Alex looked at the situation on the battlefield. Just as he was about to move from the place, a huge cat-like monster ran toward him.
Alex watched the monster approaching. Without hesitation, he fired the gun in his hand and simultaneously began to run backward.
Just as the monster was about to catch him, a sword split the creature into pieces.
Alex looked toward the person. It was a woman flying in the air.
"Damn, I almost died here. I shouldn't have stayed so long. Thank goodness a high-ranking warrior passed by, or I would be dead now."
His eyes turned to the soldier who had saved him. She wasn't wearing an army uniform, but she slaughtered monsters as if they were ants.
"What about the monster that was just killed?"
Alex looked at the corpse ahead of him, where many attribute bubbles were floating.
"This monster must be above the 4th rank."
Alex approached the monster without delay, collected the attributes, and ran back toward his unit.
When he returned, Sergeant Wyatt was sitting with a few others from the unit. Alex nodded toward them, then sat a short distance away. After all, he was in the same unit but didn't really know them yet.
He listened as they talked about the war.
"Sergeant, other units have lost a few soldiers from our logistics department."
Sergeant Wyatt looked toward the battle, which had been ongoing for more than six hours.
"You guys are lucky, but if our strength doesn't keep growing, we might be the next victims. This war is still on a small scale, so you might feel low-ranking warriors like us are safe. But if a huge beast tide came, our chance of survival would be very low. So train hard."
Alex heard that this was still a low-level conflict and wondered what a large-scale war would be like. The thought sent a chill through his body.
"I have to increase my strength quickly. Even with a system for picking attributes, if I don't gain strength, it will be a waste of this life."
Just as Alex thought the war might continue longer, they saw the monsters retreating.
"Sergeant, is the war over?"
Hearing the question, Wyatt looked toward Alex.
"Alex, the fighting here is just a small-scale engagement. This time, a powerful leader arrived early; otherwise, the fight might have lasted longer."
Then Wyatt pointed toward the flying warrior.
"She is the youngest 7th-rank warrior, as well as the youngest major in our base."
Alex looked toward the warrior and realized,
"Isn't she the one who saved me?"
He then thought about the attributes he had picked.
"System, show me the panel."
Suddenly, a data panel appeared before him.
Name: Alex Roshar
Strength: 2950
Speed: 295
Talent: Fire (fragment 2/4)
Martial Art: Starfall Sword Art (beginner 60%)
Cultivation Technique: Stormlight Infusion Method
Realm: 2nd-rank warrior
Looking at the panel, Alex felt relieved.
"The royal family's cultivation techniques should be good enough. If I had elemental talent from the beginning, I would already be at least a 4th-rank warrior after all, the resources in the palace were enough for me to break through the 2nd rank even without talent."
Alex shook his head.
"Looking at my strength, I'm already at the peak of the 2nd rank. If I could collect from all those corpses, I would at least reach the peak of the 3rd rank."
Just as Alex was thinking about his future, an order rang out.
"Everyone, quickly collect the dead bodies of every soldier on the battlefield. No one should be left behind. Also, the beast corpses must be brought back without mistake."
Hearing the words, Alex marched toward the main battle zone without hesitation.
He moved with the group. When he reached the main war zone, he understood why there had been so few people where he was stationed earlier.
"Damn, it's like a sea of dead here."
Hearing his words, another soldier looked toward him.
"This is very good compared to other times."
Alex didn't know how to respond. He looked toward the attribute bubbles and, while carrying the dead bodies to the service vehicle, quietly collected the attributes.
[Picked 30 points of strength.]
[Picked 50 points of strength.]
[Picked 10 points of speed.]
[Picked 10 points of speed.]
Alex silenced the system notifications as he worked. It took more than an hour for everyone to load all the soldiers' bodies onto the vehicles.
Alex still felt relaxed; with each attribute, his strength was increasing. Then he approached the monster corpses to load them as well.
"So the meat the royal family consumed during training and other occasions came from the battlefield," Alex sighed. "I always thought that meat was specially bred by the royal family."
Alex followed his unit back to their specific barracks. When they reached the training ground, Lieutenant Andrew was standing with a stern face.
"Everyone did good work today. Even though we aren't part of the main battle, our logistics department's work is also important. Today, you all performed well. Even Alex worked hard. So from now on, Private Alex is a full member of our team."
Alex knew his new beginning had started. He stepped forward and saluted Lieutenant Andrew.
"Yes, Lieutenant."
Lieutenant Andrew looked at Alex, then nodded.
"Your training will be overseen by Sergeant Wyatt. I hope to see progress by the end of this month."
Sergeant Wyatt stepped forward.
"Yes, Lieutenant."
Lieutenant Andrew looked at the rest of the soldiers, who were exhausted.
"Everyone, dismissed. Rest for now. Starting tomorrow, the work will increase the remains of soldiers that need to be sent back to their families. You'll need to arrange those matters carefully."
Alex followed the others back. He went to his room, took out the army-provided clothes, and bathed for a long time. Thinking about his journey today from the royal family to the battlefield his hands still shook slightly from carrying the dead, even though his strength had increased.
"Why was I given a system to gain strength from corpses? The strength I gained came from those who died for the human race, yet the outside world knows little about it."
Alex thought of palace life. "If the situation on the battlefield is so bad, why don't they release the news? Could it be that there is more mystery in this world than I've seen?"
He considered the unusual behavior of the royal families and the human council, then shook his head.
After his bath, he went to the canteen to eat. When he returned, he lay back on his bed. Although the army was strict, it provided small single rooms, but a comfort to him, as he didn't have to share.
Alex lay on the bed and thought about his level.
"Panel."
Name: Alex Roshar
Strength: 5850
Speed: 445
Talent: Fire (complete), Water (fragment 3/4), Wood (fragment 1/4)
Martial Art: Starfall Sword Art (intermediate 30%), Spear Martial Art (beginner 25%)
Cultivation Technique: Stormlight Infusion Method
Realm: 3rd-rank warrior
"My fire talent is complete, so I should be able to practice at the speed of a normal warrior. It's only a common talent, but at least it won't hinder my progress anymore."
Alex looked at the other talents.
"Why water and wood? Shouldn't there be other talents as well? Maybe the attributes I pick are random. No matter, at least I have talent now. My strength has increased from middle 2nd-rank to middle 3rd-rank, but that's still low for this place."
It seemed he would have to train hard during his assignment so others would see his hard work as the reason for his improvement.
He recalled the ranking system he knew:
1st-rank warrior: 100–1000 strength, 100 speed at peak
2nd-rank warrior: 1000–3000 strength, 300 speed at peak
3rd-rank warrior: 3000–9000 strength, 600 speed at peak
4th-rank warrior: 9000–27,000 strength, 1000 speed at peak
5th-rank warrior: 27,000–81,000 strength, 1500 speed at peak
6th-rank warrior: 81,000–243,000 strength, 2500 speed at peak
"Above the 6th rank, I never learned the specifics. But the attributes I picked during battle were few, even 3rd-rank warriors only dropped around 80 points. Could it depend on how long they've been dead? But the 4th-rank monster killed by the 7th-rank warrior also dropped very few points."
Alex shook his head.
"Maybe the system only collects selective attributes. Why worry? At least I have a way to survive. But if others discover my rapid growth, they'll become suspicious. I should keep a low profile and only reveal a small portion of my strength to avoid drawing attention too soon."