"Heh! Look at those peasants trying to become warriors."
"They think they’re really knights."
"Well, they followed that monster."
The voices of disgruntled knights sounded from the top of the citadel walls. While guarding from the potential attack from the north, they watched the village below. Below them, the people who accepted Asmodeus and became his first male demon warriors.
Velvet, Vinea, and Alice requested to teach the warriors because they loved Grigor and wanted to help them adapt to their changes as quickly as possible.
"Look at them carrying rocks while running."
"So stupid.
Meanwhile, Alice narrowed her eyes, watching as the female knights she chose chased the warriors with wooden spears, poking them from behind.
"Good, move faster! You will never survive if you cannot do this much!"
The five hundred males who formed the vanguard received the harshest training, while Ciela and Erika helped train the rearguard and other groups.
"Don’t lose speed, the demons won’t show mercy!"
Alice and Velvet shouted alternately, watching the men suffering—each time the girls pushed them to the limit and were bout to collapse, the blood of Asmodeus would start to burn within them seeping into their heart and rapidly transforming it into a demonic heart that would help them surpass their limits.
"Velvet, the progress is good."
"Well, I am learning from Alice."
The two demons smiled at each other—both of them loved the people of Grigor, and so worked their hardest to help them survive the coming battles.
Asmodeus gave them a single order, "teach them how to use the power of a demon so they can survive."
It was quite vague but understandable.
Asmodeus didn’t want an army to slaughter his enemies—he just wanted his people to defend themselves and survive.
"Good! One more lap!" Vinea bellowed, her face radiant while she jogged with the demon warriors holding a massive rock double their size and full plate armour all while leading them at the front.
"Haa... Haa..."
"This is hard... I’m going to throw up!"
"My sides are burning, but... it kind of feels good."
The men staggered, forcing themselves to remain standing while still jogging behind Vinea. They understood that this would help them survive and give them a chance to protect their families.
Asmodeus silently watched them suffer to complete the basic training. While they might have verbally complained, each did their best to finish, despite their physical differences.
’Well some people adapt to my blood differently.’
From the day they accepted Asmodeus, day after day, as the gruelling training sessions, the knights saw a strange scene.
At first, the males could barely finish the twenty laps and thousand swings of their weapons, first swords, then spears and finally swords again, totalling 3,000.
The warriors could run faster and for longer than before, and their muscles became bigger. Most importantly, they could get up and keep running after the first twenty laps. They started to accept the extra training offered for a rise, which paid them an extra gold coin a month.
"These filthy commoners, how are they improving so fast?"
"Heh... they are just filthy monsters now."
"We should teach them a lesson for being so arrogant."
When Alan’s camp saw the clear progress of the commoners, whom they looked down on, a sense of jealousy and inferiority started growing. The following day, fifty knights left Alan’s group and joined Asmodeus’ army for the morning training, with one of Alan’s Captains taking the lead.
"We are here to offer assistance in their training."
"I see, thank you for your support," Alice said while observing the Captain who came forward. She noticed something off about his eyes, but he didn’t seem hostile or rude.
Of course, even though she became a demoness, the knights understood that these were still the ladies of the Grigorian royal family and showed the normal respect to Alice, Vinea, Liana and Velvet.
"Alright, let’s start the day’s training."
Alice led the group to the field where the new warriors trained every day. Before letting them begin, she expressed her gratitude to the knights who volunteered to help them out.
"Will you be joining the training now? Since you’ve all trained for years I am sure you can finish thirty laps carrying a fifty kilogram boulder right?" Alice asked with a bright smile, pointing at the stones in front of the new warriors.
"Yes! We will gladly assist!" The captain answered excitedly.
’Heh, these peasants won’t even be able to lift such a big rock, let alone carry it!’
"Men, hurry and grab your stones and join the training."
However, even with their captain’s confident answer, the knights struggled to lift the boulders. In contrast, the new male warriors easily carried theirs and prepared themselves for the next set of exercises.
"Look at those knights, struggling."
"Do you think they will fall, haha that one stumbled!"
"To think we used to fear them so much."
