Journal Entry #10
We made it to Worthwood Fortress and a clerk sat me down to explain my options as they updated my paperwork.
Turns out the cities and fortresses don’t need many farmers, or teenagers to go out trapping rabbits. Who would have thought?
The clerk suggested that I bunk in the hostel until I turn eighteen in a month, then enlist in the army since it’ll be hard for me to get a trade-skill apprenticeship without a reference. He also added that since I needed to get exiled, that my odds of becoming a knight were much higher.
I had to think on it, and was still doing so later at the tavern when that witch and orc came in and joined my table. She told me that she’d be willing to teach me magic, was positive that I could be casting spells in no time even, but in exchange, I’d have to become her party’s mule.
Great… my options are: kill monsters for a living, or kill monsters for a living…
---
Reidar
Eastside Wet Dock #42
Windsday, the 1st of Ninthmonth
“Seriously! We’re never going to get there at this rate.” Varguk exclaimed as yet another warning bell rang out loudly over the noise and bustle of the corpsmen and sailors hauling cargo. The horse-drawn tram loaded with spartans came to a halt right in front of the extended safety rail, giving the passengers on board a front row view of the wheeled tracks lowering over the road in front of the river access. A deep rumble soon followed, building slowly, but growing louder and louder until the large troop carrier flew down the tracks, blasting everyone nearby with a wall of sound and splash of water as the ship dove into the river.
Reidar found himself smirking at his squad-brother’s annoyance, he’s never been a patient one, well… except when it comes time for meal preparation. The half-orc once smoked an entire hog over the course of three days during Winter Solstice, torturing not just the squad, but the entire barracks with its enticing smell.
The tram soon lurched back into motion, and the two spartans resumed their search for their ship but did take the time to appreciate a nostalgic sight. Young spartan recruits, still with the vertical white stripes on their cloth uniforms denoting their fledgling status, were holding up signs and half-saluting with their shield hand as the tram passed. Older gangly-limbed trainees, sporting yellow stripes to denote they were old enough to begin physical training, could be seen helping the Logistics Corps and sailors load ships. And older, yellow-striped men and women clad in green brigandine were filing into ships to participate in the fighting.
‘Unbreaking Branch, Rigid Arrow, Phymur’s Lucky Staff… Warden’s Hammer.’ Reidar tapped Varguk’s pauldron, and the two hopped off the still moving transport towards the pristine-looking gunboat. The older squad-brother let out a long whistle before they approached the loading ramp, taking the opportunity to study the latest in naval advancements.
“We’re getting spoiled; ironclad hull, artifice engine, miniature anti-behemoth cannon, and a roomy deck for combat, Braxton might finally crackle with lightning if he sees this.”
Reidar fought hard to keep his diaphragm’s insistence to laugh from overwhelming him, “Had to row upstream and against the wind to not just the destination, but back to the capital if I remember right.” His eyes scanned the passengers already on board, and felt his merriment flip into dread when he spotted the gathering group of spartans, “Were we supposed to requisition a set of mariner’s armor?”
“Ugh, I hope not, nobody mentioned anything to me.” Varguk let out a sigh, “Though it wouldn’t surprise me if I missed something, my head’s still spinning from getting scouted.” He gave Reidar’s pauldron a tap with his held spear, “Well, I suppose we should step aboard and find out.” He leaned forward to move, but paused mid-step to turn and give his baby squad-brother a knowing grin, “Although, how about I go first? That way I can check and see if we need to make a last-minute run to a warehouse.”
Before Reidar could even think about thanking his squad-brother for the excuse to prepare himself mentally, Varguk was already on deck, waving at the sailors and corpsmen, and confidently striding towards the gathered spartans. Letting out a jealous sigh, then taking in a fresh breath of the autumn air, Reidar tried to relax as he leaned his spear against a nearby stack of crates and reached into his valuables pouch for his idol to Apheros.
Just a moment bud… okay… got that taken care of, you now have my undivided attention. What’s got you feeling so glum?
‘My apologies, is this a bad time?’
