Although he called it a camp it was more like a village. The buildings there where grey and square and placed in neatly formed rows. Most of the buildings had 2 floors, there were a few exceptions here and there but otherwise everything was dual floored.
The order of a disciplined army could be seen in the formation of this camp. The legionair led them through the camp until they where in the center square. The square had the flag of the Aethling Empire standing proud in the middle.
The aethling empire flag was one with a purple background with a white flower called the Nerium Oleander. Which somehow resembled something they called the Star of David. No one really know why the flower was the royal mark but it had been so for millenia so no one bothered questioning it.
They were ordered to form lines by a rough and experienced looking drill sergeant. The lines they formed were nowhere near organized. At the end when they finished creating their formation they were standing roughly in a square formation.
"Today! You will be led to your bunks, it is getting dark outside and the real training will be held tomorrow!" The sergeant declared with a loud and clear voice. "I will now form you in groups of six,You and the other 5 members will form a squadron! You will remain such until the end of training. Should one of your squadron members fail the tests they will be removed from the camp!"
"The missing member will then be replaced by other members of a squadron that is no longer whole! There will at all times be 6 members in your squadron unless circumstances require otherwise! I will now call your names. If you hear your names step forward and follow the legionair assigned to you."
The legionair started calling forth names. There was no specific order in the way he called the names. After about a minute of waiting Dorian heard his own name.
"Dorian Storsworn!"
Dorian quickly stepped forward and joined the legionair his group had been assigned. It seemed he was the first of his squadron so he paid attention to the names the Sergeant called after his own.
"Blaitz Gordonfell"
A tigerlike beastmen of about his own age stepped forward and quickly made his way to Dorian and the legionary. His arms and some of his head was covered in red/orange fur that had dark stripes running through it here and there. The boy had a sturdy build much like his own and his golden predator eyes seemed to be alert for any movement. He gave Dorian a nod and stood next to him keeping silent.
"Vorkolimiári Sétra Éverwoud"
Now that name was a complete mouthful. This time a huge Entman of at least 2 and a half meters stepped forward and made his way to Dorian, and Blaitz. His steps heavy he was an impressive sight by himself. His skin resembled bark and looked tough and cracked here and there. His eyes had the green of the forest in him and his hair looked like grass growing out of his skull.
He bowed formally before Dorian and Blaitz who were surprised by the gesture but awkwardly bowed back. The Entman stepped next to Dorian, who felt like a dwarf standing next to the huge entman.
"Ístril von Éllenmare"
This time it was a female elf that stepped forward and walked towards them. Stepping may have been the wrong word for her. She somehow gracefully glided towards them. Her golden hair flowing behind her, wearing a simple but elegant white dress that framed her figure exquisitely she drew the eyes of even the Sergeant who was distracted for the tiniest of moments.
With her smooth skin and golden eyes she made quite the impression as she joined the group giving them the slightest dip of her head in greeting.
Well it seemed the Legion did not care about gender and would just bunk all of them together. A rather unnerving thought to Dorian. He did not have alot of experience with women and the one standing close by was in no way any less sensual than anything he had ever fantasized about. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he heard the next name.
"Gladiel Karvin"
A handsome looking Aethling with wavy hair that reached his forwards made his way forward with a bit of a cocky or maybe just confident stroll. His blue eyes matched his blue hair, his build was lanky and lacked any form of decent muscle.
Once Gladiel joined the group he gave Ístril a seductive wink. Which she completely ignored, not even bothered by the rejection in the slightest he joined the rest of the group giving Dorian a jolly grin.
So cocky, perhaps. But he seemed like a good enough fellow.
"Arin Daughter of Grimligur"
This time it was a female dwarf that made her way to them. She had brown hair tucked in a tight braid, and brown eyes full of humor to match it. Walking towards them with quick steps she gave the group a wave and joined them. The rest nodded in response.
"Follow me." The legionair said leading them away from the square.
Leading them into one of the square buildings once through the door they went immediately up the stairs, then down the hallway the door at the end was theirs so it would seem.
"Your possessions you can put in the chests at the feet of your bed. The closets you see are for legion property only, we will not rummage through the possessions in the chest but anything in the closet is fair game. But you will get that explained in the morning. Just remember! Private possessions in the chest. Trust me on this guys." The legionair earnestly pressed them.
