-1 Ch.0: Training camp from hell

AN: This is a teaser chapter that allows you, the reader, to take a look at the world I'm building before returning to the beginning of this story.

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"Keep moving you maggots! Two more laps and you are free 'till afternoon!"

This hoarse voice was full of energy and joy. It seems that its owner was having a really good time. The voice belonged to the Junior Drill Captain Paulo Cardello, or Captain Pain. It was his favorite title, and he enjoyed every bit of everything it implied.

At this very moment squad 71-17-14 was finishing a morning workout. For entire month their life did not belong to them. It was scheduled from dawn till dusk, with a few precious hours of free time.

The workout went for four hours, followed by one hour of lunch, one hour of rest and then two sessions of combat training.

It was a harsh training, Captain Pain made sure of that. The whole morning of running, jumping, crouching, and running again, with no regards to personal build and aptitude. Yes, even those with little to no basic Endurance and Strength, those with Spirit or Magic affinity were expected to do at least that much.

Captain Pain had the following to say on this matter.

"I don't give a crap about you sissy-wussy casters! When you are out of Mana, the only thing you can do is run away! So shut up and keep running!"

And so they ran.

When the final lap came to an end, half the squad fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Even those physically fit were panting heavily, covered in sweat.

"Alright, cupcakes, at least you can move those legs! See ya all at The Dungeon. If any one of you is even one minute late – entire squad will do five more laps tomorrow! Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, Captain Pain!" The squad replied instantly, using their remaining strength.

They walked in silence, fighting heavy fatigue. Doing five more laps would kill them ¬— that was their unanimous consensus. While so far there was no record of anyone being late, one can never be too careful with this kind of thing. So they made a rule to meet in front of the campus 10 minutes before the deadline to make a roll call every time.

-

Two hours later, somewhat refreshed and full-fed, the squad was standing in front of The Dungeon's ground entrance.

"I wonder how many floors are there in The Underground Combat Training Facility" The question belonged to a temporary squad leader, Iten Yada, who tried to adjust his non-existent glasses and instantly made up this question to cover up his frustration.

"Iten, do you really have to use full names for everything? My ears are bleeding, please, call it The Dungeon." Snapped a deputy-leader, Mira Rahna. She squeezed her bow nervously, still frightened by yesterday's test.

"Me heard from yesterday's Summoner dat he'll be going to the ninth floor for the next shift." The squad's main combatant, Rakasha, muttered. He stood there, leaning on the pole of a halberd and flexing his muscles.

'Must be nice to have Strength as your main affinity.' This jealous thought belonged to a boy dressed in a caster uniform, Kanai. His envy stemmed from the fact that he was a Luck-Magic caster. Having zero Strength made it impossible for him to do a close combat, and he had almost no Dexterity and Agility to supplement spellcasting. Unlike Rakasha's, his future looked rather grim.

A few moments later Captain Cardello arrived, and they entered The Dungeon. Barrier after barrier, post after post the squad kept descending. It was their fourth day of training at The Dungeon.

"I really hope we'll be done with the first floor today." Mira's irritation was noticeable. She was heavily injured during yesterday's test and tried to loosen a bit with her usual sarcastic speech. "I kinda get it that it's for casters to get Mana under control, but really? Three days, c'mon!"

"Nine of us were successful yesterday. I believe everyone will succeed today. Your comments are unhelpful, Rahna. I don't know who you were before, but your attitude is certainly detrimental to you future in this place."

With a sour face Mira turned away from Iten, who were about to start another hour-long lecture about future, second chances and teamwork.

"Yada… -san? Can you maybe give us some tips? Please?" Despite how usually simple and plain was magically translated speech, when Kanai addressed Iten, honorifics were added.

All twelve members were required to complete a floor's test for the squad to descend deeper. That's why it was so important for the remaining three cadets to succeed as soon as possible — nine other squad members were waiting for them.