I’ll admit, I’ve got a loaded banquet table right now. Things didn’t go well for Marceles the other day when he confronted the Archbishop, but that’s nothing you need to worry about. I’ve already got one of my paladins helping him out, so let’s just focus on yourself for now. I can tell something’s bothering you. What’s wrong?
The sound of Varguk laughing drew Reidar’s attention. He was talking to one of the spartans clad in the yellow brigandine armor designed for naval combat and needed to use his spear as a crutch to keep himself from falling over. His bout of laughter eventually calmed down, and he turned to give a brotherly wave to Reidar, followed by a thumbs up, signaling that the two weren’t in trouble.
Ah, I see… Have I told you yet about how I also used to be a social recluse?
“You what?” Reidar blurted out, then chastised himself for speaking out loud, ‘Sorry… I don’t recall reading about that in any of the stories about you.’
Well, none of my chosen have ever shared it, not even Oskar, and he went through great lengths to record as many of my stories as possible. You know, I think you remind me of him the most, and not just because you both look alike. You see, back in his day, intermixing between the different human tribes was frowned upon, so being half Lakelander and half Northman left him feeling ostracized most of the time. Add to the pile that he preferred doing “women’s work” with his penchant for mapmaking and recording of history instead of going out on hunts with the other men, and we ended up making a strong connection.
Reidar nodded along, able to easily see the similarities. Part of why he always got along the most with Varguk was because they took their support skills training more seriously, taking extra classes instead of joining the other recruits for additional combat practice. Where they differed though, was their reasoning for doing so. Varguk really likes to cook, so much that he prefers to solo monsters instead of fighting with a squad. All because he doesn’t want anyone to potentially “ruin” the prime cuts of meat on a monster.
Getting to study field medicine at the medical university was an eye-opener for him in that regard, since it was the first time he’d met a fellow spartan who didn’t particularly enjoy battle. He still felt guilty over not making more of an effort to socialize with them outside of the organized morning physical training, but with the staggering number of classes he had to take, he needed to spend all available time he had studying.
Although now that I think about it, maybe not. He had the opposite problem you have when it came to getting intimate. That breeding stud had a dozen children with just as many lovers before he turned twenty-four. Heh-heh, got himself into quite a bit of trouble before he finally settled down and married, so I bet you’ll never see any history books mentioning that little detail. Can’t be having the Chosen of the gods’ reputation be besmirched with scandals now can we?
A groan escaped from Reidar; he still didn’t understand why the god of Fertility chose him of all people.
Hey now, none of that, you’re about to go on a fun boat ride with your friends!
Reidar frowned, ‘It’s not a “fun boat ride”, we’re on an important mission for the kingdom.’
Yes, yes, I know… Speaking of missions… I’ve got my own for you; start creating your artifact. I can help you out if things get dire, but without a properly built artifact to channel my power, there’s a high chance of you dying in the process.
‘I don’t know anything about weapon or armor crafting though, where do I even start?’
Oh, it doesn’t have to be a piece of military equipment, just about anything can become an artifact. One of Ignitious’ Chosen, Borgakh, used a cooking cauldron for example, but regardless of what you choose to make, the first step is to collect some high-quality materials. Lucky for you, instead of getting a dull assignment with little chance of combat, you’re about to get shipped out to a hotspot crawling with monsters waiting to get harvested. Once you’ve got that done, you can have someone else physically build the framework of the artifact before you start carving mana channels into it, but you’ll need it custom tailored to the point of it being a unique object. I recommend consulting with that mage friend of yours for ideas on what to create, that poleaxe he made for example, is perfect for turning into an artifact, especially given how iconic it’s becoming.
‘Hmm, collecting materials should be simple, the mission briefing stated we’ll be using the nobles’ system for splitting the battlefield salvage, instead of simply submitting everything to the crown for distribution.’
Reidar smiled as he thought over the next step. Knowing Travis, he’ll probably go a step further and insist on offering to help him build the artifact. It certainly was a blessing that their paths kept crossing.
His eyes widened with realization, ‘Hold on, did you interfere with my squad assignment?’
