Once Evan arrived at the gate, the first thing he realized was that it was busy. He hadn’t even stepped outside the coach yet, but already he could tell it was even more bustling than usual. The sound alone made that apparent.
Starspire was a city that ran on commerce more than anything else, with lots of transactions moving through the city thanks to its – if what he heard was to be believed – robust spaceport. If someone wanted to move things on or off planet, they most likely would need to deal with Starspire. This alone would have ensured that the city was always busy, with people and carts constantly moving through the many gates, but the city was also well managed by a competent oligarchy that knew how to run a city well.
Thanks to the council’s oversight, there were many other factors that contributed to the city’s prosperity. One of these was the stance on hunting, and how the wilderness was treated. Essentially, the stance boiled down to this:
Anyone could leave the city and go hunting in any of the vast wilderness that Starspire controlled, with no need for permits or any other oversight. The various outposts would help ensure the stability of the wilderness to prevent any environmental collapses from actions such as over-hunting, and as such might impose some restrictions on what could be hunted or how much, but that was all. Said notices would be posted liberally throughout the area, so that any potential hunters were well-informed.
Once a hunter had felled a monster or beast, they could bring the beast to the nearest outpost, where it could be sold immediately to Starspire for convenience. They would also accept any gathered plants, but those were usually easier to carry for a better price inside the city.
Starspire would collect a small tax off of anything sold to the outposts, and regular taxes would apply within the city, but overall, it made it very convenient for everyone. Such a stance made sure that Starspire was filled with hunters, and the bounty of such regular harvests further increased the city’s wealth.
There were of course various guilds and businesses that once could sign with for ‘professional’ hunting, but unlike with other countries, it wasn’t required or even necessary. This was why many young adults from the fourth section would leave the city, in the hopes of making it big as a hunter.
Most of them would fail, and those that did succeed only did so for a short time, but that was enough for many of them, and would inspire the next generation into continuing the same cycle.
Not for Evan, though.
It was why he was here today, not as a wannabe hunter, but as an apprentice craftsman. Nothing had cemented that fact in his mind as much as the sight he now laid eyes upon.
The gate was crawling with various men and women in uniform, and just outside the gate he could see a small convoy of transports, with even more uniformed soldiers laying about the sleek, metal vehicles that he would seen be traveling in.
As he made his way through the gate, quickly being waved through thanks to Stiff, he curiously studied every detail of the vehicles. It wasn’t his first time seeing a truck, but they were still rare enough that the sight shocked him.
The truck was big – significantly larger than a coach, but mostly in its length. They were heavily built and gave off a rugged feel. There was a small cab that could only seat two people, while the rest of it was an open platform where supplies would be secured. There were no visible inscriptions, but he knew the vehicle must have been heavily inscribed with formations in order to run. The color of it was mostly a darker green, likely for helping it blend in with the forest, even if it didn’t seem very effective.
There were four such trucks, along with several more jeeps, similar in style to the trucks but obviously intended for passengers only.
Evan was fascinated by the vehicles, being slightly different from the few he had seen before. Those that made their way through the city were not nearly as armored, and they had always been on the move, never giving him a chance to properly inspect the vehicles as he did now.
Once he got over the pure dissonance the scene created, the convoy being situated just beside the bustling stream of more mundane carts and coaches headed in and out of the city, all other feelings were supplanted by the sheer excitement he felt.
One of those is for me!
He would likely be seated in one of the jeeps, but that was fine with him! He was going to ride in a car. It made him giddy.
It was surprising how large the convoy was, but perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Evan did not know how the logistics of the military worked, but maybe they used the outposts as warehouses and resting stops? That would make sense, at least for those far from the front lines.
‘Outposts’ was the word everyone used, but it painted a picture of a rather small encampment when many outposts were anything but. From what the books had mentioned, some ‘outposts’ were massive, closer to forts than anything else, but were always referred to as outposts regardless of size. He wondered why.
As they approached the convoy, a few of the guards – soldiers? – seemed to recognize Stiff and waved him forward. Evan and the other two apprentices stuck close to Stiff and were seemingly ignored.
Everyone seemed very relaxed, which helped to settle his own nerves. He felt a little dazed as Stiff guided them deeper inwards, passing quite close to the vehicles. Soon they were introduced to some instructors, where Stiff would quickly pass off one of the apprentices before moving on. Evan was last, and he was excited to meet his own instructor.
