Nick was enjoying training, it was much less intense then he thought it would be. In fact, Rose was a wonderful conversation partner. Interspersed throughout their conversation, they heard Nero cursing out Cathleen, but they were far enough away that they could ignore it. Sergeant Wesker’s shouting was much harder to ignore. Nick thought the man was an exceedingly angry person.

“Stop poking at each other! Fight, damn it!” Nick heard Wesker shout from behind him.

Ignoring the sergeant, Nick continued with his lazy swings.

Rose was torn, as she didn’t want to offend either of the men. Nick was a noble, and a powerful one at that. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be here. The fact that he was smiling while he trained was proof that he was powerful enough to ignore the army. Here he was, in the middle of an elite training program, ignoring the trainer like it was totally normal. Did the sergeant really expect her to attack a noble capable of that?

Nick, completely unconcerned with everyone’s feelings, continued with what he had been talking about for the past 30 minutes. “So, there I was, completely at a loss. No data to back up my argument, surrounded on all sides by senior laboratory technicians, not to mention the scientists with hundreds of years of experience between them.” Nick’s face was serious as he waved his sword at Rose in a half-hearted attempt to hit her. “But would I give up? No, never! I attacked the very foundation of their flimsy hypothesis! If they truly believed that essence drift was a naturally occurring phenomena, then they would have to have performed their test in an isolated zone. Yet, all of their data was from the area outside Dorchester! The essence flows in the wilds have always been known to be highly delicate,” he shouted as he danced around swinging his sword like a 1940’s movie star.

Wesker shouted, “Less talking! More fighting!”

Ignoring him, Nick continued, “They were stunned! I pulled up Harold’s dissertation on essence field interactions, and that was the match! No one with a mind stat over 10 could argue with evidence like that. I was vindicated. So… what were we talking about again?”

Rose was barely moving, and she lazily swatted aside Nick’s thrust while replying, “I just asked if you’ve ever been in a fight before m’lord. But your story was very riveting.” Rose tried to muster up all the sincerity she could, in order to deliver that last line without cringing.

Wesker’s face was beet-red in anger. And just as he was about to lose it, he heard Cathleen shouting, “Medic! He’s down again. You might need a resuscitation spell, he landed weird.”

As the blood drained from his face, Wesker ran over to Cathleen and Nero. Looking down, he could see an immobile Nero with his head at an awkward angle. Eyes open in panic, his neck was clearly broken. Turning to Cathleen he shouted, “What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?”

Seeming completely at ease, Cathleen responded with a wave of her hand, “Eh, he’ll be fine. Dying a few times during training is not a big deal.”

As she was speaking, the medic was casting spells at Nero. They all heard the snap as his neck was reattached. As the golden glow enveloping Nero dimmed, he gasped awake. As Nero’s eyes snapped open, he took a deep breath and started coughing.

“See,” said Cathleen. “He’s fine.” Giving Nero a light kick to his side, she said, “Get up. Walk it off.”

Nero slowly rolled over onto his hands and knees. Reaching out with his hand, he grabbed his training blade, and used it to help him stand. Swaying on his feet, his eyes were still a little glassy. Shaking his head to clear the disorientation, Nero focused on Cathleen and said, “That one doesn’t count. I definitely got a hit in! You hit me in the back of the head while I was celebrating! Fight with some class you old bat!”

Shouting back, she yelled, “That was barely a scratch! I’ll tell you when you hit me. Never drop your guard unless the enemy is in pieces at your feet. And who you calling a bat? You pint-sized pansy!”

Nick, Rose, and Wesker just watched in stunned silence, while the medic sighed and returned to the bench outside the ring where he was stationed. This was going to be a long day for him, he could feel it.

Sergeant Wesker watched the two recruits yell at each other, trying to decide if he should be impressed with their moxie, or terrified of their insanity. Before he could make a decision, his thoughts were interrupted by Nick grabbing Rose and walking back toward their training area to continue their conversation.

Nick was saying, “Don’t worry about Nero. He’s very hard to kill. I should tell you about the time I nearly died trying to contain a lightning bolt. See the theory I was testing was based on Mason’s theoretical model of -” As Nick’s voice trailed off in the distance, Sergeant Wesker wondered if the captain would accept his transfer request.

-----

Their little group of four had finally made it to lunch. Nero had forced them all to sit together. He told them it was for team unity. As no one had complained, Nero counted it as a successful team building moment. While eating, everyone was silent aside from Nick.

