Party Formation

Unfortunately, he had miscalculated how much the Power Shot Weapon Art would affect the trajectory of the arrow and watched as it flew over the target he had been aiming at. Mateo didn’t care though, he was feeling a mix of extreme satisfaction and pure exhaustion.

He couldn’t decide whether to cheer or collapse. Before his legs could give out from beneath him a hand grasped his arm and supported him. Looking next to him he saw that Instructor Belle had unknowingly appeared beside him with a smile on her face.

“Nice shot, bet you feel like shit though. Everyone feels that way the first time they expend mana, Knights and Mages both fall prey to mana exhaustion. This is because your body isn’t used to losing such a chunk of mana all at once. Don’t worry, it’ll go away after a few minutes. Fire a few more Power Shots and you’ll stop feeling this way. Once your body gets used to this feeling, you’ll only fall under mana exhaustion if you're running low on Mana in the future.”

Instructor Belle helped him sit down and take a breather, during this time he decided to watch the two other archers. They mostly just kept firing arrows except for the few times they glanced back at him.

Mateo could feel the Mana in their bodies gathering towards their back muscles but it was slower than what he had experienced. Could it be that he had a talent for Mana Manipulation?

He looked around at the other Students around the Training Ground and actually saw a couple other students who appeared to have fallen under the same condition he had. He also saw how the mana would gather in different ways for each of the students’ based on their weapon of choice.

Feeling that he had rested enough he shot back to his feet and stretched his back and arms before grabbing his bow again. The next few hours consisted of him shooting a Power Shot and sitting back down to rest. At first he could only succeed once every five shots.

As time went on the required shots decreased until he could finally release a Power Shot whenever he wanted to. By that point he no longer felt Mana Exhaustion from just a single Power Shot.

Another week flew by as everyone continued to train in Weapon Arts. It wasn’t just the initial Weapon Art they were taught either. By this point everyone had completely mastered the first Art they had learned and were either working on their second, third, or even fourth Weapon Arts by now.

“Trainees gather around.”

Once again they were being called by Instructor Corrin with the other Instructors lined up behind him.

“Training this batch of trainees has been one of the greatest joys in my life along with my biggest regret. I regret that I will never again be able to experience teaching another class like yours ever again. The progress that all of you have made has been astounding. I can proudly state that every single one of you has reached the standard of a Knight.”

Everyone stood a little straighter and their shoulders wider as they took the statement with pride. Some of their lips even twitched, only sheer willpower stopping them from breaking out into a smile.

“With pride I declare that all of you have graduated from being Knight Trainees and will move on from Basic Training. Now all of you follow me as we meet up with your other classmates, those you hadn’t seen since your summoning.”

All thirteen of them followed Instructor Corrin; no, Knight Captain Corrin as they made their way back into the castle. Seeing how none of the other Knight Captains were following them Mateo gave Belle a small nod in gratitude for the past two weeks.

After a few turns Mateo was able to recognize that the path they were currently heading in would lead back to the grand room they had first been summoned to. On the way there they met up with Archwizard Arwyn and the classmates that had become Wizards.

Seeing how neither Corrin or Arwyn said anything, none of the students said anything and quietly followed along. They did however throw a few glances at the other students and received a few looks in return.

When they entered the room they saw that Saint Ezra was already there along with the six students that had shown to be Favored by the Gods. After two weeks, all thirty students were once again gathered together in the place where it all began.

“It is a pleasure to see all of you again. I can see that the past two weeks have done wonders for all of you.”

Once again the person to take charge was Saint Ezra.

“It is now time for all of you to take the next step in your training. If the past two weeks have been focusing upon your individual training, then what you are about to experience is more geared towards working together in groups and focusing upon your teamwork.”

This news didn’t really surprise the students as they had already undergone such training at Military School. In actuality everyone in their class had undergone leadership training too. They had been trained to be future Generals for the Breglin Military.

“Before you undertake your training to work in groups, we will first separate you into parties. Over the past two weeks we have noted your specialization along with your method of fighting. We have decided that the best method of grouping you into parties is to create five groups consisting of six people each. The main focus of the makeup of your parties is to create teams that can directly counter a Demon General in the future.”

Demon Generals, the students had heard of these beings when they had first been summoned to this world; however, they were ignorant to the nature and strength of these beings. The only thing they knew about them was the fact that their strength outmatched that of the instructors.

“The first party is the Anti-Undead Party. Of the five parties this is the most specialized party, with the highest focus on Magic and Divine Powers. The members are Emily, Rebecca, Freya, Perry, Arthur, and the Party Leader is Jessica. The Demon General you will be facing is the Lich and his Undead Horde.”

“The second party is the Anti-Dragon Party. The party members are Olivia, Stephanie, Erika, Alexander, Patrick, and the Party Leader, Blair. This party has the strongest defensive capability of the four. The Dragon Demon General, like all dragons, has complete mastery over magic. Blair, the Hero with the highest aptitude for Magic, will play a pivotal role in countering the Dragon’s magic.”

“The third party will face Dullahan.”

For the first time the room went somber as all three of the people who had been teaching them had a look of sadness in their eyes.

“The designation of this party is the Anti-Hero Party, since what you will be facing is an undead raised by the Lich’s magic using the corpse of the Hero. The only fortunate news I have is that from what information we have gathered, he is severely weakened compared to when he was alive. This party consists of Raymond, Theodore, Vivienne, Charlie, Duncan, and Fredrick as the Party Leader. You must be careful as the Dullahan is both skilled in Magic and Arts. He also lacks the typical weakness of the Holy nature of Divine Powers”

The class was shaken by the identity of the Demon General. The former hero, the one who had defeated all the Demon Generals previously and was slain in his battle against the Demon King was now a Demon General? Could such a fate await them?

“The fourth party will face the strongest of the Four Demon Generals, the Angel. Angels were originally the soldiers of the Gods in their war against the Demon King. Unfortunately, their race was wiped out with the last Angel sacrificing itself to seal the Demon King. This sacrifice caused it to be sealed with the Demon King, where its will was corroded by the Demon King's Corrupting Demonic Energy. Once it was fully corrupted the Demon King used his strength to eject it from the seal and made it his first Demon General.

The Anti-Angel party is another specialized party and can also be called the Anti-Aerial part. The members are Kyle, Glenn, Alicia, Helen, Noah, and the Party Leader is Mateo.”

This party drew attention not only because of the Demon General they were destined to face, but also due to one of its members. Alicia, a student that had been somewhat of an anomaly for their class. If the rest of them had been trained to become Generals, then Alicia was trained to become the Ultimate Soldier.

If the classes had only been based on physical activity and carrying out assignments then she would have truly become a threat to Gerard’s first place streak. Unfortunately, she had zero leadership skills. Give her a command and she could carry it out perfectly. Ask her to run a simulation of leading soldiers to accomplish a task, then she would be the only survivor. Granted the task would be accomplished.

“Ahem, the final party is not specialized to counter any of the four Demon Generals, instead this party is focused upon pure strength. Kelsey, Michael, William, Cyrus, and Christen are the party members, they will be led by Gerard.”

Everyone instantly knew the purpose of this party, even without knowing the specific skills and abilities of the party members.. It had been solely built for the purpose of Gerard, to exert his full strength. As for why it’s not specialized? Most likely it didn’t need to be, Gerard in the future would probably be capable of defeating any one of the Four Generals. Mateo had a different suspicion though. 

This was the Anti-Demon King Party.