Said instructor was an older man, with spots of gray in his otherwise black hair, an exhausted and stern look upon his face. He was short and thin, his head only reaching Evan’s shoulders.
Despite that, the man had a presence to him – a subtle feeling that made Evan feel as though he was one being looked down at.
He introduced himself. “Hello, Sir. My name is Evan and I’ll be in your skilled hands in the near future.” His greeting felt forced and awkward, but he still made a go of bowing, the difference in their heights making the act more comical than respectful.
“You will address me as Master Isaac.” Isaac’s voice was stern and radiated disapproval, but it did not sound impatient, more that he was just going through the motions. Evan waited a few moments for him to continue, before he realized what Isaac wanted.
“Of course, Master Isaac.” The confusion was evident. He was usually better than this! All of the excitement was getting to him, but he didn’t dare voice his apologies. That seemed like the wrong move.
Another few moments passed before Stiff nodded towards Isaac and walked off, abandoning him to his fate. He watched, both in judgement and in order to release some of the tension he already felt with the conversation. Evan had not paid much attention to the introductions the others had made with their teachers, but he dearly wished he had now. Were they all this tense?
“You will follow me.” Immediately, without waiting to see if his order was being followed, Isaac turned and started walking towards one of the jeeps. The old man was faster than he had expected, doubtlessly supported by a powerful cultivation base.
Scurrying after the old man they soon came to one of the jeeps. “We will be traveling inside this jeep. Remember it for when we leave, I will expect you and your fellow apprentices to find their way here.”
Isaac turned from the jeep to look directly into Evan’s eyes. “We will begin instruction after we are on the road. I have expectations for my students. Meet them.” He walked off, intentions made clear.
That… was an experience. Throughout it all, the man had seemed patient, his quick pace demonstrative of his cultivation rather than his irritation. Evan liked him already, despite how demanding he had been.
One of his concerns had been that the military intended to stretch out his education, ensuring he would be unable to meet the certification goal of two years. Thankfully, that idea now seemed far-fetched. How good his teacher was had yet to be seen, but at least he seemed proactive about his education.
He was excited to learn, to finally understand more about imbuement and how it worked, and the wait was killing him now that the opportunity was so close.
Who would his fellow apprentices be? The military had already shown it was willing to play favorites depending on how much talent one had, did the same thing occur when their instructors were selected? He hadn’t paid much attention to the others, but Isaac seemed different than the others. Stronger, and more respected.
The sheer presence of Isaac hadn’t been something he noticed with the others, but had he just not been paying attention? Maybe it could be controlled, and only Isaac was choosing to release it? That would make a little sense, as Isaac was his instructor and not the others.
Questions such as these continued to rattle around inside Evan’s head as he wandered around the rest of the convoy. He didn’t seem to be under watch, which wasn’t unexpected but still something he had looked out for. Even those on watch seemed rather relaxed.
Nobody approached Evan and asked what he was doing, though he did get some strange looks every now and then. He wanted to ask someone when they were leaving, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it, not wanting to seem impatient. Even knowing everything he did and having signed to be here for the foreseeable future, he was nervous and wanted to make a good impression.
It was silly, but seeing the difference between the convoy and the people coming and going at the gates made him feel like he was around the bigshots. Evan didn’t belong with the bigshots. Not yet.
Part of him wanted to go looking for his instructor, but Isaac didn’t seem the type to chitchat, especially not with someone he didn’t even know yet. For all he knew, Evan could be the least talented among Isaac’s students, or Isaac could have an issue with teaching someone like him.
Ah, now he was worried again. He decided to just wait near the jeep Isaac had pointed out – he didn’t see Isaac, and perhaps he would appreciate the punctuality. He wanted the front passenger seat anyway.
The first hour passed uneventfully, as did the second one. He shifted position frequently, the sun bearing down on him without mercy, the metal of the jeep seeming to radiate misery. It was worse than usual – he was no stranger to spending the day outside, but to spend so long directly in the sun and next to warm metal made for a bad time, and he felt out of place wandering the convoy.
