As the platoons filled in the makeshift training field hastily made by William and his wife, Vance stood dressed in light clothing made for hard work-- basically home spun loose-fitting clothes. Vance announced to all before him, standing calm amongst the assembled force of hundred and fifty men and women.

"The first process to become a soldier is to have the strength of one. This course is designed to push you to the absolute limit, don't expect pity either. This course is the most challenging experience you'll ever go through so that you're prepared for war. By the end, I swear you will be the rage of war!" Vance roared, thrusting his fist into the air prompting a cheer to erupt from the company.

"Let's go!" Vance howled as he began the run.

Each individual struggled, pushed to their absolute limit as Vance and Estrid worked to break them so they could mould them into soldiers. It was breaking each individual down so they'd be built up stronger, better, and more demanding than before. Running, lifting, and pushing themselves through the course throughout the first month of training, each individual found themselves lagging behind, asking if they had made the right choice-- each wanting to quit. But, before they could, they would be inspired by their fellow trainees, managing to go through the hell of becoming a Marine; A Dragon Marine.

Estrid herself had times where the faltered, unable to keep up with Vance's energy and strength, seemed to sweep through the course with everyone as though he had just started a run or workout. No day went by, and she found herself amazed at the energy Vance displayed, a little jealous at his power. She, like the recruits, wanted to give up, but whenever the thought popped into her head, her blonde haired commander would come and speak her up, grabbing her hand and helping her push through that last leg. The adventurers, too, were trying their best; having been considered the best of the lot, they found their strength amounted to little when compared to Vance, who ripped into each individual. He'd focus on their weak points, pushing them to break those habits, and by the end of the first month, they stood prouder and more confident than before, as did the whole company. Each man, woman, and being in the unit had managed to push through the first month of hell, sometimes dragging themselves through until they all came out together on the other end. No one quit; everyone stayed, hopeful that they'd come out not just Marines but better people as a whole.

The first month had all that Vance had told them they'd undergo. The first week was not just them working out and being broken down, but also had the classroom aspect discussed before. During the times when the platoons would come in one by one, Vance would work with Estrid to teach each and every soldier the importance of what they were doing and why they were doing it. Everything from why they drilled and marched to caring for themselves by washing and conducting the basic hygiene practices. At first, many didn't entirely take to his teachings, with some even voicing their frustration at the courses like basic math and reading before Richard would come down to glare them into submission, or Vance would yell at them like a drill sergeant. But, by the end of the first month, the classroom part had made each more intelligent and able to think on their feet, much like the physical fitness part had made them stronger.

So, as the first month came to an end, another company came up to receive their training. Still, this time, Estrid was able to take command of that part, feeling herself more confident in what it was they were trying to do, and with the help of Richard, she was able to keep everyone in line. This left Vance with precious time to see the new prototype Lara had developed during the month.

"So, you managed to get it finished?" Vance asked, stripping off his coat as he walked into the dining hall.

Lara jumped, scarred by the sudden appearance of Vance, before she let out a chuckle upon seeing him, "Haha-- yeah, I got the first batch ready. Initially, I managed only to produce one of the rifles, but you were so busy I could hardly find the right time to show you." She reported.

Vance nodded, "Sorry." He breathed, "It's been a tough month. I now have a newfound respect for drill instructors." Vance commented as he came to stand beside Lara.

"Oh? T-that's good... I think?" She quickly shook her head, turning to the wrapped leather bundle before her, "But! Uh, right, this is it! I call it the-- well, I called it the Mountainhelm Longarm mark I. Thought it was suitable, given how I only had the ability to make this tool with my patron god's blessing." Lara said as she undid the bindings and unrolled the leather cover.

As the weapon was unveiled, Vance went silent. It was exactly as he had pictured it. A bolt action breech-loader mechanism near the butt of the rifle that itself was made of the wood and metal found in the mountains. Everything about it was just like a French Chassepot, in almost every way. Which, he supposed, wasn't too surprising given how the design he had drawn up was that of a Chassepot rifle. It was something that had come to him when thinking of what weapon would give his troops an edge over all others.

