"Welcome to Lenorian Cavalry Training! I will be your instructor. Any questions? No? Go ahead and pick a horse and mount up."

"Uhm... sergeant, I've never ridden a horse before. Is there a gentle one I can learn to ride on?"

"FANTASTIC! I have a brand new stallion here who has never been ridden before. You two amateurs can learn together!"

--- Lenorian Army Cavalry Training. AC 1437.

----------------------------------------

"Where do we sign up?"

The Army crab takes out a new tablet and has us put a bit of our mana on each form. I look over what it says and it's fairly simple. It's just an agreement that we signed up for one year terms, not to include training and that once we agree, we can't get out of it. I'm leery at first, but decide to go along with it. After the agreements are signed, the Army Crab raises one claw and says,

"Now for the important part. Raise your appendage and repeat after me. He clears his throat and says,

"By the [system], I, Say your name here, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the People of Incursion City against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the City Council and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Oceanic Justice, until I am discharged from the military. So help me [system]."

We repeat after him and we're briefly covered by a blue glow from the [system] oath. I look at Luna and we're both visibly excited. Here we go! We're doing this!

The crab lowers his claw and extends it out to us. We shake his claw as he says,

"Welcome to the army Private Crabby, Private Luna. Let's get you checked out and then you can start your training. First things first, though. If you haven't already, go ahead and activate your [mana sense] and look at me."

I do so, and a bright light burns into my eyes. I cover them with my claws. There's mana everywhere in this place, coursing through the water, running in lines in the walls. As my eyes adjust, I look at the crab and see chevrons' and his name written in mana on his claws. He waves the claw and says,

"This is the rank of a Master Sergeant. I know you probably keep your [Mana Sense] off, but it's something you're going to have to get used to. Otherwise you're not going to know who you're speaking to... and believe me, that'd cause you some problems."

I nod, keeping that in mind. Alright Crabby, commence [mana sense] training now!

He removes himself from the seat, and passes us, limping ahead and out the door. He continues, "follow me and keep up."

Luna latches onto my shell and I follow him into the main room. He passes the navy door and yells at it. "They signed up with me Squid Boy! And they're first gen too!"

The crab is moving at a fast pace so I [coast] to keep up. He opens a door I didn't notice before turning towards a back room to head inside. As he does, I hear muffled cursing from the Navy office. "They're first gen? Son of a..." The door we just entered slams shut and I see a staircase leading below.

I ask him, "What was that all about? And I thought he was a fish, not a squid."

He glances at me and says, "Eh, we have a bit of a friendly rivavlry when it comes to recruitin'. We're all one team you know, but a little ribbing each other now and then is pretty common. And squid boy is just a perjorative for the navy guys." With that, he begins the walk down the stairs.

As we follow him he continues, "Also, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough, but try and call people by their rank first and then their name. You'll get in trouble otherwise. You'll have plenty of experience practicing in basic training."

Luna asks, "Basic training?"

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Sergeant Frederick continues, "Yep. We're not just going to drop you in a war zone without any idea of what you're doin'. You need to learn to work with others as a team, meldin' various skill sets and equipment together to best fight corruption."

I nod, that makes sense actually. For an organized military to fight most everyone needs to be on the wavelength. I ask him, "Where are we headed now?"

The crab replies, "We're heading to the caverns below the city. It's where the military base is at and you'll receive your training there. Private Luna here will be sent to a managed [dungeon]. Supervisors will help her reach level 25, the minimum level needed to join. That shouldn't take more than a couple of days. Then, you and some others will start the next training cycle. Good news is, since y'all are first gen, they don't have to train you from scratch. Most city born come in anywhere from level one to level five, so their training is much longer."

I see us approaching a door and the crab reaches up to grab a handle. As he opens it he says, "Bad news is that you're going to have to pick stuff up quick, otherwise you'll be left behind." We follow him and enter into a giant cavern, a new wonderous vista laying out before our eyes.

The cavern recedes far into the distance, and overhead I see troops swimming in unison. They appear to be practicing some kind of movement drills, making sharp turns on command. To my right, I see huge metal hangars with their doors open. There's some kind of magic bubble surrounding it and I notice that the interior is filled with air. I see navy crabs with hammers in their hands, moving around molten metal. Those must be the forges.

Over to my left, a large open field is has various trenches dug into it and I see soldiers barricading their positions against an opposing force. Further down the field, a giant starfish holds a metal shield up, providing cover while they dig. Everywhere I look there's military training, preparing for the war that lies but miles away.

"Wow," Luna says. All I manage is a brief, "Uh-huh," at the massive area splayed in front of me.

Sergeant Frederick says, "Welcome to Incursion Base. Let's get y'all settled in."

