Chapter 1514 (2/2)

Charlotte slowed down to examine a few bright magenta and burnt-orange daffodils that proudly thrust themselves up from an extremely well-maintained garden. But no sooner did she slow her speed to linger and delight in the bright eruptions of color than she sensed a vigilant individual within the nearby shelter lock onto her position. Being more adept with their new utilization of emotions than the occupant within, Charlotte could feel their worry and suspicion about her presence.

Perhaps for entirely different reasons that she, the resident was uneasy. Because in the pretend world that the recruits were partaking in, the individual within couldn’t resist an invite. If his political backing outside of the camp was weaker than the other party, he would have no choice but to agree to another’s demands.

We fracture so quickly. Like cold glass in abandoned windows.

With a small sigh, Charlotte wound her way forward through the eclectic mix of gardens; she felt no need to be a source of stress for a fellow recruit. But at the same time, she felt a persistent melancholy that there existed very little comradery between the various recruits. Part of it was play-acting that so many engaged in, but part of it was also the lack of cohesiveness that the Ghosthound forced upon them. They did physical training together, but they were generally split up to work on their individual images during the bulk of the training.

In their free time, each recruit had a shelter to erect and a garden to cultivate. There wasn’t any communal building, like a typical mess haul. It meant there was very little forced exposure, which might engender some sense of comradery. Most of Charlotte's information about her fellow recruits came from the few spars she had been able to witness.

Of course, that was supposed to change soon: the Overseers had already announced that wargames would start to occur as part of their daily training after the challenge against another Drill Sergeant's recruits at the end of the week. And the reason that individuals were approaching Charlotte was that Overseer Helen had hinted that construction would be a significant portion of the wargames.

As Charlotte remembered how close she had been standing to Overseer Helen when the perfect, near-hairless specimen had been delivering the news, she couldn't help but flush. Her leather armor had truly been so perfectly fitted to her body that Charlotte's imagination had easily been able to supply the likely elasticity of her bare skin. If Charlotte could someday draw her claws across Helen's-

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As one, all of the recruits who were currently on the rest part of their rotation raised their heads and looked toward the source of the large noise. A ripple ran through the lingering mist over the garden area. But when there was no announcement came from the Overseers, most recruits gradually settled back into their recovery time. By this point, solely using their image to move had become second nature to all the recruits, but they still relished the chance to simply exist for a while without straining their image. Very few were willing to tire themselves out unnecessarily to witness what was probably just a spar between a recruit and one of the assistant overseers.

Yet Charlotte was one of those individuals. After a brief hesitation, she started walking toward the central training area, despite the fact she had another hour of rest and meditation remaining. All image reverberations were completely muffled by the Ghosthound's influence on the surrounding area, but a noise that loud could not have been made casually. Likely someone already powerful had a breakthrough in their image and were now taking out five days of frustrations on their sparring partner.

Charlotte both wanted to know who it was… and to know how the Overseers would handle it.

BOOOOOM!

A smaller explosion echoed outward and Charlotte increased her pace. She waded forward through the thinning mist that radiated out of the bamboo forest and quickly arrived at the central training area. There, it was easier to sense the image reverberations that still remained in the air from the collision. And even more than that, a very familiar cackle echoed out through the space: the recruit who had experienced a breakthrough was DiOrtho Vant, the individual who was already the most capable of the recruits.

Vant's shirt had been completely blown away, revealed the dusky skin of his torso as he clearly struggled to breathe. Yet his face was warped with a triumphant expression beneath his curling ram’s horns. ”Aha! Take that! I don't need your shit advice about my image anymore, you-”

Crunch.

Charlotte Wick's gaze could barely follow the movements in front of her. For a split second, her mind refused to believe what she was actually seeing. One minute DiOrtho Vant was leering with a wide smile on his face over a fallen Assistant Overseer and the next Helen was there, her fist brutalizing the fragile bones of his jaw. Vant flew backward, skidding across the ground like a stop across a still lake, and eventually slamming into one of the training spheres around the central bell. The Engravings of the sphere immediately flared to life, reinforcing the construction, so Vant was stopped dead.

His body bounced against the ground and rolled a few times until his momentum was completely dispersed.

Charlotte looked on with a thundering heart and sweaty palms as Helen folded her arms behind her back and walked over toward Vant. ”We are here to teach you the capacity for violence, it is true. And your quick adaption is a testament to our talent as instructors. However... it is with great disappointment that I note you have continually ignored the lessons on respect that you have experienced. You are out of warnings, Mr. DiOrtho Vant. Today is a punishment.”

”Hehe,” The recruit forced himself to his feet. When he was standing, he wiped some blood away that was dripping from his lips. ”What do I care if you beat me? I can survive it. Your Ghosthound puts up a tough act, but he wouldn't actually endanger any of our lives. As long as just one of us gets hurt… won’t the rest panic? He will lose his-”

Again, there was a stuttered juxtaposition of two moments in time that Charlotte's senses couldn't quite catch. Somehow, Overseer Helen had crossed the distance between them and her spear was sliding beneath Vant's breast bone with all the smooth surety of a spoon dipping into soup. His flesh didn't present even the slightest impediment to Overseer Helen's thrust.

Then Helen ripped the spear out then in a brutal movement that tore open Vant's chest and she spun around, bringing her heel toward his temple. Although Overseer Helen's speed was overwhelming, Vant managed to react in time to bring up his guard. Charlotte watched as his forearms cracked but didn't shatter from the kick. Vant stumbled several meters backward, but his expression hadn't changed.

“Keh, like I said- guhk?!”

Overseer Helen slid her spear into DiOrtho Vant’s heart. His eyes flared out widely.

At this point, Charlotte couldn’t deny that she was somewhat aroused. That look of recognition on Vant’s face as he realized that Overseer Helen could kill him any time she wanted...The fear and dread in his expression… Charlotte gripped her arms as tightly as she could, digging her claws into her own flesh. Yet somehow, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Charlotte wasn’t sure what would happen next. But then there was a soft pulse of an image from the Ghosthound’s tower. Something that Charlotte couldn’t quite identify began to seep outward into the surrounding air.

Instantly, the fear on Vant’s face vanished. His sneer came back just as quickly. “Aha! See? Stop, mad dog, before your master disciplines you-”

“Oh shut up,” Overseer Helen rolled her eyes and brought the butt of her spear around. She smashed Vant’s head into the ground with enough force that his scalp was ripped, revealing a cracked skull beneath. Then she gestured to a nearby Assistant Overseer as she skewered Vant with all the lazy indifference as if she was poking a cube of cheddar cheese with a toothpick. “Take him and throw him in the second training orb. I need to go figure out what Randidly is up to…”