Morning found me surrounded by the hustle and bustle of people getting ready and stalls opening up. Usually, I’d be getting ready this time too. Instead, I was already walking as fast as I could with my bulging backpack towards the camp. I was definitely not going to risk being late on my first day of training. I might have had a few close shaves with a few poorly timed road crossings, but in the end, I reached the camp nice and early with all limbs intact. My brand new leather shoes were a little dirty, however, but that could be solved with a bit of cloth and some rubbing.

I headed in, stopping to greet and explain my entry to the guardhouse. Fortunately, similar to the day before, I was expected and allowed in without any trouble. Following down the path I walked the day before, I reached the training grounds. Yesterday I had the time to look around and appreciate the architecture. Today I was far too excited and nervous to do anything but get there as fast as I could. Fortunately, I had arrived as hours before the cut-off, as I had intended, and people were just starting to wake up.

I had planned to come early so that I would have some buffer time. Time that I would use to familiarise myself with the overall flow of events and to get to know some of my bunkmates. I reached the building, heading straight to A company, which I assumed was the building with the ‘A’ banner over the middle. I wonder why they call it a company, is it because fighting is their business? As I got closer to the building, I could see that the building had 4 floors, with a stairwell on either side. On the right of the A banner that ran the full length of the building down the centre, were 4 smaller banners. Each hung over the railing of every floor, except the first floor which hung out of one of the window grills of the bunk.

I quickly scanned, heaving a sigh at relief after finding the grey wolf banner on the third floor. That was where my platoon was staying. I noticed that the other three flags had a green stag, a brown boar and a blue bear. Those were likely to be the representative platoons of three other cities. I headed up the staircase, gripping the handrail and leaning forward to counter the weight of the bag. Eventually, I reached the third floor, slightly worried about how sore my legs already were. Up close, I could see that each level mainly comprised of two substantial bunk rooms. I popped my head in the first room, opening the door as slowly and as little as possible to avoid disturbing anybody.

I saw that all twenty beds were full and that only a few individuals were awake, with the rest all in happily snoozing away. Alright, I guess the second room is where I’ll be staying. Although I do hope that there is an empty bed there, I would feel quite awkward if I was the only one sleeping on the floor. Fortunately for me, a quick look into the second room shows me that that is not the case. In fact, there were 4 empty beds, which meant that including me, my platoon had a total of 37 people. I guess they don’t try to get a fixed amount of trainees, instead going by the number of those who meet the criteria. Which meant that I was surrounded by people who all definitely had a higher fitness and combat level than I did.

I entered the room, closing the door as I came in. I heard a groan of annoyance as the early morning sun flashed over someone’s eyes through the open door. I was briefly concerned that that would be a problem, but he just turned around and continued sleeping. I walked over to the corner furthest from me where the 4 empty beds were. Curiously, someone was sleeping at the corner, isolated by a bed’s distance from everyone else. I had no choice but to intrude and sleep next to him. Maybe we’ll become friends because of this.

I slowly unpacked, taking out my training attire and changing to it. There was a locker beside each bed, presumably to store all our equipment. I thought I’d get a head start on the organising process by taking out all my gear and stowing it away neatly either in the locker or under my bed. While I did not know how things should be kept in the locker, there were enough lockers left open that I could get an idea. Besides, other than organising, there was nothing else to do since no one in this room was awake enough to talk to yet.

I took the time to slowly unpack, ensuring that I kept everything as squared away and neat as possible. I wanted to be prepared in case there were any inspections. I noticed that, much like the rest of the camp, everything inside the bunk was of rather high quality. Indeed, everything was clearly used and not new, but you wouldn’t find me complaining about any of this. The mattress was definitely better than the one I had at home, with the pillow and bed cover clean, and the locker was also sturdy. I made use of the mirror in it to quickly brush my hair and ensure I looked presentable as can be.

Nicely enough, the twenty or so minutes I took to unpack was sufficient for my bunkmates to start waking up. Some went about their daily routines without taking notice of me, and surprisingly the first one to talk to me was the boy who had been sleeping in the corner. Black haired and pale-skinned, he looked like he had been indoors for most of his life. What really made him unusual, though, was the steel blue voice and emotionless face he had. He definitely made me jump, though, when he touched my shoulder since I had not heard him get up at all. Seems like my sleeping buddy might turn out to be quite interesting.

“Hi! I’m Kyrios brand, I’ll be joining you guys for training. You gave me quite the shock, mind giving me your name as well?” I said, inwardly cringing at what could very well be a bad pick up line. It seemed that the guy opposite me agreed, though only the smallest crinkles around his eyes hinted at his amusement. Or annoyance.

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“Stedras Braun. Welcome to the platoon Kyrios. You are a little late for a trainee, though. I wish to evaluate how strong you would have to be allowed to join so late. Shall we spar? I have awakened the power of ice, what about you?”

