The Commoner Noble

Pang!

Wein's staff collided with Don's, and the vibration sent a ripple effect to the two parties. Wein could tell Don was truly gifted and strong, though they were both tired he felt more pressure. Don was the strongest opponent he had faced among the recruits so far, yet his strength was lacking compared to instructor Varon.

Wein adjusted his grip on the staff, solidifying his form as he was taught, to better use the weapon. He remembered what he had learned the day before, Speed, Agility, and Precision.

Speed, Agility, and Precision.

Whoosh! Wein heard Don's staff swing right at him, using all the strength he had, he reciprocated, and Thud!

He had successfully countered but Don did not give him room to breathe when another attack came, this time sweeping him from the ground. Wein tried to dodge but it was too late, and he was thrown off balance when another attack came striking his chest.

Bam!!!....

He grunted in pain but refused to stumble and held his ground, the wood of his staff burning his hand, and his grip unsteady. Observing the imposing opponent, Wein backstepped, to safety.

"Damn it Wein, adapt!" he cursed himself. "You have been getting beaten every time since this test started. Improve, predict his movements, and do not let him attack! Force him to react."

Wein's mind was screaming for him to get it together. He could not keep being the one to get beaten while trying to defend all the time. His body was tired and sore, praying for a relieve but this was the moment. He needed to find a way, a way to win if only for once.

Speed, Agility, and Precision.

Those words ranged through his mind again as an epiphany came to him.

Without waiting for Don to initiate the next strike, Wein pivoted, moving to his opponent's right. He raised his staff to strike Don, Don responded but realized when it was too late that it was a feign. Pushing his body through the ringer, Wein twisted and brought his staff across in a wide arc so fast that Don could not see most of it.

Don barely had time to react. The staff connected with his ribs, sending him a few feet back, and disrupted his breathing a bit. It was not a perfect strike, since Don found a way to limit the force, but it was enough to throw him off rhythm and force him to react. Wein smiled, he had done something.

Speed, Agility, and Precision. He was beginning to grasp how to use those words again. Speed, he needed to move fast in his battles, Agility, he needed to be flexible and move nimbler and Precision, he needed to be precise in the actions against his enemies.

Wein continued to adjust his tactics, he let go of his hesitation and launched attacks on Don.

Sometimes he was able to predict his attacks, using agility and speed, he would be able to evade the blows and try to strike but most times he failed.

But Wein was not discouraged, for once his body was doing what his mind wanted it to do. Even when he failed at his attacks, each hit he got or evaded from Don, his confidence grew.

By the end of the match, Don was standing victorious over Wein who was tired but still yearning for another fight after his major progress. As he lay there on the ground with Don's mighty figure towering over him, staff slick with sweat, hand callused from impact, body bruised from repeated attacks he was still proud.

Wein had learned something vital: adaptability was not just about reacting to your enemy's movements or changes to your environment — rather it was about being proactive, taking control of the flow of a fight.

****

After the sparring test, the next phase was assessing their thinking ability. The recruits were shuffled into a large, dimmed room filled with head console gear. On the walls around the room were various screens with projections and displays of past notable battles, holographic representations of alien creatures, and maps from the many different territories spanning across the galaxy.

Lieutenant Jones stood at the front, waiting for them to be settled, she could tell some of the recruits had barely recovered from the fatigue of the past exercise. Fortunately, that was intended, she wanted them to take this test as exhausted as they possibly could be to pose a much bigger challenge to overcome.

"Attention! Today, you will face a series of simulations," she said, her voice cutting through the tension in the room. "Using the principles I showed you yesterday, you will show us how well you will adapt to the situations you find yourselves in. Success means passing at least five trials, no one is freed unless otherwise."

The recruits looked amongst themselves, uncertainty written on their faces. Wein was no different, his mind was still processing the outcome of all his sparring matches which he had failed.

"Find a console!" Jones said. "Your objective is to survival, it is simple. Adapt to the environments you find yourselves in and survive."

