The World of Tactics

Chapter Fourteen: Barrack's Recruitment!

"Each year, around the same season of summer. The barracks are open to recruit and train the newer generation of soldiers. On such occasions, the Kabridge Capital would turn on its old gear and evoke a festive mood throughout the capital. Many young men brave the wind and rain just to come here all year round.

Those that wished to become a soldier for the kingdom would usually go to the barracks. Those that wish to become free and unfettered would usually go to the guilds. Those that wish to train in their crafts would become workmen diligently trained to their best. Those that wish to wield powerful arcane powers will go to the mage academy. Those are just the basics.

Crooks and pilfers roam the slums. As a daily life of the slums involved in crimes. Those that were lucky might become rich overnight and those that were unlucky. They are sent to become prisoners, slaves, miners, and even cold corpses tomorrow. This is the yearly festival of the Kabridge Capital." Said and noted down by a teacher and a student during class.

---

John Smith has finally reached one of the gates that leads to the military's sector. Since it was a military sector, he felt that he had a better chance to turn in the letter that he got from the so-called 'father of Darcus the hero of the village.' What he did not realize was that he just had to hand that letter to the soldiers at the gate. He was thinking of going directly to the barracks and personally handing that letter to the soldier stationed there.

He would have saved quite a lot of trouble if he had listened to the old man carefully. However, this is just who he was and he could not change it because it had been a few days now. The journey along with the night battles took quite a toll on him. Not only that, yesterday's last stretch had made him completely forget the exact words of the old man. He is just human and that was a fact that he can not change.

He is now passing the time thinking to himself because he is currently waiting in line. For the past half hour, he was just waiting and waiting. The line looks quite short at first hand, but the time it took for him was another. He could see the wooden sign that said 'Recruiting!' The sun was quite hot for the first twenty minutes. He was out in the open and was sun-grilled. After that, he reaches the shade of the wall that blocks off this sector from the castle in the middle.

Another ten minutes and he finally reaches the forefront of the line. The soldier at the recruiting counter said, "Name?" in a monotone voice.

It seems that the soldier was quite fed up with saying the same thing all day today. He did not answer at first and directly handed out the brown letter that the old man wrote. The soldier stared at the hand that was holding the letter and back at his face for a few moments. With a rough sigh, the soldier finally took the letter and opened up the sealed wax, and took a rough look at the contents. He could see that the soldier's face darkened quite a bit and became serious.

The soldier handed the letter to one of the soldiers that were standing behind and whispered some unclear words. However, since he was quite close. He overheard the 'hobgoblin' word uttered from the soldier's mouth. The second soldier's face also became serious and readily took the letter. Then the second soldier went through the gate.

He had underestimated the threat of a hobgoblin. Even the two soldiers up front are quite serious when hobgoblins are involved. Just as his mind was about to wander off, the soldier at the desk called out, "Here is your plate! Move!" And shove him to the left.

It was a normal thing, he had heard this quite a while now and had gotten used to it. He could feel how big the soldier at the front desk was. It was huge and within the armor was a vague line of muscle that just popped out. He checked the soldier's status screen briefly, but he could see that the soldier had a strength of more than twelve and the levels were also quite high. The soldier's constitution was also quite high, at eleven points. It was no wonder why this soldier was elected to become the one who manages the recruitment of new soldiers.

He moved exactly where he was led to the left gate, which was much smaller than the gate that was right behind. He had no idea as to why they operated like this, but what he did know was that before, anyone could become a soldier. They must go through a combat test before training starts. He saw quite a few others that had failed the combat test and were sent out crying, complaining, or similar things through the front gate. He was used to it when he saw a bunch coming out together and the number was not small at all.

He checked his plate and saw a faint number that was carved on it. It was numbered zero-one-six. There was no soldier to lead him, so he followed straight through the door. The hallway was quite far and he could see the light shining through the dark hallway at the opposite end. He could see a few familiar faint figures that were in front of him. He just follows through.

When he got to a quarter of the hallway, he could faintly hear the footsteps behind him. Those must have been the ones that were waiting in line before him. He did not turn back to look at the approaching figure and move on. The closer he got to the light on the other end, the louder he could hear the chattering noises.

