“Training the body is almost as necessary as leveling. While attributes make you inherently stronger, you will need to learn to get the absolute most of every single point you have. Knowing your limits and how far they can be stretched is worth more than even a fancy skill or a few levels on a battlefield where hundreds are fighting.” - Knight Kel Vention during recruit introduction courses.
Ferin
I groaned as I lifted myself up out of the mud. My head hurt, my ribs hurt, everything hurt, but I couldn't have felt better. I was whole again, at least in the body.
“Get your ass up, recruit Deklim, or that's where you'll be sleeping tonight.” Sergeant Stone's voice cut through the sound of rain and running feet.
With effort, I got to my feet and rejoined the line of other recruits. My uniform, like everyone else's, was full of mud stains and drenched to the point that it felt like I was carrying another person. It was almost the same as the last month.
I probably would have lost count of which day it was if it wasn't for the token; just over two months had passed, according to it. The first month had been a series of short classes in which every recruit was taught about weapons, past knowledge, and knowledge of the empire. Almost ten percent of recruits were sent to a different city that had a military academy because they flunked the end test and had to repeat the courses. I passed with an average score except for the history of the empire. That I could care less about still; it was enough to get by.
A blue explosion off to the right of the group shook the ground and sent mud flying into my face, almost knocking me over again. Still, I righted myself using another person to steady myself, ignoring their grunt of protest. Everyone here was an ashole, so I learned I had to be the same. It came quickly enough after the first day when I had been one of the last hundred to complete the course. Soon, I could make out a looming object through the downpour, and the wood wall came into view a second later. Ropes full of people clambering for the top when the course officially came to an end.
As I neared the ropes, the mud grew noticeably deeper, going from my ankles to my knees, and every step was a struggle, even with my stats being slightly above the average for basic.
I was almost to one of the ropes when a screech from above sounded above the grunts and splashing steps. Everyone on the ground ducked, even the instructors crouched slightly. The people on the wall flattened against it. A massive shape cut through the air fast enough to create a wind current, turning the wind sideways. The water on the ground trembled as it shot past the wood wall. There was a scream as a climber was pulled from his rope and went flying. I was thankful the rain returned just as fast to block the noise of him hitting the ground.
I started moving forward as soon as a third screech sounded and grabbed onto the first rope that came into view, and pulled myself out of the mud. Today had been a lucky day; having the griffin dive past while you were still on the ground was always a godsend. It still sent a shiver up my spine, knowing that the dragons were at least double the size of a fully-grown griffin.
The rope stung my hands as the thick braids rubbed against the same spots they had the previous day, but the callouses had already started to firm up, and soon enough, I wouldn't even get rope burn when sliding down, hopefully. As I pulled myself up, I counted each foot. The board only went up twenty feet, but it felt like I had climbed miles as the rain chilled my back and dripped into my eyes. As the ledge came into view, another screech sounded, and I let out a short breath, not wasting my time cursing my bad luck, as I wrapped my arms into the ropes and clutched on.
Griffins usually did their laps every ten minutes, but there wasn't actually a set time; it was purely based on the griffin's own speed, and it looked like today it was a particularly fast one. So much for good luck.
The griffin tore past fast enough only to be a blur, and a second later, the wind hit. The wall creaked as we were all flung in the wake. Pain enough to make me groan filled my arms as the rope dug in, daring me to let go. It was only a few seconds, but everyone left on the ropes would have bruises to show. I grunted as my shoulder took the impact of the wood as I slammed back down. Then, taking the barest second to orient myself, I started climbing again.
It was after I had flung myself over the ledge that I allowed myself to start thinking again. This whole place was a horrible idea that found new ways to break people, and it was only the second month. I smiled as I took in a breath of fresh air. The rain that had been pounding down and the spell that sustained it stopped a foot below the top of the last obstacle. It was always jarring, but it was welcomed. The brutal sun that I used to hate when traveling was not a good friend.
Next to me, I heard a grunt of disapproval, and I looked up to see my squad leader. It took a moment to remember his name, Fadlem.
“Two minutes slower than yesterday, Deklim, and you're the last of the group again.”
I resisted the urge to say something that might have had me sent back to the start of the course again. It was easy, seeing as moving my mouth felt like too much effort. Instead, I got to my knees and moved out of the way of the person pulling himself up off the rope and looked at the slide down.
The slide was a generous word for the mud pathway that had more rocks than dirt, but it was the only way out of the Recruit Canyon course. With one last deep breath, I made my way to it.
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“Attention!”
I, like the rest of us in line, saluted. The courtyard air had even become silent as the call was sounded. It was the end of the first day of the week, which meant roll call. As the at ease was called, the man on stage in front of us started with the same words he always did.
“The Emperor and the Empire require only those who can stand on their own. This army is not made of the weak but the strong.” with that, he pulled out the paper and started reading.
