Boarding a black military spaceship along with the other students, Acheron prepares himself for the long journey. While they would reach the battlefield pretty fast due to the proximity, they were meant to spend at least a month in the military.
Given the number of qualified second year students, a small fleet of spaceships was prepared to escort them to the warfront without any hiccups.
After the Human Coalition and Jo'ku race reached a consensus, they've decided to keep the battlefield forces limited to the early Heavenly Ascension realm of strength. Both forces had at least one Planetary Subduing cultivator each, with the exact number being a mystery.
In order to cut even more of their losses, they keep spaceship battles to a minimum, deciding on a bunch of planets to where they battle using the 'cheap' foot soldiers of their country.
The planet where they were currently headed was an uncolonized habitable planet suitable for both of their species. Their current goal was to secure it and wipe out the military forces of the Jo'ku that were present on this planet.
What made this planet especially important for both forces was the large population of Heavenly Ascension and below beasts. Not to mention the various energy-infused ores and herbs. In other words, this planet was a gold-mine.
As they headed to the temporary military base, they were introduced to the workings of the army. What was paramount in this experiential training was simply completing the missions assigned by their military superiors.
Unsurprisingly, most of the missions were relatively safe scouting ones, with very few missions that included direct combat. Groups were formed depending on the students' strength levels. After assigning each of the groups long-range and cold weaponry, they were briefed on their missions.
Acheron, after picking a two meter tall bulky sword, was paired with the other three strongest students of the second year, Hol, Gara, and Anna. All of them were at least intermediate Foundation Establishment, with Acheron and Anna being at the peak.
Hol had a burly build and a bald head, with the cold weapon he picked being a pretty giant mace. Considering his cultivation at late Foundation Establishment, he could fend for himself. Both him and Acheron were more or less the same height.
Gara, with an average height, slim build and brown hair, was the weakest in regards to cultivation, but after an explanation from him, they realized he made up for it with his close combat and scouting abilities. His weapons of choice were two daggers.
Lastly, Anna, a pretty girl with black hair tied in a ponytail and hazel eyes, already had her own sword, which seemed to be considered a spiritual artifact considering the fluctuations it was giving off.
For the sake of these few months, both forces have reached an agreement to not send out any Heavenly Ascension cultivators no matter what happens. This was for the sake of protecting the rising geniuses of their species from dying an early death at the hands of more powerful lifeforms.
The higher-ups of both races would rather their geniuses temper each other on a more or less fair battlefield.
"So who will be the leader of our group?" asked Gara.
"Considering our strengths, I nominate Anna as the vice-leader and myself as the leader. This way, nobody will be dissatisfied. You can challenge me to a battle if you happen to disagree." says Acheron.
"Alright."
Surprisingly, Anna agreed immediately. She wasn't that confident in her leadership skills.
Both Hol and Gara were familiar with Anna, as she was the strongest in their year. After noticing her opinion, they reluctantly agreed to Acheron's arrangements. While they weren't familiar with Acheron, they trusted Anna's judgement.
Their mission was to attack and destroy a nearby Jo'ku outpost to the north. From the information provided by the scouts, they were given a detailed map of the military structure. Apparently, it had only about ten cultivators at the late Earthly Shackles realm, perfect for their squad to take care of.
All four of them were considered geniuses in the Human Coalition, so this shouldn't be too difficult for them.
Despite this, Acheron and Anna brainstormed their attack strategy, making sure there wouldn't be any casualties.
In the end, they settled on direct attack. Acheron and Anna would storm the base together and attract the attention of most of their powerhouses, all while Hol and Gara provide support by massacring the weaker enemies.
The Jo'ku were a mammalian race with long elf-like ears and large horns sticking out of their heads. Covered in brown, black, or white fur, they gave off a beastial air.
Currently, inside of a large futuristic tent placed in the middle of the outpost, most of the late Earthly Shackles Jo'ku were gathered. They were discussing the newest discoveries of their scouts.
Apparently, both their and the enemy's Heavenly Ascension cultivators have been pulled out of the battlefield, leaving the Earthly Shackles cultivator to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, they weren't notified of the reasons behind this happening.
Around the outpost composed of dozens of tents, tens of sentries were patrolling around the camp.
Suddenly, two figures jumped directly into their midst, unleashing a crazed massacre on the weakest soldiers, blood, limbs, and organ fragments jumping in all directions. Wherever the two humans passed, corpses began obscuring the grassy earth, blood-curdling screams filling the surroundings.
While the Jo'ku in the main tent were still wondering about the sudden commotion, Acheron kept swinging his giant sword with precise killing intent. Every blow cutting the Jo'ku in half from various angles.
As for Anna, her attacks were always targeted at the enemies' weakpoints, usually their neck or heart. Their humanoid physiques possessed a similar biology to humans. Anna's attack patterns seemed like the deathly dance of a fairy.
Both Anna and Acheron showed matchless cruelty towards the enemy as they fought.
A good distance away, Hol and Gara were busy watching the fight with pale faces. They were shocked at how ruthlessly both of their squad leaders were fighting. They couldn't understand how they could take lives so easily. It is worth saying the neither Hol nor Gara had any experience with killing.
Finally, they noticed the enemy's group of late Earthly Shackles cultivators began surrounding Acheron and Anna. This was their sign to begin their attack. Their job was to hunt down the escaping enemy soldiers.
Steeling themselves, Hol and Gara took action.
Meanwhile, Acheron and Anna were calmly staying back to back, ready to face the ten enemies of similar cultivation. All ten Jo'ku were pointing their weapons at them, ready to attack with furious expressions plastered on their faces.
Jo'ku people were usually known for their bad tempers and honest temperaments. Thinking of this, Acheron decided to goad them a little.
"Look at all of your subordinates. They are dead now, all because of your weakness and foolishness. How about you commit suicide to atone for your sins against your species. If only you were more cautious, none of this would have happened." said Acheron in the Jo'ku language.
At least half of the ten Jo'ku warriors were furious hearing this. They couldn't help but blame themselves for this blunder, even if they were accustomed to the battlefield. After all, watching your companions die is never easy.
The few unaffected warriors were shocked watching two of their negatively influenced companions attack with reckless abandon. There was no warning at all, and before they could react, Acheron cleanly sliced straight through the two approaching warriors, leaving both of them cut cleanly in half at the waist.
From ten against two to merely eight against two. Watching Acheron's display of strength, they realized that most of them would die here in order to bring these two enemies down. Still, based on how young their enemies looked, the Jo'ku decided that it was worth it. A genius life was worth more than all of them together, not to mention two geniuses.