Chapter Four

I was thankful for my foresight in choosing lighter-material garments today. I lifted the sleeve of my cotton top and wrinkled my nose at the sweat. I needed a bath.

A clunk sounded beside me as I placed the rapier back onto the weapons table. We had been practising with our weapons for a bell and a half. The sun was dimming towards late afternoon, and my stomach was grumbling.

I had yet to gain a skill with the rapier, so I would need to practice it again. Perhaps I should do some extra training on my free days. I couldn't afford to lag behind the others. They would be trained to access their Aether soon enough. A course as a foot guard I can have no part of. Although I technically knew how to access my Aether, my noble peers would soon find their resonate weapons just as Lacey Weadall had. With cores grade one and above, they will have a better chance than someone like me below the standard.

"Alright, trainees'" Lieutenant Sharpclaw clapped for our attention as we all began to put back our weapons. "Today's session was good. A few of you finally found your resonate weapons-" he grinned as a few of the capital nobles smiled. "One of you was even lucky enough to find it on their first try!" I saw Lacey glumly sigh as she clutched her grey cloak's fabric tightly.

"If you haven't found yours yet, do not worry. Everyone will find theirs in time. Hell, It took me a month before I found mine!" The Lieutenant's hearty laugh was pleasant, but I couldn't help my dourness. It could take those of us without strong cores even longer than that. "On our next session on wind day, I will have some standard weapons for those of you who have resonated to keep. What I brought today are merely the testing samples. I will also bring some scrolls for basic forms for you to learn. These will be for five credits. They are the cheapest scrolls available, as it wouldn't be wise to keep you without them before building up credits as new recruits. If you want to learn anything better than those, you must build up your credits and go to the library. The cheapest they have is usually twenty credits."

A few hushed groans echoed amongst us. We were granted fifty credits a month as a stipend, but that was only enough to cover bread and eggs daily at the eatery for a month. It was half a credit for bread and eggs. Three meals in a day made one credit and a half. Over the thirty-three days in a month, forty-nine and a half credits were needed just to eat. I was thankful that the eggs and bread could be cooked how we wanted. I much preferred poached eggs to fried.

Just buying one of the cheapest scrolls to start to train with our resonate weapons would set us back three days of food. Buying a better scroll from the library for twenty credits would be just over half a month's rations. I imagine the scrolls for aether techniques were far more expensive, though I was banned from those as a foot guard trainee.

I suppose, if I were to only eat at Alinor Keep twice a day and the third meal at the Heversham townhouse, it would save me some credits. But as trainees, we had to stay in the trainee quarters. We weren't yet permitted to remain in our family homes. I wouldn't step foot in that place willingly, regardless.

"If you have any questions after today, you can find me in my office in the main lecture hall building. Otherwise, you are dismissed." The Lieutenant ended our training. He was approached by a few trainees as they began to ask him questions about their newfound weapons.

"Lynette!" a desperate shout from Teresa across the yard perked my attention.

I turned around from the weapon table to find her running over to me with a fierce look. She skidded to a halt and seized my shoulders with fervor.

"T-Teresa, what's wrong?" I said, hesitant to her sudden attitude.

"Task centre. There is no time to lose! We have to hurry to grab something before anyone else gets there." She quickly tugged me forward, rushing towards the exit of the combat Colosseum.

I numbly nodded and kept up with Teresa's pace. I didn't think it was worth noting that nobody else was rushing like we were as they stood about, still waiting to speak with the Lieutenant.

Everyone else, like Rian and Harold, probably went this morning. I would be grateful if there were any tasks left.

I allowed Teresa to drag me through the keep, eventually coming upon the famed task centre. We both stopped and gulped as we took in the open courtyard. Yesterday, this place had been packed with people, now? It was so empty we could see the building at the centre in more detail.

"Teresa.."

"Yeah," she sighed, dropping my hand. "Let's see what's left."

I nodded, approaching the building together. The structure did not have enclosed walls with a doorway like normal. A raised step led onto hardwood flooring, the front lacking any wall to hide the array of desks that lay within. The openness was strange and reminded me of the stalls I often saw in Talbours market but on a much grander scale. Towards the back, a row of desks formed a blockade, separating a series of doors from the authorised public. Some desks had someone stationed. However, most of them were empty.

Teresa and I paused momentarily as we looked around and saw to both our left and right that numerous sheets of paper had been pinned to boards lining the walls. A few soldiers milled around them before ripping the sheets off and heading towards one of the desks. The space would certainly allow many people to gather here as they lined up at the desks or the walls to choose their tasks. Luckily, it wasn't wholly open to the elements as a well-built wooden roof sheltered those within. Though it was still at risk of cold in winter.

"Want to check out the left side?" Teresa said, biting her lip.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"Sure", I replied, walking over to the boards.

The task centre's vast emptiness contrasted sharply with the bustling scene we had witnessed just a day before. Now, the boards adorned with task sheets seemed almost forlorn, waiting to be picked clean by eager hands.

Without wasting a moment, Teresa began to scan the sheets as she stepped down the list, glancing at each one briefly. I followed along with a mixture of anticipation and worry. The pressure to secure a worthwhile task weighed heavily on my mind. We needed credits to progress. Without them, we would stagnate. Not to mention, we had to complete at least one task a month as per the rules of Alinor Keep.

Each sheet had a description written in bold script. Some had the requestor labelled, such as the patrol department or maintenance supervisor. However, some had the requestor withheld; those appeared to be item requests. I saw a range of requests like that for rare plants to the gall bladder of Herring Bare Beasts. Each of them in the top right corner also had a number paired. The majority of these had the number three marked.

We can't do any of these.

