The next day, Arthur found himself standing in forest clearing beside Cisse and Siegfried before thirty-five men and fifteen women within Mount Militum.

Before Arthur left for the dungeon, he had tasked Seigfeid to recruit people with a great martial potential for their budding army. The results were the addition of forty people to Siegfreid’s original ten.

Arthur’s goal for the first month of Hiems was to train an elite army that focused on skill and ability, quality over quantity.

But before any formal training can take place, there was one thing the Old Man had stressed to him throughout his own personal training. ‘Anyone can be trained to unprecedented power and might. But it will be for naught if their foundations are not firm. And the most important foundation of them all is a strong mentality. For warriors, you train adaptability and fortitude. So yes, when I throw you into an electrified lake filled with light eels …it’s not because I hate you, it’s because I care.’

And thus, the first part of Arthur’s training regime was what the Old Man kindly dubbed as ‘mental love.’

Nevertheless, to begin this training regime, Arthur had Cisse and Siegfried pick twenty-five people each. After that was done, he had them stand to the side with their respective teams as he stepped into the center of the clearing.

“Alright, let us begin. Come at me!” said Arthur as he stood in a relaxed position.

The two teams were confused at first, but after a few seconds, they understood, and one of them stepped forward.

It was a dark-skinned, short-haired woman with light-brown eyes. She stepped up from Cisse’s team with an air of confidence. Though she wasn’t sure what Arthur’s goal was, as long as it had to do with combat training, she was sure she could give him a run for his money.

Squared up, Sai made the first move with a sharp jab. It was a probing jab, but unfortunately, it would cost her.

Arthur sidestepped the jab and stepped forward. Before Sai could react, a left hook stuck her in the abdomen.

A muffled boom sounded for all to hear, followed by a cough of blood.

Arthur’s hit had winded Sai, forcing her to stagger backward. Just from the impact, Sai’s vision dimmed as her thoughts became a mess. ‘What….what jus-“

Given no reprieve, a rush of blows soon landed her body covering every limb and area.

PUFF!

Sai fell to the ground. Though she had no severe or crippling injuries, it was more than safe to say that she was hurt, badly.

And seeing this, everyone in the area couldn’t help but involuntarily gulp.

‘Was this supposed to be a spar? Hell, even a one-sided beatdown had more mercy than this?’

It was then that it dawned on everyone that they will share Sia’s fate if they were to step up to individually. Realizing this, they all exchanged glances before charging at Arthur, after all, Arthur never said that this was a one on one session.

They say teamwork makes the dreamwork. Pity, because were no such thing as dreams in this place.

PUFF!PUFF!PUFF!

Bodies fell one after the other. Just like Sai, they were all badly hurt, but nothing in need of immediate medical attention. It was like everyone’s birthday came early this year. ‘Upper-cut for you, right hook for you, and roundhouse for you.’ Fists and kicks were handed out swiftly and painfully.

Even Cisse and Siegfried, who were standing off to the side, received the same treatment when Luna and Aegon pounced on them.

In a few minutes, everyone was knocked unconscious with similar injuries. And not one to be crue-, well not one to be brut-. Um, well as someone who cares about his people, Arthur patiently waited for an hour as everyone’s bodies subconsciously got used to their new states.

After the hour was up, Arthur condensed the surrounding air into drops of water before unceremoniously dropping them on the unconscious mass.

Pained moans soon sounded as everyone’s eyes began to open, albeit reluctantly.

But courtesy of military discipline, they all stood up in formation and prepared for their new orders, while their respective leaders stood before them.

“Not bad, you guys seem to be still filled with life. Hmm, maybe I was too light-handed.”

GULP!

‘You call that light-handed? And what’s this about being filled with life? Are you serious? The grim reaper himself came to comfort us.’

But of course, they couldn’t voice these thoughts unless they wanted to find out if there was a second round.

Arthur smiled. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Your real training begins now.”

‘Huh.’

“Five minutes from now, you and respective teams will be left to traverse through this space. No food or water will be provided will need to fend for them yourselves. Of course, as part of your training, you will be hunted by these two.” Explained Arthur as he pointed to Aegon and Luna.

It was at this moment, everyone shivered at Arthur’s friendly smile. Why? Currently, any of them will be lucky to exhibit twenty percent of their physical abilities. They don’t know how Arthur did it, but they were hurt very badly, it was nothing permanent. They initially assumed that it was because Arthur wanted them to realize some of their weaknesses. But they now realized how wrong they were. Even with their original abilities escaping from Aegon or Luna would be a pipe dream, but now… and on top of the increased gravity in the space…’ maybe I should have listened to my mom and become a baker.’

