A new type of training

Somewhere in a great rural area, healthy green grass stretched as far as the eye could see. The tall cuts of grass swayed along the soft breezes of the wind.

On a small hill stood a single oak tree alone in the vast wilderness, with its branches waving left and right, moving wherever the wind told them to move. The sun basking down on the naked grass caused a moist pungent smell to arise.

Beneath the oak tree, where a large shadow was cast, Layla's figure suddenly appeared with a bright blue flash.

She blinked her eyes several times to adjust to the light level. Finally, when she recuperated, Layla looked around and nodded with satisfaction.

A second later, another blue flash occurred, forcing Layla to shut her eyes, but when she opened them, she caught sight of Sara.

Then all together, simultaneously, Kai, Jessica, Alice, and Jona appeared with the same blue flash.

"What's with this shitty place?" Jona groaned as she slumped down on her back.

"A subspace," Layla replied as she took a .357 magnum out of her back pocket and pointed it at Jona's face.

Jona's eyes winded in surprise.

Then, pulling the gun's hammer down, Layla smiled before pulling the trigger.

Bang!

Everyone turned to their instructor with horror in their eyes, and their mouth's gaped. Then they all looked back at the bloodied body.

Jona lay flat on the ground with her head turned to a red mush. Splattering blood to the grass surrounding her. The body's arm's now twitching in a spasm.

"Rude brat." Layla tiched before jamming her pistol back into her back pocket

"W-what...? Kai mumbled as his eyes moved from the dead body to his instructor. Layla was looking directly at Kai without a single emotion in her eyes. However, the only probable feeling inside of her was amusement.

Jessica and Alice also stared at her in disbelief. It was only Sara who quietly stared at the dead body, trembling.

"Y-you…" Kai uttered., his eyes flaring in pure rage, though before he could do anything rash, a neon blue flashed, and the next thing they saw was Jona standing next to her corpse.

"What the…" Jona mumbled as she looked down towards her feet and spotted her dead body still squirting with blood. She gulped, uneasy that she was looking at her own dead body.

"Huh?" Kai stopped and glanced at the perfectly fine Jona; it was as if nothing had happened to her. But when he looked back at Layla, he found the barrel tip on his head.

"Shouldn't get too emotional."

Bang!

Kai's body dropped onto the floor next to Jona's corpse.

"Hick!" Sara flinched, and Jessica also couldn't help but step back in fright. Even Alice couldn't help but react to such a sight. It didn't feel right for their comrades to get shot like that.

A few seconds later, Kai built up enough rose to speak up. "Um… instructor? What is this?" He asked.

"To put it simply, we can't die because this isn't reality," Layla explained. "I chose this to be our training area where death doesn't affect us. From this point forward, you'll be training in CQC and in gunfights. Those who can use magic will also train in the real world."

And just like that, they began their first day of training. Receiving insight and feedback during their CQC matches, they all quickly began to learn quickly.

...

A week quickly passed for Ellia and the others.

"Okay! A week worth of training is over!" James announced while clapping his hands.

James got no reply since everyone was too busy to catch their breaths. James had them train their hardest to the very end of their training.

With blurry vision, Ellia looked at the system interference in front of her.

Name: Ellia Arison

Level: 4

EXP: 720/1000

Rank: Second Lieutenant

HP: 150/150

MP: 130/130

Vitality: 38(+33)

Strength: 37(+32)

Agility: 32(+26)

Endurance: 35(+35)

Mental capacity: 17

Intelligence: 13

Dexterity: 13

Unassigned stats: 0

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Abilities:

Asura's recreation(Pill): A majestic type of pill that allows its consumer to grow exponentially. Effects only health, stamina, strength, agility, and endurance. Must partake in intense physical training for the pill to work (4.7% consumed)

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New skill acquired!

Grit(passive): The amount of EXP gained is multiplied by 2.5x

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While dragging her pupils left to right to skim over the text, eventually, Ellia's eyes closed eyes from exhaustion. As of right now, she was too tired to even lift a finger. All she wanted to do right now was rest.

When James saw the state his students were in, he shook his head in disappointment but hiding that little smile on his face was more challenging than expected.

'They did go through my physical training, which other trained men couldn't complete.' James had to admit that everyone here had exceeded his expectations.

'Since they just leamed over their biggest hurdle, I'll let them rest for a bit.'

Twelve hours later, James entered a large tent. Inside the tent entirety of squad 32 was sound asleep, resting as much as they could.

But unlike before, James woke them up gently, without his usual screaming.

"Argh! My body!" Owen groaned as he slowly stood up from his bed. Every inch of his muscles was aching in pain.

Everyone else was experiencing the same thing, though they still counted on moving around and stretching their bodies.

"Listen up, folks, we'll now be entering the second stage of training! Close-quarters combat! Marksmanship! Teamwork!" James informed.

He then threw a dagger onto the floor, landing next to Ellia, prompting her to pick up the weapon.

"This is a real dagger?" Ellia asked as she noticed the sharpness of the dagger.

"On the battlefield, your enemy isn't going to be nice enough to stab you with a training dagger." James pointed out.

Ellia quickly got what James was trying to say. It basically meant that one could not experience a true battle if their lives were not in danger.

'I think that's how the Spartans did it?' Ellia thought while inspecting the dagger.

In fact, this was the way Ellia had trained to fight in her previous life. A human's natural fighting instincts would arise when their lives are endangered. This way of training would significantly raise the effectiveness of training.

James then threw daggers at everyone else, even the inexperienced Alex.

Although Alex hadn't opened his mouth to complain, the nervousness on his face said everything.

"Hey, Alex," Ellia called out as she approached Alex. "Let's go for a match."

"Huh?! What do you mean by match?! I don't know how to fight!" Alex shouted, taking multiple steps back to avoid Ellia.

"Then you shouldn't have joined the army, you fucking bastard!" Ellia yelled while sending a straight jab toward Alex's cheek. There was no way for him to dodge the punch, so he had to hopelessly take the full blunt of Ellia's punch.

The moment her fist made contact, Alex was sent flying a few meters back.

'Ah... did I use too much strength?' Beads of sweat dripped down Ellia's forehead.

"Don't worry. He's still alive." Ruth reassured with a sigh.

'Oh, great.' Ellia's wavering lips quickly turned back into a smile.

"Alright! What are you guys waiting for?!" James shouted while turning back to the rest of the squad. "Find a partner suitable for you and start fighting soldiers!"