GCLopes

Chapter 48 - The Coliseum

His body begged for one more day of rest.

'Mr. Oliver. Please. We can't take it anymore.' The boy could almost imagine his legs begging for forgiveness.

With each passing day, the training sessions became even more intense. Even after eight hours of sleep, it still didn’t feel like enough.

In the last four days, Nico had made the boy train from morning until afternoon, with a short break, and then continued fighting in the Trial Tower. After his two consecutive victories o...

Chapter 47 - Climbing the Tower

“DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!”

Oliver was lying on the floor. His training with Nico had drained every drop of energy from his body. But he could feel that he was making progress; moreover, his own Boon was able to notify him of how quickly he was learning.

| Left Eye of Learning
| New Earth Army Style - Learning...
| [3.00%]

“DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!”

Meanwhile, around him, other pairs had arrived in the training room; several were practicing different combat styles. But ...

Chapter 46 - The Zeroth Floor

Upon stepping outside, Oliver expected to find a sunny morning, but instead, the environment was exactly the same as when he arrived. Above him, some cars levitated between the buildings, illuminated by a few streetlights, but the sky remained dark, with only a few holograms near the dome.

'Selene, the city of eternal night. It lives up to its name,' the boy thought.

Nico guided Oliver through the streets to access the lower level. For the first time, the boy saw the path to the h...

Chapter 45 - A New Morning

“Ah! Damn it!”

Oliver only had time to think that before a sharp pain hit his eyes. Combined with his body's exhaustion, it was enough for him to pass out on the bed.

--

--

“THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!”

“Wake up, kid!”

“THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!”

“Come on! Open up.”

With the noise in the room, Oliver couldn't keep sleeping. His eyes were still ...

Chapter 44 - The First Trial

“DING!”

After leaving Oliver in the preparation room, Nico returned to the main hall to watch the boy's fight.

It had been a long time since he'd heard anything about Caine—almost a decade since they both joined the Academy and participated in the eighth wave.

Nico shook his head slightly as if to push away the memories. His job now was solely to analyze the boy.

‘He’d better be good. I can only have one protégé in the tower. If he messes up, it could impac...

Chapter 43 - Trial Tower

The guard behind the door spoke as they both entered. “Welcome to Trial Tower.”

As they passed through the door, a grand hall opened up before Oliver. Several leather armchairs were scattered around, facing an arena on the floor below them. Red neon lights illuminated the spectacle, casting a vibrant, electric glow over the scene.

Two fighters were in the arena. One was tall and extr...

Chapter 42 - Nico

'Found him!' Oliver thought as he spotted Nico.

However, the excitement of finding his target faded quickly. This person was supposed to be important and powerful enough that his captain had explicitly sent him to see him in a moment of need.

'He doesn't look that powerful,' Oliver thought, watching as some security guards were roughing up Nico. But the boy hadn't forgotten the warning h...

Chapter 41 - Selene

Oliver had his face pressed against the window, and in front of him, the entire universe expanded. Stars gleamed in all their majesty, but beyond that, numerous ships were moving in every direction. The spaceport they were approaching was one of the busiest in the empire.

Selene was one of the few cities without teleportation systems, likely due to its industrial nature. Nevertheless, being the capital of Luna, it was one of the most imposing cities.

Inside the small ship that hel...

Chapter 40 - 2 vs 1

"THUMP!"

Where once two ‘henchmen’ stood, now both lay on the ground. Moments earlier, they had been using their hands and feet to try and get up, but now even breathing was difficult. Their own body weight was too much to bear, their blood struggled to move through their veins, and even drawing breath caused pain as the oxygen passed through their lungs.

Alan wasn't cruel; he had set his Boon to deactivate as soon as both of them lost consciousness. In the meantime, he kept t...

Chapter 39 - 2 vs 3

"Shit!" Oliver shook his head, trying to recover. "What's going on?"

With his eyes still watery, he tried to push himself up, but to no avail. The punch had hit him near the chin, leaving him disoriented; his legs felt like jelly, unable to muster any strength.

"Come on, damn it! Get up. I'm not going to hit someone while they're down.”

Oliver couldn't recognize the voice, but as his vision cleared, he saw who was standing before him. It was the boy who looked like a mount...

