《A Soldier's Fragmented Memoire》


 Prologue

    ¡°Hey Dorian,¡± A rough voice rang in his ears ¡°Time to wake up, come on we have work to do.¡±


    Drowsily Dorian opened his eyes to see a familiar bearded face. His father was a simple man, he used to be an adventurer, now he was just the local smith. A rough looking face with a thick salt and pepper beard. Scars crisscrossing his body, showed the type of man he was.


    Working in the forge is how he and his father earned their daily bread. Being fifteen now closing on sixteen he reached the age where he could work together with his father. His mother had a different job she worked at the school. She ran the school actually, The people in the town had gotten used to the school and gladly sent their children to attend. It was however only a local occurrence. As far as Dorian knew none of the nearby towns had anything like a school.


    ¡°Stop daydreaming we got stuff to do.¡± His father told him motioning Dorian to move.


    Following his father he entered the forge his father had built just outside their house. The house was a simple, yet cozy cottage. Handmade by his father and mother, it was his home. The only place he could remember living in. The oaken beams and the straw roof were the first things he saw when waking up, and the last things before he went to sleep.


    The forge itself was handmade just like the rest of the house. Stones from the surrounding countryside made the oven. This very oven is what he was fervently trying to heat up. Putting the coal into the forge he added some firewood then started the fire. He used the bellows to pump air into the furnace to heat the coals as much as he could.


    He took the iron ingots from the pile in the corner and used a metallic tong to put the iron into the oven. They would then wait for the iron to liquidise before pouring it into a mold of, in this case, a shovel Once the iron was red hot and ready to be shaped, his father would take out the iron and then start hammering it into form. Mostly they would do barrel fittings, horse shoes, cart wheels, and the like.


    On some rare occasions they would get a customer that would order a weapon. Which his father was somewhat proficient in, his father was after all a renowned weapons smith. Usually these weapons were only boar spears or axes. Used by the lumberjacks and the local hunters. Living out here on the edge of the wilderness, meant there were plenty of animals to be hunted. The locals took full advantage, more often than not it would be their prey that the hunters brought in, that ended up on the dinner table.


    Dorian had repeated the movements and small rituals at the forge often enough that he could now do them without tasking his mind. He could just dream on about whatever took his fancy while steadily working away at the forge.


    After all it wasn''t that difficult to put something in the oven, heat it, then repeat it. It was not that he disliked this kind of mundane task. He rather enjoyed the simple labour. It gave him time to be with his thoughts.


    His father wasn''t much of a talker so his thoughts could roam undisturbed. Every other day he and his father would switch tasks. Now he was the one heating the fire. Tomorrow it would be his father and he would be the one creating the barrel fittings and horseshoes.


    The act of creating something from an iron ingot was something Dorian took pride in. Creating something from something else, it just had something, for the lack of a better word, magical to it.


    Today however they had a customer Dorian had never seen around these parts before. The man wore a dark cloak snuggly fitted around armour that had seen some usage. The Armour was still in good condition however. Whoever this man was he did take good care of his possessions.


    Surprising actually, if you looked at how haggard the man was. The contrast between the haggard man, his well kept horse and the armaments in good condition was simply astounding.


    ¡°I''m needin'' a new blade.¡± The stranger rasped with an accent unfamiliar to Dorian.


    ¡°What kind of blade do you need?¡± His father asked.


    The hooded man licked his lips and took a blade from the horses saddlebags and put them in front of Dorian''s father. The blade was straight, yet slightly curved at the edge. Only on side was sharpened ¡°Like this, different steel possible?¡±


    ¡°Let me see this steel.¡± His father said leaning forward.


    The stranger took something else from his horses saddlebags. This time it was two pieces of an extremely dark steel. The steel was different from any kind of steel Dorian had seen before. It was pitch black. It was almost as if the steel absorbed light, the area around the steel was somehow darker.


    His father''s face however kept its neutral look. ¡°Won''t be a problem.¡± He informed the stranger.


    The stranger stared at his father for a few seconds before nodding and putting the steel on the counter together with the broken blade. After a moments thought the stranger added a pouch to the items on the table.


