Great Wei's military system was finely divided; not all who led men were officers. The eight offices — file leader, squad-of-ten leader, squad leader, centurion, company commander, army marshal, commandant, and colonel — formed the framework of governing the army. Below centurion, men were soldiers entered in the military household; at centurion and above, officers in the officer registry; at colonel and above, generals whose affairs were reported to the court. One might say only on reaching colonel did a man truly join Great Wei's ruling class; below that, all were retainers moving at command. But that didn't make a commandant-rank post cheap — at least within the army, a commandant held a whole camp's power of life and death.
Zhou Yuan never imagined Shesheng's Commandant Li would see him in person — so much so that the Wuwei Camp soldiers took him for a hidden clan-born scion.
"Try this bow. Shoot the arrows as you like; let me see your endurance."
"Yes, sir."
Thud, thud, thud — blow after heavy blow echoed across the parade ground. Zhou Yuan's marksmanship wasn't up to standard, but it wasn't wild either; at least he kept his arrows landing in the same patch. When the thirty arrows were spent, even with his body's strength he felt the strain, his arms aching with a burning soreness.
"Good — a born divine-arm archer. Today your draw is raw and brute; with cultivation it won't cost you so dearly. I cherish your talent; I'd move you to the Shesheng Camp as a squad-of-ten leader. If one day you display your prowess in the martial trials, I'll surely win you an officer's rank."
"Many thanks for the commandant's care. Zhou Yuan is deeply grateful."
"Don't rush to thank me. The Shesheng Camp differs from the Wuwei — Wuwei is grand, Shesheng plain. The Wuwei Camp is the very essence of the whole Jing'an army; its soldiers dare to fight and can shoot, mostly led by clan-born scions. Shesheng's treatment lags Wuwei's somewhat, but promotion is easier; weigh the gains and losses yourself."
"What is there to weigh? Since the commandant grants me military rank and an officer's path, I'm willing to serve in the Shesheng Camp."
For Zhou Yuan, staying in the Wuwei Camp was indeed fine, but joining Shesheng let him speak with a camp's commandant — an enormous rise in standing. With a superior's favor plus the attribute panel's skill boosts, he'd gain a stable channel for advancement.
"Good. Come with me; I'll change your drillmaster for you."
The Wuwei Camp lay east of the city, the Shesheng Camp west. Though Commandant Li said Shesheng lagged Wuwei, that plainly meant the soldiers' treatment, not the officers'. At the new camp Zhou Yuan got a larger room, more nourishing food, and skipped the selection stage outright, receiving his proper tally and armor directly. The Shesheng Camp's armor was the more flexible wrap-arm armor, not the iron lamellar the Wuwei Camp favored. For defense, iron lamellar was more complete but heavier; wrap-arm armor valued the reach of the arms and was lighter.
Armor drawn, Zhou Yuan began systematic training, and under a master archer's instruction soon gained a new skill.
【You have comprehended "Bowstring Control" and mastered an archery technique.】
【Bowstring Control, Lv1 (1/10)】
【Effect: Unite strength and breath, steady the spirit and lock the foe; boost bodily coordination, strengthen mental focus.】
Bowstring Control, born of systematic instruction, was more complete than the Spear Thrust and Mighty Mountain-Cleaver he'd groped out himself — not only an attack effect but a strengthening one too. With professional guidance and ample food, Zhou Yuan trained like a man possessed. Food Replenishment healed him; Recuperation eased his negative states. Under these two recovery skills, the Shesheng Camp gained a hair-raisingly diligent prodigy. He began drawing the bow the moment the sky lightened, and was still at it when night fell, as though he had iron arms that never tired.
To the camp drillmasters, this brutal regimen looked like outright self-harm. They stopped him many times, never changing his rhythm. Later, finding the boy full of vigor and never weak, they tacitly accepted his near-self-harming method. This was a torment to the ordinary Shesheng soldiers, throwing them into the collective delusion that they had neither talent nor diligence. When they roused themselves to learn from Zhou Yuan, a single day left their arms unable to lift. In the end, far from boosting their training, they could scarcely keep up the next day's normal drill. Only then did they discover that even effort has a threshold — and depends on bodily gifts. For that, many spirited soldiers suddenly sank into dejection. Already outdone by the clan-born, now they had to gamble on talent for effort too; if fate decided all, why train at all?
When the first soldiers lay flat in defeat, the camp drillmaster soon spotted the problem.
"Commandant, that boy Zhou Yuan isn't suited to drilling on the parade ground; with him there, the other soldiers' morale suffers."
"Oh? Why — has his archery soared past the camp's veterans?"
"More than surpassed. The fellow shoots both-handed, hits whatever he points at. And he uses a three-dan hard bow — get any closer to the target with that force and he'd shoot clean through it."
"A man worth cultivating, truly. Surpassing is just surpassing; our camp's had talented archers before. Soldiers whose morale suffers should, if they've heart, chase him, not pity themselves."
Commandant Li Fu hadn't yet grasped the gravity. Chasing requires room to chase; but Zhou Yuan had compressed his rest to the limit, leaving ordinary soldiers without even the right to try.
"Commandant, there's no chasing it. Zhou Yuan has iron arms; he trains twelve hours a day. Even an ordinary soldier who tore his arms off couldn't match his volume."
"Twelve hours? His endurance is that fierce?"
"Not only endurance — his recovery is fearsome too. The camp physician looked him over and said the boy's sturdy as a bear, born with a hard-forged frame."
The drillmaster's words pleased Commandant Li Fu greatly; he hadn't misjudged after all — the youth truly was a born divine-arm archer.
"A treasure picked up indeed. Zhou Yuan has no soldiers under him yet, does he?"
"Commandant, think twice. Give him soldiers and it won't be cultivation but consumption. If he holds them to his own standard, in days we'll lose a batch of elite archers."
"No — I mean don't give him soldiers. Promote him; put him in the Divine Arm Squad."
"Is that wise? He's still a newcomer. Moving him into the Divine Arm Squad now, into secret-realm slaughter — isn't it too fast?"
"Not too fast. If he thinks the camp is all mediocrities placed above him, he'll inevitably breed a rift. Move him into the squad. The finest sword must taste an enemy's blood to whet its edge, or it's only a gaudy ornament."
"Yes, sir. I'll go back and explain it to him."
Zhou Yuan was a youth only on the surface, without a youth's rebellion or pride. But Commandant Li didn't know that; to him Zhou Yuan was raw jade, needing fine polishing and not too much pressure. So he decided to move Zhou Yuan into a secret-realm-clearing squad, to let him see the world's vastness and wonder, and grasp his own smallness and ordinariness.
"A hundred shots, a hundred hits, a three-dan hard bow — let's see if he can kill. Don't disappoint me."