XI

"Ah yes, much to discuss." Nine nodded his head while he take out a dataslate from his robe. "And I think I know what you want to know."

When Atharion take the dataslate and see the information display on it, it is indeed the information he wanted. "Well, why don't you give me this information before?" He ask. "For example, why not include this information when you're telling me their information in the hallway?"

Nine offer a small shrug, a mechanical chuckle come from his vox. "Perhaps," he says, with a hint of wry amusement, "I simply enjoy watching you got confused by the situation, after all, not much happen in a world that mainly machine." Nine say it with amusement that shouldn't exist in a techpriest, especially an Archmagos, that are, Atharion believe 90% machine at this point.

"Well," Atharion said sighing, as there not much he can do to him. "I see here there are more mutations that happens to them."

The dataslate display that the mutations that they suffer have increase from the original four mutations. First, the eyes color changes mutation are happening according to their characteristics, while only the psychic space marine will be having gold eye. Next, the bone density has been amplified beyond the standard, but it's increase the total weight of the space marine, lowering their agility.

Next, their regeneration ability is lower that normal, making they need longer time to recover, but it's not much of problem as the forge world have some regeneration medicine that can help with this.

Next, their sensory perception have been enhanced. While it allow them to detect faint sounds or scents over long distances, but this also makes them more susceptible to sensory overload in environments with excessive noise or powerful odors, requiring extra effort to maintain effectiveness under such conditions.

Next, the Betcher's Gland have failed in their function. Thus, this organ have been removed from them and even have been removed from the implantation process as it's serve nothing for the space marine.

Lastly...

"Wait," Atharion raise his head. "Why do the Omophagea become more active than the usual?"

"The reason is unknown," Nine shrugged. "After all, this plan succeed already a blessing by the Emperor, even when we have the help from the Emperor himself."

"So, it's make them more wanted to eat flesh and drink blood?" Atharion ask. 'just like the Blood Angels.' he thought.

"Indeed, but luckily it can easily be control, even when they didn't consume any flesh and blood for whole 3 years." Nine reply. "It been conducted on the first batch that suffer from the flesh mutation that can't be save."

"But if they didn't drink human blood in five months, then their appearance will age." Nine added. "And it also make them response slower, so make sure they drink human blood weakly, but drink daily is recommended."

"And it's only the human blood can help, same for the flesh for unknown reason." Nine said when he see Atharion open his mouth.

"Understood, I hope these are all the important information that I have to know." Atharion reply. "Now, I'm going to the training room to face the challenge." He return the dataslate to Nine, and exit the hall.

"Don't go that fast." Nine say while quickening his pace to walk beside Atharion. "I'd also like to observe the challenge. It will allow me to record your combat performance, which is essential for designing a better armor for you. Your training data alone won't suffice, especially since you can't fit into any current power armor."

After a 15 minutes walk, they finally arrived at the training room. Atharion can see that all the person from the first batch are here, with small number from second batch are here too.

"You finally here." Caden, the first to question Atharion authority, stands in the center of the training room, arms crossed. A hint of mockery lingers in his tone. "We were starting to think you were too scared to show up."

"Sorry for the delay," Atharion reply as he walk toward him, maintaining a calm demeanor. "I needed some time to review the information provided by the Archmagos." He pause for a moment, scanning the gathered crowd, feeling the weight of their expectations. "Now that I'm here, how will this challenge be conducted?"

"It's simple," Caden states, striding over to the armor rack on the side of the room. He selects a weapon and turns to face Atharion, pointing the sword in Atharion direction. "You and I choose our weapons, and we fight. The first one to yield or step out of the designated area loses."

"Understood." Atharion reply, while stepping toward the rack to pick up a sword. "Let's us begin then."

"Fine by me." Caden smirks, his confidence radiating from him. "I'm eager to test you; hopefully, you won't go down too easily."

Atharion don't respond, instead adopting a stance that allows him to effectively defend against Caden attacks. The weight of the sword in Atharion hand feels reassuring, sharpening his focus and clearing his mind.

"Then," Nine suddenly said at the side of the room. "If you all not mind, how about I become the judge then."

With none show rejection to his proposal, Nine take a step closer to the center. The men around the room murmur among themselves, some excited, others wary, but ultimately they seem pleased to have an impartial arbiter.

"Ready?" Nine asks, his mechanical voice echoing slightly. Atharion and Caden both nodded , and with a nod from Nine, the duel officially commences.

Caden lunge towards Atharion aggressively with a downward swing with his sword. Richard raise his sword to defend it. The clash of steel echoes through the training room.

Caden push forward, trying to overpowered Atharion with his strength, his eyes gleaming with fire. But Atharion stand his ground, as his strength is stronger than him. With a quick twist of his wrist, Atharion deflect Caden blade to the side, forcing him back.

Atharion seizes the moment, lunge towards him with a horizontal swipe against his upper body, but just with enough ferocity to make him feel threaten, forcing him to parry it. Caden sword intercept his attack, but it also force back a little.