    ¡°Could i ask for some special additions to the blade?¡± The stranger asked. His father nodded and the two started discussing the peculiarities of the blade and smithing techniques. Dorian having heard these conversations more times than he could count went back to the oven and started heating more iron.


    A blade like that, his father would leave until the end of the day. He would tell the stranger that the blade would be ready for pick-up tomorrow. His father always did weapons requests last. If there was any particular reason for this Dorian didn''t know. What he did know however was that when creating a weapon he did it with even more care than he would make the usual items.


    This in itself was saying something. His father created every item he made with extreme care. Sometimes even people from other villages would come to his smithy to get something fixed. Mostly because his father''s iron made barrels lasted longer than the ones made by any of the other nearby smiths. The wheels he made took longer to break.


    For the hunters the most important thing was that the boar spears never broke when they were being used. More to the point, they asked his father to check their weapons before they went out on a hunt. If his father told them the weapons were in good condition they would head out with their minds at ease.


    It had become a local tradition of sorts. Hunters would ask his father to give their tools and weapons a one over before heading out. It had become a lucky charm. One that had never failed them before. This was more than enough reason for the hunters to keep coming for their check ups.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    His father didn''t ask any payment when doing this. It didn''t take him long to do either. If it helped the hunters come home safely after a day''s or sometimes a week''s worth of work. Then he would gladly do so.


    A day''s work at the forge would vary in length depending on the amount of work that had to be done. Today they finished the last of the orders around noon, the only thing that remained was the blade.


    The blade however had been a special order and required a certain special ingredient. This special ingredient could only be provided by one person, Dorian''s mother. Yes, she may be a teacher at the local school. More importantly, she was a sorceress, and one that was quite powerful.


    She was already heading down to the forge. He could see her walking down the street with her eye catching fiery hair. His mother was quite the looker people kept telling him. Of course seeing as she was his mother Dorian never really noticed. Mothers would stay mothers no matter how good-looking they seemed to others. Their children would always view them the same, perhaps there were exceptions out there. None that Dorian had any knowledge of, so as far as he was concerned did not exist.


    Mother''s will do what mothers do. Usually this would involve a lot of worry, a bit of nagging, and way to many rules. His mother, although lenient in most cases, was no different. His mother set the rules in the house. Normally this would mean the husband enforced them. In some cases the husband also set the rules but that would depend on the family.


    In his family his mother definitely needed no assistance in enforcing the rules. She was a walking cataclysmic event when she was angry. She and his dad had a fight once when he was younger and his mother had really lost her temper. The result? Well lets just say that the house needed to be rebuilt after.


    This of course was noticed by the people around town. Everyone made sure not to anger the short fire haired sorceress. Now that he thought about it, her hair fit her personality. Strange how he hadn''t really thought about it that much. Perhaps a sorceress hair would change color depending on her element. But that was food for later thought


    ¡°So what are these two handsome fellows up to,¡± His mother said with waggling eyebrows.


    His father greeted her with a warm smile. ¡°Somehow you always know when i need an extra hand at the forge.¡±


    ¡°What can i say, a woman''s intuition is the most potent of magics¡± His mother said giving his father a teasing wink.


    Rolling his eyes his father turned back to the forge hiding a small smile. Dorian put his finger in his mouth and made a puking gesture at the flirting of his parents. Before being able to finish the gesture his mother sent a kick his way. Deftly avoiding it he stuck his tongue out at his mom. His mom reacted by jumping on his back and smacking him on his head. Running around wildly while trying to avoid the tiny fists of his mom. He started laughing.


    With a sudden tackle the laugh was cut of short as both he and his mother hit the ground, courtesy of his father. With the 3 of them wrestling around in the dirt the other villagers that happened to be passing by just chuckled and watched them go at it.


    It wasn''t the first time this had happened and it hopefully wouldn''t be the last. It didn''t take long before a small crowd was looking on at the families wrestling match. Most of them were even cheering them on. The family was quite popular in the village with his fathers help for the hunters his mothers school and their way of treating everyone else.


