Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Ruo Manni was busy with her studies during the day, practicing in the afternoon and evening, and once she had free time at night, she would engage in battles in the war realm, contributing to the top guild of Imperial Star City. She was truly overwhelmed with tasks.

One afternoon, exhausted, Ruo Manni sat next to Sheila, watching their teammates being relentlessly drilled by the instructors on the sports field. Sheila suddenly murmured, ‘It’s been almost three months since our last training session. How come we haven’t started the second one yet?’

‘Huh?’ Ruo Manni was momentarily taken aback.

‘Stuck in school every day, being tormented by instructors while studying and practicing, I’m getting fed up. I really want to go out and have some fun.’

Ruo Manni then realized that when the school year had just begun, she had heard seniors mention that the Xuan Gu Military Academy had a tradition spanning hundreds of years: first-year students were supposed to go out for training at the end of every month.

But now, four months into the school year, their class of first-year students had only gone out for training once. The centuries-old tradition had been broken without any announcement from the school.

Since Ruo Manni had obtained the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, she had become somewhat obsessed with her training, neglecting other matters and not even noticing such an obvious issue. If Sheila hadn’t complained, she might have forgotten about it altogether.

This was another difference between the real world and the novel’s plot.

Ruo Manni couldn’t remember if the main characters in the novel went out for training every month during their first year. However, she did recall that their second training session took place on a desert-covered barren planet.

The third training session seemed to be in a tropical forest. Yes, it was likely the barren planet, the same one where Teresa Du had gone missing.

On that barren planet, the main characters were attacked by puppet assassins, and two or three of their disposable classmates died. Ruo Manni couldn’t remember their names, but she was sure they were students from the elite class.

Of course, the main characters survived; if they had died, they wouldn’t be the main characters anymore. However, the female protagonist was seriously injured, which provided the male protagonist with many heroic rescue moments. This became a catalyst for their relationship, transforming it from a family alliance to genuine romantic feelings.

However, Ruo Manni felt that in the real world, the relationship between Hua Deli and Mina-Olli wasn’t as indifferent as described in the novel. At least Mina-Olli had romantic feelings for Hua Deli, while Hua Deli seemed entirely focused on his training, appearing somewhat oblivious. Still, he did show some difference in his attitude toward Mina-Olli.

“Do you think it’s possible that the reason we haven’t had another training session might be related to the ambush we encountered last time, and the captain and Mina-Olli’s subsequent assassination attempt? Maybe the school is afraid to send us out?” Sheila whispered.

“Quite likely,” Ruo Manni considered and nodded in agreement.

Ruo Manni only realized after joining the Xuan Gu Military Academy that there were no ordinary people in this school. Even a simple instructor was a level five warrior, and the academy’s security team was incredibly strong, comparable to top experts in regular military units. This showed how much they valued the safety of their young trainees.

With such strength, even if a large group of first-year students went out for training, the protective forces ensuring their safety would not be weak. So the reason the school hasn’t allowed them to go out must be due to a threat to their safety from the outside.

The Xuan Gu Military Academy made a strong impression on Ruo Manni, particularly in how much they emphasized training. Although she had encountered danger during her first training session, not only did her combat skills improve significantly, but she also gained immense benefits.

Thus, Ruo Manni felt that going out for practical experience was the true way to train, while staying in school was merely like nurturing plants in a greenhouse. Only by going outside could one develop real combat ability.

From this, it could be inferred that the force capable of threatening their safety must be extremely powerful, given the school’s decision to keep them confined to campus rather than letting them go out for training.

However, apart from Sheila privately discussing this with her, the other teammates didn’t seem to find this situation unusual. Ruo Manni hadn’t seen anyone else discussing it, likely because they were well-informed and already knew the details, so they had set the matter aside.

Although Ruo Manni was somewhat curious, she didn’t ask about it. It was fine to wait; she wasn’t in a hurry.

Ruo Manni had gained so much from the previous training session that her warrior level and telekinesis level had advanced one after the other, and she had soon acquired new martial skills. These needed to be consolidated.

Her swordsmanship had only reached the second stage, and she also needed more practice with her dagger technique, aiming to master the “thought-guided” skill taught by her master.

As for improving combat strength, Ruo Manni didn’t feel that she would stagnate at all.

For the past month, Instructor Dudley and Chief Instructor Han Zhengbang had been helping them, the young trainees, enhance their practical combat skills every night.

Every two days, it would be Ruo Manni’s turn to improve her combat skills, so almost every other night, Ruo Manni spent in the recovery pod, and her teammates also took turns receiving this treatment.

This was true “tough love” education. During each practice session with the instructors, Ruo Manni was beaten to the point of excruciating pain. It was a far cry from the ease of practicing with her teammates before; she had to use all her strength to resist and avoid getting hurt.

Getting beaten so much made her fear the pain. Not only did her body react instinctively, but her mind also involuntarily replayed the battles, trying to figure out how to avoid the instructors’ killing blows. No one wanted to experience that kind of pain again.

At first, everyone thought the instructors had gone mad for being so harsh on them.

Before and after the school started, although Instructor Dudley had been tough on them during the special training, he had never caused such severe injuries. He had only pushed them to their physical limits.

So, despite the obvious intention to quickly improve their combat skills, the harshness of Instructor Dudley and Han Zhengbang made the elite class students fearful and somewhat resentful.

However, the elite class soon noticed that whenever they were severely injured and sent to the recovery pod, the instructors’ faces were grave, and their moods were visibly poor.

Everyone wasn’t naive; it was clear that Han Zhengbang and Instructor Dudley didn’t want to inflict such severe injuries, but they had compelling reasons that necessitated this approach.

After all, they were the instructors’ students, and the instructors weren’t truly cold-hearted. The harshness they imposed must have pained them as well.

So while they were suffering physical torture, the instructors were suffering emotionally. With this in mind, the elite-class students felt more balanced.

However, even with such devilish training, Ruo Manni still sensed the hidden pressure on Instructor Dudley and Han Zhengbang. They seemed extremely eager to rapidly enhance their group’s combat capabilities, wishing they could become strong all at once.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this approach was very clear. Ruo Manni and her teammates’ combat skills were rapidly improving.

In particular, Ruo Manni, who had switched from the Mecha System to the Combat System midway, showed the greatest progress, moving from being notoriously poor in practical combat to making significant strides.