for the to see which path he will take.
"This one, we're going to take this path on the southeast, we will walk this until we reached the high mountains which is located over here." He said.
"What? That's pretty high! Are you sure they're going to be okay?" Faye exclaimed.
"Yeah, I've already ventured this place a long time ago. There's a pond or river not that far away from the forest. That river is actually connected to the waterfall in which if we followed the path, we will climb it until we reach the mountain." Pier answered.
"I see, so the training here is by battling their sense of endurance, right?" Luong asked.
"Yes. That's precisely correct. Even with this weather, it's going to be fine. The aim of this training is to enhance their endurance and be able handle themselves when things are getting pretty intense. If their body is not used to these kinds of condition, they're most likely to die in the battlefield. Besides, they are already 14 and 15 years old. Old enough to maintain their stances and condition. We just need to wait for the outcome." Pier responded with a serious monotone voice.
"Well well well, if it isn't the master of strategist..." Suddenly, their discussion was abruptly stopped when Mach Cavial went into the room.
"Mach..." Pier called him.
"Yo... Long time no see, Pier." Mach responded as he approached them.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to scout the northwest area?" Pier asked.
"No, they've changes plans."
"What?" Everyone suddenly gasped as they heard Mach about the change of plans.
"What do you mean? Why are they changing plans so early?" Luong asked with a bit of a worriedness.
"Well, the main capital have received reports from the captive of the X Organization saying that they've been attacking the villages not because they wanted to warn us, but because, they're looking for something that is pretty important." Mach said.
"Wait wait wait, hold on, they've captured a member of the organization?" Faye asked. Everyone stared at Mach waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, apparently Lich have captured him." He answered.
"So... What's the thing that you said they are looking for?" Pier asked.
"Ah that... It's Melsh's Demon Amulet." Everyone dropped their jaw.
"D-Don't tell me... are they planning to go into the tower of hell?" Faye asked as she twitched.
"Yeah, that's the organization plan." Mach responded.
"Well now that you have mentioned it, why would they go to that place anyway?" Lars joined the conversation.
"Hmm, well, I don't really have the exact details, but I heard that one of the Elemental Rings is located inside the Tower of Hell." Mach answered.
"If that's the case then shouldn't we deploy our men on the tower of hell already?" Pier suggested.
"No, that would be problematic for all of us. If the Organization knew what we are planning, they could revert back to their plan and attack the capital while we're away. If they knew that we're also aiming for the Elemental Ring, then it's going to be over." Mach disputed Pier's Idea.
"Then what is the captain's plan?" Brook asked.
"There are no announcements yet. But if I were the leader, I would have suggested that we should ambush them." Mach answered with as serious face.
"What do you mean?" Luong asked with curiosity.
"The thing is, the enemy is probably thinking that we already know their plan because of their executive's absense. That's why gaining over them would be a bad idea. However, things might go smoothly if we're going to do the same thing. I'd say half of the forces would be going to the Tower of Hell to scout the area and wait for their arrival. On the other hand, the other forces would be staying on the capital to defend it from any attack. At this point, we can corner them. The only thing that bothers me is that, we don't know the exact location of where to find the Demon's Amulet." Mach explained.
"That's true, even if they knew that we were planning for that scheme, they should also know that we don't have the location of the amulet as well." Brook said.
"In other words, we're stuck in a consensus..." Pier stated.
"Yeah. Without any knowledge of where to find the amulet, the chance of winning over them is 50 50. But at some point, it looks like the captain is also fond of finding the amulet as well." Mach said.
"Well that's now surprising. We're in the race of acquiring the Elemental Ring. If Yama were to get it, we're going to be suffering a painful death." Luong said.
"Yeah, that's right. However..." Everyone stared at Mach.
"Those Astrochist..." He pointed out the rest of the Astrochist outside the field.
"I'm pretty confident that they will be out key to success..." He declared as he smirked.
"What are you planning?" Pier asked.
