Campaign 8

It was already the next day when Malachi showed up in class. Entering the classroom, everybody was silent. Malachi understood why because he heard everything that happened from Arlianne.

“How does it feel to be completely crushed?” He asked like rubbing salt on their wounds, “Mr. Simmons, Ms. Cuevas, Gene, and the rest of the first 10 to collapse, you’re running with me. The rest of you may have this time for self study. Arlianne, keep them company until lunch. Afterwards, bring them to the armory.”

Malachi dragged half the class back to the drill grounds. Those who were pulled out groaned in despair, while those who remained let out sighs of relief. Since they were exempted for the rest of the week until the deadline of their mission, the remaining cadets decided to mind their own business.

…

On the way to the drill grounds, Malachi picked up Shyama. The 10 cadets despaired seeing Shyama again, knowing that Malachi will have them repeat yesterday’s exercise.

Arriving at the drill grounds, the place was once again occupied by other classes. One of which was Class 1. Class 13’s entry never gets unnoticed.

“It’s Skaria,” said a Class 1 cadet, “Hmm? He only brought half his class?”

Hearing the name, Alexa turned her gaze towards where the cadet was looking.

“Hey, those guys seem to be the ones who collapsed first, yesterday,” commented another cadet, seemingly from the same class as before, “Maybe it’s a punishment.”

“What do you mean by that?” Asked Alexa, “What happened yesterday?”

“Ah, Lady Alexa. Class 13 was made to run laps by the Skaria girl,” explained the cadet, “These guys were the first to collapse from running. Also, the Skaria girl was insane! She lasted 220 laps! The others hadn’t even reached 100 laps!”

“Uh-huh,” said Alexa, “And now he will be having them run again.”

“Probably,” added another cadet, “Oh, he’s speaking with the Drillmaster.”

Over the distance, Malachi and Axton spoke with one another. Axton was in charge of the drill grounds, so Malachi had to talk to him, first. Axton heard from Malachi that half of Class 13 will be running laps again, like yesterday.

“Er, is it just me,” said a cadette, “or is the Drillmaster a little too happy about that?”

Axton was laughing and patting Malachi’s back before he left. Malachi had his classmates line up in front of Shyama, and prepared to have them start running. Before he could give the signal, someone approached them.

“Lady Alexa?!” Cried a Class 1 cadet.

Alexa approached the prepared Malachi.

‘Okay, what the heck is my cousin doing here?’ He thought, ‘Isn’t this dangerous for both of us?’

“Hello, Malachi Skaria,” greeted Alexa, “Do you mind if Class 1 joins your exercise?”

Everybody was surprised, including Malachi.

“Uh, well, I don’t mind, but,” he answered, “What does the rest of your class think?”

Malachi looked at the other Class 1 cadets and received death glares. He also looked at Class 13 and found them to be as confused as he was. Alexa looked back at her class. She also witnessed the hostility they were directing at Malachi.

“If they don’t want to join,” she followed up, “then, do you mind if I were to join, instead?”

“What?! No, Lady Alexa!” Cried a Class 1 cadet, “We will join you!”

“Yes, we will not leave you with a Tainted!” Cried another cadet.

Soon, what was once a group of 11 cadets and one Manticore, became a group of 51 cadets and one Manticore. They had to move to a bigger place due to their large, and unexpected, number. Class 1 and Class 13 mixed with one another, and Malachi and Alexa were at the front to lead the pack.

“I should tell you all about our exercise before we start running,” announced Malachi, “Shyama will be chasing those who fall behind and will tackle them. If you fear getting injured, I suggest you back out, now. Except for Class 13, of course.”

“Wait, a Manticore will be participating?” Asked Alexa.

“Yup, I got the green light from Chief, er, Drillmaster Axton,” he answered, “We will be running for as long as everyone can. At the very least, try to catch up with me.”

“220 laps is nothing for Class 1!” Boasted a cadet, “We can even go over 250!”

Malachi smiled.

“Okay, no one’s backing out?” He asked one final time, “Then, let us begin!”

“Rawr!”

“[Incoherent screaming.]”

With Shyama’s roar as the signal, the group of 51 cadets started running. Like yesterday, before they could even reach 50 laps, the 10 cadets of Class 13 collapsed, and were mercilessly left behind by Malachi and Class 1.

