"Stand Guard! My name is Sergeant Vandol. I'm your new instructor, and your final test."

All of us lined up in the training ground held our breath. The man before us had visible scars on his face and arms, a true battle hardened veteran in the frontline. The presence he gives off is enough to suffocate us in deafening silence as we are forced into submission before him. The instructor asks us "You are the graduating batch, yes?". We all reply in unison "Yes!"

Sir Vandol only laughs in return, afterwards he continues "Which means you will be officially part of the Grand Coalition once you graduate. But from what I see, you guys are simply playing dress up knights. Something tells me you guys haven't seen a real battle yet, which will severely reduce your effectiveness in the frontlines. You there!" he points at the person right beside me on my left, the person in question responds with a 'yes sir!'. I'm not exactly familiar with him, but if my memory serves me correctly, he was one of the highest scored recruits in the sparring and hunting lessons.

"Did you recruits already face against monsters?", the instructor inquires. "Yes sir, we hunted goblins-" before he could finish his sentence, sir Vandol interrupts him. "Goblins?! You claim you 'faced off' against them? What you guys did was hunt, not battle!" I saw him mutter something under his breath before he continues his scolding, "The headmaster of the academy has gotten sloppy and too lenient with the recruits. If you guys were sent to the battlefield with only those taught to you, you would die immediately. Which is why the higher ups are now rotating us who came from the frontlines to be instructors for the academies. To avoid that type of scenario."

Many of the recruits started whispering amongst themselves before being silenced by the instructor "Silence! When you're in front of me, you will act as soldiers! Now, I decided to change your final test. Next week, you will be subjugating an orc encampment just west of the academy. That way you will learn what it's like to face against intelligent creatures in the battlefield, instead of slaying mindless creatures who couldn't even form a proper formation. Should you fail, all of you will be restarting your entire years again in the academy. I'm giving you guys one week to prepare, do what you can to prepare yourselves to fight against the orcs until then." with that, he walked away from the training ground.

When he was out of sight, the other recruits started complaining about what a madman the instructor was and how suicidal the mission is. Not that I care about their opinions, in fact. This will be the perfect chance for me to hone my skills against orcs, so when I encounter the ones who destroyed my village, I could take my revenge on them. I silently left the training grounds and made my way to the forest I was in earlier to train my sword skills.

This time, when I reached the northern gate, Fiddle and Cain weren't there. They probably left their post for a moment, I'm certain they won't mind me heading to the forest again. This time, I journeyed a bit further than the river, away from the eyes of any unwelcomed audience.

I arrived at a spot with a lot of trees that is well hidden. I unsheathed my blade and started slashing at the tree, recollecting the movements Orden had taught me. A swift footwork that helps me balance my body and utilize my strength to the fullest. I parried and slash at the tree in front of me like I'm facing against another swordsman. But it's not enough, orcs are sturdier and stronger than trees, unless I can slice the tree in half, I stand no chance on the subjugation next week.

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For the remaining time of the day, I focused on attacking the tree, but I can only leave cuts and marks on it. I kept on hacking and slashing until my body eventually exhausted itself and I ended up fainting.

When I woke up, my vision is hit with a flash of light. I must have tired myself too much and ended up oversleeping. My sword is still in my right hand, so I stood up and took the same stance I did yesterday. I can feel my body aching from the movements I did, but I must continue, until I'm able to completely slice this tree in half. So I continued my barrage of attacks, swiftly moving left and right, simulating a real battle that is taking place.

I closed my eyes and tried to recall the vision of Orden's movements, a style that makes one's body mimic the flow of water. A swift never ending flow that can change at any moment, but also the strength of the raging seas that could wipe out anything in its path once concentrated enough and released in one direction. I can feel it, the style and technique behind it, with my hand at the hilt's blade, not gripping it tightly and forcing it, but guiding its path with a soft push. Allowing it to quickly change course, should I need to parry an opponent's attack.

After getting the hang of it, I paired it with my footwork. A combination of swift steps that allows me to attack from all sides without staying in one position. When I opened my eyes, the sun was already setting, and the tree that was once covered in cuts and marks from yesterday, has sustained heavy damages. As if a lumberjack hacked it multiple times with an axe out of anger. I was surprised at the results of mimicking the movements, but it didn't take long before the backlash of me straining my body arrived. I could also hear my stomach rumbling in hunger since I didn't eat anything since yesterday. I decided to hunt for a nearby rabbit I heard to serve as my dinner.

After eating the rabbit, I continued with my training for a bit more until I eventually fainted again.

It's already the 3rd day since I started training in seclusion, but this time, I could feel a pair of eyes watching me. I look around me to see where feeling of being watched is coming from, but to no avail. Although it is an uncomfortable feeling to have, especially when I'm alone in the forest, there's nothing I can do since I can't see anyone or anything watching me. I continued mastering the movements I realised from yesterday's recollection of Orden's sword style.

I became much more proficient in handling the strength on my arms and pattern in my footwork. I tried to copy Orden stepping back and propelling himself forward with his sword, temporarily turning it into a spear for one moment. And it worked, partly. It didn't fully pierce the tree, but it went halfway through, if I just master the strength on my legs and feet when propelling myself forward, I can use it to kill an opponent quickly.

The day went by in a blink of an eye, before I finished my training, I positioned myself. With my right foot forward, left foot back, I closed both my eyes and I tightened the grip I had on my sword and focused all the strength and power I had to my hands. Picturing the scene of Orden chopping the tree in one swift motion with an axe, I followed the movements. My sword angled diagonally and the motion coming from the right, I sliced through.

I can hear the tree falling, and when I opened my eyes, I was met with the bottom half of the tree's trunk. It was a clean slice without any sign of my sword changing angles in the cut. At last, I managed to achieve it. I can successfully take down an orc now. And before I know it, the sweet embrace of sleep wrapped around me.

The remaining four days passed by in the blink of an eye with me following the same schedule; train, eat, and sleep. I managed to proficiently mimic one of the styles Orden had showed me on the final day of training. It's about time I returned to the academy tomorrow to meet with the other recruits and prepare to embark for our orc subjugation mission tomorrow.