Turning

Chapter 30

'In a few years, information about the development of abilities will be known to the world. They, too, will come to realize the potential of the power they possess. Being in the military would have been an even better environment for further development.'

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to drop a few hints early and win their favor.

Yuder was a person who had managed to advance a power related to attributes, which was notoriously difficult to develop, to several levels and reached the top.

There was a saying that no one understood the mechanism of the abilities possessed by the Awakeners better than Yuder Aile, the Commander of the Cavalry.

The potential for future development, which even the Awakeners themselves had not yet realized, appeared as clear to Yuder's eyes as reading the branches of a handprint.

He quickly came to a decision and opened his mouth.

"In my opinion, it's a very impressive ability, but you seem to underestimate your power."

"Underestimate? Didn't you just see it? It's a flame that can't even singe a single hair of a monster. What's so impressive about it?"

Emon laughed as if he'd heard a funny joke, waving the pipe emitting smoke in his hand. Yuder, without a hint of a smile, opened his mouth again.

"You might feel that way if you're trying to singe a monster's hair. But what if you sparked your flame in a monster's eye or mouth during a fight?"

"..."

Emon's pipe, which he had been lightly shaking, stopped. The casual smile on Sunz's face also disappeared in an instant.

"Your flame is like a spark from a flint, short and bursting powerfully. It's not like a big fire that you have to worry about maintaining - you can keep trying as needed."

Yuder looked straight at them as he continued.

"If you get used to summoning the flame more quickly, more frequently, like striking a flint repeatedly, you could potentially ignite dozens, if not hundreds of places simultaneously. Do you still feel your power is insignificant?"

"...I've...never thought about it that way."

Emon stammered, his face aghast.

"Try it if you haven't. That much will undoubtedly be possible soon. And Sunz."

"Oh, yes!"

Sunz, who had been watching the lesson Yuder was giving Emon, instinctively responded with military precision.

It was as if he was in the presence of a superior, but none of the three found anything odd about it.

"The ability to locate enemies in the darkness is an impressive reconnaissance skill. Regularly practice feeling beyond what you see with your eyes closed. As your senses become sharper, your ability will gradually develop. You might be able to extend the range of your vision or even selectively see only what you want to."

"Close my eyes... and practice?"

"If you don't understand what I mean, try closing your eyes now."

Yuder's words carried the persuasive power forged from long years of serving as a commander. For some reason, Sunz felt as though he was obeying an order and unwittingly closed his eyes.

"Do you see anything?"

"No, not now. Nothing at all....."

"When you use your ability, do you have to concentrate hard?"

"Yes. How did you...."

It was obvious. Even an ordinary person without any Vision ability would need to concentrate to look closely at something. Much more so for someone whose ability was precisely that. Yuder had seen many like them before.

"You should start practicing the ability to focus instantly when necessary. Anyway, I'm going to hold up a few fingers in front of your face. Try to concentrate and guess how many there are."

"... Eh? Just like that, out of the blue?"

"I'm doing it now. How many do you feel?"

"Wait, give me a moment."

Yuder didn't give Sunz a moment to think, he immediately held up three fingers in front of his face. Sunz began to fuss, pressing his lips tightly together and furrowing his brow. A very faint ripple of energy emanated from around him.

"Try to guess before I count down from 5 is over. 5, 4, 3......"

"Wait a moment. I'm still......"

"2, 1. How many?"

"2... No, 3?"

Sunz mumbled in a resigned tone. However, he was correct. Yuder chuckled, seeing Emon's wide-eyed expression from the corner of his eye.

"Open your eyes."

"......What?"

Sunz opened his eyes to see three fingers right in front of him, and his face turned pale.

"You guessed correctly."

"But it was so sudden... Maybe it was just luck."

"No, you were correct."

Yuder asserted with conviction.

"Doubting yourself only makes it harder to fully utilize such abilities. Have confidence."

"But still......"