The moment he got out of the hallway, he could see that there were soldiers that were spitting on the outer edge of the gatherings of young men. The voice was quite loud too and he silently sent a few pray for those at the front, side, and rear. While he felt the high volume of the soldier's voices, he moved on to the spot where he was supposed to be assigned. It was quite obvious with his nameplate. This was an open square that could easily fit around five hundred to a thousand soldiers.

As a recruit, he was sent roughly around the middle and was quite far away from the screaming instructors. He got quite the lucky number to be within the center at the start, unlike those who were sent close to the edge. Thinking about it now, he realized something the recruits were quite spaced apart. He did an estimate and realized that if this were turned into a grid-like battlefield, then everyone would likely be a square space apart.

He did not bother to listen to the instructing soldiers at all, since he had already followed all of the orders and got to his area. Even so, the instructing soldiers are still working hard to hammer the recruits so hard on the field. Those that came early are now pale while those that came later start to shed a skin layer as well. It was weird, but he was the only one that was not quite intimidated at all. It might have been his self-confidence of having a few maxed-out stats within his status. At this point, he could understand.

When the last recruit was placed on the last open space, the leading commander on the stage in front started to talk. He only manages to read the name along with the levels and that was pretty much it. Besides that, the status screen that popped open was too far away and he could not quite distinguish the wordings even with the good eyesight that he had. He mutters the name of the commander, "Oreo Burger. Level thirty-eight."

That was the highest level that he had seen up to date. Not only that, he could judge from the stats bars. some of the bars were almost double the size of one of his max-out stat. That applies to each of the stats except magic and resistance. Otherwise, he judged that this commander was much stronger than his father. It was a strange feeling to see that his father was slightly weaker than the commander here. Even so, he felt that he came to the right place since he wanted to become stronger.

As long as he carves something out of his blank crest and forms a proper class. He will soon become much stronger than ever. There was no doubt about it because his innate ability was just too overpowering in his opinion. He felt that nothing could beat his advantages. What mattered to him was just a matter of time.

Once the commander finishes the speech which he can not hear properly. Many soldiers came out through the gates from around the side of the walls. Each lined up facing each recruit and they were all given three weapons each. He observed the wooden weapons and went to pick up the wooden lance. He took a brief look at the wooden lance and he almost choked himself with his saliva.

[Wooden Lance (Crude): Might +0, Hit +50, Crit +0, Weight=0~1, Durability: 3/3]

[A crude workmanship of a branch. There was nothing remarkable about it. Easy to break, fragile. Worse than a goblin's wooden club. Unrepairable. (Lance E)]

No matter how weak it was, it was still a weapon that had three points of durability. The touch of the lance and he realized how weak it was. A slight bend in his two arms and he could easily snap it in half. However, he could not do that for now, since he could pretty much guess what this weapon was for and what was going to happen next.

The soldiers that stood before him were newly promoted soldiers at the level of seventeen and a limited potential level of thirty-seven. He felt quite pressured to meet such a strong soldier class like this right off the bat. The weapons that the soldier had were better quality wooden weapons with zero physical might, but higher durability. Not only that, the soldier that he got was stronger than the average. He had already swapped his gazes to the surrounding soldiers.

While his gaze was wandering around. The soldiers in front of each other started to repeat the same wording, "Hit me three times and you pass." The voice was quiet and monotone.

Some of the soldiers were even faster and he could see that the situation was not that great at all. There were rolls upon rolls of pairs that started battling. Precisely, every two squares are separate, and underneath was the grid line that started to form. The map was simple. It was only two squares, which was enough for the soldier that he was facing and for him.

Since there was no space, he could not summon Goon or Uzi at all, since there was no other space.

He was shown the same battle preparation and there was nothing that changed. The map was limited to the extreme, while there was nothing else he could do with the tabs. So, he skipped over the [Select Units], [Inventory], and [Skills] tabs. It was quick because he could physically see the limit of the map which was not that far away. He curiously went into the [Conditions] tab to find out that there were only two options. That was to [Hit 0/3] and [Survive 5 Round].

He is getting the hang of this. As long as he was able to hit the instructing soldier three times. Just from the durability of his wooden lance alone, he realized that his wooden lance would most likely be able to barely hang on until the third strike. It was quite crude and unfair to have such a weak lance-like this, but this is not without any fairness. There was plenty of time to ensure that there were enough bouts to go around.

