Blight heard a commotion break out in the distance. A violent ethereal matter was summoned and extended several meters into the sky. It looked like a nebula twinkling with purple and blue.
There stood a young girl and one of the instructors next to her.
This ethereal nebula continued to extend and stretch like a roaring flame before calming down and coiling around the blade of the sword. The girl who used this ability had her sword in a high guard position and slashed down.
The reinforced training dummy was instantly obliterated, and a force continued to travel, leaving a sideways gash in the mud.
The spectators were left speechless, and many other youths turned to look at her, staring dumbly with admiration and began clapping.
"As expected of a legendary ranked ability."
"If I could be half as cool and beautiful as her, I'd be satisfied with my life," a nearby girl sighed.
"Hehe," her friend gloated, "have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently?"
"You!"
Blight looked towards the girls and snickered after listening to their thoughts.
'Why did they spend their entire childhood pretending to be friends when they despised each other so much?'
It made no sense to him.
A few other spectators also turned toward Eldrich, who was muttering something under his breath, to see his reaction
This was a given, he was considered to be one of the most powerful people here, only behind the girl, Flonecia. They both had legendary ranked lineages!
Even more gasps were heard as Eldrich summoned a giant ethereal battle hammer above his head. It was mostly translucent but had a red hue to it. It followed his movement as his hand motioned downward and obliterated the dummy.
A heavy sound and a shockwave spread across the training ground, startling the nearby trainees. Some instructors also instantly turned their heads to locate the cause of the commotion, fearing a possible danger to the regiment.
Blight, who watched all this unfold, shook his head and snickered while looking at his own training dummy. 'Now I just feel completely and utterly useless. What am I supposed to do with this thing, slap it?'
The dummy stared back at him with a big frown drawn on its face.
'You should be happy I'm not blowing you to smithereens like them.'
Blight was part of the group who did not have any physical manifestation abilities, and therefore, they did not receive as much guidance. Everybody was given a dummy and told to practice reinforcing their body with ether and striking it.
The armory was opened up, allowing everybody to take turns using practice weapons. There were all kinds of weapons: swords, bows, axes, maces, hammers, chains, just to name a few, and multiple variations of each weapon type.
Blight was interested in the sword, but he didn't know how to wield it, so he held off for now.
He will take some classes on this subject from tomorrow onward. There were many such classes that he was interested in, including sorcery, which was announced to be taught for the first time ever this year.
He unleashed a fury of strikes and, at the last strike, finally caused enough damage for some small dust particles to roll off.
"Hehe."
Admittedly, this was an extremely pleasant experience.
The downside was that his stamina could not keep up with his ether regeneration, so he had to keep sitting down to recover and catch his breath before continuing.
If before he was a frail little boy who'd break his own bones if he slapped a chicken, he now had the strength to slap a chicken to death.
It was a really pronounced change. His awakening had already strengthened his body, but when he actively reinforced it with ether, he felt strength in every ounce of his being. His bones became sturdier, his tendons more resilient, and his muscles brimmed with power.
This training continued until dusk, with the instructor's methods continuously changing. After the initial dummies, they were split into different groups and practiced different fighting methods against dummies of different types and sizes.
He was well and truly spent.
When dinner came around, Blight looked for the group he'd eaten with the night before. He also chatted with some of them throughout the day, but the main focus was always the training.
"Blight," they nodded at him as he approached.
Blight returned the nod of recognition. "Hope you're all doing well."
Shazbot groaned. "Man, today was brutal."
"Aww, what's wrong? Somebody need a hug?" Avil teased.
"Yeah, your mom's hug," Shazbot shot back, grinning.
"You wouldn't dare!"
Avil jumped up, knocking into the table as he stood, but was held back by Marsuu who was like the older brother of this group, calming the bickering of his younger siblings.
"Did you guys see Eldrich and Flonecia? Even Marsuu can't compare to them. They are too strong! Too extreme!" Bernault changed the subject.
Marsuu, who was being put down, didn't seem offended at all, only nodding his head while stuffing his face with food.
After he had swallowed his last bite, he replied casually," It's true, they are monsters compared to us, but focus on yourselves. Those guys aren't exactly team players. If we want to survive, we can only rely on ourselves."
