The next generation

Back in the Capital of the nation of Los, in the north part of the city, the main building of the Orders stood in all its glory. The size of the building was massive. Several other smaller buildings were around it, and they had an enormous forest to train in and ran several activities. Only people working for the Orders could even take a step inside this place.

The two guards at the gate notice the man getting closer to the entrance and they salute him with the respect he deserves.

"Welcome back, Lord Arin!" Arin Sevia greeted the soldiers and went inside the training grounds.

That was easy enough. They probably don't have too many spellcasters in this place. I can snoop around. Thanatos was happy with his own acting skills. The plan to infiltrate had worked.

Arin Sevia had died the night before in his own office, killed by Thanatos, and later dumped outside the Capital in secrecy thanks to Castess. In Arin's office, Thanatos found a letter detailing his new position as a trainer for the new recruits of the Black Order.

It was the perfect chance to infiltrate the main building of the army and learn some of their secrets. Although Castess had objected to the idea, Thanatos was confident he could pass as Arin thanks to the spell [Transformation]. Unlike the spell [Disguise] which only changed some superficial characteristics like skin tone and eye color, [Transformation] changed the entire body. It took a lot of mana, but the result was that Thanatos had changed his appearance to look exactly like Arin.

According to the Black Book of Zek, even a normal magic user couldn't see through this disguise. Thanatos acted like an instructor and walked freely in the halls of the army. He watched the recruit's training in the sun, taking classes in history of the nation and law, and even some sparring matches between higher ranking members.

Once again, thanks to Castess knowledge, he learned that the Orders use a system of stripes. From common soldiers with no stripes to the commander of an Order who had six stripes. Even on the religious side, the Blue and White orders used the system of stripes, along with the military Orders of Red, Purple, and Yellow. Only the Black Order was an exception. Thanks to some reports in the office of Arin, he learned that a member of the Black Order was the equivalent of a commander, meaning they were assumed to have six stripes.

Having the chance to meet the next generation of members of the Black Order was unique. Thanatos could use the information in case he had to fight the Nation of Los in the future. Information is key to victory and I only need a day to learn enough about them in case of battle.

He had already ascertained the strength of the recruits and the trainers. The majority of them were nothing special, but he recognized the strength of those with more than four stripes on their uniforms. He also learned about the distribution of the soldiers in the Orders, Red was for the more offensive focused soldiers, Purple was the defensive unit, and Yellow was for the soldiers who had skills in the use of long-range weapons or spells.

He was impressed by the effort to categorize and distribute the soldiers according to their best attributes. Someone stopped behind him and saluted with enthusiasm.

"Lord Arin, thanks for coming so soon. Did you finish arranging your private matters?" It was a short man with dark hair and three stripes on his shoulder.

"Yes. I have settled my business so I can start teaching the new recruits. Speaking of which, should I go meet them now?"

"Ah, that would be the best. They are still getting used to the military life, so having a man like you teach them respect and discipline is just what they need. Please follow me to the third tower in the southwest."

Thanatos followed the man across to an even more restricted area. This was the living quarters of the new recruits, keeping their identities a secret and only having contact with a select few was essential to protect from enemies' spies. Sadly, a spy was already infiltrating under the disguise of a trainer.

Thanatos entered a classroom after crossing the halls. He was taken aback by what he saw.

"Everyone, please pay attention. This is Arin Sevia, your new instructor. He's going to be in charge of your training from now on."

"K-KIDS?" The words came out of his mouth as he forgot his disguise after seeing a bunch of kids playing and screaming in the classroom.

"HEY GIVE ME A CANDY!" "You already ate half of it!" "I DON'T CARE!"

Wait, the new recruits are children? From all the things he imagined, he didn't expect this... He moved his eyes across the room, inspecting the children one by one. The older one looked like he was eleven or twelve. And the youngest was a little girl playing with a doll. She looked like five or six.

"Please children, your new instructor is here. Pay attention please!" The man yelled, trying to get the kids' attention, but they didn't listen to him. They were absorbed in their games. Until one of the kids finally noticed them standing there.

"Ahh, hey old man. I want more candy. Edmund isn't giving me more because he's selfish. So, can I have a bag for me alone?" The boy extended his hand, expecting the sweets.

"That's not true. I gave everyone candy, but you insist on taking more Thik. Don't listen to him; he's going to eat the candy alone without sharing." The oldest one protested.