    After a few minutes of wrestling a flash of light occurred and Dorian and his father were sent flying through the air before landing in ridiculous poses a good distance away from where they had been. His mother stood up grinning and made muscle flexing poses at the crowd who were all whistling and cheering at her display.


    ¡°Every time!¡± His father muttered under his breath. ¡°Damn magic is so unfair!¡±


    Laughing Dorian patted his dad on the back and gave him a hand in getting up. ¡°Without that magic though we wouldn''t have nearly as much profit as we do now!¡±


    ¡°True enough, but one day i will beat your mother at wrestling, although in bed shes helpless!¡± His father said with a booming laugh.


    Dorian looked at his father and tried to erase those words from memory. Imagining his parents having sex was definitely NOT on the list of things he wanted to do today.


    The crowd was already dispersing with a mood turned for the better. The Liftfuor family had that affect on people. Walking back to the forge after exchanging some words and jabs with his mother his father asked her to take a look at the metal the stranger had brought in.


    His mothers hands glowed for a moment as she swept her hands across the dark black metal as she was studying its properties and peculiarities. It only took her a few minutes before she nodded to her husband and started chanting some words. With a flash of light and a wave of her hand she spread a white hot flame over the coals.


    The coals immediately started lighting up more than they ever would under the pumping of the bellows. The flame had also changed its properties now that magic was involved. It now seemed like someone had put a rainbow inside of the furnace and had managed to set it on fire.


    The colourful flames spread themselves over the coals with ease, lighting up the furnace and sending incredible heat waves throughout the smithy. His father now took a special set of tongs from his tool bag and put the black metal into the furnace.


    After a few painfully long minutes he could take the glowing metal out of the furnace and start his work on it. Dorian never ceased to be amazed when he saw his parents do this kind of work. As of yet this work was far beyond him. His parents moved around each other and did things together with a sense of harmony he only hoped he could find in someone.


    His fathers muscles and his mothers magic always managed to create things that he could not call anything else than small human made miracles. He knew that the weapons his parents forged were near priceless and the strangers who arrived here for the weapons knew exactly who they came to see.


    He was pretty sure that his parents must be extremely famous in the world of smiths. The money that they got from these weapons was more than enough proof of that. The money they got from one of these weapons was more than enough to finance the entire population of the village for a year.


    Of course they never really did tell anyone about this because it would cause quite the commotion. His mother used those funds to finance her school as well. She even gave some small magic classes to the very few locals that had any talent in magic.


    Although his mothers speciality was in fire magic she was more than knowledgeable enough to teach others about the other basic elements as well.


    It took longer than usual for his parents to finish the blade. Before the sun was entirely down the blade had been completed. The weapon they had created this time was strangely entrancing even to Dorian who had seen weapons of extremely high caliber more than a few times.


    The blade as dark as the night had silver-ish engravings running along the blade. His father gave the exotic looking blade a few test swings which sent small slashes of air into the ground leaving gashes in the earth. Nodding with a sense of content he put the blade into the sheath the stranger had given him and it fit in there nice and snug.


    The blade would be picked up by the man tomorrow. Before the days end however there were still some things that would need to be done.


    His father sent him a glance and grinned. Dorian sighed heavily, now that it was nearing the night it was time for him and his father to have another practice match. It had become a bit of a family tradition over the years. Every night while his mother was cooking dinner his father would drag him out to the forest and they would practice the arts of combat.


    The art of combat at least was how his father referred to the way they fought. For the last 7 years every day he would get his ass kicked by his father with a wooden blade. The next day without fail he would wake up with sore muscles and a few new bruises.


    His father however seemed to take great pleasure in teaching his son how to fight. More to the point his father was extremely good at it. Moving through the forest, stealth, tracking, reactive instincts and reflexes had been honed in Dorian for years.


    Although he had yet to test his mettle against any real fighters he knew that apart from his father, and perhaps his mom, there was no one in the area that could defeat him in a fight.


    But tonight he would get his ass kicked.


    Again.