We follow him through, keeping silent as we try to take in everything going on around us. Minutes pass and we eventually reach a grey stone building, it has a sign that just says, "Reception and Integration." He turns and shakes our hand once more. He says, "Well I'm off now. Good luck and kill some corrupted for me."

I respond, "Thank you sergeant, really, you've been a big help."

He waves us off and continues back the way he came, leaving us in front of the doors to the area. I turn to Luna, "So.. are you ready?"

She's practically vibrating with excitement. She whisper shouts again, "Yes! Let's do this!" I open up the door and enter.

As we enter, I can see an old female fish behind a desk. She's staring at a series of screens in front of her and she looks up to us as we approach. She says, "Private Crabby and Private Luna, welcome. If you look to my right, you'll see a series of doors. Enter them sequentially and they'll inprocess you."

I look at her in bewilderment. Finally I ask, "How did you know who we are?"

She somehow manages to convey disapproval with her tone as she says, "I'm Corporal Spencer and I can see your rank and name with the temporary tag placed on your claws."

I look down at my own claws and realize Sergeant Frederick must have done something. Maybe when he shook our arms? I look back up at the fish, as she waves a fin at the doors. She says, "Keep your [mana sense] on or you're in for a bad time, I promise. Rank and name for everyone." I nod and leave to open the first door. Inside there's another desk and floating above it is a transparent jellyfish. I remember what the corporal said and keep my sense on.

I approach the desk and say, "Hello, Sergeant Flash. I'm Private Crabby here with Private Luna. I was told to come see you." The jellyfish just waves an appendage and a tablet flies from the desk and into my claws. I see various lines listed and it appears to be a basic, no detail version of the class stone. I take it back to the provided seats and begin filling it out.

Name, okay. Class, okay. Preferred deity? Uhm... I'll go with Charisma. She's always been nice to me. I take a few minutes to finish the tablet and return it to the jellyfish. We're standing there looking at each other for a minute before I finally ask, "So... anything else? Uhm... Sergeant?"

The jellyfish waves another appendage and a tablet flies over to me. I take it and return to the seat. I start filling it out. Name, okay.. Class... wait. This is the same tablet I just did? Hmm... maybe they need them in duplicate. I finish the tablet and return it, asking the same question. I receive another tablet and take it back to fill out the same information over again. Finally, on the third try the jellyfish just waves an arm at the door. I thank him and leave, thinking to myself.

"That was terrible. I hope every office isn't like this."

...

......

Turns out every office was just like that one.

The second door opens into an area that is almost completely dark. Behind the desk is a snarling octopus and as we walk in he starts asking us questions. He gnashes his beak and says, "Have you ever been in an extremist organization with the stated goal of overthrowing the gods?"

"Uh, no?"

"Have you ever licked any Discotoads?"

"I don't know what that is, but I've never licked any random creatures."

We spend a good hour answering questions before he's satisfied and lets us leave.

The third office, I barely walk into when they tell me to get out and head to the next one. The fourth, well the fourth is a bit different. As I enter, there is a desk right in front of the door with a turtle sitting behind it. Surrounding the desk, all the way to the door is a metal cage, made into a mesh pattern that let you look through it. The turtle looks at us, and then hands each of us a spatial ring that bind to our bodies in a flash of light. I examine my claw and see a thin line changing the color of my shell. The turtle says, "The ring also has a color change enchantment. Go ahead and will it activated, copying the color of my shell. Place your rank and name somewhere easily visible."

I comply and my light blue shell becomes a dark speckled green and blue color. The turtle continues, "Ignore all the rest of the doors, except the last one. Take the stairs and you'll meet up with your peers. You're lucky, a class is just about to start for a group of first-gen." I thank the turtle and head out to leave.

As I'm taking the stairway down I ask Luna, "So... what do you think happens now?" She responds, "I don't know. It probably can't get any worse than hours of tablet work though."

I wave a claw in acknowledgement. As I reach the end of the stairwell, a large open bay is revealed. A bizarre sight lays in front of me. In order, a seahorse, two crabs, and a fish stand or float in a line. In front of them waving his claws and yelling is a giant lobster with a brown hat on. As I'm standing there trying to figure out what I should do, the lobster turns to me. I can see the fire burning in his gaze as he screams,

"YOU! PRIVATE CRABBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Shocked by the yelling, I raise my claws in self defense, trying to calm the lobster. My voice shakes a little as I say, "Uh... I don't know?"

He yells again, "I DON'T KNOW? HOW ABOUT YOU TRY, I DON'T KNOW DRILL SERGEANT!!"

I'm still confused and wanting to calm the situation so I attempt to clarify. He seems awfully upset for some reason and he said he didn't know something. I ask him, "What don't you know?"

All I hear is an "ARGH!!!!" before the lobster is rushing straight for me.