Chapter : 17

  "Yes," Ken thought to himself, doing a little mental victory dance. "This is going perfectly. They think I'm a total joke. They think I'm a clown. As long as they don't expect anything from me, I can just coast through this entire Succession War. I'll just sit in the back, cheer them on, and eat my snacks while they do all the heavy lifting."

  Princess Iris watched the interaction with a curious look. She knew Ken was hiding something, but even she had to admit his behavior was incredibly strange. Why was he trying so hard to look foolish? She shook her head slightly, trusting her own instincts that there was a brave heart under all those messy clothes.

  Grandmaster Finlay clapped his giant metal hands together. The sound echoed like a thunderclap, instantly stopping all conversation.

  "Alright, that is enough chatting," Finlay barked out. He stepped to the center of the training mats, looking at the entire 13th Unit. "The Succession War waits for no one. Our enemies are already training, plotting, and gathering strength. We do not have time to play games."

  Finlay pointed a thick finger at Ken, who immediately tried to look small and invisible.

  "Eliot is our final member," Finlay announced to the group. "But an elite unit cannot fight together if we do not understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. In the battlefield, ignorance will get you killed."

  He looked around at the six girls, who were now standing at full attention, completely focused on their Commander.

  "Today, we are going to run a full assessment," Finlay declared. "I want to see what every single one of you is capable of. No holding back. I need to know exactly what kind of firepower, defense, and speed this team possesses before we accept our first real mission."

  Ken felt a tiny drop of sweat slide down the back of his neck.

  "Oh, great," Ken thought, his goofy smile fading just a little bit. "An assessment. That means I have to actually show them some magic. How am I supposed to do that without accidentally blowing a hole through the roof of this castle? I need to figure out the absolute weakest, most boring spell I can cast to make them think I'm trash."

  Finlay crossed his arms and looked right at the girls. "We will start with the veterans. I want to see your best techniques. Show the new recruit the standard of the 13th Unit."

  The girls nodded. Naomi spun her dagger in her hand, a confident gleam in her eye. Sayma adjusted her glasses, her face serious and ready.

  Ken backed away slowly, leaning against the cold stone wall near the weapon racks. He crossed his arms and put on his best blank, sleepy expression. He was ready to watch the show. He was ready to see what these "elite" girls could actually do.

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  The morning training was officially about to begin.

  ----

  Grandmaster Finlay did not waste any time. He stood in the middle of the large training hall, his silver armor shining under the morning lights. He looked at the six elite girls of the 13th Unit, and then he looked at Ken, who was still leaning against the cold stone wall, trying his best to look invisible.

  "Listen up!" Finlay’s deep voice echoed across the room. "The assessment begins now. I want to see speed, power, and control. We will use the reinforced training dummies. These dummies are made of ironwood and coated with heavy magic shields. They can take a serious hit. I want you to hit them as hard as you can."

  Finlay clapped his hands loudly. From the floor of the training hall, seven wooden target dummies popped up. They were thick, heavy, and glowing with a faint blue light, which meant their magical shields were turned on.

  Ken let out a long, loud yawn. He reached into the deep pocket of his messy, untucked jacket and pulled out a small bag of potato chips. He popped a chip into his mouth and chewed loudly. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  Naomi, the girl with the bright red hair, turned her head and glared at him. "Are you seriously eating snacks right now?" she asked, her voice full of annoyance. "This is a combat assessment, you idiot, not a movie theater."

  Ken just gave her a lazy, goofy smile. He held out the bag toward her. "Do you want one? They are sour cream and onion. Very good for building muscle, I promise. My mom bought them on sale."

  Naomi rolled her eyes in disgust and turned her back to him. "Just stay out of my way, farm boy," she muttered.

  "Naomi! You are first!" Finlay commanded, pointing to the nearest target dummy. "Show the recruit what true speed looks like."

  Naomi stepped forward. She took a deep breath, and her playful, annoyed attitude completely disappeared. Her eyes became sharp and focused. She placed her hand on the handle of her short dagger. Suddenly, the air around her began to swirl. A strong gust of wind blew through the training hall, messing up Ken’s hair even more.

  "Whoa, easy there!" Ken shouted over the wind, putting a hand over his bag of chips to protect them. "You are going to blow away my breakfast!"

  Naomi ignored him. Her body glowed with light green mana. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from her spot. She moved so incredibly fast that a normal person would only see a blurry green line. She dashed directly toward the heavy ironwood dummy.

  Slash! Slash! Slash!

  The sound of metal hitting wood echoed like firecrackers. She spun around the dummy like a small tornado, her dagger cutting through the air. Within three seconds, she was back at her starting position, standing perfectly still. She slowly slid her dagger back into its holder. Click.

  A moment later, the magical shield on the dummy shattered into tiny blue pieces, and the heavy ironwood fell apart into dozens of sliced blocks.

  The other girls clapped politely. Princess Iris nodded from the sidelines, looking very proud.

  "Not bad," Finlay said, crossing his arms. "Your wind magic has gotten faster."

  Ken chewed another potato chip. Mentally, he was totally unfazed. To an ordinary person, Naomi’s speed was amazing. But to Ken, who could run faster than the speed of sound if he wanted to, she looked like she was moving in slow motion. Still, he knew he had to play his part.

  Ken threw his hands up in the air and made a highly exaggerated, totally fake scared face. "Oh my goodness! Please do not hurt me, scary lady!" he cried out, shaking his knees together on purpose. "I am just a poor boy! My eyes couldn't even follow you! You are like a super-fast ghost!"

  Naomi smirked, feeling very proud of herself. "Learn to keep your mouth shut, and maybe I won't use you as my next target practice, newbie."

  Finlay pointed to the next girl. "Zinia! You are up. Show us your defense and attack."