William shot up in bed, eyes wide.
Spotting the nurse nearby, he asked in a panic, "How long have I been asleep?"
"Hmm? About a day and a half? It's 9:00 a.m. now."
As soon as he heard the time, William leaped out of bed and sprinted out of the infirmary.
At the training ground—
"I'm so sorry! I'm late!"
William, his hair a mess and out of breath, rushed over to the drill sergeant.
The sergeant glanced at him, then silently pointed toward the ongoing training match.
Without a word, William jumped into the fight.
After the session ended, the squad was given a short break.
During the pause, William shot Cain a resentful glare. Cain noticed.
Crossing his arms, Cain said casually, "You were going to be forced to rest anyway. I just sped it up a little."
William was still frustrated, but he couldn't argue. He let it go with a sigh.
Suddenly, Cain raised his voice. "Alright, squad, listen up! Now that William's back, just like we planned, we're going to help him train."
The squad's reaction was mixed.
"Are we seriously doing this? This is gonna suck."
"Come on, it's not that bad. A little more pain to help a desperate kid? Worth it."
"Oh, shut up, easy for you to say—you're a backline mage!"
As the team bickered, William stood frozen, utterly confused about what was happening.
Cain walked over and placed a hand on William's shoulder.
"Let me explain. After I knocked you out the other night, the squad and I talked. We decided to help you train."
From the back, someone shouted, "I was forced into this!"
"…Well, most of us agreed," Cain added.
He turned to the squad, clapped his hands, and gave a firm command. "Alright, enough talking. Get into formation!"
Cain looked back at William. "You're now responsible for taking down the Toxcarver Golem."
"Me? Alone?"
"Yes."
"But—"
Before William could say another word, the squad had already moved into position and prepared for battle.
"…"
***
During the training—
"God damn it, William! You let it get away again!"
The dog-sized golem, shaped like a scorpion, scurried behind other monsters for cover after firing a stream of paralyzing poison at the dwarf.
With their front-liner incapacitated, the squad quickly fell apart.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" was all William could say.
According to training rules, a squad had to successfully capture the Toxcarver golem ten times per day. If they failed, they had to keep going until they did.
Since William took over the task of capturing the mimic Toxcarver, they hadn't won a single match.
The golem mimic thrashed them again and again.
As day turned into night—and night back into day—squad members began collapsing one by one from sheer exhaustion.
Watching the unconscious team, Drill Sergeant Sergate sighed and called for medics.
'What the hell is going on?' he thought.
The Next Day
"AHH! Where is he?! I'm going to kill that kid!!"
At the crack of dawn, the dwarf burst out of bed, grabbed the nearest soldier by the collar, and screamed in his face.
"I… I heard he… went to the training ground…" the poor soldier choked out.
Without another word, the dwarf stormed out of the infirmary—still in his hospital pajamas.
At the training ground, William was already there, drenched in sweat from early morning practice.
"That's enough," Cain said. "You've improved a lot already. Pushing yourself too far now will only hurt you."
"Hah… hah… I understand." William replied.
Suddenly—
"AHHHHHHHHH!!"
"???"
"Die, kid!!"
Screaming, the dwarf charged at full speed, ready to tackle William to the ground.
But just before impact, a heavy kick slammed into his side, launching him in the opposite direction.
Cain sighed. "What are you doing, Drakna?"
Drakna scrambled up from the ground, furious. "What am I doing?! If it weren't for this kid, we wouldn't have looked so pathetic last night!"
"Come on, we already talked about this."
"I never agreed to it!"
As Cain and Drakna argued—one calm, the other fuming—Drill Sergeant Sergate stepped up behind them, arms folded.
"As I recall, your squad still owes me eight successful captures from yesterday," he said coldly.
"With ten more added for today… Don't even think about sleeping until you get 18 successful captures."
Cain and Drakna snapped to attention.
"Yes, sir!!" they barked in unison.
"Then get to it."
***
Fully equipped in battle gear, the six-man squad stood in formation.
"We'll follow the same strategy as yesterday. Understood?" Cain asked.
"Yes," the team replied—though with far less enthusiasm than before.
"Then let's begin."
The makeshift battlefield was riddled with small mounds and potholes. The squad's beast tamer scanned the terrain, tracking traces of the Toxcarver mimic.
Suddenly, the ground trembled violently.
"It's coming from below, scatter!" Cain shouted.
A moment later, a massive rhino-like golem burst out of the earth, sending rocks and dirt flying.
"Drakna, pull aggro! Aeris, keep an eye out for other monsters! Lina, locate the Toxcarver! William, stay alert!"
Cain barked out commands while moving to help Drakna hold the creature's attention.
The golem charged, its crystalline horns crashing into Drakna's shield with bone-rattling force.
Cain quickly loaded a specialized bullet and fired—his shot piercing the golem's skull cleanly. It fell instantly.
"A large swarm's approaching! Three o'clock!" Aeris called out.
"Lina, have you found the Toxcarver?"
"I sense it near the rear of the horde!"
