Chapter 22: A Very Strange Anomaly

Commander Garran Holtz had already met and seen all kinds of people, even from other races. There were quite a few talented folks. Usually, they called them geniuses or monsters if they were too broken.

He had served alongside people who reached their First Ascent years before everyone else. Some young nobles entered the military with Skills that ordinary soldiers would spend half their lives trying to obtain. He had also personally fought with people who could literally erase a specific large area of the battlefield if they were not stopped, or if they wouldn’t hold back.

None of them had ever gained ten Levels because somebody beat them during an assessment.

Commander Holtz sat inside one of the command tents with several reports spread across the table in front of him. Most of them concerned the status of the Eastern Battlefield. However, among all those concerns, there was one particular sheet he had held for the past several minutes.

Zishan Walker.

Volunteer Auxiliary.

Previously assigned to the Eastern Formation, Third Supply Line.

Level 20.

Holtz stared at the number again.

"Ridiculous," he muttered.

The boy had been Level 10 before their assessment. Holtz had confirmed it himself. There had been no mistake in the reading, just as there had been no mistake when he checked again afterward and found that Walker had somehow become Level 20.

"That’s ten levels... assumed to have come from my assessment that should not have produced a Quest in the first place," he said, still looking at the sheet. He then leaned back slightly in his chair as his attention shifted toward the eastern reports.

His own progress had never been anything like that kid’s.

Garran Holtz had been born as the son of the late Duke Holtz, which meant he could have entered the military through connections alone if he had wanted to. Several military officials would have openly accepted him. His family name carried enough weight in the Kingdom of Olmost that very few people would have questioned it.

Instead, he had entered as a Recruit. He insisted because he wanted to earn his own reputation through serving the Kingdom’s military.

He had advanced the same way the soldiers beneath him did. Recruit became Soldier. Soldier eventually became Senior Soldier, then Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and finally Commander. His family name might have opened doors for him, but it had never swung a sword for him, completed an Ascent for him, or kept him alive when somebody on the other side of the battlefield wanted his head.

Years of campaigns had eventually earned him something his birth alone had not.

The King had granted Garran the personal noble title of Marquess, recognizing his military accomplishments and continued defense of Olmost’s eastern territories. It was a powerful title, one traditionally associated with nobles responsible for dangerous border regions, but Commander Holtz rarely used it within the military.

To the soldiers serving beneath him, he was Commander Holtz, and that was enough for him.

At least, it had been until earlier that day. Commander Holtz moved his attention toward another panel hovering near the edge of his vision.

[WAR QUEST]

[Win the Eastern Battlefield!]

[Status: In Progress]

The Quest had been with him throughout the campaign. Unlike whatever absurdity Zishan possessed, Commander Holtz’s progression made sense. He had already been approaching Level 700 before the eastern fighting intensified. Every enemy soldier he killed, every Magic Beast he brought down, and every recognized military objective completed pushed him closer.

Earlier that day, he had finally crossed the threshold.

Level 700. Seventh Ascent.

It also meant that, once the proper military procedures were completed, his current rank would likely change. Level 700 satisfied the minimum requirement for Colonel, and considering his record, there was little reason for the promotion to be withheld.

But none of that explained Zishan Walker at all.

He returned his attention to the boy’s report.

Zishan had escaped from the enemy side of the battlefield after apparently running in the wrong direction. He had demonstrated medical knowledge inconsistent with his incomplete auxiliary training. He had suddenly developed the ability to manipulate Life Mana. He had somehow helped repel a Highland Griffin far above his Level, and during their subsequent assessment, he had awakened Shadow Mana and advanced another ten Levels.

Even listing everything in order made it sound less believable. And his behavior was somehow worse. The boy had called him nuts in front of his own soldiers. Then, he had cut his sleeve and celebrated as if he had just defeated the strongest person in the Kingdom.

Commander Holtz lowered his eyes toward the damaged portion of his sleeve.

"..."

He could still hear Walker screaming, "I GOT YOU!"

For a moment, he almost found the whole thing amusing. Still, he could not dismiss what he had seen.

Walker learned quickly. Far too quickly!

When Commander Holtz’ assessment began, the boy’s swordsmanship had been nearly nonexistent. By the end of it, he was manipulating a Grandform-Tier Skill well enough to recognize the connections between the commander himself and his shadow summons, sever three of them simultaneously, and later leave Shadow Mana inside a discarded weapon to create a delayed attack.

Had the commander fought seriously, the assessment would have ended immediately. Even while holding back, he hadn’t expected a Level 20 to come anywhere near cutting his sleeve.

