For the next five days, my routine barely changed. Morning drills, squad duties, then every spare hour poured into training [Soldier’s March]. I ran the obstacle path again and again, letting mud swallow my boots, letting loose gravel shift under me, forcing my balance to adapt instead of resetting my stance every time I slipped.

  By the second day I began layering [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] into my steps. The first attempts felt wrong, almost jarring. My legs stiffened with each boost of mana, and my rhythm fell apart whenever the terrain changed. But the extra power in my steps let me jump higher and cover more distance, so I kept at it.

  By the fourth day, my breathing synced with my steps. I learned from my mistakes. Instead of pushing mana into my legs in bursts, I let it spread across my stride in a thin, steady flow. My feet touched mud, stone, and uneven ground with the same quiet firmness. The more my body adjusted, the steadier my balance became.

  On the fifth morning, halfway through a sprint across the slippery course, I felt a pull through my mana pathways, a clear signal of a shift. I knew the skill had evolved. I opened the skill window, sweat trickling down my jaw.

  [Soldier’s March (C)] → [Unbroken Stride (UC)]

  [Unbroken Stride (UC)]

  Type: Movement / Endurance Technique

  Associated Attributes: Agility, Constitution, Willpower

  An evolved movement technique forged through unstable-terrain conditioning and relentless repetition. The user refines stride rhythm, posture control, and breath pacing through mana guidance, allowing continuous forward motion across harsh terrain without breaking balance or formation.

  Effects:

  ? Reduces stamina consumption during sustained movement by 20 percent.

  ? Greatly improves balance on mud, rubble, slopes, and uneven or slippery surfaces.

  ? Decreases chance of stumbling, staggering, or losing momentum while sprinting or braking.

  ? Improves formation movement stability by 10 percent when advancing with allies.

  ? Grants minor resistance to movement-impairing effects such as slow or terrain hindrance.

  I exhaled, letting the satisfaction settle. Finally, my skill had evolved. This one had taken the longest out of all my class skills. Even [Flowing Spear Style (UC)] hadn’t required this much effort, partly thanks to Walter’s help. But Walter didn’t have a dedicated movement skill. He never told me exactly what skill he used, only that he relied on [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] whenever he needed a mobility boost. He even discouraged me from spending so much time on movement training. According to him, that was something Knights cared about, not soldiers.

  But I didn’t agree. Movement skills felt like an essential part of any combat class. Reduced mana consumption, balanced footwork, easier skill chaining… it all mattered. In a real fight, using too many skills at the same time was difficult. I was already using [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] to boost the strength and piercing power of my [Flowing Spear Style (UC)].

  If I had to use another layer of [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] just to move faster or keep my balance, I’d end up juggling four effects at once. That was too much to control in the middle of a fight. With a proper movement skill, the load dropped to three. The movement skill guided the mana flow on its own, letting me handle balance and footing simply by concentrating on the skill, while [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] supported my spearwork.

  As I dismissed the window and started making my way back to the starting position to test the skill, I noticed Colin walking toward me across the field. He lifted a hand, waving. He eyed the mud-caked course, then me.

  "Still working on that movement technique? How’s it coming?"

  “Good. Finally made some progress.” I rolled my shoulder, trying to shake off the lingering tension. “You came here to train, or were you looking for me?”

  “I was looking for you.” Colin paused, his tone shifting. “I heard Vanguard just returned. A few soldiers got injured and are getting treated in the infirmary right now. I know your friend was with them, so I figured you should hear it.”

  A knot of fear twisted in my stomach. I had a bad feeling, Leif was part of the squad that went out, and according to him they had healers far more skilled than I am. If they were taken to the infirmary, something serious must have happened.

  He must have seen it on my face because he raised both hands slightly.

  “Hey, don’t worry. From what I know, no one died.” He tried to comfort me, but it failed completely. Even if no one was dead, Leif was the youngest and weakest in their squad. The chance of him being injured was high.

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  But I still nodded. “Yeah… I’ll check the infirmary. I’ll be back by lunch.”

  As I started running, my heart pounded with nervousness. My friends from Stonegate and my squadmates were the only real connections I had in this world. But my friends came closest to what I could call a family; they were like brothers to me, and I genuinely hoped nothing bad had happened to any of them.

  In those fifteen minutes of running, I imagined every possible bad outcome that could have happened to Leif, from losing a limb to a healer declaring him dead the moment I reached the infirmary.

  Upon arriving, I asked the guard at the door if he knew anything about where the injured Vanguard soldiers were. He asked for my details and the reason I was looking for them. After answering the basic questions and telling him that one of my friends was in Vanguard, he informed me where I could find them and mentioned that five privates were injured.

