After exiting the office, I was trying hard not to jump in celebration.

  "The Camp Prefect's Protege! Awesome! My career is secured!" I happily thought.

  I then thought of the fate I barely dodged, shivering.

  "I almost became the pdog of some noble scion! Although it might secure my future, it would also block my advancement! I don't want that!" I thought, feeling wronged.

  With the Progress System, was I satisfied with being a mere noble's pdog? Perhaps before, when I was a borer, I would have been satisfied with it. But now? What am I, stupid?

  Just as the old man said-

  "If you want to sponsor me, fine! But I am not your ckey! Don't block my career, dammit!"

  With that thought in mind, I went to report to Erock, who returned to his troops after taking me to the prefect's office.

  After making the report, Erock wasn't surprised.

  "Go, and don't make a scene. I wish you success." He smiled, pointing at the barracks.

  "Thank you for everything." I respectfully said to the senior centurion before heading to the barracks.

  After quickly packing my belongings, I went to a building next to the fancy central command building. As Camp Prefect, he needed to be close to the legate, but was also distinct.

  Of course, that wasn't to say he didn't have a big house. Like the five Senior Centurions, such as Erock, the Camp Prefect lived in a domus within the fortress, which also functioned as his office.

  Most of the time when he wasn't training, he was either in his office or surveying the base. The Camp Prefect was a busy man. However, rumors say that he is also a tragic man.

  He had four sons and no daughters, all of whom joined the army one by one and died in battle. He never had more children, which some specute was because his wife became infertile in her mid-20s and he loved her dearly, but others said that it was because of an injury he sustained, causing him to become impotent. Later, when he became Camp Prefect, he took a protege like me, but he also died on the battlefield, and the wife committed suicide soon after, leaving a young daughter behind, whom the Camp Prefect and his wife adopted as their daughter. That was 15 years ago.

  "Honestly, it is ominous to become his protege... but I don't care! Besides, it is my opportunity!" I thought.

  I never believed in superstitious nonsense! At most, I am afraid of some random god appearing out of nowhere and snapping me out of existence... Of course, there was no use worrying about something I can't control, so I didn't worry!

  Arriving at the house, I carried my backpack and informed a guard at the entrance, who then led me inside. As the 3rd most important man in the camp, obviously, the Camp Prefect's quarters/office were well-guarded.

  Soon, I was led to the Camp Prefect's office and entered. Looking up at me from his desk, the prefect spoke.

  "Did you pack everything?" He asked.

  "Yes, Sir. What are your arrangements, Sir?" I respectfully asked my new mentor.

  "Good. I already sent my servants to clear a room for you in a nearby building. Although it is smaller than a barracks room, it is private." Primanus said.

  "Thank you, Sir!" I smiled.

  "My own room! A private room! I finally get some privacy!" I happily thought.

  "For now, leave your belongings here. We need to discuss your training and duties." Primanus said.

  "Yes, Sir!" I replied, pcing my belongings next to the wall, and standing at attention before Primanus's desk.

  The old, battle-worn Camp Prefect then spoke.

  "For starters, your physical training and breathing practice must not stop. First, and foremost, you are a soldier, and as my protege, you will remain in top shape. That is why you will join the practice sessions of the 1st Cohort. Additionally, I will grant you the 1st part of the Direwolf Breathing Technique. The complete version is said to be able to reach the Legendary Warrior realm, but the 1st part can only reach the early Extraordinary Warrior Realm."

  Hearing this, I couldn't help but smile.

  "Thank you, Sir!"

  Primanus raised an eyebrow.

  "Are you not going to compin that I am not giving you the complete version?"

  I shook my head.

  "This is already a great gift for me. Thank you, Sir!"

  Primanus smiled.

  "Good, at least you know how to appreciate the good stuff. In reality, you shouldn't receive it yet since you are not a Principales. However, I can make the exception and let you study it early. When you become a Junior Centurion, you can obtain the 2nd part, which will let you reach the early Epic Warrior Realm if you are talented enough." Primanus said.

  Hearing this, my eyes lit up.

  "Great! Then I must strive to become a centurion as quickly as possible!"

  However, I noticed a point.

  "Sir, is there a 3rd part?" I asked.

  Primanus had a wry smile.

  "Unfortunately, it is held by the patrician families, the founding nobles of New Rome, and is considered a top secret, and few can receive it. If I had it back when I broke through, perhaps I could have already reached the Legendary Warrior realm."

  After hearing this, I understood what he meant.

  "The nobles hold it as leverage, or perhaps as a check-and-bance on the army while ensuring that power remains in their hands."

  However, I didn't feel discouraged.

  "If that's the case, then I will just progress as far as I can here. When I reach the limit, I can start thinking about other things."

