“Again!”
The boy picked himself up without complaint, showing he was much less pampered than the noble scions she had seen in the same position before.
He took a moment to retake the proper stance and, with a deep breath, invoked his new skill. “[Anointment]!”
Holy Magic surged, granting him supernatural strength and speed; between a breath and the next, he was off. His sword came down with finality.
And yet, what should have been a shearing strike was easily turned to the side, and the image of the perfect paladin was broken. The boy was sent sprawling to the side, and his opponent sighed, lowering his guard.
“You still put too much of your weight into it. You are not using [Anointment] to its full potential this way. The beauty of this skill is that it allows you to strike as if you were putting your all every time without needing to actually do so. Any opponent will think you are open and try their best to avoid and counterattack rather than take you on directly. Do not give them that opening.”
It was good advice, and Neer found herself humming in agreement. She didn’t think the boy was necessarily ready for such advanced tactics, but then again, she wasn’t his mentor, and the Hero had shown several times he knew what he was talking about.
The training session continued for a while after that, and she contented herself with observing how the two humans interacted. It was obvious that the younger one deeply admired his teacher, and she could see that their relationship even had paternal hints. Leonard Weiss treated his squire like a mother hen would her chicks, directing him with endless patience and nudging him when necessary.
The image overlapping over the conqueror striking fear in the hearts of the kingdom’s nobility was quite funny, and Neer allowed herself a smile.
She was smiling much more lately. It wasn’t something she had ever thought about much before, but these days, there was always something that brought her a bit of happiness. Sometimes, it was the satisfaction of completing a training routine better than before now that her collar didn’t hold her back. Or even having an interesting conversation with a new person.
These were not things she had even known she lacked. Only after being freed did she realize how much she was missing. It was why she had sworn to herself that she’d see his crusade to the end, whatever that might be.
The training continued for another half an hour before the outside world came calling in the form of one of the many new bureaucrats that had been hired lately. The young man sprinted down the courtyard, barely holding onto a stack of papers to his chest. Neer had to consciously stop herself from sneering, as she had scared quite a few weaklings into unconsciousness.
“Grand Marshal! This has just come in!” He said, almost yelled really, waving the stack of papers as if it would explain anything.
With seemingly unending patience, Leonard - he had insisted she call him that, which, while difficult in the beginning, made her quite happy - sheathed his blade and turned to face him.
“The Redistribution Office was clear that this needed your immediate attention, Grand Marshal.” The bureaucrat explained, having the sense of stopping a couple of feet away and proffering the stack to Leonard respectfully. Neer knew that it was a feature of government that untrained soft men and women would gain a semblance of power over stronger people, but she still didn’t like how they got used to it so readily. At least, they all seemed to hold Leonard in high regard. She would have had to intervene had they been anything but extremely respectful.
Leonard took the papers and started skimming through them, returning them to the young man once he was done. The courtyard was silent while he read, the benefits of having a private area for training.
Neer had never had such a luxury, but she didn’t begrudge the Hero for taking it. He had earned that and much more, in her eyes. He already spent a lot of time personally overseeing the training of his troops; no one could begrudge him some privacy when he saw to the needs of his squire.
“I see; it’s good that they found a bard to break through the wards. But is this estimate right? A month seems like a long time.” Leonard finally said, lifting his eyes to the young man once he was done reading.
“I was told the contractor believes the lockbox to be an experiment by the professor who owned it before. Some kind of test to see how many different ‘stories’ he could weave together before they lost coherence.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Neer hadn’t exactly followed the efforts to sift through the Tower’s riches, especially since she had been more concerned with impressing upon the more rowdy ex-slaves that their energy should be directed toward training and not making trouble.
Still, she knew the vicar had been stumped by a seemingly ordinary safe. It had been a matter of great curiosity among the revolutionary mages, and the betting pool had reached a significant sum.
It still didn’t seem important enough to bother the Grand Marshal, and the bureaucrat appeared to understand that, as he stood there in embarrassment, trying to justify why he would come running to report such a minor thing.
Luckily for him, Leonard patted his shoulder and sent him on his way with only a warning to wait until they were done with training next time.
On the other hand, Neer turned a frigid glare to the two soldiers that should have kept people away. Seemingly understanding the danger they were in, the two paled and straightened, taking a much more intimidating stance.
I’m going to work them to the bone. The Security Force has just been created, and they are already slacking off? I’ll make them wish they had this job again.
----------------------------------------
Since her elevation as Captain of the Security Force, Neer had been busier than ever before. Standing around during her old master’s meetings had undoubtedly given her an appreciation for how burdensome leadership could be. Still, it hadn’t prepared her to be the one calling the shots.