“Woah! That’s a bit fast, don’t you think? I don’t have any powers and definitely didn’t enter here based on my strength. To be honest, I used to work in Major Tim’s tannery, and he decided to give me a chance and recommended me. I will definitely work hard and earn my place here, though. How has training been so far?”

“Ah, I apologise for being presumptuous. So you are the man he recommended. An excellent warrior, I have heard my father speak highly of him. As his representative, what you lack in strength, I’m sure you compensate with discipline and potential. Perhaps we can fight when you ‘earn your place’. As for your question, training has been rather easy, though team tactics pose some difficulty since I’m not exactly what people call ‘friendly’.”

Hearing Stedras reference, his father briefly made me curious as to who he might be, but I forgot that thought as quickly as it came. Instead, I was more concerned about getting into a pact to fight with an attributed individual in my first few hours as a trainee. Even the weakest trainee here would sweep the floor with me, much less an individual such as Stedras who seemed like he could rank among the top trainees. I’d take it as motivation, I guess. A little more conversation followed after which he took his leave to get around to brushing and getting ready. I looked around, trying to find anybody else to talk to, hopefully, someone less combat-happy as Stedral.

I noticed one of the guys sleeping on the same side of the bunk as me open his eyes. He was still wrapped up in the blanket, but he’d turned over to face me. It was slightly comical to see him bundled up so comfortably, yet frowning at me because he could not remember who I was. I waved to him with a slight smile, and still confused, he nodded to me.

I realised that the man in the blanket cocoon curiously enough had red hair, which was unusual even among awakened individuals. He probably had a unique bloodline, but the only family in this city that is likely to have such a bloodline … was perhaps the city magistrate’s Blaze family. The very same family that took over after mine died out. I didn’t have any prior experience with them. Still, hopefully, this man was not like the usual pompous buffoon of a noble scion.

“Who’re you?”

I had to look around to find where the voice came from, it took a repeat of the question to realise that the Blaze boy was talking to me, while still wrapped up in his blanket. Come to think of it, that blanket definitely looked luxurious, I could see why he wouldn’t want to let go of it, but isn’t he getting hot?

“Hi, I’m Kyrios Brand. I’ll be joining everyone for training from now on. May I know your name? That blanket looks comfortable.” I threw in a compliment about the blanket, hoping to make a favourable impression on him, and the content yet smug grin that he had after that made it clear it worked.

“Darren Blaze. I’ve awakened to the element of fire, and this is my favourite blanket. Premium Sorrowrock grazer wool all the way. It better be, I saved up many presents and rewards for this. You wouldn’t know this, but it’s bonded to me so I can find it wherever it may be, and it boosts my fire attribute growth over time as I sleep—perfection in a blanket. By the way, I’m also the nominal leader of our platoon. I’m trying to get our platoon to the top 3, if not number 1, given that we have the most awakened. I’ll be evaluating your fitness and ability later during training, so do your best.”

Another strange guy. He seemed pretty alright overall, but he really liked his blanket. No surprise that he was awakened, his bloodline made that pretty likely already. What I was surprised though was that two was already the highest as of now, which meant that there really was a good chance of getting a good standing among the platoons. That was sure to bring with it its own rewards. But as he said, I’d first have to prove my ability in the training or instead first make a lousy impression, take it on the chin, and then make a good impression later on.

Soon enough, most of the bunk was awake, getting ready and changing into the exercise attire. Morning was mainly group exercise followed by combat practice. As everyone woke up and got ready, I introduced myself to those who didn’t seem too busy. Surprisingly enough, most people were not that surprised, given that camp had only started a few days ago. So these guys just assumed I joined late for whatever reason and that I’d ‘earned’ my place. Hopefully, their perception of me wouldn’t change after they found out I hadn’t.

The day’s training went past in a blur if I was being honest. I barely knew where or what I was doing most of the time. Over the day, I got to know most of the people in my platoon, and on the whole, they were pretty positive. There were definitely some who were snobs of anyone who wasn’t elite, or working-class men who didn’t trust nobility. But those fault lines definitely seemed faint, and the power of awakened meant that everyone followed along and listened to Darren. Stedras was mostly quiet, but he easily powered through training.

One thing I noticed, curiously enough, was that in the physical fitness and combat departments, awakened did not always beat out unawakened. Definitely, all the awakened were above average, as the awakening process strengthened the body. Still, I saw some unawakened run faster, lift heavier weights and fight with more finesse than unawakened. But the awakened would prove their general superiority when they had the opportunity to train with their elements during our second weapon handling session.

To be truthful, it filled me with pure awe and envy, as I desperately wished to be a part of those blessed ones with the power to shape their own fate in society. I knew, however, that not only was it unlikely, but that I’d need to be in peak physical fitness to compare up to these people who had awakened earlier than I did. So I did my best in all the trainings, trying my best to absorb whatever they taught, as well as observing how trainees and instructors alike approached different challenges. Perhaps it was the first day’s blues, however, at the end of it all, I fell asleep feeling like I had a head of cotton.