Chapter 38 - Proof & Punch

Isabela woke up the next day with a pounding headache. She couldn’t go directly to talk to Oliver since no First Battalion student could access the Second Battalion dormitory, but she kept up with all the commotion through the chat. The rumors weren’t confined to the Second Battalion channel—once the conversations started through their gauntlets, the entire Academy knew about it.

Rumors or not, there were small pieces of truth mixed into what was being spread. Two of these “deta...

Chapter 37 - The Rumor

Damian still hadn’t gotten used to the food he received at the Second Battalion. Coming from the main line of House Nemo, he was accustomed to grand banquets and exotic dishes. In the mess hall, however, you found the complete opposite—bland food, lacking texture and life. But at least he had learned to force the food down his throat.

His table was always packed with other boys and girls from his battalion. Although it was easier to make friends with the boys since they were in the ...

Chapter 36 - Back to the Camp

Oliver was still exhausted, and now carrying another person on his back hadn’t made his journey any easier. But as he crossed the creek, he could finally breathe easier. Even if a few stray Crabits appeared, they were confident they could avoid them and, at worst, simply run away.

However, their planning proved unnecessary. As soon as they crossed the river and approached the hill, dozens of soldiers surrounded them. Oliver recognized that they were all wearing Artificial Ranger Armor...

Chapter 35 - Canceled Training

Upon hearing the captain shouting to retreat, Kyle was one of the first to cut a path through the countless hordes of Crabbits. Each swing of his mace crushed the skulls of tens of monsters. But inside his armor, Kyle was trembling with rage.

This was his chance to earn more points and climb up the rankings. He would finally be among the top spots, but they called for an immediate retreat once again. Leaving the battle was already draining his mental focus, and now he had to face the th...

Chapter 34 - The Basilisk

She continued looking forward as she spoke, “Mars.”

“Ma-Mars!”

When Oliver asked, he thought it was some distant planet, only accessible through teleportation. He never imagined it would be the most populated planet closest to Earth.

“Wow!” the boy whistled softly, thinking about the red planet. Although there were already plans to colonize Mars before the first wave, it was just science fiction at the time. He had seen that some planets had small colonies, but k...

Chapter 33 - The Passage

She continued looking forward as she spoke, “Mars.”

“Ma-Mars!”

When Oliver asked, he thought it was some distant planet, only accessible through teleportation. He never imagined it would be the most populated planet closest to Earth.

“Wow!” the boy whistled softly, thinking about the red planet. Although there were already plans to colonize Mars before the first wave, it was just science fiction at the time. He had seen that some planets had small colonies, but k...

Chapter 32 - Finding a way

"With all the noise that thing made, we'd better start walking," Oliver explained.

Katherine nodded again at what the boy said. But something had been bothering her the entire time. She was grateful for being saved, but the way the boy spoke was informal, something she had never experienced before. She didn’t dislike it, but she couldn’t understand why he spoke like that.

"We weren’t in the river for long, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. We must be just a few miles away from the comb...

Chapter 31 - The Carrion

A few hours had passed when Katherine finally began to regain consciousness. The first thing she felt was the pain spread throughout her body; there wasn’t a muscle that wasn’t sore. She had not only gone through hours of combat, but she had also almost drowned.

However, she had few memories of the second part. Her mind, still foggy from everything that had happened, was slowly trying to understand where she was. She could smell smoke and feel the cold wind of the forest against her...

Chapter 30 - Down The River

When Katherine decided to jump, she knew there was no other option. Even so, she imagined there might be some chance of survival.

As soon as her body touched the water, she deactivated any remaining parts of her armor. At least that way, she wouldn't be dragged to the bottom of the river. Finally, her body made contact with the icy water.

Until then, she hadn't realized how fast the river was, especially in the deeper parts. The girl was thrown against every curve in the river's p...

Chapter 29 - Fair Play?

Damian knew what he had to do. He might not like the tactic, but it would completely change the game.

How things were going, he didn’t even have a chance of reaching 50th place.

“If the game isn’t in your favor, maybe you’re playing the wrong game,” Damian remembered one of the things the patriarch of the Nero family always told his children.

Before the battle began, the captains had mapped out the river and the monsters around it. But they weren’t the only ones ...

Chapter 28 - A Plan

"Prepare! Prepare! Start the incursion!" Musk announced.

