Chapter 46

The Army

Captain Paul Camello was already on his fourth pillar, and he was prepared to stay down here in the dark hole for as long as possible to get all seven pillars, just as his grandfather had.

General Camello, the first and greatest of the still active generals was one of the first to find and conquer all seven pillars.

Chitter, chitter.

Just hearing the echoing sound of the monsters storming forward and charging through the various tunnels caused Paul’s skin to crawl.

That and the smell.

The tight chambers of dirt naturally smelled bad. But then added to that was the fact that the ground was hot. Well hot wasn’t the correct term, corrosive.

The walls, and everything was coated in a layer of corrosive materials.

Even the access point of the pillars was covered in the corrosive materials. Materials that would begin slowly wearing away at the protective layer of his uniform, or worse causing near instant rashes from the barest of contact.

All of this was from normal movement within the caves. If his skin was forced to rub up or scrape against the caustic materials then he was to stop, and apply instant cauterization treatments to the wounds for both himself and the others of his unit.

And everyone here was from his unit, all except for the brat.

Honestly Captain Camello didn’t particularly care for the whole honor of defending all Camellos. As there were plenty of Camellos that Paul himself would be glad to get rid of.

That said, when grandfather put together a hit and made it so the subject of such attention would be placed right in the middle of SERE training, a course where no less than thirty percent of attendees are expected to die.

Then miraculously everyone from your unit and the brat makes it to the final and hardest round, the message is clear. Not just for him, but for everyone of the unit, kill the brat if he dares to enter the training grounds.

Paul himself didn’t worry about the brat, by now everyone in the squad would be gunning for the child, even bypassing the actual purpose for their being here. All in order to gain the favor of the general.

It was sickening, but Paul knew that deep down, things and actions like this were what made General Camello such a powerhouse. That these actions were why the Camellos were feared, or at least known not to be trifled with.

As for Paul, he sometimes wondered what it would have been like to be born into a lower family. One where it was just his actions alone that caused him to rise or fail, much as the brat had.

That was the thing, that as much as he wanted to hate the kid. As easy as it would be to cast out the kid and throw away any form of attachment to him, the kid had guts.

Despite clearly getting worse treatment from everyone else, despite getting the worst rations, he never complained.

Not that anyone was there to listen to him.

SERE training for someone so young was a death sentence. Then once everyone realized that Captain Camello and his entire team was here, taking the training together, the writing was written clearly and in raised text for anyone to read.

General Camello had pulled strings to put in a hit.

At first everyone panicked, subtly asking for signs of who the intended target was. One brazenly had the gall to go up to Paul himself to ask.

That was when Paul just chuckled at the brash action of the individual and replied, “you’re good.”

Then immediately after that, Paul flicked his gaze over to Fotos, who was in the middle of an extra set of exercises for another perceived infraction.

Still despite all of that, the boy didn’t break.

For that alone, the unwillingness to break, Paul was impressed. Though unfortunately Paul’s being impressed was the equivalent of running in the rain; there might provide some tangential benefit to you under the right circumstances, such as cooling off your body heat, or keeping certain types of predators at bay, but by and large it didn’t change anything noteworthy.

At least that is what Paul told himself. Though he also knew from experience that people in the military were more than accommodating towards minor favors for him.

Paul would still get work, he would still be forced to do the same sets of training as everyone else, but he would often find himself receiving higher grades for less effort. At least less effort as far as he was concerned.

Take for instance this training.

Tallia was a far more formidable Fire and Air user, the same exact skillset as Paul had. Yet, Tallia was listed as number two in the training, while Paul was graded number one overall, despite Tallia clearly pushing herself far harder than Paul had.

At least that was how it felt.

Paul did push himself, and his training and baseline Attributes and breakthroughs were crisp and clean from an early age.

Upon his awakening ceremony, Paul already had the most advanced cultivations suits available, capable of not only helping to identify mana types, but also helping him process mana around him. Of course, this meant his first day of being awakened had him going to what was essentially a controlled furnace.

Though, thinking back on it, the heat there had nothing to do with how cramped and stuffy he now felt currently.

There heat was a conduit to show that energy was available, valuable cultivation energy that his body desperately needed to get stronger.

Almost instantly Paul found the flames dancing and beckoning to his mental calls. They were beautiful and intoxicating.

At least they were at first.

The Camello family method of training meant that within five months, Paul had to gain the first five layers of body cultivation, and that was the minimum if you still wanted to keep the last name of Camello. For those that didn’t manage to perform such a feat, they were often shipped off to the lower realms, to be forgotten forever.

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Allegedly Tristan, Paul’s dad, originally had seven brothers, but the oldest was a disgrace due to not having affinity for fire, and due to that, his rate of progress was a lot slower than others. Thus, he was sent to the deepest parts of the underground, to be forgotten.

