I was stronger!

Faster!

But it still wasn’t enough!

Müel tackled me to the ground yet again before standing up and backing away.

We were in an octagonal pit that was in the ground near the southern wall of Cohval.

I stumbled onto my feet.

“Are you hard of hearing or am I unable to instruct you clearly?” Aymon asked from above.

I faced forward and stood attentively.

“The fault is mine and mine alone, sir!”

“Oh? So you are purposefully failing to tackle Müel? Well, that breaks my heart to hear. But I suppose your honesty warrants reward. All of you, run around the training fields five times as a sign that you appreciate Kenos’s honesty.”

“Yes Sir!”

We all said.

I ran out of the hall and ran along the seventy sevenths as we made our way to the dark walls of the base.

We ran along them and it wasn’t long before a certain someone began complaining.

“Oi, Kenos! Try harder, you oversized meat bag!”

“I would have, but I wanted to make you look good since you weren’t good enough to become a true Foph warrior and whatnot.” I giggled.

“Asshole!”

“Fizzle down, you two!” Nolat barked.

“Alright.”

Müel and I said.

We eventually completed our runs and we stopped in front of Aymon while fighting for each breath we took.

“Alright, tonight is the night when you go against the sixty eighth squad in a joint squad exercise. You will all be fully kitted with everything but swords. You will all be issued relatively non lethal weapons upon arrival at Site E.” Aymon explained.

However, even he flinched a little when a Kommáti suddenly appeared next to him.

I knew the Kommáti as Ower.

“May I speak freely, sir?”

“Y-yes.”

“Accidents are prone to happen during the exercise, but I ask that you remember that Kenos shares a body with lord Katsíki himself. I do not need to elaborate on what this means, no?” Ower asked.

“Hey! Wait a minute! Katsíki said its fine if we get banged up! He said it himself that he wouldn’t be able to live knowing that he didn’t do the same training as everyone else!” I cried while passionately placing my hand on my chest.

[When the hell did I say any of that?]

“Get back in line.” Aymon said and I complied.

“Mmm… you heard him. The only thing we can do now is trust lord Katsíki and hopes that his wisdom keeps them both from getting seriously injured.” Aymon said.

“Understood.”

Everyone flinched again as Ower suddenly disappeared again.

Aymon let out a sigh before nodding towards the showers.

We all entered the showers and my fellow trainees couldn’t help but discuss what they’d just seen.

“So that was a Kommáti.”

“Not just that, I think he was assigned to personally protect lord Katsíki as well.”

“Wow.”

“Who do think is stronger? The Scouts or the Kommáti?”

“The Scouts win by a long shot. They have freaks like Colonel Koráki and captain Gunguo. Those are names that will undoubtedly strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Damn, even I’m shaking just thinking about what they did in the Niki forest.”

“Buddy, didn’t you hear about what happened afterwards. I heard that the Kommáti killed thousands of people in an instant after Lady Yna forced the Golden knights to kneel before her.”

“Heh? You are laughably misinformed.”

This went on until we finished bathing.

We eventually got charged before making our way to one of Cohval many armouries.

The seventy sevenths all got dressed in the MSDA-MK4's while I wore a specially made set of armour that only covered my torso and head since my stupid goat legs would be a hassle to cover.

This would undoubtedly result in many leg and ass injuries but ah well.

After getting geared up, we then made our way to Cohval’s Teleportation platform.

These platforms worked by allowing space magicians to get the precise coordinates of ant locations they wanted to send things to.

We stood on the platform alongside a fully armoured Aymon and it wasn’t long until we were joined by the sixty eighth squad.

“Good luck out there, Azizi.” Aymon said while extending his hand toward the training instructor of the sixty eighth squad.

“You too, Ay-ay.” Azizi said with a grin as he shook Aymon’s hand.

“Do not call me that.”

The two went on like this before we all lined up on the large stone platform.

It was decided that the platforms be made of stone because Katsíki had a strange fear that making them out of darkness would cause some sort of magical interference.

We teleported to Cohval and we were immediately assaulted by the cold of the Jivu mountains.

I bit my teeth as we walked into Site E.

A heavily guarded training ground which was littered with armoured Ash Wraiths.

We entered it and after making the necessary preparations we entered the field where we’d be training.