"Instead of training their body on some random place, I suggest that you guys spend the rest of the term training their body all while finding the demon's amulet." Mach said.
"What?" Everyone was dumbfounded.
"Wait, that's actually a good idea though..." Lars said.
"What do you mean?" Pier asked.
"If we're in a race to find the Demon Amulet, then shouldn't search for it as well instead of waiting?" Lars questioned everyone.
"Are you implying that we should take them outside the field and have them find it while exposing themselves in danger?" Luong asked.
"No no no, that's now what I meant. The 2nd term will start next week right? What Mach is saying is that, once we start the pre deployment, we'll have them go on different kinds of location to help people and take the job as an officer. With this method, not only that they're learning how to work properly, there's also a high chance of finding it." Lars explained.
"I didn't really get what you mean, but uh, didn't Mach said that they're invading different kinds of place as well? If that's the case then there's a high chance of facing them." Faye stated.
"Yeah, making the Astrochist find the Demon Amulet is risky..." Brook said.
"Well... Everyone of you is correct, but you forgot one thing..." Mach looked out through the window while everyone stared at him. He stopped the gaze and decided to look at everyone's places.
"What are you saying?" Pier asked.
"I have an idea on where to find the Amulet..." Mach answered.
Fast forward to the current day. Pier has reached the top of the mountain...
'That's right, the Astrochist will need some experience on fighting actual enemies before they do their expedition for the 2nd term. That's why Mach suggested that we should take all of them to the Vega's lair.' Pier thought.
Everyone have managed to reach the top of the mountain as well. Nile decided to lie on the flat ground while panting really hard. The rain were slowly getting weaker.
"This is really cold!" Stell shouted.
"Endure it, you're an Earth Elemental User, right? You should have a strong body..." Pier called out Stell for bragging about the cold weather.
"Tsk..." He clicked his tongue.
"Nile, are you okay?" Aella have decided to check on Nile.
"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I just, I'm not really used to these kinds of weather." he responded.
Everyone took their break and set up a camp. This is only the 1st batch of the training that Mach have suggested. Most of them are from the main section which is the four main elemental section.
"Hey, Adara, go make a fire or something..." Pier ordered her.
"Yes, Sir!" She responded.
After a few moments, the night have finally emerged. The rain stopped and everyone was sleeping. Except for Nile. He decided to stand up and left the tent. He closed the entrance without making any noise and after that, he walked off.
The sky were beautiful. Millions of stars can be seen alongside with the moon that is shining very bright. Nile saw the beautyness of the night sky while sitting on the edge of the cliff. Meanwhile, a footstep can be heard and when he turned back.
It was Pier.
"What are you doing here? Didn't I told everyone to sleep already?" He asked with a serious voice.
"I... I can't sleep." Nile answered.
Pier sighed as he approached Nile. He decided to sit beside Nile from the edge of the cliff as well. He grabbed something from his pocket, it was a cigarette. Using his fire powers, he immediately lighted it. He puffed a couple of rounds until he blew off the smoke from his mouth.
"Hey... Do you think all of this will work out?" Nile asked while gazing down. Pier looked at him.
"Maybe? I'm not sure..." He responded nonchalantly. Nile was disgusted by his response but before he had the chance to say anything, Pier stopped him.
"I'm not sure because... The fate is not in my hands.." He answered as he looked at the sky. Nile was speechless about it.
"The answer lies on you... Nile..." He said.
"B-But, why? I'm just an ordinary kid. Why does it have to be relied on all of us innocent children? What's the point of all of this if we're just going to die in the future anyway?" He nagged.
"Sure, that might be possible. But you know what... As long as there's still time and chance, things are not so bad after all. The answer to your question, you've already answered it a long time ago." Pier answered.
Nile suddenly remembered the day when Faye asked him who he was.
"I see..." He softly murmured.
"Anyway, go to sleep. We have more work to do tomorrow, it's going to intense so we need your body to be ready and strong as possible." Pier stood up and walked away.
"Yes..." Nile responded.