"Your little prick, I will say it one last time…" Elius said and then touched the pommel of his sword. "Put your sword away now."

"Are you relieving me from guard duty, sir?" Zaos asked while he was already drawing the magic symbols in his head.

"I will relieve you from the army if you disobey me one last time…" Elius said.

"Sir, I think this is…" One of the three soldiers said.

"Shut up," Elius said. "I will handle this. Now, which is it?"

"I don't know, sir," Zaos said. "Are you going to relieve me from my duties or are you going to force contradictory orders on me?"

The cheeky kid would be cut down. Everyone was thinking that. Failing to join the army was one thing. Being killed by disobeying an officer so many times in a row was another one. It probably was also the first time someone would die on the first die of the army.

Regardless, Zaos's preparations had already been finished. After he saw one of the soldiers interfering, he noticed that Elius was taking that too far for some reason. In any case, Zaos spell was ready to be finished. He couldn't remember what he did to annoy the lieutenant all that much. Still, he certainly wouldn't accept being expelled for no reason, much less being cut down.

"… You passed," Elius suddenly said after clicking his tongue.

In the end, it was a test. Some people sighed in relief since that had been one hardcore test. Elius turned around after only saying that, but Zaos wouldn't let things end like that.

"Sir, I can't let those three pass unless I am relieved from guard's duty," Zaos.

"Shut up, you unnerving brat," Elius said. "Yes, you are relieved from guard duty. Now go to sleep."

Zaos still wanted some explanations, but he felt like his ears would explode if he insisted. Elius only talks while shouting, after all. Before Zaos could truly relax, the three soldiers approached and tapped on his shoulder.

"You can relax kid," One of the soldiers said. "The lieutenant just got too worked up this time. He is getting old, so don't think too badly of him."

Zaos looked at the soldiers leaving. In the end, not even those three knew what was going on. It looked like Elius had some reason to hate Zaos. The reason was probably related to his family name. After all, it would be weird if he got angry at Zaos because he left the formation several times to pick herbs.

In the end, that event only worked to make the others noble kids even warier of Zaos. The instructor had some reason to hate him, and no one wanted to be punished by proxy. Even from his two temporary partners, Zaos was alienated.

The next morning, Zaos only confirmed what he already knew. Elius truly hated him… his habit of shouting whenever possible wasn't a surprise, but he made sure to shout and give his orders very close to Zaos's ears. He really was looking for a reason to expel him from the army.

"Are you all right, Zaos?" Drannor asked. "If I were in your place, I probably would have gone deaf already."

"I can heal my ears, so that is no problem," Zaos said while he was marching and reading his encyclopedia.

"You sure are optimistic," Drannor forced a smile.

"Less talking and more marching, rich ladies," Elius shouted. "I am not paid enough to hear your bullshit."

"Me neither," Zaos said.

"What did you say, young master of the Sielders' house? Huh?" Elius asked while glaring at Zaos.

"I said that I feel pretty good on this sunny day, sir," Zaos replied.

"I am sure you did," Elius furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.

Although things were as annoying as they could be, even Elius's actions had a limit. He couldn't cross a certain line just to expel Zaos; otherwise, he would lose the respect of other soldiers and even of the recruits. Knowing that, Zaos knew that he just had to be patient. It was hard to know if Elius had to guide the newcomers to the Northern base every year, but even if that were true, the number of tricks he had in order to test the kids should be limited.

While Zaos didn't do much to get on Elius's nerves, aside from gathering plants and herbs here and there, he made sure to watch the man as much as possible. After all, he was responsible for a pretty important job. So, some things could be learned from him. Keeping an eye on the weather, the direction of the wind, if there were some obstacles ahead… those were only a few things Zaos was learning he had to do just by watching that pain in the ass ambulant.

Things continued like that for a few days until Zaos noticed that some kids approached Elius while crying. Zaos had no idea what had happened with them, but he noticed that they stayed behind with a soldier the next day. After hearing a few whispers, Zaos learned that they would move East and find the nearest road.

"It looks like twenty of us decided to give up," Drannor said. "All this walking while wearing and carrying their own belongings damages their leg muscles and they barely can walk."

"Is that so…" Zaos said.

Considering that the vast majority of the kids never wore a single chainmail in their lives, it was pretty impressive that they managed to endure it for five days. While Zaos could heal broken bones and damaged muscles, he had no intention of helping others. First of all, he could only use so much mana, and it wasn't nearly enough to heal more than a few dozen people every day. Drannor knew that Zaos could do that, but he also stayed silent about it. The reason was simple and obvious. Those spells were something Zaos learned after studying a lot. It wasn't something that should be offered that easily to others.