CHAPTER 32: SECONDARY WEAPONS

Standing firmly, a blonde-haired man in a military uniform filled with accolades stared down at the crowd. His emerald-green eyes overflowed with confidence as he scrutinized every cadet before him.

Seeing the decked-out officer, Hermes was able to recognize him immediately. In a murmur, he voiced the identity of the man.

"Leonardo Césaire…"

Standing with his arms behind his back, Leonardo opened his mouth. Every word carried with it the aura of a commander.

"Assemble into square formations."

No one hesitated to argue with his orders, as all the cadets began moving into position. Hermes looked in Kevin and Elizabeth's direction and nodded his head. They all moved into the formation promptly.

Seeing the cadets assembled as he desired, Leonardo began addressing them all.

"Alright. I will now be briefing you on why everyone was ordered to assemble here. It mainly has to do with the Cadet Ranking Tournament that was supposed to be scheduled two months later. As all of you may know, three weeks later, the majority of you will be taking the Elysian Monolith exam."

'It's the thing Dorian mentioned briefly… I completely forgot to ask Arthur about it…'*

Not knowing what thoughts Hermes was having, Leonardo continued his lecture.

"After you take the exam and hopefully pass, your archetypes will be solidified. The tournament will be your first trial into seeing how you rank in strength among the other Stage 1 Celestials in your generation."

"However, some unexpected problems have occurred. Not only are you all going to take the Elysian Monolith test much sooner, but so will the tournament be a month earlier."

The news spread shock through the crowd. Echoes of concern, anger, and fear spread like wildfire. Murmurs which overflowed in all kinds of negative emotions swam amongst the formation.

"Please be quiet and let me finish…" His voice rang inside all of their ears. Solace returned to the courtyard as it bathed in the colors of the sun.

"As I was saying, it is unfortunate, but that is the grim reality of the situation. The public doesn't completely know about this, but there are reports of mutants outside the city becoming stronger than what they were initially."

"This is a complete anomaly that we have not faced throughout our 1,000 years of existence. The mutants, unlike us humans and xulu, do not get stronger. Their strength is constant."

"A Devil Wolf, for example, will always be around Stage 3… But now, our readings indicate that their strength level has jumped to Stage 5. Other mutants have seen drastic changes as well in fighting styles."

The murmurs spread amongst the crowd once more. This time, emotions of fear and despair weighed heavily on their mental physique. Seeing this, Leonardo commanded their attention once more.

"Stop talking over me."

Absolute silence permeated across the field once more. Everyone's ears pricked open, awaiting the information he was about to present to them.

"The 10 Elder Council has already discussed this issue. The strength of the mutants so far has not posed a complete existential threat to the city. However, we must still be precocious. Due to this, the higher-ups have decided to accelerate your training."

'I see… It seems I too must speed up my training. I cannot let the current peace get to my psyche. There are monsters probably only a few kilometers away that could maul me to death....'

"This does not mean, however, that we are going to force you to take the Elysian Monolith test sooner than what you think should be the right time to do so. The test involves many dangers after all, so everyone needs to be ready when initiating it."

"For now, though, we will be beginning our joint training exercise. All of you will learn how to handle different weapons when it comes to assembling and dissembling, as well as general maintenance. Even if a weapon is not your main one, there may come a time when you must use something different from what you are used to."

Moving his gaze behind Leonardo's figure, Hermes was able to see a few officers bringing tables that had wheels at the bottom of their legs into the courtyard. Sitting atop the tables were an assortment of guns. Some of them were familiar to Hermes, while others were not.

After all the tables were assembled, Leonardo turned his head back toward the crowd.

"Alright. All of you will form a single file line and approach the tables behind me to pick out a weapon. These will be your secondary arms for when your main weapon gets broken or lost. You will be taught the ins and outs of it, then we will bring you to the range to practice with them."

The cadets changed formation once more into a straight line as they advanced toward the tables one by one. Soon, Hermes' turn to choose approached. Unlike Kevin, who went all out with an energy assault rifle, Hermes wanted something small and reliable.

His main weapon was already powerful in both long and close range, so having something easier to carry around was the only thing he needed.

In front of him, rows of different weapons of all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors were presented. Some had tubes coming out of the sides, others had lines streaking across which glowed with light.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

They all looked completely futuristic to him. Seeing how hard the cadet before him was struggling, the officer behind the table decided to give some advice.

"The weapons before you are all from the SV type. They are all energy weapons that can pierce through many fortifications."

Hermes lifted his head toward the man. "SV type?"

The man nodded in return. "Yes, correct. It stands for Super Voltage. The ammunition they take is in the form of batteries."

Hermes began to pinch his chin. "So, does this mean they have no recoil at all?"

"Yes, that is their biggest advantage. As for their disadvantages, they are also very big. For one, their energy consumption is huge. Each shot wastes a lot of the energy stored in the battery. Not only that, but the shots themselves can be dangerous. This is because reflective surfaces can cause the energy beams to bounce off of the target."

'I see… They are very situational. If your enemy knows that you have one, they can definitely prepare beforehand.'

Hermes looked back up at the man and spoke earnestly. "I am looking for a kinetic weapon. They are much more reliable, in my opinion."

The man nodded and smiled. "Understood. They will be at the other table."

Hermes walked over to the table next to the one he was observing and began to look at the catalog before him. Conventional weapons, both retro and futuristic, reflected in his eyes. Rifles, shotguns, snipers, pistols; there was no limit to their potential forms.

The one that attracted his eyes the most, however, was the revolver section. Not only did it give him nostalgia, he was more used to handling them than any other weapon.

