The next morning, Nero took his first additional class. He was already awake and studying when a staff member came to summon him to an office within the Enlil lines. His teacher was one that taught him General Military studies, but this time the subject he was taking was one that he would normally take in his second semester: the Psychology of War.
From the very first class, Nero got a sense for just how immense the subject was because the introduction itself was massive. While the title itself sounded straightforward, Kolar was known for its immense research in war and the army. They had studied warring down to a science, and had broken down each aspect of it.
Thus, the subject did not just focus on the most obvious, which was the psyche of the soldiers or the officers of opposing armies. No, it considered war itself as an entity and looked at all its components objectively. From logistics, to ammunition, to communications to so much more. Whether it was espionage, or morale, or judging objectives, all of it was addressed, because this was not a subject about understanding the people, but war itself.
This made sense, since the wars Kolar fought were not always against people. Sometimes, curses, too, needed to be faced in war.
In the first class alone, his professor examined the purpose of war - any war - and how to determine what the actual objective was, and thus decide what constituted a win or loss. This seemed intuitive at first, since war should mean beating the opponent to claim their resources. Yet the more he explained, the more Nero understood the nuances of it.
For example, Kolar had fought a world war, not for anything else but to show the world that although it had gained a new ruin, no one should think about stealing it from them, or trying to mess with them either. It was not about resources, it was about deterrence and prestige.
Yet, through the war itself, Kolar simultaneously strengthened its relationship with Nova. So then, what was the real objective of the war?
To deter opponents? To establish prestige? Or to show Nova that Kolar would make worthy allies? Or was it something else entirely - something that the general public did not know of.
Very early in the war, Kolar declared that they were looking for a path towards an aetheric rank beyond Sage. What was the point of making that public declaration? Was that declaration merely a tool used in the war as well? If so, what was the purpose, and what constituted a win or loss?
They also briefly touched upon some unsavory yet essential topics, such as how to calculate the number of acceptable collateral damage in war depending on the importance of the objective. To be clear, they didn’t delve into such topics yet. Instead, they only touched upon them to let Nero know they would be studying such things so that he could be mentally prepared.
How he reacted to this class, and the various aspects of it, was also being reviewed by his teacher. Whether Nero realised it or not was irrelevant, since all cadets knew they were being observed as these observations would play a great role in determining their future careers.
Once the class was over, Nero was handed a book and the teacher and told he needed to self study as well, since they had already missed a week’s worth of classes that needed to be made up for. As for how Nero would find the time to do that, the teacher did not care. Since he had asked for these early morning classes, managing his time was something he had to do on his own.
That was part and parcel of taking a greater burden upon himself. Since he opted for it, he needed to deal with the additional pressures and responsibilities it brought along. If he ultimately wasn’t able to prove that he could do it, then it would reflect on his character - meaning he overestimated his own abilities, which was a dangerous trait to have in the army.
Nero wasn’t too bothered by it. The only actual inconvenience he felt was that he would need to reduce his networking time a little on Sunday, which was something he would need to find a way around. He couldn’t afford to miss out on his connections,
After class, he got ready for morning drills. The previous day Sergeant Renald had gone easy on him, but that did not happen today.
As promised, today they did something new. All of them were made to jog, in formation, outside their lines and to a corner of the academy Nero hadn’t been to before. There was a large obstacle course at their destination, but more importantly the other battalions also showed up.
"This, right in front of you, is the Starters course, which is the first official course all cadets are made to go through after joining the academy. Any previous course you may have done did not count because they were too easy," Sergeant Renald’s voice washed over all the fresh cadets, causing some of them to go pale. That was supposed to be easy?
"The reason this is the first course you all do is because it is simple enough for you all to do and get an understanding of the types of courses you all will have to do in the future. To run this course, you cannot go alone. Instead, you will be grouped into teams of four, and you must assist one another and complete the course together.
"You will be allowed to use cards that will be provided to you at the start, as well as your innate abilities to complete the course. Now, step forward as I call your names. Nero Grant..."
Of course his name was first. Nero stepped forward, but was surprised to find that the next three names called were not from his battalion. In fact, each name was from one of the other battalions.
The only thing that the other three seemed to have in common was that they were all Neophytes.
"You four are the first group that will go through this course. Go and get equipped while I form the other groups," Renald said, before ignoring them completely.
Nero looked at the other three, nervous cadets and then shook his head. He did not mind their lower ranks. He had fought literal berserkers with Neophytes behind him. If he could only succeed with powerful subordinates behind him, then he wasn’t much of a leader, was he?
"It’ll be fine," Nero said to the three of them as they walked towards the makeshift armory. "I hope you don’t mind if I lead the group during the course."
Two of the cadets shook their heads, but the third frowned, staring at Nero without fear of his reputation.
"Just because you’re stronger doesn’t mean you’re automatically the better leader," said the third cadet, his blonde hair shining in the sun. Unlike the rest of Kolari’s who were blonde when they didn’t have an elemental innate ability, this cadet seemed to be blonde because of his innate ability, as was obvious by looking at his golden eyes.
"You’re right, but our task is to run a course, and I think I’ll have an advantage in this, considering my previous record," Nero answered. "If you want to lead the team, you’ll have to convince me that you can do a better job."
The cadet continued to frown, as if thinking hard about how to resolve the situation. It was obvious just by looking at him that he wanted to be the one leading the group.
"Let’s just see how this goes first. Maybe we won’t even need a leader, or maybe they’ll assign one" he said, shaking his head. Nero didn’t argue.
The armory, though Nero called it, was a simple table with several grimoire’s placed on it, all containing the same set of cards.
"Familiarise yourself with these cards - they’re standard issue for this course - and equip them. You will be judged for using the cards correctly," said the soldier who passed out four cards to each of them. "Once you’re ready, someone will brief you on what to expect. Keep in mind that this will be a timed attempt, so you’ll only have a certain amount of time to run the course. Very few have ever managed to finish it on their first attempt."
The soldier paused, and then looked towards Nero with an unusual look.
"Of course, last semester Vilhelm completed all the courses he took on his first attempt," he finished, almost expecting to see Nero’s expression change. Instead, Nero was just studying the four cards that he got.
Whether Vilhelm completed it in one go or not, Nero would always aim to succeed, thus he would not be distracted by unnecessary stuff. Right now, the focus was on the course. Beating Vilhelm was saved for later in the day.