The recruits matched to their own chosen consoles, equipped themselves and awaited the simulations to start. The consoles were simple, it was just a helmet that the recruits had to wear, and it would take them to a virtual reality realm. They could move, run, and do anything all while being stationary in the room.

The recruits remained still as they waited there for the simulation to start. With a slight nod from Jones, the operators in the room began the simulations.

Each simulation for a recruit was different from the other but at the core evaluated similar concepts for all of them.

Sol was given a tablet by an officer which he skimmed through. He was standing on the high platform while the recruits were below beginning their trials. From their observations, the various and erratic movements of the recruits meant, their trials had begun.

Sol was focused on the information that appeared on the tablet. His reactions were a mixture of disappointment and pride. Across from him was the lieutenant who was watching the recruits diligently.

"How are they?" Jones asked.

"Nothing seems to be wrong. Vitals show that they are all mentally exhausted, but they are all functioning as expected" replied a voice from an operator reading data from the screens behind Jones.

Jones placed her hands on the rails as she watched the recruits, some were evidently in precarious situations.

The cries and grunts coming from the consoles were evidence of the difficulty they had faced, reinforced by those who failed their first trials by being ejected. Scattered glows of red filled the room from the consoles, an indication of rejection from the trial i.e. failure.

But that did not end there, they would be sent to another trial after a few seconds not giving them time to rest.

This test was difficult, it forced them into states of mental and physical exhaustion and asked them to fend for themselves.

"10% of the recruits have passed the first trial at the moment" spoke another operator while reading through the data.

Jones tapped her fingers on the rail, a smile appeared on her face. "It appears some of the recruits are adapting rather well. What do you think Sergeant?" she asked Sol who she then noticed was reading something.

She walked over to him.

"Apologise Ma'am. I was going through the results from the sparring matches" Sol replied when he saw Jones before him.

"What do they say?" Jones enquired after she noticed an excitement from Sol.

"The overall number is more than great. The recruits' physical and combat abilities are above average. It might be the best results at this level for the past years," replied Sol as he scrolled passed the data of each recruit marvelling at their improvements compared to their first days.

Jones was intrigued and curious. "What about the one sent by the baron?"

Sol paused as he searched for Wein's data. With his fingers scrolling through the table, Wein's information finally appeared. With a flick, Sol sent the data to appear in front of the lieutenant as a projection.

"It appears, he is severely lacking. Not a single victory" Jones said, as she read through the results of Wein sparring matches with the other recruits. Disappointment was written all over her face as she compared Wein to the rest of his comrades. She reached her hand out and clicked on his name to get more information. "What did the baron see in him?"

More information about Wein's time in the base appeared. The information ranged from Wein's initial abilities, current abilities, and theoretical knowledge which was surprisingly higher than she expected.

"What is he doing here as a troop, he should have gone to take an exam and work as a civil servant. His physical abilities are lacking, too lacking" said Jones skimming through Wein's details.

"I agree with your assessment, Lieutenant. Even accounting for his late entry, recruit Serin is lacking however he is improving albeit slowly" spoke Sol. "Based on our observations and instructor Varon's insight, Serin's abilities have been constantly slightly improving."

Sol showed the lieutenant the data, Varon had been reporting back to him. From which were documented results of their spars since enrolment. Jones was intrigued when she saw the data, particularly Wein's later spars after the top recruit Don. Though Wein eventually lost against Don and the rest of the other challengers, there was a drastic improvement in his combat ability.

Since then, Wein's duration in each spar increased from before, and more and more he appeared to be closing the gap between him and his peers.

The two pulled up recordings of the spars and witnessed Wein, Sol had seen Wein fighting Don, but he was eventually defeated so, he took his attention elsewhere, he also was surprised when he saw how Wein though sloppy was taking the initiative to attack, dodge or parry his opponent's attacks.

"Would you look at that? He is getting better with each fight" Jones spoke, a hint of a smirk raised from her lips. "Pull up Recruit Wein Serin's simulation trials, I want to see something."