It was a large chunk of the mountain that spanned the area if about twenty football fields and since it was on the side of a mountain, it was divided into three distinct sections of varying height with section A being the highest and C being the lowest.

These sections were covered in snow, trees, mud and various other environmental obstacles.

For the final test of every exam each squad had to take, they would be placed into the field alongside another squad.

The objective was to capture the three flags each squad held while defending your own.

The catch was, only one flag could be taken at a time although the flag could be returned to it’s pole if it was taken back before it reached the opposing team’s base.

The first team to get all three flags would win, but that wasn’t the point.

We would be judged from above by our instructors and a few other high ranking Rendaro on our tactics, combat and coordination.

Neither squad would ultimately leave the army if they lost.

Each team was simply just trying to impress the judges although bonus points were given to the winning team and trainees who performed well.

“Alright, we’ll split up into two teams. Nine of us will stay here and protect the flags while the other eight head west to capture the flag. Sound good?” Nolat suggested as we stood on the Eastern side of the field.

We were the red ream and all of our gear had red strips of cloth all around it.

Our flags were red too.

Everyone nodded to Nolat’s suggestion.

“Good. Bette and I will lead the offensive team-“

“Why Bette and not me?” Müel asked with a frown.

“I’m way stronger and faster than she is, so…”

Nolat placed his hand on Müel’s shoulder.

“I know. That’s why I’m placing you here. The sixty eighths are probably gonna hit us hard and I’ll need you back here to defend our flags. Can you do that?” Nolat asked.

Müel clicked his tongue before stepping backwards.

“Good-“

“What about Kenos, my heart?” Lheel asked.

“He’ll stay here and provide everyone with support.”

“But he’s pretty strong though and when he’s determined, he’s the fastest one among us. I know he’s not the best fighter, but I think if you got him I the right position, he could grab the flag and run back here.” Lheel said and if it wasn’t for the fact that the mood was far too serious, I’d have given him a big hug.

“Mmm… no. Kenos is far too clumsy. Also, what will we do if he gets intercepted? Like you said, he’s fast, but running that fast means he’ll also be alone.”

Everyone let out thoughtful hums as the afternoon sun hung high in the sky.

Unfortunately, none of its heat reached us a cold mountain winds blew by.

A loud, high pitched explosion filled the air.

This marked the beginning of our match.

“Alright, we stick to the original plan. Bette and six others, follow me.” Nolat said before leading seven Rendaro into a patch of forest to the east.

I sighed before walking over to a rock and promptly sitting on it.

Aymon had taken advantage of my Nemen blood and given me more supplies than everyone else.

Stolen story; please report.

Is that what they saw me as?

A pack mule…

“Oi! What are you doing?” Müel asked.

“Umm… sitting. But I’m guessing you already knew that.” I said with a gentle smile.

“Get in formation!”

“Which one? You’ve yet to share any of your brilliant tactics.” I said while continuing to smile.

“Ugh! Lheel and four others, line the treeline. Kenos and I will guard the flags with everyone else. Also, drop that bag.” Müel barked.

“Umm… wouldn’t it be better if we had some space magicians hide beneath the ground. We could then trick anyone who tried attacking us into thinking that we had sent a large portion of our men to grab their flag.” Lheel suggested and I almost laughed aloud as Müel scratched his head in thought.

“Don’t worry, it won’t change anything for you and I. We’ll serve the roles you assigned us by guarding the flags, but the three space magicians we have will be hidden beneath the very spots you assigned them to.” I said while reaching out to wrap my arm around his neck, but he brushed my arm aside before pacing around.

“Is that so? Well, alright then. We’ll go with that. Everyone get in position!” He said.

Everyone assumed their positions and we waited.

The rules for combat were simple, we weren’t allowed to use any lethal attacks or weapons.

We were instead given wooden batons that would be nearly useless against our dark amours meaning that we had to rely on tackles and our good ol’ fists.

Several minutes passed as we stood in the freezing cold.

The time limit for the match was that we had to finish it before noon on the next day.

But spending an entire day in the freezing cold was something that that my new, more motivated self was not willing to do and so I narrowed my eyes and inspected the treeline.

We’d need to ensure victory quickly-

My eyes widened as a fully armoured Rendaro suddenly appeared between Müel and I.

