As the meeting adjourned Travis Headed to the supply room with William and a few others who had been promoted. The found a nice sergeant who congratulated them on becoming NCOs and handed them their ranks. William and Travis helped each other put them on, then headed to meet with their new squads.
"Hey, are you ok having Oscar be the only one of your previous squad with you?"
"Yeah, you guys have a great survival rate so far, and I would rather have the sisters be together. I'm sure they want that too, so don't feel bad."
"Alright, well good luck corporal."
"You too."
With that they parted, and Travis went to the courtyard where Taylor had told him their squad would be meeting.
When he got there, he found the others waiting for him. Taylor was explaining who would fall under which Corporal.
"Vanessa, Kiara, Victor, Justin, Rebecca, you will be under Corporal Miller. Victoria you'll be with Corporal O'Neil along with the new guys we'll be getting soon.
I know we all know each other, but once again, I am Sergeant Taylor Miller. Any questions?"
Rebecca put her hand up. "Yeah, when are these new demigods supposed to arrive?"
"As far as I am aware, they'll be here within a month. I don't have an exact time frame for you, so just be ready for them to show up as early as a week and a half from now. Anyone else?"
They all shook their heads, so she moved on.
"Alright, you have a few hours to yourselves, Trav and Vanessa, First Sergeant would like to speak with you both, so head that way. Dismissed, see you guys at 1230, you two, if you aren't going to make it let me know please."
They all headed their separate ways, and Travis and Vanessa headed to the first sergeant's office. When they got there, Travis knocked on the door.
"Corporal Miller and Private Ashvale reporting as ordered first sergeant."
There was a short pause. "Enter." They heard through the door.
Travis pulled it open and let Vanessa in before entering and shutting the door.
"You wanted to see us first sergeant?" She asked.
He studied the pair for a moment before answering. "Yes, go ahead and take a seat." They did so. "You two really impressed me during the first trial. You are already formidable opponents, however you still have more potential. Therefore I've decided to take the two of you under my wing. Until the new soldiers arrive, you both will be training with me from morning to evening. Go get into your PT uniforms and meet me in the gym in 10 minutes."
They both ran and got changed, then Travis walked back towards the gym. As he did, he sent a message to Taylor to let her know what they had been told. He opened the door and found the forst sergeant waiting for him, already changed.
Vanessa walked in a minute later, and the first sergeant smiled. "Good, neither of you was late. Now Miller, put on some gloves and step into this ring."
Travis stepped into the boxing ring that was indicated and put on a pair of MMA style gloves. The first sergeant entered as well and put on the other pair.
"Ashvale, what's the best way to beat an oracle?"
"First sergeant, if I knew that I would've won that match."
"Well then, let me tell you. There are two ways, overwhelming speed, or an attack they can't dodge. Ready Miller?"
Travis nodded and took a stable stance while putting up his guard. Suddenly pain flared in his gut and Travis went flying backwards. Before he landed another impact slammed him into the ground, then the first sergeant's fist stopped just an inch before his face as the rest of his body flickered into view.
"As you can see, even if he knew it was coming, he couldn't do anything about it. I will be training you until you can do the same. I'm sure we aren't the only ones with an oracle. And you Miller, will be training so that this doesn't happen to you."
Travis groaned, clutching his stomach. "What was the point of me wearing gloves? I didn't even have a chance to attack."
"The point was to make sure you weren't so stuck in your own head that you lost sight of what is in front of you."
"But I did. I couldn't see or sense your presence."
"We will work on that, but for now I need you to tell me how your ability works. How far into the future can you see? How accurate is it? Could you tell us what our enemies are planning so we can plan every battle around that?"
"I can see hundreds of years into the future, far past my own death, however the further from the present I go the more the path branches. Past a couple months trying to follow a single path is like having a spider web the size of a house and trying to follow a single strand of silk.
In the present it is extremely accurate, however not perfectly so. And as for planning around my visions, I will do my best to lead us down the best path. But they have free will and can change their plans at any time, and if they have an oracle it'll be even more difficult than that."
"And for combat?"
"Most people use instinct to fight, so I'm almost never wrong. But like you said, it doesn't matter if I know exactly what they're going to do if I can't react fast enough."
Alright, so we will start with increasing your speed and strength, along with your reaction speed. After that we'll work on your instincts."