After following Boyd to the guardhouse the two of them go around the back to a large empty yard. "Alright, I'll be right back."

Ozlo takes a look around taking note of the various things strewn about. What looks like men on poles stuffed with straw, large sections of benches for seating, and even what looks like a playground of sorts, though one unlike any he'd ever seen before.

"I didn't know playgrounds could be that dangerous..." Ozlo quietly remarked to himself.

As if on Cue, Boyd shows back up. "That's no playground boy, that's the obstacle course. Me and a few of the other guards will throw things at you and you'll do your best to dodge or ignore them while navigating the maze."

"Oh..."

"Don't look so disheartened my boy, that's for more advanced students. Here, take this." Boyd hands Ozlo a steaming mug filled with stew and topped with bread. "It's nothing much, but trust me, if you were out in the field after a long day of marching this would look like a feast."

"Ah... Ok."

"Go on, bottoms up, I ate before I snatched you from Burgin the- From Burgin's." Ozlo at a loss for words, does as Boyd requests, soon emptying the mug into his mouth and even drinking another mug of milk offered by the Captain. "Are you full yet lad?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Yes Master Boyd."

"Master... I'm no master, I'm your Captain, and you're a civilian so that makes me... Call me Boyd. No need to make it more complicated than that. But don't call me John, only my wife does that, and you're not my wife."

"Yes Boyd."

"See, I knew you weren't as slow as you looked. So here's what we're going to do." Boyd points over at a wooden handled, iron tipped spear leaning against one of the practice dummies. "Grab that spear, stab the dummy. And repeat. I'll tell you when I think you should stop."

"Yes sir..." Not quite seeing the point of this, Ozlo does as he's instructed and doesn't give it more than a second thought.

"Not bad, clearly you're strong enough, but remember, square your shoulders, plant your feet like mine, and thrust hard. You can do it."

Following his basic instructions Ozlo does as he's told."Great, great. Now keep doing that. You can stop when you can't move anymore."

"Ok..." Ozlo stabs the dummy for what feels like forever, but in reality was about an hour. His stabs get clumsier and slower as time goes on, but he maintains the form that Boyd showed him, doing his best to avoid punishment.

"Great, you've done it. You've proven to me that you can follow instructions and you're not going to quit when things get a bit uncomfortable. You can join the CDF boy, congratulations."

Confused, Ozlo turns to the captain. "Wait, I wasn't already part of it?"

Pointedly ignoring his question, Boyd gestures towards the smithy. "Head on home lad, I'm sure you need a bath and some water and Burgin will surely provide that."

"Yes Boyd."