Mock Training

Day of Satur, 3:46 a.m.

Vivian was back in the shared room. 

She was sitting on her bed and wearing nothing but a black sleeping short gown dress and underwear and she was staring at her palms.

She also had been in this position ever since came back from the toilet.

It's not disappearing…

Ever since she ate someone a few hours ago, 3 things happened.

The first one is that not only did it satiate her hunger, but she also felt something else.

This feeling...

I don't think I've ever experienced this before…

Not once…

Even in my original world…

My stomach is definitely full…

But at the same time, my spirit, soul or something also feels like…

Full…

If Vivian were to describe the feeling she felt right now, it was like eating something your favorite food for the first time, but on another more satisfying level.

She recalled the stories mentioned during her teaching and feeding Holy Mission.

So it was true…?

Demons eat humans…?

I mean, I thought it was only for something like propaganda…

The second thing that happened, after eating the Priestess, she learned a new Lore.

[Devourer].

This Lore doesn't have any magical effects. It was simply a title, like her other Lore Magic such as [Village Girl] and [Adventurer].

And for the third or last thing, which was the most interesting out of all 3 in Vivian's opinion, was the changes in her body.

My pale skin…

My blue blood…

It disappeared…

Vivian grabbed a hand mirror next to her.

Was I always this glowing…?

Although her face was still the same, it was replaced with a glowful appearance as if she always maintained proper sleep, proper diet and a proper skin routine.

Vivian put down the hand mirror and grabbed her sword next to her. She wrapped her hand around its blade and pulled it.

Sliii.

Red blood flowed from her wound.

She activated a spell.

[Heal].

A faint yellow light enveloped her body and her wound was healed.

Does this mean that the demon bandits I fought last time actually had blue blood…?

But that doesn't make any sense…

Given how much this world hates demon-worshipers, they must at least know, especially the Priests, when a human becomes one or is a demon…

And I was walking around without makeup…

I even went to the Temple of Priests to deliver the dead bodies of those demon bandits…

Ugh…!

I have so many questions yet I just can't ask without attracting suspicion…

I can't even tell if what I've read in books are real or not…

Vivian pressed her hand on her stomach and rubbed it.

It's already flat…

And I don't feel like going to the toilet…

About 10 minutes after she ate her "meal", her stomach already digested it.

Makes me wonder what kind of acid or whatever it is called is inside my stomach that it could digest a meal like that within 10 minutes…

I wonder what would happen if I ate 2 meals in a row…

Vivian then noticed that it was already 3:55 a.m. from the clock plastered on the wall.

It's the day of Satur today…

As far as I can remember, we're free to go out into the city in the evening of the day of Satur…

Vivian got up and started wearing her uniform.

As she was wearing her uniform, she couldn't help but notice that some of the women were already awake -- Uliah, Sally and Diane.

Kara was still asleep and snoring.

As for Samantha, she couldn't tell because she was covering herself with a blanket.

Once Vivian was done wearing her uniform, she immediately woke up the rest.

"WAKE UP!"

***

Vivian and her fellow female recruits exited the building and went to the field where the other groups were already there.

Even their male classmates were already there.

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?! JOG!" a familiar voice rang out in the field.

It was Sister High Lieutenant Julia and she was training a new batch.

Although Vivian and the rest just arrived here yesterday, it was easy to spot if it was a new batch.

Aside from the fact it was Sister High Lieutenant Julia instructing them, they were too many and there were also older people among them. 

Vivian began leading the exercises.

And for the ones who struggled during the exercises, she wasn't too strict about it but she also wasn't too lenient either.

Just fair.

***

The rest of the morning passed and it was now 8:00 a.m.

Vivian and her fellow recruits were at the Gym standing in attention in front of Gars.

"Starting today until your Basic Training ends, every morning from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. would be mock battles.

"I want you to choose a sparring partner and immediately begin the mock battle, but keep the damages to the minimum.

"I will be observing your battles. If any of you goof around and don't take it seriously, I will be your sparring partner."

Given the 1 Magic Art to 2 Physical Arts ratio, the existence of Affinities in both Magic and Physical Arts, and the inhuman stats, there was no real or strict standard on how people fight. After all, an average person can train and memorize all of the fighting technicalities for 10 years and still be completely obliterated by a talented person who only knows how to hurl magic. Just with the slow-mo effect alone can easily disrupt the power balance.

It was one of the drawbacks in this world.

Because of that, all the instructors could do was to observe from the side and critique or give pointers if needed, and also let the recruits learn about the fundamentals of Physical and Magic Arts, the command calls and signs, and other basic things such as map reading, battle formations and etc. to give their units some sense of teamwork.

"Any questions?"

One of the male recruits raised their hand.

"What is your question, Crusader?"

