Chapter 15 – Advantages and Food Recovery

“Wake up, you sleeping oafs! Wake up!”

Max groaned and cursed. He barely opened his eyes from exhaustion.

A legionary had entered the barracks and begun to bang on a pot. He walked down the line of beds from side to side, making sure every single one of them woke up. Screaming the same two sentences over and over again to make sure no one missed it.

Max wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, but what he did know was that he wanted another five days more. Especially after what they had suffered last night. Endless hours of sprinting, marching, and working out in pitch darkness guaranteed that none of them would have enough energy to pick their heads up much less fight.

They all fell face first into bed asleep within seconds as soon as they were let go.

Max was no exception.

Everything hurts… The hair on my head is throbbing. How is that even possible?

He stood up just like the rest of the kids and formed a line. Unlike them, he had a certain Skill Shard just waiting for him to take advantage of with an express use for this very moment. Max was going to use it the second they exited the barracks and the legionaries around them weren’t completely focused.

Arnie stumbled beside him. “Max…? Max, why do my ears feel sore? Ears aren’t meant to feel sore…”

“I can’t feel my legs…”

Max trailed off as his eyes drifted toward the cause of all their suffering; Joel.

The larger boy noticed him looking and gave him an ugly, mean glare. He made it very clear that he blamed all their suffering on Max, and only him, during their running. His look now was expected.

I need to be careful when he’s around. I doubt he forgets grudges with glares like that.

There had been positives even though they were all crying and bemoaning the sad state of their legs and body. Max had gained two endurance from the Optio’s ingenious ways to make them suffer longer and longer, isolating different forms of training to certain body parts.

It brought him to endurance 9.

He had no real source of grounding to know how well he was doing, if at all.

“Straight to the Chow Hall. Make no mistake, you get to eat once a day…” the legionary said.

They began to move while trying to keep their groaning and bemoaning as silent as possible. They did not do a good job of it.

Max waited a few moments into their march and then he refocused on the Ledger and the Skill Shard within it. He wasn’t quite sure how to activate the skill. Was it just a mental impression and it would work? Or was there something special he had to do for it to activate–

The Ledger has been opened

Skill Shard activated –

Recovery of the Air Gladiator effects have been applied:

recovery boosts – 2%

regeneration boosts – 1%

healing boosts – 1.3%

stamina boosts – 6%

Max stumbled forward but caught himself.

Arnie gave him a concerned look.

He laughed it off and turned to keeping his head forward and slightly down. He allowed himself a deep breath and felt it fill his whole body. He felt the cool air permeate through him and settle into his muscles. A tranquil breeze wrapped around his aching limbs for a brief second before it sunk in and vanished entirely.

Max could still feel a distant lightness to his weight that had not been there before, but it was nowhere as pronounced as the first few moments.

More importantly, he felt alive when he had been dragging his limbs along for the ride previously. He had to slow down his pace and fake his stumbling to blend in with the rest of the recruits.

Getting caught so soon would be the worst case scenario after all.

It didn’t take long until they were led to where Max remembered the prodigiously sized head cook had been berating legionaries just yesterday when Max had been guided by Captain Samson. The legionaries opened the double doors to the side of where the berating happened and guided them into a wide hall full of legionaries of various ages.

Max took his time to survey them group by group as they were guided to three long tables and benches.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The eldest legionaries sat the furthest into the building. Then it slowly descended based on age and experience with the teens marching in formation sitting closest to Max and the rest of the recruits. The older boys were silent compared to the veterans, giving them a quick glance before turning back to their food.

“…hurry up!”

Max turned toward the longest wall. It was open like the expensive shops but without the windows and had a few legionaries wearing white aprons running back and forth.

“The new batch is here! Those boys be hungry! Starving. Absolutely starving and famished. I swear that Optio wants to cause me death from blood loss and frustration! He could have told me, but no–”

The head cook maneuvered out of a back door with a large pot in hand. He placed it on the long table and vanished into the back entrance, still yelling and complaining.

More men in white aprons hurried out with large platters.

Arnie gulped audibly next to him.

Max couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. Any food they were given right now would taste good even if it was dirt and stones. Caleb, who had taken a seat on the other side of Arnie, salivated from what Max noticed.

The head cook rushed out and the rest of the men vanished through the back door except two. They lined up over the platters and waited. The head cook gave their charge, the legionary that had been banging the pot, a nod. Whom in turn turned to them.

“Up! If you want food, then get in line. No pushing or trying to cheat. You get what you are given, eat while silent–”

“I don’t mind them coming for seconds!” The head cook gave them a wide smile.

“Err… except for seconds. You can get up for seconds.”

The veteran legionaries all laughed.