Chain of Command (3)

Everyone was out in the field.

The other groups or classes were also on the field marching and doing drills as well

Vivian raised her head and looked at the sky.

Based on her estimation, it was already around 5:30 p.m.

"For this test, you will be conducting all of the command calls and signals," Gars said and then looked at Vivian. "Sister Platoon Leader Vivian."

Vivian hurriedly rushed forward in front of him and saluted 

"Brother High Lieutenant!"

"Stand in attention."

Vivian dropped her hand and stood in attention.

"Chin up."

Vivian raised her chin a little bit.

"List down all of the command calls."

Vivian's brain went on overdrive as she tried to recall all of the command calls.

Only the command calls…?

Not including the command signs…?

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!" she replied and then began listing all of the command calls. "Officer on board! Hold salute! Attention! At ease! Stand down! Halt! Stop! Hold position! Ceasefire! Left face! Right face…!"

After Vivian was done, Gars gave another order.

"I will mention the command calls and you will demonstrate them."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"

Gars began mentioning command calls while Vivian performed them.

Once she was done, Gars gave another order.

"Show and tell me each of the command signs."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!" Vivian replied and then demonstrated all of the command signs with her hand while also mentioning what they were called.

Once she was done, Gars gave another order.

"I will demonstrate the command signals and you will name them."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"

Gars began demonstrating command signals and Vivian named them.

Once Vivian was done, Gars gave another order once again.

"Show me how you march."

"M-March…?"

Back in the classroom, Gars taught and demonstrated to them many things. But marching wasn't one of them.

Vivian looked around and saw one of the other classes marching.

She began marching on where she stood.

"Higher!" Gars ordered.

Vivian raised her knees higher.

"Keep your back straight!"

Vivian adjusted her back.

"Keep your head straight."

Vivian adjusted her head.

"Left face!"

Vivian turned to the left.

"Forward, march!"

Vivian began marching.

"Your back!"

Vivian adjusted her back.

"Hold!"

Vivian stopped moving forward but continued marching.

"Right face!"

Vivian turned to the right.

"Forward, march!

Vivian resumed marching.

"Hold!"

Vivian stopped moving forward but continued marching.

"Attention!"

Vivian stopped moving and stood in attention.

"About face!"

Vivian pivoted and faced Gars.

"Go back to your original position."

Vivian marched back to where she started and stood in attention.

"You will be in charge of conducting the drill. And after an hour of practice, the practical exam will begin."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"

"Carry on," he said and then left the field.

Seeing Gars walking away, Vivian let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed her shoulders.

Ugh…

My God…

What have I gotten myself into…?

Vivian slowly turned around to face her fellow recruits.

"All of you heard the Brother High Lieutenant. Let's practice!"

***

A couple of minutes later…

Vivian and the rest of her fellow recruits were at the field.

Some were resting on the field, while others were still practicing.

It was already 6:30 p.m. and they were the only remaining group on the field.

The other groups or classes already left.

Vivian, who was standing in a corner, stared at her fellow recruits.

Aren't I supposed to be overpowered…?

Why do I feel so helpless…?

These fucking idiots…

Why did they sign up if they were this incompetent and stupid…?!

They noticed Gars heading their way.

"It's the Brother High Lieutenant!" someone said in a harsh whisper.

Vivian immediately stood in front of the recruits and gave an order.

"Attention!"

The recruits quickly formed 2 rows behind her. The first line had 10 recruits, while the second line had 7 recruits.

All of them, including Vivian stood in attention as they waited for Gars to finally reach them.

When Gars finally arrived in front of them, Vivian gave out another order.

"Officer on board!"

The recruits offered a salute.

"Attention!"

Gars swept his gaze at the recruits before finally turning his gaze to Vivian.

"Sister Platoon Leader Vivian."

Vivian pivoted and faced him.

"Brother High Lieutenant!"

"Have your platoon demonstrate 10 command calls."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"

Vivian pivoted back to her platoon and started giving 10 command calls.

Once she was done, she pivoted back to face Gars.

"Have your platoon demonstrate 10 command signs."

"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!"

Vivian pivoted back to her platoon once again and started giving 10 command signs.

Once she was done, she pivoted back to Gars.

"Still a bit sloppy, but not bad," he said and nodded.

"Tomorrow at 4:00 a.m., you will be in charge of leading the women for the morning exercise, while I will be in charge of leading the men.