Of course I did. What’s the point of having a divine patron if they can’t even help you get a good mission assignment? I even went the extra mile and got you into the same squad of that pretty girl you’re enamored with. Plus, I’m not going to let you turn out like Ahkazriel, secretly pining over Trebellia for years as they restructured the military, and never once expressing his feelings! Ignitious still taunts me to this day over how their Chosen beat mine at my own game.
The young spartan’s face began to blush, even as he clenched his hand around the idol in anger, ‘That was highly inappropriate, and an abuse of authority.’
Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud, there’s a good chance you would have gotten assigned to her squad anyways. I barely had to whisper the idea into the general’s mind before it sprouted. We’ll have to be extra cautious the next two months with the princess and her guard around though, too many watchful eyes lurking about, it might be best if we don’t directly speak to each other until you return.
Reidar released his irritation with a sigh, ‘Understood, anything else?’
Hmm, quite a few of the knights and mages you’ll be working with have orkish ancestry… and you’ll be visiting quite a handful of fortresses… including one near the elven border… maybe try and—
Reidar cut the connection and returned the idol to his valuables pouch; it was past the time he should have introduced himself to his new squad. He picked up his spear with his right hand and plucked his shield from his back with the left, then marched directly up the ramp and to Captain Aguk to give a full salute. Spear clapped over shield to signal that he was armed, armored, and ready for battle.
“Junior Spartan Medic Reidar, reporting for duty.”
The half-orc captain returned the salute, then grinned, “Welcome aboard spartan.” He paused to take a quick headcount, then bellowed with a mana reinforced shout, “Spartans!”
The spartan captain clanged his shield twice with his spear, then quickly pounded the blunt end on the deck three times. Moving more like machines than people, the green-striped orphans of the kingdom formed a circle, their spears held towards the center and shields protecting the exposed armpit of the spartan to their left.
“Today we welcome two new brothers to our circle: Varguk and Reidar. Guard their right, and they shall do the same.”
“Hoo! Rah! Hoo-rah-rah!”
“We are the Combined Arms Special Extermination Force. Our task is to provide our expertise in military doctrine and discipline to our non-spartan allies. Treat them the same as you would any eager recruit and use this opportunity to increase your own knowledge by learning from them. You’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with the knights as commandos draw in our prey and mages volley spells over our heads. It’s in the best interests of not just the kingdom, but you personally to get along with our new brothers and sisters in arms.”
“Hoo! Rah! Hoo-rah-rah!”
The towering captain raised his spear in the air to signal the end of the meeting.
Clang! Clang! Thud-Thud-Thud!
Reidar stood still as the other spartans dispersed the circle, some immediately racking their spears and shields near the ship’s rails, and others breaking up into smaller circles to chitchat. Before he could decide on a plan of action and enact it, a voice spoke to him from behind.
“You lot done hooting and hollering on my deck?”
The spartans turned to see a grizzled old Lakelander glaring at them, hands on his hips showcasing that he only wore a yellow brigandine chest piece over his brown arming jacket, but also that he had a helmet with a green crest clipped to his belt.
Captain Aguk stepped forward, looking considerably smaller than he did just moments ago, “Apologies for the racket ship captain, I will advise the spartans to reduce their noise.”
Ship Captain Sampson shook their head, “The yelling I can handle, my crew is just as guilty in that regard, but maybe try to keep the deck pounding to a minimum? We’ll be ferrying half a dozen horses, and I’d rather they not start cribbing on the fresh lumber.”
The spartans nodded in affirmation, earning an amused grin from the ship captain.
“Good. Now, which one of you is the medic? I’ve got two clueless corpsmen doing inventory in my state-of-the-art infirmary, and no senior medical officer on deck to sort them out before we launch in three hours.”
Reidar saluted Captain Sampson, “Sir, Spartan Medic Reidar. I’ll go assist.”
“Good lad, let me know personally if I need to send a runner to the nearest warehouse.”
---
Lancel
Lancel inspected the mounted weapon on the raised foredeck, unease wriggling its way through his intestines as a blue-haired beardless performed maintenance checks on it.
‘Couldn’t settle for the standard ballista could they? No, the kingdom’s engineers had to put a storming miniature anti-behemoth cannon on it!’
A trio of full-sized artillery once made the ground shake hard enough for him to nearly fall off a bastion’s wall. How easy will it be for a smaller one to succeed while fighting on a slick deck?
