171 Chain of Command
Day of Fratur, 12:55 p.m.
Vivian and Kara were walking along a hallway and they both had a pen and a notebook on their hands.
They finally reached their destination and entered a classroom.
Inside the room, there were both males and females.
Seeing two beauties, Vivian and Kara, many people, especially the men, turned to their direction.
I seriously can't believe that I transmigrated to another world just to go back to school…
She looked around if she could recognize any faces.
These people…
They're all from the Luxen and Heisen Chapter…
By her estimate, there were around 18 students or new recruits -- 12 males and 6 females.
And Vivian was the eldest of both genders.
Oh God…
I'm the old hag in this group…
Kara glanced at Vivian, waiting for her to take the lead on where they should sit.
Vivian began walking and sat down near a group of women.
She smiled at them before minding her own business.
Kara, on the other hand, made sure to sit beside Vivian.
When 1:00 p.m. stuck, a man in his mid-30s with short blue spiky hair entered the room and stood in front of the class.
"I am Brother High Lieutenant Gars and I will be your Training Instructor until your Basic Training ends, which is 2 weeks. I will be teaching you about the Chain of Command, Divisions, Battle Formations, Physical Arts, Magic Arts, Rules and Regulations, and other things. And for your final test, it would be a written exam and also a live demonstration."
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!" replied the class.
"And lastly, if you misbehave, be late or skip my class, pray to the God of Light that you have a valid reason. Because if not, let's just say you won't like what's going to happen," he said and grinned.
A cold shiver ran down everyone's spine.
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"
"Who here is Crusader Vivian?"
When Kara heard Gars mentioned Vivian's name, she immediately turned to her.
Vivian got up from her seat and stood in attention, causing everyone in the class to look at her.
"Me, Brother High Lieutenant!"
"Where is your salute, Crusader?"
Vivian tried to recall what the salute looked like.
She formed a fist with her right hand and placed it on her chest.
Gars studied Vivian for a moment.
"At ease."
Vivian put down her hand.
"Get over here."
Vivian's eyes blinked a few times before she went over to Gars' side.
"Give me 100 push-ups."
Everyone in the class was surprised.
Vivian, who didn't show any emotion on her face, got down and started doing push-ups.
Gars watched over Vivian's form, ready to critique her.
But as Vivian was doing push-ups, to his surprise, there was nothing to critique about.
Her form was perfect. Even the rest of the class was surprised.
In Vivian's head, given her size, strength and her experience as a fitness influencer, 100 push-ups were no different from doing 5 push-ups.
Gars turned away from Vivian and looked at everyone.
"From now on, every time I see or hear someone from this class not saluting, everyone will do 100 push-ups."
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!" the class replied.
Gars returned his gaze to Vivian.
"Faster, Crusader!"
Vivian quickened her pace. But despite that, her form was still perfect.
"I didn't hear your reply, Crusader!"
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"
After Vivian was finally done doing 100 push-ups, she quickly got up.
Her face was sweating but she wasn't breathing hard. The sweat came from doing an uncomfortable position over and over rather than from doing something physically strenuous.
"Crusader Vivian."
Vivian saluted.
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"
A small smile appeared on Gars' face.
"At ease."
She put down her hand.
"From now on, you're going to be the Platoon Leader of this class. How many Squad Leaders you would choose under you is up to you. If any of your classmates misbehave, you and your chosen officers will have to deal with it. Failure to do so, you and your officers will take responsibility."
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"
"Go back to your seat."
Vivian saluted once again before heading back to her seat.
Shit…!
SHIT…!
I THOUGHT THE MEDAL WAS SUPPOSED TO PUT ME IN A SAFER LOCATION AND POSITION…?!
SO WHY AM I GETTING THIS…?!
WHY DO I HAVE TO BE A FUCKING LEADER…?!
WHY CAN'T I JUST GO THROUGH THIS FUCKING BASIC TRAINING IN PEACE…?!
I DON'T WANT TO HAVE FUCKING EXTRA RESPONSIBILITIES…!!!
Gars grabbed a chalk and began writing on the blackboard.
"Today we're going to talk about the Chain of Command in the Holy Crusade."
He began listing the ranks and squads.
Starting from the top to the bottom was:
• Saint
• Chapter Master
• High Captain
• Captain
• High Lieutenant
• Lieutenant
• High Sergeant
• Sergeant
• Crusader (a.k.a. fresh recruits)
In the event that there were multiple Chapter Masters present in one Division, if there were at least 3, they would vote among themselves on who gets to be the 1st seat, 2nd seat and 3rd seat.
However, if there are only 2 of them, the Light Saint would make the decision.
Gars also drew and explained the insignia of each rank.
Meanwhile, for the groups, there were:
• Squad - consists of 5 Crusaders
• Platoon - consists of 5 Squads (25 Crusaders)
• Company - consists of 4 Platoons (100 Crusaders)
• Battalion - consists of 4 Companies (400 Crusaders)
• Regiment - consists of 3 Battalions (1,200 Crusaders)
• Division - consists of 3 Regiments (3,600 Crusaders)
• Corps consists of 2 Divisions (7,200 Priests)
• Army consists of 2 Corps (14,400 Priests)
Gars also explained how a Crusader can get promoted.