Nobody else showed, much to his dismay, which he found surprising. It was normal for him to spend most of his day alone, only ever interacting with others in brief exchanges as he looked for advice or odd-jobs a kid could do. Yearning for company was different, but he supposed he was also usually occupied going somewhere or doing something, seeing others as an unwelcome distraction.
Now, he would gladly take such a distraction. It was boring just sitting around doing nothing and would take his mind off how unpleasant it was to be in the sun for so long if someone showed up.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Alas, it was well into the afternoon by the time he spotted a change in the convoy. In that time, he had eventually moved to and from the jeep several times, but still managed to be near the jeep by the time everyone started moving. Finally!
It took a little longer for the entire camp to rouse, but eventually, people started streaming towards the jeeps and the drivers got into their trucks, now fully loaded – something that had been ongoing throughout the day. He spotted Isaac making his way towards him, but he was quite far from their vehicle.
Things were a little chaotic, but he also spotted what seemed two others headed his way – those must be his fellow apprentices under Isaac. Was there really only three of them, or were the three of them just the ones allowed to travel with Isaac? Something to ask.
Despite Isaac’s cultivation allowing him to easily outpace the others, he was the last to arrive. It gave him a chance to study the others.
The first to arrive was a beautiful young woman with long, straight blonde hair. She was taller than most women Evan had seen – only slightly shorter than Isaac. As she approached, he could see curiosity sparkling within her ocean-blue eyes, but she refrained from saying anything. Evan remained silent himself, switching his attention to the other approaching apprentice.
The newcomer was male and walked with a confidence that Evan rarely felt. Possessing a stout constitution, they were fit and possessed short-cut, brown hair that fit right in with the sharp gaze his green eyes seemed to radiate. Evan met his gaze calmly – he might not always feel so confident, but he had his own pride.
A grin spread across the newcomer’s face – Evan sighed internally. He knew the type; always looking for another peak to climb. The male was the same age as Evan, and while shorter than him, seemed to tower over others with his bearing.
Once they got close enough – but not quite close enough for a room-volume conversation – they called out to Evan.
“Hey! What’s your name? I’m Arnav. And who’s your friend?” He nodded at Evan before shifting his attention to the woman.
Before he could speak up, she introduced herself. “It’s Iliana Brewer. Nice to meet you Arnav. Are you both also studying under Master Isaac?”
Evan introduced himself. They might be working together for years to come. “I am. My name is Evan. Do either of you know anything about him?” From the way she had mentioned Isaac, it made him think that perhaps the man had a reputation. He also noticed that both of them were better dressed than himself and had arrived before him if they knew to head towards this particular jeep. Neither of them acted like someone grasping a distant hope – they had purpose in their actions and seemed more settled.
Having heard his question, they both fixed him with a curious glance, as though he had just asked what color the sky was. Was Isaac so well known? He had never heard of him, and he had spent quite a lot of time among crafters.
Arnav spoke up first. “You don’t know who Master Isaac is? You’re one lucky bastard, then. He’s one of the better teachers in the military, and most of his students end up graduating. Did you just end up with him by luck, or are you messing with us?”
“Ah, well, no. It was just luck – does it really make such a difference, though? When I met him, Master Isaac did seem like a proactive teacher, but does that really make much difference?” It had been one of his fears, that his time training would be stretched out, but he mostly thought it would be the fault of the military, not his instructor. Was that not the case?
Iliana responded this time, a complex emotion on her face that Evan couldn’t make out. “Yes, it matters! Some of the ‘teachers’ in the military do everything they can to drag out the apprenticeships, and it’s mostly left up to them how they teach.
“So, of course, some of them just don’t – they get paid regardless, depending on how many students they have. They don’t get to choose all their students, so it would be ‘unfair’ to ‘punish them for bad students’.”
“That… makes a sad amount of sense.” Evan huffed, a current of fear passing down his spine – the fear of realizing he had dodged a bullet he didn’t know existed. “Well, lucky me I guess.” He grinned; both for effect and in happiness that for once, his luck had carried him through.
By now, Isaac was nearing them and all conversation was stalled – it would be rude to talk about Isaac behind his back, and foolish to do so right in front of him.
Instead, he mentally reorganized his impressions of Arnav and Iliana. Before speaking with them he would have made Arnav out to be a musclehead – someone destined to go out hunting and lose his life in the process, thinking himself better than those who had failed. Despite appearances, he seemed level-headed and more friendly than he had expected.
