One month. For an entire month he had to run around training and helping others. It was exhausting but worth it as the general stopped bothering him about the leadership tests and training once he passed it. He knew how to lead, he just did not want to. Instead he spent the month training what he could and practicing while also helping others.

    The tiger, Cho, seemed to have gotten used to her new name. She seemed especially fond of Salem. But even Jace could tell that Cho was also worried for some reason as well. But Jace did not know how to bring it up since it was not like they could communicate easily with Cho.

    At the moment all of the candidates were standing in lines where they were specifically asked to stand. Jace tried figuring out the pattern but it was lost on him. There was no overall pattern. There were six lines for the almost a hundred candidates.

    He was in a line of eleven people. Six of the eleven people were the S-Rank compatibility individuals. The last five were from an array of compatibility ranks, but one of them was in fact Salem.

    As they stood waiting at attention he watched the nearby observers. They were various people they had seen throughout their time here. Not the candidates but rather everyone from the guards to the kitchen staff. It only made Jace that much more curious about what was going on.

    Then a full escort of guards walked in. They were the black and red armored ones that he had seen guardian Director Fenrir''s office. Following in between their lines was the woman herself. She walked with confidence while talking to a man in a lab coat. She handed him a data pad and he quickly turned around and jogged back out the door.

    Jace would have been able to eavesdrop on the conversation but when he tried all he could hear was a high pitched noise. Jace''s eyes met Director Fenrir''s and he saw her hide a smirk.

    She marched up to the stage set up in front of the candidates similar to the one that was on the Wing of Pegasus when they arrived but this one was right in front of them rather than off to the side.

    Director Fenrir stood in the center of the stage and as a minute passed she was joined by five other people. Only two of them she recognized as Commander Eelson and General Ty Nikolai. The last three he had not seen before.

    "Welcome ladies and gentlemen of the Tartarus Project! We are in the third and final month of your training. For this last month you will be split up and trained specifically by one of us up here. For the last two months we have been observing all of you, deciding who should train who. This last month of training will be the most difficult thing you ever undertook in your lives. But you will come out of the experience stronger, smarter, and far more resourceful." Director Fenrir''s speech caused the onlookers to stir in excitement, while the candidates stirred in nervousness. "Now without waiting any longer we will retrieve our columns and begin training." Director Fenrir looked straight at Jace''s row and he had to resist groaning in annoyance. "You eleven with Jace at the front. Follow me out."

    Director Fenrir then began walking down the stage. Jace quickly walked after her, apparently he was leading the line of others. The guards she walked in with split in two. Some walking in front of the Director and some walking behind the line of candidates.

    They walked through a few corridors until they walked into a hangar that seemed to have been heavily modified. The first thing he could see were bunks set up in independent rooms. The guards did not enter the hangar with them.

    "Take a look around for a bit then meet me in that structure." Director Fenrir told them and pointed at one of the stacks of metal box structures that looked to be the size of a room. She then walked off moving toward the stairs that led up to the door of the structure she indicated.

    "So… what the hell?" One of the others whispered. "Are we living here now?"

    "Apparently," Jace answered as he started moving around. "For an entire month we are stuck here. I heard the door seal completely after we walked in." He was walking over to one of the independent rooms labeled as a bedroom he saw and tapped his watch in order to open his communication system only to find that all communications were being jammed.

    Salem jogged after him to see what he was thinking, [What do you think? I get the S-Rank Compatibility users, because the Director herself is an S-Rank. But why do you think she brought the rest of us?]

    Jace shrugged his shoulders as he arrived at the ''bunks'' if that is what they would call them. {You would know better see if you can find a common link between you five. Did you do anything particularly interesting or important? By the way, she literally gave us all a room but kept it one short so me and you would end up needing to share a bed.}

    Salem blushed as she noticed what she was talking about. The room area did have ten rooms. But her and Jace''s things were placed in the same room. [I will see if I can find anything from the others'' minds. How helpful do you think her training will be?]

    {I think this whole training thing is just another way to sort us. They are keeping secrets about what they want from us. But I am guessing we will have a better idea after this training stage finishes. Unfortunately you will probably have your hands full after that.} Jace pointed out as he nodded at the place Director Fenrir went and started moving over to the stairs leading up to the room.

    When he walked into the room he was welcomed to the sight of a dojo. He had been to a few while in the slums but this one was far more clean and uniform than any he had seen. Dojo''s were typically where the gangsters learned how to fight. They were an alternative to the boxing gyms that were around his neighborhood.

    They were the first ones there. There were several cushions situated around the edge of the room. Director Fenrir was sitting on the other side from the entrance with a painted image behind her. Jace recognized it as art from the Oda Empire, he saw some images of them while he was looking into Oda to learn about Cho''s name.

    "Salem, Jace. Remove your shoes then take a seat near the edge of the room on one of the cushions. We will start when the others arrive." Director Fenrir told them without opening her eyes. She was doing some type of sitting pose with her eyes closed.

    Salem and Jace exchanged a look before they moved over to some of the cushions and sat next to each other. Jace took a few minutes to adjust as he was uncomfortable sitting on his knees. Salem made a cracking noise as she twisted her neck, her hands were fidgeting.

    Several minutes passed as they waited. The others slowly shuffled in and each of them were asked to take a seat by Director Fenrir as they entered. The last one entered and took a seat near the door after a dozen minutes.

    "Now that you are all here." Director Fenrir opened her eyes and looked around. "We can start. The first thing I am going to teach you is how to fight. Now you may be thinking that you can already fight but I would not call what you do fighting. I would call it repetitive motion."

    "Repetitive motion?" Jace spoke up.

    "Yes, all you have done is memorized various sets of moves that are predictable. Jace, stand up. We are going to spar." Director Fenrir stood up and moved to the center of the room. Jace obliged and moved to the center of the room as well. Fenrir took a fighting stance and Jace did the same. "Someone give us the go signal. I want it unbiased."

    Someone raised their hand, "3-2-1."

    A moment later Jace was blinking the spots out of his eyes as he lay on the floor. Fenrir stepped over him looking down at him. "You good?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

    Jace frowned while looking up at her. He slowly processed what happened. He went for a hook but she moved around him and used his own power and motion to throw him halfway across the room. "Can that even be considered a shoulder toss?" Jace asked with a tone of confusion.

    Director Fenrir walked around the room. "You can move faster if your techniques and movements are tailor made for you. Teaching you how to make those techniques will only be one of the things I teach you how to do. By the time I am done with you all, each of you could do just about anything. From going undercover, spywork, piloting, theft, assassination, investigating, just about anything you would need to complete your objective."

    "Are the other candidates being trained the same way?" Salem asked. Sёarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, the others are being trained as Shock Troopers. Shock Troopers are an advanced form of infantry soldiers that some of the other countries use. In the Vexical Empire they will be the first on the ground and the tip of the spear. They will quite literally be the best of our infantry. Five of you on the other hand will be going undercover in the Inquisitors. While the other six are being groomed to be a completely different type of soldier. The type of soldier that will terrify the enemies, the type of soldier they will never see coming. They will be Spectres."