3

Even after the invention of firearms had spread throughout the continents, armies still relied heavily on melee or primitive ranged weapons. This made swordsman classes mandatory for all of the Federations army.

Ammunition was expensive and when it ran out, as it inevitably would, they would be left with just that, a sword versus a firearm.

And so it was decided, the conscripts would have 4 hours of swordsmanship practice every single day.

...

*Thud* *Thud*

"And that is how you incapacitate your opponent."

A thirty year old man demonstrated a simple move on a straw filled dummy standing elevated in front of the conscripts. It was a basic move that consisted of hitting the opponent's arm to knock it away, then aiming a swing at their knee to make them stumble and fall, resulting in the attacker's enemy's loss of footing.

This was the last of the series of moves that the instructor had shown them.

Equipped on their waists they all had light scabbards with blunt wooden swords in them.

"Weapons ready!"

A shout sounded from the instructor as all of the conscripts stood in front of their straw dummies.

"You may begin training... now."

The man propped himself up against a wall and started reminiscing with a sad smile.

"So young and full of energy... let's hope they don't all die right after being sent to the front...."

Remembering this he spat.

*ptooey*

His mood completely soured he frowned and started walking around, his footsteps drowned out by the sound of wood on straw.

...

Yan flicked around an odd raisin shaped gem in his hands. He was puzzled as to why it was given to him as he entered the assembly hall. Which was unlike his peers who had looks of excitement and anticipation painted on their faces.

"Our very own Lonbite gems, we'll finally be able to see our stats."

A young brown haired guy exclaimed while beaming at his group of friends.

"Lonbite gems? Stats?"

Yan's face went completely blank, he had never heard mention of such terms before. Edrea, his home country hadn't, in their research, stepped into the huge domain of spell chants and mana. In this aspect, they were primitive compared to the Federation and only honed the sword arts that they were known for.

Yan wouldn't have even known what mana was if not for the fact that it was used daily by the entire population.

In the middle of the assembly hall stood old men and women with mysterious auras. They were all standing next to bigger versions of the Lonbite gem.

"You'll all be examined now and have your mana limits unlocked through the Lonbite gems that will grant you a system with which you can advance."

The voice of the greying old lady was quiet yet everyone seemed to hear it.

"The names of your system may vary but their function and abilities won't. They'll show you your mana and body stats and the spell chants you know. They can also be used to record knowledge but it will have to be reviewed regularly to keep up with your memory."

A balding man waved his hand and said.

"As soon as your name is called out, come up to the corresponding Lonbite crystal to begin your fusing sequence."

...

"Although I don't trust anything made by Belfort Federation. This seems to be a step that I can't forgo as without it I'll have no known way to improve."

After thirty minutes of waiting, Yan was finally called up to a Lonbite crystal, beside it was the mysterious old lady from before. She passed him a scalpel and started to stare at him, waiting.

"Conscript Yan, why are you just sitting there?"

Cold sweat started to pour down Yan's spine as he felt a sense of impending doom.

"You don't have to look so scared."

With a cheery smile, the woman moved the hand that held the scalpel and placed it above his wrist.

"Seems like you're from the country and haven't been taught by the city schools about the Lonbite gem fusing process."

With a relieved sigh Yan nodded with a barely visible smile.

"I was a country bumpkin too before I joined the military, oh the good old days. But enough about me, I'll show you exactly what to do."

She placed her wrinkled finger just above his wrist and said.

"You have to take the scalpel and perform a thin cut here. Then you'll have to insert the Lonbite crystal insi-"

Yan quickly and precisely cut where the old lady showed then slotted in the Lonbite gem in an extremely smooth manner. All this was done without even the slightest wince.

"I mean I didn't finish explaining, but that doesn't matter. Now take the hand with the gem in and place it near the Lonbite crystal. It showed then start cal-"

-System calibrating-`

He had already placed his hand on the crystal.

Although the lady was miffed by the entire situation she smiled wryly and shook Yan's hand.

"The name's Heather, I hope we meet again Yan."

"Oh... ok..."

Yan walked off, weirded out by the etiquette of this country, or rather by the lack of it. Its existence was ever prominent in his surroundings.

-System calibration complete-

-Naming system-

-Powerful emotions detected-

-Hatred-

-Adjusting...-

-Revenge for the Fallen (Revenge type system)-

-Detecting Host's elemental affinity-

-Element detected: Lightning (Rare)-

-Scanning Host for Mana-

-Scan complete-

-Hosts body: Healthy, Mana (current/max): 1.5/1.5-

...

It was night and all of the conscripts had been told to rest as their bodies were modified by their new systems.

-Host resting-

-Initiating passive and innate spell chant creation-

An electric current started to course throughout Yan's body as he started to twitch involuntarily. The pain started off bearable with only a light sting around his spine area, but soon its level started to amp up.

The same was happening all around him.

The conscripts lay there on their beds groaning or shaking, most of them were not used to pain.

Every systems creation sequence varied, but there were similarities between systems of the same element.

Water systems made their hosts feel as though they were deep underwater getting crushed by the pressure, this left most of them gasping for air.

Systems with the fire element made their owners feel like they were burning up which made them all sweat like crazy while they moaned on their beds.

Air system users had all fainted, they had lost to the constant flow of oxygen that made them unable to respire properly.

Earth affinity was mostly defensive which meant its hosts didn't experience pain, just the discomfort of a dry mouth from sand and the total inability to move.

After around two hours all pained noises subsided, the barracks was filled with the soft breathes of young men and women.