Kill The Dragons - Chapter 59

“There’s no need to go out of your way to talk to the inspectors. Avoid one on one private conversations with him. Especially you Kuro, don’t follow him just because he gives you some candy.”

Han said as he popped a lemon-flavored candy into his mouth. He ran into Squad 5, Dimitri’s squad, on the way.

“Did you guys meet an inspector too?”

Dimitri spoke first.

“I just met him at the shooting range. Isn’t your next scheduled task shooting practice?”

Upon Han’s words, Dimitri let out a heavy sigh.

“Damn, there are inspectors wherever we go. There is an inspector at all the drill halls. I think I’ll go crazy. It’s not like I could beat them up either. What are you guys eating?”

Dimitri discovered that everyone in Squad 13 was enjoying sweets. Kuro took a huge bite out of his chocolate bar to show off.

“The inspector we met just now gave them to us.”

Squad 5 members starting making a fuss while pushing Dimitri’s back.

“Let’s hurry! Squad Leader! We have to get some candy as well!”

Dimitir was shoved forward by his squad members. They quickly went up to start their shooting drills. Han momentarily watched Squad 5 and then went into the gymnasium.

“Let’s start.”

Han ignored the inspector’s sharp gaze coming down from the second floor.

Everyone got a weapon that was hanging on the gymnasium wall. There were some who were training against a wooden dummy, while others sparred against one another.

“Kuro, you will practice with me.”

“Again?”

Kuro questioned while picking up his spear. Han and Kuro stood facing each other in the fighter’s arena. Han’s main focus was training Kuro.

‘Kuro had been the worst in close combat up until now, but I thought it would be fine since a squad member or I would be able to support him. However, in actual battle, it’s not possible to constantly protect Kuro. Everyone must have the basic foundation in all fields.’

Han realized many things while in Squad Whiskey. As Sergeant Red had planned, he acquired the much needed experience to grow.

Bam

Han stepped forward and swung his spear. Kuro busied himself with blocking all the attacks. He didn’t think to attack in the least.

“Kuro, try to attack.”

Han stopped attacking and spoke. Kuro was now drenched in sweat. He tightly shut his eyes and swung his spear.

TANG!

Han parried Kuro’s spear. Kuro lost grip of his spear.

“Open your eyes when you attack. Hold onto your spear tightly.”

Kuro graded horribly for weapon handling and close combat. Han let Kuro rest for a short while.

‘During our first year, we were not fully matured physically so it’s understandable. But, second years are much faster and stronger than normal humans. He doesn’t have problems physically, but mentally.’

Han had no way to coach Kuro on his mental problems. He called for Jose. Jose, who had been in the middle of a spar, quirked his head.

“Jose! I have somewhere to go for a moment. If I don’t return, take charge for our next training schedule.”

The unspoken leader of Squad 13 was Jose. They had never made an official announcement, but it had been silently agreed upon by everyone. Canute was also a good candidate for second in command, but Canute frequented the hospital regularly, so Jose was the one to take charge a majority of the time.

Han passed Jose full autonomy for the squad’s training and went toward the first year buildings. When he stepped into the first year area, his data bracelet vibrated.

According to regulations, the different year students were not allowed to interact with one another. Han communicated his reason for visiting the first year area and continued forth. He was looking to have a meeting with Instructor Wei.

“Han? It’s been a long time.”

He recognized Han’s matured form and spoke first. He looked busy organizing some documents.

“I will come back another time if you’re busy.”

“That’s fine. It should be an important matter if you decided to come visit me personally. I wanted a short break anyway. I need to pick out many people to be moved up into second year, but we’re short staffed so I have to look over a lot of documents by myself, I’m near going crazy.”

Instructor Wei poured some oolong tea for Han. Han cringed as the bitterness of the oolong tea hit his taste buds.

Instructor Wei was pleased to see that Han still had some childishness remaining. He had always felt pity for the children of Ark.

“Thank you. It’s de-delicious.”

Han forcefully laughed. Instructor Wei took on a dignified, graceful posture as he sipped his tea. He took a moment to simply breathe in the aroma before speaking.

“So, what did you want to talk about? You’re now a second year, aren’t you?”

“I came here because I had something I wished to ask you about.”

“To me?”

Instructor Wei quirked his head. If this question was related to weapon handling, there should be nothing more he could teach this student.

Han was naturally talented and learned quickly. The only thing remaining for him was acquiring real life experience. Han had been one of the top students he had personally taught.

“Do you remember Kuro?”

“Yes. Though he couldn’t manage to distinguish himself in any of my classes. Haha.”

Instructor Wei thought of Kuro as he spoke.

“He is currently a member of my squad. Kuro’s aggressive nature is very lacking. He hesitates to attack others. I fear this weakness will cost him his life one day.”