  Seeing me go silent, Primanus didn't seem to want to linger on the subject, so he changed it.

  "Aside from your regur training, you will also start learning all the other specializations, as well as leadership skills."

  Hearing this, I couldn't help but blink.

  "The other specializations?"

  The old Camp Prefect calmly expined.

  "To be a Centurion, you need knowledge in many subjects, with combat and administration being merely part of them. From today on, every afternoon, you will learn Engineering, Construction, Logistics, First Aid, Surveying and Inspection, Discipline, and Weapon Training. You will also follow me, act as my assistant, and deliver my orders. Lastly, you will start assisting my guard detail and eventually arrange for it as watch commander, which will provide you with the necessary experience. When I believe you are ready, and you have sufficient merit and opportunity, I might even directly promote you to Centurion, skipping being a Principales altogether."

  "Thank you, Sir! I won't let you down!" I said with shining eyes.

  Honestly, I was almost ughing.

  "I get to learn more professions! That means I get more csses and abilities!"

  Upon reaching the Elite Warrior Realm, the simution ran at 16 years per day. That meant every 3 days, the Game Avatar would reach the age of 65. Even if I let it live until the end of its lifespan, which was now around 80 years, that was 4 days at most. If I focused on one css and ability, I reckoned that within 3 simutions, I would reach a limit if I didn't improve the multipliers. And this meant that I would soon start wasting simutions.

  Now that I get more csses and abilities, it means fewer simutions will go to waste! How could I not be happy?!

  Oblivious to my thoughts, Primanus just smiled.

  "It is good that you are enthusiastic about it. Since you are already familiar with administration, you will start with construction engineering, and we will see how quickly you can learn."

  "Yes, Sir!" I happily saluted.

  And so, my life as the Camp Prefect's protege started.

  .

  .

  .

  Inside a study room-

  A cold, bookish, beautiful, and delicate blonde woman was reading a complex scroll titled Advanced Magic Structure Theories, Part 6.

  She was the little princess of the 17th legion, the adopted daughter of the Camp Prefect, Antia Lucia.

  As the adoptive daughter of the Camp Prefect himself, Antia was heavily doted on and allowed to do whatever she wanted. However, knowing that her biological father and all her adoptive brothers died by the sword, and was not allowed to pick the sword and only allowed to learn breathing techniques for self-defense, she insisted on studying magic and proved to be a genius at that.

  Magic was widely recognized as dozens of times more difficult to learn than Warrior Breathing techniques due to its requiring a high level of intellect, inner calm, and focus, along with sufficient funds, time, and education. Luckily, she possessed everything from a young age.

  At the tender age of 18, she was not only a General Warrior, but she was a Magic Apprentice, the realm after the Magic Novice, which was remarkable even in the Capital. To reach the Magic Apprentice realm at 18 was the same as reaching the Epic Warrior realm at 18. It was just that difficult due to the prerequisites needed before they could start practicing magic. Even regur geniuses didn't start practicing magic until they were 18, but she reached the requirements when she turned 14.

  However, before reaching the Official Magician realm, she was not even comparable to a Veteran Warrior in terms of combat power. Of course, things changed once she reached it. Official Magicians could earn much money from engraving runes or casting intermediate, wide-ranged spells that can decimate squads of soldiers, and their wages were superior to those of a Junior Centurion. Of course, she was still a few years away from reaching that level.

  But she knew that she didn't have much time left in her peaceful solitude. Her adoptive parents were reaching the end of their natural lifespan. While Warrior Practice could extend one's life, it was only due to being healthier, not because the lifespan itself improved. Her adoptive mother was an ordinary woman of lowly birth, and in her te 60s, having failing health. Meanwhile, her adoptive father, while in the Epic Warrior realm, suffered numerous injuries during his service, greatly shortening his lifespan. He himself told her that he would only st for 5 years at most, but likely less than 3 years if he fought too much and triggered old wounds.

  Additionally, imperial ws were sexist and greatly disfavored women. Just from the army, which only allows male soldiers, can one understand the gender inequality. Even if there were some strong heroines here and there, it was the exception, not the norm. If she remained unwed until she turned 20 and her father died, there would be issues with inheritance rights. For example, her adoptive father had a younger brother with a strong cim over the inheritance. Although she was the adoptive daughter, without the protection of a male guardian, she was vulnerable. After all, a biological brother had an equal cim to the inheritance.

  That was also why she knew her father would betroth her to someone. She didn't have illusions of marrying out of love. That was a fantasy told to young and ignorant girls. In reality, a daughter seldom had control over her marriage, and love that came after was just a pleasant surprise. For example, her adoptive mother was the daughter of a traveling merchant, and after her adoptive father fell in love with her, he paid the merchant to have her hand in marriage. She didn't love him at first, but she did after several years, which was a blessing that not many women enjoy.