Caden eyes burn with a fierce fire, launching more aggressive attack. Atharion parry all his attacks, making him to believe he have the advantage. But, this is what Atharion want, to test his ability, so that Atharion can get some grasp on the first batch fighting ability. Caden technique is bold, focusing in attacking. But it has flaw as it focusing too much in offensive and rely too much on raw strength.

With a swift parry, Atharion force Caden backward, breaking his rhythm. Without wasting a moment, Atharion lunge forward, pressing the advantage with a series of fast, precise strikes.

Caden, caught off guard by the sudden shift in pace, struggles to keep up. He parries desperately, trying to hold on, but with each strike Atharion deliver, throws his stance further off balance.

As his movements become more frantic in the efforts to parry Atharion attack and in hope to regain his pace, Atharion realize this is the chance for a final strike. With a well timed strike against his wrist that holding the sword, the sword slip and the sound of it hitting the floor echo through the room.

Caden freezes, his gaze dropping to the sword lying on the floor. The room falls silent, everyone witnessing the outcome. With a steady breath, Atharion lower his sword, signaling the end of the duel.

Slowly, Caden lifts his gaze to meet Atharion's. There's a begrudging respect there now, replacing the defiance. Straightening himself, he nods, a slight but sincere gesture of acknowledgment. "You've proven yourself," he mutters, his voice carrying just enough for those nearby to hear.

Murmurs can be heard around the room among the men from the first batch. Their expressions different, some shocked, some nodding their head. In this moment, Atharion know that he not only gain a victory, but a measure of respect from them.

Nine, watching from the sidelines, steps forward, his vox casting a dry, metallic chuckle. "It seems," he says, voice tinged with amusement, "our Chapter Master has indeed earned the respect."

"Indeed, you have earned our respect." Tarn, one of the taller of the first batch, and one of the leaders of the group said. "But you still have to prove yourself on the real battlefield, as respect alone can't let you gain our full loyalty."

"For now, we will listen to your instructions until you gain our full loyalty." Brax, another leader also said, with the other leaders nodding to this.

"Understood, I will prove you to all." Atharion said loudly so they all can hear it. "I will prove to you all that you didn't put the trust in the wrong person." When he look around the room, he can see the others nodding their head to his words, but the men from the second batch already gone. Atharion think they have gone back to their group to report the result of this challenge.

"With this challenge concluded, I will be going to the simulation room to face another challenge." Atharion said after having a conversation with the leaders, knowing a little bit more on them. With their blessings, Atharion leave the room and walk towards the simulation room with Nine beside him.

"Well, the challenge went well." Nine said. "Now you just need to best the noble in their challenge, then you can lead the chapter on to missions to boost your reputation among them."

Atharion nodded, without saying anything. When he enter the simulation room, he can see all the various holo table and all the dataslates that have the battles that Imperium fight in that got recorded at the side of the room. Atharion notice several members from the second batch already engaged in their simulations, competing fiercely against one another.

"Do you sure you don't want a rest before starting the simulation?" Gideon say, the person that stand at the front of the second batch in the hall with hunt of mockery. "We don't want you to use tired as a excuse when you lose."

"I appreciate your concern, Gideon, but we don't have the chance to rest if we're in the real battlefield." Atharion said. Gideon nodded his head.

"Then, shall we begin then." Gideon said while moving towards a holo table, choosing a battlefield. "You won't mind if I choose the battlefield, right?" Gideon said with a smirk.

Atharion return his gaze, uncaring by his provocation. "Not at all. The battlefield is just a backdrop to our skills. Choose whatever you think will give you the advantage," Atharion reply confidently.

With a few swift gestures on the holo table, Gideon activates the projector. The landscape of a war-torn city appears, complete with crumbling buildings, scattered debris. "This should be interesting," he says, his smirk widening. "A fitting one for our challenge, don't you think?"

Atharion step closer to the projected battlefield, assessing the environment. "It looks challenging. Perfect for you to test my ability," he say, while preparing his mindset for the simulation. "Let's see who can adapt better to the chaos."

With a nod, Gideon activates the simulation, and all the units logo and their information got display. Atharion see that he got the Imperial Guard regiments with two tank regiments and six guard regiments, and two company of Ultramarine chapter, and he can see that Gideon also have the same army as him.

When Atharion rise his head, he see that Gideon is deeply focus, seemingly positioning his units.

Atharion decide to deploy three Guard regiments and one armored regiment to advance at the center as soon as the simulation begins, with one Guard regiment on each flank for support. The remaining Space Marine companies, along with a Guard and armored regiment, stay in reserve as a quick response force.

As the simulation begins, Atharion observe that Gideon has moved two armored regiments, three Guard regiments, and one Space Marine company forward at the center.