He reached out grab one of our flags, but Müel and I wasted no time in grabbing him and tossing him to the ground, but just as we pinned him down, another appeared next to the three flag poles and he quickly grabbed one of our flags before disappearing again.

It was a general rule that novice space magicians only teleport in intervals of ten and only teleporting to places you could see to avoid teleporting in between a wall or someone else and dying.

These restrictions applied doubly so to densely packed places like forests or even the insides of buildings.

One mistake and your legs could become one with the ground in a gory mess.

This also prevented armature space magicians from breaking into people’s homes and stealing stuff. Especially if it was a home which they’d never been in.

Anyway, I used this knowledge to determine that the thieving Rendaro couldn’t teleport very far.

“Let me chase him!” I pleaded to a frustrated Müel.

“How-“

I explained to him everything that I knew.

Well… everything that Katsíki knew.

“Alright, go!” Müel yelled and I broke into a sprint towards the forest.

I entered it at break neck speeds and my hooves allowed me to take powerful and stable steps towards my target.

Each team’s base was located two hundred and fifty meters apart on sector B, so I assumed the thief was going to try and go straight home, but that’s what he’d want me to think.

He had probably taken a quick tumble to the lower section C.

I carefully made my way down before sprinting west with a big smile on my face.

My heart was also beating line crazy and so, with great enthusiasm, I ran.

I eventually caught up to the thief, who was in a light jog.

I then tackled him to the ground before grabbing the flag, but the maniac wouldn’t hand it over so easily.

He punched me in the face, but his fist struck my modified helmet, which had holes that allowed my horns to fit.

I punched his gut, causing him to squawk in pain before rushing back to base.

I eventually returned and was met with a sea of praise as I placed the flag back on its rightful place.

“Good job, my heart!” Lheel yelled from the treeline and I blew him a kiss before facing a cross armed Müel.

“Got anything you’d like to say.” I asked with a grin.

“No. Now focus.” He snapped and this actually dimmed the fire in my chest a little.

Just marginally so.

I faced the forest before grinning even wider than before.

This was incredibly fun!

Also, regarding the Rendaro we had captured, they were out of the match.

Meaning our opponents now had only fifteen members.

.

..

Nolat, Bette and the others eventually returned and they all looked like shit.

They were covered in dirt and some of them even had broken noses.

Unfortunately for them, we would only receiving healing in the worst case scenario.

That being said, we did have a healer and he went to work on those who were wounded.

“What happened out there?” Müel asked and I too was curious.

Hours had passed and we had yet to take or lose any flags.

“They’ve gone full defence and they deflected every attempt we made.” Nolat explained.

“Then let’s switch. They are probably tired from your many attempts, but we only faced them once. We could-“

“It’s probably a trick, my heart.” Lheel said, interrupting Müel.

“Yeah, they’re probably waiting for us to do like you suggested and while they hold you back, they send a small team to come and steal the flag from we who are tired.” Bette said while resting her head on Nolat’s arm.

“So what should we do? The sun has set.” Müel growled.

“I suggest we go with my Kenos plan-“

“We’ll play the waiting game.” Nolat said.

“What?” Lheel asked with a frown that marked his rather smooth face.

“They can’t all stay back there forever. We’ll say here and wait for then to strike and in that moment, a small number of us will break away from the chaos and head for the flag.”

“But that’s too risky. What happens if they do nothing? They probably have more points than us since they managed to successfully push us back every time we attacked.” Lheel said bit Nolat faced him before angrily pointing down.

“Exactly. This isn’t about the flags. It’s about working as a team. So listen to your captain and settle down.” Nolat said.

“Yes… my heart.” Lheel said before lowering his head.

“We’ll bait them into attacking us and when the moment is right, we’ll strike. The way I see it, we are tied in terms of defence, but we’ve yet to see what they can do if they fully mobilize.” Nolat said, but something about his plan bugged me.

It felt… cowardly.

I know, I know.

That’s rich coming from me, but I knew that the only way to beat our opponents, was to go at them with all we had.

We still had three Rendaro hidden in the ground and although our opponents could clearly see that three of our men were missing, they didn’t attack.

We would need to be the ones to move the momentum of this match and so I walked up to a visibly frustrated Lheel.