That said, as a lower cultivator, he managed to have multiple generations of family down there, apparently, with more than a few being blessed with long range attack abilities.

With the story of great uncle Prichard, the uncle who was not to be spoken about by name known, and used as an object lesson of what happens to failures in the Camello household, Paul found inspiration to push on in his training.

As Paul set a Camello generational family record, of pushing through the first five layers of his Body Cultivation in under three months. Not just that, but despite his speed, he managed to push himself forward with a perfect foundation, pushing everything he could into improving his Power Attribute.

This meant that he was able to take his re-awakening process early. Not just early, but since his advancement was outside of normal awakening timeframes, his grandfather had performed the ritual.

When his grandfather performed the re-awakening ritual, he used sacred training techniques that all but forced the second affinity of Air onto Paul.

Apparently, this was done by only exposing Paul to the Air element, until finally his body was forced to cultivate the element, despite how much it burned his meridians and made him feel like he was circulating glass shards within his body.

This was why, people who were naturally Fire and Air elemental users like Tallia were ultimately better. Their bodies didn’t resist the harsh secondary element. Instead, they seemed to thrive under their body’s perfect harmony.

That said, having the ability to create Air, particularly air that was directly next to his skin and body was a life saver. Not only did it ensure that Paul would not suffocate when his flames grew out of control, but it also gave him the initial component needed to create a chemical reaction.

Honestly, the two were a perfect union of abilities, however there was just one problem.

By now Paul himself was a third generation of Fire and Air users, just as his father had been forced to walk the path, to follow in his father’s footsteps. Just as his older brother had.

In a way, his brother had it easy.

He died while here in SERE training.

This was why, Paul, unlike all others of his family who came before him was provide with information of what to expect.

The General himself even came to spout on about his glorious achievements when they first found these ancient ruins.

“The insects are powerful, but that they are manageable, so long as you keep your wits about you,” the General began.

Having grown up hearing the accounts of his grandfather’s exploits, this was along the lines of what he expected to hear from the old man.

Useless words that ultimately said nothing, while sounding important.

While his father, aunts, and uncles all went through the training as well, they did so with varying degrees of success. The most successful of which was his father who managed to get five of the seven pillars.

That said, there was a steep drop off in success recently.

For while, Paul’s father, aunts, and uncles all succeeded, none of the grandchildren who partook in this sacred training succeeded thus far.

“I’d swear they move those tunnels around on you. The longer you stay down there, the more the heat builds and threatens to cook you alive.” His father Tristan Camello II stated. There was no third, at least not any more, as that had been Paul’s older brother’s name. The very one who set off the avalanche that was this borderline questionable information exchange with Paul.

“Now you need to promise me two things,” Tristan the second noted.

“Two?” Paul asked, hearing the note of worry in his father’s voice.

“Yes, when you get down there, do not be reckless. While getting all seven pillars might have been possible in grandfather’s time, that no longer seems to be the case. No one in a generation has found that many pillars. I only found five by accident. That is why you must now make two promises to me before you go.” His father pleaded.

“Okay?” Paul questioned.

“First, do not get stuck on finding seven or even five pillars. If you find one, then that is a success in and of itself. Any more is just icing on the cake and what you can bring others to, who will be grateful for your assistance.” Tristan stated.

“Okay.” Paul agreed.

“Second, do not follow the deep roads. If you start going to places where your skin and body feel like they are being burned away, leave. Double back, crawl out if you must, but leave. I don’t know what is down on the lower levels, but you will first see stronger and stronger monsters along your path. That will be the first sign that you have gone too far. Then if you go too far down, you will be exposed to highly concentrated doses of the rot. We think this is what happened to your brother. Which is why we ask that you learn from his example.” Tristan the second stated.

“I thought he died below? Overtaken by monster insects?” Paul asked, suddenly hearing about this new detail of his brother’s death.

“That is what we want others to believe. If we said that by going down you would be exposed to enough corruption to cause even a powerhouse like your brother to die, despite being at the peak of the Skeletal Cultivation phase, then no one would venture to go deep. This is why we are telling you this now. Also, know that you may tell this secret to your squad members and a few other trusted family friends.” Grandfather, Tristan the first, stated.

At that, Paul could only pause.

“Do not worry, after your rotation, details of going to the lower depths will be made common knowledge for the SERE training curriculum. That said, for now there is one very minor reason why we have kept this such a secret, until now.” Grandfather stated.

Hearing that, Paul could only nod in understanding.

Fotos, the new soldier that had apparently killed a member of the Camello family in cold blood. A person who by all old-world accounts should either be rotting away in prison right now, or be serving on the front lines.

Instead, they had somehow walked the death row, and been recommended for specialized SERE training, as a possible reward for some feat he accomplished while at the academy.