Atharion quickly order his center forces to halt and dig in to buy time, while directing the left and right flanks to advance to probe for weaknesses in Gideon's lines.

When the report from the two flanks got display, it show that there is space marine elements in the right flanks, while there's only one guard regiment at the left flank. So, Atharion decided to put his two space marine companies and another guard regiment to right flank in hope to annihilate the guard regiment and the potential space marine company, and flank Gideon center group.

The combat in the center is not looking good as the space marine is dealing a lot of casualties on the guards. But, luckily, the regiments are well dug in, and the ruins helping them as well and it's also limit the offensive capability of Gideon armored regiments. Thus, even when the space marine inflicting casualties on the units, the line still hold, although it might fall if didn't get reinforce in time. Atharion also have one armored regiment on the reserve, ready to reinforce the center group.

On the left flank, a stalemate unfolds as both sides engage fiercely in the ruins, with Atharion units having a slight advantage.

On the right flank, Atharion achieve victory as his forces successfully push Gideon's units back. Although his Space Marines pose some initial resistance, the combined strength of the two Space Marine companies and two Guard regiments quickly overwhelms them. Despite Gideon's last-ditch effort to reinforce with his remaining Guard regiment, he is only able to hold the line.

With this victory, Atharion decide to order the two space marine companies to attack Gideon center group flank. Meanwhile, the armored regiment advance to the center line to reinforce the defenses, as one of the Guard regiments has suffered heavy casualties, leaving a vulnerable gap in the line.

Atharion space marine companies crash into Gideon center group flank, reducing their number greatly before Gideon space marine company put a halt on the attack, but with the difference in number, it's only time when his space marine company got completely destroy. And with the armored regiment arrived on the front, the battered guard regiment successfully in regrouping and reestablish the line.

As Atharion assess the situation, he see that Gideon has repositioned one relatively fresh Guard regiment along with the battered Space Marine company from the right flank, while ordering half of his Guard regiment from the left flank to reinforce his center. The reinforcements from the right seem poised to attack Atharion Space Marines in a pincer movement, while the Guards from the left bolster Gideon's central forces, adding a layer of resilience to his defenses.

With this information, Atharion order the Guard regiments at the right and left flanks to commence all out attack in hope that they broke the already battered Guard regiment at the right and the half strength Guard regiment at the left, and then surround the center.

Simultaneously, Atharion also oder the center group to launch all out attack to divert Caden units attention to the guards and armored units so that Atharion space marine companies can have a better time to destroy Gideon space marine of the center, and have a stronger foothold when his right side reinforcement arrive.

'Hopefully this work.' Atharion think, watching the battlefield change with his order.

After 15 minutes, the battle is won. Atharion units on both flanks successful in breaking the line and attacking Gideon center unit from the back, even though Gideon deploy one Guard regiment from the center to hold, it severely weakend the center line. Resulting Atharion center units to deal more damage and further pushing the line.

Gideon right flanks reinforcement arrive too late, the space marines already deal serious casualties to his center space marine. Atharion order one Space Marine company to hold the line against the incoming reinforcements, ready to meet them with a steady foothold. Meanwhile, Atharion direct the other company to continue the attack, pressing forward to exploit the small space marine number that his center have.

Atharion strategy have work off, with Gideon space marine companies both suffer heavy casualties, and Atharion units have more strength and morale then his, especially after the space marines suffer heavy casualties. The battle already concluded.

As the holo table display the end result, Gideon staring at the table, not moving from his previous stance and his expression is unreadable.

The other men from the second batch also observing the situation at the side silently. Some eyes fixated on the result, while some engage in hushed discussion with the people around them.

Atharion clear his throat, trying to get their attention. Which it work, with their eyes, including Gideon look at him. "So, now with I passing your challenge, I hope you all will be listening to my introduction." Atharion said, sternly. "If there's any of you not happy with this, then I welcome you to challenge me again."

The room fall to silence, with many of them still looking at you and contemplating Atharion words. "Understood, we will listen to your introduction as promised." Gideon said after couple seconds of silence. "But I hope you prove yourself in the future."

"Understood, I will strive to earn that trust, not just through words, but through action." Atharion not only said for Gideon to listen, but also to the others.

With Atharion seeing Gideon and the others nod in acknowledgment of his words, he continue. "For now, you all can keep practicing your skills, after I confirm the equipment and transportation with Archmagos, we will be then deploy to face the real missions."

Atharion pause for a moment, allowing the statement to sink in. The anticipation of actual combat is palpable, he can see the spark of excitement mixed with determination in their eyes.

After confirmed that they all listen to his words, he exit the room with Nine beside you. When Atharion passing the men, he can see they nodding towards him to show respect.

"This have gone really well." Nine said the moment both of them exited the room.

"Indeed, now I only need to prove my ability further in the future." Atharion reply.

"Now, I hope that you can show me the equipment, vehicles and ships that you have been preparing for the chapter, Archmagos. And make sure my power armor is ready in time."