Waving his fork around, Nick continued his blathering, “And that’s when I decided to change my focus. It was never really about the initial paradigm. You see? It was always really about the way the enchantments were initially constructed. It took a lot to convince the research board to allow me to resubmit my proposal. You can only imagine what I went through. But I persevered! A month later, I was -”

Nero couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted, “Nick! For the love of whatever god you believe in, shut the hell up. No one cares.” Nero’s eyes were furious, his anger had been building for too long, and now the last thing on his mind was being polite to the nerd across from him.

Looking over at Rose, Nero asked, “Has he been like this all day?”

Rose’s face turned a cute shade of red and replied quietly, “M’lord, he seems to really like science. I was honored to hear his thoughts on the subject, or the subjects that is.”

Nero’s brain stopped working for a second. This was not the personality that he imagined the woman having. He had expected a warrior woman like Cathleen, not a polite and deferential student. Her adorable blush and soft voice were completely surprising.

While Nick stabbed his food with a pout, Cathleen filled the silence, “You don’t have to listen to him if you don’t want to. You’re in training, just hit him until he shuts up.”

Nick glared at Cathleen and said, “Not everyone thinks so little of the field of science. Many people consider researchers worthy of great respect.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Mentally catching up to the conversation, Nero gave Nick a look and said, “I’m sure that’s true. But not the time, and definitely not the place. We’re here to learn how to survive against giant monsters, not how to …. whatever it is you do.” Turning his head to look at Rose, he asked, “Has he been training? Or just talking about science?”

Rose started to look panicked and began mumbling. Seeing her distress, Nero set down his silverware and raised his hands to calm her down. “Hold on, why are you so afraid? We took care of the problem with the military, you’re safe now. No one is going to harm you. You can speak freely.”

Rose's eyes darted between them, and Nick realized that she was just being overly polite. He had seen commoners fear nobles like this. It usually meant the commoner had come from a village, and had never met a noble. But sometimes, there was history that needed to be addressed. The thought of someone hurting this sweet girl made Nick’s anger rise.

Nick looked at Rose and his face took on the aspect of nobility. “I understand that you fear upsetting those you see as noble. But have no fear, we will not harm you. If you don’t mind, I would like to hear what caused you to fear the nobility. If there is a story, rest assured you will be protected while you share it,” he said with a tone of formality.

Nero looked confused, but quickly caught up. “If someone has messed with you, trust me, this is the guy you tell. His wife will handle it. You didn’t hear it from me, but city-lords fear her,” he said quietly.

Rose offered only a confused tilt of her head. She didn’t know what they were getting at.

Cathleen jumped in to clear up the confusion, “They’re saying that you can say whatever you want. If a noble has harmed you or if you know them to be dishonorable, they’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about any danger, these two are more than capable of setting things right."

Rose’s eyes lit up in understanding, then quickly dimmed. She looked at Nick and Nero and said, “No, there is no noble threatening me or anything. I have never met, or interacted with a noble before meeting you both. It’s just, based on our history, I want to stay on your good side. If it weren’t for you, who knows what the general would have done. To be honest, without your backing, I’m in some serious trouble.”

Nero thought he understood her position, and said, “I get it. You’re worried we’ll hang you out to dry. You don’t have to be. If you want to leave Dorchester and start over somewhere, Nick’s wife and I own a shipping company. I’m sure we can get you a ride on a caravan. But if you don’t mind me saying, I think you should stick it out here. The general isn’t a bad guy, just a politician. Now that you are no longer a spy, you’re just one of the soldiers. You wanted to be a hunter, and this way, you can be an elite.”

Nick and Cathleen were both nodding at Nero’s words, and Rose was frowning in thought. Nero continued, “If you stay, you’re going to have to start actually training with Nick. He knows what’s at stake, and should have been taking his training more seriously. I’m pretty sure Cathleen and I are going to be each other’s training partners for a while, but if you feel like he is acting too nerdy, just ask to switch with one of us for a while. We’ll sort him out right quick.”

As Nero finished, Cathleen offered Nick a wide smile. Nero chuckled as Nick’s face paled.

Nero added, “And if all else fails, I could just tell Vera on him. His wife will get him back on track in no time.”

Nick glared at Nero, and said, “That’s completely unnecessary. I may have been a little light in my training today, but it’s only the first day. I’ll improve with some time. We’ve got 9 more days until we are heading into the wilds. Plenty of time to brush up on my combat skills.”

Cathleen snorted and said, “Elite training is meant to be brutal. But all training relies on your will to complete it. If you don’t push yourself, you won’t grow. No one grows without effort.”

Nick nodded as his shoulders slumped. He knew that he was going to have to start stepping up.