The first time, he had introduced himself, but I couldn't remember anything other than his rank, which was major, so that was his name in my head now. No names had been called as it had been our first time in this courtyard, but the second time, it had been twenty. The third, it had been seventeen. This week, as I listened to the names, it totaled up to twelve, Forty-nine in total out of six hundred. Eight percent roughly had died.
It was stated during our first month when we had been taught at a desk that this was the deadliest part for a recruit, but it didn't mean this was the only part that someone would die at. As the names called out stopped, the paper he held was put back in his pocket.
No one spoke as a second salute was called. Honoring those who died was the only thing everyone seemed to respect here. It was only a minute later that the tower bell rang, and everyone started to move. I sighed, letting my stiff muscles relax as I waited for the area to clear. The end of the day was considered to be free time, which meant you could eat or shower. Both of them I wanted to do immediately, but my nose told me that a shower was more pressing. I made my way out of the yard and into the quarter's section of the grounds. The entire boot camp area was surrounded by a small stone wall in a cross shape that divided the region into four sections. There was the quarters section and the courtyard on the right side. On the left was where the officers and instructors stayed. Above both in the middle was the entrance to the recruit canyon course. Below it was the only entrance and where we had been marched in.
As I made my way to the quarters, I resisted the urge to look towards the officers' side. The griffin rider would be staying there, too, and so would his griffin. Instead, I looked towards the building that was designated as Squad Eight’s living quarters. My squads. In each building, there were three rooms. One room held six cots where we all slept, one room held a table where we all ate, and the last was a room that had a small shower of only cold water.
In the month I had to learn about my squad, I realized one thing. They were all either asholes, stupid, or both. I opened the wooden door and spotted three people eating. None looked up to greet me as I made a straight line to the back room where the shower was, and I didn't try to greet them in return. It had taken two weeks for them to understand I didn't want to get to know them, but after that, they stopped trying to talk me into working with them on the course. I knew I should have been a bit more friendly with them, and if I was actually planning on staying, I would have, but I didn't want to get to know them and then have to leave them later.
The shower was thankfully empty, meaning I wouldn't have to wait.
The shower, even if cold, felt amazing on the sore muscles, and I let out a sigh as I relaxed against the stone. When I was done washing the mud off, and I was sure the water was loud enough to block any noise, I reached my hand into the air. As if plucking it from nothing, the coin appeared. It was something I had learned the trick on accident, but the weird feeling of the magic in my body racing to my fingers was almost addictive. A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts, and I tossed the coin to the floor. As soon as I had my clothes on, it would disappear, so I wasn't worried about it being found.
With a single point of mana and a touch of the rune, the shower turned off. I picked up one of the multiple sets of uniforms out of a cubby and dressed. Collecting my mud-soaked uniform, I dropped it in the bin right outside the shower room. It was delivered to the cleaner by one of the squad members in every building each morning bell.
“Do you think the call will go out empire-wide or only to the army?” I paused on my way to collect a loaf of bread and the meat-mixed porridge. The words had come from the only other member of the squad, who was a woman and one I had labeled an Idiot. I didn't bother to remember her name when she gave it, instead going for something easier to remember, Goldy. It suited her not only for her hair color but, more importantly, it pointed out how dense she was. It was so bad that she took everything at face value. It made her belief in the empire almost fanatic.
“The empire will make a show of it, a way to give their people morale after the third bomb,” Another voice said. The second voice was Edgar’s. He was on the other side of the scale, an asshole.
He wasn't an asshole in the usual sense, but he didn't seem to understand the difference between sparring and actual combat, giving more than just a few broken bones out in mock sword duels. His only redeeming quality in my eyes was how well he worked in a group, but with as little experience as I had in that field, I could be wrong.
Slowing my pace, I grabbed my food and made my way to the opposite side of the table, sitting down. I didn't speak to them, and they seemed happy enough to only give a glance before continuing. What they were talking about was the bombings that had taken place across the empire. Most had been in remote villages, but the newest one had been in one of the core cities of the empire.
“The call only came in an hour ago, and it didn't change much; only three griffins were sent to the border from our training grounds.” Edgar continued.
“That's half of our flight here, and we're not even close to the border.” Goldy said in a rare show of intellect that was ruined by her following words, “Do you think they'd deliver a letter to my mother?.”
I zoned out as I finished my food and got up, dropping the empty bowl of porridge in the cleaning bin. My body was telling me it was time to sleep, and with the time I had spent on the course today, I was the one who would have to run everything to the cleaners in the morning. As I lay on the cot, I raised my arm. The speed at which my life was changing was astounding, but at the same time, it almost felt too slow.
I still had roughly six months until the event and a whole new grade waiting for me in only a few short levels. Several more months of training also waited ahead of me. I didn't have an exact plan for how I would leave before I had to sign my life away with a contract to the empire, and with the instructors sitting at late grade three or early grade four, it made the idea of sneaking out all but impossible. Rolling over, I sighed, trying to organize my thoughts. A way to get out would present itself either through the event or the war that was brewing and about to boil over. All I could do right now was aim to get stronger.