"To what extent can we injure our sparring partner?"

"Accidental death is okay, but deliberately killing and humiliating your partner is unacceptable."

"Thank you, Brother High Lieutenant!" he said and saluted.

"No one else wants to ask a question?"

Another male recruit raised his hand.

"What is it, Crusader?"

"Are we allowed to use magic?"

"Yes, but keep the damages to the minimum."

"Thank you, Brother High Lieutenant!" he said and saluted.

"No one else has questions?"

Nobody raised their hand.

"Dismiss."

The recruits relaxed and began searching for a sparring partner.

Uliah was about to ask Vivian but Kara beat her to it.

"Sister Platoon Leader Vivian, let's be sparring partners!"

"Sure, sister!" Vivian said and smiled brightly.

At the moment, Vivian was in a good mood because not only was she not hungry, but her skin and blood also returned to its normal state.

What a beautiful day…!

I look extra beautiful…!

And I don't have to worry about bleeding…!

Why can't every day be like this…?

"Hey, I was about to ask her to be my sparring partner," said Uliah.

"Sorry, sister. Why don't you ask Sister Samantha?" said Kara.

Sally and Diane had already partnered with each other, leaving only Uliah and Samantha.

Uliah made a face.

"Eh… Her…?"

Out of the 6 women, Kara and Samantha were the weakest, at least when came to jogging.

As a matter of fact, during the first time they all went jogging, the 3 women who wanted to prove how fast they were were actually Uliah, Sally and Diane.

Meanwhile, the woman who collapsed and Julia had to cast [Blessing] and [Greater Heal] on in order for her to continue jogging was Samantha.

"Don't be like that, sister. Sister Samantha is our sister and batchmate," Vivian said and smiled.

"You're right, Sister Platoon Leader," Uliah said and scratched her head before heading over to Samantha.

As for the boys, given that they were 12, they easily partnered up with each other.

"Sister Platoon Leader, what weapon are you going to choose?" asked Kara.

"You don't have to call me Sister Platoon Leader when it's just us. It's too long. Sister Vivian would do just fine."

Kara wrapped her arm around Vivian's arm and hugged it.

"I prefer sister!" she said and smiled as she dragged her over to the weapon's rack.

This girl…

When I first met her she was so timid…

Now she's…

Well, I guess she just feels scared and is overcompensating…

Poor girl…

With this kind of personality, she's gonna end up being used and abused…

They finally arrived at the weapon's rack.

It's no different from the Training Grounds back in the compound…

Just like the weapons she saw there, they were all blunt weapons.

But they're still enough to bash someone's skull…

Wait…!

I think I should've asked what would happen if we destroyed the weapons…

She shook her head mentally.

As if I'm going to use Physical Arts here…

"Sister?" asked Kara.

Vivian turned to her and noticed that she had already chosen a weapon.

It was a sword and shield.

"Having trouble deciding?"

"Umm…"

Vivian turned away and randomly chose a weapon.

"This one!"

She held a mace.

"You practice Mace Arts?"

Vivian tried to recall if she had [Mace Mastery]. After all, she had too many skills.

"Oh, wrong weapon," Vivian said before returning the weapon and picking up another one.

This time around, it was a sword.

"You won't take a shield?" asked Kara.

"Is there a [Shield Mastery]?" replied Vivian.

"There is. But you can only level it up it if you use it as a weapon. Blocking doesn't do anything."

"Oh, I see." 

Vivian walked away from the weapon's rack to find an area where she and Kara could spar.

Kara quickly followed and went to her side.

"Sister, do you have [Savage Mastery]?" asked Kara.

"Hmm? What makes you think that?"

"Because that's what people who don't use shields do."

"I see."

"But of course, if it's a master, they don't have to carry a shield anymore. They can just summon a shield with [Mana Shield]."

Vivian had no idea what a [Mana Shield] looks like.

After all, when someone casts a skill or spell, they don't have to say the name. As long as a person has mana and they meet the necessary requirements, the skill or spell will come out.

"By the way, sister, I've never asked you. How many Magic Art Affinities do you have?" asked Kara.

This girl…

I don't know if she's just asking innocently…

Or if she's trying to gather information before the fight…

Vivian recalled Kara's Affinities and Physical and Magic Force from the registration.

She leaned over and whispered.

"I have 10."

"10?!"

Vivian smiled and winked at Kara before distancing herself from her.

"The others have already begun fighting. We should start before Brother High Lieutenant Gars scolds us."

Kara was still processing what Vivian just said regarding her Affinities.

"Sister Kara, if you won't attack first, then I'll attack first."

Vivian raised her left hand and aimed at Kara.

"By the way, don't try to block my spells, evade it."

She activated a spell.

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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.

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• GrimV

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