  As I walked toward the area where Vanguard was being treated, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I spotted Leif standing near a bed, looking perfectly fine. For a moment, I considered turning back. I did not want to disturb him while he was with his squad, and now that he seemed alright, I figured I could find time to meet him later.

  But just as I was about to leave, Sergeant Cole noticed me and informed Leif that I was there. When he looked over and started walking toward me, I realized he was not completely unharmed. He did not need to be lying on a bed, but he was far from fine. A bandage wrapped around his arm, and there was a faint limp in his step.

  I gave him a side hug, careful to avoid his injured arm and side.

  “I’m surprised you’re not dead,” I said. The words slipped out before I could think. Normally, he would have fired back with something clever, but instead he gave me a forced smile.

  “You alright?” I asked, now more concerned.

  “Yeah, just some pain in the leg,” he said, clearly lying.

  I wanted to sit down with him, talk through what happened, see if I could help in some way. But lunch time was near, and I had patrol duty after. As bad as I felt leaving so soon, I had my orders, and me being late or distracted would not help either of us. For now, I had to take solace in the fact that he was alive.

  “Hey, after dinner I’ll be back from patrol duty. We can meet outside my Longhall,” I said.

  “Sure,” he muttered.

  I patted his shoulder and started running again. For the rest of the day, I forced myself to focus only on the task in front of me while trying to avoid remembering the look on Leif’s face.

  “What happened? Other than the injury, you look like something else is bothering you,” I asked Leif as he joined me outside my Longhall after dinner. He looked unsettled in a way I had never seen before. Most of the time he was eager to improve, eager to face danger. His next words surprised me even more.

  “I feel powerless, Ed.” His voice was barely audible.

  I looked at him, unsure what to say. I really didn’t know. Whatever had happened out there had shaken him deeply. Until now, fighting in the squad had helped me avoid thinking about the overwhelming gap between us and the beasts, the feeling of being powerless. So instead of offering advice I didn’t have, I simply patted his shoulder. Slowly, he began to speak.

  “My squadmate Geoff got injured because of me out there, and I was too weak to do anything. I have never felt dread like that before. If death has a face, I saw it today.” He sounded broken, as if he were dying inside.

  “Is it really that bad out there? Are you even allowed to share what happened? Because I’m having a hard time imagining what could leave a squad with three Tier 3 privates and the rest Tier 2 with five people injured. And you look like you’re waiting for death.” I said.

  “Yeah… even we were surprised. According to intel, our target was a nest of three Tier 3 beasts. But once the fighting started, three more showed up. I couldn’t tell if they were hunting our target or hunting us, but they overwhelmed us completely. They moved so perfectly together that every formation we tried collapsed. With our Tier 3s occupied, the rest of us were like children fighting adults. After a few exchanges, I just… gave up. I was waiting for them to finish me. If not for Geoff, they would have. And now he’s out of commission. I keep thinking that if I hadn’t frozen, he wouldn’t be like this.”

  His story sounded like a failure from the intelligence team. But considering the current situation, with intel operations restricted and almost no information available about the deep interior of the Untamed Forest, it was practically impossible to gather accurate details.

  “Edward… I don’t think I’ll survive the grand tide. And I’m scared. I’m scared that before I die, I’ll drag my squad down with me.” Pain filled his eyes. This was my first time seeing him like this. His usual positive attitude, the way he faced everything thrown at us during training, often made me forget he was just a sixteen-year-old boy. Most of the time he behaved more maturely than me. Feeling weak and inadequate wasn’t unreasonable for someone in his position, but I knew this mindset would destroy him.

  So I slapped his shoulder, maybe harder than I should have.

  “I don’t know exactly what happened out there or what you faced, but you’re forgetting why you joined Vanguard. You’re forgetting our plan, to meet whatever comes at us head-on, beast or man, not like cowards. This is just one failure. We’re going to fail a lot more times in the future. All we have to do is fail better each time. Talk to your sergeants, talk to Geoff, see how he feels. If they really thought you were a liability, you never would’ve been picked for the squad.”

  I said everything I could think of, hoping at least something I said might lift him even a little.

  Thankfully, my words had some effect. Not enough to make him fine, but some of the tension left his face. He nodded and said he would talk to his sergeant before heading off, leaving me alone outside the longhall.

  I wasn’t sure how much I helped Leif, but now I needed help myself. After listening to what he faced and seeing his condition, my nerves were rattled. My hands were sweaty, my heart rate high. They fought six Tier 3 beasts and lived. Our squad struggled with one Tier 3.

  So I did what I always do when negative thoughts start to overwhelm me. I went into the longhall, retrieved my new spear, and began drawing runes along its shaft.