The troop marched out of the barracks after another grueling morning inspection, and gathered in the plaza, and ordered themselves in ranks where they stood to attention in the slight drizzle that fell out of the overcast sky.

They stood there staring forwards, unmoving, eyes facing front, faces locked in a neutral position. The rain started to soak into their gambesons, making them heavier than they already were, but nobody moved a muscle.

Of course, they did move, but only in such way that it couldn’t be observed, but Mereah knew that most of them had also gotten tips from veterans, to wriggle their toes within the boots, to tension and relax their calves, shifting balance ever so slightly, tensioning the back and stomach muscles to make standing still like this. Those who hadn’t been lucky enough to catch the eye of a helpful veteran had gleaned tips from their comrades or had been forcibly taught by their comrades. As moving whilst standing at attention would result in fifty laps, for the entire company, around the training fields in full armor and travel gear, and after the first three times, nobody felt like doing laps for the team.

After what seemed like an eternity where water had been running down her face and soaking her armor, the wind chilling her wet face to uncomfortable levels, making her nose runny with the cold, Nirma finally appeared from behind them. His heavy boots made wet squelch noises in the mud of the field. He calmly walked to the front of their company as if it was a sunny day where one would stroll through a park, and not a rainy dreary day on a muddy wet field under a roiling gray sky.

She let out a careful sigh of relief. Soon they’d be able to move again. Probably back to the training area to be beaten to a pulp, but at least she would warm up from the exercise, or soon be too numb from the pain to notice the cold anymore. It would be a significant improvement to her current situation, being like a sponge soaking up the rain, in her opinion.

The mood in the company had lifted a bit with Nirma finally having come to the company, knowing the dreary wait would soon be over, and they would return to action.

Nimra took the gathered company of trainees in, eying them as a butcher would eye a not-so-choice piece of meat, barely passing muster so it wouldn't end up as minced meat.

The water that poured down the heavens so steadily beaded upon his smooth-shaven head, before trickling down, using the folds and planes of his face as rain gutters to streak down. He just stood there eying them, not saying a word. The mood shifted to uncomfortable under his unrelenting critical gaze.

He stepped to attention himself and then barked forcefully

“Atten-tion!”

The entire gathered company snapped to attention and stood straighter in front of their commander, all faces pointing in his direction instead of straight forward.

“We have received orders to clear out a goblin infestation in the sewers.”

Large eyes and a few incredulous gasps went through the assembled company. She blinked a few times in surprise, wondering if she had heard correctly, or that the cold had finally done something with her mind. They were trainees, they hadn’t graduated yet, still had to go through so much training! And now they’d have to face those vicious beasts in the dark stinking sewers? Surely this must be some kind of test to see how they’d react to such news.

But then he continued after having paused for a moment, his harsh voice washing over them, with the background noise of the rain dripping down.

“We have received commands from general Sipkaroz herself to accomplish this mission.”

He clasped his gloved hands behind his back whilst walking in front of the company, their heads following him.

“Even though I believe you weaklings aren’t ready for such a mission, I don’t have much say in it.”

He stood still, looking into the rain that fell from the sky, apparently not noticing the drizzle that hit his eyeballs.

“You’re a sorry, underleveled lot, but those who will survive this challenge will become stronger for it. Without teamwork, you will most likely perish down there. Goblins are fierce creatures to battle with and they will fight dirty and from ambushes, never a straight fight.”

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He turned to face the company of trainees with an even more serious expression on his face.

“The sixteen of you will be put into four groups of four to scout out the tunnels in search of the goblin nest. You are to move with extreme caution and not engage the goblins alone, but to report back to the command center when you have encountered them. We will then make a coordinated assault on the nest. No hero-ing on this mission. Heroes die in messy ways.”

His gaze swept over the assembled men and women before him and as his gaze hit her, she felt a shudder go through her as if he was watching them for the last time. She vowed to herself that she wouldn’t perish on this mission, to prove him wrong.

“Today is a rest day, to recover from the exercises of the last few days, to build up your strength. Mend your armor, sharpen your gear, and make sure to get replacements for broken gear. Tomorrow at dawn we will make way for the sewers.”

With a dismissive wave of his arm, he commanded

“Dismissed”

As they filed back to their barracks Flut made his way to her side. Excitement was clearly visible on his face. She steeled herself for his inevitable enthusiasm.

“Can you believe it? Our first real mission!”

“Yes, I can believe it, and I’d rather not go on that mission until I have a few more levels under my belt honestly.”

“What? How dangerous can goblins be, they are hardly larger than a kid? Toss a pebble at them and they keel over!”

Flut exclaimed with confidence. His bravado set something off in her, that made her stop and grab Flut by his shoulder, gripping it tightly so he would face her.

“Listen to me. Goblins are dangerous. I've heard the stories of the boys that went into the sewers, looking for hidden stashes and smuggling routes. Those boys were no pushovers, but nearly died to the goblins.”

“Pah, a couple of low-level street ruffians without training. We have armor and weapons and military training. I’m a level 2 soldier, have excellent weapons and armor, I can handle a few goblins easy!”

“Just be careful. Promise me that, no rushing along heroically. You still owe me a drink.”

She said seriously, keeping her eyes locked to his laconic gaze, to try to push home she was serious.

“Heh, no problem Mer, you’ll get your drink out of me.”

With a chuckle he pulled free from her grasp and made his way into the barracks, leaving her alone in the rain.

With a sigh, she made way to the armory instead of into the barracks.

----

With a grunt and effort, Crag lifted the piece of deadwood far over his head, the sewage dripping from it over his face, and fit it carefully on top of the dam he had constructed in his piece of the tunnel. He then scooped up a glob of fat that floated in the water nearby and pushed it into the spaces between the deadwood and the rest of the wall. Splashing on a few more globs of sticking goo on it for good measure he nodded satisfied to himself.

He took a few steps back and inspected the dam he had built for any weaknesses. He had carefully built up a deadwood and trash wall, using his claws to bore holes into the walls in which he had fit in smaller sticks and pieces of trash for structural support, weaving everything into an interlocking grid.

He had ended up with a nice big dam that could handle him crashing into it shoulder first. It still had some big holes in it after weaving all the materials together. Plugging those with rancid fat and feces, eventually made a smelly, slippery, not easily penetrable barricade. Which should at least slow down any rats, that would try to get through, enough for him to get to them so he could finish them off.

He waded back to his “campsite” and grabbed his rusty rod and lifted it and held it in both his hands, thinking about the battle he would wage. Swinging the rod left and right, feeling the might the rod would give him, he felt his chances were good to come out victorious. He glanced at his status to check his stamina and his remaining time.

With a satisfied smile, he saw he had fifteen stamina points and three hours remaining. Building the dam hadn't been so exhausting that he hadn't regained any stamina, or lost any stamina at all. Granted, he had taken his time with it, so his stamina would be able to build up more, but he had time to spare now. He glanced at the corner further away in his tunnel and considered whether he should kill them now or later. With fifteen points he felt pretty confident he could risk it.

He decided to be cautious however and to save the few moments to regain some more stamina points. He had the time, and would possibly need it, as there were an uncountable amount of gathered rats in that tunnel around the corner, and swinging this large heavy rod and moving around a lot whilst dispatching the rats would drain his stamina fast.

The more prepared he was, the less likely he would be injured. He nodded wisely to his own decision-making, he settled down in a corner and closed his eyes, his rod laying over his legs, waiting for his stamina pool to tick up.