Her opponent thrust his spear forward, but she met it with her shield, countering with her own thrust. Her opponent blocked with his own shield, but was pushed back. She stepped forward, keeping him off guard. He was only able to protect himself from two more strikes before she got a solid hit to his stomach. He fell to the ground, only to have two more of his allies step over him and take his place.
But she didn’t shy away, she met them head on. She took several hits to the arms and legs, but she managed to protect her chest and head. Anytime she managed to score a hit on an opponent, another would take his place. She was not sure how long this lasted, but eventually a shrill whistle sounded through the battlefield, bringing it to a halt.
Both sides began to help up the people who had fallen, even if they were the ones to knock them down. But she wasn’t paying attention to them.
“Trainee Astrid! What the hell were you thinking! Where did you learn to do that? Huh? Pushing ahead of your squad mates and leaving a hole in the middle of them for the enemy to exploit? You certainly didn’t learn it here! When you pushed forward, you created a hole in your squad, a hole that increased the pressure on your squad mates and eventually broke them! Had this been a real battle, you would have been the reason all of them are dead!” The drill sergeant screamed in her face, his face red with rage.
Before Astrid could respond, he was already rushing off to berate another trainee, detailing every single mistake they made during the drill battle. One of the calmer Sergeants stepped up to her.
“Trainee Astrid, you excel in actual combat skill. Nothing we have taught in that regard has been worth it for you. However, you struggle with control, teamwork, and pacing. You have the makings of a commander, but unless you become more aware of the situation around you, any soldier under your command with die. Focus less on being the best fighter in the battle, and focus more and know how the battle is turning. With your combat skills and Abilities, you would make a great response force, going to parts of the battles that need more help. Focus.” With that, the calmer man walked away to provide more tips to other Trainees.
While the other Trainees were usually berated and given examples as a unit, Astrid didn’t act as a unit, so she wasn’t trained as one. She sat down on a fallen log, resting her heavy shield beside her.
She had grown so used to working with Alaster and his Undead that she now struggled to work with actual people. Whenever she pushed forward, the Undead wouldn’t hesitate to follow. When she backed off, so did they. There was no need to communicate and keep track of the Skeletons. They were always where they needed to be, or maybe because Alaster was usually commanding them from the back, where he could see the battle from a distance.
She always found it weird that while Alaster always strived to level his Abilities in the most efficient way, he tended to use his sword more than his Magic attack. He did use it, but he seemed to favor the sword more than the spell, despite being a Mage. She was actually a bit jealous of Mages. They could attack from a distance, and their attacks had such wonderful effects.
The army recruited in waves. Regardless of when you signed up, you would be thrown in with a wave and begin training at the same time as the others in your wave. Each wave was generally a hundred strong. At first, it had seemed like a huge number to Astrid, but now, it just seemed so small. The trainers had constantly told them of the scale of actual battles and over time, it had changed their way of thinking. They all felt the same, the scale of the mock battles they had was doing little to prepare them for the scale of an actual battle, where hundreds would fight and die on either side.
Astrid’s wave only had ten Mages sign up. Which apparently was a larger number than they were expecting. Which didn’t really surprise her. Mages were rarer than Warrior types, and Mages could usually find an occupation that would pay well and didn’t involve putting their lives on the line.
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However, while the Warriors could train against each other with blunted weapons, the Trainee Mages could not. So they trained separately against a few of the Mage Trainers. Basically, they took turns attacking and defending with their spells, occasionally sitting down to meditate. In that regard, Astrid hated Mages. They could do significant damage with their spells if left unchecked, but they treated the battlefield as more a place to show off.
In a true fight, they wouldn’t be able to throw around their spells until they were out of mana and then leave to regenerate it. That’s what she liked about Alaster so much. He used his spells efficiently, supplementing them with his skill of the blade and allowing him to regenerate his Mana. He didn’t just sit down and let his Undead fight for him.
She thought of the young man often. She was certain he wasn’t dead. He wasn’t the type to die from some Goblins. She often wondered how many Undead he could raise now. At first, the Undead had creeped her out a bit, it was a living skeleton after all. But she soon grew to think of them fondly. While most of his undead were more like unthinking Golems, the Undead he kept around were kind of like toddlers.
To her, Alaster was the goal. He always seemed perfect. She never saw him make a mistake or lose his temper. He was always respectful and willing to make accommodations for her. She had rarely ever experienced such a thing. As an orphan, she had typically been overlooked by everyone else. Even when someone donated, it was usually clothes or books, both of which were already well-used.
But despite doing most of the work, even if it was technically his Undead doing it, he always made sure to split the earnings equally. And as soon as they could afford it, he made sure she had the proper equipment and clothes, brand new.
When they were separated, Astrid had broken into the bone shelter, expecting that he would just show up eventually and fix it. He never did. Most people in her situation would have thought that he was dead. But she didn’t. She had noticed that he felt somewhat distant, like he wanted to leave. And in the short amount of time that they were together, she learned that he was the type of person to just do what he wanted, especially given the opportunity. She expected that after he had lost the Goblins he considered returning to Sicon but decided against it.
She didn’t really hold it against him. He had taught her how to fight, and how to fight Monsters that they as Novices didn’t really have the right to be fighting, let alone killing. That alone gave her a large bump up ahead of the rest of the Trainees, even if she was now struggling to work with them. He had also made sure that her Aura was leveling up well. And now, even if she didn’t work well with them, anyone designated as her squad for a Mock Battle appreciated the Buff she provided them.
The System itself didn’t really like Mock Battles, but it still provided EXP, so while their leveling was very slow, it was constant. As a Warrior Class in the Military, they made her run and exercise plenty. Which increased her physical stats without the need for leveling. Occasionally, the Trainers would take out small groups of Trainees into the forests to allow them to use their learned skills on a living opponent and level them up.
She joined the Military for one simple reason. She didn’t care about the propaganda the recruiters were spouting, nor did she care about loyalty to her country. Her country had all but abandoned her. However, she did care about meeting Alaster again. She had no doubt that he would be much stronger when they met up again, and she didn’t want to drag him down. He would just leave again if she did. But she had no one to go hunting with, and only a fool would go out hunting alone. Even Alaster didn’t go anywhere without his Undead around him.
So instead of sitting around hoping something would change. She joined the Military, where they would push her to become stronger as well as provide the materials, training, and opportunity to do so. While her levels had practically stagnated, her ability to use them and use them well had improved drastically.
Her training would continue for another four months, a very long time for a common soldier, but she was a Sicon Soldier, having signed up in Sicon. And instead of providing the Nation with a large amount of soldiers, the city preferred to have elites represent them.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the Sergeant shouting at everyone to form up for another Mock Battle. The forth one of the day. She dragged herself to her feet, grabbing her shield, and walked over to her ‘faction’ of the day. As she took her position next to her squad mates, she reminded herself, once again, to stay with them. She had felt the pressure build up among the trainers. War was coming, and when it did, she needed to be ready.