Two of the five people Shen selected were females who had attacked each other during the battle royale.

Fu Wenqian wore an eye-catching blood-red robe, the same color as her eyes. Like most Ethereal Harmonization cultivators, she had intangible beauty and looked ageless. Her long black hair went to her knees, but she kept it controlled as she moved by using the qi in her body. Her Axioms were Sword, Light, and Lightning.

Jin Qiuyue wore a simple white robe, which was also the color of her eyes. Or rather, her eyes were a shining silver. Her black hair went to her shoulder, cut straight. Her Path was that of Sword, Darkness, and Earth.

In other words, they had the same Weapon Axiom on their Path, but the other elements were opposite. Shen took them mainly because he wanted to see if he could learn something. He also liked that they had some enmity between them. It should make it harder for them to scheme against him.

That was relevant because the three males he picked would have no trouble uniting against him. They were a single group with dark blue robes with red four-pointed stars. They also only had two Axioms on their Paths: Fire and Ice. None of them displayed any weapons except their bare fists.

Shen was taking a risk by bringing them under his wing, as it made it easier for them to stab him in the back. Still, he took it as a reminder to never grow too comfortable. Their very presence would always loom over him and keep him on edge.

Mao Shun was short, with spiky brown hair and green eyes.

Shi Yanlin was tall, with black hair in a bun and black eyes.

Wu Bai had short black hair and brown eyes. He was the only obese person present. To most Path Walkers, be they cultivators or mana wielders, becoming lean and muscular wasn't a matter of aesthetics but elasticity and not having your body get in the way when you tried to do something at lower ranks. That stopped mattering once your rank grew enough and you could just displace your fat as you moved, but few people saw reason to pursue a wider body like that. Shen was quite curious to hear Wu Bai's reasons.

Zyn waited for the six Acting Battalion Commanders to conclude the selection process, then said, "Whoever was selected is now an Acting Staff Lieutenant. You will also learn more than the others and be observed. I'll personally select D-ranks throughout the basic course to become temporary leaders and receive further training."

He put his hands behind his back and looked at the horizon. His following words came as if reading from a script. He had memorized them and didn't care to show enthusiasm.

"Basic training is about ensuring that everyone knows the very basics of being a Guardian in the military. You'll be reminded of some things you know and learn new things.

"Guardians are those connected to the Guardian System. Our sole purpose is to ensure the Alliance's continuity by guarding it against internal and external threats.

"In the military, internal threats are only those found in the military itself. Anyone on active duty is solemnly forbidden from attacking civilians. There are no internal black ops, no exceptions, no exceptional cases. There is no situation at all to justify the domestic deployment of active military forces. Even in a Calamity, we only care about protecting the Alliance from its external enemies and from our own selves.

"Remember this well. There will be no second chances if you ever head into the Alliance and attack anyone, even if they are later proven to be a Void Prophet. You'll be labeled a traitor at once and hunted down by an A-rank at the very minimum. The day the military gets involved in internal affairs is the day we become just another faction. Factions bow to political interests. Politics cause division. We would lose trust, and the Alliance would lose its only united force.

"Assuming you don't do such stupidity, you'll need to know how to fight. Even researchers and crafters fight in the military. A Guardian who can't fight won't be accepted. Conscripts who can't fight will be forced to train until they hit the acceptable threshold.

"You are too many, and your fighting styles are too varied. Instead of adapting to each of you, you'll adapt to the military. While in the military, you'll be assessed on multiple fronts. Unless you become part of a special unit, your battle capabilities will be evaluated based exclusively on your understanding of military martial arts. It won't matter if you can defeat someone with your personal style if you can't do it with military martial arts.

"Furthermore, military martial arts contain multiple ways of defending yourself and your fellow warriors against Void Spawn. They will be more used in your deployments than you likely imagine. They are crucial not only for your career but also for your very survival."

With Zyn's bored tone, he might as well be talking about taking a nap instead of dying. Shen wasn't sure if it was part of the test in some way.