“I liked your idea better.” I said.

“I know, but we must obey the captain’s orders.” Lheel sighed.

“Mmm… I have an idea. Nolat seems confident that they’ll grow desperate and attack eventually. Why don’t we use that to put your plan into action.”

“How, my heart?” Lheel asked with a frown.

“He plans on sending a strike team to their base when they inevitably attack, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t I sneakily follow the strike team and while they fight with the other side’s defence, I’ll wait for the opportunity to take the flag.”

Lheel placed a finger on his small lips.

“That would be a direct disobedience of our orders-“

“Ah-ha, good thing I’m not actually part of the seventy seventh squad, no?” I asked with a grin.

“I thought you said you wanted to train like a real soldier, my heart.”

“Yes, I wanted to train like one. I never had any intention of joining the army. Besides, Katsíki is needed back in Coh, so… anyway, what do you think?” I asked.

“Mmm… you’re right about not being part of our squad but I now see that this may cost us points in the end.” Lheel said as a certain head to come into view.

“Care to share what you’re whispering about?” Bette asked.

We told her our plan since there wasn’t really a point in keeping it a secret.

“I see. Well, count me in. I’m most likely going to be part of the counter attack, so knowing that Kenos will be up there will help.”

I nodded before crossing my arms and looking out into the night sky.

The beauty of the stars helped me forget about the cold somewhat.

.

..

Two entire hours had passed since my discussion with Lheel and Bette and we were inching ever closer to the end of the match.

Everyone stood ready and it wasn’t long before we saw movement deep within the forest.

I spotted a single Rendaro, but we all knew it was a trap.

If we sent too many to deal with that guy, it’d leave our rear open and so we allowed Lheel and the others to deal with it.

The Rendaro was quickly subdued but it wasn’t long before a duo of Rendaro teleported next to the flag.

Müel dashed towards the two alongside Nolat and they tackled them to the ground successful, however, just as they subdued those Rendaro, four more ran out of the forest and they engaged with Lheel and the others in furious combat.

“Bette, go!” Nolat yelled, but before Bette could even respond to his orders, several more Rendaro rushed out of the forest.

I counted seven and they quickly intercepted Bette’s group meaning that our opponents had foreseen our counter attack.

I bit my teeth before calling out to Nolat.

“Captain, they’re flags are probably unguarded. Should I run for it?” I asked.

Nolat looked at me with a panicked face.

“Fine! Go!” He yelled and without wasting a second I broke into a sprint and since everyone was too busy fighting each other, I ran past everyone and entered the forest.

There was no point in trying any fancy tactics.

My goal was straight ahead and so I ran even faster than before.

My now trained hind legs powerfully kicked the dirt backwards as I shot into the forest.

I eventually arrived at the enemy base where a single Rendaro stood.

He was a fairly tall and seemingly muscular who was covered in gear, just like everyone else.

“Oh? You must be Kenos. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Des, captain of the sixty eighth and I will be your opponent.” He said while raising his fists.

I took several deep breaths before charging towards him.

“Hoh? How very direct of you. I appreciate that.” Des said as he too charged towards me.

He sent out a punch towards my face but I had no interest in fighting him. I couldn’t beat Müel, let alone the captain of an entire squad, so I dashed to the side and ran towards the flag.

“What’s this?” He asked as I quickly grabbed the blue flag.

I then turned to face him only for a fist to strike me in the face.

“This flag will not reach your base unless you defeat me!” He yelled while raising his arm to punch me again, but I used my powerful legs to kick him away.

I then hopped onto my feet before sprinting back into the forest.

Unfortunately for me, Des was really fast and so he tackled me and we both tumbled forward.

I then saw that his eyes were glowing green and he was absorbing life from the trees around us.

This might explain why he was stupidly fast, but I didn’t have time to praise him.

I tried crawling away, but Des grabbed my flag holding arm and forcibly twisted it in the wrong direction, dislocating my shoulder.

“AHH!” I cried before kicking him once more square in the chest.

This sent him crashing into a tree, but I also noticed that he was absorbing life much faster than before and so I hopped onto my feet, grabbed the flag with my other hand and ran down to the lower, but denser and muddier section C.

My legs were quickly covered in mud, but I trudged forward regardless.

