Zyn decided to stretch the minute into a few. The empathic silence kept calming everyone. Even the ones who got betrayed felt like what they had suffered had meaning. Instead of just another unfortunate day, it became a group moment. It gave them closure.

Shen might not like paying respect to traitors but saw its usefulness and silently praised the First Lieutenant for his foresight.

Zyn eventually broke the silence, "You survived. You're alive. You're winners.

"Most of you already realized why you are here while others are not. You felt the end approach. What is different? You already know the answer. You were saved because you never acted against the military, no matter how dreadful the situation was. You showed at least the resilience to fight against the enemies of Reality to the very end. Some of you showed virtue on top of that.

"It doesn't matter if you were the first or last to fall unconscious. Be proud of this accomplishment. The Expeditionary Training is challenging, to say the least."

Shen noticed the First Lieutenant purposefully used the words "acted against the military" and avoided saying "traitors."

Shen also understood why Zyn had wanted to rush to this part of his speech. People might mourn and be angry at those they lost, but they stood straighter, firmer. They accepted the praise for the truth it was. They had passed a brutal test.

They had proven themselves.

"In fact," the Brigade Commander continued, "most of you will carry deep traumas with you for decades. I know I have. I still jump when I see shadows in the dark. But I won't try to unite us in misfortune or anything of the kind. All I say is that you might use your trauma to fuel your progress or let it control you in an unfortunate way. One minute of silence for the fallen doesn't change that they made bad choices—but you haven't. And you have the AP to prove it."

At those words, Shen got a system window and two notifications.

‎ ‎

Kill Report

Your rank: C

Enemy rank threshold: D

Individual Kill Value:

Warrior (C): 10,000 AP → 112% → 11,200 AP

Scout (D): 1,000 AP → 8% → 80 AP

Bonuses:

Rising Star: +25%

Confirmed kills:

8,764 Warriors — +122,696,000 AP

98,226 Scouts — +9,822,600 AP

‎ ‎

| Deployment Kills: +119,372,600 AP

| Total AP: 135,419,972

‎ ‎

The military limited which enemies it rewarded you for killing on each deployment. You always got at least the full reward for enemies of your rank or higher, but lower-ranked ones rewarded less AP than their base value. It was done to prevent abuses and let weaker troops experience battle and grow stronger. Shen could've easily killed many more Scouts if he had left the Warriors alone. If all C-ranks did the same, it would end up in tragedy for the D-ranks, either because the Warriors killed them or couldn't earn any AP, thus limiting their growth and the entire military's improvement.

According to the classes Zyn had taught, the math was complex and based on multiple factors, from how dreadful the situation was to how well they had done. The breakpoint was usually around the point where you had some incentive to save your subordinates and keep things fair for them but not steal their kills.

In this deployment, Shen had only gotten AP for D-rank Void Spawn or higher, and the Scouts only rewarded him with 8% of the AP they should have. Considering how many Scouts there had been and how easy it was for him to kill them, 8% wasn't bad.

He had just gained 130 million AP. That was a lot. And yet, it was also mostly useless.

At C-rank, Shen couldn't use that AP to improve his stats, which was the best part of the Guardian System. Therefore, AP was no different from money for him. Granted, it was special money that could be used in the very convenient system store, but still.

This sum would only become really important after he reached the peak of C-rank and was ready to rank up. Ranking up would cost him all 100 million AP, and the B-tier learning ability upgrade, 5 billion AP.

Until then, he could hope to find suitable equipment or resources in the store. Or exchange it for military merit again if he saw another worthy opportunity.

"I know what some of you are thinking," Zyn said. "And no, AP doesn't usually come this fast. This Expeditionary Training was unique in many ways. Most of you gained the equivalent of years of work on the front lines. That said, things are already more hectic because of the Calamity, and it will worsen as time passes. Whoever survives will have enough AP to last you at least until you rank up, maybe longer."

Many of the troops' spirits kept rising. People weren't slow to cheer up when benefits were involved.

In the end, everyone there was a Path Walker. They understood there was only moving forward. Whether they sought revenge or peace away from all this, they could only achieve it by surviving and growing stronger.

Zyn continued, "On the topic of gains, you have all concluded the basic course and are now official military members. Congratulations."

‎ ‎

| Military Promotion: Junior Lieutenant → Lieutenant

‎ ‎

"That means you'll receive a discount on every system purchase while you remain here, depending on your military rank."

That wasn't news to anyone. They had been told it was one of the primary motivators for some people to serve in the military beyond their obligatory term.