His initial impression of Iliana had been more positive, no doubt in part thanks to her beauty – he couldn’t really help it, but being honest with himself was a good start. After having spoken with her, his impression hadn’t changed much, but he found it more justified – she was nice, and just like Arnav, hadn’t tried to lord over Evan with what they knew. He appreciated that.
“Good. You’re all here already. Get in,” Isaac gestured towards the jeep, walking around to get into the drivers seat. Evan quickly opened the passenger side door and climbed inside. Kind words and a pretty face weren’t enough to get him to give up such an incredible opportunity. Nobody raised any complaints.
The inside was marvelous – a truly new experience for Evan. The seat was comfortable and was made of well-tailored fabric. It was utilitarian, and despite his excitement, there wasn’t a whole lot to see – just like the outside, the inside was constructed in a rugged, dependable manner without extraneous features – though that was just an impression, for he knew little about the insides of such a vehicle.
In the middle of the vehicle there existed some knobs, but before he could even begin to question their purpose Isaac reached over and twisted one of them all the way up, and tried to twist another all the way down, only to find that it was already twisted as far as it could go.
The vents began to blow hot air very quickly before settling down and becoming cool and refreshing. It was an air conditioner! After having spent the day outside in the heat, cooking under the sun next to the hunk of metal that was the jeep, the cool air felt positively luxurious.
It was the first time he had enjoyed such a device, and he could instantly understand why many of the crafters he had met complained at the costs of building and running such a device.
Such a device was simply heavenly, and he wondered how he would ever go without it again. If only every building could be equipped with such a thing. He knew of them, but had always thought them overblown and barely superior to a fan – something that he had noticed in The Rare Tusk.
Oh, how wrong I was…
Isaac then put a key he had retrieved into the ignition and turned it. There was no obvious change but for a slight rumbling and some minor vibrations; a slight hitch. It was surprising – Evan expected a professionally made vehicle such as this to have no signs of its functioning, according to what he knew.
“Is this your first time with an air conditioner? It’s glorious, is it not?” The older man grinned, and suddenly Evan felt that he seemed a lot more like any other kindly, older man. Gone was the subtle pressure and disapproval.
“Ah… I hate being outdoors, but they insist that it would be improper for me to remain inside the jeep with the air conditioning on.” All of them just sat there, enjoying the miraculous piece of imbuement that was the air conditioner. Eventually, Isaac straightened back up and placed a hand on the shifter, nestled between the two front seats. On it were several letters in different positions.
“You three are my newest students, then? You two in the back already know me, but what of you… Evan, was it?”
“Yes, Sir. Er, no, I did not know of you when we met. Apologies. I am grateful for your tutelage and hope to learn more about you. Sir.” Evan was overcome with several different emotions at once – excitement, nervousness, gratitude, and embarrassment just to name a few. The constant ‘sirs’ were awkward, but he did not… oh. He did, in fact, know how Master Isaac preferred to be addressed. Panic soon joined the previous mix.
Isaac must have seen all of that in his expression, for he stopped Evan before he opened his mouth. “Stop. Be at ease; I’m not going to have one of my students whipped for simply using the wrong form of address, but don’t make it a habit.”
“Ah, thank you, Master Isaac.” At that, the man’s grin broadened into a brief smile. The change in demeanor was unsettling for Evan.
Silence resumed – Master Isaac appeared to be fan of it – as everyone watched through the thick windows as the rest of the convoy quickly got ready to depart. It was strange how easily he could tell they were being started, considering they were military equipment. From inside he couldn’t hear anything, but imagined they made noise just as the jeep had. Didn’t imbuements only do what they were supposed to?
“Master Isaac, how is it that all of the vehicles are making signs at being started? Shouldn’t they be completely silent?” Evan had decided to voice his question – no time to waste when he had an expert right here he could ask.
“There are two parts to the answer: first, the inscriptions are all set either inside the metal or on the unexposed side. Doing this has some obvious benefits, only one of which is hiding their activation. We’ll get to how this is done another time, for it is an incredibly important skill for any self-respecting craftsman.
“Secondly, what you are likely referring too is simply a side effect of the loss of efficiency inside a formation, either from simply bad imbuement – such as from an inexperienced crafter like yourself – or from the decay of a formation over time or from damage; something like that.
