Chapter 34: Chapter 37 – Captain Boot Camp

“Listen up maggots! I don’t know what your pathetic former Suzerain Lords told you, but you will all break down by the time I’m done with you!” Theseus yelled at the group of twenty-one Captains. He tried his best to sound like a drill sergeant, but the Captains who knew him since his days as a Suzerain Lord, namely Centos and Naiad, snickered to themselves.

Over his year long training, Theseus had been systematically learning and improving every single one of the Captain’s skills, apart from the Shades in the group. It was now time for a month-long boot camp, designed to grow every Captain’s aura realm by at least one sub-rank.

This brutal boot camp was prepared by Aries while Theseus was in seclusion, and a compound was built to Theseus’s specifications through letters sent to him over the year away. The Captains wondered why Theseus was pouring so much into them, unaware of the nature of his primary skill. They were touched, thinking it was because he cared or that they were needed for the battle with Lord Darkin.

Theseus let the misunderstanding slide because if they knew his true intentions, some would resent him. Also, if he were to reveal the inner mechanisms of his main skill, his enemies could learn about it and exploit it.

Elder Capricorn and Elder Aries supervised as Theseus made the twenty-one Captains, including Gemini, run laps. Gemini wouldn’t get all that stronger at all from this boot camp, but his presence as the new head Captain was necessary for building camaraderie.

Using the similar methods he used on Gemini, Theseus prepared herbal baths for the Captains and brutally forced them into submission. Then, one at a time, the Captains took private lessons from Theseus in a rotation, daily. Due to their incomplete, cracked, or unstable Shade Cores, Theseus saw a fatal blunder in his Shades’ performances.

Recommending techniques like Spirit Cultivation were not effective in the short term. There was a solution to this conundrum, but it would weaken the Shades in the short run: A Shade Seal.

As a Tier Two Rune used to seal off or forcefully stabilize a Shade Core, Shade Seal effectively sealed the power of the Shade Core within the seal. This was a short-term solution that actually lowered Shades’ combat abilities, but in order to retain their minds, Theseus issued the more troublesome Shades to be sealed until their foundations grew.

Vodyanoi complained at first, but he came soon to comprehend the newfound clarity he had without his Shade Core. Huffing and puffing, the once troublesome Shade worked his body tirelessly to become strong enough to stabilize his own Shade Core.

“You’re doing great Vod.” Theseus called out. Vodyanoi nodded and kept lifting weights in the training field. Ultimately, Theseus let Aries train the Shades, since he was the Shade expert who had the most stable Shade Core he had ever seen. It was actually Aries who suggested to use the Shade Seal paired with herbal baths and Spirit Cultivation to allow their vessels to hold the extra soul energy required as a stable Shade.

Captains without Shade related issues typically had shallow foundations or bad attitudes. Centos, the water mage, was forced to reevaluate his outlook.

“Centos, you rely on skill combos and pure magic, but you can’t chain these combos for longer than five minutes.” Theseus lectured.

“How can I get stronger? My potential and body are at their peaks?” Centos complained defensively. He had already tempered his body in the past, and his vessel was as strong as he thought possible.

“You’re narrow minded, Centos. Your whole mindset is focused on the Natural Path. If you want to grow, you need to explore the other paths and broaden your horizons. If you truly want to keep following the Natural Path, you need inspiration to find a new pathway forwards.” Theseus lectured and put a large book between the two, Basic Runes and Seals.

“Once you’ve learned the basic tier two Potential Seal, you will go from the A Rank to the S Rank. You better start studying!” Theseus smiled. Centos’s eyes went wide; he hated studying.

Naiad, the other elemental Captain from Lord Virgo’s territory who stayed by Theseus had the same problem.

“I’ve worked night and day, but my vessel has reached its strongest. These exercises won’t help me.” She explained to Theseus in their private tutoring session.

“I know.” Theseus shrugged.

“Then how can I grow stronger?” She grumbled. Why was she even here?

“You use primarily air magic, and yet you wonder why you can’t progress?” Theseus asked.

“What do you mean?” Naiad asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your physique is actually meant for the water element, but you forced yourself to use air-based magic over water.” Theseus explained.

“How do you know?” Naiad questioned skeptically.

“I have a skill that allows me to have an insight on your physique. Don’t worry about it. Everyone has different physiques, but normally, we care about the rarer ones.” Theseus shrugged. He was referring to his Passive Insight Skill that gave Theseus the understanding behind individual’s aura realm, skills, physiques, and motives.

Theseus’s analytical mind could tell at first glance the glaring issues in every Captains’ foundation and skills. Naiad’s just so happened to be related to her physique. Those without rare physiques were ignored and told they had no physique. Anyone with a deep knowledge of the Natural Path would tell you otherwise. Skills and bodies had a unique connection. Some were naturally better with different skills.

