The field exercise was officially announced on the next day. It would start at the end of the week, so there was a bit of time to prepare and find teams. A group was supposed to have four people, but five were accepted if the numbers worked out. Or if you had enough influence, I suppose. A few people asked to join us, or tried to recruit me to their party. We declined them all. Our little group was perfect as it was.

The academy provided supplies, tents and transportation. Sadly, I was not allowed to bring my horse. First year students had to march next to the wagons. It was meant as physical training and to give the future officers an insight into a normal soldier's life. I was certain we were still treated a lot better than a regular soldier though.

Early Frigday morning every first year student stood at the parade square. We all had unnecessarily large backpacks which could easily be stored in a wagon. But I was certainly not going to point that out to an instructor. The backpack we carried contained a tent, a sleeping bag, some tools, water and clothes. The food was inside the wagons. So were most of the weapons and armour. We were wearing a normal uniform and a short sword.

“Morning students!” Peter said. “I am in charge of this little exercise. Victoria and Irene will assist me and ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

I knew all three teachers. That was good. None of them had treated me unfairly so far.

“We also have 24 second year students, who will serve as commanders for your groups. They are your superiors during this exercise and you will treat them as such.”

I could not help but notice that the second years had smaller backpacks. The teachers had none, of course. Their stuff was in a wagon.

“This exercise will take two weeks. Our destination is the Korrah Forest. We will follow the Jinso north for three days, then go west for another day. Once we arrive you will build a camp. We will stay there for five days and run a bunch of exercises. Then we will take the same route back. On this trip, you won’t have any servants. Any support personnel, like the wagon drivers, are not going to follow your orders. If you try to bully them, there will be a punishment. Understood?”

“Yes sir!” We all answered.

“Good. I will assign group leaders now. They will give you further instructions.”

Stolen story; please report.

A short time later a man approached us. He was of medium height with brown hair. Interestingly, he had a beard, not the most common thing among students. Maybe he was part dwarf? He certainly was burly.

“Students, I am Torben Grant. I will be in charge of this group during this exercise. I expect you to not cause any trouble and follow orders. You will march left of wagon three. There will be further instruction at our first stop. Understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good.” He nodded approvingly. “Get into position.”

He left and walked towards a bunch of horses. “Wait, they get to ride?” I asked my friends.

“Well, they are getting command training. Only regular soldiers march, usually. Depends a bit on the situation and the terrain, but officers are not expected to walk.” Helena explained. “If Victoria had not petrified Archibald during our first lesson, he would be complaining a lot right now. You can be sure of that.”

“He is probably informing his sycophants how he will tell his father.” I said.

Helena snickered.

There were six wagons. We took our position next to wagon three, as ordered. Nyx was not sleeping on my head for a change. She was walking next to us and had chosen the size of a large dog.

“So, what do you think about our commander?” Helena asked.

“I am not sure. He seemed rather… professional?” I responded.

“Too early to tell.” Skadi said. “The important part will be how he handles combat.”

“He did not leer at us, I call that a win!” Cassie said.

“Your standards are not very high.” Helena observed.

“You should have seen some of the men my mother tried to set me up with…” She shuddered.

“How many of them did you poison?” Skadi asked.

I assumed Skadi was joking. Then I saw Cassie’s face.

“Well… define poison.” She said with a grin.

At this point our journey started. Peter and Irene were at the front, Victoria was at the back. They were riding, of course. The second years were split as well, with the majority being at the front of the caravan. We had six wagons, each with a dedicated driver. There were also four maids to look after the teachers. They were in the first wagon.

We were rather early so there was not a lot of traffic in the city. Or maybe the road was cleared ahead of us. Either way, we moved rather quickly and soon left through the northern gate.

“Not a cloud in sight. It will be really hot in the afternoon.” Helena complained.

I looked at the sky. “At least we are not wearing armour. Being covered in metal would be really unpleasant.”

“You all have water affinity. Can’t you create ice?” Cassie asked.

“Well… yes.” Helena admitted. “But none of us knows a spell to keep someone's body cool. A small bit of ice won’t stop me from sweating… a lot.”

“You are from the north. This is not too bad for me.” Cassie said, shrugging.

“You have a fire affinity, you just like heat!” Helena grumbled. “I am not made for this.”

“You will survive. And if not, Koyuki can animate your corpse.” Skadi said.

I nodded and placed my hand on Helena’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I will use your bones wisely.”

She looked at me. I tried to look serious, but failed. We both laughed.