Lane slowly set his sword aside. Then he stepped forward and cast a hard look over everyone standing around. Then he raised his voice and shouted:
"EVERYONE LINE UP IN A STRAIGHT ROW, NOW!"
His voice came out so clear and forceful that all the soldiers immediately moved without saying a single word. In a short time, everyone got into line. The scattered crowd gradually fell into order. Some hurried to take their places, some looked at the person next to them and adjusted their alignment, but in the end everyone stood in orderly rows before Lane.
Lane watched them silently for a few seconds. Then he opened his bag and took out several different notebooks. Each one had been prepared separately. These were not ordinary notes. Inside them were training methods he had created by observing the way soldiers worked during his time in the castle. Later, during the time he spent beside Old Vaen, he had developed and refined these methods even further, building his own system for raising people. Now those notebooks in his hands were the concrete form of the discipline and plan that had been taking shape in his mind for a long time.
Holding the notebooks in his hands, Lane began to speak calmly:
"There are roughly more than a hundred people here right now, children included. I will divide all of you into units. But before I do that, I need to learn about your desires, your tendencies, and your personalities."
His voice was calm, but the seriousness of it settled over everyone.
Lane looked at the soldier standing in the first row. Without taking his eyes off the man, he spoke:
"What is your name? How old are you? What did you do before this? What are your hobbies? What weapon do you want to use? And where do you see yourself in the future?"
These questions had surprised the soldiers. They had probably expected to receive direct orders, or perhaps to be thrown into a training system immediately. But Lane questioning them one by one like this was not something they expected. The soldier in the first row hesitated for a brief moment, then took a step forward.
"My name is Jones. I'm twenty-seven years old. I used to work as a carpenter. I like swinging a sword, and I'm interested in swords. I want to become a knight."
There was obvious eagerness in Jones's voice as he said these things. A faint liveliness appeared in his eyes as he spoke about himself. It was as if, for the first time, someone was genuinely asking him what he wanted. Lane liked that.
Lane gave a slight nod.
"Then go stand over there and wait. I'll remember your name too."
A faint smile appeared on his face as he said this. But that expression did not last long. Lane immediately became serious again and called the second person. Then the third. Then the fourth.
As the line moved on, different things came out of everyone's mouths. Some had been farmers in the past, some hunters, and some were just ordinary people trying to survive. Some wanted spears, some bows, and some felt closer to heavy weapons. Some said clearly what they wanted, while others hesitated even as they spoke. Lane, meanwhile, listened to all of them carefully, writing even the smallest detail of what they said into a corner of his mind.
As time passed, it became the children's turn.
Lane looked at the child standing before him. He studied him for a few seconds without saying anything. Then he spoke in a calm but meaningful voice:
"There is no need for you to speak. You have already found your path now."
When it was the children's turn, Lane kept them separate from the others.
Because he had no need for their answers.
Lane had already begun raising these children through his own methods long ago. He did not evaluate them like ordinary soldiers. He had already directed each of them toward both espionage and assassination, observing them accordingly, testing them, and shaping them silently. That was why he did not ask them to explain their pasts, inclinations, or goals the way he did with the other soldiers. There was no need for it. Lane knew all of them by heart.
He knew who they were, how they thought, how they reacted in certain situations, who was more patient, who was colder, who was more ruthless, who was more careful. He knew their names, their pasts, their weaknesses, and their potential. To him, these children were hidden weapons that had not yet fully taken shape but could become extremely lethal if properly forged.
Their faces were completely covered.
While the other soldiers spoke one by one during the line, these children stood in their places without saying a single word. The coverings on them concealed their faces entirely, leaving only the dark hollows where their eyes were visible. Lane absolutely did not want their faces to be revealed. This was not merely a preference, it was also a rule. For Lane, invisibility was one of the cornerstones of these children's training. The less recognizable they were, the more valuable they would become. The less attention they drew, the more dangerous they would become.
That was why, even though the children appeared to be part of the ordinary unit, in truth they stood on a different layer despite being in the same place as the others. No one asked them questions. No one questioned why they stayed silent. Because Lane's attitude made everything perfectly clear. Those children were not to be spoken about.
The process of questioning and getting to know them took a long time.
One person finished, then another stepped forward. Then another. Then another. As time passed, the tension within the crowd slowly began to shift into a different atmosphere. At first, the soldiers had not understood what was going to happen, but they were beginning to realize that Lane was truly listening to each and every one of them one by one. That surprised them. Because most of them had never been treated like this in their lives. Usually they were people who took orders, were driven around, used, and then forgotten. But here, Lane did not see them as a crowd made up of nothing but numbers. He was trying to understand what each one was inclined toward, what they wanted and did not want.