If records were to be believed, then this Fotos kid was on a vastly different power level far higher than his own.

Well, far higher than he was at that age. Fortunately for Paul, he had years of experience and a family of highly motivated achievers stockpiling resources for the younger generations to use as a way of building out the Camello lineage.

Worse, there was also the added issue that each generation, while sponsored more heavily and thoroughly by the generation before them always failed to live up to the prior generation.

Thust Paul’s father being unable to achieve the successes of his father, just as now Paul was unable to achieve the same successes as his own father.

Four pillars, by far the most of this generation, meant nothing.

Three was the last to give a bonus. The next one, the fifth pillar would also give a bonus, but four that was a waste. It was so meaningless to only find four that Paul couldn’t help but feel the need to press on, to find that fifth pillar. One that would provide one more Attribute, well not just one, but one Attribute to all his points. Such a feat would be a game changer.

At least for someone at Fotos’ level.

That said, there was honor and tradition pushing Paul on. The last thing he wanted to hear was the excuse of how his generation was weaker than his parent’s generation. The same way that his father heard the same from his father before him.

This was why, despite making the promise to leave, Paul found himself walking around in what felt like circles.

He hated to admit it, but the insects were at the very least semi-sentient.

A couple of times Paul could feel the insects moving around him.

Tremor.

Paul could even feel their fast paced antics disturbing the tunnels that he had previously been in.

When he first felt the movement, Paul immediately ran to find a gaggle of the creatures. Ten were seeming to chew up and spit out some form of dense saliva-like substance to build up walls.

Fwoosh.

Seeing them gathered so tightly, Paul let loose a burst of flames that easily burned the distracted defenders, allowing Paul to make quick work of the builders.

While a few had managed to scramble away, with burning chunks of flames attached to their exoskeletons, they did so under duress.

Also, Paul used that moment to prove that these giant creatures were building walls to cut off or stop movements.

Focusing on the walls, Paul did notice one discrepancy.

There was one slight difference between the walls that had been up and active all along, versus the walls that were being hastily constructed by the insects, and that was the fact that his skin did not have an immediate reaction to the walls.

Yes, subtle, almost like touching rows upon rows of poisonous vines to find the one that is not poison sumac, and thus safe to grab and pull down.

In a way, this method of trying to find a false wall leading to a fifth pillar was similar.

Itching burning.

By now, Paul had used this method so much that he could no longer put on his protective gloves anymore, for his skin was too raw.

While he would quickly burn away the outer layer of skin immediately upon feeling a reaction, there was still a lingering pain in his hand. A pain that would only be taken away after cycling his energy twice within his body.

As crude as this method might seem, Paul had found two false walls using this very time-consuming method.

Once he found that his skin didn’t instantly react to the energy of the wall, Paul would then focus his concentration on the spot where his hand landed and begin creating a virtual inferno right there.

One time, he found a clutch of hiding larva and eggs. Larva that were protected by one overly large monster that, was remarkably easy to kill. Especially as the hole in the false wall that Paul had created was large enough for a flame thrower attack to enter, but not large enough for even an appendage of the overly rotund defender beast to enter.

This meant that Paul was able to burn his way through the nest with impunity.

From there, Paul quickly found a second wall, where even more monsters hid, but he somehow missed the nearby pillar, if there was ever one in that area. Which, from Paul’s understanding that was exactly the case.

Now he was lost, though tired, he still felt the need to press on. To continue on. By now Paul had almost given up on the idea of matching his grandfather. But now that he had found a cheat, a way to find hidden walls and continue his search for more pillars, Paul was ready to move on.

Nothing would stop him, or so he thought.

Chitter, chitter.

Paul heard the sound of dozens of insects just waiting.

Having been around the beasts for so long, Paul knew that there was a slight taste ability for the monsters. He knew they were all but blind down here, but would be able to taste his presence, if he wasn’t careful.

That was why, moving into position, he slowly angled his body, until he could see the monsters.

Blank stares.

If Paul didn’t know better, he would assume that the creatures had all lost their minds.

Seeing the moment for what it was, a perfect time to strike, Paul moved forward.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he caught the skeletal frame of a hand sticking out from under the pile of monsters.

Horror filled Paul as he realized the hand was fresh.

For a moment, he wondered who the hand belonged to. For a second he hoped it was Fotos, which would mean that he was off the hook for killing the brat.

Unfortunately, that thought was turned on its head, the next second as he saw the very brat he had been thinking about a moment ago, sitting perfectly still behind the blankly staring line of oversized insects.

“What the?” Paul let out, his thoughts escaping his lips as he could not fathom the incongruity of what he was now seeing.

Pausing.

Then as one, the insects that had all been staring off into space, suddenly shook awake and all turned their heads in unison directly towards Paul.

“Shit,” was all Paul could say before a wall of large insects came to life and began surging towards him.