Yui says "Unfortunately, I have no access to the inside of the tests. I will not be able to help you, nor can I tell you how things might change."

"So, I will just have to figure it out as I go."

Yui says "Affirmative."

Well, no reason to worry about something I can't change, so I sit and eat dinner with the others. After dinner to my surprise Kechara follows me when I carry Asuna to my room. When I open the door Kechara walks in and looks around, she seems curious.

She also shows no sign of leaving, but that is fine, the huge bed should be big enough for her too. Once Asuna and I get comfy on the bed Kechara gently nudges us towards the middle of the bed. When we have moved enough to satisfy her she climbs onto the bed and curls around the both of us.

Since she is so close I am able to sense something different about her, when I check I quickly find out she is just about to rank up. That explains her behavior, she is nervous and wants us close to reassure her. I pat her side and use a little of my power to help make sure the rank up goes smoothly.

Then I spend the rest of my power on my own core, before cuddling Asuna close and going to sleep. My morning wake up is me rudely hitting the floor, looking up I see that Kechara pushed me off the bed. Both of them are trying to look contrite but I can easily tell they are laughing at me.

Flipping myself up to my feet I immediately tackle the both of them and start tickling them. For almost an hour we wrestle, mainly me and Kechara with Asuna making sneak attacks. All in all, we have a ton of fun and it only ends when Yui informs us that breakfast is ready.

Kechara instantly runs off, heading for the dining room, I quickly get dressed and follow. As I carry Asuna with me, I feed my power into her core, I have to use both arms to carry her now. After a delicious breakfast I send the others off to the library, then I head up to the gate room.

When I arrive in the gate room I find the gate for the captain's test is already active and waiting. Yui probably started the activation sequence as soon as I left the dining hall. Since it is a higher ranked test it probably needs more mana and time to open than the other tests.

"Yui, everything ready?"

Yui says "Affirmative. Good luck, Ash."

"Thank you. If I'm gone more than a day let the others know where I am so they don't worry."

Yui says "I will."

"Alright, see you soon."

With that I walk straight into the waiting gate and let it suck me in, this trip is more intense than the others. When I can see again I find myself in a small but well furnished stone room. Walking over to the lone window I can see a castle yard and beyond that a decent sized town.

Looking around the room I find a diary on the table next to the bed, when I read it I get my backstory. As far as the people here are concerned I am some type of monster that was found as a baby. An old retired soldier found me and raised me, many people fear me because I am not human.

Also, even though I am a captain, I have been placed in charge of the lowest ranked soldiers in the army. In total I have fifty soldiers under my command, and they are basically the misfits and leftovers the other captains didn't want. This is going to make the test even more challenging than what the mage knight described in his journal.

Again, like the other tests, none of my own equipment came with me, including Blitz. However, thanks to the other tests I am already used to this and have figured out how to fight without my gear just fine. The main problem I am going to have is the other tests aspects, especially the leadership part.

I basically have three weeks to turn a bunch of misfits into a crack combat team that can hold its own against the monsters. As if that wasn't difficult enough, according to the diary I am poor and the troops only get leftovers and broken equipment. At least as far as the people here know I was just recently promoted, so I won't have any issues about my character suddenly changing.

The more I read the more I start to think of the people of this world as NPCs in a game. In fact this entire test may as well be a huge VR game as far as I can tell, it was just done with magic rather than technology. Taking another look outside I determine that it is shortly after dawn, guess I should get started.

Luckily the end of the diary has several detailed maps so I won't have to worry about getting lost. After memorizing the maps I leave my room and head to the barracks assigned to my troops. When I enter the barracks I see my troops lazing about, most of them are still asleep.

"On your feet!!!"

My sudden yell has them panicking instantly, as they react to my presence I can see fear in their eyes. It isn't the fear of a commanding officer, it is the fear of someone who suddenly comes face to face with a beast. Looks like me just not being human is enough to make this test a lot harder than it is supposed to be.

"Everyone, get into your armor and line up outside! You have five minutes!!"

As I walk back outside I hear them moving and a low conversation starts. Since my hearing is much better than a humans I am able to hear every word. A lot of it is griping and complaining, but some of it is the spread of rumors about me.

Apparently, according to the rumors, I will kill and eat anyone who displeases me. Normally this would bother me, but right now it will actually be useful, it will keep them from disobeying. Turning them into decent troops is going to be hard enough without having them working against me.