"The cafeteria is only open for the new recruits from 6:00-7:00 a.m. and 6:00-7:00 p.m."

Many of the recruits had their faces turned pale because it was almost 7:00 p.m.

"Dismiss."

Vooom!

The moment Gars said dismiss, a number of the recruits burst out in a run, leaving the rest behind.

Vivian was among the people who didn't burst out into a run.

On one hand, she was angry and frustrated, while on the other hand, she was tired and hungry.

Kara approached Vivian and wrapped her arm around Vivian's arm.

"Leader Sister Vivian, you have so many responsibilities. I'll be in your care," she said and smiled.

Vivian didn't have the energy to think and react so she just let her be and continued walking.

"Hey, Sister Platoon Leader," a female voice called out to her.

Vivian turned her head to see who it was.

Given that she was in charge of recording the scores, she already knew the names of everyone in class.

Her name was Uliah. She was in her late teens, tall, long black hair and had brown skin. And out of the 6 women in their class, only her, Kara and Vivian can be considered conventionally beautiful. However, Vivian still doesn't know who was from the Luxen Chapter Temple and who was from the Heisen Chapter Temple.

"Have you already decided who your officers are gonna be?" asked Uliah.

"To be honest, I'm too tired and hungry to think about that right now."

"Oh okay. But just in case you forget, the name's Uliah and I want to be one of your officers."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Vivian then glanced at Kara who was still holding on to her arm with a smile on her face.

***

Day of Fratur, 7:40 p.m.

At the female dormitory.

After having dinner, all of the recruits went back to their respective dormitory.

Earlier this morning, right after Vivian and the new recruits from the Luxen and Heisen Chapter Temple got their schedules, they were also transferred to another room.

The men were transferred to another room within the male dormitory and the women were also transferred to another room within the female dormitory.

Compared to the room when they first got here, instead of 50 bunk beds, 

there were only 25 bunk beds and it was shared by the Luxen and Heisen Chapter Temple.

Vivian was walking around with a towel, some dirty clothes and hygiene products. She was on her way to a group bathroom. And on her side was Kara and Uliah who more or less wore the same getup as her.

"I can't wait to take a bath and sleep!" Kara said and yawned.

"Same! I'm beat!" said Uliah.

"Sister Vivian, Sister Uliah, do you think these products are safe to use?"

"Who cares? But I wish they would at least give us some lotion because I didn't bring enough," said Uliah.

"No, that's too scary. My skin is sensitive. I can't just use any products," Kara said and turned to Vivian. "How about you, Sister Vivian -- I mean, Sister Platoon Leader Vivian?"

Aside from the uniforms, pens and notebooks issued to them by the Training Camp, the towels and hygiene products were issued to them as well.

"I just want to take a bath and wash these dirty clothes and then go to bed."

"Oh…" said Kara.

"Where are the others, by the way?" asked Uliah. 

She was referring to their other female recruits -- Sally, Diane and Samantha.

"I invited everyone to take a bath together," said Kara. "I think Sally and Diane are already there. As for Samantha, I don't know."

When they finally entered the bathroom, it was a large and spacious room. On the sides were individual bathing areas. Meanwhile, in the middle was a huge public hot pool.

There were also a number of women there from the other classes and everyone was either naked or had their body wrapped with a towel.

Vivian made her way to one of the unoccupied individual bathing areas. 

She had no intention of dipping in the public hot pool. In her mind, someone might be crazy enough to pee there. Even back in her previous world, as much as possible, she didn't want to swim at public swimming pools.

She stripped off her towel, revealing her abnormally pale naked and thin but fit body, and hung it on the side along with the dirty clothes

Each faucet had a pail chained to it. Vivian placed the pail under the faucet and turned it on. And once the pail was filled up, she grabbed it and raised it on her head.

Splash!

***

Day of Satur, 12:14 a.m.

Vivian's eyes opened.

I can't sleep…

Too hungry…

Earlier, she went to bed around 9:00 p.m. And since 11:30 p.m., she has been trying so hard to sleep but she couldn't.

And on top of that, she was in charge of leading the female group for the morning exercise at 4:00 a.m.

She got up from her bed.

There were 25 bunk beds inside the room and there were only 6 of them inside.

The bed she chose was at the bottom while her things were placed on top.

And on the bunk bed next to her was Kara who was wearing pink silk pajamas and was snoring.

Vivian, on the other hand, was wearing nothing but a black sleeping short gown dress and underwear.