Several cadets began advancing with the command, descending from the hill to the riverbanks. Some, more fearful, stayed further back, avoiding the front lines of the battle. Many still remembered how difficult it had been to retreat after advancing too far.

However, those who aimed to climb the rankings didn’t have time to waste.

A boy with a large shield sprinted to the front line. Without stopping, even in the mud,...

Chapter 27 - The Hill's Top

"Wake up, cadets! The Second Incursion will begin in 30 minutes!" Musk announced.

Oliver was already prepared, but much of the camp wasn’t. The calm that had reigned among the tents turned into chaos in seconds. Cadets could be seen everywhere, rushing to the bathroom, trying to shower, eating their rations, or putting on their uniforms.

Meanwhile, Oliver was walking toward where the Captains were waiting. Far from the camp, in an open field, ten captains were discussing the nex...

Chapter 26 - Second Incursion

"But the mission is not over; tomorrow, we will conduct a second incursion." The captain explained. "Bring glory to the New Earth Army!"

The salute was the signal many cadets needed to understand that they were finally dismissed.  Oliver threw himself into his tiny tent. It barely fit one person, but at least it was thermally insulated and had a small mattress. His body begged him to sleep, and he didn’t want to resist that call.

However, to his misfortune, he wouldn’t ha...

Chapter 25 - Bloody Withdraw

"Immediate retreat!" Musk commanded.

The captain fired to support the cadets who began leaving the battle. The cadets who hadn’t advanced far could climb the hill and quickly escape combat.

Unfortunately, many others were still engaged in the fight. One of them was Oliver. His strategy had been to use the spaces between the battles to shoot opponents unnoticed, but with the increasing number of Crabits, there wasn’t as much space between the groups, and with the retreat, he be...

Chapter 24 - Crabits!

"Attack!" Musk screamed.

All the recruits were closely watching the Crabits, just waiting for the captain's command to advance. Still, when the command came, their reaction time was mixed.

The students from the first battalion quickly charged at the monsters. Leading the way was a mountain of muscles, known by some as Kyle.

Kyle was one of the biggest cadets and part of the invinci...

Chapter 23 - Don't vomit

"Be prepared. We depart in 10 minutes. For those of you who have never used a teleporter, try not to vomit." Musk explained.

The last words left the cadets more unsettled than any previous warning their instructors had given. Many cadets didn’t even know teleportation existed, as it is a costly and inaccessible technology on most planets and colonies. Those who were familiar with it knew how terrible the experience could be and how humiliating it was for those who ended up vomiting. 2024-10-12 23:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 22 - Level 2

| Click!

A sharp headache hit the boy as soon as his finger lightly touched the button. The pain was horrendous, taking away part of his vision and causing him to cry in pain. It seemed to radiate from his eyes and spread throughout his head. His breathing became heavy, and Oliver didn’t even have the air to scream. All he could manage were a few guttural sounds.

But just as fast as the pain came, it disappeared.

The boy remained lying in bed, his forehead drenched in cold...

Chapter 21 - Field Trip

“You will have your first field lesson and finally face real combat!” Musk explained with a serious expression.

“Yeah! Finally, we’ll see real action.” Several recruits were celebrating the news.

But not everyone celebrated. It wasn’t uncommon for incidents to happen inside the Academy. Recently, it has become so frequent that it is no longer a scandal when some students go missing during expeditions.

“Tomorrow, at 0800, you will head to the transport area. You...

Chapter 20 - Evolving

"Depending on your specialty, some of you will have the chance to dissect Orks in the future. But it's unnecessary to have a deep understanding of xenobiology to know that they are more adapted and evolved for combat than the human race."

At the front of the room, the hum of the holographic projector began as Caine typed on the semi-transparent keyboard floating in front of him. After finishing, hundreds of images and videos were projected, each depicting gruesome Ork attacks on civilia...

Chapter 19 - Two Weeks

"Shall we go again?!" Astrid asked

Still struggling to catch his breath, Oliver raised an eyebrow as he assessed Astrid. She was clearly in better shape than he was. Her matches must have ended so quickly that she hadn't tired out. Oliver shook his head slightly in response, and the girl widened her eyes and pouted.

"Ah! I should've stretched out this match more," she muttered softly as she prepared to leave the arena.

The boy began to stand, brushing off the little dust tha...