"I'm really sorry, but I don't think of myself as more qualified in teaching then Captain Pain" On the captain's nickname Iten's face twitched a bit. "But if you are asking for an advice, I'd say that you should not hurry when pushing Mana for Burst. When you take a hold of it, just wait a bit more, let this feeling sink into your memory."

In a complete silence the squad arrived at the first floor.

-

"Alright, squad, first of all show some gratitude to Lieutenant Reezpauzo who will be helping us today! Thanks to his summons you'll be able to grow stronger and improve without putting your asses at risk!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Lieutenant, sir!"

"Don't mention it. Do your best and good luck." While Lieutenant kept his voice calm and attitude neutral, it was quite evident that he enjoyed the situation. He shook off non-existent dust from a dark-blue military caster robe and went deeper into the floor. On his back was a giant skull emblem — a sign of special military unit, The Summoners.

The squad was divided into two groups with nine successful members going deeper into the floor to its central part, and other three cadets remaining at its entrance to be supervised by Captain Cardello.

"And so, my pathetic blockheads, we are doing it again!" He said in a mocking manner. But then he suddenly became serious and continued. "Feel the flow of Mana in your body. Imagine it going through your hands into your palms. And then push it out!"

Basic Mana manipulation was the hardest thing for newcomers. The more Spirit or Mana they had, the harder it was to get it under control, that's why casters or unlucky people with bizarre and inconvenient attunement usually struggled at the beginning.

Of the three people left behind one was a common Magic caster — Crion Bauro, another one — Kanai, a Luck-Magic caster.

And the last one was Orisa. Her main stats were Spirit and Dexterity. Spirit based classes were usually built around magic, but Orisa had very little in Magic department. Dexterity could have helped her with Bow or melee weapons, but severe lack of Strength and Agility completely cut off this path too.

"On my mark push your Mana away." When his subordinates were facing real troubles, Paulo Cardello was serious. He never mocked those who were working hard to overcome obstacles. "Three, two, one and push!"

They simultaneously threw their right hands forward. Both Crion and Kanai were unsuccessful, but Orisa managed to produce a noticeable Mana Burst, as usual. Her problem lay in a different field — while being able to control Mana, she was unable to make a strike.

As Captain said before, this type of mental block was not that rare. Some people were just unable to harm others, even if they wanted to. At the last moment their hand simply becomes weak or stops at all.

"Okay, you too, keep going" Said Captain to boys. He was distracted for a few seconds, watching the rest of the squad fighting against already summoned monsters, then got back to Orisa. "Girl, on my mark, hit me with bare hands. No Mana, just your fists."

A complete failure was their result. Boys were unable to push their Mana, and Orisa's punch was no stronger than that of a toddler.

Two hours passed before they made some progress. Crion and Kanai have been constantly producing Mana Bursts, and Orisa finally managed to overcome at least some of her mental barriers and confidently punched Cardello's forearm a number of times.

"That should be enough for practice. Now you'll go against real dummies, use either Mana Burst or any skills you've been told about." He called Lieutenant. "Alright, leave them a pack of idle Skeletons and we'll go check on the remaining squad. Ten should be enough."

A few moments later 10 Skeleton Warriors were conjured. They were left in a passive mode, so even after being attacked they won't strike back.

"I'll be back in 20 minutes and I wanna see them all in pieces"

The trio was left with a pack of Skeletons and after 15 minutes have passed, they got rid of 6 opponents.

"Kanai, I don't get it. For what purpose are you using a complicated spell like Decay? Showing off? You can't even control your Mana properly, what's wrong with your head? Are you trying to hold everyone back?"

Crion, a tall and thin boy with a grey, slicked back hair approached Kanai when the trio decided to take a short break. His entire body was drenched in sweat that even dripped from his brows. After making his move against Kanai he wiped his forehead with his robe.

"Well…" Kanai still struggled with his breath after spending 10 minutes casting non-stop "I can try Icy Knives that you use…" He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "But I was told to try durational spells. With my stats it might be better. And Decay is the easiest one of them".

