Chapter 120: The training begins
The next day, at 4:00 a.m., the training began.
After all the new recruits were roused with great fanfare, they were escorted to a training center located in the military business district.
On a long running track, everyone started running.
At first glance, the jog looked like a slow run meant to test endurance.
They quickly realized, however, that for the Order, the word jogging carried a very different meaning.
A heavily armored military jeep was charging forward at 40 km/h behind the sweating enforcers.
The instruction was simple: if you stopped running, you got crushed.
To reinforce the threat, a medical team was stationed nearby, ready to intervene.
Sirius was at the front of the line, his face neutral, having regained control over his emotions.
As he ran, he analyzed the purpose of these early-morning training sessions.
At first glance, it might have seemed insane to subject awakened individuals to such intense physical exercises.
Yet, as he looked around, Sirius noticed several enforcers already out of breath, drenched in sweat, unable to keep up with the pace.
He himself was not unscathed.
Although he was holding up better than most, exercises like these were still grueling.
("Even if I push myself, I can reach 40 km/h... but only for a short burst, maybe a hundred meters. We’ve been running for over forty-five minutes now... this is unbearable. It feels like I’m hitting the absolute limit of what an Initiate can endure.")
Indeed, upon becoming Initiates, most generally possessed physiques and abilities close to the limits of human potential.
As a result, many of them ended up neglecting intensive physical training.
But the Order thought differently.
The goal of this training was to push a body already strengthened by awakening to a truly superhuman level.
And to achieve that, they began with endurance: maintaining maximum speed over an extended period of time.
Unsurprisingly, the first day was hell.
After an interminable hour, no one could go on any longer.
They all collapsed onto the ground, lying on their backs, gasping for air.
"Damn it... I’m going to die," Lucy complained.
She had applied for the exam as a non-combatant and had imagined she would be exempt from physical training.
That illusion had shattered when it was announced that everyone awakened or not would undergo the same training.
Even the non-awakened trainees had been forced to take part in the jog. Less drastic, certainly, but still enough to push them to the limits of an ordinary human body.
Just as everyone believed it was finally over, the voice of the enforcer in charge rang out, echoing like a sentence.
"No rest. Get up. Head to the shooting range."
Under normal circumstances, there would have been protests.
But when a Master is training you, few dare to object.
Drawing on their last reserves of strength, they got back up and headed toward the shooting range.
Various weapons were already waiting for them, along with one target assigned to each candidate.
"Today, we’ll start gently. Thirty minutes of shooting. You must hit at least half of your assigned targets. You’ll be divided into two groups: those who have never handled a firearm will shoot at stationary targets. The others will shoot at moving targets."
At those words, almost everyone tried to pass themselves off as inexperienced.
But before anyone could open their mouth, the instructors accompanying the main supervisor placed them directly in front of their respective targets.
Sirius immediately understood how they knew.
The enforcers had monitored every candidate during the second trial.
It was only natural that they had files on each of them.
("Well... they’re not messing around,") he thought as he took the weapon handed to him.
It was far from light, and its weight made itself known instantly.
("This is definitely designed for awakened users. The recoil is going to be brutal.")
As he prepared to fire, a startled exclamation rang out not far from him.
Without even looking, Sirius concluded inwardly:
("Lucy must be showing off again.")
Mannequins emerged, pulled along rails. They moved quickly, spinning and changing direction. About a dozen appeared at once.
Unsurprisingly, Sirius took them all down, achieving a perfect score.
He wasn’t the only one.
The selected candidates possessed a wide range of talents, and the shooting test proved far less taxing than the run.
At the end of the thirty minutes, the instructor returned to announce the rest of the program.
"An enforcer must excel in every combat discipline if they wish to wear this coat with pride."
After that came sword training, spear work, and grappling.
Once what turned out to be four hours of intense, exhausting training had passed, the enforcer in charge finally put an end to the day’s sessions.
The announcement was met with cheers.
However, he immediately added:
"We’ll meet again tomorrow. Today, I was lenient. Next time, expect to really sweat."
It went without saying that a chill ran through the assembly.
A short break followed, allowing everyone to take a quick shower and grab breakfast before training resumed.
---
When noon arrived, they were no longer at the training center, but in the chancellery district, inside an amphitheater.
A lecture on proper enforcer conduct awaited them.
Standing before them was a trainee wearing a silver badge, old enough to be considering retirement.
"Good afternoon everybody. Firstly congratulations to all of you for passing what is probably the most difficult exam the Order has ever organized."
He paused, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"For those who aren’t aware, in previous years, when the number of available positions was limited, we selected at least ten thousand candidates. This year, when positions were unlimited... fewer than a thousand were accepted. Quite the paradox, isn’t it?"
At those words, Sirius felt several hostile gazes turn toward him.
Even among those who had passed, some harbored resentment toward him. While less intense than that of those who had failed miserably, it gradually led to his isolation.
Fortunately, he didn’t care.
By offering himself up as a scapegoat, he had prepared for this outcome.
Without lingering on the exam, the lecturer continued:
"I have three months to teach you the proper conduct of an enforcer. To begin with, let’s talk about the coat you’re wearing... or, for non-awakened individuals like myself, the badge I carry."
His gaze sharpened as it swept across the room.
"First: your coat must never be removed in public, except during special operations. Second: when wearing it, you must always be presentable. It must never be wrinkled."
This was followed by a long list of rules: how to fold it, how to wear it, what must never be done.
As tedious as it sounded, it was still preferable to the morning’s training, and the lecture was followed attentively.
At 3:00 p.m., Sirius and the others had to endure more classes, just as calm one on the general functioning of the Order, and another on general knowledge.
It wasn’t until 6:00 p.m., once the schedule was finally complete, that they were granted free time.
Lucy was chatting with Gravia, Fidri, and Elizir.
Iris, meanwhile, was surrounded by people, with Carla and Bruno awkwardly trying to avoid the growing crowd around her.
Seeing them occupied, Sirius decided not to disturb them.
He grabbed a takeaway meal from one of the many cafeterias before returning to his room and collapsing onto his bed.
After dinner, he reflected on the structure of the training.
For three months, everyone would be mixed together for common training.
The following six months would be devoted to specialization within each bureau.
Finally, the last three months would serve as real immersion: first missions for some, temporary postings for others.
The pace would be relentless. But Sirius had endured worse.
Only after a full year would they be permanently assigned to their final posts.
"For now... all I can do is wait for the answers I’m looking for."
He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
---
When he woke up, he was surprised not to find himself in his room.
Instead, he was in a vast, empty space the size of a basketball court.
The walls and ceiling were entirely made of wood , wood that seemed heavier than anything he had seen elsewhere in Anthranokeptron.
For a second, Sirius thought the worst had happened until he realized he wasn’t alone.
Iris, Lucy, Ronel, Kritos, Rana, Fidri, Elizir, Gracia, Ereis, and Ana were all there as well, each looking just as surprised to find themselves there, and all wearing training suits that clearly weren’t theirs.
They exchanged puzzled looks until the heavy door to the room opened, allowing the one who had kidnapped them to enter.
Gramm stepped inside, dressed in training gear similar to theirs.
Seeing him like that sparked uneasy thoughts in some of them.
Then he spoke.
"Welcome to hell. If you thought the exam I designed was difficult... what comes next is absolutely incomparable."
