Nonme, poor creature, rolled on the ground for one or two meters, finding his mouth full of sand and dirt before he even realized it. "What happened?" he said, as soon as he raised his head. Carlo had barely moved from his initial position and, needless to say, he was still keeping both hands firmly in his pockets.

Nonme wouldn't have been able to say what hit him. However, always ignorant as wood, he couldn't resist the desire to stand up and try to attack Carlo again for a second time. Too bad that, when he tried, the boy felt a strong pain suddenly gripping his lower abdomen.

An alien and constantly changing sensation that, second after second, only expanded in all directions, even causing him to feel his arms and legs as if they were burning.

"I said next, is there no volunteer? Do I have to call someone?" Meanwhile, Carlo returned his attention to the other recruits, almost completely ignoring the fact that Nonme's entire Platoon seemed to be feeling quite ill. "A little pain won't kill you, come on..." said the Alcoholic, showing a slight smile on his face at the sight of the slightly frightened and disoriented faces of the young people who had already begun to seek the gaze of the soft Roberto.

To break a lance in their favor, I feel obligated to say that Nonme and his group were rightfully one of the most capable platoons and, above all, warmongers. Saying they were the strongest of all may have been a bit of an exaggeration; however, the fact that they placed second in the previous Simulated Battle without a single tactic or idea of what a strategic retreat could be, spoke volumes.

So, seeing them end up on their asses like that, defeated without even having the ability to react, left a mark on the recruits.

However, there were two people who saw it differently. The first, our dear Giorgio, was patiently waiting in the corner to show the rest of his comrades how much his platoon had grown during their first week of being a caretaker, or perhaps an entertainer, for Carlo. Meanwhile, the second, the kind-hearted Jessica, couldn't help but be captivated by that brief demonstration.

As a girl with a heart of gold, seeing Nonme collapsed on the ground made her eyes shine. When there was an accident during Instructor Gianpiero's lesson, I felt lucky to have been there. She thought, gritting her teeth and trembling slightly as she held her arms tightly, clenching her hands around the opposite wrist.

However, I had no idea how to approach a person like him. She continued to think, taking one step at a time without ever taking her eyes off the Alcoholic. I had a couple of ways in mind to shorten the distance with him and gain something, and instead... And instead, he came to me! Ah, what a fantastic day! What a fantastic day it is!

Now, setting aside the fact that even Carlo felt the instinct to step back one or two steps in front of Jessica's fierce expression, I almost feel a certain pity for that poor girl. The house of cards she had built for herself had made it extremely difficult for her to even go to Carlo to exchange a few words. If she had done it even once, it would have been clear to her that to get what she wanted from him, all she needed was a few bottles of alcohol bought for a few Credits. Poor thing.

Anyway, once Jessica had gotten close enough, she introduced herself to her new target before, still politely, turning and calling her four Platoon companions to her. The victims... I mean, her companions, arrived with good spirits despite the anxiety that was already making it difficult for them to breathe; a tangible proof of how respected Jessica was as a leader. Or that she was a bitch, you decide; both things work here.

"Great, great..." Carlo said once they had finished their preparations, still a little uncomfortable to be completely honest. However, once he started analyzing the Auras of the two boys and three girls in front of him, the extraneous thoughts slipped away without making too much of a fuss.

"Oh... You seem to be doing better than the previous ones," he complimented them. He had noticed that, despite all of them being at the First Meridian except for Jessica, their cultivation bases seemed much stronger than Nonme's. Of course, the proximity to Giulio's advancement had caused that transformation, an event that had allowed them to gain benefits without having to do much at all.

Nonetheless, thanks to the solidity of their cultivation, now the mana they were able to use had improved both in quality and in the ability to be manipulated according to the user's will.

"Well," Carlo continued, realizing that he had already made it last too long, before adding, "Go ahead, whenever you're ready." So that the second battle would begin and they wouldn't spend an entire afternoon just for a simple introductory lesson. After all, time was running out, if he wanted to get the maximum results and quality, all the recruits should start their evolution at the same time.

Jessica didn't need any further invitation before calling out loudly, "Formation number four!" with a partially deformed expression on her face that already resembled that of a half-viper. The four next to her nodded, charging ahead of their leader and moving two to one side and two to the other, trying to surround Carlo from a certain distance.