"Durational? What the hell is that?"

"Well, it's easier to show. Look at the Skeleton."

After gathering his will, Kanai pointed his Trainee Rod at the Skeleton and spoke:

"-Decay!-"

Nothing happened. Crion turned his head with a furrowed brow but said nothing. Clear frustration was shown on Kanai's face. He concentrated again, veins bulging on his forehead, and repeated the incantation:

"-Decay!-"

A tip of his rod glowed with purple, and a moment later the same glow appeared around the Skeleton. After another second the Skeleton glowed again, and again a second later. When it glowed for the fourth time, the Skeleton crumbled into ashes.

A look of doubt and discontent was shown on Crion's face. He was still displeased even after this demonstration.

"Why are you lashing at me? I can at least do something!" Shivering under his gaze, Kanai objected in a sore tone.

Both boys' gazes turned to a sole girl in their group. Orisa made a pout, offended by their behavior.

"I just…" She started sheepishly. Suddenly her mood shifted and she stomped in rage "Oh, for fuck's sake, I just don't know! I can feel this god damn Mana flow, right!?" She paused, steadying her breathing. Both boys looked quite shocked by her outrage and silently waited for her to continue.

"It's just that the moment I think about attacking, my Mana seeps away like a water. I don't understand what's going on, really. I'm sorry."

'As if I could explain it to you…' A picture of a huge wolf spitting out a chewed hand flashed in Orisa's mind.

Kanai looked away, feeling guilty about his remark. Crion was still displeased, but more with the situation itself then with Orisa or Kanai.

At that moment they heard laughter from the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor.

"We are indeed astonished by your accomplishments! Oh, yes, we are delighted!" Haughty squeak belonged to little pink-haired girl in a frilly pink dress.

"I'm not sure how it is possible to be so stupid. We've already done a sixth floor test, and here you are, still crawling at the first level. For five days already? Judging by your progress, we'll see you there next month too." The owner of a slightly hoarse voice was a tall boy in black metal plate armor.

Between them was quietly standing another person. It was a blonde girl of average height dressed in a really expensive caster's robe, holding long and well-decorated battle staff. Her cold gaze went through the team and by the end her disgust and contempt were clearly seen on a beautiful face.

Instead of answering, Orisa flipped them off and turned away. Crion turned away silently, while Kanai muttered to himself:

"Damn Nobles. Get lost."

"Bassa, Ramulie, we are leaving." Said the icy girl and headed for the exit with an unmoving expression. The plate-wearing boy followed her like a shadow, but the frilly girl stayed at the bottom of the stairs.

When the trio was about to continue, they heard a shout coming from the stairs.

"-Acceleration!-

-Lucky Strike!-

-Enrage!-"

Three remaining Skeletons glowed for a moment from the powerups they received, and attacked.

In a blink of an eye the first Skeleton closed a distance and Crion received a Shield Bash that sent him flying. He remained on the floor, motionless.

Kanai reacted as fast as he could, throwing a Decay. The Skeleton was already damaged from their previous attempts and was reduced to dust by cadet's successful spell.

But this was his only achievement. Half a second later remaining two Skeletons reached him. The first one thrust his sword into Kanai's stomach and the second one hit him in the forearm with a club. There was a sickening sound of bones crushing and his body rolled a few meters, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

The first Skeleton moved to finish off its prey, while the second one suddenly turned to Orisa and threw its club in her direction.

'I'm not losing my life again.' Both Orisa and Kanai thought the same thing.

Despite the fear, that paralyzed her body and mind, almost unconsciously Orisa pushed her right hand forward and cried out her last words:

"-Palm Push Strike!-"

Then everything just went blank.

3 weeks before.

In a dimly lit room a man sat in front of monitor, a thoughtful expression showing on his face. The screen showed a MMORPG's character selection window with three different characters. Orihara Satoru was puzzled.