Until the instructors felt the two of them were already excellent, the focus became reinforcement, reinforcement…
Until their bodies formed muscle memory.
The two of them had gone through fast-track training, so there were still many things they lacked.
But the rest of those skills would have to be gained through time and experience.
So next, the two of them only needed to stick with regular training and studying.
But Ely was different. His progress had always been different from Winn and Uziel.
So after that, his after-school schedule started to differ from Winn and Uziel.
When Paige found out, she directly arranged a dorm room for Ely.
"You're already grown up. You can't always stay by our side.
You need to have your own social circle, and you also need to learn how to communicate with the outside world on your own.
This is a good opportunity. From now on, you'll eat, sleep, and train with the other students.
Make more friends when you can.
If there are people you don't like, you don't have to force yourself. You're there to learn, not to please others.
There's one thing that's different. You'll be allowed to go home for half a day every week.
The others don't get that privilege," Paige said while patting Ely's shoulder.
Ely had never been away from his family for a long time, and he felt nervous in a way he couldn't explain.
But then he thought, he was now the only male in the family and had to be someone his sister could depend on. He couldn't keep hiding behind her.
He nodded firmly.
"I will study hard and become a great officer so my sister can live a good life," Ely said with hope.
"Do your best. When you become a great officer, I'll be able to retire," Paige encouraged.
Ely then began his dormitory life.
When Paige had free time, she would go to the camp to check the training plans of the new recruits and make a few adjustments.
Some flashy moves could be removed. It was better to focus on combat techniques.
Fist fighting was the last resort for survival. The soldiers needed more practice with shooting.
Many people didn't even know how to properly hold a gun, so the assistant arranged for everyone to start practicing proper gun-holding positions.
Paige watched their boring training.
Sometimes they had to stand all day, or lie flat all day. It was very dull.
So she took Winn and Uziel to carry out a mission.
Skills alone weren't enough. Practice helped you grow.
As for the practice targets, the nearby city had plenty.
There were so many PN Soldiers there, they were like moving targets.
Paige assigned a task to the two:
How to kill as many PN Soldiers as possible without being discovered.
Whoever lost would have to sleep alone.
If they were discovered by any PN Soldier, it would be considered a failure.
Whether to assassinate secretly or openly, use a knife or a gun, it was up to them.
Since it was their first mission, Paige provided the weapons. In the future, they would have to figure out weapons on their own.
When they heard that Paige was taking them on a mission, both were excited and nervous.
All their hard training had been so they could help Paige.
Now that Paige was willing to take them along, did it mean she thought so too?
With excitement in their hearts, the three arrived at the nearby city.
They wore plain gray clothes and entered the city in a line.
At the city gate, some local traitors were strutting around, checking everyone passing by.
Not far away, two PN Soldiers stood guard with guns.
If anything happened here, they would step forward to check the situation.
Paige and the other two dressed like the most ordinary villagers, carrying a bamboo basket on their backs, pretending to be farm boys coming to the city to buy goods.
The three of them acted honest and timid, moving along with the crowd.
Soon, the three managed to blend into the city.
"Choose whatever weapon you want." Paige avoided the crowd and took out various guns, as well as daggers, bows and arrows, and other weapons.
Winn chose a sniper rifle and two self-defense daggers.
Uziel picked a pistol and two self-defense daggers.
It looked like one was prepared for close combat, and the other for long-range attack.
"Meet back here in the evening. Count yourselves. Safety comes first. You need to understand your weaknesses through action, and improve through training," Paige told the two.
The three soon split up.
Paige wandered the streets, seeing what good food was around.
Her mental power spread out.
She found the PN army's weapons warehouse and food storage.
Paige gladly took everything.
She also found where the senior PN soldiers lived and worked. Whenever she saw something valuable, she took it all.
Soon, the city became chaotic.
Because Winn and Uziel started taking action.
Then, the PN soldiers discovered that valuable items were missing.
It was broad daylight, and no outsiders had come into the offices.
The PN official cursed furiously and ordered the entire city to be locked down.
"Search. You must find the person!" the PN official ordered.
Then, everyone was mobilized, and the city instantly turned into chaos.
Every household's door was knocked on roughly. The PN soldiers barged in and searched the place.
If they found something valuable, they stuffed it into their pockets.
After they ransacked one house, they moved to the next.
The things taken by the soldiers—Paige quietly returned them all.
Even though the PN soldiers had surely done this kind of thing many times before, this incident happened because of her. She couldn't let the common people suffer losses for her actions.
In houses where things had been damaged, Paige even left some extra money as compensation.
"So this is the kind of life people live in a city taken over. No rights at all," Paige said while watching the chaos in the city, shaking her head.
She then found a decent-looking hotel and started checking in.
"Bad news, Lieutenant Ino! Our food supplies are gone," a PN soldier rushed in and reported.
"What? How could it suddenly disappear? Investigate! That damn thief must be caught!" PN Lieutenant Ino slammed the table, furious.
"Yes sir!" the PN soldier left to carry out the order.
"Bad news, Lieutenant Ino! Our weapons warehouse has been emptied!" Another PN soldier came in shortly after.
"What? What were the guards doing? That place is huge—how could it just be emptied?
Investigate! Don't miss even the smallest clue! Catch that damn thief!" PN Lieutenant Ino was so angry, he almost exploded.
"Yes sir!" the PN soldier saluted and left.
"Bad news, Lieutenant Ino! Our military supply department was also cleaned out!" Just as the previous one left, another PN soldier rushed in.
PN Lieutenant Ino's legs gave out, and he fell into the chair.
The most important locations in the town had all been looted right under his command.
And he hadn't even seen a shadow of the culprit.
If the higher-ups found out, he'd have no choice but to commit suicide in shame.