“There are ways to suppress these effects, as they are generally bad news for a multitude of reasons, but they are also a boon in that they allow anyone to spot the inefficiency and have it addressed, whether that be a craftsman fixing it themselves – something you will be doing soon enough – or taking it somewhere to either have replace or fixed.
“In this particular case, what you are seeing is a result of the way the vehicles are constructed. None of them use pure force effects for propulsion through imbuement, but rather use another method where the imbuements only release the energy which is then harnessed mechanically in order to move the vehicle.
“It’s a lot cheaper to do it this way rather than imbuing the entire vehicle, not just in construction but also in the Substance required. Substance than can be used to generate pure force without some physical means is rare and expensive.”
Isaac took a deep breath – that was far and beyond the most words he had ever heard the man speak, but already he could see that the man was a good teacher.
On the roof of the car was a mirror that hung down slightly, and in it, he spotted Iliana nodding, as though having confirmed something.
In the back, Arnav spoke up. “Master Isaac, what do you mean by saying that’s what we’ll be doing soon? Will we be fixing things so soon?”
“Yes; that will be one of your largest duties at the outpost – none of you have the cultivation needed for crafting things wholesale, and won’t for a while, so you will be expected, both by the outpost and myself, to contribute by fixing things as they deteriorate. You’re still getting paid, even if it’s a pittance, and Starspire needs something to show for it.
“I personally find that the hands-on experience does a lot of good for students that haven’t done much imbuing yet. Quality crafting requires a lot of know-how that just doesn’t tend to stick until it’s been applied in the field, and the variety of formations you’ll get to work with will do you all a lot of good.
“It’s also important that you do this in order to earn enough money to start buying small quantities of Substance – this brings me to something more important for you all to know: the certification you require in order to ‘graduate’ from me won’t truly be possible until you have more bandwidth to play around with, and the only reasonable way to pay for that is by doing all the jobs you can around the outpost.”
After having dropped that bomb, everyone was stunned into silence, thinking about what that really meant for them. Evan was relieved – he had been worried about how he would accomplish anything without being strong enough for his creations to be viable or useful, and it seemed the military was already prepared for this.
He was also glad that the trap hidden in the graduation section of the contract had been revealed – they were so generous because they knew that in order to actually obtain the rest of the Substance, he would need to work his ass off anyway, and might not even end up needing it – it was only good for getting him past his first collapse, after all. It had seemed to him that the terms were a little too generous considering how expensive Substance was, and that they were encouraging training that primarily benefitted him anyway.
Knowing why they had been so generous greatly comforted him – that contract had felt like a sword of Damocles ever since he signed it – filled with hidden dangers that loomed over him at all times.
Nobody else spoke up after that, and everyone simply waited within the cool confines of the jeep as, finally, the vehicles began to move. Evan was filled with wonder as he watched the trucks, now loaded down with countless supplies, began to move forward just about as easily as the jeeps, who were themselves quite heavy considering their metal construction.
Obviously, there was no visible strain, but it was amazing all the same. Their acceleration was smooth and seemed almost completely silent from inside the jeep. Isaac lightly pressed down on something by his feet and they were off.
Quickly, the convoy entered a narrow formation as they began to move down the well-trodden path. For the moment there was plenty of space off to the side of the road, the forest having been pushed back more than a kilometer from the city, but as the road entered the woods proper that changed.
The road was still quite wide in order to help facilitate the enormous quantity of people that passed through the gate every day, but the convoy was not alone on the road.
Silence reigned for the first hour of their trip, with Evan content to keep the silence as he gazed out the window, watching a more typical assortment of coaches, carts, and carriages as they made their way past. The convoy had picked up speed but were not racing down the road like he expected.
It felt like a missed opportunity to Evan, but he could understand that the road wasn’t exactly built to accommodate such massive, heavy, and powerful vehicles.
Iliana eventually restarted the conversation, asking a few questions of her own about Substance, each of which Isaac answered well. He was impressed, and as they all rotated their questions, time seemed to blur and before they knew it, the outpost had come up in the windshield.
As previously mentioned, despite all of these bases being called outposts, the ones closer to Starspire – such as this one – were closer to fortresses in their size and scale. The healthy conversation that had easily flowed for hours was paused as the three of them took in the grandeur.