“Really wish I had a set of mariner’s armor…”
“What was that sir?”
Lancel snapped out of his dread to see a confused Barry, “Oh, nothing important. Is my crate on board?”
“Just handed it off to a pair of spartan sprouts; it’s as good as loaded now.” Barry checked to see that no one was in the vicinity and dropped the formalities, “Are you doing okay? You’ve been really quiet all morning.”
The newly minted knight sighed, “Not exactly thrilled to be going on this mission.”
“That’s right, didn’t you get boat-sick that time you went to visit your uncle for the summer?”
Lancel groaned, “Yes… but what made the trip miserable was that Tristan somehow convinced everyone to repeatedly toss me overboard so I wouldn’t puke on the deck.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Barry did his best to not look amused, but he was practically Lancel’s second father after all these years, and was far too easy to read. He at least managed to keep quiet while the overgrown child sulked.
“I promised Travis’ parents I’d keep him safe… steer him away from danger… How am I supposed to do that when he’s heading into a hotspot for monster activity with barely any training?”
The Hopkins family guard looked around, then took hold of Lancel’s gorget, “Well, it’s a good thing you’ll be there protecting him then. I can’t imagine you’d be more at ease with him under the care of someone you don’t know.”
Lancel forced out another exhale, “Yes, but I keep having the same nightmare. I wake up with my face in the dirt, and when I look up, I see Travis foolishly rushing into battle. I manage to drag him behind the shield wall, but he keeps leaping forward, waving his sword around like a child, and—"
“Hopkins!”
A familiar deep voice not only caused his marching herd of thought to suddenly turn, but also filled his guts with a new brand of nervous tension. He turned around to smile at the jolly goliath, looking straight out of one of Barry’s trashy romance novels, with his hair tied back with a braid to show off his handsome face, a finely stitched white tabard depicting a green island surrounded by mist flowing down his broad chest, and a massive zweihander mounted on his wide back.
“Galehaut… um, you seem to be in a good mood.”
The inner-ring noble gave his thickly corded neck a quick roll as he stretched out his beefy arms, “Ahh, how can I not? It’s a beautiful day,” he thumbed the sword pommel on his back, “my father opened the weapons vault for me, and I’m about to end my months long dry spell stranded on land by getting to ride a sexy new boat. Surely you’re excited as well?”
Lancel grinned, “I guess you’re right, although it has been a while since I last sailed, you’ll have to remind me which side is port and which side is starboard, I always forget for some reason.”
“I’d be happy to. In fact, I was about to step aboard and report for duty. Care to join me?”
“Sure, just a minute.” Lancel turned to view the cheesy grin plastered over Barry’s face, then threatened his guard in a low growl, “Not a word to mother.”
Barry didn’t react, merely saluting Lancel, “May Torbolt’s and Apheros’ blessings be upon you, Young Sir Hopkins.”
Lancel rolled his eyes at the smug guard, then quickly walked up next to Galehaut as they boarded the ship.
---
Arc
Huh, it’s like they fused a classical Viking ship’s hull with a Greek trireme’s innards, but also glued on more modern elements like a raised fore and aft deck, then tucked in a propeller between the long spine of the keel and added a rudder. Hmm… I guess that makes sense though. From what I’ve gathered, Lakeland shipbuilding styles typically followed the same progression path Scandinavians did. Essentially using upscaled canoes that only sunk below the water 3-4 feet to make navigating the nearly endless chain of lakes and rivers easier, had lightweight frames capable of being carried or dragged by a couple dozen men, and included a single mast and sail to help reduce the need for rowing. I assume the other influences are courtesy of elven and dwarven influence, given that humans never had to fight rough seas or spend extended durations on water.
My vision switched from pure mana sight into the full spectrum of reflected light of Travis’ vision. He disembarked from the horse-drawn trolley the mages took down here, and was viewing the ship’s majestic nose-art of a green-armored knight with flowering antlers on their back raising a hammer high in the air. Sadly, it faded away as fast as it arrived, but I managed to keep my spirits high. Travis has been able to share his vision with me more and more frequently this past week, and although he hasn’t been able to do it consciously yet, we think the trigger is him subconsciously thinking, “I wish Arc could see this.”