Before Vance could say anything, however, the other blonde continued, "I made the bolt seal, much like the one you had drawn up but further improved it with the rune magic for the firing needle I had told you before. I had also made it, so the rifle bolt has a segmented rubber ring that, when expanded under gas pressure, keeps the breach sealed when the shot fired, preventing any misfires. It's a simple design, but one I thought would make for an easier if not entirely better experience firing for our soldiers. They'll need any edge they can get, and being able to fire without having to turn away at the last second in fear of a misfire will definitely improve accuracy!" She explains, going further into detail than he had initially wanted to hear, but it was still a welcome one.

"Well-- that's certainly quite the invention, Lara." Vance started, reaching over to pick the rifle up.

Feeling the weight in his hands, he nodded to himself in silence. It was just right, everything about the weapon felt balanced, and the gun itself was pleasing to the eye, which would further improve the prestige and look of the regiment as a whole when on parade. Either way, with a weapon finally in his hands, he could safely secure his regiment's weapon training aspect. Glancing down at the rifle once more, he couldn't help but flash a grin.

"Perfect." He muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing-- what you have here is perfect, Lara. With this, we can finally start weapon instruction. Thus far, I've been training the recruits with the shitty flintlocks." Vance said while placing the rifle down. "Not that the musket itself is the issue, but rather the condition. The former Guards of the town didn't take proper care of their weapons, so some of the weapons I was having the recruits train with were no better than blunt sticks." Vance explained.

Lara nodded, "Well, that should be a problem with this. I can give you a detailed manual for maintaining the weapons if you'd like?"

"Please! It'll make for an easier time for Estrid and future instructors to teach the next generations." Vance replied quickly.

"Right, I'll have one written up and ready for the recruits. It shouldn't be hard to give each a pamphlet. Now that they can actually read and write, that is." Lara noted with a smile.

She was genuinely happy to hear how they had begun to educate their soldiers, teaching them the basics to function as professional soldiers and productive members of society after leaving the service. Glancing over, Vance could see this easily in the way she looked down proudly at her invention, prompting Vance to cough.

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"Right-- well, I do have one suggestion, instead of Mountainhelm Longarm Mark I, how about we go with the Luna Bolt rifle and Carbine? It might be more manageable to say." He suggested.

Lara tilted her head in thought, "Yeah... I suppose that could work, but I thought it might make more sense to name it after the god of crafts?"

"Haha, no, I think he'd understand. More so if we were to use his first name, as-- well, you know. Bob isn't exactly a name one wants to use when thinking about a rifle." Vance quipped, getting a laugh from Lara.

"True! Haha, I didn't think about that... you're right though, it should be something short and simple. I'll go with that then." Lara said before snapping back to Vance, "Oh! Also, I wanted to show you this! I have one other surprise for you and the unit!" Lara started, practically rushing out of the dining hall.

"Oh?" Vance hummed, following closely behind the woman.

After a few twists and turns near the palace's second floor, they came to what was once an empty storage room-- only it wasn't empty. Looking into the room, Vance found the once empty room was now turned into a giant magic-powered factory that was already working to pump out new rifles and carbines for the use of the regiment.

"What the fuck?! How? I-- what?" Vance gasped, shocked once more, showing its ugly face on his own handsome features.

"Like it?"

"Uh-- like what? The giant assembly line in the palace seemingly operating by itself? Or the fact you made this in a month?" Vance asked.

"Umm... first one!"

"Sure, I like it, it's just-- how?"

"With a great deal of blood, sweat, and Richard's magic power!" She answered proudly, hands on her hips, looking a little animated.

Shaking his head, Vance chuckled, "Alright, alright, I get it. You did a good job, just-- be careful, eh? We don't want things to go exploding on us, do we?"

"N-no... no, we don't." She trailed, her voice becoming a whisper.

