The entire of basic training lasted approximately eight weeks. It was broken down into an orderly fashion and headed by Instructor Hotaru and his subordinates. It was organized, efficient, and was very similar to basic training on Earth.

The first week was extremely tough for recruits; as they had to take their physical conditioning training and test their swimming capabilities. The basics of swimming were taught to those who had never learned how to swim, which were few. However, after only a week of learning how to swim each recruit was evaluated on their maximum swimming speed. Naturally, Kenji was one of the top recruits, with Itsuki just behind him. It was a tough week for many of the unfit recruits, but allowed for recruits like Kenji to excel.

The second week consisted of teaching how the Navy works: ranks, ceremonies, etc. They familiarized themselves with how the Marine’s operated and who their commands would be coming from.

Week three consisted of teaching basic hand-to-hand combat, rifle shooting, and cutlass training. Essentially, it taught each recruit how to fight pirates and perform arrests. It was probably the most enjoyed week among recruits, as it gave the feeling of what a Marine really was.

Week four taught all about ship-handling, basics of navigation, the different roles on a Marine ship. It was basically preparation for the sea, and was the last week where the teaching was indiscriminate.

...

In Instructor Hotaru’s office.

“These five boys are the top of the class, eh?” Instructor Hotaru was resting in his office, his feet kicked up onto his neat desk. He had a cigar in his mouth, and his MARINE hat lay snugly on top of his sleek-combed hair. In his hand held a few papers: the recruit papers of five exceptional recruits.

“Yes, sir! The one named Kenji has no experience with either a rifle or cutlass, but his innate strength is terrifying. I have no doubt he could fight a common Sea King at his current level!” The man on the other side of the desk was Hotaru’s chief assistant. He was present at all trainings, even when Hotaru wasn’t there, and had analyzed each recruit carefully.

“A Sea King!? You’ve got to be joking, Okara.” Hotaru’s eye’s widened; he knew Okara wasn’t one to give such praise without accurate reasoning! He diverted his attention to Kenji’s recruitment paper, looking at the picture of Kenji. The jet-black hair, heroic eyes, and wide smile felt all too familiar to Hotaru. But he couldn’t exactly place his finger on who Kenji looked like.

“And what about these other three? Itsuki? Akoro? Haru?” They were another three boys Okara had taken notice of. Hotaru and Okara continued to discuss them until Hotaru decided to make a decision.

“Bring these four into my office, I have something planned for them.” Hotaru sent out his order, sucking in a deep breath from his cigar. Okara nodded respectfully and left the room, carrying out Hotaru’s order.

“That boy...who does he look like?” Hotaru exhaled a large bout of smoke, beginning to cloud up the room.

In a swift thirty minutes, Kenji and the other three opened the door to Hotaru’s office, a large amount of cigar smoke billowing out of it. Once the cigar smoke dispersed, they saw Hotaru sitting there, legs kicked up on the desk, gazing at all four boys.

Kenji looked around at the other three boys, wondering the reason for being called. He already knew Itsuki, so he decided to analyze these other two boys.

One of them was a green-haired youth with a serious expression, long nose, and small beady eyes. He had an odd quality to him, he seemed suspicious. He would constantly shift in his movement, as if he couldn’t stay still. A peculiar individual for sure.

Also, he was by far the best marksmanship in the entire platoon of recruits. He had excelled during the third week of weapons training, being able to hit the mark every time. Kenji had put him down as a dangerous character.

The other youth Kenji knew. His name was Akoro, a twenty-year-old with a broad chest and wide shoulders. He was tall, roughly 6’6, and had a bulky sturdy figure. He was quite straight-forward and had a hefty laugh in him, Kenji actually quite liked him. When Akoro met Kenji’s gaze they both smiled.

But another thing Kenji knew about Akoro was his dominating strength. His large figure was surprisingly quick, and each one of his punches were beyond heavy-handed. He was one Kenji had definitely made notice of.

“Kenji, Akoro, Haru, and Itsuki.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You four have proven yourselves exceptional during these past few weeks. We’ve hit the midpoint of Basic Training, and I’ve decided to separate you four into a special unit. You will now be called ‘Demolition Squad’.”

“Yes, sir!” They all saluted, each feeling excitement bubble within themselves. A squad just for them, would they go on special missions? Perhaps their training would be much tougher than before. After all, so far basic training had been a breeze for each one of them.

“Don’t think it’ll be easy now. You’ll be personally trained by me, and it'll be my job to harness the raw potential you guys possess. But of course, every squad needs a captain. And for now, Instructor Okara has decided Kenji will be the leader of you four.”

“Yes, sir.” Nobody noticed, except Hotaru, that the green-haired youth Haru frowned for almost a mili-second. Though he had fixed his expression almost as quickly as it appeared, he couldn’t escape Hotaru’s careful perception.

“From now on, you four will experience individualized training. You have more potential than these other recruits and we need to take advantage of that. Once you guys graduate you will be Petty Officers, while Kenji will be Chief Petty Officer.”

“Yes, sir!” Haru had managed to control his expression. He could feel Hotaru's eyes land on him as soon as Hotaru gave graduation ranks.

“Also, depending on your performance, I’ll definitely send a note to HQ about you four. So keep your head up and make the MARINE insignia on your back proud. Dismissed.” Hotaru finished his briefing, waving his hand to the door.

The four youths turned around and left the office one by one.

Each one of them was filled with bubbling enthusiasm.

Demolition Squad has been formed.