She had always thought of herself as a warrior. That meant she didn’t enjoy sitting in silence while some idiot prattled about whatever minor task he had been assigned.
Fortunately, the Hero was intelligent enough to understand this. He had granted her leave to administer the SF as she liked, provided they could fulfill their duties.
Neer turned her attention to the four dozen men and women under her command. They were all ex-slaves like her, eager to prove themselves and find a new purpose.
They are rough and have the same problem I did. A lot of experience doesn’t translate into growth when you are a slave. Wearing collars stops everyone from getting blessings. But this means they should only need a little push to get to where they should be.
She had chosen these people precisely because they were all guards of some kind. Their instincts were already good. She just needed to impart a few skills beyond what they already had, and they’d do the rest by themselves.
“I’m not one for speeches, so I won’t bore you for too long. You are here because you want to repay the debt you feel toward the Grand Marshal and his cause, and I’m here to make sure you don’t die before you have done so. Follow my orders, and you’ll become useful. Slack off, and I’ll remove you.” There was no need to coddle these people. They were hardened by suffering and wouldn’t respond well to kind words anyway.
“Yes, ma’am!” Her soldiers yelled in unison, and Neer gave them a curt nod before indicating they should move to where the weapons were stored.
“Take a weapon you are comfortable with. Leave the firearms for now. You’ll need both for your duties, but we must concentrate on the basics first.” The Security Force was meant to oversee the creation of local militias for the newly conquered towns and to police the army, after all. Leaving such a burden on the regular army meant they’d have less time to train, which was opposite to the Grand Marshal’s mandate. And now that the recruiting had brought them to a comfortable number of soldiers, they could afford to create specialized units.
Neer wouldn’t say this was her dream assignment. Still, she had been personally picked by her savior for her ability to maintain control over every situation, and she wouldn’t disappoint him.
I will still be able to participate in the regular operations anyway. This just means I’ll have a specific job to do once the fighting ends.
Once the soldiers had grabbed their weapons, she indicated for them to move to the wider courtyard area, where they could move without bumping into each other. “I want you all to go through a series of drills. The ones you are the most familiar with. If you don’t have any, just wait until the others are done. This is so that I know what I have to work with. I’ll show you what we’ll be practicing once we finish.”
The recruits started going through the forms they had been taught. Most were rudimentary, and only their physiques allowed them to complete the motions. This was a problem most ex-slaves had. Their muscular bodies, built by constant exertion, lacked the skills to use them as anything beyond dumb muscle.
I didn't have much more time away from a collar than these guys, but the few skills I learned were polished to the absolute maximum.
Neer observed carefully, making a note of who had some real talent and who looked to be mostly coasting by. It wouldn’t be a problem if they followed her guidance, but she knew well that even freedmen could be ungrateful. At least, there didn’t seem to be anyone below the threshold necessary to learn a basic skill.
“Alright, that’s enough. I want you all to repeat what I will show you next. This is the simplest of combat skills and yet the most useful of them all. A time will come for you to learn fancier, more intricate abilities, but now you must build your foundation. [Thrust] is the best for that.” Once she was sure all eyes were on her, she grabbed her sword, smoothly unsheathing it. Focusing on the space before her, she allowed mana to flow into her right arm and pool there.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/MGv53Hsd/persimmon0-half-orc-muscular-woman-training-human-recruits-in-a-728ef462-90b6-4706-ae49-e23a29a10e71.png]
Her eyes narrowed, and she shouted as her coiled muscles exploded in motion. Such was the power of her attack that the air whipped in her wake. A furrow five feet long and two inches deep was carved into the ground beyond the sword tip.
Resuming her neutral stance, Neer was gratified to see that most skepticism was gone from the recruits’ faces. [Thrust] was a simple skill, but it was almost always enough in the hands of a good fighter.
“I expect you all to need at least a week to learn [Thrust] and how to use it effectively, but once you do that, we’ll move onto [Roar], a crowd control skill meant to stun large numbers. These two will be the basis of your skillset.”
Of course, just showing them a skill once wasn’t enough for anyone but the most extraordinary talents to grasp anything. Neer repeated the show several times, highlighting the reason for each movement, how she called upon her mana, and her mental state.
Since [Thrust] was such a basic skill, it didn’t surprise her that a third of the people could create a soft glow around their weapons by the end of the session, while the remaining ones had at least managed to move the mana in the right direction.
It’ll take a while, but I will build the best corp in the army if it’s the last thing I do. Discipline will be enforced, and nothing will undermine the revolution.