"Kids, there is no time for that now your new teacher is here!" They all looked at Thanatos with a curious expression.

"Yes, please listen to him. He's going to be in charge of your training from now on. Lord Arin, I'll leave you in charge. If you need anything, just ask the soldiers here. Good luck" The man gave a salute and walked away, leaving Thanatos alone in front of the children.

Man, maybe I should have gone to see the current generation. It would have been harder, but there is not much to learn from little kids. They probably can't even fight. I was probably supposed to be the first one to teach them. Sigh. With a mental sigh of resignation, Thanatos walked to the table in front and introduced himself.

"My name is Arin Sevia, a four stripe trainer of the Red Order. Does anyone have a question?" He was planning to leave as soon as possible, but he wasn't going to blow his cover. He would teach them random things and facts for an hour, then walk away and leave this place.

"I-I do have a question?" A kid raised his hand. He had blond hair and white eyes. He was probably seven or eight. A bit timid, so Thanatos encouraged him to ask.

"Pleas ask. And could you tell me your name?"

"I-My name is Cid. I wanted to ask, why are you using magic to change your appearance? I mean, is that okay to ask?"

"What?" Thanatos's disguise had failed. Somehow, this kid saw right through it. Before he could try to think of how he had noticed, another of the kids answered him.

"Yeah, don't worry about Cid. There is something weird with his eyes. I think they called it 'the eyes of truth' or something like that. The thing is, he can see mana."

"Mana? You mean you can see mana as a real thing?"

"Y-Yes. I noticed some mana swirling around your body, probably because you're using a spell. I'm sorry I can't control it yet. It just happens."

"What does it look like?" Thanatos was enthralled by this information.

"Well, in your case, it looks like a blanket covering your body. It changes size and it moves slightly when you do. I also see the rest of your mana, the one inside your body. It looks like a dark aura, is a bit scary, like the mana inside of Gena."

This was amazing. Thanatos had no idea someone could see mana. This was a rare ability, the type you are born with. He wanted to test something. He extended his hand and spoke instructions to Cid.

"Cid, I want to do a little game. I'm going to prepare a few spells in my hand. I want you to tell me what you see, okay?"

"O-Okay." He was nervous but agreed to Thanatos's request.

First, he began to focus his mana to do a [Fireball] spell.

"Fire and flames. Is it a type of fire spell?"

"Correct. How about this one."

"Cold and blue. I think maybe an ice spell."

"Nice, and this one?"

"Green and warm, maybe a healing spell, I'm not sure."

"Correct again. That's amazing, Cid, you have an incredible talent."

Cid blushed a little as he looked to the side. The praise was making him happy. The other kids noticed and began to raise their hands and called for Thanatos's attention.

"I'm super strong. I can show you. You want to see, right teacher?" The kid that was asking for candy was the most excited to get his attention.

"Teacher, I can do magic things too. Look at me!" The oldest girl waved her hands, trying to get noticed.

"I can show you my abilities too if you want to." The oldest kid raised his hand in a humble way.

"…" Even the little girl raised the hand of her doll, trying to get noticed.

Without trying, Thanatos had captured the children's attention. He moved his arms to get them to calm down.

"Easy, we have a lot of time. Tell me your name, age, and what things you can do."

"My name is Thik I am nine years old. I can fight really good. I'm super strong! I could beat ten grown ups by myself."

"My name is Edmund. I'm twelve. I have earth magic abilities. That's what they told me."

"My name is Jane. I'm nine. I can make magical sparly things that do PEW, or PAWWWO, or FFLUSSSHHH…"

"Cid I'm eight. I can see Mana but I-I'm not that good in fights yet."

The little girl grabbed Jane's dress. "Gena is shy, so she doesn't talk to new people. She's six, and her power is to summon Bubu to fight for her. Don't worry, once she likes you, she'll talk to you."

Thanatos wasn't sure about what exactly their powers were, but after testing the eyes of Cid, he knew why these children were picked to be the next generation in the Black Order. Raw potential If they take them when they are young, they can mold them into the perfect agents. If they all have rare abilities, then I need to see it.

Thanatos walked toward the window and looked outside at the vast terrain of the army. "Kids, I would like to ask you to keep my magic a secret. The truth is that I'm a bit ugly, so I don't like to show it when I meet someone for the first time. That's why I use a spell to change my face a little. Can you keep quiet for a while?"

The children nodded in agreement.

"I want to see all your powers, but this classroom is a bit tight. Let's go outside."