The warriors performed squats while holding the massive boulders to warm up their muscles. Each time they stretched, demonic genes and blood flowed into their muscles.
Slowly, over the past week, they transformed from the inside out. Now, even the oldest commoner looked more handsome and youthful with a full head of black hair instead of his balding grey fluff.
When the knights tried to copy them, most fell backwards after the first squat, while others strained their bodies as the weight was too heavy.
"Haaa... Haaa..."
Their pride hurt—the knights refused to lose as the training started with Vinea and Velvet chasing the warriors with real spears, no longer the wooden ones with soft cotton ball tips.
"Get running you useless maggots!" Velvet’s husky voice echoed as she suddenly started running at full speed, with her purple aura exploding as the demon warriors ran for their lives.
"RUN!"
"The captain must have slept with our master last night! She’s too excited!"
"Damn it, Lord Asmodeus!"
These small jokes and events started to bind the commoners together, at first it was money and the hope of survival, but now they started to see the difference, no longer limited to working a field all their lives, some even began to devote themselves to the sword, or spear.
However, the knights weren’t so lucky, their faces red, struggling to keep the pace as Liana and Alice chased them with the spears wrapped in cotton. Only five knights could keep up, while the rest slowly couldn’t keep up and suffered the assault of rapid piercing strikes.
"How do those peasants do this every day?"
"This is impossible!"
A few minutes later, the knights stopped, unable to continue with the massive rocks on their backs.
Many fell to the floor gasping for air, while the warriors started slow squats and lunges to cool down their muscles.
The warriors smiled as they watched the knights struggle—now they could move faster than the knights without getting tired.
"Wow, they really can’t handle a little jog."
"They look pathetic!"
"Let’s finish this training session quickly and go back home. We still need to enjoy dinner."
The warriors were motivated to improve themselves and not waste any more time, not just the training, but even meals were superior to the knights. The men and women received extra food and a glass of wine daily for their meals and the occasional dessert if they performed the training well.
To enjoy the food which only nobles could eat in the past became something that pushed the warriors most.
Alice watched the scene with mixed emotions. A part of her felt proud of her people, but also sad about the knights who followed Alan. Because she didn’t want her brother to suffer, and the knights were still part of Grigor, even if they were insufferable.
"It seems that your men need more training, Captain Lucas."
"Y-Yes, Your Grace."
"I suggest you return to camp, and work hard. We will make sure to send more food to you guys once we’re able to produce it."
"No.."
’I cannot let it end here—we should teach them the art of combat! How dare they laugh at us?!’
"Men, form into pairs with the warriors and start practice duels!" Lucas ordered.
The exhausted knights looked weary before they helplessly nodded and moved toward the practice area. The warriors dropped their boulders and picked up the training swords.
While the warriors had no formal training, they had been practicing the basic forms and stances for the past seven days and had performed 2,000 swings.
"You peasants better stay still!"
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The knights charged at the warriors, swinging their blades without hesitation.
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"What is the meaning of this?!" Vinea exclaimed.
"I’m sorry, Princess, but I assure you this is just friendly competition." The captain replied.
Vinea shook her head, and watched the training field, where the knights aggressively attacked the warriors.
At first, the warriors struggled to block the attacks, but as the battle progressed, the tables turned.
The knights started slowing down, gasping for breath, while the warriors gained energy. Their eyes shone as they found themselves able to learn the knight’s movements, how they attacked and adapting this knowledge to improve their swordsmanship.
"What’s going on?"
"How are these peasants keeping up with us?"
Meanwhile, the knights felt humiliated by the progress of the commoners, who gradually caught up to their skill level.
As the battle continued, the knights lost control and attacked more fiercely. Some started using their mana instead of pure swordsmanship.
"Pathetic. Is this the level of our kingdom’s knights?" Velvet muttered.
She thought they would be stronger, but then she realised that the true knights following Alan never engaged in insults. Instead, they watched the training and started to increase their training after asking Alan himself.
Thus, as the training continued, of the fifty duels between warriors and knights passed.
Only two knights won their duels.
This event changed the mindsets of both camps and brought them a step closer to mutual acceptance, as joint training became a daily occurrence.