At the mention of the word "training", the soldiers all began looking around at each other with confused expressions. They were trained soldiers and knights so why was there a need for them to be trained again? Moreover, their instructor was...well...but a child.
"Training?" they muttered.
"We're being trained by a kid?" another muttered, biting back their laughter.
"You've got to be kidding me," one said.
Lucy looked at them in disdain at their disrespectful behavior. If this was how she had talked back to her Lieutenant in her previous life, they would've attached a bomb to her. Laxus and the others saw her growing displeasure at the side comments of the soldiers and had an idea of what was going to happen.
"Excuse my rudeness, Army General," a soldier stepped up. It was a soldier whom she had placed as Second Lieutenant of the Second Division Fourth Corp. "We soldiers have all received adequate and efficient training. What more do we have to train for?"
Lucy looked at him with cold eyes. She couldn't believe the question that he had just asked. Why? Did he just say why? Even a pig would find a solution without asking. Maybe she had misjudged this person. No, maybe she misjudged every soldier in this room. They couldn't even compare to pigs.
"Then let me ask," Lucy glared at them. "Out of all three million of you, who here has experienced war?"
Silence filled the room.
"So it seems that none of you have," Lucy sighed as she shrugged her soldiers before glaring at them again. "Then what gives you the right to question what the training is for?"
"T-That..." the lieutenant stammered.
"Lieutenant Ethan," Lucy said, having already memorized all three million of their names. "As a lieutenant, you lack the most basic of the basics."
All of a sudden, Lucy disappeared from the balcony. The soldiers, startled with surprise, began looking about them. She wasn't on the balcony so she had to be among them somewhere. But it was useless, she was nowhere to be found. But as sudden as she disappeared, Lieutenant Ethan, as well as the soldiers around him, felt a shiver run down their spine. He felt something pointing on his chin.
"As a soldier, you never question the actions of your Commanding Officer," Lucy glared at him with menacing eyes as he sweated bullets.
Lucy had the tip of her small sword right under his chin and his eyes were glued to it for he feared that one small movement would cause him his life.
"Second mistake," Lucy said, pointing her sword further in. "You always look your Commanding Officer in the eye."
Lieutenant Ethan immediately shifted his gaze towards Lucy. "Y-Yes!"
"Now that's more like it," Lucy smiled brightly.
"Is this even Lucy anymore?" Evergreen sighed.
"Well, Lucy's always been different," Happy replied, understanding her thoughts.
"Lucy knows what she's doing," Carla said.
"Instilling fear through her teachings, huh?" Hibiki smirked. "That's a nice way to teach people."
"Out of all the people in the army, she picked the strongest people to make an example out of," Minerva laughed and sighed. "That's Lucy all right."
"What do you think of this, Laxus?" Lily asked.
Lily looked towards Laxus only to see his face to the side with a hand cupped over his mouth.
"What's wrong, Laxus-san?" Lector asked.
"She's too cool," Laxus blushed. "Moreover, in that uniform...she's damn hot, too."
They sweat-dropped.
"Well isn't that a given? Even if she is cool and hot, I don't think anyone would blus-" Rufus suddenly stopped his sentence and exclaimed. "Sting! Are you okay?"
Sting was in the corner slouched against a wall with a hand to his face. Blood was dripping from his face as far as his friends could see.
"Sting, you're bleeding!" Rogue said, worriedly.
"It's nothing," Sting said, his face red as he removed his hand. "I was just thinking that she looked far too sexy in that outfit. I mean, just look at how that skirt sways each time she moves."
"Nevermind," Minerva said, punching him in the head. "I was stupid enough to think that something was actually wrong with you."
"That fuckin' hurt!" Sting yelled, annoyed.
"Sting, you're nothing but a pervert," Lector stared at him blankly.
"What's with those dead fish-eyes?" Sting said as he cupped Lector's face between his two palms.
"Frosch, ignore Sting from now on," Rogue said, hurrying away with Frosch.
"Hey, Rogue! You're going to abandon me now?!" he yelled in shock.
Orga sighed. "Sting, change that attitude of yours."
"That's right," Evergreen said. "Otherwise, I think this man next to me is going to explode any second now."
Evergreen said this as she pointed towards Laxus who was covered from head to toe in lightning sparks. His magic could be seen surrounding him and his eyes were dark and clouded as he glared at Sting. They could see the vein almost popping in his head as well as his bulging muscles, getting ready for a fight.
"Guys, stop this already," Bickslow said, hushing them up.
"Lucy-dono's looking this way," Jura whispered.
They immediately shut up and looked towards Lucy. Indeed, she was looking their way. Her eyes were blank as she looked at Sting as if he was the filthiest person in the room. Before Sting had the time to yell, Minerva covered his mouth and smiled nervously.
"Sorry about that," she hurriedly said before dragging Sting to the side.
