Chapter 1513 (2/2)

He found them within the great hall on the ground floor, which was generally used for meals. Almost all of Randidly’s subordinates were gathered, immediately warning him that something wasn’t quite right. In addition, the air in the wide gathering hall was heavy with worry. Randidly frowned. “What happened?”

“The situation in the Fifth Cohort has deteriorated,” Helen said immediately. “Lady Iellaya stopped by while you were gone and explained some of the gruesome details, but she wants you to speak with her directly for all the information. For our purposes, we are lucky that our deployment hasn’t been accelerated. She just wanted to stress that because the threat is becoming much more legitimate, Military High Command won’t be able to protect our elite group as planned. They will be deployed in high leverage situations, as was advertised when they determined the Aether allotment for the project. So our training had better be effective, for all our sakes.”

Randidly mulled that over for a few seconds. His first thought was of Vualla, who should be deploying with the Xyrt Brigade to that area shortly. But he didn’t dare contact her until she was off of the Xyrt Brigade compound. Still, Randidly understood Vualla’s personal strength. She would not die easily.

It didn’t completely alleviate his anxiety, but it did allow him to shelve it and turn to the issue in front of them. As for whether their training methods would be effective… Randidly’s emerald eyes flashed with grim satisfaction. “You’ve finished the screenings, right? How prepared can we make them in the next three months? How do they compare to the people of Earth?”

Helen and Heiffal exchanged a glance and Heiffal stepped forward to speak first. “Compared to the people of Earth, these recruits have several distinct advantages. First, their base Stats and Skill Levels are, generally, almost one hundred higher across the board. They have already been honed by professionals in terms of combat theory. In addition, they have had years to develop their individual images to the point of being capable. Of course… there are associated drawbacks. They have a relatively rigid idea of images: many were bewildered when we asked what their images want. Others cannot think of a single idea for how to improve their images. Perhaps even worse, very few have handled legitimate challenges in the past. There have already been a few… mental breakdowns, especially amongst Helen’s group. The mental strain of actual combat is foreign to them.”

Helen cleared her throat. “Luckily, there are some observable signs to give us a warning of an impending breakdown. So it isn’t too much trouble to handle them. But the group I’m dealing with… they have a relatively weak resolve, to begin with. I can beat them into shape, but I don’t believe they will continue to improve on their own after the training. So the short answer is yes, we can boost their capability past being able to handle a few Nether Beasts. But the bottom 40% will never have a hope of rivaling a Nether Gatekeeper.”

Randidly pursed his lips and glanced at Heiffal. “What about your group? If we don’t have even a few who can hold their own against Nether Gatekeepers, it’s going to be hard to honestly refer to the unit as ‘elite’.”

“There are quite a few promising seeds amongst our group, but I will say… the preconceived notions about images are holding a significant portion back.” Heiffal glanced again at Helen. “Honestly, I almost think we are going about this exactly the wrong way. We do have three months, after all. I believe it might be better to break down the talented recruits with Helen’s methods and cultivate determination in the weaker ones with accomplishable physical training. Success breeds confidence. Once we have them all at a similar base state, I believe these recruits will grow explosively.”

Randidly grunted. “And in terms of potential, will these recruits be able to rival you and your men within three months, Heiffal?”

“Individually? I doubt it. I haven’t seen much evidence of a team spirit amongst them. But there are several who could easily surpass me within that time. If they embrace emotion as a part of their image and start opening themselves up to change… they could surpass me within a week.” Heiffal replied.

Randidly drummed his fingers against his thighs as he considered that. He should meet with Lady Iellaya and discuss the details of what was actually happening on the frontlines as soon as possible. But If he agreed to the switch in training methodology, it would probably require that they lean on Randidly’s own images to accelerate the process. The actual elites were all quite capable; they wouldn’t be easy to breakdown. In addition to that, Randidly still wanted to explore the Stillborn Phoenix a bit more before he exposed the recruits to it. But it would probably help their acclimation with emotions.

Randidly glanced at Helen. The look in her eyes told him that she agreed with Heiffal’s assessment. Rather than trying to immediately improve the recruits' power, it would be better to attend to their foundations first.

Back to basics, then.

“Fine, let’s switch,” Randidly said. “Which means we are trying to send a message to the recruits with their performance in the first challenge against other recruit groups. Meanwhile, start rewarding the high performing recruits with Darkstar Coins. Heh. We will need to make that first individual who uses it part of the spectacle, but I’ll make sure they benefit. Any other ideas for shifting the training?”

Muareth stepped forward. “I think one way to spur immediate change is to mix sparring with Heiffal’s warriors into the normal training regimen. The sooner we can make the recruits realize how weak they are in comparison to veterans on the frontlines, the more quickly they will focus on improving. Especially when they will feel like they are physically more powerful than Heiffal’s crew.”

“Besides,” Heiffal added, “We don’t have many more constructions planned; my boys are mostly sitting around doing nothing. They can plan out training regimens, but it would be better if they got to stretch their legs a bit while doing so. Fighting the recruits directly will give them more knowledge of their Skills.”

No sooner had Randidly nodded in agreement that Helen frowned down at the ground. “Actually… speaking about the construction… I think I have an idea. Let’s give the recruits some stake in the game.”