Usually, the discount was only applied after someone accumulated at least one Standard year of service, not necessarily all at once. Only then were they allowed to get the discount after one month of continuous service, and the count started over if they left the military for a while. Fortunately, conscripted troops got it as soon as they got any military rank better than "Junior Something." They had at least that going for them.

Zyn continued, "Some of you have also received Commendations for distinguishing yourselves. If you did, you'll get a system notification now."

‎ ‎

| You were the last to fall during the Expeditionary Training

| +1 Commendation

| Total: 3

‎ ‎

Shen couldn't help but smile in pride. He had suspected he was the last to fall, but it was good to have confirmation and even gain something from it.

Zyn said, "Now, you are likely wondering about the Expeditionary Training. What happened there? I'll invite Captain Abbav to explain it to you." He gestured to his left.

Shen's eyes widened so much they almost popped from his head. Abbav hadn't teleported there. He hadn't materialized. He had been there all along, yet Shen hadn't been able to notice the Captain.

Abbav's real appearance was that of a white half-dragon. He was tall, had silver eyes, and wore beautiful luminescent dark blue plate armor that shone with white lights, like blinking stars. It was a work of art. The Captain seemed to be clad in the cosmos and looked strong.

Shen was unable to see anything inside Abbav with his Law Vision. The half-dragon was invisible to his Law senses. He hated it.

"If you're wondering, I'm a draggor," he said. "Call me half-dragon at your peril; I have killed people for less, and you probably don't plan on spending the rest of your life in the military, the only place you're protected from me."

Well, that was an introduction.

Abbav's voice was smooth, easy on the ears, and also... not quite real. Shen couldn't describe it but was absolutely sure he would forget the voice and whatever it said if Abbav wanted.

Such an ability was as terrifying as his invisibility trick. In fact, Shen was confident Liya was considerably weaker than Abbav. Was that the mighty of a mastered Axiom?

Shen recalled the fear he had felt in the Voided Subnode and was glad he hadn't known how truly powerful the Captain was, or he might have fallen into paranoia even with his True Self.

Abbav proceeded, "You've met my avatar, Lieutenant Specialist Karlov. I used that identity to assist First Lieutenant Zyn. I won't share any details, but that is legal, and you were not lied to by the Guardian System. If you want to know more about it, grow strong and get military clearance to gain access to the knowledge."

So they weren't going to lie about that. Interesting.

Shen was surprised by the word avatar. It sounded like a technical word, but he didn't know what it entailed. It sounded like Shen hadn't met the real Abbav before now.

Heavens, he hated always being in the dark about everything. Researching stuff would be his priority when he got the time.

Abbav kept talking, "The Expeditionary Training was meant for many things. Among them was making you grow stronger while getting used to dreadful situations. Letting you lose resources or your life under such circumstances would be unfair; thus, you were saved, healed, and given your trinkets back. Only traitors were allowed to die." People stiffened as most of the calmness from the minute of silence disappeared. Abbav showed a big, wide, and sadistic smile, his sharp teeth promising pain. "Don't let First Lieutenant Zyn's softness fool you. The dead traitors had it coming. You're at least D-ranks; you are required to know better than to make a scene. If I were in the First Lieutenant's place, whoever attacked me would be dead. If you can't control your feelings, you're not worthy."

Before there could be any public outrage about that, a new being entered the fold while saying, "Found you, Captain Abbav."

The speaker faded into existence as if the very air turned into biological matter while she stepped ahead. A summer breeze kept going in her wake, brushing against the troops, as she stopped beside Zyn, opposite Abbav. Her blond hair went to her waist, and her eyes were the color of foliage in mid-autumn. She wore multiple layers of white, gold, and green clothing that ended like a robe, a unique mix of comeliness and military-like austerity. She looked both a fair elven maiden peasant that could fit any medieval town and a commander ready to obliterate her enemies' armies. Then, the delicate but plentiful gold and silver jewelry on her hair made her look like royalty—and she was.

The Queen of Autumn and Spring was still the most perfect woman Shen had ever laid his eyes upon.

But not, it was more. She was here for real. Physically. Her mere presence made the world a better place. The Laws of that mobile fortress became firm as rocks as they all seemed to rejoice at how easy they found to simply be.

Meanwhile, the Laws inside the Queen moved like a slow wind and an icy storm at the same time. Shen was sure he could see a vast blue lake in a tranquil spring. He was fishing, and his children—

Her voice broke him from his trance.

"I am Acting General Saelihn Herfiel," she said, "and I should not be here." The way she looked at Captain Abbav made it clear that he was somehow responsible for it.