41 cadets continued running with no one dropping out. However, even if no one collapsed, there were still some who tried to give their all in running away from Shyama.

“Why the heck is the Manticore here all of a sudden?!” Cried a Class 1 cadet, “Move it, you fools!”

“Rawr!”

“[Incoherent screaming.]”

At 100 laps, 10 Class 1 cadets finally gave up. 31 cadets left them behind, and Shyama ignored them. Those at the rear finally noticed how fast a Manticore could chase them.

“This is a nice way of pushing us to our limits,” commented Alexa, “Do you mind if we borrow your Manticore?”

Malachi and Alexa maintained their lead at the front of the pack. The two of them were still composed compared to the stragglers about to be caught by Shyama.

“Sorry,” apologized Malachi, “Even if you are the Headmaster’s granddaughter, I can’t give you Shyama. You need an Eskur to at least communicate with her.”

“I see, that’s too bad,” she replied, “Then is it fine for us to join your exercises if we can?”

Malachi shrugged.

“Why not?” He answered, “You seem to appreciate the effort your classmates are giving with Shyama chasing after them. Hmm, is conversing with me fine for you?”

“It’s fine,” said Alexa, “I may be a Perlas, but that doesn’t mean I should hate someone like you.”

‘But I’m a Perlas, too,’ he thought, ‘Huh? Why do I feel comfortable with her? Is it because we are cousins? If only we weren’t related by blood…’

After 200 laps, five cadets gave up, and 26 cadets remained. Malachi whistled as he was impressed.

“~🎶 I’m impressed,” he commented, “What say we pick up the pace?”

Malachi’s speed suddenly increased. Alexa and those behind him were surprised, and increased their speed, too. The ones at the rear looked back and found that Shyama was also increasing her pace!

“Rawr!”

“[Incoherent screaming.]”

Soon, at 250 laps, half of the remaining runners dropped out. 8 cadets, including Malachi and Alexa, remained. Even Shyama caught up to them. Six of them, however, were already showing signs of fatigue by 270 laps. Malachi was still composed, and Alexa began to have difficulty maintaining the gap.

“Can you guys still keep up?” Asked Malachi, “I’m increasing my speed. Ciao~”

At 300 laps, Malachi had left everybody behind. The remaining runners of Class 1 got overtaken by Shyama, and Malachi remained as the only runner.

“Hey, Shyama, go take a rest,” said Malachi, “I can still go on.”

“Rrr…”

Shyama finally broke away from Malachi and took a rest next to Class 13. Class 1, Class 13, and the other classes watched Malachi run on his own.

321… 322… 333…

Malachi was still running.

366… 367… 368…

Running without tiring despite all his sweat.

397… 398… 399…

Finally, after 400 laps, he slowed down to a stop. Unlike Arlianne who had to gasp for air, he breathed in deeply and breathed out slowly. He repeated his breathing until he stabilized himself. Afterwards, he walked towards where his classmates were.

“I will accept any challenge thrown at me,” he declared, “You say 250? I’ll give you 400. Anyone who surpasses me will earn my wholehearted respect, and I will strive to surpass that.”

After that, Malachi dismissed his class and had them sent to the canteen for lunch. The cadets of the other classes had Malachi’s declaration echo in their thoughts as they also went to the canteen. While Class 13 had their lunch, Malachi left the drill grounds and headed for the armory. Alexa noticed this and followed behind him.

“Malachi, may I call you that?” Asked Alexa.

“Lady Alexa?” Greeted Malachi, “I don’t mind, but do you need something?”

“Just call me, Alexa,” she requested, “Will you not have your lunch?”

“It’s fine, I’ll be eating in the armory with the engineers,” he answered, “Aren’t you hungry, yourself?”

“I have my lunch with me.” She said. Alexa showed him a small bag on her waist. “Is it fine if I came with you?”

Malachi hesitated.

“Are you sure?” He asked, “I’m pretty sure that I’ll get murdered if they find me next to you. Even talking with you should have killed me.”

Alexa giggled.

“No way,” she said, “It’s not like you intend to harm me, right?”

‘But that’s still careless of you,’ he thought, ‘Knowing our history, we should be avoiding one another.’

Nevertheless, Malachi still arrived at the armory with Alexa. Unlike the cadets, the engineers were too busy to notice them. Malachi led Alexa deeper into the armory, into what was once a wide open area.