“Get back here!” I heard Des yell and it wasn’t long before he caught up to me.

He tackled me once more and both fell into the mud where he viciously punched my face. His fists may have struck my helmet, but I still felt a lot of the impact.

I tried kicking him off, but he moved to the side before grabbing my other arm.

I couldn’t risk another dislocation and so I hit him in the nose with the back of my helmet before walking over to him and kicking him in the chest.

He let out a squawk as he fell backwards but I knew that he’d heal out of that so I walked over to him before kicking him once more in the chest and although his armour absorbed a bit of the force, the rest of it was sent into his chest and a bit of blood shot out of his chest.

I took several deep breaths before rushing back to base where I found that everyone was still fighting although many people had fallen.

I rushed towards the mound where our flags sat and there I placed the blue flag into a small box behind them.

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate.

I ran up to Nolat, who was getting beaten up.

I tackled his opponent before pinning her to the ground.

“Kenos… you’re back.” He muttered through bloody teeth.

“Yep and I got the flag.” I said with a bloody grin.

The Rendaro beneath tried getting away, but I was at least twice as heavy as her, so she wasn’t going anywhere.

Nolat stood up and looked around to see that our opponents were retreating.

This was good to see but I don’t think we could make another play for a second flag.

I was tired and although the defences on both sides were exhausted and vulnerable, doing anything else would be draining and reckless.

We needed to recover an wait for an opportunity would present itself.

I stood up, allowing the Rendaro I’d captured to walk towards the fields exit.

“You did it, my heart!” Lheel said as he ran up me.

“I did! But it was only because you had faith in me.” I said causing the mud covered Lheel to look down in fluster.

“Yeah, well I think that was extremely reckless.” Müel said while wiping the blood from his bruised lip.

“Come now, Müel. I think we should focus on how you managed to successfully keep our flags from being taken. You are the real hero here, today.” I said while aggressively slapping Müel's back.

“Yeah, whatever!” Müel said with a raised nose as Nolat approached.

“Good job out there.” He said.

I simply nodded before trying to raise my right arm, but I fell to my knees as the pain was far too much to bare.

“What’s wrong?” Lheel asked but I dismissively waved my hand while crawling towards and sitting on a certain rock.

“I’m fine. Just a dislocated shoulder.” I said only for Bette to walk up to me.

She then grabbed my arm before-

“AH!” I cried as she forced the joint back in place.

“T-thanks!” I wheezed.

“No problem!” Bette said while giving me a thumbs up.

We then all assume a defensive formation as the sun came up.

The match would soon end and I felt a strange sense of sadness as the hours ticked by.

The mud and blood on our bodies dried and it wasn’t long before the match ultimately ended.

We then gathered I’m front of the handful of buildings that were the staff’s headquarters.

It’d take some time for us to get graded, but this was it for me.

We were allowed to casually converse and the first person to walk to me was surprisingly Des.

“Oi, Kenos!”

“Mmm?” I sounded. Looking at him made my right shoulder throb in pain, but I didn’t hate him for what he did.

“I’d heard that you were a cowardly and cruel man before all this and partially expected you to use you dark powers to gain some sort of advantage, but you fought us head on and even though you spent most of your time running, I can still respect that.” Des said while offering me his hand.

I shook it before bidding him goodbye.

Aymon and Azizi eventually returned prompting us to return to the platform.

We then returned to Cohval where we were instructed to head to the showers.

We had all been healed and so all that was left to do was wash off the blood and dirt from our bodies.

Like before, Lheel and I shared a spot.

I looked into his beautiful dark eyes and the sadness from before multiplied.

When next would I see him?

I gently placed my hand on his small cheeks and to my surprise, he rested his head on my hand.

“I suppose this is goodbye.” I said.

“Yes, my heart.” Lheel said.

“If you’re ever free, come over to Coh. Tell them Katsíki called for you.” I said with a wink.

Lheel’s eyes widened and he nodded while blushing cutely.

We eventually got dried up and after getting changed I bid everyone farewell and made my way to Yna’s office.

I entered it and she coldly looked me over.

“Are you satisfied?” She asked and I couldn’t help but smile brightly.

“Yeah. With this, I’ll be able to begin experimenting on our capabilities in our other form. Oh and yes, you’ll be able to spend more time with him now.”