Lucy removed the tip of her small sword from Ethan's chin, much to his relief. She sheathed the sword by her side as she looked at the mages once again.
"Of course, the mages are also expected to participate," Lucy said. "All of you standing in this room right now have no sense of what war truly is like. Nonetheless, have the skills to fight."
"And what makes you say that?" a soldier came up.
It was the same soldier that had said that she was only bluffing. Lucy came to a stop as she looked back at him, her eyes wide with surprise.
The soldier smirked. "Like Lieutenant Ethan had said, we're all trained soldiers. Even if we don't have the experience of war, we're all confident that we can fulfill the requirements as a soldier of war."
"Is that so?" Lucy said, faking surprise.
"This is not going to end well," Freed murmured, shaking his head.
"Besides, Army General Lucy, we don't think that you should be saying those things to us," the soldier scoffed.
He was waiting for the others to agree with him but all he got in return was silence. They could tell already who had the upper hand. If they were to back him up, who knows whether they'll be alive within the next second. He glanced about him nervously but, thinking that they were just too afraid, he kept on going.
"After all, you're no more than a kid. Compared to us soldiers that have been properly trained, what do we lack in comparison to you?" the soldier said, leaning down to mockingly look at Lucy. "It's more like you're the one that's lacking."
Lucy stared up at him and looked down.
"Oh? Are you scared now?" the soldier began cracking up. "If tha-"
"Useless," Lucy murmured.
"What was that?" the soldier stopped laughing and now looked at her.
"To think that I would be training such useless pigs," Lucy said, face-palming herself. "It seems that I've truly overestimated you guys."
"What did you just say?!" the soldier raised his voice in anger as he took his sword and was about to strike her with it.
Before it could come down on her, Lucy stopped the blade with her hand. She held the blade like a book and looked up at him from under her cap. She smirked and let out a pressuring murderous aura. The soldier put all his weight on the sword but to no avail. Lucy continued holding up the blade without a single drop of sweat. In a flash, she let go of the blade and appeared behind the soldier, sending him flying into the nearest wall. His blade crashed onto the ground and his breastplate collided with the wall, both creating a clanging metal sound.
Lucy dusted her hands and looked down at the soldier across from her. "If you can't even dodge a simple attack like that, get out of the army."
The soldier glared at her as he tried getting back up. He had probably broken some ribs and his nose was bleeding. There was a slight graze on his head where blood oozed out from it.
"Y-You-!" the soldier screamed.
He was about to grasp the hilt of his sword but Lucy was faster. She set her foot down on his chest and ground her heels, pinning him to the ground and causing him to cough and choke in shock. She towered over him, her eyes glinting from the reflection of the sword's metal. The edge was pointed right at his head.
"It seems that you still don't understand the basic rules, huh?" she stated. "Maybe I should open up your head and carve the rules into that inept brain of yours."
As she was about to stab her sword into his skull, Jura called out.
"Lucy-dono, that's enough," Jura said sternly.
"Why should I?" Lucy responded calmly. "As a soldier under my command, isn't it natural for the higher ranking officers to teach the lower soldiers a lesson?"
"That's true but you're going a bit overboard," replied Jura.
Lucy looked at him and then looked towards the other soldiers who were cowering in fear. The soldier underneath her was already foaming at the mouth and had passed out from shock. Lucy stood up into proper position and sheathed her sword once again.
"Take this useless pig away," Lucy ordered.
Out of nowhere, little orbs of light with what seemed like butterflies in them came flying up and lifted the unconscious soldier up. One of them neared Lucy and floated by her ear.
"Throw him out of here and back to Fiore," Lucy demanded. "This army has no need for soldiers that don't listen to their higher-ups."
The orb of light bobbed up and down and preceded to carry the soldier out. They had the portal to Fiore open and simply threw him through it where he would wake up on the other side, passed out on the training ground. After that was done, Lucy glared at the soldiers before her.
"Getting rid of another thousand of you is fine by me. If there's any more of this behavior, I'll be feeding you to the hellhounds," Lucy said harshly.
The soldiers gulped.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" they replied.
After seeing what had happened to one of their fellow soldiers, as well as Lieutenant Ethan, they knew better than to mess with her again. Not to mention, her threat to them about her feeding them to the hellhounds seemed realistic enough. They realized their difference in strength within a matter of minutes. It was possible for her to take down all three million of them within a minute...no, maybe even within a second.
"First off, mental training," Lucy said.
Laxus and the others sighed. It was what they dreaded the most.
"I've tested the mages on this and only three of them have met my criteria. Moreover, none of you know what war looks like. Mental training will be covered for thirty-six hours and the rest will be physical training. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the soldiers responded.
"Good," Lucy said as she turned to them smiling. "Let's get started."
As she snapped her fingers, the three million mattresses, beds, pillow, and blankets that had been set out appeared by their side. It lined the room in an organized pattern with each company being sectioned off by curtains.
