By the afternoon of the last day at Basic, Ted was surprised to find that he wasn’t entirely looking forward to leaving. It hadn’t been the best school, with the instructors not always able to answer questions about the world that Ted would have thought simple, such as ‘how to learn Time Magic’ and ‘how do attributes work?’ or even ‘how do I level up my class, and what happens when I do?’. The answers varied between slightly helpful but lacking in detail; ‘By improving relevant Skills and Techniques, challenging yourself, and completing Missions for the Authority - you will get stronger’; and infuriatingly useless; ‘You’ll learn as you go; not everything can be taught at Basic.’ More than once, Ted was just told to go to check out the library, where a whole host of books provided minute detail on the benefits of improving the Fire Magic based Technique Fire Wall from Level 9 to Level 10, or the best way to cook an animal called Bakkar.
Ted had been fortunate enough to find a small reference book which discussed different Classes, that he’d shared with Jerah and Kara, but it had provided only a little bit more information than the Help function on the CPS. He’d learnt a little bit more about Jerah’s Warrior Monk and Kara’s Brawler class.
The guidance at the beginning of the book did confirm that in order to increase his GateKeeper Class, he’d have to level up all the Skills that the Class was linked to. Considering Jerah and Kara had both been able to obtain most of theirs already, and Ted hadn’t even got halfway, this was very frustrating. The instructors had assured him that the basic Skills would be picked up quickly, and that some of his were considered particularly tricky, so he would have to be patient. With study, exploration, and practice, it would come.
There had been other time dedicated to internal growth, praise, and prayer; not just once a week, but nearly daily, for which every single recruit was given their own place to practise their religions. There was an unwritten rule not to discuss what that practice was, but it was just another way that Ted felt unprepared, and out of place. Everyone seemed comfortable here, knowing what to do.
He mostly just napped.
And so when Graduation came round, a new set of smart clothes given - suits similar to those on Earth - Ted was not feeling entirely ready for the next step. Whatever that would be.
In a display grander than anything they’d seen before, they were asked to line up in three rows on the main square outside of their barracks, in front of a lectern that had been placed there just for that occasion. Alyssa stood behind it, the stocky woman who they’d failed to impress on day one, with the species based attack between Sassar and Man. Today, she was smiling.
‘Welcome everyone. It’s good to see you again.’ she said, once everyone was lined up. She looked up and down the lines.
‘I’ve been receiving reports of your progress over these past two weeks, and I have been impressed by what I have heard. You have all put in the time, energy, and effort into learning the skills you’ll require in order to support the Authority in His war against the Enemy.
‘Not all of you will be fighting with blades and magic, but all of you will be important in this war, whether it’s by helping build the weapons and vehicles that will fight this war, creating the food that feeds the troops, or managing the logistics that support our supply chain and army movements. You are all valuable, and all supporting the Lord in his battle for Good.
‘Basic Training is just that: Basic. This is a new world to all of you; there will be many, many things about it that don’t make sense right now, or seem confusing, or even contradictory. That is okay; it was the same for all of us as we started our journey. This world is layered with complexity and potential; as you explore you will learn, and you will find others to teach you. Your fellow soldiers and workers, farmers and all members of the People, have all been through this same experience, and come out as worthy cogs in the Authority’s righteous machine.
‘As you will too.
‘You will now be issued your assignments and orders for your future roles, and led off campus into the neighbouring town of Blackmoor, from which you will receive your weapons and armour from the quartermaster, if applicable, and direction on where to go next. Most of you will be provided with transport to the towns and cities that require your roles, or to the Front which has a regiment requiring your Class.’
It was a nicely polished speech, well presented, from a woman that none of them had seen since the first day, and apparently would never see again. As she finished, she raised her arm in a salute; all the recruits returned it, a move that had been drilled into them just half an hour before. There had been a suggestion of attempting a march, but it had been abandoned quickly after a single attempt. They would learn as they went, apparently.
Suddenly a voice cut through the atmosphere of pride and achievement that filled the plaza.
‘So, do we meet our Lord now?’
Ted recognised the voice as Eva’s; she’d consistently been the most forthright of the group, the most willing to question and query. Ted had had questions too, but due to his slight lacking in religious belief, he’d kept quiet out of an attempt to be discreet; Eva had no such concerns.
‘I’m sorry?’ Alyssa said, looking down at the group, annoyed. All eyes were on Eva now, who was unperturbed by the attention.
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‘We were told we would meet the Lord before we left Basic Training.’ she continued. A slight murmuring arose then, but a supportive one. This was true, Ted remembered; the woman from Alma who had run the presentation on the first day had promised them a meeting.
‘The Authority has a dozen planets to oversee, with multiple fronts on each one. Each planet has approximately a thousand Basic Training Camps running at any one time. I’m afraid He is not available to attend all graduations.’ Alyssa said, in the same way someone might explain to a child why the Prime Minister hadn’t attended their Year 7 football match.
‘For if He wishes it to be, then all places are One, and all times are One, for all are One within Him.’ Eva said, apparently quoting something. Jerah leaned over to Ted.
