Day had just broken in the Guard Battalion's conference room.
The towering Wu Tian laughed. "Our team's finally getting a new guy? Haha! We'll have to give him a good 'warm-up' later!"
"Old Wu, don't scare him off. I heard the kid isn't even fifteen."
"Fifteen, sixteen, who cares! A soldier needs to be ready to face death."
"Still, you have to take it one step at a time."
"Team One needs warriors. If he can't take it, he should get out now. We can't have him messing up on the battlefield."
The two sides bickered, neither able to convince the other.
"Captain? What's your take?"
Zhou Bing calmly watched her six subordinates and smiled to herself. "It's just a little hazing. Go ahead. All at once, or take turns, I don't care."
"Huh?" The short and stout Zhang Yuan was a little surprised.
'This isn't like the captain.'
'Did the kid offend her somehow?'
The six men exchanged glances, preparing to teach Tang Wen a lesson.
"Sister Bing, my sister had me bring you half a roast chicken. It's the spicy kind." A handsome young man pushed the door open and entered.
He froze when he saw the room was full of people.
"Uh, Captain Zhou, everyone's here." Tang Wen smiled at the group. "My name is Tang Wen, the new recruit for Hunting Team One. If you're free tonight, drinks are on me."
Huh?
The men watched as Zhou Bing expertly took the roast chicken and began tearing off pieces to eat.
For a moment, they were completely baffled.
'Looking at Captain Zhou, it doesn't seem like she's angry at all.'
After Tang Wen and the others introduced themselves, Wu Tian, who stood a full 1.9 meters tall, stood up. "I hear you were number one among this year's new recruits, Tang Wen. How about we go for a little spar?"
Tang Wen's eyes lit up. "Sure, Brother Wu! I'll go get my saber."
Wu Tian had no idea how serious the situation was.
He was still chuckling. "Good, straight to the point! That's just how I like it."
Inside, the other five men and Zhou Bing secretly shook their heads.
The other five men: 'He's a rookie, all right. He has no idea how heavy-handed Old Wu can be.'
Zhou Bing: 'Wu Tian, oh, Wu Tian. You brought this on yourself.'
Everyone walked outside. Tang Wen and Wu Tian stood facing each other in the courtyard, long sabers in hand.
"Watch out!"
Wu Tian let out a great shout and charged, sweeping his saber horizontally at Tang Wen.
Tang Wen sank into a horse stance and met the attack with his own saber.
The five onlookers chatted quietly among themselves:
"Looks like this Xiaotang has no real combat experience!"
"Yeah, why be so reckless? Look at Old Wu's build. How can he meet force with force?"
In the Hunting Team, Wu Tian was the undisputed shield-bearer, one of the top saber-and-shield fighters in the entire Hunting Battalion!
He was stronger than a full-grown wild boar. In camp spars, few were willing to clash with him head-on.
CLANG!
The sound of metal on metal rang out!
The five onlookers stared, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
It was saber against saber, a contest of pure strength.
Old Wu was forced back three steps and struggled to regain his balance.
Tang Wen, however, only swayed slightly.
He was secretly pleased. 'I only used fifty percent of my strength in that strike, and it was enough to stop his charge.'
Wu Tian's face flushed red. He flexed his aching wrist and said, trying to save face, "Not bad, kid. You've got some skill. I only used sixty percent of my strength just now. I was careless!"
'So that's how it is.'
The five onlookers felt a little more at ease.
'So that guy Wu Tian just underestimated him!'
Ptoo. Zhou Bing spat out a chicken bone. She saw the faint tremor in Wu Tian's saber but said nothing.
'Sixty percent?'
Tang Wen was delighted. 'After Captain Zhou, another evenly matched opponent!' "Brother Wu, you're really strong! Now, take a strike from me."
The muscles in his legs bulged as he stomped the ground in quick succession, his military boots leaving clear prints on the hard-packed earth.
BOOM!
Tang Wen swung his saber up in a diagonal slash, while Wu Tian brought his down in a chop.
The two sabers crashed together with a thunderous noise, and Wu Tian staggered backward.
Tang Wen, relentless with the advantage, was about to press his attack when he noticed Brother Wu's footing had become unsteady.
He had no choice but to ease up on his assault.
THUMP. Wu Tian lost his balance and fell to the ground, his arms trembling uncontrollably.
'Savage!'
'This rookie is too damn savage!'
'Even if I went head-to-head with a wild donkey, I wouldn't get wrecked this badly!'
The atmosphere turned stiff.
The other five men were still staring, unable to process what had happened.
