The next day was hell. Kami boosted his durability and adaptability with wishes everyday like he normally does but Kag still made the training harder and harder. Even so, they had managed to come so far during the time they had been training under Kag. How this would develop in real combat to them was another story but they were getting better. It took awhile but they finally managed to get through their training. Kag was impressed that no one died which showed how hard the training he was dishing out was.

"Now!" screamed Kag "You have all gotten through basic training. You have developed your body through everything I have given you. Now onto the next step"

This scared everyone. They thought after this training they would be done. They were far from it.

"For the next few weeks you will be using your weapons in training. You no longer need your packs ever again but everything else stays. Head back to the barracks, drop your packs and grab your weapons" Kag commanded

Everyone sprinted back and happily replaced their packs with what they brought. Kag brought other officers to train the recruits. Everyone but Kami was having a hard time. Since Kami was a master swordsman he beat his opponents with ease without aura. This training lasted as long as it took you to complete it and Kami was done pretty much on the first day.

Kami was done but he couldn't move on without the rest of his team. When they were done everyone had finally completed training.

They were all issued green uniforms with strong light armour. This was many centuries ahead of the almost completely medieval world Kami was in but at least they were advanced.

Everyone stood in front of Captain Kag proud they got through hell.

"Now you are all in my company and in my indirect care" Kag smiled

On the spot he separated everyone into squads. Each had four which was unusual but everyone was now very skilled. Zetsubou made up one. Kami, Liliana, Lynx and Zelphar made up another. Bella, Alex, Fosig and Raymond made another whilst everyone else including Lilith were split away.

Kami's squad was under the direct command of sargent Grazil. For Zetsubou it was sgt Black and for the remainder of Dix it was sgt Miller.

Everyone was given a full week of minimal training to rest and recover before being fully initiated into the army. When this week had passed they were already being briefed by Captain Kag with the sargeants next to him about their first mission.

"As you should all be aware, during a battle we had against Cristikan and Merzia, everyone on both sides were wiped out from a battle that took place nearby. That was a huge shot in our forces but it was mostly a win. Now we don't have to worry about those countries however the power has tipped" Kag explained

"Before the annihilation of the two countries, everyone had equal power and were pretty much not able to attack anyone with full force for the fear of another. The power has tipped" Miller added

"We may have been fighting them but they were still Ruminate countries. The big goal is to deal with the mana countries whilst conquering the ruminate ones and adding them to our side. If the mana countries decide to attack they win in numbers 4 to 2. We only have Jarivi our allies left" Black added

"Which leads to our predicament. We have seen two mana countries already marching towards us. Vashon is marching through Merzia and Cristikan to reach us whilst Naxu is already attacking Jarivi. Now for your mission" Grazil stated

"It is our mission to repel the attackers on Jarivi and then add our forces to dealing with the attack on us from Vashon. We have about 20 days to save Jarivi and make it back to Brunay before Vashon arrive on our doorsteps. Any questions?" Kag asked

Kami raised his arm.

"Why don't we send a special team to Jarivi to repel Naxu so the rest can fight Vashon without being exhausted?" Kami asked

"I only do what I am told from above me. The SAF are on their way from Ntral as we speak for support but they too will take some time" Kag responded

"The SAF?" Kami said

"Special Aura Force. They are made up of the best of the best when it comes to aura. We know the mana countries have their own version called the magic knights and above both is Titan the team of Fuwa users" Grazil started "But you lot most likely won't join them and get to live most of your days in peace in Ntral out of these warring countries"

"Does that mean Ntral isn't in the wars?" Lynx asked

"We are getting sidetracked but no they aren't. When you join the magic knights SAF or Titan you no longer belong to one specific army. You belong to Ntral and whichever army they assign you to join for a battle. We have 10 SAF members coming and they will be making a squadron with their own leader under my company" Kag explained "Now if there are no more questions it is time to head out"

There were 5 squads under Kag with 2 lieutenants and 5 sargeants. Following Kag they were running to Jarivi with an estimated arrival time of 2 days to the country.