The First Lieutenant continued, "You'll now be introduced to martial arts for each rank.

"Each rank has twenty-six different weapon specializations: bare-fisted, claws, one sword, dual-wielding swords, sword and shield, spear, halberd, staff, spear and shield, whip, whip and shield, saber, dual-wielding saber, saber and shield, mace, mace and shield, one ax, dual-wielding axes, ax and shield, dual wielding daggers, spiked shield, short bow, longbow, sling, generic enchanted rifles, and dual wielding generic enchanted pistols. If your weapon fighting style wasn't contemplated, focus on the closest you can or in bare-fisted combat.

"Regular troops are supposed to have a passing knowledge of a weapon specialization of their rank. However, as I mentioned, the better you do, the greater your battle capability evaluation will be. That can unlock all sorts of military paths for you.

"Staff must be experts in at least one weapon specialization of their rank, plus have a passing knowledge of every specialization one rank below them. That is meant to guarantee they have great theoretical combat knowledge. On top of helping Commanders control the units below, Staff troops are the actual fighters of any unit, except for the E-ranks in a squad. Commanders only act directly if they have no choice; their purpose is to lead. Weak staff won't be accepted.

"Commanders must master at least one martial art of their rank, be well-acquainted with every other martial art of their rank, and be an expert in every martial art of lower ranks. This is the minimum benchmark for being even considered for a leadership position. No one will follow a weak leader, even with a bright mind. Weakness doesn't inspire confidence. Your troops must trust you'll be their last bastion if something goes terribly wrong.

"Moreover, leaders are supposed to know how to better deploy their troops, and they can't do that without knowing what said troops are capable of. That is important. Whenever you're assigned a mission, it'll be expected to be accomplishable with the training you'll receive from hereon. Your existing experience and abilities will work in your favor on other assessments. Regular troops aren't required to know better techniques.

"The military is an assortment of beings from all areas with all sorts of knowledge. Standardization is the only way to ensure you can be used effectively. That said, feel free to accomplish your missions with better skills. When deployed, accomplishing the mission is more important. Yet, if someone dies because you didn't use the military martial arts when you could, you'll pay for it.

"I don't care what you specialize in. I don't care what Path you walk. As I said, the military won't adapt to you; you will adapt to us.

"Speaking of which, specialists will be discussed at a later date."

Even Zyn's "speaking of which" bit was obviously memorized. He didn't sound like someone who had just recalled something.

"We'll start with bare-fisted F-rank martial arts. You must all stand fifty yards from each other. I'll move, and you'll copy me. I'll keep showing you the forms in a loop until every single one of you have passing knowledge of it.

"Lieutenant Specialist Karlov will also show the martial arts in a loop. He will display the mana variant while I'll show the qi-based movements. The goal of every movement is the same, but they might be accomplished in different ways depending on the energy they use.

"Meanwhile, Staff Lieutenants Uya and Xun will do mock battles using the bare-fisted version of the rank I'm showcasing. Use it to better understand some moves if you want.

"Commanders, you must ensure everyone below you learns quickly. You must become at least an expert in one weapon specialization, then help the Staff you just selected, who must understand the bare minimum before helping you teach the regular C-rank troops. Only if every C-rank knows the fundamentals can you then teach the D-ranks.

"D-ranks, my Staff Lieutenants will call the names of whoever they deem to have become an expert at the martial art I'll display. If any of you is called, you can choose to keep improving or help your fellow D-ranks.

"I won't pretend this is just a lesson. The tests are obvious for everyone. Learn quickly. If you are an Acting Commander or Acting Staff Lieutenant, make sure you become an expert in record time. Yet, your mission includes teaching your people. Find the right balance. You'll be evaluated on personal, leadership, and teaching skills."

Zyn and Karlov didn't even wait for everyone to get within the correct distance from each other. They distanced themselves, got in a horse stance, and slowly moved through the F-rank forms.

Likewise, Uya and Xun jumped a few hundred yards back and started fighting each other at peak F-rank speed.

Shen also bounced back and started watching and copying Zyn's movements.