The night passed quickly, and as dawn broke, Dante found himself standing before a gathering of soldiers, each waiting to be evaluated for a place in his squad.
The sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, casting a serene glow over the camp. Dante took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the eager faces before him.
As the soldiers introduced themselves one by one, Dante listened attentively, mentally assessing their strengths, skills, and personalities using his now sharpened eyes.
It was clear that his squad would probably be a diverse mix of talents, each contributing something unique to the whole. In front of him were seasoned veterans with years of combat experience, and there were younger recruits eager to prove themselves on the battlefield.
Among them was Fiona, a young woman with fiery determination in her eyes and strong hunting skills. She was previously part of the Master Marksman army but was shifted here when the war began in order to fill up the vacancies in the Warriors of Indra army.
Next was Barter, a sturdy and dependable soldier who had demonstrated his prowess as a footsoldier during the previous battle. He was one of the seasoned veterans and had helped the Indra Kingdom's army in previous wars of expansion when he was younger and the kingdom was weaker.
Finally, the most noticeable was Andrea, a fierce and agile warrior with flaming red hair and a voluptuous figure who exuded an air of confidence that spoke of her expertise with a blade. If not for Dante, she would probably have been called up for promotion instead.
As the introductions continued, Dante's mind focused. He saw potential in each soldier, and he envisioned a squad that would not only excel in battle but also function as a tightly-knit unit that would achieve his goals without fail.
Once the introductions were complete, Dante stepped forward, his voice carrying a blend of authority and camaraderie. "I've heard your stories and witnessed your skills on the battlefield. Each one of you has proven your worth, and it's an honor to stand before such a dedicated group of soldiers."
His eyes roved the field as he made his selections, including 5 veterans and 5 youngsters. This was to form a balance between experience and wisdom as well as hot-bloodedness and vigor.
The rest were disappointed not to be selected, but knew there were other chances since Dante wasn't the only one promoted. After the rest left, Dante looked at his 10-man squad and smiled.
"We will spend today competing against each other. This is to test the foundation of each other's skill, acquire a basic understanding of one another and most importantly, establish the hierarchy of power within the squad!"
After Dante said this, the eyes of the ten flashed. They understood what Dante was trying to do and respected him for it, but it felt strange having it said out loud like this. Usually, squad captains didn't care much and appointed who they liked, leaving the squad themselves to sort out the hierarchy in their own time.
It was clear that this specific captain did not believe in the 'hands-off' or 'laissez-faire' attitude of leading and wanted to control the squad to a tight degree. Surprisingly, the ten soldiers were not against it as this showed Dante's seriousness and ambition to succeed at least, and if they could survive under his command, they would soar higher!
Like this, Dante brought them to a clear training field and allowed everyone to take their respective weapons. He then split them into five fields, allowing one veteran and one youth to fight each.
After allowing them to spar for about 5 minutes, Dante would stop the battle and switch the matchups. By late afternoon, everyone had at least sparred with everyone else in the squad and gained a basic idea of their skill and talent.
They filed before Dante and awaited his opinion. Dante observed the ten of them and smiled.
"The Vice-Captain of our Squad shall temporarily be Andrea. However, the permanent position will go to whoever gets the most kills with the least damage in our next major battle."
Andrea puffed out her already protruding chest with pride in her eyes and no one complained or felt resentment because they had seen her marvelous skill. She was not only young, but had such swordsmanship and combat talent.
Her future was bright in terms of her position in the military! It was likely that in a few battles, she could either rise to Dante's position or even surpass him assuming Dante also didn't climb higher.
"Go and get some rest. From tomorrow, I expect to see you all here training from morning to night until we deploy next week." Dante stated firmly as he turned and left without looking back.
As a promoted squad leader, he was privy to the plans of the camp and their mobilizations, so he knew the next major battle was a week away. This mechanic was to give students a chance to gather their senses and either hone their own skills through training or enhance that of their teammates should they be promoted or recruited.
As for Dante, since it was still afternoon in both the Quantum World and the real world, he logged out of the Etraverse once more and teleported away. This time, his destination was within the Eternal Universe, to the far reaches of the outer zone.
When Dante appeared, he was in the Observation Deck of the Inferno, seated on the couch. Opposite him, startled by his sudden appearance, was naturally Beatrice Portinari.
Dante's eyes went down and his breath caught, then his eyes became bloodshot. After all, Beatrice was alone in this ship and there was no one who could enter the Observation Deck but her and Dante, so she would naturally not wear her skin-tight uniform all the time.
Currently, she was wearing a pink gauze nightwear that was mostly see-through, allowing Dante to see her flawless skin. Her usually long purple hair was tied into a bun and her playful amber eyes were filled with pleasant surprise.
Dante could see her skimpy pink bra as well as her thong that lightly covered her Path of Righteousness. She was curled on the couch, lazily flipping through her holographic display, so her position enhanced the visuals that were causing Dante's blood to pulse.
Gee, it had been a while, huh? He had come to this universe for slightly over 2 months and he had only had a session with Valeria about a week before that. Usually, he was too stressed or busy to think about such things, but now he had been provoked.
Seeing his reaction, Beatrice smiled and curled her legs even more as she glanced at Dante up and down.
"Well, well, my young son Dante has grown up a little. Now you even dare to gaze at your boss Beatrice like this." She joked with her usual teasing voice.
Hearing her, Dante suppressed his rising desire because he had no choice. Even though he knew that he could technically do what he wanted to Beatrice as she had offered it herself - actually practically demanded it - but there was a problem.
A very serious problem that practically crippled their chances of being intimate any time soon.
No, it was not what you thought, that Dante was worried about any social problems. It wasn't even that he did not desire Beatrice, he would laugh at the face of any man who could look at such a woman in the face and remain unmoved if they were not asexual or had
a low sex drive.
If he could, he would push her down right now and make her call him grandpa - because Daddy was too mainstream - but the issue was…
Well, how to put this…
Could he even put it in?
Beatrice was around Superman level in terms of SDI. She could literally survive in space with her raw body and punch asteroids apart. If Dante pressed his dick against the tip of her vagina, would it even be able to enter?
And even if Beatrice relaxed herself to enter, what if she got caught up in the moment and squeezed? Dante did not enjoy the idea of having his precious young master being turned into meat paste.
Huh.
Wait a minute.
Dante has been working so hard after he signed the contract with the Portinari Clan and gained Beatrice, training himself to be better and even increasing his SDI rapidly in the Apocalypse World.
Could it be that he did that because of this?
Dante pursed his lips and looked away from the camera, unwilling to answer.
!!!
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm T-This bastard!!
All that nonsense about working hard, conquering, and having to accept killing was just for this?!
Wait, could it actually be that most men out there worked, struggled, and trained themselves just so that they could 'ravage' the insides of the female they liked?
This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com