Blight listened to their conversation silently.
Where did he fall on this imaginary ranking system? In the eyes of others, he was sure to be near the very bottom.
Realm: Awakened
Ether Core: Awakened
Ether fragments: [0]
Lineage: [Rite of Challenge]
Rank: [Divine]
Attunement: [No Attunement]
Lineage abilities: [Gaze into the Abyss]
Boon: [Limitless]
Flaw: [Tormented]
Resonances: [Bound] [Concealed]
He didn't have any powerful or flashy abilities. In fact, he didn't have a single offensive or defensive ability. His lineage ability was utility-based, and his boon was a passive one.
Despite this, he felt that he actually had the strongest abilities in the entire regiment.
He had a Divine-ranked lineage for god's sake!
It could not be understated how incredible a divine-ranked lineage was. Nobody in the history of the Red Legion had ever obtained one. The last known person to obtain a lineage of the divine rank was Bastion, the shining star of humanity.
He also thought that his boon was unrivaled. How can any offensive ability compare to the ability to strengthen your ether core infinitely?
Secondly, while he didn't think that his first lineage ability was very useful at the moment, the description of his lineage, despite its secrecy and ominous nature, made him certain that he could obtain even more powerful abilities once he ascended, no matter how far away that would be.
He was also yet to absorb any ether fragments to strengthen his core.
These fragments, which were obtained by killing horrors, were in extremely high demand, far beyond anything he could dream of purchasing, but in time, he could see a future where he would be drowning in them.
'I'm a scaler,' Blight chuckled to himself.
The main thing he made note of was the descriptions of his lineage [Writ of Challenge], his resonance [Concealed], and the fact that he had no attunement.
How could he not have an attunement?
Every human had an attunement. It signified which god they were a descendant of.
This directly contradicted everything else he knew.
Even though he should have felt apprehensive towards their ominous descriptions, and sure the 'want you dead' and 'cursed' parts were a little scary, he didn't feel an immediate sense of danger.
Was he being stupid and reckless? Most probably.
But even then, what could he do about it even if he did spend all his time obsessing over these details?
The best he could do was to try to steadily gain more information without raising any suspicions.
He'd read that humans always had the habit of dismissing problems that weren't immediately demanding. It seemed too far away and abstract for him to care at this moment.
Otherwise, in this world full of horrors, humans would have long pushed themselves to extinction with worry.
Nearing the end of the dinner, the regiment was startled when they heard a series of loud "ting" sounds and turned their heads to find the source. The head instructor stood on the main stage, and it seemed as though he was about to give a speech.
The hall quieted down instantly, and the instructor smiled lightly, beginning.
"Good evening, all. I've received feedback from the instructors regarding your performance today. I have to say that even though it is only the second day, you are all showing incredible potential as a regiment, maybe even one of the most promising in our clan's history. Take pride in your abilities. Be confident in yourselves and try to make the most of your time here."
Everybody listened in silence, but their faces were plastered with anticipation and pride.
"With that being said, like I mentioned earlier this morning, the official curriculum will begin tomorrow. In line with the values and beliefs of our clan, you will have almost full autonomy to chose to learn and train whatever you think is best for yourself."
The head instructor paused, allowing the weight of his words to settle before continuing. "Every morning after breakfast, we'll gather for battle training on the grounds. As an entire regiment, you will learn the art of combat and hone your battle skills. After your year of training, you'll be ready to call yourselves warriors of the Red Legion and wear our mark with pride. Believe it!"
Blight watched the expressions of his fellow trainees as the head instructor spoke and found them to be enthralled and captivated, but he couldn't feel such an emotion. In his heart, he would always be an outsider in this clan.
He'd now also perfected the art of avoiding eye contact so he could look at anybody he wanted without his flaw being activated.
"After battle training, you can choose to spend your time however you wish! There are classes for everything with enough material and knowledge to make you proficient in anything you wish to learn, and the training ground is open around the clock for you to hone your skills at any time!"
The instructor's voice lingered in the air, and a large applause and many cheers resounded. It was a big improvement from the sombre mood hanging over them immediately after the awakening ceremony. It seemed as though their courage had been reignited, at least somewhat.