“I don’t know what you guys are waiting for ..…did you really enjoy the earlier exercise that much?”

‘GO!GO!GO!’

Wasting no more time, the two teams dashed into the surrounding woods, assuming you could call limping dashing, but they made it.

It was then that Arthur turned to Aegon and Luna. Hunting the two teams were part of the training regime Arthur made for them. The main goal of their training was to start building a foundation for an intelligence agency that was broken into three. Ghosts, Phantoms, and Specters.

Phantoms would be led by Aegon. Their main tasks will be espionage, assassination, and other activity that would be best done in the dark.

Specters would be led by Luna. Their mains task would include monitoring, scouting, and relaying that information in real-time.

For Ghosts, it would be personally led by Arthur. It will only ever comprise of a small group of people that directly work for Arthur. As for their tasks, they would range from anything the Phantoms did to the Specters.

As for Aegon’s and Luna’s training. Lunar’s job was to scout the teams’ current positions and lay traps ahead of them them. While Aegon’s tasks included sabotage and “sparing” with any vulnerable targets. Of course, both familiars had limits. Aegon’s paws could never tough the ground and could not be noticed by the teams. Luna’s traps weren’t allowed to be found, and she and her clones couldn’t be seen or make contact with the groups. And they both had to relay all information with each other. One would work in the light and the other in the dark.

…

…

…

After about three days of this training exercise, everyone got used to their roles. The two teams suffered massively at the hands of Aegon and Luna in the beginning, but they started to dramatically improve in their performance, particularly their fortitude and adaptability.

It was also during this time that Aegon picked up and odd habit – singing and poetry.

…

It’s on the fourth night of the exercise, and as usual, Aegon was dashing through the treetops of the forest like a phantom. His dark fur reflected no light, even as the space’s large moon shone directly on him. One would even think that the increased gravity in the space was a joke with just how agile he moved.

Regardless, before the night had set, Luna had informed him that Seigfried’s team was within the nearby area.

With his night vision, he could clearly see the entire forest as though it was daytime.

Eventually, he neared Siegfreid’s area and slowed down. ‘Let’s just take out the patrols for tonight, and force them to slow down for Luna’s trap in the morning.’

Stealthily walking among the treetops, Aegon scanned the area and spotted all of the patrols.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he saw this, which inadvertently prompted him to start singing.

“Hahaa, Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?” He began as he leaped onto another tree.

“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!”

“One for the master.”

“One for the dame.”

Leap.

“And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.”

With a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth, Aegon quietly approached one of the patrols that were walking ever closer to a tree.

Just as the patrol reached the tree, Aegon was already there waiting for him on one of the low hanging branches.

Aegon grinned, “hello, little boy who lives down the lane.”

Hearing that the patrol face paled. ‘Just my luck.’

SHINK!

….

….

….

And just like that, the seven-day exercise came to an end. Dragging their limping bodies back to the forest clearing. Everyone stood to attention despite their body’s strong protests.

Standing before them, Arthur was satisfied. Everyone’s eyes had a different look to them. There was determination, perceptiveness, and moreover fortitude.

“Congratulations, guys. You made it.” Said Arthur with a smile. However, to the gathered people, rather than feel at ease at the smile, their bodies subconsciously shivered.

“If you walk to the two sides of the clearing, you will find two lakes with a slightly golden look to them. Take a dip, and all of your injuries will be healed. Afterward, just return to this clearing and lets enjoy some good food.”

Hearing this, everyone suddenly felt at ease and happy. If one were to ask why the Old Man dubbed this kind of training’ mental love,’ this was the love part.

Nevertheless, Arthur watched as the men headed to one side and the women to another. ‘One should never neglect the wellbeing of their people.’

While everyone had made huge progress in their mentality. Arthur had also grown within this period. Ever since integration with the realm, he had found it difficult to utilize his terrest soul body effectively in addition to Cut, Step, and Block. But after some trial and error, he had finally perfect the use of both in addition to strengthening his own body.

.

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[Tidbit: Sigurd or Siegfried was a legendary hero of Germanic mythology, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. Also, I am changing his ability name to Dragon Slayer, so it doesn’t conflict with Draqin’s race ability. But dragonicfication is still a part of his Ability.]