Chapter 19 Mentality of the soldier

Zack was now wary of Jaune. He thought that Jaune was a first class soldier. All the soldiers in first class were monsters. Even though he was about to get promoted to the first class, the gap was still huge when compared to the senior.

'Who exactly is he? I'd never seen him before. It's impossible for someone outside the soldier program to be that strong.'

Zack believed in the power of the soldiers who came out of the project. There was no way Jaune, who kicked his ass without him noticing him, would be a normal human.

"I will be the one who takes care of him, Ruby."

Jaune saw Zack becoming serious. He knew that letting Ruby fight him was not a good choice.

"He's too dangerous," Jaune added.

"And we don't know what he's capable of. Let me handle him."

"Jaune, but I-"

Jaune didn't let her speak more. He stopped her by touching her lip with his finger.

"Not now, Ruby, You promised me that you would listen to me. So now is the time. Blake, bring her with you to the other they might need help there."

Jaune was now in no-bullshitting mode. Ruby and Blake looked at each other before nodding.

Blake's faith in him was unshakable, so she trusted his judgment and followed his instructions.

"Come on, Ruby. Let him fight that man. We should go and help your sister and everyone."

Ruby looked at Jaune and whispered to him to be careful before going with Blake. When they were about to go. Zack made his move.

"Do you think I will let you two go just like that?"

Zack was still wary of Jaune, but he also couldn't let them go. Otherwise, his subordinate might be in danger. Ruby was as strong as a newbie soldier in second class. She was still young and already that strong. This meant that the other one, who resembled a cat, might be stronger than her.

And as Zack made his move, Jaune made his move too.

"Wow!"

Zack was surprised at how fast Jaune moved. He moved like lightning—literally. His spear almost pierced his head. If it wasn't because of his enhanced sense with Marco. His head would have been destroyed.

"Your opponent is me, dude! Be careful, or else you might become a donut!"

Zack blinked and could not help but laugh a little at his sense of humor. After the laughter, he sighed.

"We can become friends, sadly, if you are not attacking me right now."

Jaune shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah. I've no choice but to do it. No hard feeling, okay."

Zack knew how he felt. They can't choose to do what they want because of order or commitment.

"Well, let's fight and be done with it. If we survive this war, then let's be friends!"

"Okay!"

Zack and his opponent stood facing each other, one holding a spear and the other a sword. There was no turning back now. They had to fight to fulfill their role.

Jaune used spear breathing techniques, while Zack used many mastered materia to buff himself and attack. The sound of clashing metal echoed through the arena as they battled fiercely.

Jaune's spear was quick and precise, while Zack's materia gave him an advantage in versatility and velocity. Despite their different fighting styles, both were evenly matched and determined to come out victorious.

"You really have the strength of a first-class soldier, but you lack experience."

Zack could tell that Jaune was very strong physically. but he didn't have much experience fighting individuals. If he fought with monsters or troopers. He would be a killing machine.

It would be a shame if he were to face a real first class soldier who was ironed with the flame of war. He would never stand a chance against them.

He would be killed.

Jaune sighed. He knew that, but

"That's why I need to cheat."

"Cheat?"

Zack was confused. What was he meant by cheat?

"Behold, my friend. This is what we call a drug addict!"

Jaune then took out many potions and pills and started to eat them all crazily. Zack's eyes were wide open when he felt that Jaune was much stronger than before.

"Shit..."

Zack now knew that he was facing someone who had had something go wrong in his head. and that was someone who had the strength of a first class soldier! How could he solve this?

Zack's mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan. He had never been in a situation like this before, facing an opponent who was not only physically strong but also unpredictable due to using some kind of drug.

He knew he had to be careful and think strategically if he wanted to come out of this.

As Jaune continued to consume more and more pills, Zack began to notice a change in his behavior.

His movements became more erratic, and he seemed to be losing touch with reality.

This only added to Zack's sense of unease, as he realized that he was dealing with someone who might be able to kill him with a single strike.

“Dude is very high right now. I need to be extremely careful.”

Jaune wasn’t as high as he had thought. He just felt lightheaded. He could still control himself well.

‘I want to cry bloody tears. My copper coin.’

Ciel suggested that he buy many pills and potions that would help him in the long run, not just this fight, and it was very expensive.

But he couldn’t do anything but accept it. He knew the man he was facing was strong and experienced.

‘That’s fine. I will make up for it by hunting monsters with the girls.’

Jaune prepared his spear. Zack was now hesitating to face him head on.

“Why are you hesitating, man? I knew you had something up your sleeve. Why don’t you just show it to me?”

Jaune was in a stance that made him able to thrust his spear with the speed of lightning.

Zack felt the danger and didn’t dare to approach, and he would never listen to his taunt either.

Seeing him like that, Jaune was more confident than before.

With a confident smirk, Jaune lunged forward with his spear, aiming for Zack's chest.

Zack quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Jaune followed up with a quick swipe, but Zack managed to block it with his sword.

The two continued to exchange blows, neither gaining the upper hand as they fought fiercely. However, Jaune's determination and skill began to shine through as he slowly pushed Zack back.

“So strong!”

Zack thought to himself as he tried to come up with a plan. Suddenly, he remembered the materia he had.

He quickly reached for it and infused it into his sword. The sword began to glow with a bright blue light, and Zack felt a surge of power within him. With newfound power, Zack charged forward, swinging his sword towards Jaune.

The materia-infused attack was very strong. Jaune defended against it and he stumbled backwards.

“Wow, that’s cool!”

Jaune complimented him, impressed by the power Zack had just displayed. He quickly took note of the materia Zack had used and made a mental note to try it out for himself.

As he watched Zack charge forward once again, Jaune decided to use a similar technique but infused his own weapon with dust instead of materia.

He used dust instead of materia because almost all of his materia was just at a basic level and not a mastered level like Zack’s.

The resulting attack was just as impressive, even though it was a bit weaker, and Zack couldn't help but ask him.

"What is that? It isn't materia."

Zack had grown up in a world where magic was common, but the concept of dust was completely foreign to him.

He watched as Jaune infused his weapon with the strange substance and unleashed a powerful attack.

Zack couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the particles of dust flying through the air, sparkling in the sunlight. It was very beautiful.

Jaune thought of it a little before he refused to answer him. Now they were enemies and everything that could change the outcome of the fight should be kept close to the heart.

“You did the right thing. That’s the mentality of the soldier. We are at war, and we are enemies. Even though you and I might not want to fight each other, we can’t do anything about it.”

Jaune nodded at Zack’s words. He knew how he felt now. He didn’t want to fight in a war in which he needed to kill innocent people. He thought about it a little bit. He had a good idea.

“Why did Shinra wage war against Wutai? I heard it was about energy, right? If they had alternative energy sources, would they stop waging this stupid war and stop destroying the planet?”

Zack, who heard that, couldn't help but stop. If they had new alternative energy sources. Would the war between Shinra and Wutai stop?