This girl…

Vivian shook her head and stared blankly on the floor.

What am I going to do with food…?

Just when I was able to complete all 10 Magic Arts, I got this problem…

It's like I'm just fixing one problem to open another new problem…

She glanced at Kara's beautiful but snoring sleeping face.

She looks delicious…

I want to lick her…

Vivian quickly shook her head.

I have to pee…

She got up from her bed. And before exiting the room, she grabbed a silk robe, some wipes, and liquid soap, and wore a pair of slippers.

Although there was only a single large bathroom shared by the whole female dormitory, there were multiple toilet rooms inside the building.

Maybe there are animals nearby that I can cook…?

She stared out in the windows if there were animals nearby.

Tch!

She clicked her tongue.

Just when I want my [Nemesis of Beasts] to work, it's completely useless…!

Vivian finally reached one of the toilets within the building.

The door wasn't closed so she entered to which she was thankful. 

If she had to touch the doorknob in order to open it, she would have to go back to her dorm room and grab her gloves. In her mind, only God knew how many bacteria were lingering on doorknobs.

The setup of the toilet was like the ones back in her previous world. There was a sink with a mirror and had 4 stalls. However, all were squatting toilets.

She noticed that one of the stalls was closed.

And as she was about to enter one of the stalls, the door of the closed stall opened and a beautiful woman in her late teens came out.

Vivian didn't recognize her so she figured that she must be from one of the other classes.

Wow…

She's quite beautiful…

The woman had long black wavy hair and white skin. As for her beauty, she had the type of beauty where it would take a while before one gets tired of looking at her.

"Good evening, sister," the woman said and smiled.

"Good evening, too, sister," Vivian replied and smiled back.

As Vivian entered the stall, she noticed that there was a small bucket and a pail inside it.

All toilets had this.

Why hasn't this world hasn't developed a spray hose…?

She slid her underwear below her knees and squatted down.

As Vivian began peeing, she heard the sound of water flowing on the sink.

She's washing her hands, huh…

Well, I would too…

Who knows how dirty these things are…

Hopefully, she uses soap or at least some proper wipes…

Only God knows how dirty those faucets are…

Vivian was done peeing and she quickly wiped herself before throwing the used wipe on the bowl.

When she got out of the stall with the pail on her hand to flush, the woman was still there washing.

And as Vivian got closer, she noticed that she was washing dirty underwear.

"Sorry, sister. Do you need the water?" the woman asked because she noticed Vivian holding an empty pail.

"Yes." 

The woman moved to the side and Vivian went over to the faucet to get water.

"Thank you," said Vivian.

"I'm sorry about the smell," the woman said and smiled.

Smell…?

Is she talking about her period…?

"It's fine," Vivian said and smiled as she waited for the pail to fill up. "By the way, the instructors still let you attend class even though you're on your period?"

"Yes, but I'm exempted from the practical exams and mock fights," replied the woman.

Mock fights…?

"I see."

Vivian noticed that the pail was already full so she turned off the faucet before heading over back to the stall she just used.

If no one was around, she wouldn't have turned off the faucet and would only turn it off once she was done with everything because she didn't want to touch the faucet multiple times.

Flush!

Vivian returned the pail to the empty bucket and went back to the faucet to wash her hands with soap.

"Are you a new recruit?" asked the woman.

"Yes. You?"

"Yes. From the Orion Chapter Temple."

"Luxen Chapter Temple."

She washed the handle of the faucet and washed her hands once again before finally closing the faucet.

Seeing what Vivian did, the woman didn't comment.

"Goodnight," Vivian said and smiled.

"Goodnight too," the woman replied and smiled back.

Vivian finally exited the toilet.

I'm still so fucking hungry…

When she was already a couple of steps away, for some reason, a dark and depraved idea popped inside her head.

She turned around and headed back to the toilet.

She entered and closed the door.

The woman was surprised to see Vivian again.

"Did you forget something, sister?"

"I'm very sorry, sister."

With her inhuman speed, Vivian stripped down completely naked in the blink of an eye, revealing her abnormally pale body.

"W-What are you doing…?" the woman asked with a confused expression on her face as took a step back and covered her chest with her arms.

Vivian suddenly transformed into a 3-meter-tall demon and one of her demonic spider-like arms reached out for the woman's neck with [Poison Strike].

Psssh!

********************

********************

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…

https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades

There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.

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.

I would like to give my special thanks for this month's Patrons:

• GrimV

Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.