There were makeshift structures built across the area made from wood, rock, metal, and even sandbags. They were built like buildings without the rooftops, and inside the rooms were machines with large plates. Surrounding the structures were overhead catwalks where some engineers and Remi were pointing at a blueprint and comparing the structures.

“What… is this?” Asked Alexa.

Malachi had an evil grin.

“This is a kill house,” he answered, “I will have cadets kill one another inside. Only those left alive have the right to serve under me.”

Alexa looked at him. Except, she didn’t look at him with fear nor contempt, but confusion. Malachi’s smile cramped at the unexpected response.

Eventually, Remi noticed them.

“Oh, here you are—BOY?!” Screamed Remi. Remi ran across the catwalk above them and jumped down. “Why are you with her?!”

Remi fell on top of Malachi, and he scrambled to catch the little girl.

“Oomph! The Hell’s wrong with you?!” He scolded, “That was dangerous!”

“What’s wrong with YOU?!” Bit back Remi, “Why are you having a date with her?!”

Alexa blushed at Remi’s assumption.

“Um, we-we’re not dating!” She cried, “I was just curious, so I followed him.”

Remi stared at Alexa while grabbing Malachi’s face. Remi turned Malachi’s head away from Alexa, and whispered to him.

“Hey, she doesn’t know about you, does she?” She whispered, “About you being related and all that?”

Malachi minutely shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he whispered back, “I’ve been very careful about that. I’ve even made meeting with Gramps at the bare minimum.”

Alexa was still flustered and ignored the other two. Suddenly, a weird sound came from both Malachi and Alexa. It was a gurgle from their guts, they remembered they hadn’t had their lunch, yet.

“Say, Remi, did my lunch get here, yet?” Asked Malachi, “I’m hungry.”

Remi stared into his eyes.

“Oh, that was yours?” She said, “I already ate it.”

“Why?!” Cried Malachi.

Alexa heard their conversation.

“Um, if you don’t mind,” she said, “I could share mine with you.”

Remi and Malachi stared at Alexa, and Remi turned Malachi’s head away again.

“Are you really sure she doesn’t know?” She interrogated, “Heck, are you sure you’re not dating? What about Arlianne, huh?”

“How the heck am I supposed to know?” He asked back, “And wait, I’m loyal to Arlianne, no matter how I may seem to you. Also, aren’t you a bit too young for these topics?”

Remi twisted Malachi’s head back. She then turned her attention on Alexa.

“I’m just kidding,” said Remi, “The boy’s food is in my armory. I’ll have someone fetch it.”

…

After having their lunch, Malachi inspected the kill house while Alexa chatted with Remi.

“So, why are you with the boy?” Asked Remi, “Shouldn’t you be careful with a Skaria?”

Alexa cocked her head.

“Should I?” She asked back, “Looking at his efforts, I don’t think he would do this if he means ill will to the Royal Family. Even Grandfather seems to hold him in high regard.”

Remi glanced at Alexa.

‘Guess she really doesn’t know anything,’ she thought, ‘This just got risky. At least I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this.’

Then, from below, Malachi called for Remi.

“Hey, Remi,” he called, “Get a stopwatch. I want to record my fastest time to clear the kill house. Watch carefully, Alexa. This is how I will change the way we train.”

Malachi went to the starting end of the course and left the two girls. Alexa turned her attention to Remi.

“So, what exactly is a kill house?” She asked.

“It seems to be a live ammunition training course,” explained Remi, “See those plates? Those are attached to machines that will raise them when the shooter gets to specific areas, and will lower when shot at. The shooters will be trained on how to efficiently progress through the course in the shortest time possible.”

Alexa watched Malachi pick up a pair of guns from a table. One was an assault rifle, the other was a handgun. An engineer stood nearby to give Malachi the signal to start.

///

“Hmm, when I’m not pushing it, I get through in 40 seconds,” said Malachi, “If I go for the record, I can go through in 15 seconds.”

Malachi kept repeating the course while they had the leisure to do so. The first run he did was to familiarize himself with the course. The succeeding runs were for him to find out his best record. He also used the other guns to see which ones would give him the best time.

The loadout that resulted in 15 seconds was a double handgun. There were 24 targets in the entire course, 12 mobile targets and 12 static targets. With his abilities, he didn’t need to reload either gun. Alexa watched in awe as Malachi ran the course.

Malachi approached Alexa from below since she was observing from the catwalk.