The group nodded to his words and thanked him for the advice. Dorian took a look in the room and saw 3 bunk beds. 2 on each side of the room and one at the end. The room actually had more space than he expected.
There was also a bit of privacy for them, Each bed had a curtain that they could close around their bed to get some privacy.
"Id say the girls go together in one of the bunkbeds." Dorian said looking at the rest of the group.
"Awwwh, and there goes my plan of enjoyment." Said Gladiel putting on an obviously fake pouting face.
"I wouldn't really mind, but im fine sleeping with beautiful over there." Arin said grinning.
"This would be adequate" Ístril said with a cold note audible in her voice.
After the quick arranging of the beds Gladiel would sleep on the upper bunk bed with Vorkolimiári below him. Dorian would take the other bed with Blaitz in the bed above him. After dividing the bed they introduced each other.
"I am Dorian Storsworn." Dorian told them. "16 years of age, i come from the northern village Walmont near the border forests of Cumplai. I guess im here to get more combat experience and see the life of a Legionair." With that he finished his own introduction
"Blaitz Gordonfell, I come from the Savannah's in the south from the nomadic tribe of Esterfol. We dont really stay in one place so wouldn't say i live anywhere in particular. Joined the army because i was tired of the simple life of a nomad and wanted to do something more exciting." Blaits told them with his cheerful voice
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
" Vorkolimiári Sétra Éverwoud, is the name by which i am called. I understand the name is a bit harsh for the average commoner to speak so i would accept simply being called Vor. I hail from the Lush forests of Tolrím in the west. I am the second born of my generation and according to custom i join the legionaries to protect the empire in which we reside." Vor rumbled, his voice was extremely deep and gave Dorian the impression of a horde of bumblebees.
" Ístril von Éllenmare, i am here to escape forced marriage, the only way i could break the bonds between me and my family was to join the legion." She stated indifferently, Shocking the rest of the group into silence for a bit.
Gladiel who was apparently feeling the awkward silence pitched in to break it. "Gladiel Karvin, a most dear pleasure to make your acquaintance. I jolly well came from the City Washmorth we just left. I just up and decided to change my life and join the legion. Pitch in to protect our mighty empire and all that" The group recovered from their shocks with his positive attitude and they even laughed a bit.
"Real pleasure to make your acquaintance dear Gladiel, sir. I am Arin daughter of Grimligur. Basically I've always wanted to join the legion and so here i am. I come from the dwarven city of Krokilum. You guys seem like a good bunch of folks so let's get along and graduate together!"
After having introduced themselves to each other they started making some small talk. Learning about each of them, They would be spending the next few years together and would save each others lives if things went the way they should.
Dorian quite enjoyed the conversations with the rest of the group. They got along pretty well, although they couldn't have been more diverse if they had tried. Maybe being so diverse is wat they enjoyed about each other. Each of them had stories about their race that none of the others had heard before.
Telling stories like this it did not take long before the sky turned dark and the moon shone through the window signalling the squad that it was time to hit the sack. Getting into their beds the girls closed their curtains to undress and change into their sleeping outfits.
Once they had changed their clothes they kept the curtains shut. The guys didn't bother doing anything of the sort and just pulled of their clothes untill they were in their underwear and jumped in bed then and there. Vor did it a bit differently the green robe he was wearing he neatly folded and put into chest.
The lower bunk bed he was using was way larger than the ones the rest was using. It seemed the people in the camp had expected the Entman and had prepared a bed big enough for him to use. Although this automatically made Gladiel's bed extremely big it didn't bother him. Gave him some room to twist and turn he told them.
And just like that the day's end had come and they soon fell into slumber. Most of them excited about wat would happen tomorrow.
In the morning the loud yelling of the drill sergeant woke them up.
"You guys have 5 mins to dress yourselves, get outside and line up! Hurry it up!" He roared pounding on all the doors in the dorm.
Quickly waiting up Dorian leaped out of bed and put on his clothes in quick movements. The rest of his squad was fast in doing so aswell. Ístril had just slipped on her dress and jumped out, Vor had some trouble with his robes but with some help he was quickly done aswell. The squad hurried down the stairs and outside to the square. Once they were lined up in formation the sergeant spoke again.
"It took you guys 7 and a half minutes to get down here and get ready! Go back to your rooms take of your clothes and get back in bed!" He roared at them infuriated.