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“What do I do? I can’t rebuild my body from the bottom?” Naiad protested. Once you tempered your body with a specific element, it became harder to use other elements, just as using Spirit skills became harder if you were a Shade.

“Your vessel’s potential is actually higher than Centos’s. He maxed out at the A Rank, but yours should have been able to get to the S Rank if you followed water-based techniques. You’re right, you can’t change this without breaking down your body to zero, which is impossible at this juncture.

I recommend you start looking at other paths to find a solution to this problem. Perhaps the Authority Path, or the Spirit Path can offer some insight.” Theseus hinted.

“Just tell me what I have to do!” Naiad was getting impatient.

“From now on, use skills that benefit your growth based on your physique. Practice the Spirit Cultivation skill with the Shades, and research if the Authority Path can grant you a way to utilize your physique. Here are some books.” Theseus plopped a huge assortment of books based on her physique.

“Come back to me when you have an idea for a skill. I will help you create it.” Theseus offered. Naiad was speechless. The Authority Path was exceptionally dangerous. She followed Theseus’s advice because he was the Head Elder, but she actually just wanted to use the Spirit Cultivation skill to see if she could progress to the S Rank.

“With your unused physique, there is potential for a new skill. When we’re done, you will be as strong as a Suzerain Lord, and when you eventually learn runic skills, your foundation will increase. I have a great long-term plan for your growth.” Theseus laughed sinisterly as Naiad walked away. She didn’t know why, but it sent chills down her spine. Wasn’t he just trying to bolster the forces for the upcoming war? Why was he pouring extra work and resources into her?

Another unfortunate soul subject to Theseus’s inhuman training was Elder Capricorn. Supposedly, she was meant to be an overseer with Theseus, but Theseus worked her harder than the other Captains. Watching in horror, the Captains grimaced as Capricorn was beaten up again and again by Theseus.

“You were once a Suzerain Lord, but this is all you have?” Theseus sneered. The Suzerain Lords all had decent foundations, but Lord Capricorn survived as a Lord through her shrewd trade abilities. The best she could do was use one trump card and barely any other skills in combat.

Cornucopia Feast was a storage-based skill from the Authority Path. It was a common skill architype in the real world where aura was stored over time and used all at once or in bits later on. Because the architype was basically an all or nothing ability, her foundation was limited solely to her trump card, and she couldn’t fight well with her lesser skills.

“This is really pathetic!” Theseus shook his head as he once again threw Capricorn across the training ground. The Captains watched with grim expressions. The once proud Suzerain Lord was brought into the dust by their Head Elder daily.

“For a Royalty Realm power, this is too shallow! You might as well be starting from zero.” Theseus coldly stated. From then on, Capricorn also participated in the cruel and unusual physical training with the Captains. Unsurprisingly, Capricorn’s storage skill would explode to the D Rank if her vessel and soul rose to their limits. Theseus had high expectations for her and the Captains, driving them to their limits. Weeks passed, and the Captains saw Theseus in another, more brutal, light.

In the beginning, some thought Theseus was a fool. Others thought he was a visionary. In the end, they all grew scared of his cold, calculating mind, but they also respected his vast knowledge. This was not a fool nor a visionary, but an exceptional scholar who thought down on the Suzerains as the real fools.

The Captains weren’t the only ones training.

Ju Long, the estranged tanker from his once proud party, trained vigorously at Theseus’s cabin, alone.

“Why was I sent here, and not Hama or Astrid?” He cried out to himself at a loss.

He anguished alone at the cabin. Would it have been better for him to wander in the Ocean of Souls as a lost soul instead of appearing here? He felt inept, inadequate, and small compared to Theseus. He felt as if Hama or Astrid would have been a better asset to Theseus, but he still trained diligently.

Resembling Theseus’s experience in the crevice, Ju Long was struggling with his identity and purpose. He and Theseus were never close, and he even bullied the kid with Berringer and the party at times. Yet, the two shared the camaraderie of sacrificing themselves for their party. Thinking about whoever put him here, he just kept wondering.

“Why me?”

Whichever Administrator, Deity, or Authority that got involved with the Oceanic Realm got it wrong. Theseus would’ve been happier to see his lost love Astrid or his new friend Hama. Coming to grips with reality, Ju Long’s eyes shone with determination.

“I will find the person who sent me here and demand they bring the others here as well.” Ju Long clenched his fists. Astrid and Hama also died but were not here. It was unlikely all four dead party members went to Hell, but if they did, Ju Long was determined to find them. He would find out the truth. He would redeem himself before Theseus and find who brought him here.

In the afterlife, their old grudges were meaningless. This was a second chance to make the old wrongs right. Maybe that was why Theseus grew so strong; he was the one with the most regrets. Through his suffering, he created a place for second chances and freedom.

“Oceanus, the place of redemption…” Ju Long pondered.

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