Chapter 175: Military Matters (1/2)

”I don't remember saying anything like that. Are you sure you weren't imagining it?” Sera asked with a slight head tilt and an expression of concern that suggested she thought he was going crazy.

”You just told me that I would suffer horribly, to the point of welcoming the coming of Oblivion! Considering your...circumstances, can you understand why I might be worried?” Mike rebutted, trying his best to remain calm. The Oracle's words had left him feeling cold with horror. Even though he knew his Fate-Touched skill meant that anything foretold about him was suspect, it was hard to completely dismiss his fears.

”I might have, but I have no memory of it. While it could be a new manifestation of my abilities caused by my change in class, I have never heard of that kind of foretelling before. Besides, it's not like you got any specifics from it. Any idiot who spent more than five minutes watching the ongoing disaster that is your life could come up with something similar. I think you should just do your best to put it out of your mind.”

[Easy for you to say. You've apparently already succeeded in doing so.]

Mike sighed, deciding that, since the argument wasn't going anywhere, he might as well put it on hold for the time being. ”Alright, I'll try to forget it. Anyway, I'll see you here at eight bells then?”

She nodded with a faint smile before returning to her coffee with relish.

[That girl is definitely not a morning person.]

He wandered off to find Tal, and offered her the same deal. His efforts were rewarded with an enthusiastically written 'Okay.' With that settled, and Brenden MIA, he needed to decide what to do with the rest of his day.

There were three things he felt he needed to accomplish in the near future. Restocking his crafting supplies took first priority, hopefully with more potent materials. The simplest way to do this would be to buy them, but if he could locate a nearby dungeon, it might be worth delving for the mana cores alone. With Red's help, his range of travel had increased exponentially.

Second was to train and equip his party to the best of his capability. That extended to him as well, and he hoped to find some time to work on a few skills before the coming conflict. Should he decide to go the delving route, it would provide him an excellent opportunity to do so.

Finally, he wanted to go back to the black market bookstore, and see if he couldn't talk the Broker into letting him in on the secret of hiding from Appraise. Also, since he'd learned how easy it was to produce items of interest to the shop, he wanted to see if he could continue to expand his selection of books. Although that might have to wait until after he'd crafted a few more things to trade.

After some thought, he decided he would attend his first class, more out of fear of Instructor Johnathan's anger than anything else, but would play hooky for the rest of the day again. Combined with another night's worth of effort, he felt he could make great strides with his various crafting skills.

Thus, he set off in the direction of his Basic Elemental Magic Class. It was good he did, because things had evidently changed.

”Line up! As of today, you are all officially soldiers in service to Almir. Congratulations. That's right, the Call to Arms has been issued. For most of you this won't mean much, other than a shift in the focus of your studies, but make no mistake, we are in the thick of it. Any day now the Tennundians will be clamoring at our gates, and it will be up to us to throw them back. As such, from this point forward, we will be concentrating on combat techniques. Since you are soldiers now, if any of you falter, for even a second, I will make sure that all of you suffer for it. Is that clear?”

””Yes, Sir!””

”Good. We'll start with a lap around the department. A strong mage needs a strong body. I'm going to count to one hundred, and I'll start chasing you, and if I catch any of you we will all be doing two more laps. Now, get moving!” Johnathan was in rare form. Mike thought he almost seemed excited by the prospect of battle in the near future.

Judging from the sudden increase in the harshness of his instruction, he was probably given special dispensation to start toughening the young mages up. Mike thought it was probably a little late to really see any results, but it was probably better than doing nothing.

The pace the group set was fairly leisurely for him. While most of them appeared to be in relatively good shape, Quentin and, surprisingly, Aine seemed to be having trouble.

They started flagging almost immediately, and the instructor caught up with them after a few minutes, leading to a round of haranguing from Johnathan.

By the time the group was done with the third lap, almost everyone was panting, sweaty, and exhausted. Mike was an exception, since he'd nonchalantly kept pace without even trying. Even the Instructor looked slightly disgusted with him, once they had gathered once more.

Mike knew his athletic prowess had reached the level of ridiculous since he'd reincarnated, but he hadn't quite realized how far from the norm he'd gotten. Unlimited stamina was, quite simply, a ridiculously cheat-like ability, and he felt slightly guilty for overshadowing his classmate's efforts by virtue of his unfairly gotten status.

It got worse when they started the combat drills. They practiced moving in formations, how to support an associated infantry line, and what to do when fighting in close combat. Throughout the process, Mike was able to accomplish his assigned tasks with the greatest of ease. Compared to some of the actual fights he'd been in, these drills were simple and straightforward. He understood that they were meant for beginners, but he was starting to resent the waste of his precious time.

Perhaps sensing his frustration, Johnathan pulled him aside at the end of class. ”I know you're probably itching to do something more productive, but I have a duty to the rest of your classmates. I need to make sure that they can fight in battle without making a fool of themselves. Participating in these lessons are pointless for you, so going forward, you no longer have to attend this class. Which, judging from the fuss you made yesterday, means that you will be likely missing the rest of your classes for the foreseeable future.”