‘Book Three of the Battles of the Lord Archive. She’s right, it cannot be denied, the Lord is not limited by time and space as we are.’ he explained.
Alyssa was starting to look a little frustrated now.
‘While the story of the Lord on all planets is true in its heart, the Scripture of each individual planet should not be taken as literal truth here in the Second World. We have avoided going into theological discussions since bringing you here for several reasons; firstly because you all will have taken differing routes to the path to truth; and secondly because the continued path to the Authority is found within the world that you are shortly about to enter, and he will be with you there, even if you can’t see him. Rejoice in that, and be happy that you are supporting the Lord in his fight against the Enemy.’
There was muttering, but it was subdued. Eva didn’t make a further complaint, and shortly after the company was dismissed. Ted spoke to Jerah as they turned towards the barracks.
‘Seems very similar to how it was on my world; the Lord had all the power but mostly it required you to believe in him without evidence.’ Ted said.
Jerah looked at him, frowning, and Ted wondered if he’d crossed a blasphemous line. He’d gotten more comfortable with Jerah over the two weeks, but he knew that Jerah was still a true believer, and wouldn’t accept direct criticism of his God. His expression softened though.
‘It is a little frustrating, I agree. We have made it to the Afterlife, to find that much of it is as before.’ he cast an eye up at Alyssa with the closest Jerah would get to disdain. They’d discussed the lack of information that the instructors had been willing to provide before, with some frustration. ‘But there will be a Plan, as there always was. It is our path to follow it.’
Ted shrugged, and joined the crowd of now graduates, joining the seven other combatant recruits as they returned to their barracks for the last time, the non-combatants in their own larger group behind. Reaching their beds, they each found a black grip bag awaiting them, zipped up and ready to be worn as a rucksack. Ted opened his up, to find all of his clothes packed neatly, alongside a few additional t-shirts and trousers in varying, yet still conservative colours, as if to try and offer him the chance to express himself within very strict confines.
In addition to that there was a canteen for water; a set of vials containing mana and health potions; a bandoleer, with several pockets and clips; and a wad of thick notes. Ted took a look at them. The number 100 was printed in large font in all corners, with a large title announcing that they were Authority Requisition Notes.
‘The bearer of these notes may exchange them for goods equivalent to the value of 100 Requisition Points. Prices are set by the Central Authority Exchange.’
So he’d been given money. Or, well, vouchers, it felt more like, as it appeared that these could only be used at Authority run shops and businesses.
Although, in this world, wasn’t every business Authority run? Wasn’t that the point?
There was honestly so much still to find out.
In addition to the rest, there were some trainers, a notepad and pen, a pamphlet about Walking with God, and an overcoat; but that was pretty much it. There was a ration pack, filled with dry food, but Ted was disappointed to see that it was very close to the food they’d been served in the canteen; unidentifiable forms of mush that were incredibly close to foods like porridge and bolognese, without quite making it there.
Overall, it felt very minimalist, but what else would they really need? There was no technology in this world that would require cables or phones, and he’d not been made aware of any requirement for a passport or travel documents; the Identify skill did that well enough. He hoisted the bag onto his back and looked around at the others doing the same. Jerah was the closest thing he had to a friend here, but Kara was coming close. He’d developed some camaraderie with Eva and Red too, after asking both of them to help him develop his Dodge technique. Both had left him bruised and filled with regret. Red had indeed turned out to be from Earth, but from a small commune in Australia. They’d shared some memories, but not many, finding reminiscing about the old world a little awkward. Perhaps neither were ready to review their own deaths yet.
Toya had turned out to be a pale Alman, contradicting Ted’s assumption that their whole world was filled with dark skinned stocky people; apparently Toya was considered freakishly tall where she came from, attaining a dazzling 170 centimetres in height. She had told Ted that her people lived mostly underground, hiding from the sun, which was harsh and bright; she came from a sect that had never braved the surface, unlike the rest of the people of Alma. She and the darker skinned of her planet had greeted each other like long lost siblings however, unaware of the others’ continuing existence, but happy to find out the truth. It had been surprisingly touching to see.
Finally there were the Sassar, who had stayed in their close knit group for most of the training, branching out only when necessary for the training exercises and missions. They were two fire mages and a warrior, named Lissar, Mirass, and Elssar respectively, though Ted regularly got the names mixed up if he didn’t use the Identify spell. Even then, he felt like he was pronouncing the names wrong, as the Sassar seemed to have built a whole alphabet around the letter ‘s’, with different intonations and letter length. So far they hadn’t commented on it, but he felt there was some irritation hidden behind the reptilian eyes.
‘Shall we, then?’ Ted said, looking at Jerah. ‘We’ll wait for Kara, Eva and Toya outside, and then head into town together?’
He looked around the room at the wider group, his combat team and the non-combatants alike, a mix of emotions, from worry to excitement shown across the group, most of them echoed by Ted himself. But mostly, he felt excitement.
It was time for the real adventure to start.