Some people grumbled but everyone made their way back to the dorm took of their clothes and got into bed. The sergeant walked past the dorm rooms to check and see if everyone was back in their beds. Once he confirmed that everyone was in bed he roared out once more.
"4 Minutes and I want to see everyone outside and lined up! In the same places you were just now!"
Rushing to put on his clothes Dorian and his squad did so once again and ran outside lining up in the same formation as they had been before. Some people didn't remember where they were before and decided to just fill the gaps.
"This is not the same bloody formation you guys had just now! I will teach you runts how to do this properly. ONCE! You better get it right or ill make the day hell for you!"
The sergeant then proceeded to roughly line up the squadrons and put them in formation there were exactly 200 recruits in their group so he lined them up in 10 rows and 20 colums. He told them to put their heels together stand up straight and put their right fist to the shoulder of the one next to them. The distance should be exactly enough for the first line to reach the shoulders of the ones next to them with their arms stretched out.
The people in the first row all seemed to be about the same height and breadth so the lines became pretty much even. The distance between each row was made by putting the left fist against the left shoulder of the one in front of you. But only the first in each row did this and the rest adjusted themselves to the distance of that 1 recruit.
After having positioned themselves the sergeant once more told them to get back in bed. Once he once more confirmed that everyone was in bed. . He roared his command at them everyone hurried to put on their clothes and get in line. But once more, not everyone was in time. The getting in formation simply took to long to get everything done in 4 minutes.
The sergeant of course didn't care about petty things like that and ordered them to get back in bed once more. After confirming they were in bed he yet again roared his order. This time everyone was in a deadsman rush to get outside and in formation. And yet the same slow people weren't in time. The annoyance of the whole group could be felt as they started to glare at the slower individuals.
The sergeant still didnt;t care about their plights and ordered them to get back in to their beds. This pattern repeated itself for nearly the entire morning. The group was starting to get hungry but the sergeant was still screaming at them that they would not get breakfast untill they finally got this right.
"IS it that bloody hard for you maggots to get into line?!!" He roared at them, Dorian could almost see foam spraying from the mans mouth that was how angry he was. "I can be here all divine damned day!" The sergeant took out a lunch box and the legionairs that were with him on instructing duty did the same.
By now it was near noon so everyone was really hungry. Especially after all the running around and getting in and out of their clothes and beds the entire morning. The sergeant told them to get back into their beds for wat felt like the 100th time.
"This is bullshit!" One of the recruits roared at the sergeant. "I came here to be a soldier not get in and out of bed for the entire day! I want to learn how to fight not how to line op like pretty little toys!"
Here and there a mumble of agreement could be heard from the other recruits. Dorian saw that the legionairs around him were showing a slight smile. It seemed they had been waiting for this. So that is why they kept having to repeat this exercise. Dorian thought to himself.
They were testing the tolerance limits of the recruits and putting down a statement. What happened next only confirmed what Dorian had thought.
"CENTURY!" The sergeant suddenly roared. "BEHIND ME, FORMATION!"
The surrounding legionaires rushed forward in their full armor and within 30 seconds the 50 on watching legionaries were standing behind him in perfect formations. Shields slanted at exactly the right angle. All of them forming neat lines.
"You think this is a game recruit?" The sergeant said suddenly lowering his voice. Even though he had lowered his voice the words were clearly audible throughout the square. "You think you can be a proper legionair if you cannot even from ranks properly?"
"If that is how you think feel free to leave. Anyone who feels this way is completely free to leave. But make sure you never come back into my training camp." The drill sergeant threatened them letting his gaze roam over the now nervous recruits.
But no one left. His message had been conveyed and the recruit that had talked out was shut up. So here they were once more getting into bed to get out of it again and stand in formation. Even with the message the sergeant had given them it still took another good 3 hours before they finally got done in time.
"Alright this time it was barely good enough to pass" The sergeant said. The wave of relief going through the group was incredible. Who would have thought getting out of bed could be this stressful.
"You guys have only barely deserved your lunch. Follow us to the Cantine." The sergeant told them, the words were received by the growling stomaches of the recruits who by now were very, very hungry.
So this is wat legionair training is like. Dorian thought to himself. Not quite wat i expected but it sure is interesting.