"Instructor Leikas, there must have been a mistake! How could he be in first place?" Stuart said, moving forward and pointing at Steve, unwilling to accept the result. He had always been first and was used to looking down on his peers. In his eyes, Steve, who had always scored badly for the actual combat sessions, was trash among the soldiers and he would not usually even spare him a glance.

"Instructor, I too refuse to accept this decision!" Sofia said as she stepped forward, maintaining her military disposition. "Steve's actual combat scores were never as outstanding as ours, so why is his score higher than ours?"

"That's right, I am unwilling to accept the results, too!"

"He was nearly killed by the blackfrost wolf and was lucky to even pa.s.s. Why are his scores even higher than ours?"

The others were also unwilling to accept the results, and their faces said it all. During the a.s.sessment, it was a lot easier for the nine there to have killed the blackfrost wolf than it had been for Steve, particularly Stuart, who managed to kill the blackfrost wolf within ten moves and escape unscathed. In comparison, Steve's fight could only be described as fortunate.

Steve remained silent, as he did not know how he managed to score the highest. This was unexpected even to him.

"The scores were decided by the Chief Instructor. If any of you refuse to accept them, according to the rules of the military, you can appeal to the higher ups for a reevaluation," Leikas said solemnly. Upon hearing the words 'Chief Instructor,' all but Stuart and Sofia gave in after a little hesitation.

"I will definitely appeal for a reevaluation—" Stuart glared at Steve angrily, as if directing those words at him. However, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another voice.

"No need!" Right at that moment Chief Instructor Wendy, who was outside the secret chamber, walked in and said, "A week from today will be the recruit fighting tournament. Your placement in the tournament will decide the number of rations and resources you'll get in the military; the higher you place, the more resources you'll get for training. If you refuse to accept the results, feel free to defeat him yourselves in the ring a week from now."

Chief instructor Wendy looked at Stuart harshly as she walked up to him. Under that gaze, Stuart did not dare meet her eyes. Instead, he turned towards Steve and said, "Fine, I'll defeat you fair and square in one week. Prepare to beg for your life!"

"You may not believe it, but I never even dreamed of becoming the champion, much less expected to secure it," Steve said.

"The recruit tournament's champion will receive a set of energy fighting techniques as their reward," Chief instructor Wendy said as she looked at Steve. "As the top scorers among the recruits, you would ordinarily be given a cosmic force weapon. However, I have decided that if you want the cosmic force weapon, you'll need to get first place in the tournament as well. If not, your reward will be canceled altogether."

"What?! Chief instructor, what you're doing is unfair!" Steve exclaimed.

"Since when have I ever been fair?" Wendy was expressionless, even cold. The group grew silent. Even Stuart, who felt such indignation, was at a loss for words. They had never met anyone who could sound so forward and righteous while doing as she pleased and not caring about rules or fairness. Leikas looked as if this was a normal occurrence for him. Steve was totally speechless.

"Today, the first thing I want to tell all you of you is that there is no absolute fairness in the military. Everything depends on your skills. With skills come fairness, and only with your skills will you be able to get more resources than the others." Chief instructor Wendy looked at them with a fierce gaze, like a soldier on the battlefield, with none of the soft auras of a woman. She continued, "I know that you all feel that it's unfair, but will the aliens be fair to you? Were they fair when they invaded Blue Star? Was it fair when the demons and magical beasts killed your family and preyed on them? Is it fair that the rich can use money to win a lawsuit after murdering someone? Are the poor really destined to be poor? Is the world fair to them? In this world, 'fairness' does not exist! Only fools and the dead believe in it."

At that moment, Steve and the others were deeply stirred by her words. Their view of how the world worked changed drastically. In the past, the environment that they lived in had been too safe, and it made them feel ent.i.tled to all they had. But today Chief Instructor Wendy used this striking lesson to teach them the first rule of survival in the military.

The Chief Instructor before them was shorter than everyone there, but she managed to inspire awe in everyone with the aura she gave off. She was like the sharpest sword, piercing their hearts with b.l.o.o.d.y truths and reality to make them understand.

"Leikas, you settle the rest of this." Chief instructor Wendy turned and left as if she did not care at all if the recruits in front of her understood what she meant.

Chief Instructor Wendy left, but the looks that the others gave Steve included a little gloating. Before that point, they were unwilling to accept the fact that Steve managed to clinch first place. But now, being champion may not have been such a good thing after all.

"I hope that all of you will be able to remember what the Chief Instructor instructed you on! Today, we have gathered all of you here because you are the ten most outstanding recruits among your batch, and so, the military has a secret mission that needs to be executed by you," Leikas said solemnly, as he finished announcing the rankings.

An important mission entrusted to them? This caused quite a commotion in the previously quiet scene.

"We just entered the army and you want us to execute a mission?"

"An important mission? Won't that be really dangerous? We're still recruits!"

A few among them already betrayed their uneasiness. Since Leikas specially arranged a mission for them, it could not have been a normal or easy mission. However, they had just enlisted in the army and were weak in terms of skills. If they were to be required to execute a dangerous mission, it would be akin to sending them to their deaths. But Stuart, Sofia, and the others looked excited because this was an opportunity for them.

"Quiet!" Leikas shouted. The discussions died down. "This mission requires you to kill the demon Collic. You can work together as one, split into teams, do it by yourself, a.s.sa.s.sinate, ambush, et cetera. But you must rely on your own strengths and cannot draw any support from outside forces. "

Leikas announced, "The mission will be used to allocate rewards based on everyone's level of completion."

All ten recruits present had different reactions. They could complete the mission individually, in teams, or as a whole, with all ten of them. There were all kinds of choices, which could potentially lead to a different outcome.