"William, prep a trap. We'll isolate the rear group."
"Yes!"
"Aeris, lure the horde away. Everyone else, set up an ambush!"
Aeris crushed a pouch, releasing a pungent mineral scent. She then fired a few shots and dashed into the woods, drawing the monsters behind her.
The others ducked into craters, waiting in silence.
Lina closed her eyes, feeling for the Toxcarver's presence.
As the horde of monsters strode past, Lina shouted. "Now!"
Cain and Drakna sprang from cover as the mages unleashed their spell.
Greenlight erupted from the earth as roots burst out, entangling several enemies, but only briefly.
One monster tore through the entanglement with sheer brute force and charged.
Then it appeared.
A dog-sized Toxcarver mimic, its body covered in armor, clung to the side of the charging rhino golem.
"Drakna!" Cain shouted.
"I've got it!"
Drakna's arms glowed golden runes as he shoved aside smaller golems and braced himself for the rhino's charge.
BOOM!
The impact echoed as he held his ground, shield locked with the creature's horns.
The Toxcarver mimic reacted—it spat a stream of venom toward Drakna.
But it struck an invisible force field and splashed harmlessly.
"William, now!"
William's eyes and hands glowed purple as a gravitational force pulled on the Toxcarver, trying to tear it free from the rhino golem.
"Come on!" he shouted, the purple light glowing more intense.
But the mimic clung tighter, its mandibles anchoring deep into the rhino golem's plating.
"Damn it!"
The spell failed.
Then, a second horde arrived. The first one looped back.
Overwhelmed, the squad was forced to retreat.
Later, the squad regrouped atop a small mound. Everyone looked drained—physically and emotionally.
"We should just go back to our usual strategy," Drakna muttered.
No one replied. But they glanced at William.
They still wanted to support him... but last night's failure had shaken their trust.
William stared at the ground.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Give me one more chance. If I fail, we'll go back to the old plan."
He looked up, eyes blazing with resolve.
In the silence of the others, Cain finally spoke. "Alright. One more chance."
***
William's POV
'Why am I doing this? What can I even contribute? Wouldn't it be better to leave this to real soldiers?'
Doubt clawed at him.
He gripped his staff tightly, its surface glowing in a faint light.
'What good am I? A criminal? Trying to save someone?'
His eyes began to glow a pale violet as he faced the charging rhino golem alone, the Toxcarver mimic clinging to its side.
'Just give up.'
William cast the gravity spell once more. The pull latched onto the mimic, but just like before, it held on tight.
But this time, William was ready.
Having prepared a gun, he fired an explosive round at the rhino golem's side.
The blast tore off chunks of armor and flung the mimic into the air.
With nothing to cling to, the Toxcarver was yanked midair by gravity magic.
It screeched and tried to fire venom at William, but a barrier around William blocked it.
But William was alone. And fully focused on sustaining the spell.
He was wide open.
The Toxcarver noticed this. It twisted midair, mandibles out, and lunged.
Just before it struck—
A massive shadow loomed over them.
It was the rhino golem, charging straight at them both.
William immediately canceled the gravity spell and reinforced his barrier.
CRUNCH!
The mimic was smashed between the rhino golem and William's shield.
The impact shattered William's barrier, sending him flying across the dirt.
He tumbled hard, skidding several meters.
Dazed, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His leg bent awkwardly as he dragged himself up.
The rhino golem charged again.
But suddenly, it froze and tumbled to the ground.
In its field of vision, William—bloodied and barely standing—was aiming a fired gun at it.
The bullet, coated with paralyzing venom that William had secretly collected using gravity magic, struck the golem's head.
Though the golem wasn't truly affected by the paralyzing agent, its behavior protocols simulated real monsters.
Upon detecting the toxin, it locked itself in place—"paralyzed" per training logic.
"Haa… huff… huff…"
William staggered toward the Toxcarver, now wounded but still alive.
He pulled out a crystal sphere etched with floating runes. It dissolved into strings of magical runes and wrapped around the Toxcarver, sealing it.
Then William shot a blue flare into the sky, signaling the success of his mission.
All the members at this point are distracted and fighting the 2 hordes of monsters.
***
In an open field, the squad sat on the ground, catching their breath and tending to equipment.
William's injuries had already healed by the time the combat medic arrived, but he sat silently, emotionless, even after the success.
"You did well, kid. You should be proud," Cain said, walking over.
"We still owe the sergeant seventeen captures," William replied flatly.
"One step at a time. Thinking too far ahead won't help."
After a brief rest, the team headed for another round. The simulated capture mission continued through the day, relentless as ever.
Days passed.
The squad had both victories and failures.
They fell, got back up, and fell again. But each time, they improved.
By the time they collapsed from exhaustion once more, they had secured sixteen successful captures—though they had failed twenty-one times.
Still, the tide was turning. Every day, the wins grew more frequent. The losses are fewer.
And then—
The end of the second week arrived.
Deployment day.
But more than that, for William…
It was the day he would be tested.