“Wanna try it out?” He asked.

Malachi instructed Alexa with each of his weapons. Due to the nature of the kill house, however, sniper rifles and light machine guns were not advised. Alexa took the time to experiment with each gun to find her best loadout.

When she ran the course, Alexa’s first time ended up with 38 seconds, a bit better than Malachi’s first. Her succeeding runs also improved, but she maintained a steady record of 18 seconds.

“Not bad,” commented Malachi, “Not bad at all. I wonder how Arlianne would fare?”

“We can find out now, if you’d like, Malachi.”

Just when Alexa finished her runs, the rest of Class 13 had arrived in the armory kill house. Naturally, they were surprised to see a member of the Royal Family standing next to Malachi. The sight of Alexa was more shocking than the presence of the kill house.

“Why is—” a cadet was about to ask, but Malachi interrupted him.

“Shut up, don’t ask questions,” he ordered, “Lady Alexa, as part of the Royal Family, wanted to see for herself my contributions to the kingdom. You will all take part in the demonstration to see how effective this course will be. Depending on your performance, the kill house may be incorporated in future exercises conducted by the Academy and the Army.”

“Wait, I didn’t…” Alexa was about to deny Malachi’s explanation.

“Shh,” hushed Malachi, “I’m already taking a big risk by being with you, let me cover up our recent developments, okay?”

Malachi returned his attention to the others.

“Remi will be keeping a record of everyone’s time,” he said, “I will first show you how to run the course. Go up to the catwalks and watch me from there. Afterwards, you will all go through it and will exhaust all efforts until you maintain a record.”

Once Class 13 was up on the catwalks, Malachi chose a normal loadout of an assault rifle and a handgun. With Remi on the stopwatch, and another engineer to give the signal, Malachi walked through the course. This run wasn’t an all-out effort. Malachi needed to show the others how to go through the course, step by step.

“Did you all get that?” He asked his class, “Next, I will show you my best record.”

Malachi switched his loadout with two handguns, one in his hands and another still holstered. Once he was ready, the engineer gave the signal. This time, Malachi replicated his 15-second record. The speed that he had was incomparable to the first. Each shot was precise, and his timing was accurate. When his first handgun ran out of ammo, he didn’t reload and switched to his other gun. He finished the course as expected.

“You don’t need to imitate my loadout,” he advised his class, “You can take all the time you need to look for the loadout that will give you the best time. Ideally, though, I would have you run the course with your chosen specialties. However, this is perfect to train you in handling the other types of guns. I will also be improving my own records using the other guns.”

Malachi paused for a while.

“I’ll give you guys an incentive,” he added, “If any of you are able to achieve a record of less than 20 seconds, I will exempt you from running laps for one day per second for a maximum of five days. If you achieve 19 seconds, you’ll be exempted for one day. 18 seconds will give you two days.”

…

In the end, only two people were able to achieve a record of less than 20 seconds aside from Malachi. The first was Arlianne. She was able to achieve a record of 18 seconds, the same as Alexa’s. The other was Levi with 19 seconds, and was able to earn a day of freedom.

“The slowest is Mr. Simmons, 52 seconds,” announced Malachi, “Class average is 38 seconds. Hmm, we need to work on the average.”

Malachi looked at the time, it was just 2 hours before dinner time.

“Just by looking at it, the problem mostly lay on your reaction speed,” he commented, “The bottom 10 will be working on that for the next two hours. The rest may leave early or try to beat their previous record. The incentive still holds. Remi, is the modified range ready? The bottom 10, come with me.”

Malachi dragged the tired and dejected remnants of Class 13. Meanwhile, a few of those who remained left early. The only ones to try and beat their records were Arlianne and the Eskurs. Though, there was still one more person who hadn’t left.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Asked Alexa.

Arlianne and the Eskurs exchanged glances.

“Will it be fine for you, Lady Alexa?” Inquired Arlianne. The Eskurs didn’t dare think of speaking to a member of the Royal Family carelessly. “I recall some cadets of Class 1 looking for you earlier.”

Alexa looked at Arlianne.

“Uh, A-Arlianne Skaria, right?” She said.

“Just Arlianne, Lady Alexa,” said Arlianne, “Is there something you need?”

“No, it’s nothing,” replied Alexa.

Then, Alexa went silent.

‘It doesn’t seem like she recognized me,’ thought Alexa, ‘What was that smile for back then?’

