Steel and Mana

With the blessing of Sasha and Mikan, acknowledging that I was back to normal, I was finally allowed to at least stay up a little more into the night than usual. Not to mention, I had to finish the streamlined addon for our Knights' training programme, which would only accept volunteers from those who showed talent for it in the basic training.

Luckily, we already have the perfect training program and trainees, which made my work a bit easier. I don't need to start from scratch because the Knight training program I had modeled was already based on what I remembered of Special Forces regimens, and they have been working autonomously for years now... So half of the work was already done by past me. Good job, Leon! Now, that will be the perfect baseline for the 'Psychic Knights' as I was currently naming them. Will that stick? I have no idea. But it felt appropriate as I do ask them to fight a bit of a different battle, in the heads of the monsters.

As for the mechs themselves, they would be codenamed 'subjugators' in our databases, directly designed and made for anti-monster combat, even though all the other mechs we have are currently filling those roles. But I know if we manage to get rid of the threat the monsters pose... In the far future, I have no doubt that my machines will fight each other one day... That's just inevitable, as we are all humans. But, enough of the gloomy future talk! I must focus on the now. That will be the issue of my descendants and not mine.

So... What I had to change was that the conditioning cannot be merely physical. In fact... Phase one would be isolation adaptation.

Or more precisely, sensory deprivation. I will have to design a room where we can remove everything from their senses, until the mind starts to play tricks on them. I will have Mikan join in on this, as her magic may be critical not only for setting up the rooms but also for the monitoring systems that track the stress levels and conditions of my soldiers. Then, those who can withstand the hallucinations could learn to set a mental anchor and return to it, and proceed further into the training. I may also need it to be... a long session. I just don't know how long... A day? Multiple days? A week? Or should I let it go until the Knights reach their limit? I will have to test it in various circumstances... Not to mention, I will also need to train the supervisors to ensure they can monitor them correctly, intervene if necessary, and pull them out of the program if they show signs of breaking. We don't want to hurt them, but we want to elevate them.

But there will still need to be a standard that must be reached. Anyone who gets pulled out before reaching that mark would be thanked and told they cannot progress further. I don't want them to feel inadequate, though, so the wording has to be proper. But only a small percentage would be qualified for these psychic positions.

Then, it would be time for phase two, which is... Hm... It should be cognitive reinforcement.

This sounds cruel, and I will not argue with anyone who may bring it up later... Because it will be. Those who made it past the first phase would be deprived of sleep with flashing alarms, recorded screams, and the constant sensation of being watched. They would need to maintain a persona strong enough to take over in a crisis while the primary self preserves higher functions, regardless of how tired they are. Of course, this is not to develop multiple personalities for them, but to enable a trained Knight to handle the feeling of terror, hunger, and desire coming from the beasts. While dealing with that, at the same time, his other self can think, react, and act without being overwhelmed by it. Almost instinctually... Because remembering how it felt... this would be critical.

As for Phase Three... There should be some kind of focus training.

Maybe I should call it fanaticism, instead of focus... but that is a harsh word... However, fanaticism is a tool in this case. If I take, for example, how in the past, a fanatical enough, zealous group went through the most depraved things, to achieve their goal, even marching from one end of the world to the other in a crusade... that type of focus would help the Subjugator Knights to not fall under the influence of the beasts. And for that... A ritual is needed to build that focus. Maybe even include some ceremonial sequences of their daily life. The reason behind it is simple... Such repetition reshapes synaptic pathways, as far as I know... Or at least, that's what I believe... It is how we build up strong habits that help us cope with daily practices, but in a slightly more extreme way. Okay... more than slightly. But I do believe this would help them cope with the fact that they are inside the head of a monster.

As for their final selection... I must be even stricter than in the Knights' training program, no other way around it.

Not everyone will pass, that is for sure. Even if they pass the basic Knight training, the first, second, or even third phase, I will set a standard that only a few will ever meet. I know my people well enough already, so it's likely that almost all the Knights we have will volunteer to test themselves... But I will tie it to their performance before they became official Knights. They may be the best, but even among the best, the average will be denied the opportunity to even try it. The reason is that the selection process must filter ego from pure endurance. However weird it sounds, I need the ones with the greater ego, so they won't sink into the beast's desires and turn into something... else.

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Standing atop the Pride's wall, this time around, Lucca wasn't wearing his general's uniform, but a tight suit, freshly made and designed by the Prime Minister himself. There was no reason to question himself or anything anymore, so without hesitation, he began climbing up the machine, entering the cockpit, and sitting down in the Prydwen's seat. The moment he was in, he was watching it close around him, sealing away the sun's light, plunging him into complete darkness. While some would feel anxious about it, he did not. It was not the first time he had done something like this, as he was sealed away once, submerged into a dreamless sleep for centuries by his 'master.' And knowing that something wanted to consume him was also not anything new... Not at all.

