Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 124: Book 2: Chapter 38: Welcome to the Army

Read chapter 124 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 2: Chapter 38: Welcome to the Army Book 2: Chapter 38: Welcome to the Army The area they had all been herded into stank of wet dog despite the fact the rain had stopped long before it struck noon. Grey banners that were stitched with the Terraxum military’s high command sigil snapped in the wind above the sandstone archways of the field. It was a sigil shaped like a sword breaking through a mountain. Alex stood at attention in the front of their squad at the base of one of such banners. Across from them stood a woman clad in midnight armor with various visible overlapping rune-seams. She had hair tied back in a blade-sharp tail, and she spoke with a voice that sounded like a whip wrapped in sandpaper. Alex had already looked at her aura through his aether sight, finding that she was a fresh Adept mage. Which, for a typical soldier, meant he could assume she had about three years of experience at the very least. “Striders,” she said. “My name is Lieutenant Ilvien Halstrad. You will not address me unless I speak to you. You will not ask questions. And if you think this is going to be anything like what you’ve survived so far—” She held up a single gloved hand and a gust of wind blew through the yard. Soon after, enchantments sparked into being along the edges of the walls, each glowing with in faint light connected with her gauntlet. “—you are already dead.” Silence remained among the squad. Then she lowered her hand. “This is not typical training. You’re not green recruits. I've been informed that you’ve already been blooded, but you’ve been blooded the wrong way. You’ve survived so far on instinct. While yes you have some talent, you still hold your foreign ideas and personal flair. That ends today.” She walked the line, past Alex, Kate and Lance. Her armor clanked quietly as she moved. “For the next two weeks, your unit will undergo military adjustment. You will learn how our wars are fought, not yours. You will be placed in rotating squads to do platoon sparring drills, learning spell harmonics and formation testing, and bonded casting trials.” She stopped in front of Devon and smiled down at him slightly. “If any of you fall behind… you’ll be reassigned. Or replaced.” Devon nodded weakly, she turned away. “Now. A few things you need to wrap those strange little offworlder heads around.” She tapped on a pedestal at the edge of the courtyard which caused the various enchantments to light up on the walls around them. Images bloomed in the air behind her showing diagrams that floated above her head and along the walls. They were awash in glowing silhouettes of weapons, armor, marching soldiers in formation, and arcane beasts, some running, some flying. She tapped the pedestal again and one of the images grew larger, pushing the others away. It showed a group of mages standing close together and performing the same movements as they cast a spell. “Spell-formations: These are magically linked battle units that synchronize spellcasting through practice and a combined shared intent . In these squads, you cast as one, strike as one. One mistake in the formation will ruin it and when that happens, everyone pays for your mistake.” The image suddenly showed a spell going awry as built up aether energy detonated. The image showed the explosion blowing off one of the mage’s arms, and another was tossed like a ragdoll off screen. A third was flattened into the ground, blood gysering like a fountain. Then the image changed to show a small group that was quickly assembling some sort of squat structure form pre-fabricated pieces. Pieces of walls, supports, foundation plates, all were pulled out of pouches and attached together in a dizzying speed. “Anti-siege enchantments,” she continued, “Not only walls or simply barriers. You’ll learn to erect mobile bulwarks together under pressure, even during combat. This protects you and the rest of the battalion behind you. Failure here means not only your death, but everyone your fighting togeth