 Chapter 1

    Feet whispering along the ground Dorian glided through the forest. His father had a head start and was most likely laying in ambush further ahead. Eyes scanning the forest he filtered the sounds of the forest, listening, waiting.


    Carefully making his way, he scanned the treetops looking for any signs, anything out of place. Slowly, and with ever so much precision he put one foot in front of the other. He was taught to move his body with the sway of the branches. He synchronised his movements with the gusts of wind, the rustling leaves and flickering shadows.


    Heart pounding in his ears Dorian meticulously made his way through the forest. Hand on the knife sheathed on his lower back, he kept his other hand open. Palm forward. That was the way his father had taught him to move. The open hand was used to deflect, creating opportunities that he would capitulate on with his knife.


    For now the knife was kept in its sheath. The metallic shine could otherwise give his position away. Dorian knew that he had no chance of sneaking up on his father. Letting his guard down for even a split second was out of the question. The more alert and prepared he was, the less bruises he was going to get.


    People who have been in forests know, there are twigs everywhere. Stepping on one would give his position away. Because of this the way he walked was rather peculiar. Instead of just stepping down as one normally would. He would place the ball of his foot on the ground and smoothly slide it forward until his whole foot made contact.


    This would make a soft rustle sound true, but it was far less noticeable than then when you broke a twig. A sudden shift in air currents forced him to tuck a leg roll out of the way. There stood his father, his usual grin was nowhere to be seen.


    Whenever they were training his father was deadly serious. The aura and blood lust that drifted around his body was almost palpable. Dorian, not wasting anytime, rolled back on his feet and drew his knife. Waiting for his father to make the next move Dorian prepared himself.


    Without a warning his father moved again. A swift jab aimed at his throat deflected with open palm. Countering by rotating the blade in his hand the knife shot to the liver.


    His father glided to the side, the knife narrowly missing its mark. Transferring the dodge into a head-butt. Dorian pulled his father closer, letting himself fall to the ground.


    A kick to the abdomen sent him flying. Using the motion to roll and stand on his feet again he spun around. Nothing, his father had disappeared.


    Dorian readied himself scanning the area around him. Slowly turning his head listening for any sound, looking for any movement, out of place. His thumping heart pouring adrenaline through his system.


    Although loath to admit it he liked these training sessions with his dad. Even now he had a hard time keeping an excited smile from his face. Keeping his breathing even despite how exited he was, had become nothing more than an easily mastered trick after all this practice.


    Another shift in the air currents, his father appearing from the side. The jab, low, came up, aimed at his side. Smoothly spinning, a slap was sent towards his fathers head.


    His father flowed out of the way, Dorian kept twisting his body and now the blade swept towards his fathers face. His father leaned back so far, it looked like his spine would crack and used a foot to kick at one of Dorian''s ankles.


    Having his feet swept from under him he landed on his back and a blink of the eye later and his father was on top of him with his fist just short of Dorian''s face.


    ¡°Once more, you are dead.¡± His father said. The usual grin had returned to his face, he stuck out his hand and helped his son to his feet.


    Dorian stretched his muscles feeling the familiar ache spreading its way through his body. This wasn''t the first sparring match he and his father had done today. He already had a gathering of bruises all over his body.


    Slowly but surely however, they were becoming less and less in number. He was improving, he knew that. Somehow he never felt even the slightest bit closer to being able to fight on even ground with his father. Let alone defeat him.


    His father patted him on the back. ¡°You had some good moves there though my boy, You almost make a father proud.¡± he said teasing.


    ¡°One day i will be able to wipe that grin off your face!¡± Dorian vowed grinning back.


    His father laughed loudly. ¡°If you ever manage to beat me kid, you wouldn''t be able to make me stop grinning!¡± he told him with a hint of pride. ¡°You got the talent, i taught you well. You don''t have any real, life or death experiences. Trust me on this, that experience, makes all the difference.¡±


    It wasn''t the first time his father had told him about the importance of fighting experience. Dorian agreed with his father on that. That''s why tomorrow would be such an exciting day. Tomorrow he would turn 16. He and his parents had been discussing it for a long time now ,Dorian had decided to join the Aethling Legion. His father was completely behind this decision and even if his mother would rather not see him go, she had in the end agreed.


