In a dark room, there was a glowing orb in the middle of the room. It was floating at waist level. It was the only light source. There were two figures in the room, hidden by shadows.
"He has already shown interest in us. How are we going to deal with it?" Figure one said
"Actually, he has only shown interest in you, not us." Figure two said. The voices sounded identical, but this one was more confident.
"I. Uh. I don't know if I can handle any questions if he asks."
"I understand. He did save our lives. You have given you life to him in return, isn't that, right?"
"Uh. Well. Yes, no one this entire time has ever done that."
"I know. Do you want me to deal with the questions, when they come?
"You would do that? Yes, please. Thank you, I'm so glad you are here." Figure one said happily.
"I'm always here for you. That's why I'm here."
Figure one stepped toward the light green glowing orb. He ran his fingers through his curly, dark brown hair, pushing it back. He then placed both hands on the orb.
The trainees spent the rest of the week training their sword skills with the saber. This was all led by Corporal Jones. They ended up learning two more forms, a set of sword slashes, which they were to practice. They ended up letting them spar together using just the sabers, no powers.
What no one knew was that Corporal Jones was a master swordsman with a saber. She was very skilled at infusing her power into weapons and using her abilities with a sword as well. This is how she, in less than a year, was promoted from a private to a corporal. Even though she was outranked by all the sergeants, her skills were far superior to theirs. That's why she was the main speaker and teacher.
Vincent shows a lot of promise with his skills of a sword. He always caught on to new techniques far quicker than the others. This caught Jones' eye. After seeing him spar four other trainees and winning each sparring match, she decided to see if he wanted to be her disciple in sword arts. But that would have to wait until the week was over.
Even though, when sparring, there isn't supposed to be a winner or loser. There is always a clear winner. Everyone wants to show their worth while in the military. It would only help your family if you moved up in the military. Even if you didn't stay when your term was up.
With war always on the horizon and the looming possibilities of beast attacks, you never knew when you would be called on for military service, even if your term was up. The good of your territory was number one priority. For most, your family reputation was a close second, which made most willing to go.
Eric sparred against 2 people from other squads. He won his matches, but it wasn't as spectacular as Vincent's victory. He received 20 EXP per person he won against. He leveled up to level five.
<20/160 EXP>
<45/45 HP>
<70/70 RP>
He was surprised the only stats that went up were his stamina and radiation, along with HP and RP.
All the trainees were called to go to their classrooms after their saber training for the day was over. Once Eric entered the classroom, he noticed that Corporal Jones was still their teacher. She always stood out from the other teacher because of her blonde hair. It always seemed to be a bright yellow, and she wore it the same way every day, in a ponytail.
"You all have performed well; some need more improvement. The next two weeks you are going to be on your own. Your powers will only get stronger if you use them. The more you use them, the better. You are also expected to work on your saber skills. You will be evaluated at the end of each week to see how you progress. Is that clear?" Corporal Jones asked.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am."
"Good. After these two weeks, we will be sending squads out to scout areas and monitor the beast activity. Remember, your training is your survival," she said, giving them a look for a response.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," they all replied.
"Once the scouting missions are over and you report back, we will begin your martial arts training. Before you go, none of you are at the point where you can infuse your powers into a weapon yet. While you are leaving the classroom, you will take a radiation gem out of the box on my desk and place it into your sabers. The gem has already been infused with fire power; it will heat up the edge of the blade, making it more of a lethal weapon. I will now demonstrate how to put it in."
She unsheathed her saber and placed the blunt end underneath her arm. She grabbed a gem from the box. It looked just like the one Eric pulled out of the razor rat, except this had a faint red glow.
The gold knob that was on the hilt of the sword hinged up to reveal a small hole. She placed the gem in the hole and said, "Once the gem is inside, you will need to push it in just a little and twist it to the right," and she did just that.
As soon as she twisted the gem, the edge of her saber started to glow a faint red color. Then she pulled the sword out from under her arm. The saber started glowing a brighter red.
"Once you put the gem in, you have only a few seconds to move the blade or you will get burned. When you sheath the sword, the power will deactivate. When you unsheathe, it will reactivate. Any questions?"
"Ma'am, no, ma'am."
"You are dismissed! Use your time wisely," Jones said, adding a warning at the end.
Everyone stood up and filed out of the classroom. Everyone was quieter and more orderly now than on their first day at the academy. Now if you acted out publicly, pushups and laps were the punishment. The troublemakers got tired of that. There was always the silent rule of straighten up or else.
Right before Vincent was about to head out of the door, Jones spoke up, "Conner!"
He turned around and said, "Ma'am, yes, ma'am."
"Please come here. I would like to discuss something with you."