Travis eventually got over his astonishment, then joined the other mages as they began to march up the gangplank towards their squad captain, keeping his eyes straight ahead and posture perfect enough to make a spartan proud. I’m positive his overly strict military discipline at the moment was due to him about to begin his first official mission for the kingdom, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Seleyna’s presence right next to him was contributing, or if maybe Vesril’s lackadaisical attitude was simply making him look good.
The Royal Knight returned their salute after reporting for duty, “Welcome aboard. Store your shields and additional equipment you don’t wish to carry on the raised aft deck rails, Squad 1 starboard and Squad 2 port side, then wait for further instructions.”
Travis nodded, then robotically did as ordered, but startled after removing his helmet when he noticed Seleyna was standing right next to him.
“Wasn’t my intention to frighten you.” She teased, then unhooked the quivers she had attached to each hip before leaning her back against the rail, “Excited to have a couple months off from classes?”
“Umm… yes.” Travis stammered, then cleared his throat, “It’s my first time on a large boat, and I’ve never seen a mountain before either, so I’m anxious to set sail and see the sights. How about you?”
Seleyna shrugged, “Not my first time on a military vessel or yacht, and I’ve been to most of the fortresses we’ll be stopping at, but this is the first time I’ll be traveling without a squad of Royal Knights looming over me.”
“Yes, just a squad of commandos instead. They’re literally smuggling themselves on board with the luggage as we speak.”
Travis rapped me on the pommel to shut my mouth, causing a bout of metaphorical laughter to escape me. He must have the nervous jitters about his first mission. Hopefully Seleyna hanging around him won’t make matters worse, because I’m not sure if he’s realized it yet, but he might be the only person Seleyna considers a friend onboard. Well, except for maybe Vesril, but I doubt she’s going to get much conversation out of the brooding elf sulking in the shady corner on the exposed deck.
The princess’ gaze was drawn to Travis’ helmet as he clipped it to his belt, “Why do you have your dust filter attached?”
“I’m using it as a spell formation base for training. I can’t use enchantments on my poleaxe yet, or even stay attuned to it while using mana reinforcement, so I’m going to train and fight while maintaining different elemental enchantments as long as possible every day to strengthen my mana channels.”
“That’s right, I think Miller mentioned his family was going to force him to do something similar.” She smiled, “Guess there’s a few perks to only specializing in a basic element.”
Travis nodded in agreement, “I’ve been able to maintain an Earth, Wind and Water enchantment at the same time with only minor hindrances, but I haven’t tried adding in a Fire Enchantment yet.” He looked up at the sun high in the sky, and for the briefest of seconds, I think I felt its heat too, “The plan Ansel’s grandfather recommended to me was to use a simple warming enchantment on my back, but with how warm it still is outside…”
Seleyna caught his meaning, “Ah, don’t worry about that. It’ll cool down considerably once we arrive at Coldwater Spring. The mountain air is almost two dozen degrees cooler, and on top of that, it frequently rains and snows. By the time we head back, I’m positive we’ll have learned to maintain a [Fire Aura] in our sleep.”
My friend finally relaxed, letting out a deep sigh, “That’s a relief. What about you? Are you doing anything extra for training?”
“Kinda, mostly just learning a few Wind spells early so I can train and build up a big enough Air Mana supply for Wind Spells 1. All of the high-end arrow enchantments require Wind arrays to reduce drag and increase flight speed, so the sooner I can add those into my spell formations, the sooner I’ll get a nice damage boost.”
The two continued to chat for a bit about what else they hoped they’d get a chance to do in their downtime, pausing only to wave at Lancel trapped on the other side of the ship by a wall of horses and cargo being stowed away below deck, then moved on to the topic of Travis’ original journey up to the capital.
“Hold on, you never left your village before that day? Not even to the capital for Solstice?”
Travis swayed with embarrassment, “My family could never afford to go. Plus, Lakewell is a three-hour trot away from Aelder Creek, and isn’t connected to the Grand River’s network. To be honest the only thing remarkable about my village was the aelder tree. Even the soil isn’t all that good, rocks pop up out of the dirt and need to get picked every year, and if you don’t have your fields tiled, your crops will drown after a heavy rainfall.”