The simple answer was to accumulate a number of successful missions. And the harder the mission or the more beneficial it is to the Temple of Priests, the faster they can get promoted.
Moreover, it's not advisable to keep transferring from one Division to another. Because even if someone is a Lieutenant and they transferred from the Infantry Division to the Exploratory Division, the tasks or responsibilities that would be given to them won't be on a Lieutenant's level because each Division had its own expertise, especially when it came to the Exploratory and the Inquisitory Division. The most likely scenario is that they would start at the bottom despite being a Lieutenant and it would be harder for them to get promoted.
Gars put down the chalk and turned to them.
"These are the ranks and the groups. Any questions?"
A Priest raised his hand.
"What is it, Crusader?"
The Priest got up and saluted.
"Brother High Lieutenant, let's say I was out on a mission under the orders of my superior, like a Lieutenant. And then during that mission, I happened to encounter another Brother High Lieutenant and he/she decides to give me a different order. What should I do?"
"I haven't discussed the Divisions yet. But since you asked that, I'm going to answer it.
"First of all, there are 5 Divisions -- Infantry, Air, Sea, Exploratory and Inquisitory. And when you're out on a mission, interacting with other Divisions is unavoidable.
"But the rule of thumb is, whatever Division you're from, that's the Division you should prioritize your orders from.
"And if you received 2 conflicting orders from 2 different officers from the same Division you're part of, whoever is the highest ranking officer, that's whom you should follow.
"However, in the event that you encounter 2 officers with the same rank and part of the same Division, and they give you opposing instructions about your mission, that's for you to decide what you should do.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," the Priest said and saluted before sitting.
"Any more questions?"
No one raised their hand.
"Okay, I'm going to give you 30 minutes to study what's written on this board. After that, I'll give a written exam with this as the subject."
Gars went over to a desk on the side and sat down. Although there was a clock in the classroom, he still took out a pocket watch and placed it on top of the desk.
Everyone here knew how to read and write due to the Brown Cloak Written Exam Holy Mission.
And even if a Priest refuses to do the Brown Cloak Written Exam Holy Mission, the staff members in charge of giving out Holy Missions would find subtle ways to force the said Priest to learn how to read and write if they don't know how to read and write.
Basically, the main goal was to maintain a standard where all members have the capacity to spread the teachings of the Temple of Priests.
The 30 minutes finally passed and Gars stood up from the desk before heading over to the board.
"Time to take the test."
He picked up an eraser and began erasing the board.
Once he was done, he turned around the class.
"Ready your pen and a piece of paper. Those are the only things I want to see on your desk. Anyone not following orders or caught cheating would immediately be kicked out of the Training Camp."
Everyone's face turned pale as they removed everything on their desk except for their pen and paper.
"Okay, first question…" Gars began throwing out a series of questions.
A couple of minutes later…
The class was done taking and checking the test.
Vivian glanced at her test paper.
25/25.
"Sister, what's your score?" asked Kara.
Vivian lazily flashed her test paper.
A surprised look appeared on her face
"Wow, sister, you're so awesome!"
"It's nothing really."
Kara made a sad face and held up her test paper.
23/25.
"That's not bad."
"But you got a perfect score."
"Still, it's not bad."
"But yours is a perfect score…"
"Sister, there are different kinds of intelligence. I just happen to be good with memorization."
"Really…?"
"I'm not good with numbers."
"Sister Platoon Leader Vivian," said Gars.
Vivian got up and saluted.
"Brother High Lieutenant!"
"Take this," Gars said and held out something on his hand.
It was a logbook.
Vivian went over to Gars and received it.
"From now on, you'll be in charge of recording everyone's test scores."
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"
She then began recording everyone's scores. She asked their name first and then their score which led to everyone to hear each other's names and scores.
After she was done recording everyone's scores, she gave the logbook back to Gars who was sitting down behind his desk.
"You're not yet done."
"Oh, sorry, Brother High Lieutenant!"
"Tell me how many scored below 15 points."
Vivian began counting.
"10, Brother High Lieutenant."
"So out of 18, 10 scored below 15 points?"
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant."
"Are you one of them?"
"No, Brother High Lieutenant."
"What was your score?"
"25, Brother High Lieutenant."
"Give me the logbook."
Vivian handed over the logbook.
Gars got up and went to the blackboard.
He grabbed a chalk and began writing.
It was the same topic -- the Chain of Command in the Holy Crusade.
After he was done writing, he turned around and faced them.
"I'll give you 30 minutes to study. After that, we're going to have the same test. And this time around, if any of you scores below 20 points, we're going to have the same test."
Everyone began looking at each other, trying to recall who scored below 15 points.
"And then after everyone's done getting the appropriate scores, we're going to move to another topic and have another test. And the same rules apply."
Everyone's faces darkened.
"And don't forget, if I catch any of you cheating or tampering with the test papers, you will be kicked out of the Training Camp."
Everyone's faces turned pale.
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 236-241 are posted there.
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