Arlianne looked at the Eskurs.

“Do you mind if she joins us?” She asked them.

The Eskurs looked at one another. For a while, they silently looked at each other. It may seem like they were just staring at one another, but their gazes shifted from time to time. They were communicating with their eyes. Afterwards, they all silently nodded to Alexa.

Arlianne returned her attention to Alexa.

“It seems they are fine with it,” she translated, “We will take turns going through the course, all right?”

///

In the modified firing range, the same pop-up targets found in the kill house were installed. Rather than placed in ambush or passage locations, they were all spread out in random locations. At the end where the shooters would be standing were numbers embedded on the floor dictating the station numbers.

Malachi placed each of the 10 cadets equally across the firing range stations.

“We will be working on your reaction speed,” said Malachi, “Targets will pop-up one at a time for now, and you will hit them all as fast as you can. I won’t be recording your times, but I will take note of who finishes last. When your station lights up, hit the button beside you to signal your finish.”

Malachi signaled to the engineers to bring out the weapon crates. He laid out the assault rifles and handguns, and their respective magazines and ammunition on tables next to each station.

“I would suggest you use the semiautomatic fire option,” he said, “It would help with conserving ammo. But first, a demonstration on what to do.”

Malachi grabbed a loadout from the table and went to an empty station. With an engineer to give the signal, the first target popped up. As Malachi shot the first target, the next target immediately showed up. Every downed target would immediately erect a new one. There were 60 targets so he needed to reload in the middle of it.

Since no one was recording his time, no one knew how long he took. However, just from his speed, one could assume that he only needed less than a minute to finish it.

“All right, fire on my command!”

Afterwards, Malachi received a revelation from their performance. He found that the ones who did badly in the kill house excelled in the firing range. Most notably was Tyler Simmons, he was in last place in the kill house, but he remained to be the first to finish in the range.

“Mr. Simmons, what did you do before enrolling here?” Asked Malachi, “It may have something to do with your performance.”

Tyler shrunk a bit.

“I-I hunted with m-my father,” he answered, “W-we lived n-next to a m-mountain so th-there were a l-lot of monsters.”

Malachi raised a brow.

‘A shy kid like this was hunting monsters?’ He thought, ‘The gap is too much. He’s not good in tight places, but it seems he’s perfect for sniping. Heck, he even chose a shotgun.’

Malachi looked at the others.

“I may have to revise some things,” he said, “All of you are dismissed.”

///

Malachi went back to the kill house and found the Eskurs watching idly from the catwalks. Standing at the entrance of the kill house was Arlianne, and there was a person going through the course. Eventually, the shooter came out through the exit, and Malachi saw who it was.

“Alexa?” Said Malachi, “What are you still doing here?”

Alexa went next to Arlianne, and Malachi approached the two girls. Alexa reloaded her loadout and Arlianne was prepping for another run.

“Arlianne and I were having a friendly competition,” explained Alexa, “Seeing that our records were the same, I wanted to beat it.”

Arlianne also gave the same answer.

“We almost always tie in the records,” she said, “Here, take a look.”

Arlianne handed Malachi the records list. He became surprised at their sudden improvement. The two girls were able to steadily gain speed while he was gone, and they had achieved a sustained time of 16 seconds. The Eskurs also improved their time, and Levi even gained another day of freedom.

Malachi suddenly laughed. The people with him directed gazes of confusion from his strange behavior.

“Hahaha, this is good,” he said, “very, VERY good. I wonder if I should…”

He suddenly muttered in inaudible whispers. Malachi ignored the others and went to pick a loadout. This time, however, he didn’t pick a double handgun and chose a normal assault rifle and handgun loadout. His mutterings never ceased even after loading his guns and picking up extra magazines, especially even after walking to the entrance.

There was a strange thing, though. His eyes were unnaturally focused. An engineer had replaced Remi to record the time, while another was about to give the signal. At the first split-second the signal was given, Malachi bolted through the entrance at incomparable speed. His explosive start was a shock to the others compared to his previous starts.

As he ran, his mutterings kept going. He breezed through the course without stopping, he even punched a pop-up target that appeared too close to him. The punch was strong enough to push it back down. He punched or kicked any target that was abnormally close and shot the rest until he came out of the course. Fortunately, the engineer was alert enough to stop the watch and stared at the result.