The Wonder Alcohol allowed them to finish their movement, remaining still in his place. Of course, if he had moved immediately, it would have been easy to escape from a disadvantaged position or even aim to cut the fight short by attacking Jessica now that she was alone. However, if he had done so, the entire training would have lost its meaning, which is why he did not take any advantage of his opponents' tactical choices.

At the same time, the two groups of two that had already significantly reduced the distance between them divided again, creating a relatively similar space between them before moving in a spiral where our Carlo was at the center. Their auras also began to merge, making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. This effect was amplified by their extensive use of mana from the very beginning.

They're probably using everything they have. It could be a single attack or a grand feint. Well, if they're doing it because of what happened to the previous group, at least they're using their heads, Carlo observed silently, allowing himself to be caught up in the Mana tornado with movements that were sometimes uncertain and easily exploitable to break the entire formation.

Then, suddenly, the circle closed in quickly. One of Jessica's subordinates broke from his position, moving out of the trajectory with an efficient enough movement to maintain his speed. The weapon he held in his hand was a lance slightly shorter than him, wrapped in a cloud of the color of an emerald and ready to strike.

The poor sacrificial animal struggled to continue straight and remain as compact as possible, showing a very technical and, I dare say, almost refined thrust from a distance. It was just a shame that all the preparation and effort he put into it were wasted in the moment he missed his target and, with a kick to the side, was sent flying out of the formation.

As just mentioned, his only task was to be a low-value pawn, useful only for buying time and getting the enemy's attention. And, in fact, as soon as his attempt failed, two more lances began to approach Carlo, one from behind and the other from the right side. Both attacks were still simple thrusts from a distance. The only merit of such a blow was the great speed with which it arrived and the, possible, power that the aforementioned speed and weight could unleash once concentrated on the tip of the weapon.

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However, their trajectory remained necessarily simple, both to observe and to dodge. So, without even having to shift his gaze, the Alcoholic used the few pieces of information that the Aureas around him were providing to guess where the danger was coming from, and then moved accordingly.

The girl and the boy who had executed the attack found themselves colliding with each other, only able to watch in astonishment as Carlo avoided them both with a simple jump. For Jessica, however, that was good news, one of the best when it came to the number four formation, except for the possible injuries of pawns two and three following their collision.

As the plan intended, the last girl still in formation took advantage of the moment when Carlo was in the air to launch herself, leaping in his direction. Once again, the attack proved to be a thrust from a distance executed with a lance, simple but potentially effective.

Carlo had time to reflect on the armory of that Platoon while waiting for the arrival of the last sacrificial pawn, remaining quite surprised to be honest. He couldn't know for sure, but he would have gladly bet that it was Jessica who had chosen the type of weapons his companions were using. A choice towards which Carlo felt a certain interest.

Not that this actually changed anything, since the poor sacrificial pawn was sent flying away without much ceremony. Although, unlike before, Carlo faced her directly, hitting the lance pole with his shin with enough force to send her to the ground with a thud.

A similar fate awaited the other two recruits who had 'forced' him to jump to avoid them. Both didn't see well how they were hit but felt very well both the pain of the blow and the effect of the push that followed, rolling and rolling until finally they stopped.

Finally, in the midst of all the chaos that had raised a cloud of dust, and as the plan intended, had left a certain amount of Mana still in motion in the vicinity, Jessica emerged seeking to stay in a blind spot of the Alcoholic, advancing so close to the ground that she almost scraped her nose on the earth. She wriggled in a bizarre and constantly transforming movement, which made her whole figure, surrounded by an incredible mass of dense Mana considering her cultivation of only Two Meridians, much closer to a strange animal than a person.

Carlo smirked, moving his head slightly to the side. Fascinating. He couldn't help but think, impressed more by the form of that movement than by its execution. Compared to the original, it's deficient from practically every point of view, but surely the effort here deserves praise. Oh well, we're still talking about a little girl...

Meanwhile, time continued to pass, although his perception appeared different depending on the subject in front of him. Jessica, for example, continued her attack with such concentration that she could no longer distinguish seconds from minutes. She had bet everything on a single move, to the point that her Two Meridians had already exhausted every Mana reserve before the girl's lance reached its target.