"Either way, all that matters is it's done. We just needed something running, and while I had thought of hiring some of the town's people, I have to say. Your way is likely the easier and cheapest of the two." Vance noted with a sigh. "Good work, Lara. But, was this all you wanted to show me?"

It dawned on her that it wasn't what she actually wanted to show him, "No! Actually, I had something else." She replied, quickly rushing off behind a nearby corner.

As she swung past the magically powered assembly line with several wooden mechanical arms pick up and putting together the rifles and carbines. Vance noted how the completed rifles were loaded and packed together into a crate about waist height for him, and he stood six feet two inches tall himself. It was a rather impressive sight to see a modern thought and idea being used before his very eyes, which made him wonder if Bob had given Lara the idea from when he looked into Vance's world?

"Mmm... not a comfortable thought." Vance thought to himself as he waited for Lara to return.

Before long, Lara came rushing back with a trolly close behind. "Here!"

"What's this?" Vance asked, walking up to see what's inside the trolly.

"Your uniforms." She smiled, pulling out the jacket of Dragon Marines.

Pulling out a green dolman with gold trim braid, leading up to a navy blue high collar that had its own gold trim; it appeared close to what a Hussar wore minus the open middle that was held together via the several horizontal froggings and their buttons-- with the officer having gold and the enlisted silver. A quick glance could tell they were finally made with comfort and style in mind to match an army in the early eighteenth century of earth. The pair of white trousers that went with the dolman had two vertical black lines with a blue thicker navy blue between them running down to the pant leg where it opened up, allowing for either two buttons to be sewn on for comfort or left to be tucked under a pair of cavalry boots.

Reaching out, Vance grabbed the coat, holding it in his hands, feeling the fabric, and noted its softness. "Impressive. Really impressive." Vance said, "So, how do you tell the difference between enlisted and commissioned?" Vance found himself asking.

"The epaulettes on the shoulder," Lara replied, pointing to the other coat with gold buttons.

Eyes quickly darting to the officer's dolman, he noted the single gold and silver epaulette on the right shoulder. "The shoulder will display the pips and crowned lion of Kendirewen. In contrast, the enlisted doesn't have an epaulette but instead uses the arm sleeve to indicate their rank." Lara continued, pointing to the uniform she made explicitly for Vance that had the single crowned lion with a crossed sword and spear beneath it depicting the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel.

"Huh..." Setting down the enlisted coat, he grabbed the one made for him and took a look at it. "Wait, this-- this fits me perfectly, how?" Vance asked as he tried it on, noting how well it fit him.

"Don't know, just... kinda knew? Wasn't sure how either, just somehow knew your measurements by a glance." Lara admitted.

"Uh. Right, well, moving on, what else do you have?" Vance asked, keeping the dolman on.

Quickly beaming with excitement, she dug down into the trolley and pull out a single cuirass with leather straps plated with gold and silver fittings. The one shown looked like it was made of yellow brass for the back and backplates, with a leather interior for added protection. In the middle of the rounded front plate was a dragon's head looking outward, the symbol of Vance and Tavaria-- now the emblem of the Dragon Marines. Overall, it seemed like a big piece of kit that would offer little protection up close when facing a musket.

"A cuirass?" Vance asked, grabbing the cuirass. "What makes this so special?" He followed up, studying the metal.

As he examined the protective armour, he felt a strange sensation coming from the armour itself, prompting him to tilt his head in thought, "Magic?"

"Correct!" Lara chimed, "While looking at the new weapons and experimenting with the new paper and rune cartridges, I was firing the rifles towards some simple Kendirewen Cuirassier plates and found the rounds just ripped through them like butter. I thought it was due to the increased power, so then I did some more research and fired a standard flintlock at fifty yards and found the same results, then again at the hundred... same thing. Whoever made those defective pieces of junk really didn't know what they were doing!" Lara explained, grabbing the cuirass back from Vance, "So, then I started thinking about protection and how to increase the survivability of the Marines, then it hit me... what if I did it right? So, I used some leftover materials, and with a few lucid dreams, I came up with this!" Setting the cuirass up on a nearby stand, she pulled a flintlock pistol out from the trolley and fired it ten feet.