  However, she also knew that he wouldn't select someone from the nobility, since, by his words, he hated their guts. Additionally, he didn't want her to suffer, as he knew the dirty tricks nobles could perform. On the other hand, he couldn't bear to let her marry someone unknown whom he couldn't trust. Hence, he would only select a promising and trustworthy soldier from a common background in his army, ideally one who could rise to be a Camp Prefect.

  In all honesty, she wasn't against that. She didn't have siblings, and she didn't want to end her father's bloodline, so she wanted to have a few kids before dedicating her life to studying magic. However, she also felt pity for her future husband, since she was not feminine or social. She only looked pretty, which is said to be inherited from her biological mother. However, she also didn't like the idea of marrying someone twice her age, like Centurion Erock... Not that there was a possibility, since such senior centurions already had an unofficial family. That was also why her adoptive father was tirelessly searching for a young, unwed prodigy in recent years.

  However, she didn't bother about it, focusing on improving her strength and magic. She knew that, in this cruel world, strength was everything, and magic was her passion. As long as she had enough strength and magic to learn, she was satisfied!

  Just as she was getting to a good part while reading her scroll-

  Creak*

  "Antia, you are still reading those magic scrolls?" An old and kindly voice sounded.

  Antia knew who it was and gnced up.

  "Yes, mother. The study of magic is long and arduous." She softly replied.

  Sidonia, her adoptive mother, nodded without commenting before breaking the news.

  "Your father found a protege. He is likely your future husband."

  Antia paused for a moment before returning to her scroll.

  "Oh." She only uttered.

  "Not going to ask about his looks, temperament, or talent?" Sidonia curiously asked.

  "I trust my father wouldn't wrong me," Antia said, her voice passionless.

  Sidonia wordlessly shook her head.

  "Poor girl. She was born in the wrong era." Sidonia mented.

  If her adoptive daughter were born in a world with equal rights, with her talents, she would be hailed as a national treasure, becoming a young heroine everyone looked up to. Unfortunately, in this male-dominated world, she had to endure the burden of being a woman.

  Inwardly sighing, Sidonia smiled again.

  "You know, I have seen him. He is short and average-looking by soldier standards. I was really shocked when I heard that he is your father's new protege." Sidonia said, trying to get her daughter's attention.

  "Never judge a book by its cover." Antia emotionlessly replied, not giving a hoot.

  Sidonia had a wry smile, as she knew what her daughter referred to was not only her potential husband, but also herself. She once said it when she was praised for her beauty. She knew that her daughter thought of herself as an undesirable woman due to a ck of femininity and womanly skills. She couldn't cook, clean, sew, sing, or dance. She was also socially awkward, had no friends due to being too smart, and lived in a military fortress surrounded by men. She tried to help her befriend the daughters of centurions in the army, but miserably failed since her daughter was brutally honest to a fault, causing many girls to cry or stay away from her. Even the boys got emotionally damaged by her and didn't dare speak to her. She was a magic schor without emotional intelligence, through and through.

  In this regard, she was indeed a beautiful cover with dull, perhaps even hurtful, content. Of course, that was only to those uninterested in magic. If she found a fellow magic genius, they might click in an instant like old friends. She only smiled when she learned magic.

  "But where can we find a prodigy worthy of her? If we could have found one, perhaps that stubborn old thing would be a bit flexible... Unfortunately, only nobles can study magic, and he doesn't like nobles. And he has trust issues toward non-military personnel." Sidonia helplessly thought.

  However, this didn't put down her gossiping spirit.

  "I heard from your father that his new protege is quite the talent. He came from a poor background, but within 10 months, he reached the Elite Warrior Realm using only the Legionary Breathing Technique." She said.

  "... Impressive." Antia softly said, no longer as indifferent as before.

  Sidonia knew that she had finally gotten the attention of this genius girl. Antia seldom praised anyone since few could match her. Hence, when she did, it was sincere praise worth far more than the praise of a yman.

  Knowing she got her attention, she continued.

  "I also hear he is both hardworking and bright. He finished 1st in his recruitment batch and was transferred as the newest recruit in the 1st cohort. But after only six months, he was so good that they didn't dare keep him, so your father took him as his protege. If not for cking merit, your father wanted to promote him directly to an Optio, if not a Centurion."

  Antia's eyes finally flickered with interest, but she soon lowered her eyes again to her scroll.

  "I see. Then I sincerely hope he will live up to my father's expectations."

  "Good. At least she registered him now. Hopefully, they will at least get along before we make the final decision, or I will need to convince the old man to marry her to someone else."

  With that thought, she left the magic princess of the 17th legion to continue her studies.