In front of his eyes, a matte-silver revolver with line motifs engraved into the barrel appeared before him. Its sleek oak gun handle made him want to fawn over the gunsmith who crafted it. Hermes lifted it and began to admire its artistry.

"Valkyrie MH-350…"

"Hm?" Hermes tilted his head toward the feminine voice. The visage of Elizabeth in her enchanting military uniform appeared before him.

"Oh? You know what this weapon is called?"

Elizabeth nodded her head elegantly. "The Valkyrie line is very famous. It dates back to the Marcia Empire. Many gunsmiths continued to craft them to this day… The one you are holding is from the MH series."

"I see… What does MH stand for, by the way?"

"Mutant Hunter…"

'Oh? I can use this to hunt mutants? I wonder if the ammunition itself is expensive… There is also the possibility that this only works only lower stage mutants.'

Nodding his head, Hermes smiled in her direction. "Thank you for the information. I will be picking this. What will you be choosing?"

Shifting her attention toward the table, she moved her delicate hand toward a revolver that bore many similarities to the one Hermes had picked.

"This one… Valkyrie MH-400." The only difference between the two weapons was that Hermes' had a 6-inch gun barrel compared to her 4-inch one.

"Oh? Do you also like revolvers?" The lady nodded her head in silence. Seeing this, Hermes smiled.

"Alright. Shall we move on? I don't want to hold up the line." Hearing his logical assessment, Elizabeth agreed as they silently went back into the formation. After everyone chose a weapon, the officers began to go around providing instructions on the usage of each armament.

This continued for a while until they reached the gun range. Targets situated 20 meters away from them came into view. The assortment of targets was random. Some were positioned further than others, while some were placed at unexpected angles.

As the desert sand began to blow off the ground slightly, the cadets, who were being instructed on posing correctly with the weapon, were lined across an open field. Suddenly, Leonardo's voice bellowed out inside their ears.

"Alright. We will now be doing target practice. Please keep in mind that the secondary weapons you chose today are not permanent. You will be brought back here monthly to swap for another weapon to familiarize you with different combat scenarios. Of course, you can still decide to keep the one you are most used to when out on missions."

'Makes sense. If a cadet who was only used to a pistol had to force himself to use a rifle during combat, it may result in a serious disaster. It's important to teach everyone how to adapt to any weapon, even if they may never touch them for a long time.'

One by one, the officers began to instruct the cadets to open fire at the targets. Many missed their shots, while others were able to occasionally land a bullseye.

Only Hermes and Elizabeth, however, were able to consistently land their shots. It took him a while to adjust his arm to the recoil, but once he did, he became a one-tapping machine.

All the instructors were awed by his performance. It was an expected result for someone who had been familiar with guns since he was a child.

"You are really good…"

Hermes turned his head toward Elizabeth and smiled. "It's mainly due to my experience with guns. From what I can see from you, it won't take long for you to catch up to me…"

Hermes' words were not just meant to flatter her. He truly believed she had the talent to surpass him in shooting. Not only were her shots consistent, just like his, but some were more precise. Due to her stature, she was having trouble handling the recoil, but with enough experience, such a shortcoming was easy to patch.

The same thing applied to Kevin. Hermes, at first, questioned his choice of picking an SV assault rifle, but the way he handled it awed him greatly. Not only was his stance perfect, but his face was stone cold when aiming, like a predator out to hunt its prey. He was still missing many of his shots, but his accuracy was improving.

Many other students off in the distance were also able to do well, but it was hard for Hermes to distinguish them from his position.

After a while, the joint exercise ended, and the cadets were dismissed. All of them were provided with guidebooks on how to keep their new weapons maintainable. A week later, they would be assessed on their performance.

"Hermes, meet me at the library tonight."

"Hm?" Hermes turned around to face the peaceful voice. Elizabeth's figure reflected off of his glasses. Her pink-hued eyes were filled with anticipation and concern.

Hermes nodded his head with a serious expression. He knew that Elizabeth would not call him for a meeting unless it was something important.

"Alright. I'll see you there."

He walked back into the building with the rest of the crowd to catch up to Kevin, who was waiting for him at the entrance.

…

It was currently 6:00 PM in Mars Local Time. After the joint exercise ended, Hermes and the rest of the cadets still had to attend the military academy. This was a school designed for cadets to learn about topics important to all Guardians.

Because it was the first day, Hermes and the rest of the cadets were not instructed on any subjects. He did, however, know what topics they would cover during this 6-month-long schooling. They included War Theory, History, Mysticism, Engineering, and even Martial Arts. There were also electives, such as advanced mathematics, physics, chemistry, and more.

It was important for all cadets to have a clear understanding of these subjects, even if they do not deal with their archetype. Many times, a Martial Master may have experience in Martial Arts techniques but may die in battle against a Mystic or Sentinel solely due to their ignorance of how they fight. It is crucial to their survival that they learn about not just their abilities, but their enemies as well.

Hermes was currently walking toward Section A to reach the library. Other than the promised meeting with Elizabeth at 9:30, he also wanted to continue his reading session from before. There were a lot of things he still did not know regarding the Monarch of Wisdom or how the Marcia Empire even collapsed.

Suddenly, the figure of someone he disdains appeared before him. The towering man wore a classic cadet military uniform with a sword strapped to his waist. He was leaning against the side of the wall in the corridor as he stared directly at Hermes' approaching figure.

As soon as Hermes recognized him, a frown plastered on his face.

'It's this asshole again…'

End of Chapter