"These are all too difficult for us", I mumbled, feeling my worry worsen. We were only trainees; neither Teresa nor I had the skills to complete these tasks. Even patrolling the walls of Alinor Keep, which encroached on Haro woods, was beyond us. We didn't have the training.

I caught Teresa's eyes, and we both shared a grim expression.

"Trainees?" A man dressed in a grey cloak with a black trim approached us. He had three scars dragging down his lower lip as he smiled with wrinkled eyes. "You won't find a suitable task at these boards."

"Ugh, yes, we arrived with the brigade," Teresa spoke with a slight hope at his words.

"I thought so. Can I assume you are both able to read? I only ask as it is not unusual to have new recruits who need assistance." He tapped a badge pinned to his chest showing a feather pen engraving. "I am Sir Eliard, a footguard in the administration branch. I am stationed here at the task centre. Do you know how it works?"

"We hand one of these sheets in at the desks?" Teresa answered, relaxing.

"Yes", Sir Eliard chuckled, "But there is a little more to it than that. Follow me."

Sir Eliard led us past the row of desks towards the right side of the building. "This is where the real business happens," he said, gesturing towards the desks. Clerks diligently processed the paperwork and fielded inquiries from soldiers. "Here, you will submit your chosen task and receive any necessary instructions or suggested equipment. You will have to obtain the equipment yourself if the requestor doesn't provide it. Each task sheet will inform you of this, though."

I raised an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued. What sort of task would require specialist equipment?

"This area is for requesting a task, so unless you have credits to offer up as a reward, you won't need to come here for a while." Sir Eliard nodded towards a section of desks that looked separate. They were currently empty.

"Can anyone make a request?" I asked as we passed by them.

"Yes, anyone can make a request, providing they have something to offer as a reward. The expected currency is, of course, credits. However, sometimes, on occasion, items are offered instead or as well."

"What kind of items?" Teresa's interest was evident as she seemed more excited.

"Usually, it's beast cores. We often have exchange requests, such as a wind core, in exchange for a fire core. We do sometimes offer rare metals, which can be used to strengthen personal armour or create weapons. It can vary depending on the requestor's need or the task's difficulty."

My mind immediately went to the cores I had sitting in my backpack back in my room. I had gathered several wind cores from the craven bats Rian, and I had killed on the march. I had no use for them at the moment; I didn't even know what my affinity was yet. But maybe I could use them in exchange for another at some point.

"These desks are for handing in your completed tasks. You will receive a notice of completion from the requester as evidence for tasks performed in the keep. For item requests, you simply need to hand in the item to have it verified for completion. The administration officers will handle the exchange to the requestor and exchange your credits." There was a small queue at these desks. The clerk looked displeased as they snatched a paper from someone's hands.

"Finally, we have the request boards." Sir Eliard guided us to the boards hung on the right walls. These boards were noticeably bare compared to the left side. Pins with shredded pieces of paper hung in empty spaces, evidence that they had once been filled with requests.

"Each task is marked with a number. Those numbers indicate difficulty. The left boards are for rank three and above. As trainees, you can only accept rank one at the moment. Once you have passed your combat evaluations, you can move up to rank two. Rank three and above is for those with access to aether skills or received a commendation for their skills."

"There's not much left." I commentated, glancing at them and withdrawing when I saw one for emptying the waste cellar.

"No, not at the moment. It always gets emptied like this when we have new recruits. It will fill up again in a week or so, but I suggest not waiting. You will need credits as new recruits, and we don't know when the batch from Talin and Ordil will arrive."

"That means more competition", Teresa groaned as she looked at one of the tasks.

"Yes. You can not guarantee you will be able to visit in time before they arrive." Sir Eliard nodded.

"I guess we should make do then", I sighed.

"Take your time and consider each one carefully. Remember, your chosen task may help you gain a skill or give you more time than others to focus on something else. They vary from weekly postings to month-long postings."

"Thank you for your help, Sir Eliard." I bowed my head respectfully. We would have been lost without him and possibly aimlessly reading tasks we could not accept.

"It was my pleasure." He smiled, "Once you have chosen something, come find me at desk four. You must fill out your information to register your minimum assignment for the month as trainees."

"Thanks so much!" Teresa quickly dipped her head repeatedly.

Sir Eliard returned to his posting, leaving Teresa and me to investigate the remaining tasks.

"We can't afford to be picky," Teresa said, her voice tinged with resignation. "We need credits, and we need them soon."

"Even if that means emptying waste" I couldn't argue with her assessment. The reality of our situation was stark.

Teresa frowned but nodded with determination, closing her fist.

My eyes began to dart from one sheet to the next, each more laborious than the last. My gaze lingered on one for repairing the fencings on the training grounds. It seemed somewhat more manageable than others.

Was there anything that I could use to my benefit? Something to help me gain strength or improve my stamina? There were a few for heavy lifting, but I probably couldn't complete them at my level. It could become an issue if I didn't complete a task in the given time frame. I shouldn't risk it.

"Hey!" Teresa' suddenly called, ripping a sheet off the wall. "What do you think about this? For you, I mean, it's not exactly ideal, but you rode one of them, so maybe it won't be as dangerous for you?"

I took the sheet from her hand and glanced over it. My eyes widened as I read the request with a slight uplift of my lips.

"This will be perfect," I said as a shadow formed at my feet.

"Lynette, we need to talk." A voice that sent shivers down my spine made me freeze. My hands clutched onto the paper tightly as I tried to steady my heart.

I hadn't expected to meet him here. I was hoping I would have a little more time to avoid them both.

Hesitantly, I turned to face the man who had interrupted us.

"Eduard."