"T-This is..." Ichiya said.
"Take off your armor," Lucy commanded.
The soldiers looked towards her, not believing what she had ordered them to do.
"Take off your armor," she repeated, this time more forcefully. "Once you take them off, lay on the bed."
The soldiers obeyed but didn't know the reason behind her order. They took off their armors one by one and laid on the bed. They looked towards Lucy for further commands. As she waved her hand, the scenery around them changed; they weren't lying on the bed but rather they were standing with their battle armor on and sword ready by their side. The surprising thing was, they were with their regiment. They immediately looked at the area around them.
"T-This place is..." Lieutenant Ethan murmured.
"Where the hell is this place?" they gasped in horror.
All around them, the landscape was dark and barren and dark clouds covered the sky above. Not a single ray of sun could be seen nor could any patch of living plants be spotted. There was nothing. Barbed wires were set across sides and there was nobody there but their regiment. At least for now.
"Lucy, mind explaining now?" Evergreen shouted up toward the sky.
After a few seconds, Lucy descended from the sky and down to the ground. Her body was illuminated and she looked at the regiment and mages before her. She had separated her consciousness so she could meet each and every one of the regiments in their respective battlefields.
"This is your subconsciousness," Lucy said. "You guys have been gathered into one subconsciousness based on your regiment. Any injuries or death that happen here won't be inflicted on your physical body. However, you will feel it."
"So what if we die? Will we instantly wake up then?" Levy asked.
"I'm only a piece of consciousness and talking to all of you regiments at the same time so I cannot hear your words," Lucy replied. "But, I can guess all the questions you have. If you die, you'll feel the pain of death but will get revived after a few minutes. So if you don't want to feel absolute terror, I advise you to stay alive."
The soldiers gulped and shuddered.
"You will be battling against dummies that have strength equal to that of an average North Kingdom soldier. And of course, they can use magic," Lucy said. "You are free to use any magic or physical weapon."
"So anything goes, basically," Laxus said.
"Well, that's going to be easy," Sting whistled.
"Though I said you're free to do anything, it's not going to be as easy as it seems. The scenery, the battle, the injuries, the deaths of your comrades...they're all based on my experience. As I've said before, this is mental training," Lucy smirked.
"She's got to be kidding," Gray murmured. "A single regiment against North Kingdom soldiers?"
"Your physical body will be protected so you guys can fight with no worries," Lucy smiled. "So for you soldiers, it'll be easy right?"
"That's the least of our problems," one soldier laughed.
"Honestly, this general has got to be one of the most interesting ones I've had," another soldier shook his head.
"We'll produce results from this, all right," another cheered.
Every one of the soldiers gradually began warming up to Lucy and her personality. Maybe it was because they respected her for her power or maybe it was because they understood that the reason why she was behaving the way she did was that she cared for them. But nonetheless, they liked this strict yet caring commander. Honestly speaking, she could've just let their bodies lay on the cold hard ground of the room.
"This training will continue for two days straight. Which means a total of thirty-six hours," Lucy said as she pointed upward as a timer became visible. "I wish all of you the best of luck. Of course, I hope you will all survive this."
As she smiled a quick soft smile which caught the hearts of the soldiers, she disappeared. The soldiers were left in a daze but the sound of the timer starting off snapped them back to the scenery before them. Artillery shells filled with fire magic started flying towards them - sending them into a wave of panic.
"Everyone, prepare your barriers!" Lieutenant Ethan shouted to his regiment.
The other regiments in other subconsciousness did the same thing. Laxus and Jura ordered the others the same as well and so far, all the mages were standing from the artillery shells that were being fired. However, many of the soldiers from different regiments were too late. It landed in front of them and before their comrades could grab ahold of them, they exploded into pieces.
"What the-!" the soldier said, his eyes wide with horror.
"You've got to be shitting me!" another said as he began engaging with a North Kingdom soldier.
"M-My leg-!" another soldier screamed as his whole leg had been blown off.
The soldiers looked around in horror. This was war. It wasn't just a little battle that they thought it would be. It was much worse. Army General Lucy was right. None of them were prepared and ready to face war. Even in this little simulation of hers, they were unable to do anything. But, they wouldn't give up. They were determined to show her passing results. They were resolute in protecting their family, their friends, and their country.
"Soldiers, engage in combat!" Lieutenant Ethan yelled towards his soldiers.
"Engage in combat!" the other lieutenants of their regiments yelled towards their soldiers.
They began fighting and after a few hours, there were already heavy losses in each battalion. Even the mages were beginning to falter. However, with each death the soldiers faced, they gained more experience as to how the North Kingdom was attacking. Lucy made sure to put no specific pattern in their attacks so that the battalions wouldn't be able to figure anything out and also to make it as close to war as possible. So far, it was working.