Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

It was a cool morning in the outskirts of the Warangal city. The military academy stood strong on the outskirts, soldiers patrolling the walls. The sun rays struck the walls, glistening them in a golden hue.

Inside the Academy, sounds of grunts and groans echoed as the cadets of the first batch ran in the training field with sandbags strapped to their backs. The first batch of Warangal officially began a few days prior after the second test was over.

Kartik, Sarvesh, and Shyam passed the second test and were selected into a different batch in the military academy.

Kartik put down the sandbags, finishing the 50 laps as instructed by the drill instructor. He huffed heavily and collapsed on the ground; the others were yet to finish. Kartik was always first in the physical test, with Sarvesh lagging close behind, while Shyam was usually at dead last.

"The training is harsh," murmured Kartik.

"You dumbo!" The drill instructor smacked his head lightly. "This is nothing compared to the real soldiers."

"You little vermin need to reach their level." The drill instructor declared.

He could vividly remember the surprise they had after the second test.

Only a quarter of candidates that passed the first round managed to pass the second round. The cadets were quite taken aback by the difficult screening of the second round. It tested your situational awareness, tactical knowledge, and, most importantly, your talent to lead troops in the future. Continue your journey on empire

The failed candidates were quite disappointed and began to leave with saddened expressions, but they couldn't expect what had happened.

The captain that oversaw the test came forward and explained. "This test was to screen the ones with better capabilities."

"Everyone here shall be enrolled in the academy."

"Whaaa..." Everyone had a flabbergasted expression on their face.

He explained further. The first test was to gauge the physical prowess and was the test for the academy itself. The second test was to screen for candidates that were exceptional of the bunch. They would be separately trained in the academy with a separate curriculum.

"So are we selected?" asked one candidate.

"Yes, you have been selected since you all met the criteria in the first round."

"Hmm." One of the second-round passing candidates asked. "Can they never join us or move forward?"

"No, they can. There will be evaluation tests for them." He said. "They can apply for the reevaluation and promotion exam every year, once."

"If they pass that exam, they will be joining you guys." The captain explained with a warm smile.

"Exam? Will it be similar to this one?" asked Sarvesh.

"Of course not."

The captain explained that the exam would be based on the worst-performing cadet among the second round pass-outs. It would be much harder than this test since they could only take it after a year. A lot could change in a single year with very different curriculums for the cadets.

Despite the prospects of promotion, it seemed like the tests would be too difficult for them. There might be outliers but it would be rare enough to make the amount of promotion candidates negligible.

Although with the prospects of promotion in hand, many candidates' faces lit up. They had a chance to stand in the same place as the second-round candidates. Some didn't dare to hope for a promotion, while some were determined to get promoted.

"Also to note." The captain cleared his throat. "There will also be yearly evaluation for all cadets."

"What's that?" asked Kartik with an energetic voice.

"Underperforming cadets would be warned and the cadets that don't meet the expectation shall be expelled by the academy."

"Make sure to follow through with the training."

"Avoid slacking off and do well on your tests." The captain warned, with a deep voice.

"That's it. You may retire to your quarters."

Their quarters were in the same complex but it was divided to limit communication between the cadets.

"Look at him, Kartik." Sarvesh chuckled, interrupting his thoughts.

He was pointing at Shyam, who was struggling to keep up at the end of the line in the physical exercise session.

"He gave up everything for his brain." Kartik chuckled along.

Despite the weak physicality amongst the special cadets. Shyam placed first in the second round of the military academy selection. He almost got a perfect score if not for his blunder due to nervousness. The gap between him and the second-best candidate was a whopping 10 points.

Meanwhile, Kartik and Sarvesh scored right in the middle order in the second round. Neither too high nor too low. Their main trait was their physical prowess; after all, their physical abilities were ranked first and second, respectively, amongst all the candidates in the Warangal Military Academy.

"Shut... up..." Shyam said, throwing his sandbag on the ground. "You…dumb…bastards."

"We are not dumb." They both said in unison.

The trio bonded after placing in the same batch. They recently found out the second round was meant for special forces and officer-level cadets. It was in the similar batch for the time being; they apparently had plans of changing it into different batches as the requirement of special forces soldiers was much different than an officer.

Their day began with the morning exercise routine that was done with the other batch. This was a joint routine between their batches. It was usually 50 laps around the huge training field with sandbags strapped to their backs to build endurance for long marches. It was followed by strength training and bodyweight exercises. Finally, 10 minutes of meditation to ensure their mind was always calm and they could take decisions clearly.

The normal batch of cadets would have their breakfast in the mess hall first while the special batch does an extra set of exercises. After the breakfasts of the special batch were done. They had to head to class quickly, which was far away from each other for both batches.

Cadets were given materials like paper to take notes during the lectures. They were provided footwear and the uniforms etched with the emblem of the Empire to wear in the Academy.

The curriculum for the normal batch involved basics of command chain structures, warfare tactics, science, math, and social awareness. It also included stuff like managing cannon, gunpowder, rebel suppressions, and behavior during warfare.

Although these were taught in the special batch as well. The depth was way different. They were taught much more than basics; they delved deep into warfare and tactical analysis of each battle and war fought by the Empire.

They were also taught behavioral analysis and other ways to fight enemies through psychological warfare. Their tactical curriculum didn't stop at basics of warfare but it delved deep into management of armies and soldiers.

It was much more information.

This was the curriculum but unfortunately most of the cadets didn't know much about reading and writing. They needed to be given fundamentals of education before the curriculum for both batches started.

So the Academy dedicated to focusing an entire semester, giving them lessons on the fundamentals of education.

The classes went through till a few hours after noon with regular breaks in between classes, including breaks for lunch. All the cadets were eager to learn. Their eagerness was palpable; the professors were motivated more than ever to teach the classes, seeing the determination in each student's gaze.

After the classes were finished, the cadets were given breaks for their own activities for the next two hours. They could play sports; the academy allowed the batches to communicate during this two-hour period.

The cadets made friends and cliques in the academies. Some played sports, while the others visited the libraries to gain more knowledge or read books in general.

After the two-hour free time ends. The cadets of the special batch were called for combat training with special instructors well versed in martial arts like Kalari and sword arts that were predominantly used in the Royal Army.

The special batch was given combat training earlier, while the combat training for the normal batch would start from the next semester. The normal batch was allotted study time during the combat training of the special batch.

Lastly, the special batch and normal batch had dinner at the same time but were seated quite far from each other.

It was followed by another study session, this time for both the special batch and the normal batch cadets. Lastly, a strict curfew was imposed during the nighttime, and the sleep time was managed properly to ensure proper rest for the cadets.

The cadets have 5 days of classes and 2 days of rest every week. Although they would have to do the morning exercise for 6 days a week. The classes were only 5 days a week.

Although most cadets would still be learning in the library during their break not to fall behind in their evaluation.

Lastly, there was information about joint events with the other military academies and they would be allowed to visit back home during festive occasions.