This would leave her without the slightest defense in case of a counterattack; however, it also allowed her to show a power even greater than what her cultivation should have allowed her under normal conditions. All this with the sole purpose of being noticed as much as possible by that strange boy with apparently limitless resources. A risky bet for the future.

The Alcoholic could have rewarded that kind of enthusiasm by taking his hand out of his pocket and maybe giving her a small prize, but he avoided doing so, as it would have been too much work. Instead, with just a pinch of Mana concentrated on the tips of his shoes, the boy showed Jessica something special.

By hitting precisely the point where the entire mass of Mana was most unstable, a zone near the tip of the spear whose margin of error could be measured well under a centimeter, the entire Aura that protected and amplified the offensive power of the weapon was swept away. Jessica was amazed by it. In fact, she felt captivated by that gesture. She instinctively understood how complicated such a move could be and, for this reason, couldn't stop smiling... At least until Carlo put more weight on the tip of the spear, slamming it to the ground, leaving the girl completely exposed to a kick that sent her flying like the others before her.

"Oh well," Carlo commented later, quite satisfied, then turned to the other recruits and asked, "Who's next?" without the slightest sign of fatigue on his face or blush on his cheeks.

The boys, poor things, continued to silently observe the scene. Especially when Jessica's group began to gasp for air with faces that made it clear how much pain they were in. However, after some time, Carlo grew tired and began calling random groups, so that the lesson could continue.

Afterwards, one by one, the other Platoons followed the fate of the Platoons that came before them. Some lasted a few seconds longer and some a few seconds less, but they all fell. Even the last of the important Platoons, led by a boy with strange hair shaved almost on all sides except for the front, met a disappointing end.

Their Platoon Leader, dear Ettore, was of the same race as the Nonme; meaning, he understood violence, but had very little brains. That's why, despite his Platoon winning first place in the last two Simulated Conflicts for first-year recruits, when he faced an opponent who was far above his level, he fell like a sack of potatoes, as if it was the first time he had ever held a sword in his life.

While this was happening, Gianpiero continued to jot down all the things that caught his eye or ear, paying particular attention to the bizarre variety of movements and transformations that Carlo continued to execute one after another. Roberto, on the other hand, tried for some time to come up with an excuse to leave early, but having failed to invent anything decent, he ended up nodding at regular intervals and offering compliments one moment and words of comfort the next.

Finally, Giorgio and his friends came forward, making their way through the islands of still-agonizing comrades who cluttered the way. "Oh, we're almost done here. It was starting to last longer than expected," Carlo said, accompanying the groans with a sigh, already tired of his current sobriety.

"Can we start?" Giorgio asked, grabbing sword and shield with hands that were anything but steady. His plan to wait as long as possible had indeed allowed them to get the attention of the other students, or at least those in better condition, but at the cost of having to witness the beatings his colleagues had received from start to finish.

Giulio, Martina, and Luigi shared the same anxiety. Although, in Giulio's specific case, the boy also felt some excitement. Like Nonme or Jessica, his head was as hard as wood, perhaps due to too many beatings as a child, and he couldn't stop thinking about the opportunity that had fallen into his lap. Of course, this didn't ease his fear much, but in the end, it helped him stay upright.

"How much longer do you want to stand around like statues?" Carlo said, as the group of runaways hadn't moved an inch even after he responded to Giorgio's question with a nod.

Jessica, Nonme, and Ettore, along with some of their own, were still sitting or crouching, more or less in pain. Giorgio's group was, after all, a potential rival who could be fishing in their own waters, and more importantly, they were the ones who had spent the most time with the newcomer.

Jessica, in particular, would surely have wanted to tear Giorgio's eyes out since he had stolen the prey. Never mind that a week earlier Jessica had seemed catatonic and, given that part of the girl's mind had not registered the event correctly, the blame for the incident had to fall on Giorgio; there was little to be done about it.

Anyway, finally getting into position, Giulio and his companions began to release some of their Aura, forming a strange phenomenon in the air. Unlike the people before them, the Mana surrounding them didn't start blazing with live flames like bacon fat on a skillet. Rather, like a veil or a light mist, that emerald energy surrounded them almost entirely, encircling them at a steady pace.

"Well, you've taken a step forward, at least. You have the grace of a future pork chop rolling in luame, but it's already a step forward compared to before.”