He moved to the [Start Battle] tab and directly [Start] when he presses [Yes]. The instructing soldier was not listed as red and is currently listed as white. What was interesting was that it did not show [Player's Turn][0/5] first instead it was [Neutral's Turn][1/5]. He had not expected such a thing to be like this and he was not quite as cautious as he should be.

The next moment, the gridline merged the two squares and the instructing soldier came at him. He was taken by surprise and a world of pain hit his left stomach. There was strangely no damage even though the difference between the instructing soldier's strength was over ten and his defense was just ten points. The pain was real and he counterattacked and was barely able to give the instructing soldier a solid hit in return. As the instructing soldier ended, it was his turn.

The turn finally flashes to [Player's Turn][1/5]. He could not figure out the reason why he was not the one to move first. He had always assumed that he would be the first to go, regardless of any battle. From this experience, he realized that he was dead wrong. He felt lucky that he figured this out right now because it would have been a different thing when up against enemies at the same level as him, stats-wise.

He would not want to fall into such dire straits again. A few huffs and puffs later, he was able to settle down the aching pain coming from his stomach. He noted down the pain since it was not as bad compared to the pain coming from the first battle that he had with the goblins. He readied his wooden lance and actively [Attack] the instructing soldier.

It was another hit and another durability went down. Even though he landed a solid hit. In return, he also got slapped back with another hit from the soldier. It was quite painful as well. To distract from the pain, he checked his wooden lance and there were already cracks along the shaft of the wooden lance. The wooden lance only has one durability left and could only barely last one last hit.

The turn swiftly changed as his turn was over, [Neutral][2/5]. The instructing soldier did not wait for him to settle down before attacking him. The instructing soldier was merciless and only sought to attack him. He got no complaints since he was closing in on the third hit. The first thing that he naturally felt was a pain in his left thigh and the broken wooden lance that came after. The wooden lance that he was holding in his hand was broken and this should have been the end of the battle.

However, he noticed something strange. The instructing soldier did not intend to end the battle at all, nor did the battle end after completing one of the conditions. He sadly realizes that the battle will not end until it reaches the fifth turn for both of them. He had thought that he would escape from this pointless battle after getting the third hit.

For him, this was also something new. Even if some of the conditions are fulfilled. As long as most of them do not reach the minimum requirement for ending a battle. Then the battle will not truly end. For example, the hits requirements were only something close to a sub-quest, while surviving five rounds is the main quest. It is a strange thought to have, but the result was already apparent.

For the last few turns, he did not care about attacking the instructing soldier because he had got no weapon on hand. While that is true, he did not want to waste any time, so he decided to just let it end there. The instructing soldier had been giving him looks since he was not willing to attack afterward. That ended until the fifth turn after the instructing soldier's final attack in the final round. As for his turn at the end, he could only smile and end his turn.

In total, he got hit six times and it hurts quite badly as well. He did not cower like the few beginning battles, but he did not take in the pleasure of receiving pain. He watches as the grid line slowly fades away and the fog is clearing up. He observed the surroundings and saw plenty of kids his age lying down on the ground floor. However, something was quite strange.

The broken wooden weapon that was lying all around the floor is turning illusionary. Even wooden weapons of all kinds were also slowly dissipating. The instructing soldiers were also dissipating into thin air. He realized that all of them were under some sort of spell and the things that they were fighting against were just some sort of illusion or phantom. He could not even tell reality and 'them' apart. It was no wonder why he was hit and felt the pain, while his health did not decrease one bit.

He could see the puzzlement of the others around him, also the same as his. From the corner of his eyes, he finally saw a dozen soldiers that came and took the wooden plates. While that was going on, he finally realized something as the kids were grouped up into four parts. One was a lance, two was a sword, three was an ax, and finally, four were bows. As for those other than that, they were grouped up into another big section. From this, he did know that he was heading toward the group that seemed to be equipped with a lance.

His mind was still in a daze as to what was going on. It was as if he had just woken up from a long dream and his mind was still in the process of regaining his memories. It is hard to describe his state as he finally regained himself under a sharp clap. He turns over like most of the kids to the sharp clap. It was a lady in black with a black hat. On top of her head, he reads her name and level within his mind, 'Louise Jones, Level forty.'

