As Adrian passed his time with his new Companions..... Carmelo, Baron Hamilton and Duke Richard, and the rest of the men, were all going through hell in the name of training.
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\"Move! Move! Move! Move!\"
\"Din! Din! Din! Din!\"
Carmelo and the guys were now having a crash course of what Baymard could offer their knights.
No!!..... their new Caronian soldiers.
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They had been given training schedules and class schedules to attend.
And right off the bat, they had to admit that Baymard's training methods were way superior to theirs.
Damn!
From waking them up early in the morning, to having them do field exercises... their entire life seemed to have speeded up a bit.
They had realized that everything here was done very fast.
If a supervisor said he wanted them to do something in 3 minutes, then they had to do just that..... or get punished.
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Carmelo and the rest could still remember how they had been punished in their first day in camp.
The bell rang, and by the time their supervisor came... some of them hadn't even worn their boots or shirts yet.
They were asked to run around the field as punishment.... as well as do push-ups, frog jumps and so o .
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The punishment seemed like nothing, but after the early morning training... it slowly started to feel like torture.
And to make matters worse, due to the punishment that day... they came late for breakfast and missed it all together.
But they did buy snacks and ate, while heading to their classrooms.
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Their first few days here were miserable, but after that.... they began to adjust themselves to the fast paced lifestyle.
And now, they had fully integrated into the place.
In essence, they had now fully understood why Baymard soldiers were so well disciplined and time conscious.
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Of course, they were required to stay in the academy from Monday to Friday.... and then go home from Saturday to Sunday.
This way, they could also spend time with their wives as well.
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Looking at how the Baymardian soldiers never complained when their supervisors yelled or ushered them during training..... they couldn't help but wonder how their own Caronian knights would react to all this as well.
In the end, whether it would be hell or heaven for them..... one thing was certain.
After the whole ordeal, the knights would definitely become stronger, combat ready, and more disciplined than ever before.
And this was the ultimate goal.
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\"Private Carmelo!..... Private Hamilton!
Here are your examination results!!\" Said their supervisor.
Since this was a trail training, Landon had wanted them to get the full experience.
So rather than waiting for 6 months and so on... like the Caronian knights who would come in future..... they had their exams now.
And coupled with all their years of training and experience Landon felt like it wouldn't be too hard for them to pass the exams.
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Carmelo, Hamilton, Richard and the rest.... quickly took their report cards anxiously.
Hamilton felt like he would die if he failed any of the courses.
Sure... he knew that he had lost his test match with Carmelo.
And he was okay with a failed mark in that course.... but that was before he held his report booklet in his hands.
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Carmelo as well, knew that he didn't do too well with the rock climbing class.
So he too was sweating buckets.
In fact, everyone dared not open their report cards.... as they all thought of their mistakes.
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\"F***..... I can't take it anymore!!\" Hamilton yelled out in frustration, as he quickly opened his report booklet while closing one of his eyes in fear.
He peeked through the first report there, which showed all the subjects and what grade he got... as well as his overall performance grade.
And soon, he opened both eyes and screamed out in Joy.
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\"Hahahhahaha!... I passed.
And from the looks of it, I had a B grade in the Combat class too!\" He yelled, while patting Carmelo's back excitedly.
\"What? You actually passed the combat class?
But didn't you loose to me?\"
\"Well, it's a pass, but it's still a B grade.
Pui!!.... you probably have an A+ Grade in the course.\"
\"But how did they determine the grade?\"
\"Look!... look!... on several other sheets, they explain why I had the grade.
Reflex, exhibiting right moves....\"
\"_\"
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As Carmelo and the rest listened on, they felt like maybe there was still hope for them after all.
Very quickly, everyone opened up their report booklets too.
\"Ahh!!.... I passed as well.
And I got a B- in Rock climbing!!\"Carmelo yelled delightfully.
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His entire bones were soaked with happiness, as he closed his eyes and tried to savor the moment.
He gripped the booklet in his hands, and tried his best to not run back home to his family.
He felt like a little boy, as he truly wanted to give his dads his report card.
[Carmelo: Dad, I passed!
Adrian: but why do you have a B- grade in this one?
Carmelo: \"_\"]
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While the men were busy training their asses out, their wives had all found full-time jobs as well.
Carmelo's first wife, Megara... worked as a Park Ranger.
While his second wife, Othena... worked at the Ranch.
As for Duchess Mina, she worked with the Nursery and Babysitting company.
While Santa's sisters worked with the Gardening company.
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The women were more than pleased to work as well.... as they followed Mothe Kim's example.
In their minds, if the queen mother could work..... then there was nothing belittling about it.
And in truth, they felt.... they felt.....erm? what was the word again?
Ah yes.... Independent!
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It was refreshing to know that if they wanted anything, they could just buy it with their own money.
Asking their husbands for everything all the time, was somewhat embarrassing.
Even when they wanted to give out money to their friends, they had to get that same money from their husbands.
But now, working hard made them realise the importance of independence.
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That's why they had decided that when they got back to Carona..... Rather than staying indoors all day long doing nothing, they could instead create more job opportunities for housewives as well.
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They had decided to start off by organising a nursery and babycare center first.
This way, the women would have time off their hands to do other jobs around and support the families as well.
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Of course, their newly recruited staff would have to be trained properly..... before they began their new business venture.
They would also implement a lot of safety procedures just like how Baymard did theirs.
This way, no one could just come and take another one's baby, toddler or kid just like that.
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They wanted it to be perfect, hence they had decided to consult the creator of the whole Nursery idea..... Landon.
Just thinking about their future plans, made them feel like they were making history for women.
Times were indeed changing.
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As the gang waited for Santa's return, everyone had slowly envisioned Carona's future in the next years to come.
They felt like they had been blessed with the rare opportunity to personally make a change.
And they sure as hell were going to take it.
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They had all been waiting for his majesty Landon's return..... and luckily for them, he was just around the corner.
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--On the Open Seas Around Arcadina--
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Landon looked at the shores which seemed like a toy from afar, and smiled.
'Home Sweet Home!'