Zhou Bing said lightly, "Old Wu probably isn't in top form today. Try again tomorrow. Liu Su, you're up."
Wu Tian patted the dust off his rear and stood up, giving his captain a grateful look.
The man who had been called out, Liu Su, held a steel longspear.
He was very fast; his role on the team was to find openings and strike from the flanks.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Right from the start, Liu Su launched a furious assault. Based on his extensive experience, someone with great strength was bound to be slow.
Sparks flew as saber and spear crossed.
The spear fell like a torrential downpour.
Tang Wen focused, his long saber a blur of afterimages as he parried each and every attack.
CLANG!
He spotted an opening and brought his saber down on the spear's shaft.
Liu Su staggered, his footing unstable and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger aching. 'This is bad. If I keep fighting, I'm going to get injured.'
He planted his spear on the ground and said with a complex expression, "I never expected you to have first-class speed as well as immense strength, Brother Tang Wen."
Tang Wen gave an honest smile and said nothing.
The remaining men who hadn't fought yet finally snapped out of it.
'This rookie is that strong?'
Zhou Bing finished her roast chicken, wiped her hands, and asked the veteran members, "Anyone else want a go?"
The men fell silent. Some stared at their toes, some looked up at the treetops, and others squinted, lost in thought.
Zhou Bing said, "I see you've all been slacking off lately! Starting today, each of you will spar with Tang Wen at least once a day. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Louder."
"Understood!" they all shouted.
Tang Wen looked at Zhou Bing gratefully. 'With so many free sparring partners, won't my Experience Points skyrocket? Joining the Hunting Team was the right choice after all.'
That evening, the Hunting Team gathered in the mess hall for a meal.
All sorts of roasted meats, stews, steamed fish, and fish soup were brought out in a seemingly endless stream.
The Hunting Team had special privileges: a team dinner once a month where all the meat and fish they could eat was free.
If they wanted to drink, however, they had to buy it themselves.
The eight of them drank six jars of sweet potato liquor.
After drinking, the six men didn't go home, instead crowding into one of the dorm rooms.
Tang Wen, feeling a bit tipsy, was worried about his sister being alone and decided he had to go back.
The equally drunk Zhou Bing, for reasons unknown, dazedly followed Tang Wen all the way back to his home.
Tangtang was delighted to once again banish her brother to the inner room. She then helped take off Zhou Bing's clothes and tucked her into her brother's bed.
In the morning, Zhou Bing awoke to a scene of déjà vu.
'No, wait. I'm wearing even fewer clothes this time.'
Leaving the Tang Family home, she was flustered. 'Where in the world did this wretched ability of mine come from?'
'They say that if your Martial Arts are strong enough, you can control your abilities. I wonder if that's true...'
Tang Wen's life as a new recruit fell into a steady rhythm.
The veterans of Hunting Team One were all First-class Martial Disciples.
When one person couldn't handle Tang Wen, two would team up against him.
The tables turned immediately, and Tang Wen was the one left flustered and struggling to keep up.
Since the Hunting Team wasn't expecting any new recruits for a while, Tang Wen's partner was Zhou Bing.
A two-person team was one person short of a standard three-person group, which required both of them to be as versatile as possible.
Tang Wen had to learn the Bow and Arrow to provide long-range support for Zhou Bing, who charged into the fray.
"Stance, grip, nock, draw, aim, release!"
The Hunting Team's Archery expert, Li Mi, instructed Tang Wen in shooting every afternoon.
[Skill: Bow and Arrow, Beginner (377/500)]
He had a lot to learn—not just archery, but also horsemanship, trap-making, Tracking prey, and other such skills.
After learning about all this, Tang Wen marveled. 'So the Hunting Team is basically a simplified version of special forces!'
Tang Wen accepted every challenge, soaking up all kinds of skills like a sponge, spending his days in the camp from morning till night.
His teammates all called him a monster.
Wu Tian: "Doesn't this kid ever get tired?"
"I'm so jealous! I was like that too, back before I married four wives."
"Have you guys noticed... the captain and him seem..."
"Shh! The two of them have a private dorm. I saw it with my own eyes the other day—Captain Zhou carried a new set of bedding inside."
"But Captain Zhou's ability... isn't it...?"
"I think those are just rumors. But Captain Zhou is quite a bit older than Tang Wen, right?"
"Yeah, Xiaotang isn't even fifteen. Strictly speaking, he's just a kid."
"Hiss!"
'So that's the kind of person Captain Zhou is.'
The first month of his recruit period passed, and Tang Wen's Experience Panel was completely refreshed.