Azrael slowly woke up, his eyes now red. "How are you, son?" Adam asked.
"Never better," Azrael replied. "I feel human, my senses have returned, and I can use new abilities."
Adam patted Azrael's head, then quickly took the mana suit and put it on. He used the universal tool to merge Lyra's spear, ensuring it could only be used by her and transforming it into an orb that merged with Lyra. Lyra was now able to conjure the spear at her will.
Adam looked around the field, seeing more volunteers coming out of the castle gates. He counted, and there were 45 people in total. Adam gathered everyone and began to explain how their bodies had evolved and now contained mana. He asked a volunteer to come forward. Adam handed the volunteer a sword and asked him to focus on feeling the sword's mana. As his mind focused on it, the sword glowed, slowly producing flames. The volunteer was shocked, the flames startling him and causing a momentary burst of flames upwards.
"Calm your mind and focus on controlling the flames to lower its fuel from your body," Adam said calmly.
The volunteer focused on Adam's words, and the flames on the sword stabilized.
"Now look at the field in front of you! As you swing, increase your focus on the sword and slice the air," Adam commanded.
The volunteer stood and focused, then swung his sword as the flames ignited strongly, causing a fire blast that sliced through the air. He erupted in amazement, seeing the result of his attack.
"Alright, that's the basic of how to use the weapon. Everyone, take a weapon fitting you and the armor. After practicing for an hour, we will go outfield training against zombies and variants," Adam said.
Another person raised their hand. "Isn't it too early and rushed to go fight the zombies?"
"Yes, it is. The reality is, we don't have much time," Adam stated. "Me, Vlad, Lyra, Azrael, and Johan will keep you safe during outfield training. At any point in time, the armies could come to attack. Everyone's life is on the line, so learn as much as you can from this limited time to train so that you can have a chance to fight and protect the kingdom."
Everyone realized how grim the situation was; their faces now showed understanding of how important it was to train before the war.
"We will train our hardest and fight to our very last breath!" one person shouted as everyone else roared, signifying their determination.
"Warriors! Your training starts now!" Adam shouted loudly.
Every single one eagerly tried the weapons, realizing which weapon fit them well. They tested and switched until they felt comfortable using the weapon. Adam told everyone to focus on their mana and blast out the weapon's element into the sky.
Adam used his mana vision to look through which people had strong mana aptitude. Of all 45 people, 9 had the strongest mana. They were split into 9 groups of 5 people, with the strongest becoming their leader. As they got situated for outfield training, each group learned to coordinate.
A leader would be in the rear, overseeing the group. The co-leader and attacker would be in front to deal with zombies. Right and left flanks would deal with strays from the sides.
The leader would command and make decisions based on what they could foresee in their surroundings. The co-leader would make decisions if the leader failed to do so. The attacker would defend the co-leader if the co-leader decided to take the lead in attacking. The right and left flanks would cover the attacker and clear out strays from the left and right.
First Encounter and Battlefield Tests
As everyone learned their roles, each group moved out as Lyra scanned through the forest. Vlad followed, sending his blood wolves into the forest to stand guard; if any special variants were involved, he would teleport immediately. Azrael fly to the sky, ready for any flying variants. Johan turned invisible and moved in front of the group to see potential dangers; however, he wouldn't interfere until needed as backup.
Adam tested out his elemental weapons and merged them with the universal tool. He thought of proficient ways of using them. Since the universal tool could now store elements and replicate something similar to a spell, combining elements, Adam could use the projectile system to shoot different spells.
He tested shooting lightning bullets with coding. The bullets swerved through at lightning speed, going through the forest, avoiding multiple trees to hit a fruit, causing the fruit to explode.
Next, he tested shooting an earth element hydra head; a hydra made from earth surged forth, coded with multiple elements, as its heads opened their mouths, blasting the field with different elements. The hydra, however, broke apart after a while as its mana depleted, crumbling into pieces. Adam noted his experiments.
Meanwhile, the groups fought zombies and variants, slicing through the hordes as they experienced, for the first time, fighting with mana weapons. Some got hurt from the variants' attacks, but Azrael healed them quickly, and they moved forward. A special variant appeared, and Lyra quickly detected it, informing Azrael and Vlad through neuro-link. Vlad told them to let the volunteers fight as he oversaw it himself. Vlad stood hidden, remaining undetected by the special variant as one of the groups encountered it.
The special variant walked slowly as the co-leader sliced its flaming sword, trying to kill it. The special variant disappeared from their sight and appeared from the left as the leader shouted to the left to block the attack.
The left flanker turned, and a punch from the special variant was blocked with the weapon but sent him flying into the trees. The leader quickly moved towards the variant, slicing its legs as the special variant fell. The others tried to stab its head.
However, the body suddenly grew sharp bones like a porcupine, stabbing the leader by the legs, the right flanker's arm, and the co-leader's body. The attacker jumped up, aiming for the head, and sliced through the bones with his light sword.
The head severed itself and crawled away on bone legs, moving towards the tree, as the others removed themselves from the bones stabbing them.
The body of the special variant grew its bones into a centipede-like monster, shooting bone shards towards them. The quick-thinking leader stabbed the ground, unleashing a light wall that blocked the bone shards.
The co-leader realized the head was the target and sent out a fire tornado as he swung his blade to the ground. The fire tornado blocked the vision of the head at the tree. As the right flanker appeared on the tree and stabbed the head with the fire sword, exploding the mana core inside. The bones crumbled to the ground. Their first fight against a special variant was an experience they learned from and won.
"These guys are better than I thought. Though they suffered injuries fighting the special variants, their coordination is perfect," Vlad informed the others via neuro-link. "Azrael, we need your help to heal them." Azrael came down from the sky, complementing them for taking down a special variant as he healed them.
"Vlad, you've taken out the other evolved variants that the special variant commanded. They would have lost that fight if the other evolved variants had ambushed them," Lyra noted, seeing what was happening.
"It would have been a great disadvantage for the group as there were more evolved variants than they could handle. Besides, I need them to learn how to fight a special variant," Vlad explained.
"That should include the evolved variants as well that the special variants controlled and commanded," Lyra said.
"It's too early to let them know. They need to experience how to fight the special variants alone before engaging the special variants with its minions," Vlad replied.
"It's fine, as long as we don't lose anyone. Let them train and experience one step at a time," Adam said.
Adam then shot a giant dragon from his projectile system, made of lightning, into the forest sky. Everyone watched as a lightning dragon swerved above them. The dragon moved as lightning strikes rained down towards multiple zombies and evolved variants before its mouth opened with a burst of lightning, destroying the forest ahead and leaving a crater as it disappeared.
All the groups were stunned by its power, which instantly eliminated many zombies and variants and left such powerful destruction.
"Show off!" Vlad remarked.
"Please, my dad can do even more powerful things than that!" Azrael spoke, defending Adam.
"How was the mastery of it so far?" Lyra asked Adam.
"It's powerful with the Codex, however there is a limitation of mana once it gets sent out," Adam explained.