BXBX NOVEL Chapter 157: Knight Captains
This all started at four in the morning. Whether it was the tardy cadets or not, it didn't matter since when it turned six, everyone was sweating and exhausted.
Some cadets couldn't even stand, eyes glazed with exhaustion and nearly passing too. The worst of them would undoubtedly be those who were punished. It's unknown how many pounds of flesh they lost to the hounds chasing them. While they looked intact on the outside, that's just because they were being healed as soon as they lost a piece of their flesh.
Inwardly, those who were punished were broken on the inside. They never felt so much pain and misery in their entire lives. This will definitely be a traumatic experience for them. It'd be a miracle if they could prevent themselves from shaking at the mere sight of the flesh-eating hounds in the future.
Do note that some of these cadets still haven't finished their punishment. Meaning that they are still being chased by the drooling hounds.
Only a handful of people looked relatively fine after the heavy workout. One of them was Garrick, who was also sweating but looked mostly fine. To him, what they did in the past two hours was nothing but a warm-up to him. And nobody was surprised given what they knew about him. He had a powerful physique and build. He could've done all of the previous tasks under double gravity and he'd still be fine.
Another one that didn't come as a surprise for everybody was, of course, #1.
Cedric's physique was deceptive. He had a slimmer build compared to the majority of the cadets yet his strength certainly doesn't lose out to any of them. In fact, he wouldn't be called the #1 of their batch for absolutely no reason.
He was sweating too, but barely. All things considered, he still looked as fresh as a daisy.
During the past two hours, they were ordered to run, and do all sorts of physically demanding exercise. While Cedric wasn't pumping out numbers in a flash, his performance was consistent. He paced himself appropriately and did all that was expected of him without uttering any single word of complaint or excitement.
He's like a precise machine when he performs. And he performs well.
Some of the cadets noticed the look of approval on the officer's face when looking at Cedric, and frankly, they couldn't blame him. Cedric's just on an entirely different level and they haven't even been scratching the surface.
When their 'warm-up' was done, the officer gathered all the cadets available, save for those who were still receiving their punishment. He then said:
"Now that you've worked up a sweat and got that blood pumping, you should be completely awake now. If you still aren't, I could always motivate you until you do."
The officer swept his glance at the frozen cadets who did their best not to react to his words. He sneered inwardly and continued:
"I believe that all of you received your assignments yesterday." He paused for a bit and then clarified. "I meant your team divisions. Am I right?"
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
"Good. Now, under our 101st Batallion, we have 10 Knight Captains. However, you have been divided into groups five. There are 200 of you so that's 40 groups in total. To remedy that, four groups will subordinate themselves to one of our Knight Captains for the entirety of your stay."
"I have here your team designations. I will do a roll call of the teams. Once you hear your codenames, gather them into your respective groups. Let's begin with #1, #40, #55, #90, #115."
This was Cedric's team so he moved. #90 and #115 couldn't come with him just yet since they're still trying to finish their punishment. As for #40 and #55, they're the female cadets who he only heard of today.
He glanced at them and they looked at him. He nodded to them as a sign of acknowledgement and they did the same. No words were spoken but that's not necessary for now.
The roll call continued until all 40 groups were called. After that, the officer stated:
"Now, I will call which team will be with whom. I will call the highest-ranked member of each team that will be grouped together and say who your Knight Captain would be. Let's begin! #1, #5, #30, #80, #120. You will be with Knight Captain Siverwing. #2, #6..."
Cedric saw the teams of #5, #30, #80, and #120 coming closer to him and his team.
He had little impression of his teammates since he barely interacted with their batch. He could try recalling their names, but it's irrelevant here.
They simply nodded with each other in acknowledgement. Actually, Cedric was still feeling a little ashamed because out of all the teams, his was the only one incomplete.
Some of #80, and #120's teams also came late and received their punishment but they still finished earlier than Cedric's teammates.
Thankfully, Cedric's an expert at concealing his thoughts so nobody notices what's he thinking.
Once the group allocation was finalized, Cedric sensed movement within his field of senses. He barely caught it and before he could react, they already disappeared from his sight. However, that's normal since these people were their supposed Knight Captains. If a Tier 4 like him could accurately track their movement, then they don't deserve their rank.
The Knight Captains appeared behind the officer, standing like stone pillars with how fearsome their presence was. The cadets had this urge to avoid their gazes due to how intimidating it was. They also felt a subtle pressure mounting on their shoulders at the presence.
Yeah, there's no doubting this now. These people are the real deal. They are people who had seen and did all sorts of nightmares and horrors, living to tell the tale and willingly staying to push them back.
"Cadets!" The officer roared, causing all of them to straighten their backs. "The people behind me are the Knight Captains of our 101st Battalion! Remember their faces because you will see them very frequently."
He then turned around and saluted at the Knight Captains before saying: "I've grounded these brats for you, Sires! I'll let you all take it from here."
"Mn. Thank you for your service, Officer Miles. You may now attend to your other duties." One of the Knight Captains smiled and patted the officer's shoulders before dismissing him.
Officer Miles then saluted once more before stiffly marching away.
The Knight Captains then looked at the cadets. Their faces wear varying expressions ranging from mild amusement to total indifference.
One of them stepped forward and said: "I am Knight Captain Hannes. Those who are assigned to me, follow."
He gives off a no-nonsense impression as he indifferently walks away, not even bothering to look at the teams assigned for him as if he doesn't care whether they're following him or not. Of course, the team did and they scrambled behind him, trying to keep some semblance of order.
Following his lead, the other Knight Captains began introducing themselves and asking the cadets to follow them. Some appeared friendlier than others, and some just didn't seem to care at all.
The last one to introduce himself was Cedric's superior...
But before he introduced himself, he looked at the two cadets who were still pathetically running for their lives. Cedric felt the urge to groan in embarrassment since those two were his teammates.
Whistles!
The Knight Captain whistled and to everyone's surprise, the hounds chasing after the two turned into streaks of light. Before they could react, the hounds dragged the two by their collars, throwing them like sacks of trash in front of the captain.
Everybody, save for Cedric, was surprised to learn that the hounds could move that fast. It was only then that they realized that these hounds were merely playing with their food because if they were specifically ordered to hunt the cadets down, they would die before they even knew what happened.
"If you have the energy to cry pathetically and whine about your punishment, then you have the energy to at least stand up." The Knight Captain coldly uttered to the two.
"So what's it gonna be? Do I convince you to stand up or I order these hounds to do it for me?"
The exhausted and totally scared cadets mustered all their remaining energy to stand up and join their respective teams. It seems that they have been completely traumatized by the hounds at this point.
All things considered, it was surprising that they could still stand properly after all that, considering how much these two had been through in the last two hours.
Now that they're complete, the Knight Captain finally saw fit to introduce himself.
"I am Knight Captain Silverwing, seeing as all of you are the only ones who remained here, means that you're assigned to me." He looked at every single one of them and continued:
"And I can already tell that I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you, Cadets."