Chapter 2032: Boot Camp -Part 2

The cycle repeats and Jin keeps scrutinising them for the insufficient amount of metal ore that they brought in while at the same time repeating all the punishments while inserting Maqi into the Dungeon Portal to enhance the time compression that the ten trainees were experiencing. This was to increase the

So far, they had about nearly 2.5 hours of real time training while effectively, they had gone through about three weeks' worth of mining. There were sporadic rest and breaks within the dungeon itself as well as a water down porridge. They still could not get the amount straight but they learned that if they came out as a whole, they did not need to suffer the punishment.

At first, they thought the time limit was a joke until they realised that when they came out late, they were being given weight bracelets as well having their mined ores as confiscated and they had to mine with those weight bracelets on. However, they also start to learn how to help one another.

In desperate times like this, some took breaks to rest while others mined harder for them. At first, there was some selfishness which Jin saw through his personal Magic Eye. Those individuals were not punished and instead the rest of the group had been punished.

In fact, he was given more porridge than the others and it was as if Jin was guilt tripping the individual to either share the bread or be even selfish to the point that the entire group would ostracise him.

Within a small space, the group dynamics evolved and eventually, a leader stood out from the group and Jin identified him as number four. It did not take long for the leader to clear minor disputes, and set schedules for the mining until one bloody instance, all of them had 10kg except for one person who had 9.99kg of cobalt ore.

Jin looked at the last basket and sighed. The others were extremely nervous that Jin would reject it once more but their King gave them one last chance. "Go in. Get that 0.01kg of metal ore. No more no less. If you cannot find it, everyone has to restart all over again." Jin said and the rest immediately thanked their King loudly while rushing in to find that last piece.

When they found the last piece and with magic they believed and identified its weight, the trainees went out of the portal to find a minor surprise awaiting them. Proper meat and bread on the floor for each of the trainees to partake in.

"Good. The last piece weighs exactly 0.01kg. You passed the first test and so you may eat now." Jin said and they tore the meaty drumsticks into two as they gobbled up the food right in front of them.

All of them were relieved that they finally completed the first task and at the same time worried that Jin could cast them out since it took more than a week considering the amount of time they spent in the portal.

But that was not for time to think about, the King is right in front of them and if he did not give them the option to leave, they could not leave as well. Upon finishing their meals, Jin joked a little. "Since all of you had not showered for nearly a month, I guess it's appropriate that we do some water based activities? Right?"

The mining portal finally closed and the second portal lit up even more behind them. "Your mission is to collect mine ores in the sea. You have one week to do so and to collect a collective amount of 1000kg. The only usage of magic is to allow you to breathe underwater and for you to survive. Any detection of offensive magic would result in heavier penalties if you get what I mean."

Jin said and they nodded their heads. Even though they were tired and hagged by all the mining, all of them wanted a quick shower. They did not care whether it was saltwater or not as long as they had some form of water to wash themselves down, they were happy.

Also, finally, someone decided to ask what ore they needed to collect and Jin smiled. "This time it is slightly easier. Red iron ores." Jin said and they acknowledged the order before entering the sea with their pickaxes.

They thought it would be easy…until they realised the moment they went in; they were on a boat with a terrible thunderstorm ongoing in the middle of the ocean. The waves thrashed most of them the moment they entered, causing a few to go overboard and Number Four already took the initiative to send the order to rescue them.

This time, they realised that this particular mission was not as easy as it seemed. They had to collect the ore and assume those ores could stay within this ship while making sure the huge ship survives before they could transport the ore as a whole to the dungeon portal with each carrying 100kg of metal ore with magic.

While the trainees got their wish granted for the rain to wash all their sweat and dirt, they practically had to be on their toes because of the unpredictable waves and the movement of the boat. It seemed like they were in for another difficult trial.

At that point, Questo came in to check on the progress of the trainees since he would like to see the first or perhaps the second list in the training schedule that Jin had given to his adventurers after lunch. That was where he saw Jin holding his Warhammer and banging on an excessive amount of metal.

It did not take long for the Improvised smithing process to finish but Questo realised that the banging started to not just have a pattern but it sounded musically pleasing as well. It was as if Jin was creating music with some banging. Because every time he bangs, a different sound is made, making it feel like it is not a wide range of sounds but a certain range set.

Jin could already hear the difference and he believed it was similar to a music box. The one in which people had to wind up the box to hear the music playing.

That was why even though he was focused on hitting the spots where the System wanted him to hit, Jin was thoroughly enjoying the process as well. "Done!" Jin said as he looked at the item that he created.

"What are these small things? And they are so well made such that it seems you can put an inscription on it to enchant these metal pieces." Questo said as he picked up one of them to look carefully.

"They are called bullets in my previous world. One batch, I can make like ten thousand of this and it only takes a minute or two. If you looked carefully, they had already been partially inscribed." Jin said and Questo looked at it closer to find out that the inscription was double layered but being the Adventurer Guildmaster, he saw such dual layer inscriptions even though they were uncommon.

"Explosive Magic Spell infused with Concentrate Spell… How are you going to use them? Throw them?" Questo asked and Jin smiled.

"That is one thing that you have to look out for in the future. In any case, what are you here for?" Jin said as he snapped his fingers and all of those disappeared. Jin had been using this chance to continue smithing items and gaining experience for this Improvised Smithing rank while the trainees were getting precious metal ores for him.

"Just looking at what you are making them go through. I assume it is tough since it's a two week programme." Questo said and Jin used his Maqi to push the Magic Eye screen from the Cobalt Cave portal.

"There's a replay button. You just have to press this and this to control." Jin said and Questo looked through browsed through the entire Magic Eye screen with just a touch of his finger. It was a bit awkward at first but he got the hang of it easily.

However, he was more shocked by the amount of time the trainees had spent in the caves mining for metal ore. Those young innocent faces filled with life were now filled with dread and anxiety and all they did was merely mining. It felt more like a slave camp rather than a training camp in Questo's opinion but there were several obvious changes as he browsed through portion by portion.

Their teamwork had increased significantly and their cooperation was almost synchronous without too much dilly dally. Pressed with a time limit, they had to put in as much effort as possible to get the task down. "So, all those 'bullets' you made, it's from the ore that they mined?"

"Yeah. These bullets are part of the preparation that I have to do to arm them for the subsequent training as well as the competition." .com|l-.com

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