Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 48 The Prototype of the Army

"Vaughn, what do you think Lord Pierce wants us to do?" Dave kept turning his head to talk to Vaughn as he ran forward.

Vaughn's lung capacity was not as strong as his. He was gasping for breath, rolling his eyes, and couldn't even open his mouth to answer his question.

Following closely behind Vaughn was a young man named Tommy, who was one of the few people who did not join in the booing when Vaughn and Duff were ostracized.

After Wayne, the leader of the trouble, was taught a lesson by the lord on the spot, several young men led by Tommy took the initiative to show goodwill to the two orcs and invited them to join their young group.

Tommy ran as hard as Vaughn, but being an extrovert and talkative person by nature, he still managed to talk to Duff through Vaughn despite the difficulty.

"Huh! Just keep making us run... Huh! Non-stop running... Could it be... Huh, the Lord wants... Huh! If we encounter the enemy... Huh! To run away?"

Upon hearing this, Dave immediately slowed down, turned his head again, and grinned with amusement.

"I've been in the militia for a week now. I've been running every day and my feet have calluses."

"Why don't you two go get a pair of boots? Lord Pierce clearly said that everyone can get a set of uniforms..."

"Alas, we are different from you. We are used to walking barefoot. Wearing boots will probably not only cause calluses, but also blisters..."

Just as Dave finished speaking, a pebble the size of a pigeon egg suddenly flew over from a distance and hit him on the forehead with just the right amount of force. The skin didn't break, but a bruise instantly appeared.

Vaughn was startled and secretly looked sideways, and found that Lord Pierce was standing on a wooden platform with a leather rope in his hand.

He almost forgot that Lord Pierce was also an expert at slingshot and stone throwing.

"If you don't run seriously, everyone will be hit on the head!" A cold voice sounded.

Everyone immediately straightened their chests, fell silent, and quickened their pace to run.

After finally completing the scheduled ten laps, the entire militia team was exhausted and staggering.

A few team members with less endurance couldn't hold on and sat down on the ground, gasping for breath.

Immediately, several stones flew over and hit the soft flesh on their waists squarely, causing them to bounce up on the spot like frogs in pain.

"Stand still and rest for five minutes."

Vaughn tilted his head to secretly look at the weaker militia members, and couldn't help feeling disdainful.

With this level of strength, he still wants to become a militia and serve Lord Harvey.

When selecting suitable candidates, there were more than eighty people who met the basic requirements, but Lord Pierce had said in advance that they could only be considered reserve players. After a month of training, some people would be eliminated.

Vaughn had made up his mind that even if he had to grit his teeth and persevere until his death, he would never give up the opportunity to serve Lord Harvey.

After hearing Lord Pierce's announcement that after becoming a reserve member, you can get a full set of militia uniforms for free. During the period of loyalty to the lord, you can not only get free food, but also receive an additional monthly... military salary.

Although he didn't know how much the salary was, Vaughn couldn't help but grin when he saw a brand new thick black cotton uniform and a pair of shiny deerskin boots in front of him.

He had never worn anything so nice that could be called clothes in his life.

Most of the time, he and Duff walked around with their upper bodies naked and barefoot, wearing a greasy and dirty leather belt around their waists.

When trying on the clothes, both of them quickly ran to the river and scrubbed them for half an hour, even carefully picking out the mud from their feet before they were willing to put on the new uniforms.

But after that, during training every day, Vaughn was still reluctant to put on his new uniform and leather boots, for fear that they would wear out. Pierce beat the two of them with a few sticks, but found that they would rather be beaten than wear clothes and boots.

In the end, they had no choice but to let them continue barefoot, but they were still ordered to wear uniforms. "Break is over! Everyone stand at attention, five people in a row, standing posture training!"

At Pierce's command, the crooked team immediately lined up like a conditioned reflex. Everyone held their heads high, placed their hands vertically on both sides of their thighs, and kept their backs straight.

Vaughan only lasted half an hour before he felt unbearable pain. It felt even harder than running ten laps, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered. Even though sweat slid down his forehead into his eyes, he stared with his red eyes and remained motionless.

While Pierce was avoiding the sun, he walked to the roofed rest area a little further away.

Duff, who was standing in the row in front of him, couldn't help but relax quietly and was about to turn around to chat with him.

"Ah uh!"

The flying stone arrived late, and Vaughn could guess without even looking that Duff should have two bumps on his head.

Does Lord Pierce have eyes behind his back?
After another fifteen minutes, some people in the team began to stagger, but no one collapsed.

Everyone knew that as long as all the team members stood for an hour, today's lunch would include not only barley bread and broth, but also a sizzling pork chop.

No one wants to be the unlucky guy who holds the team back and makes the whole team go without pork chops for lunch.

After all, everyone has been living and eating in a large dormitory room that looks like a warehouse for the past month. If someone holds a grudge against you for being a drag on their team, you might get beaten up after the lights are turned off at night.

Vaughn just didn't quite understand why the lord asked them to train these things. Could they defeat the evil orcs one-on-one just by running and standing in the corner?

In the first week, some people started to complain in dissatisfaction, but after being easily taught a lesson by Lord Pierce with a fist, no one questioned the training content anymore.

After all, the most realistic thing is to have soft bread, hot soup and delicious barbecue in your stomach every day.

After an hour of standing training, Pierce asked everyone to relax and rest for five minutes as usual.

This time, no one dared to sit on the ground with their legs crossed. Instead, they all bent over and rubbed their sore and numb legs.

"Everyone, attention! Form teams of ten and run towards the cafeteria!"

Everyone was cheered up and immediately completed the required queue with their chests puffed out. The person at the front of the line even started the queue quietly. Everyone shouted slogans and trotted in an orderly manner towards the cafeteria.

Vaughn couldn't help but recall the chaotic scene at the beginning of training. When Master Pierce called for dinner, everyone cheered and scattered, and then rushed to the cafeteria in a mess.

Of course, everyone ended up going hungry as they wished on those occasions. This was the price of not enforcing laws and regulations.

So now, unless Lord Pierce gave the order, no one would dare to chew it even if the barbecue was stuffed into everyone's mouth.

But the occasional sound of swallowing saliva from the team occasionally drowned out the loud slogans.

"Be loyal to the Lord! Obey orders! Fight bravely! Defend the people!"

Vaughn had no idea how many times he had shouted this slogan, and he understood its general meaning.

However, as the training time got longer, every time they walked in an orderly manner in front of other people while shouting slogans, those people cast glances at them with surprise, admiration, envy and worship.

All of this made him secretly feel a strange warmth welling up in his heart, and he couldn't help but want to straighten his chest higher, stand straighter, and shout slogans louder.

Vaughn felt that the other militia members probably felt the same way as he did.

But at that time, he didn't know that this strange feeling of complacency and satisfaction was called pride.

(End of this chapter)