“At the same time, Kuro had attacked his peers with rocks in the deserted island.”

“It’s not possible to fight from a distance all the time. Real battle doesn’t flow in a smooth way that allows us such flexibility.”

Instructor Wei narrowed his eyes. Han’s expression was completely serious.

KKSSHHH!

Instructor Wei ripped a page from his notebook and drew a picture. He drew a gun, a spear, and a pair of hands.

“Han, humans feel a psychological distance depending on which weapon they wield.”

“Psychological distance?”

“It’s the feeling of self repulsion when physically attacking others. Even a trained soldier will have a difficult time killing someone else with their bare hands. Normally, they will stop. On the other hand, a normal citizen will easily be able to kill others while controlling a robot or throwing a bomb. The feeling that you’re personally attacking others is greatly dulled. The mental stress decreases the less one is able to observe the opponent’s reaction.”

Han couldn’t immediately grasp understanding of this concept. It didn’t matter who his enemies were, if the situation called for it, he would resolutely attack without hesitation.

“Is that so?”

“People normally feel this way. The more distance there is between two people, the easier it becomes to kill. The psychological repulsion to killing becomes stronger the closer two people are to one another. In our case, we’re not fighting against other humans, so you can say the concept works in the same way.”

“It’d be easier to understand if you explained using Kuro as an example.”

Han said bitterly. Instructor Wei chuckled. Han’s mind was going in circles. He had come here to get some advice, instead he was getting lectured.

“Kuro is highly emotionally sensitive, and he greatly sympathizes with others. He has many feminine traits. The more these traits are in a person, the harder it becomes to attack others. On the other hand, a man who becomes easily violent can quickly cut off their emotional sensitivity to the other party. Kuro has been able to attack his peers during the deserted island drill because he could maintain a distance against his opponents. He also strongly believes in your decisions and judgment, so his mental stressors were greatly relieved. Do you now understand why Kuro and you were moved up into second year together?”

“Is there a way I can help Kuro?”

“I originally thought that he would progressively get better naturally while training in second year, but it seems he’s still having a difficult time. It’s common for people’s aggression to naturally increase with a stronger physical body. When a person realizes their own strength, they become used to their own violent nature. It seems he’s an incredibly gentle person.”

“I like that side of Kuro. However, the Elus and werewolves will not allow it. There will come a time when Kuro must wield a weapon to attack his enemies. If he hesitates at an important moment, the result will be vastly different. It has been so in my own experiences.”

“Don’t think too deeply about Sergeant Red’s accident. He had taken you, a second year, considering such an outcome. If we were to be concise, it’s Sergeant Red’s fault for not considering your situation at all.”

Instructor Wei noticed guilt briefly pass Han’s eyes. Han learned an important lesson in making a sacrifice. A perfect student cannot immediately become a perfect soldier. Han will face brutal battles while enduring sacrifices before he could settle a strong foundation for himself.

“I want to increase Kuro’s aggressive nature. I want him to be able to fight at least to the level of his peers.”

Instructor Wei paused, contemplating this for a moment. Kuro should have been dismissed long ago. However, his natural psychic talent was too great that people dismissed the thought. They had trained Kuro betting on the small sliver of a chance based on his great potential.

“The type of people like Kuro need a reason. It’s cruel to command a type of person like Kuro to kill a person without reason. He must figure things out for himself. There is no other method other than repeatedly training over and over.”

Han nodded. He was able to find a better solution to his problems than if he struggled by himself.

“Thank you. Instructor.”

Instructor Wei watched Han leave. He forgot about organizing his documents and got lost in his own thoughts.

‘There is one method. However I wish for us to remain humane and don’t agree with this method at all.’

Instructor Wei once again remembered his nightmare like hellish past. They first forced him to kill small animals.

Gradually, they brought bigger animals. A dog, pig, cow, and monkey. Lastly, they had forced him to choke another human to death.

After that ordeal, any person would become completely unfazed to violence. There isn’t any hesitation to deal with the other party’s life.

One would stop feeling any sort of connection with other humans; killing others becomes the same as chopping down a tree.

Instructor Wei had originally been trained under a religious cult group called Peace of Hong Kyung.

When the war against dragons began, the number of religious cults rose to an all time high. His father had been a religious fanatic and the cult’s henchman, and had offered his own son to the cult.

Instructor Wei had been trained inhumanely to kill. Before his own country summoned him for his psyker powers, he had lived within the shadows of the world.

“It’s only the past.”

Instructor Wei said while sipping his cold oolong tea.

Ark maintained their strict training methods. Instructor Wei had never been fond of this aspect. However, Ark did not teach youths to throw away their own humanity.