Moreover, so far, the boy had demonstrated at least three Mana Affinities: Life, Wind, and Shadow. That’s quite rare, but not too rare. There were even more monsters in Cyrune who could wield several Mana Affinities.

"However, the boy has jumped levels like eating candies. It’s almost impossible to think of any reason why he could have leveled up from that assessment. He might have more Mana Affinities within him that had yet to awaken, and he used his Skills during the fight almost perfectly," Commander Holtz muttered to himself as his forehead creased. "And that Grandform-Tier Skill he has... has he been practicing it all this time? Why did I agree to assign him to the medical station in the first place? I almost buried a gem right there and then."

Then, there was Rift Steps.

The boy had used the Skill recklessly, wasted Mana repeatedly, complained almost continuously, and somehow still found opportunities to attack between all of it.

He was undisciplined. Loud and disrespectful. A very strange one. He would go as far as to say he was one of the most abnormal young soldiers he had encountered in his entire military career. He had encountered people far more troublesome than the boy, but very few who were simultaneously this unpredictable and this capable.

Regardless, the battlefield might be able to answer most of his questions about the boy.

Commander Holtz reached for the document beneath Zishan’s report and signed it.

If the boy really possessed the potential Commander Holtz suspected, keeping him behind the rear lines would accomplish nothing. He would shine more in a chaotic environment with his personality.

Besides, perhaps military discipline would finally teach Zishan when to keep his mouth shut.

Then, the commander paused in his thoughts. He looked at the document one last time and thought about it for several seconds.

Then, he continued signing the documents without convincing himself.

>>>

Zishan was currently experiencing what he considered a complete waste of good Healing Mana.

"Ouch! Ouch!" He was flinching.

"Stop moving."

"I barely moved..."

"Just zip your mouth, kid." Maela pressed two glowing fingers against the bruise along his shoulder, and Zishan immediately stopped complaining because the warmth spreading through the injury actually felt quite good. He even quietly moaned.

He felt heaven descending upon him.

Zishan was just sitting on the edge of one of the medical cots while she continued treating the damage Commander Holtz had left all over his body. Most of the injuries were nothing serious. His Ashen Banner Bloodline had helped him function through the entire assessment, while the First Spring of his Eternal Wellspring Fragment was already working on his recovery.

He would eventually heal on his own, but a Level 155 Healer could do it much faster. That was exactly why Zishan had decided not to stop Maela.

To his defense, why suffer for several hours when somebody was offering magical healthcare for free?

’I would be an idiot to refuse this.’

[The System is pleased that the Dumb Host occasionally recognizes his own condition.]

’I was talking about Healing Magic, you bastard.’

Zishan ignored the System and returned his attention to his Status.

[Level: 20]

The number still looked beautiful to his eyes.

He had already looked at it enough times that any normal person would probably have gotten bored, but Zishan was not a normal person at all.

He had started the day at Level 1. Somewhere between getting electrocuted while trying to save a cupcake, waking up in a battlefield, getting chased by dozens of armed men, healing people, fighting a Griffin, and being repeatedly launched across the ground by Commander Holtz, he had somehow crossed nineteen Levels.

And he still had fifty-seven Stat Points waiting to be distributed.

His lips began curling upward again.

Maela noticed immediately. "Don’t start laughing again."

Zishan closed his mouth as he stared at Maela strangely. ’I wasn’t planning to...’

One of the remaining functional entrances to the medical station opened before he could admire his Status for another ten minutes.

Commander Holtz entered.

Zishan’s good mood disappeared surprisingly fast. "Oh, come on. Haven’t you done enough to me today? Are you going to beat me up again? Look! I’m still healing!"

Commander Holtz ignored that completely and approached with several documents in one hand.

Maela finished closing one of the smaller injuries near Zishan’s shoulder before stepping away. "He’s recovering well."

"Hmm," the commander acknowledged.

Zishan pointed at himself. "What are you going to do with me?"

Commander Holtz placed the documents beside him. "Walker Boy, your reassignment has been finalized."

Zishan stared at the papers as though they might explode. "Why does every sentence you say about my future sound threatening?"

"You are being transferred to one of the main eastern battlefield camps."

"I already expected that terrible part," he replied.

"You’re also no longer serving as a Volunteer Auxiliary."

Zishan paused.

That actually caught his attention. He slowly looked at the commander. "Am I unemployed?"

"No."

His disappointment was immediate. "Oh."

Commander Holtz continued before he could complain. "You’re being appointed as a Soldier."