The round bullet bounced off, flying towards the back wall, forcing Vance to duck out of the way before he was hit. "By Julia's light! What the hell, Lara!"

"Sorry, sorry... I just... look!" She squeaked, pulling Vance's attention to the armour.

Giving her a sharply pointed glare for a moment, he slowly glanced over at the armour to examine the damage-- only there was none. Rubbing his hand over the area that had been hit, he noted there wasn't so much as a scratch, just some residue from the bullet when it smacked into the plate.

"By the gods~" Vance whistled, "What did you do to make it so, well, impervious to shot?" Vance asked, looking confounded.

"Runes! It turns out those crafty ancient dwarves had a few little tricks they tucked away for a rainy day but never got to use them before they became what they are today." She explained.

Vance nodded; he was impressed, alright. What he saw here was a game-changer, as this would give his Marines the much-needed edge on the battlefield and provide them with all the tools needed to win a battle.

"With this, I don't think we'll have any dead unless they hit the face or other parts of the body. But, given the chances, I'd say they'd take the risk and fire at the torso since it's a bigger target." Vance noted, "Does the wearer feel any pain? Or is it completely nullified?"

"What's nullified?" She asked.

"The shock of the impact?"

"Ah-- right... well, that, uh-- no." She lowered her head, a little embarrassed. "That was something I couldn't get rid of entirely." She started, "See, the wearer will be safe from any life-threatening wounds, but sadly-- they'll still get a nice bruise where they were hit if shot at close range, and depending on how close, there's a good chance some bones might break or even knock the wearer out." She sighed bitterly.

"So, just no taking point-blank shots then. Shouldn't be too hard." Vance joked.

"Please don't!"

"Relax, I won't do anything crazy, Lara. Anyways, this is great stuff. I take it their helmets are given the same treatment?" Vance asked, noting the helmet lying nearby.

"Ah, yeah, the helmets," Lara said, turning to regard the next piece of kit, "It's a simple helmet made of steel with a brass comb that has a black horse mane. I also added a black cow-hide turban, though any hide can do. A black visor edged with brass, with a tall red plume on the left side, offers will have a purple plume, and finally, a simple brass chin with scales." She said, sounding almost bored.

"I take it you didn't much enjoy this one?" He observed.

"No, it's just-- I couldn't get the runes to work with this one." She replied with a frown. "Small stuff like this doesn't take well with the protective runes, so I couldn't do anything beyond make the helmet out of steel. I made sure to line the inside with leather padding to protect the head, but-- there's not much else I can do with it." She noted with a sigh.

Vance rested his hand on her shoulder and shot her a smile, "That's good enough. So long as they have something to protect their heads from falling debris and some blunt weapons, that's all that matters." He said, trying to reassure her.

"Thanks-- hopefully, this is what you need. Oh! And another style piece I decided to add was this! I really like this one." She quickly pushed past her bitter feelings on the helmet as she went back to the trolley to pull out a black pelisse with five gold froggings with a brown fur lining and trim, along with that were a pair of black cavalry glove with a crimson red thumb-- looking almost like a dragon's tongue.

Vance mainly laughed to himself at how quickly she shifted from upset to happy. Grabbing the pelisse, he gave it a quick look over and noted the gold, silver, and red braids.

"I thought the Kendirewen Hussars wore these?" Vance asked.

"They do, but nothing is saying we can't have our own! We're flying freaking wyverns after all!" She sounded more excited at wearing the shoulder coat than she did anything else, prompting a laugh from Vance.

"Okay, okay, I get it, we'll use them. Though, I'm not sure the Marines will like it on hot battlefields." Vance noted.

"Oh, don't worry about that stuff. I put climate regulating runes on all the uniforms. That way, you can wear them in the desert without having to die of heatstroke."

"Gods... is there anything you can't make?"

"Some things?"