"Both of you might think what I'm saying sounds odd. But I've been observing people with these abilities for a while now, and I'm still doing so. Believe what I say."

Upon hearing Yuder's words, both men looked at each other with peculiar expressions. They seemed unsure about how to interpret this strange conversation that had abruptly taken place.

'Of course, they would be surprised and confused. But I need to change their perception of their abilities too.'

Yuder looked at both of them and began to speak.

"Your abilities are far from useless. I can bet anything that important people will soon find your abilities necessary."

"Important people? Who are they? No one has sought us out in two years."

Emon muttered as he tapped the ash from his pipe.

"We're just ordinary soldiers. There must be countless people with abilities like ours throughout the Orr Empire, right? Like that... what was it? The Cavalry that the Emperor just recruited."

"You're well informed. Why do you think the Cavalry was recruited? Because they were needed."

They may have been overlooked for two years, but in other words, it was only two years.

The past two years, a time when there was no Cavalry, was a period when people were on edge and struggled to adapt to the emergence of individuals with new abilities.

And now that the adaptation was over, a new world was about to unfold. A world that, for now, only Yuder knew about.

"The world doesn't yet understand the value of these powers. But that will soon change. When the moment comes that many people realize their worth, it will inevitably change."

"Do you really believe that?"

Sunz tilted his head and asked. He still seemed skeptical.

'Responding with an immediate affirmation might make me seem like a demagogue.'

So Yuder just smiled quietly.

"...If you are unaware of the power you possess, you won't be able to properly use it when it's needed the most. Know your strength well until someone who needs it appears, and don't belittle its worth. If you trivialize your own power, others will regard it as even more insignificant."

At Yuder's words, both Sunz and Emon fell into deep thought simultaneously. As soldiers, they were taught that it was a virtue to obediently follow orders from above, and to unconditionally obey their generals and emperor. This concept might have been difficult for them to understand immediately.

However, they needed to grasp this in order to shake off the deeply ingrained military spirit, and change the situation when the special forces are eventually formed.

"...Well, you might be right. If I belittle my strength, others would find it even more laughable. I didn't think about that part because it was always that way with the guys here from the start."

Emon, looking at his extinguished pipe, lifted one corner of his lips.

"If we improve the way we use our power through training as you suggest, our situation, which hasn't shown signs of promotion for years, might get better."

In the Orr Empire, the military was perceived as nothing more than a group under the knights, who possessed enormous power, merely filling up the numbers.

After humans were able to use mana and aura, wars were always about those who could wield such powers.

There was a time in the ancient past when tactics and individual soldiers' skills mattered, but no one thought of that anymore. It had been long since winning was about whether a swordmaster or a great mage was on our side.

In the end, the main tasks of the Orr Empire's Imperial Army could not be exaggerated as merely defending the borders, maintaining public order, and dealing with troublesome monsters.

Even though the high-ranking officers who commanded the military were of noble birth, they did not regard their positions as ones of real power.

Only the generals who commanded the southern and northern armies, in turn, held their positions as swordmasters, using them as stepping stones to enhance their honor and grasp higher power.

Like General Gino Bordelli, the rare case of maintaining the general's position for a long time was only possible when one had outstanding skills and a clean and incorruptible disposition without any ambition for promotion.

Despite this, the reason why commoners kept joining the military was simple. They could earn a stable income without suffering from a lord's exploitation, and it was one of the few opportunities for commoners to travel around leaving their hometowns.

Those who applied for the military were usually children pushed out from poor commoner families to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

Being able to join the military was a slightly better situation. Those who couldn't often ended up in mercenary bands or did menial jobs at the lower echelons of the market until they died.

Occasionally, even though they were commoners, if they showed an extraordinary talent for martial arts during training, they could rise to a fairly high rank. However, such events were so rare throughout the thousand-year history of the Empire that they could be counted on one hand.

Yuder guessed that the cause of the lethargic attitude and self-deprecating behavior of the soldiers who had been idling in the mountains for two years was probably due to this.