Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

The cadets marched behind him, silent and pondering. Some were feeling nervous, others were merely curious.

Cedric took this time to subtly study his superior.

Knight Captain Silverwing was the same guy who sensed him yesterday and teased him. He didn't know if this assignment was on purpose or not but that's not important right now.

The man was around 6 feet and 5 inches tall. He's overweight which makes people feel like underestimating him. His skin was tinged with deep bronze and his eyes were like a fox, turning into slits when he smiles, giving him a cunning vibe.

His strength was perfectly restrained yet his gait demanded attention and authority. Cedric doesn't know what kind of personality he has or if Silverwing is even his real name since this was the first time they met.

He led all four groups into what seemed like an apartment complex. It's a building with three floors and fenced along with a few training facilities from what Cedric could see.

Before they entered the apartment complex, he stopped and faced the cadets, causing them to stop in their tracks too.

"This is where you'll stay for your entire time here." He told them, "The quarters that you used earlier are for official recruits - people who are actually thinking of joining our cause. You're not one of those...at least not yet."

"This apartment complex is for my men. I have 99 under my command. You're not part of that...officially that is. The only reason why I'm letting you use this is because the previous tenants are sent to a training camp for promotion."

"Try not to break anything inside if you don't want to be punished. After all, pretty much everything that you see here is owned by the army."

The cadets, save Cedric, flinched at the mention of punishment. Captain Silverwing definitely saw that and inwardly sneered at their reaction. It seemed that they were truly frightened by the hounds earlier.

Deciding to fan the fire, he added: "...the idea is to let you see the real situation of our world. I believe that you've seen what's on the other side of this wall, to that I say...you've only seen a very small part of it."

"Beyond what you're eyes could see atop of the walls, is where the real horrors are. Things that could kill you before you could blink or finish a complete thought."

"Sending you out for patrol is risky. We, in the army, are aware of that more than anyone else. You think that we are bullying you because of the things we're forcing you to do but in reality, that's for your own good too. We don't care if you understand it or not, but believe me when I say that we also don't want to see you brats die."

"Even though you signed up for this, ultimately this is our duty, not yours. But since you're here, you must cooperate because, at some point in your lives, you will deal with the horrors that we're trying to push back here."

"Anyway, your task is to patrol the borders three times. Once during your first week, and twice by the following week. Do that and you'll receive supplies to last you for the entirety of your stay and an A-rank for your performance in school. After that, you only need to pass the subjects that you took and voila! You are now qualified to become a Sophomore at your academy! Isn't that great?"

Knight Captain Silverwing smiled cunningly at them before opening his narrow eyes and staring at them with his piercing sky-blue eyes.

"...but that's under the assumption that you survive this place."

His words sent shivers directly down their spine. While they'd like to think that he's just scaring them, his face was certainly deceiving. And with the real horrors of the world lurking just beyond this 1000-foot wall didn't help at all.

Captain Silverwing's fox-like gaze landed on Cedric and said: "#1 right? Step forward, Cadet."

Cedric stepped forward and saluted.

"I am appointing you as the Interim Leader of your group. Your task is to get your fellow cadets ready for your first patrol. Later, I will summon you to my office to give you the materials you need to study with your group."

"Additionally, I will entrust you to keep them in shape. You're plenty strong for a brat your age and you wouldn't be number one for no reason. Later, I will also teach you how to call the hounds if you want to have some proper motivations to keep everybody moving."

There it is again, the shivers at the mention of those hellhounds.

"Your performance will be tied to how your entire group performs. If you want to receive a good grade or to pass this mission, you must take charge and ensure that by the time you are called, you and your team will be ready for the patrol."

"What do you say? Will you accept these responsibilities, #1?"

"Sir, I accept these responsibilities, Sir!" Cedric replied enthusiastically.

"Excellent!" The captain then looked at the rest of Cedric's teammates and asked: "Does anybody object? Just so you know, I'm open to ideas. If you feel like you're better suited for this role than #1 here, then step forward and fight him for the position, the winner will be the Interim Leader. So...anyone?"

Nobody even entertained the idea of challenging Cedric. Like what was mentioned earlier, he's not #1 for no reason. Everyone here knows just how obscenely strong Cedric was and he has yet to display his full strength. Nobody felt like fighting a losing battle so nobody dared to voice out their objections even if they had any.

"Well, that's that. At ease and adjust to your new surroundings. Tomorrow will be the real start of your hell here."

After saying this, Captain Silverwing disappeared from their view. Cedric couldn't even follow his movements at all.

Shaking his head for a bit, he pushed the doors of the apartment complex open to see what was inside.

It looked fairly ordinary. There's a living room where all the tenants could hang out, a kitchen, a pantry, and a large table that everyone could use at the same time, there's also a bathroom that's separated by gender and a door that leads to the backyard.

'The pantry's empty, not even a grain of rice was left behind. We have no gas for the stove, and the state of the fuse box is terrible. There's no way we have electricity here if it is like that.'

'More importantly, this place is fucking dirty and smells like a foot. I'd bet a million demon souls that the previous tenants of this place are all men. There's no way ladies could live in a dumpster like this.'

Cedric sighed as he looked at the state of their temporary home. And judging by the looks of the test of the group, they're most likely thinking the same.

He faced them and started speaking: "I personally don't to live in a pigsty like this so this is what we're gonna do."

"First of all, I can see that those who are punished earlier are barely standing. You will be of no help so go find a room and rest, sleep, or cry, I don't care. Just make sure that by tomorrow, you'll be up for training. You still have your rations so make do with that for now. Go."

He didn't miss the looks of gratitude he received from the previously punished cadets. His own teammates couldn't even look at him in the eye, they just bowed slightly at him and limped up the stairs.

Once they're gone, he then continued with his orders:

"This place is dirty, we have no gas and I'm pretty sure we have no electricity either. You guys deal with the cleaning, I'll take care of the fuse box. As for the gas, we'll stick to rations for now. I'm this close to thinking that everything we need will cost Merit Points...points that we obviously don't have, so endure it for now."

"The cleaning materials are in that cabinet over there. You don't have to clean all the rooms by the way, only the ones that you will use. And like what I said to others earlier, make sure you are well-rested for tomorrow. I just know that what we experienced earlier will be a breeze compared to what we're about to face the next day."

"Alright, make yourselves busy."

After saying his piece, Cedric turned around to work at the fuse box. Since his field of senses was open, he could see that the rest of his team was doing what he told him to do. At least they're sensible, like that.

Fortunately, Cedric's Education level was so high that fixing a fuse box like this one was easy. Still, just because it's fixed, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will automatically have electricity since it's cut off completely from the supply.

'Well, thank god I'm a Master Scribe, huh?'

Cutting his wrist with his dagger, he used his blood to create a symbol that would gather energy and convert it to electricity. Applying that in the fuse box was but a simple task for him so, not even 30 minutes later after their arrival here, they have electricity.

'Alright, one problem down.'