That alone was a different kind of order.
The talks continued for nearly an hour.
By the end of that hour, the picture had slowly become clear.
The majority had chosen spears and swords.
That was not surprising. Spears were among the most useful weapons in battles that required distance and order. Swords, on the other hand, felt closer, more familiar, and more attractive to people. Many saw the sword as nobler, more direct, and more personal. Those who chose the spear were generally the kind of people who thought of fighting in a more controlled and orderly way. Among those who chose the sword were both the eager ones and those who wanted to prove themselves more strongly as individuals.
Those who chose to use bows were in the minority.
That had not escaped Lane's notice. Attacking from a distance was a field that required patience, balance, control, and serious repetition. It was not for everyone.
The least interest, however, had been in the field of strategy.
Only three people had said they wanted to advance in that direction.
The number was small, but it was not worthless to Lane. Because on the battlefield, everyone could swing a weapon, but not everyone could think. Everyone could shout, run, and kill. Lane marked these three people separately in his mind. Even though they were few in number, in time one or two of them might genuinely become useful.
In the end, Lane gathered them all before him once again.
The crowd was now different from what it had been at the beginning. A little while ago, they had looked like nothing more than a group waiting for orders, but now they had begun to understand, more or less, what they were a part of. Lane was not going to use them as a wild, unmanaged force. He was going to organize them, divide them, shape them, and make them useful.
Lane looked at the notebooks and books in his hands.
Then he began distributing them one by one.
Different books were given according to each group, each choice, and each inclination. When the soldiers took the books into their hands, clear surprise appeared on their faces. Many of them had not expected such a detailed training system to be prepared. Some had thought the books would be nothing more than a few pages of rough instructions. But what they held was far more than that.
When Lane saw that he had gathered everyone's attention, he spoke:
"All the books I have distributed to you contain the techniques you will be studying from now on. One month from now, there will be a commander selection exam. All of you will be divided into groups of twelve, and each group will have one leader."
His voice was calm again, but this time the words landed more heavily. Because he was no longer merely setting up a general order, he was openly declaring a system.
Lane paused for a brief moment. He took a deep breath. Then he continued:
"Every four groups of twelve will form one company. And four companies combined will form one battalion."
These words spread through the crowd.
Some immediately began calculating the numbers in their heads. Some simply listened in silence. And on some faces, true seriousness appeared for the first time. Because what Lane was building was not a simple gathering arrangement. It was a plan to gradually transform a disorderly human mass into a military skeleton.
The soldiers began looking at the books in their hands.
As they turned the pages, their surprise only grew stronger.
The books were extremely detailed. It was not only the names of the techniques written on every page. There were many details such as how the techniques were to be applied, in what order they should be practiced, how the body should be positioned, how training should be done in groups, how offensive and defensive formations should be established, and under what conditions certain tactics would be more efficient.
These books did not look like a dry pile of instructions.
On the contrary, each one seemed to have been thought through for a long time, tested, and prepared according to a certain system of logic. Even which section had to be learned first, which movement should not be practiced alone but in pairs, and which technique would only work in suitable terrain or formation had been indicated. That made Lane's position in the eyes of the soldiers even more distinct. Because standing before them was not only a strong warrior, but also someone who could teach, establish order, and calculate the future.
The name of the book he gave to the soldiers who used swords was Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique.
To the spear users, he gave a book called Area-Blasting Spear Technique.
To the small number of people who used bows, he gave a book called Nature's Florance Shift.
Lastly, Lane gave a separate book to the three people who wanted to advance in strategy.
This book was not as thick as the others. It was small and bound. Its appearance was plainer, quieter. But that was exactly why it carried a heavier meaning. Because what it contained was not direct combat techniques, but thoughts distilled from Lane's own experiences.
The name of the book was War Experiences.
Lane had created this book personally from his own experiences, observations, and conclusions. But there was no author name written on it. It seemed he had done that deliberately. In this book, the content mattered more than the name. It was not a text written in pursuit of fame. It had been prepared to be used, to be learned from, and to be useful.
The three people interested in strategy felt the difference the moment they took the book into their hands.
Because on the battlefield, some things were determined not by steel, but by the mind.
As Lane looked at all of them, the atmosphere had grown silent. The wind blew lightly, making the edges of the pages stir almost imperceptibly. The crowd that had looked like a scattered mass just moments ago now held direction, method, and structure in its hands. They were not yet a real army. They could not yet be called fully disciplined either. But for the first time, there was a concrete path before them showing what they could become.
And this was exactly what Lane wanted.
Not blind force. Controlled force.
Not a crowd. Structure.
Not a heap of people. An order built from within.