Kami noticed how much faster he ran without the cuffs and weighted vest, even more so than how he did before. He noticed another anomaly. Whilst he was running everyone looked very slow.

The days passed and they arrived in the city in Jarivi bordering the country of Naxu. The battle took place a few kilometres from the city and the battlefield was colourful with spells of all elements from the mages flying everywhere and the red molten ground from those who could use aura.

"Charge in men! Follow your sargeants!" Kag commanded

Everyone split and went to different parts of the battle field.

"Straight ahead. He will make a small arrow formation and bulldoze through their units" Grazil commanded.

Kami and the others agreed whilst getting into formation. They all released thick aether aura and dashed straight through the spells from the mages one hitting them all. Sgt Grazil was the only sargeant that knew aether which made this easier for them. The naxu forces were getting pushed back rapidly with the added force from Brunay but they were being pushed into the Brunay force.

They organized a pincer strategy. Each squad was to push to the other side of the Naxu forces and let Jarivi handle them head on. The Naxu forces would be pushed back as predicted but they would be pushed back into the Brunay forces now behind them. This wasn't something they could easily do. Since they went straight through the middle, if they didn't make it to the other side the whole company was finished.

It was not an easy push either. Naxu released half of their full force into this attack which was one corps. Even though Jarivi put their entire army into this, they weren't as strong as Brunay so this was a tough fight.

The mages realised what had happened before it was too late. They were stuck in the middle of the forces but to them it was only one company. They had 24. But this was no normal company. Kag had trained them well and since the mages only faced them one company at a time, the fact that they underestimated them would be their downfall.

Each squad started pushing against the Naxu forces taking them down slowly. They walked over the bodies they sliced down as they continued on more. In no time the Naxu forces were eliminated.

They were tired but they weren't done. They had another day where they ran back to Brunay for their actual fight.

When they arrived they were kept in the rear where they rested. Everything went according to plan. Instead of repelling the forces they removed them and the SAF arrived doing the majority of the work for everyone. Vashon too were pushed back.

The company was being debriefed on the events.

"We removed Naxu and pushed back Vashon. Due to our efforts, Naxu just lost half of their overall forces. I predict our next move will be conquering Naxu so we can continue on with what we are doing" Kag explained "That won't be for now though. If anyone wishes to appeal for the SAF this would be your opportunity. Just raise your hand"

All hands went up.

"It is worth noting the training you will be doing to join will actually be worse than what you did to get where you are now but you won't have to fight in the wars right now unless you fail" sgt Grazil pointed out

Only 7 hands remained.

Zetsubou, Lynx, Liliana and Kami.

"Follow me" sgt Grazil said to them

They were in for hell and they didn't know it yet. The training they would be doing wasn't physical, but that would make it hurt all the much more.

Grazil led them all to a large hall with a stage whilst everyone else continued to debriefed by Captain Kag.

The hall was completed filled with people who wished to become apart of the SAF and potentially even join Titan. Once they were in the hall Grazil took his leave. The lights dimmed and a man with a golden longsword appeared on the stage with a few others standing behind him. It was James.

"So you want to join the SAF?" James started "This army was hard enough but the SAF will be worse. The training is grueling and 75% of you in this room won't get to the other end of it. If you want to join you have to learn to love pain. Whether it is physical, spiritual or emotional. You will lose friends and feel pain you didn't even know existed. If you still wish to join raise your hand"

About ten percent of people kept their hands down but not any of the seven from Kag's company. The ones who kept their hands down promptly left.

"You have all tasted war but you haven't tasted this. You may kill or be killed whilst training to join the SAF. Do you still wish to join!" James exclaimed

Another ten percent ended up leaving faster than the previous group.

"One day you may be fighting to defend Brunay another day you will be fighting to hurt it especially if you end up clawing your way to Titan. DO. YOU. STILL. WISH. TO. CONTINUE!" James announced

No one left. What was originally 1000 had been reduced by 200 before the training even started.

"25% of you will be doing this for no reason with no merit. Let's go!" James shouted as he directed everyone out of the halls.

Zetsubou planned on joining anyway. They would do whatever it took to kill Pocrea even at the cost of their own lives. They demanded fate to push them into the 25%. James introduced himself and claimed he would be their trainer. He recognised a few faces but would not show favouritism.