Nero was nearly finished with his plate when he heard a shout from the door of the mess hall.

“Everyone back onto the field. Lunch time’s over,” they said.

In less than 5 minutes, all the recruits were standing in two lines of ten waiting to be addressed by the Captain. Nero was excited to get started, this afternoon should be combat-casting, or what Nero had decided to call ‘war-mage training’.

Captain Angelton stepped out in front of the recruits, his towering frame casting a long shadow. With his arms behind his back, and gigantic chin, Nero thought the captain looked like an action figure come to life. As the captain’s eyes took in the recruits, Nero realized that this might not just be about afternoon training.

In a loud voice, the captain addressed the recruits, “Yesterday I talked about how we were all here to become elites. Regardless of your background, you were united in purpose. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. It has come to my attention that many of you have come here with a different primary purpose. This is not acceptable.”

The captain started pacing, and continued, “Noble houses are an integral part of what makes up Oglivarch. But, the army is no place for politics. The games we play here are about war. Some of you probably thought you could do both, be an elite, and a spy at the same time. I won’t stand for it. We are here for training, nothing else. If you still want to be elites, come talk with me after you pack. Either way, your time here, short as it was, is over.” The captain finished with ice in his voice. Nero could practically feel his blood chilling.

Shouting loud enough to make everyone jump, the captain yelled, “Squad 4! Front and Center!”

It took a second or two for Nero to realize that he was on squad 4. Once he did, he ran up to the front of the lines and took his place next to Cathleen and Rose. Nick wasn’t far behind.

The captain stood in front of them and said, “Squad 4, you’re to follow Sergeant Wesker for afternoon training. Dismissed.”

As the captain turned to face the remaining recruits, squad 4 sprinted off toward Sergeant Wesker who was standing off to the side.

When squad 4 stood at attention in front of him, Wesker nodded in greeting and said, “Verena and Walker are with Specialist Howard for combat-casting. Vikander is with Sergeant Peyton for Archery and ability training. Recruit Averett, I see that you are proficient in several weapons. What would you like to focus on today?”

Cathleen replied in a stern tone, devoid of levity, “I’ll accompany Recruit Vikander with Sergeant Peyton. I could use some range time.”

Nodding, Sergeant Wesker made a note on his board, then pointed to his right, “Peyton’s over there at the archery range. You two are dismissed.”

While Rose and Cathleen jogged off toward the range, the sergeant turned to Nero and Nick saying, “Follow me. You’ll be in one of the training halls. Combat casting outside of a training room is just asking for trouble.”

Nick and Nero both followed along dutifully. But while Nero looked excited, Nick only looked like he was going to remedial geometry. Nero saw his friends lack of enthusiasm and slapped his shoulder.

“Hey man, lighten up. We’re going to be learning how to fight with magic!” said Nero with a smile on his face.

While the three of them walked into the main building, Nick replied, “Nero, you have to understand. I’ve already learned how to fight with magic. I doubt there is anything that I’ll learn here, but I’m more than happy to accompany you.”

Sergeant Wesker just snorted with some disdain. “I’m sure your training was extensive at center-point, but Specialist Howard is a war-mage. He’ll have plenty to teach you,” he said.

Nero thought for a second and asked, “Does the ‘listening to the world’ thing happen with magic? How come I never read about that?”

Nick shook his head, and replied with a smile at Nero’s ignorance, “Magic is a completely different thing. By its very nature, it’s manipulating essence by your will. You can learn from the world how to feel essence, manipulate it even. But what to cast? How to form a spell? Those aren’t skills, it’s knowledge.”

Nick glanced at Nero and realized the boy was still confused. Not knowing how to be any clearer, he tried to rephrase it. “Fighting has to do with the body learning a skill. The knowledge of how to wield a blade is something the world can teach you. But when to swing it, that’s not something you can learn without practice. The two working in concert is the skill. But the world can only help you with the beginning steps into magic. Creating the weapon, wielding the weapon, and choosing the weapon are all in the mind. Fighting skills is the body, Magic skills are the mind. Get it?”

They reached their destination, and walked into a very large training room. A man was standing in the center of the room playing with some streams of fire and what looked like glowing water. Nero assumed the man was Specialist Howard.

Turning to Nick, Nero said, “I don’t understand what you just said, but I’ll take your word for it. Let’s go meet our new magic teacher. And try not to embarrass me, I want to learn everything the guy is willing to teach me, as fast as he can cram it into my head.” Nero walked off toward the specialist while rubbing his hands together like he was going to crack a safe.