Published at 24th of September 2026 6:50 am

Chapter 1146: Map [Magic Castle Bonus Chapter ]

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"And a word of advice: never touch anyone from the Miscellaneous Group, insult any of them, or order them around." She paused for a moment before adding in finality, "If you want to keep your head, that is."

At her words, whispers rose again. They had all seen the people who wore normal clothes. They had come to understand that these people didn’t possess any official Frontier Rank but seemed to have some immense backing.

Asher didn’t react like the others. Personally, he kind of looked forward to someone messing around with someone from the Miscellaneous Group, just so he could see what type of punishment would be given, or whether Lieutenant Chioma was exaggerating.

"Since we are done with the basics, let’s get down to some important explanations," Lieutenant Chioma began.

She raised a hand, and a map appeared within it. She pinned it to the board behind her. The map was colored with greens, reds, blacks, and other colors. A long cane appeared in her hand as she began to speak.

"Studying and understanding maps is a basic skill everyone should have, especially Soldiers like us," she began, her cane moving toward the green areas as she spoke. "These green areas are locations that the Frontier doesn’t have to worry about. They are the places where Cadet Asher came from, and they are also the routes Soldiers follow when leaving the Algorith Frontier for reasons such as vacation or gathering resources," she explained.

Her cane moved as she circled an area. "This is where the Algorith Frontier is situated. We are surrounded by green areas because the Commander and Vice Commander have wiped out everything above the Crown-Class," she stated, her eyes focused on the map.

Hearing this, Asher instantly made a connection. ’So that is why not even a Myth-Class Monster attacked us on the way, huh?’ he thought to himself.

"In the red areas, End-Class Monsters reside. Although they are always in hibernation, it’s best to remain careful," Lieutenant Chioma continued. "The black areas are places where high-ranked Emovirae have shown the most activity over the past few years, making them one of the Frontier’s top focuses at the moment," she explained.

She went on to show where the border was, explain where battles were likely to occur, describe the topography, and point out where Monsters were always active, no matter how many times they were cleared out.

It was simply a crash course on the areas surrounding the Algorith Frontier. The Lieutenant even spoke about wars breaking out and showed strategic locations that enemies from other Empires might try to attack the Frontier from.

Many of the Cadets felt their heads spin. This was simply too much information for them. But the likes of Asher and Acker Holloway didn’t have any issues remembering everything that was said. So, while the others took notes, they simply listened.

"I understand that this is too much for your first day at the Frontier," Lieutenant Chioma spoke as she turned towards them. "But we don’t have the time to babysit anyone and hope you learn slowly. This isn’t a school, but a Frontline." She paused for a moment as she stared at their defeated expressions. After all, she had spent three hours explaining everything, and it was already dark outside.

"You don’t need to remember everything now," she said as she released a sigh. "A detailed map of the version on the board will be provided. Study it in your own time as though your life depends on it, because it does," she stated.

Asher remained expressionless. He already had the World Map in his mind. Everything Lieutenant Chioma had shown them was already stored in his brain, so he simply merged her explanations with the precise locations.

"To the next." Lieutenant Chioma moved on to the next agenda on her list. "Within the Algorith Frontier, we have state-of-the-art training facilities, but we won’t force anyone to train or become stronger," she explained. "If any of you want to die on the battlefield, be my guest. If any of you have the determination to train and reach your goals, you are free to grow stronger."

She paused for a moment before adding, "We won’t and don’t force or beg anyone to become stronger. If any of you die as a result of laziness or carelessness, another recruit will simply replace you. That’s all," she stated flatly.

At her words, frowns appeared across many people’s faces. From her words, they understood that they were nothing but numbers on a sheet of paper. The Zarethorne Empire didn’t lack people to replace them with. After all, four hundred had come, and only a little over a hundred had been accepted.

What did that mean?

It meant that even if they were all to die at that very moment, they could all be replaced within the next five minutes.

Of course, this didn’t mean that the Frontier would abandon its Soldiers or not care about them. But at the end of the day, they were Soldiers being paid to do a job. They weren’t being begged to be there.

So, either get stronger or become another number.

"And in case you don’t know, which I’m sure you don’t, we have a Memorial Wall where the names of every Soldier who has ever served here and died have been recorded," Lieutenant Chioma continued. "Their names and how long they served the Frontier before dying in action are also written. There are many who have less than a month attached to their names, with some dying in just a few days. Not because they went on any dangerous mission, but because they chose to be careless." She shook her head as though warning them of the position they stood in.

Yes, the wage was good, but Commander Damian was going to milk every bit of its worth from his Soldiers.

"My advice? Train like madmen," Lieutenant Chioma stated as she turned around and took down the map from the board.

The atmosphere seemed to grow heavy. Although the thought of their names being placed on the Memorial Wall weighed on their minds, none of them felt like going back. Going back meant returning to nothing and starting from square zero. This was better than serving some dumb Noble who would pay them a few meager silvers simply because they were Commoners.

Lieutenant Chioma didn’t speak for a minute. She allowed them to understand and contemplate what they were walking into. Yes, they all had fighting experience, but so did their enemies.

After a minute passed, she began to speak again. This time, she went on to explain the floating islands.

According to her, the largest suspended island, floating high in the air, was where the Commander, Vice Commanders, Generals, and Captains resided. And it wasn’t just them, but also the groups of Soldiers under their command, as each Rank had Soldiers they were responsible for overseeing.

For example, a Lieutenant might oversee a group of Corporal-Ranked Soldiers. However, sometimes, a group of Lieutenants would be overseen by a fellow and more competent Lieutenant instead of a Captain.

And within the Algorith Frontier alone, there were five million Soldiers, which was a staggering and immense number. But that was only counting the Soldiers, without taking the Miscellaneous Group into account, which further increased the total.

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Bonus Chapter sponsored by FatelessPen’s Magic Castle.

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