They were taken out of the base and onto a large lake.

"This will be your home. No bed, no toilet, no food. Hungry? Fish. Tired? Sleep on the floor Need to do your business? Do it" James stated

Everyone already could see how hard this was before the actual training. Everyone who could use aether were given cuffs and directed into the water.

"This is where you will stay until I say stop. Survive. You have 24 hours" James stated "Want to finish get out and leave. You won't be joining the SAF"

Everyone knew instantly how hard this was. The water was colder than cold. It could freeze a man's body completely in 2 minutes. Everyone who could use fire aura instantly released it and prayed they would last the time. People that could use water aura tried to use their aura to repel the water, some succeeded whilst others failed. In under 30 seconds a good amount got out and were already heading home. It was not easy at all.

Kami could manage this along with Lynx and Liliana. They had enough aura to manage this but the others not so much. Zetsubou were doing well but their aura was getting thinner and thinner.

The true problem with the lake was the fact that it didn't get warmer even though pretty much everyone was using fire aura. But it was designed to do that. Their fire aura didn't go well against water anyway but now that they have to do this for prolonged amounts of time they were really feeling the training.

As each hour passed a few people dropped out. It was the very first day and people were getting weeded out relentlessly whilst James sat near the lake reading to taunt everyone. He knew how hard it was. He had done it so he could laugh all he wanted.

Zetsubou began running into trouble near the end. They all put to much aura in at the start thinking they could warm up the water but that was a lost dream. Because of that they were running out a few hours before they were done.

"If you run out of aura. That's it. You are done. If you think you can survive without aura be my guest but it's not worth it" James laughed

Those who were running out of aura and tried to keep it up felt a sharp pain in their stomach resembling a thin and sharp knife being forced to the other end of their body's and out their lower back.

This was the start for some of the pain they had never felt before. This training could be comparable to squating and planking all day all at once once you started running low on aura. It zapped your aura fast since it was water and the fact that it was almost ice cold sped up the process.

There was one hour left when James stood up and put on a ring and began turning the lake into actual ice. He forced anyone on the surface down below and coated the top layer of water in ice. People tried to break out but James warned that would count as giving up.

Their aura's got zapped faster and they weren't able to breathe underwater. Everyone had to splash about and create air bubbles to breathe which resulted in them losing aura even faster. During the hour James continued to turn the lake into ice. The closer they got to the deadline the lower they got pushed underwater by the ice that converted the water.

After 30 minutes, those who didn't leave were stuck. The ice was up to their faces and they were all lying on the bottom of the lake unable to move. By this point James accelerated the amount of ice. This was where people could truly start dying. Not many people survived or got to the other end of the training and stuff like this was why.

If your aura wasn't strong enough you would turn into a large ice cube. Kami could just about survive by pulling out more power from Gora but there was a limit to how much his body could take. When Kami went into Paira he has two bodies; his real one and a spiritual body. His spiritual body acts as a medium to give him more power but if his spiritual body can't handle all the power he can't use all the power. He had capped on power and this was after one day of training and it still wasn't enough.

Everyone else was already starting to freeze. This caught a few bodies. Half of who remained had been turned into human ice. The other half were on their way. Kami was almost fine. He could feel it happening. Liliana had her legs frozen, same with Lynx and Zetsubou were half frozen. They had gotten so far with minimal aura drawing on what they didn't even have. Everyone else that was alive were watching their body freeze quickly before their eyes.

For Kami, he stayed in Paira for the majority of the training talking to the Gora and the chained Paimon since Paira moved slower than real life and to him he finished in a few hours. To everyone else they saw the sun and moon before they were done.

James broke the ice and freed everyone who laid on the ground motionless breathing hard. During the final 30 minutes they were all holding their breath or they would die.

What was originally 1000 people who wanted to join had been weeded down to 200 in no time. There was supposed to be 25% of the people getting through but it wasn't exact science.

But that was day one complete.

---

Tomorrow is my birthday so no chapters. Will be back on 2nd of Aug!!