Seleyna winced at her faux pas of shining a light on the class disparity between the two, causing the conversation to slam into a grinding halt. They stood quietly for a while as they watched the other mages on the aft deck. Vesril was still being emo in his corner, the Creeksmith twins were flirting with Treblana, and Mattius was muttering his displeasure of the sight to an indifferent Drozuk.
Travis chuckled, then leaned into whisper to the princess, “Mattius has had a big crush on that Earth Mage for a while now and keeps whining about how he doesn’t stand a chance.”
The princess smirked, “It’s going to be an uphill battle for him to compete. Twins is one thing, but identical ones…” She let out a low whistle, “Even I’m a bit jealous.”
A look of dread came over Travis’ face, “Is… being a twin considered attractive?”
Seleyna wiggled her hand, “It’s more of a Packer girl thing. Torbolt’s famous for often giving tandem blessings to twins, often to represent the thunder and the lightning, the wind and the rain, the calm after the chaos, and the brutality of war’s conflict with honorable discipline. So having a set in your family is considered good luck.” She turned her head in time to see Travis’ expression, “Something wrong?”
“Umm, no… I… uh…” Travis eyes desperately searched for a distraction until they landed on a corpsman stepping out from below deck. He raised his hand and shouted, “Private! Any difficulties loading my horse?”
Private Tomas saluted Travis, then replied, “No sir, was quite calm actually. Acted like it wasn’t his first time aboard a ship. I’ll be keeping an eye on the horses once we depart, and you’re welcome to come down and greet him, but it’ll be quite cramped for you in your armor.”
Seleyna rolled her eyes while Travis’ back was turned, clearly as unimpressed with his amateur attempt at deflection as I was. Having to do political goodwill appearances with the princess might be good for Travis, he can be quite confident in social settings for a former loner, but he’s about as subtle and graceful as that poleaxe on his back.
Hmm… now that I think about it, Seleyna is an archer… even has a fancy quiver/scabbard on her back to allow for easy access to an arrow or her short sword… And she is a princess, so it’s almost guaranteed that she knows how to sneak around and pick locks. Add in Lancel the frontline fighter, Reidar the healer, Travis the paladin, and me the spell-casting sword, and we’ve got ourselves a balanced adventuring party.
We’ll have to come up with some test though, see if she’d be a reliable party member that would put the group’s needs over her own…
While Travis stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to restart the conversation, Seleyna raised her hand to wave at Mattius’ crush, “Treblana, we haven’t had a chance to properly meet yet.”
The Packer girl gulped, obviously nervous to everyone looking, but managed to approach and give a respectable bow, “Princess Seleyna, it’s an honor to be in the same battalion as you.”
“Hey now, I’ll be getting enough of that when we start meeting Jarls.” Seleyna tapped the side of her head, “As long as I got my helmet braids in, no bowing, and simply call me Seleyna or princess.”
Treblana stood back up, and made a visible attempt to relax, “Apologies princess. My family might be one of the oldest outer-ring families, but we rarely interact much with the crown, so I’m a little lost in the grass.”
The princess pointed a thumb towards a smirking Travis, “Don’t worry, you’re in good company.” She then leaned forward to whisper, “Speaking of company… How did you get on a team with that handsome Packer boy and a set of twins, while I get stuck with the farm-boy, an orc who publicly embarrassed himself the first week of classes, and young lord broody over there?”
“I have no idea!” Treblana cautiously exclaimed before darting her head around to ensure her squad was out of earshot, “My family’s political influence is mostly focused on agricultural commerce, not military accomplishments, so I don’t think my dad could have turned in a favor to put me in this battalion. Unless…” She turned to Travis, “You’re friends with Mattius right? He wouldn’t do something creepy, like bribing a general to put me on the same squad as him, would he?”
Travis immediately put up his hands, “No, no, I highly doubt it. He’s been stressed out and complaining constantly about being in the same squad as you.” He winced at his poor choice of words once he saw her adverse reaction, then groaned as I started laughing in his ear.