He was curious and decided to look at her status screen afterward and it shockingly read:

[Status]

[Name: Louise Jones][Class: Phantom Illusionist (Grade 3)][Level: 40/55][Rank: 4][HP: 34/34]

[STR: 5(15) ]

[MAG: 19(29) ]

[SKL: 17(25) ]

[SPD: 15(24) ]

[LCK: 15(30) ]

[DEF: 8(15) ]

[RES: 21(30) ] +2

[Hidden: [CON: 8][MOV: 7][SKILL: [Summon Phantom][Magic User][Resistance Up][Create Illusion]][EXP:

47/100][WEA: Dark: A]]

His only comment on her status was that it was 'very strong.' He did not doubt that he would instantly die after a single bout against her. She was too strong and he was too weak for a good comparison. He knows that even his father could barely match up against her in terms of stats. Not only that but what made him scared was her magic. She had four skills in total which were unlike any others that he had seen. Not only that, her weapon mastery has reached rank A.

No matter what, he felt that unless he went to war and unlocked his classes. He would not have been able to gain such a high level. He is scraping by just to reach level twenty and that comes with the fact that he fights against lower-level monsters like goblins and wolves. To reach level forty, he wondered how many monsters he had to defeat before getting his levels there.

If it was based on his previous experience gains. Then he would need to defeat at least forty monsters to barely reach level forty. That is under the condition where he can instantly kill off the monster while gaining fifty experience points each. However, he felt that it would take him years just to reach the same level as her. For now, he kept his thoughts to himself as more and more kids were lined up.

When it finally ends, his group happens to be the first group to be led on through another large gate. As for the rest, he did not know what they would be expecting. He did know that those who failed would be sent outside the gate and his group was the ones to be sent out. So, he could only conclude that the biggest group of kids that were right behind were the ones to fail the combat examination.

His group was led around the whole trainee's barrack, onto the training ground, then to the sleeping quarters, and so on. Likewise, training will start tomorrow morning. All of the children seemed to have some kind of previous knowledge of this barrack, unlike him. Each and everyone was given a simple bronze weapon that was newly forged within a couple of days. He could tell how newly forged they were and the scratched-less it was from its appearance.

[Bronze Lance: Might +3, Hit +80, Crit +3, Weight=4~5, Durability: 45/45]

[A weapon made by a great artisan. Due to high workmanship, it is steadfast and much more durable. Repairable. (Lance E)]

Holding the bronze lance in hand, he finally felt that he got somewhat a bit more comfortably stronger. It was just a few days since he lost his training lance in battle and he had been itching to hold on to the new weapon in hand. Now that there was one, he resisted the urge to go straight into training mode and get familiar with the new lance. He kept moving on as they were led on until they finally grouped up back in the sleeping quarters where the rooms were separated into huge rooms.

Just like its name, a room in the sleeping quarter is enough for at least his group to sleep in. There were many of those rooms. However, he was situated in room number zero-two-two. This is where he will be living for the next year until his training is pretty much over. During the tour around, they were already briefed about how things operate here and the cost of training them is not free.

After the year of training, there were three options that they could take. One, they either continue training as the reserve troops for the capital. Two, they could start becoming a soldier right away. Finally, three, they could freely leave military life and go back to their village. That is under the condition where they would work as the guards stationed over there. Periodically, they have to report their situation and, if needs be. They must support the capital when invaded by others. Otherwise, they are free to go now if they so choose.

[Oreo Burger - Oreo came from a long line of generals with the grand last name of Burger. As an heir descendant of Burger's noble family. He was obligated to service the royal family and leading troops into wars was common sense. His idols were his fathers and grandfathers and those before him. He had been fascinated by becoming the strongest general alive and he stuck to it until he became what he set out to do. Oreo Burger may seem unrelated, but his son, Thin Burger, contributes some of the most important early guidance to the main character, even though it was indirect.]

[Louise Jones - Louise was the new addition to the military sector in the Kabrigde Capital. As a

Phantom Illusionist, her magical might is no less than her fame among the common mages. She was specifically hired to pick out the goodies of trainees from the worst during the recruitment season. Her employment proved useful and this tradition of using phantoms to sieve the trainees became much more perfected over five years. Her past was unknown. However, she will later play an important role later on and accept an unassuming disciple that has high potential, but a lazy temperament.]