"Don't overthink it," came the Prime Minister's voice in his ear, "Initiate the activation sequence. You have magic, so it should respond to you immediately."

"Copy that." He nodded, "It's more comfortable than I thought."

A soft whir rose in the back of his mind, and he could feel that his magic suddenly resonated with something within the machine, and with a flash, the darkness was gone, and now there he stood, fifteen meters tall, looking out towards the flat snowfields, glittering in the sunlight breaking through the clouds. Unlike on the other side of the massive mountains, the sun managed to break through the clouds here, yet it didn't warm the air at all. It just made the snow sometimes... blinding.

"Excellent response," Merlin said, his tone filled with satisfaction. "From where I am, I can read that you are already ready... Anyway, since it's your first time, try basic movements to get a feel for piloting a mech. One step forward, one back should do it. If it helps, keep your breathing in rhythm with the steps."

Lucca inhaled, exhaled, and then began moving. The sensation was not at all different from walking normally. It became only slightly foreign when he consciously listened... When he did, he could feel the hydraulic strain as a kind of phantom tension in his legs, and simultaneously, he could hear the blood from the cannisters on his back cycling through the tubes on the body of the machine. It was his, but not at the same time, so he made sure to note it down in his mind. He read the Sovereign's latest guide, and although it was not yet finalized, he agreed with many of its points. He had to keep a separation in the back of his mind... The machine was the machine, and he was him. He was just a pilot, not made of metal. It had to be understood at all times.

"Hoh," Merlin's voice murmured through a little bit of static in his ears, "Your magic changed."

"Is that bad?" Lucca asked, waiting for his answer, a bit impatiently, which surprised him.

"No. I had a similar reading from Empress Mirian when she piloted her own. I think this is the sign that mages can utilize the mechs even better. Let me guide you through the basics, aside from moving the machine. I think it will be a breeze, you'll see! First, try to engage the core sensor overlay and activate the Imaginary."

That was even easier than moving the machine. His personal powers were already almost similar, giving him the power to oversee the battlefields from above, and using the Imaginary was just an extension of that. Unlike any other pilot, the moment he activated it, his magic amplified its effects, and soon, he felt like he was seeing the entirety of the Pride, back from the Gods' Formation, up to the forest in the distance. That's when he felt it... Ahead of any other sensors or pings... Beasts. They are already here, and they now know he spotted them!

"They are coming," Lucca said quickly, "Sending over the coordinates!"

Static filled the line for a heartbeat before Seltana's voice cut through, contacting Lucca in the cockpit.

"Readings spiking on the marked position. We have multiple signatures, large ones, coming straight for the Pride!"

"Numbers?" Lucca asked, and Seltana had the answer already ready.

"We're confirming three entities."

"So I was right..." Lucca murmured, staring out through the mech's eyes. He already had the information; he just wanted to know if they were exactly as he was seeing them. And now, he knew that he was in complete control... or at least that was what he kept repeating to himself.

This time... he was in control. All his life, he was tied to a mad Emperor. He knew what his plans were; he knew he and his brothers, with whom he grew up, were being brainwashed, raised like cattle... but he was too deep into it when he realized it... There was no way to leave by then. He knew that. So he found solace in the fact that he was with his brothers and would live and die with them. He dedicated himself to that... But then, Pascal died. And he became free... Now, his remaining brother was living peacefully in Avalon, teaching children, and his new Sovereign never forced him to use his magic... ever again. He could have, he could have ordered him to go fight the Guardian, or anything else... but he did not. He let him... be. To be what he had chosen for himself: a normal man. Smiling, he knew what he would do now, to return such a gift that neither he nor his brother deserved.

"Lucca—" Merlin began, but he was already moving through the command protocols.

"I can do this," Lucca said quietly, his breath coming out in a long sigh, expelling every doubt from his mind, "Let me prove it."

"Without training?" Merlin asked, but Lucca's answer was simple.

"I had enough training, growing up under the Mad Emperor's reign. I know what an insatiable hunger can feel, lurking behind your mind, wanting to consume you. Anything these beasts have will only be a fraction of that, because Pascal had it in spades. I know what it's like to look into the eye of a beast."

"How confident are you?" Leon's voice suddenly joined, asking in a simple tone.

"Perfectly confident, My Sovereign."

"Hold fire!" Leon continued, "Take aim, but first, let your General prove that Avalon is no longer only capable of killing monsters... but we can make them kneel before our will!"