“Just come clean and tell her Mattius has been girl-crazy over her. I have a feeling she’ll welcome the news.”
Travis let out one more sigh, earning him a friendly elbow in the side from Seleyna to spill the details.
---
Travis
The shouts and movements across the ship hit a crescendo as noon quickly approached, and we were called to the main deck for roll call. Captain Adaline and Aguk stood on the foredeck in front of the cannon, along with the ship captain, a blue-haired beardless dwarf, and the Staff Sergeant of the Logistics Corps. The rest of us were lined up into rows: spartans, knights, mages, then corpsmen, with my squad on the starboard side and Mattius’ on port.
Captain Adaline called the meeting to order, then addressed us, “As of this moment, all crew, cargo, and military personnel are present and accounted for. We’ll be leaving port on schedule, sailing straight through the night until we reach our first destination tomorrow afternoon, Little Rock Fortress. Sleeping space is limited, and we’ll need to hot-bunk, so Aguk and I will be setting up a schedule.” She turned toward the heavily muscled half-orc captain to let him speak.
“For those not wearing mariner armor, dress code will relax to allow everyone to reduce down to your arming jackets once we pass the last bridge.” He paused to make a toothy grin, “I know a lot of you are hankering to start cross training with your new squad-mates, so as soon as we leave the city proper, we’ll start rotating the two combat squads on the main deck for formation drills. Then tomorrow morning, we’ll rotate who gets the main deck space after morning physical training. Discussion of magic will only be allowed in the infirmary and on top the aft deck, so if any you non-mana users are found in those areas without permission, expect Raven Four to take care of you personally.” He paused to observe the nods from the corpsmen and sailors onboard, “Good, now I believe the ship captain and artificer have a few things to add.”
The old Lakelander gave everyone a discerning glare, “The current forecast for monster activity is rated low, but given that this ship has not only a fortune in mana crystals aboard in inscriptions, but also has over three dozen mana users, expect to see action at any moment. Larger beasts that normally let the minnows swim by might take their chances on this ship. So, stay vigilant when we cut across the deeper lakes.” He stepped back to give the dwarf the floor.
“First Mate Artificer Volmaegar,” the beardless dwarf patted the cannon, “only authorized personnel are allowed on the foredeck near this youngling, and below deck near the engine. Now, I know how curious you mage students can get, so I’ll start giving tours to small groups tomorrow and will answer any questions you have then and only then.”
A few more topics were discussed, but I could barely pay attention as the ship’s crew began untying from the dock and pushing us off before the gentle lurch of the artifice engine kicked in. Not long after, we were traveling slowly down the river, and our meeting was finally dismissed.
Seleyna let out a long sigh, “Well, time for me to go be a princess.” She flashed a smile at me, then ventured her way towards the front of the ship.
I let out my own sigh of relief, happy that I didn’t need to join her, then reached forward to give Lancel’s back a poke, “Excited to be off on an adventure again?”
He turned around to give me his signature grin, but it looked a bit off from what I remembered, “Glad to see you haven’t changed.” He then tilted his head towards the square jawed Lakelander knight standing next to him, “This is Galehaut Mistguard, we were in the same training camp.”
I extended a hand to shake and tried my best to grip onto the man’s oversized forearm, “Travis of Aelder Creek, nice to meet you.”
“Same here, been standing at the edge of the dock ever since I saw that shadow show.” He gave me a quick head to toe glance, but stopped halfway back up to linger on Arc, “Whoa! Is that an adamantium blade! Lancel, how come you didn’t mention that?”
“Strange… could have sworn I did…” teased Lancel, “It’s not like you to miss a detail when it comes to swords.”
The goliath scowled, but before he could retort, the sound of a clearing throat came from behind, “Travis, are you going to introduce us to your friends?”
I swung around to see Drozuk grinning at me, along with Mattius, and umm… the girl he’s enamored with, and… the Creeksmith twins?
“Umm… yeah… just, uh…” I shuffled my position to the left of Lancel so I could include everyone within the new circle.
“You should call over Reidar, I can tell he wants to join you.”
Perking my head up, I spotted the lone spartan looking out of place, and waved, “Reidar, there you are.”
