That night, after lights out, the other cadets in Nero’s barracks had all promptly gone to sleep. The physically and emotionally exhausting day they had gone through, not to mention the knowledge of what was to come the next day, and the threat of the punishment the other battalions received all combined together to pressure the new cadets immensely. They dared not waste a single moment, getting as much rest as possible.
In truth, this too was a form of training. Nero understood the logic behind it well. During war time, and even during some intense missions, it would be impossible to maintain regular schedules. As such, soldiers needed to be ready to sleep and eat every chance they got. This was something Nero was already used to.
The reason, then, that he was not sleeping while everyone else was, was because he no longer needed as much sleep as he used to. While he could still sleep normally, five to six hours of sleep was more than sufficient for him to recover from ordinary fatigue. In case of sickness or injury, that might increase, but for a regular day of training it was sufficient.
Even if it wasn’t, Nero had something else that took greater priority, and that was self reflection. For ordinary cadets, soldiers and officers, following the flow of events was good enough, but not for Nero. Not only did he want to be the best, he had agendas that he needed to fulfil, thus it was important to reflect.
Now that the day was over, he would think back to the events of the day. He would think of all the opportunities he faced, the ones he managed to grasp and the ones he missed out on. He would think of everyone he met, reevaluate them in case he missed out on picking up certain cues and hints during the day.
He would also think about everyone he had met and connected with. In the Enlil battalion, there were a total of 39 new cadets this semester. This may seem like very little, but compared to the usual intake size, it was actually quite a lot.
Considering that they had all met for the first time today, it would not be a surprise if it took them some time to memorise each other’s names and become familiar with one another - but Nero could not afford that.
Although his memory was fairly decent, he still went over each one’s names and identifying features in his mind. One’s impression would change drastically just by remembering a name, and it was one of the easiest ways to gain early trust and recognition.
Of the Enlil cadets he met, he’d had the greatest interaction with Luna and Bella, both of whom were quite memorable. Luna was quite weak in terms of aether, but it was only because she had only recently synchronised. Her innate ability had arrived even later than Nero’s, and based on what she herself had said, it was pretty solid.
Bella, on the other hand, displayed nothing extraordinary as far as his abilities were concerned - which was normal since they hadn’t had an opportunity to display them. His personality was interesting though.
After reviewing the day and its events, Nero focused on the future. He reiterated his goals. Instead of provoking people and making enemies, he needed to create a vast network - but he would not compromise his goals and values for that network. It would be a challenge, so he would first start with his own battalion, as well as by reaching out to his friends and acquaintances within KMA.
He also needed to learn more about the Valkan Legion, as well as discover ways to get the absolute most out of KMA.
All in all, it seemed his most immediate tasks would be to acquire intel about KMA, as well as begin reaching out to old friends.
With his immediate goals set, and the previous day reviewed, Nero allowed himself to fall asleep. Despite the unfamiliar environment, the light snores of his bunkmates, and the threat of the unknown, Nero slept soundly that night.
At 5 am sharp, a loud horn blasted through the battalion, waking everyone up. That was the morning call, and it was the same for new and old cadets alike!
All the new cadets woke up with a start, and jumped out of their beds in a panic. According to what they had been told yesterday, after the morning call they would have five minutes to shower, get dressed and report for morning drills. Five minutes was not a lot of time, especially when the showers and drill area weren’t even close.
The cadets in Nero’s barracks had to deal with the additional mental shock of discovering that Nero was already showered, dressed and studying when they awoke from the morning call! Such a diligent soldier put an immense amount of pressure on them, especially when that diligent soldier was already far ahead of them to begin with!
Five minutes later, at the drill site, several professors were already standing there, waiting for them. The cadets would get their own dedicated professor or overseer based on their semester who would focus on only training them for their first two years, so Nero and the others were treated to the sight of Drill Sergeant Renald who was standing at their assigned location with a stop watch.
No one said anything when they noticed that he did not so much as look at them, instead focusing only on the stop watch. About a minute and forty seconds later, the last few cadets from their batch came running in, seemingly out of breath. Nero noticed that Luna was one of them.
"104 seconds late," Sergeant Renald said with a grin that sent shivers down the cadets spines. "Looks like yesterday’s victory has made you all complacent. We can’t have that now, can we? All of you, put on your weights and give me 104 push ups before starting your run. Since you’re late, you’ll all be doing an extra 10.4 laps of the ground.
"Hmm, 10.4 sounds a bit awkward, so let’s round that up to 15 extra laps. Oh, and that’s extra laps, not considering the 10 laps you have to complete normally. Now you better get started - breakfast is in an hour, but you won’t be able to go until you finish morning drills."
While the other cadets were stunned, their hearts chilled by what they had just heard, Nero ran forward to put on his body weights. Yet today, even Nero was surprised when he saw the bodysuit that was prepared for him.
"That doesn’t look like what I put on yesterday," said Nero, turning towards the assistant professor, confused.
"Yes, based on your performance yesterday, Sergeant Renald has reevaluated the weights you’ll be wearing. On such short notice, we could only prepare a 100 kg (220 lbs) weighted suit, but don’t you worry, by tomorrow you’ll have the proper 150 kg suit that’s been requested for you. In the meantime, you’ll need to wear a backpack to carry the additional weight. You’ll have to be careful while running, though, as the bag might tear due to the weight."
Nero had the urge to turn back and glare at the sergeant, but that would only get him in more trouble. Besides, it was better this way. His body would not grow stronger using ordinary means. He needed to push himself harder if he wanted to continue increasing his strength.
While using Radix Augmentation on cursed beings was one way of increasing his strength, that option was not available to him right now.
Besides, rapid gains could weaken his body’s foundation, so slow and steady was the proper way of doing things.
Without hesitation, Nero put on his weighted suit atop his uniform, feeling the evenly distributed weight press down on his body. Then, he put on the backpack which was filled with another weighted suit, amounting to a total of 150 kg weight.
As he got into position to start his pushups, he could not help but smile. He didn’t need coddling, nor did he want to take things easy. This was only the start. He wanted to see just how much weight his body could bear, and how much he could grow.
"1... 2... 3..." Nero began to count as he started his push ups, maintaining an even pace and focusing on his form.
Since Nero was extremely sensitive to aether now, by the time he hit 70 push ups, and his arms and chest began to burn furiously, he noticed his internal aether focusing on his exhausted muscles, helping them recover ever so slightly. The change was too insignificant for it to make any meaningful difference for now, but he observed the change nevertheless.
When he finished, Nero arms felt like they were on fire, yet he didn’t show any sign of it at all, instead immediately beginning his first lap of the drill ground which was a total of 2 km (1.2 miles).
He still had a long time before breakfast, so he could jog at a nice, casual pace.