Although Zaos probably had the advantage in strength and speed when he uses magic, he was still fully aware of his fighting style. That being said, his squad mates had their mouths hanging open when they turned around. From their perspective, it was amazing that a ten years old boy could fight and even cause so much trouble to a man who had more than twenty years of fighting experience.

"How did you prolong the duration of your spell?" Elius asked.

"Ah, that? I just reactivated the spell before it could end," Zaos replied.

"You just reactivated… don't you have to draw the symbols in your head?" Elius frowned.

"I did. While it is a bit complicated to do that in a fight, I can do it if I can see my target in a completely defensive stance," Zaos replied. "Now, I am training to do the same in the reverse position. That is a lot more complicated, though."

                                        Elius frowned after hearing that. He had planned to give a few pointers after the spars, but it looked like Zaos wouldn't need much advice. Even without having the chance to test it, Zaos already knew what he needed to do, at the very least when it comes down to his weird fighting style. While that in itself was already impressive, what was really shocking was seeing a ten-year-old boy using magic in the middle of a fight… no, Elius didn't see. He only knew that Zaos did it because he told him.

"For how long can you use your mana like that in the middle of a fight?" Elius asked.

"I don't know. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to test it," Zaos replied. "I don't think I can last more than a few minutes, but my arm won't withstand keeping attacking like that for so long."

"That is to be expected. You are still growing in size and strength," Elius nodded to himself. "You shouldn't try to see what you can do for the time being. Instead, just keep focusing on strengthening your bases. By doing so, you will avoid injuring your muscles and bones."

"Yes, sir," Zaos said.

                                        Life on the Northern base was annoying because Zaos couldn't go home and see his mother and little sister. Still, fortunately, the job in itself wasn't that bad since Zaos had plenty of chances to improve himself. In fact, Zaos was quite confident that he would even more from that onward since his magic swordsmanship leveled up two times in that single spar. Of course, that was pretty good since every level up in that granted him ten points of mana and stamina. Still, Zaos couldn't help but wonder if there weren't other things that had the same effect on his body.

Health: 480/480

Mana: 800/820

Stamina: 810/830

Strength: 240

Magic: 410

Endurance: 415

Resistance: 410

Focus: 04 + 01 

Sorcery Lv 37, Meditation Lv 23, Magic Swordsmanship Lv 14, Alchemy Lv 06, Swordsmanship Lv 33, Axemanship Lv 09, Spearmanship Lv 09, Archery Lv 15, Shield Mastery Lv 18, Pain Resistance Lv 15, Blacksmithing Lv 11

Lesser Heal, Heal, Holy Light, Detoxification, Cold Whisper, Mend Bones, Dispel, Protection, Magic Barrier, Stone Skin, Fire Sword, Water Sword, Earth Sword, Wind Sword, Earth Bullet, Ignite, Spark, Agony,

                Zaos thought he would have a lot more chances to train his fighting style in the next few days, but… fate had other plans for him. That was really a pity since he imagined the commander would soon give up on keeping so many soldiers at the base when the followers of the demon god had only been attacking villages here and there.

                The next morning, when Zaos and his squad went to outside to have their usual morning training, they didn't find Elius. Instead of that, they found commander Ruvyn waiting for them.

"Good morning, lads," Commander Ruvyn said. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but your training has been postponed. I just sent Elius to check a few things in the border, and I assume that will take more than a few days."

                Zaos's squad members looked at each other for a few seconds. One year ago, they would show some worry in their faces if they had heard something like that since it was a clear sign of trouble, but now they couldn't help but just frown. It looked like some other troublesome days were approaching… but they were ready to face it. So they did train day and night for over a year for that, not only to fulfill their duties for the kingdom but also to avenge the fall of their friends who died.

"Oh? It seems that Elius wasn't joking when he said that this squad would be able to keep going on without him for a few days," Commander Ruvyn said that while smiling, impressed. "Since that is the case, I have a job for your squad. It is time to show me that Elius is right about you guys."

"Yes, sir," Zaos said. "May I inquire about this mission, commander? It is unusual to change our weekly tasks so suddenly."

"Indeed… next week, the new recruits are coming, and we are guessing that this year their number will be extremely low, even though Elius isn't the one guiding them," Commander Ruvyn explained. "The reason is the battle that you survived last year… it has been fifty years since we faced any problems here in North, so it is only natural that the new recruits would think twice about coming here. While we have enemies in all other directions, the followers of the demon god scare even the adults, and there are many things we don't know about them. To prevent us from getting shorthanded in the years to come, we will need to show to the new recruits that things here will be as the same as the other bases. Hence, I am sending the second years that participated in the last year's battle to protect all the villages and nearby towns. Meanwhile, I will keep our main force here to move as soon as possible in case something happens. Thus the new recruits won't have to deal with the same things you did."