Kayle soon glanced back at James and spoke, "Selection period is over. We can't afford to lose any more students."
Upon hearing Kayle's words, James sighed, "As I said, they're not going to die. If they were that weak, then it would be best for them to die."
"You don't have to tell me that," Kayle said. "Either way, I'll be discharging you from your duties."
"What?!" James exclaimed.
"You heard me. You won't be training these kids anymore."
James didn't like anything about this, not one bit. If he were to be discharged, then he would lose all right to train Ellia!
Ellia was the only one who had his blood pumping for the last week, but now you're taking her away.
"You can't! Her talents would be wasted if you let those snobby instructors train her!"
"Who's talents?" Kayle inquired. "There was someone that caught your interest?"
James looked over to the two men helping Ellia up from the cold water and handed her a dry towel. The medics were currently rushing around the squad to check if any of them had hyperthermia.
"Her?" Kayle raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, her," James spoke and rolled his eyes. "She's the future of the Imperial army!"
"The future of the Imperial army," Kayle repeated with a scoff. "Aren't you overestimating her?"
"You aren't going to believe me when I say this," James whispered while leaning over to Kayle's ear.
"Tell me."
"She's the granddaughter of Ian Arison and daughter of Ava Arison."
"…What? Do you mean the Arison's?!" Kayle shouted back in a soft whisper. "They were pure powerhouses in the army, especially Ava and not to mention sir Ian who was considered a monster in his timeline!"
"Yea, I had the same reaction when I found out too."
"But what the hell is she doing in a low-ranked team?" Kayle asked.
"People forget… they forget the hero's when there aren't any calamities. That's just the way things are." James shook his head and sighed. "But I have to thank you for giving me a chance like this."
"You damn lucky bastard." Kayle cursed.
"So, does this mean you'll let me keep my position?"
"There's no other option since if you leave, her talents would really be wasted," Kayle spoke.
"Thanks."
"I ain't doing this for you; I'm doing this for the Empire's future. Don't get the wrong idea."
"Yeah, sure."
"And don't go so hard on the other students," Kayle added.
"Uh-huh."
"Fuck, how am I going to explain this to my superiors?" Kayle grumbled while pulling on her cheeks.
Turning away from Kayle's distress, James faced Ellia and the others. They were all under blankets, shivering from the sheer coldness of the sea. Everyone except Ellia didn't feel much coldness, thanks to Ruth's nanobots.
"How was it? Wasn't too bad, right?" James joyfully clapped his hand, but he was met with dead silence. "Hmmm… this much should have been light work. Well, do a bit more later, so get some rest."
On the trip back to the shore, everything was quiet. Only the sounds of winds and waves were evident. Everyone was in a deep sleep due to extreme exhaustion.
Since Ellia was feeling a bit tired herself, Ruth released a strong dose of caffeine into her bloodstream to keep her awake. It was just in time to meet James shouting again.
Right after Kayle and her men left after reaching the shoreline, James immediately began to wake everyone up from their short slumber.
"Get up!" James yelled, jolting everyone awake.
His voice and yelling were already forged into their souls, which resulted in their faces curling up with pain and fear.
And just like that, their new hellish day began.
It was like a routine. Every day consisted of the same exact training they did the day before.
500 to 530 was sheer cold resistance training.
530 to 730 was cardio running around the pine forest.
730 to 1030 was intense physical training at the seashore. Then, after all that came their first meal.
1045 to 1930 was a march through the pine forest with gravitational weights.
1930 to 2000 was their first resting period. Then right after that was their second meat. At this point, everyone was both physically and mentally exhausted to the point where left and right would be hard to differentiate.
2045 to 200 was intense physical training now with added gravitational weights. It was slowly becoming a living nightmare for them.
200 to 230 was light cardio on the sandy shore. It was their only workout that acted as their resting time.
230 to 330 was a win beyond the blue line. But fortunately and thankfully, there were now lifeguards on small boats to pull anyone out of the water if they were dying. This gave Ellia a lot more peace of mind since she did not need to look after everyone anymore.
Finally, after all, that was their resting period from 330 to 500. So that was their schedule for the rest of the week.
Just like that, the long and harsh days slowly passed by. There weren't many notable things since every other day was just another day, but there was one event that had almost ended everything.