He leaked one of his rare smiles, then came into range of my arm so I could give his backplate a firm pat and maneuver him to my right.
“Where were you? I didn’t see you at all until final roll call.”
“Right below you in the infirmary. There was a shipping error I had to correct, and I also wanted to familiarize myself with the equipment before we set sail. It’s much more advanced than what I worked with during the flood.”
“Really? How so?”
“The largest change would be the operating table, it’s much more adjustable and easier to clean. There’s also an artifice-powered shower inside to sanitize patients and medics instead of an enchantable boiler plate and sponges.”
“Neat, think I can check it out later?”
“Yes, but it would have to be under the purview of medical instruction.”
I shrugged and was about to reply that I wouldn’t mind, when Arc made a coughing noise in my ear.
“Travis, you were supposed to introduce people…”
Instantly cringing, I turned my head to see the half insulted and half amused expressions on everyone, “Sorry guys, this is Reidar, the friend that saved me from embarrassing myself on the dance floor with Seleyna, and this is Lancel Hopkins, or as you probably know him from the shadow show, Guard.”
That reminded me…
I reached behind Lancel with my left hand as introductions continued and gave his butt a hard slap. The tassets on the back of his skirt unfortunately blocked me from giving him a sore rear, but it did echo out a nice metal ring.
“What was that for?!”
I grinned, “Trent told me to give you one for him. He said in his letter that he wouldn’t have time to stop by your estate to catch up before Solstice.”
Lancel stared at me with a confused face until a look of terror overtook it when his friend asked a question.
“Who’s Trent?”
Before I could answer, I got cut off by multiple horns blasting over the water. My head turned toward the bow of the ship where Seleyna stood proudly with her wavy blonde hair undone and flowing down past her shoulders. Behind her stood the squad captains, including the commando’s, along with the Staff Sergeant, ship captain, and artificer.
Multiple other ships had moved into formation beside us, one of them a multi-tiered troop transport that had three rows of oars powering the heavily laden vessel, another was clearly a fisher-type given the harpoon launchers on each end, and many, many traditional Lakelander ships that could only hold a squad or two.
The noise of the horns sounding soon passed, only to be replaced by a cacophony of cheers, shouts, and singing as we turned onto the Erosathan river proper. There were so many people! Banners depicting noble houses were draped over the edges, people held up signs with the names of their loved ones, and flowers were being tossed into the water.
I stood there, completely awestruck as we sailed underneath the first bridge. Graffiti that I was never able to see from above covered the insides of the stone arches, depicting scenes of sailors saying goodbye to their spouses and children, scripture quotes from the tenets of the gods, images of wounded soldiers fighting bravely against dragons, and dozens upon dozens of other themes. Tiny parachutes greeted us on the other side, and as I reached up to grab one, discovered a wrapped caramel hanging from mine.
Lancel chuckled, making me turn towards him holding an unfurled poster of a naked woman, he caught my embarrassed look, and gave me a genuine grin, “Want it? It’s not to my taste.”
I shook my head no, then immediately broke eye contact to witness the next bridge approaching and started waving with the people onboard the ship. We passed underneath even more bridges, my favorites being the one that tossed everyone onboard freshly picked apples, and another that dangled wrapped sandwiches from fishing lines.
The whole experience was quickly becoming exhausting though, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and I noticed that Reidar’s shoulders were drooping just as bad as mine. Unlike Seleyna, who seemed inexhaustible as she kept waving. I did get a second wind halfway out of the capital though.
“Look up, two o’clock!”
I perked back up, and started tapping Lancel’s shoulder once I spotted a banner of a rabbit dodging a lightning bolt. Caldia was holding up a sign with the crest Jethro designed for me, Gramps towered behind the other Hopkins women with Silia sitting on one shoulder and Boris cradled in the other arm, and Barry with his wife and son were standing close by with the other guards and house staff waving their hands as well.
Sadly, I didn’t have the presence of mind to cast a [Message] spell before we went under the bridge, but I’m not exactly sure what I would have said anyways, so I opted instead to give Arc a scratch in his favorite spot and whisper thanks to him underneath my breath.