    Tomorrow he and his father would make their way to the city so he could enlist. The minimum age before one could enlist was 16. Tomorrow would be his 16th birthday. He and his father had decided not to waste any time and enlist as soon as he became of age.


    Luckily the Aethling Empire was so large that a new battalion was raised weekly. Dorian would be lying if he said that he was''nt looking forward to joining the Legion. He had always felt the urge to leave home.


    He and his father exited the forest after some time. Once they left the forest, they started to run. It was still a good couple of hours running before they would reach the village. As usual his father set a swift yet steady pace and headed for home.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Maybe at one point the running had been exhausting, but after all these years of running the distance twice a day. His stamina had evolved enough so that he wasn''t even breathing heavily once they entered the village. The villagers greeted them once they saw them running back into the village.


    Those that were still outside saw them coming home like this every day. In a small village everyone knew each other. Hopefully that meant everyone was on friendly terms as well. At the very least greetings would be exchanged. This was polite and was how things should be done. That was what he was taught anyways.


    When they were close to home they could see the smoke coming out of the chimney. The closer they got the more they could smell the delicious aroma of his mothers cooking. Nearly starting to drool he and his father picked up their pace.


    After a split second they broke into a sprint and all but crashed right through the door. Shutting it behind them they dove into their chairs at the table. From the kitchen his mother arrived with a smile on her face.


    Every day exactly when they took their seats his mother would come from the kitchen with a fresh and deliciously made meal. How she managed to time it perfectly every time was a mystery to Dorian. Whenever he asked his mother about it she would just wink teasingly and tell him it was all just a pinch of magic.


    As soon as his mother set the plates in front of them, Dorian and his father ravenously dug in. A sigh of ecstasy left their mouths. Their mothers cooking was incredible. He doubted any other cook in the world would be able to replace this kind of cooking.


    ¡°I''m going to miss this once i leave to enlist¡± Dorian told his mother with his mouthful, making sure to fully savour every bite.


    Dorian was so focused on his meal that he didn''t see the flash of sadness that appeared on his mothers face. What mother wouldn''t be worried to see her son enlist. War was a dangerous thing, and there would always be a war to fight.


    The rest of the meal was passed in silence. Dorian and his father were to hungry and focused on the meal, to really say anything, his mother didn''t really feel like talking so dinner was spent in more silence than it usually would.


    After dinner as usual Dorian would spend his time meditating and studying some parts of magic with his mother. He did not have a great deal of talent for magic. Magic could be separated into its different elements. Runic, Order, Chaos, Shadow, Light, Water, Earth, Fire, Air, Enchanting and last but not least Internal. His mother was strongest in 3 Element types. Fire, Chaos and Enchanting.


    Dorian had some talent in Fire and this is what his mother focused on teaching. He also had a good amount of talent in Internal, or so he was told. His mother however had no clue about this peculiar element so she could not teach him about it.


    The few magic tricks he could do with fire were useful to be sure but not even close to the level his mother had. He could light a fire, heat up his food, even shoot a small fire bolt but that was the extent of his magical skills.


    His mother told him that meditating and focusing on his inner mana pool was the to increase it. The reasoning behind it was to use up all your mana and then force yourself to continue for the few bare seconds later. This would put strain on the mana pool and force it to grow a little.


    Just like the training with his father he had been doing this every day for years. With the small talent in fire he had he could not manage any big spells. But with the magic pool he had, he could use whatever little magic he could, for as long as he wanted.


    His favourite trick was using the fire magic to warm his own body. He could spread the magic to the layers between his skin and let it smolder there so to speak. This way he would never get cold, he had no need for a coat or warm winter clothes when the snow''s started falling. The cold never bothered him anyway.


    Another trick that he had gained from that was that he could heat up his knuckles or other bones to the point were heat waves would flow from his body. If he forced a good deal of mana into his knuckles at the point of impact he could increase the damage one would take by a punch a great deal.


    This he never used in sparring however. There was this unspoken rule Dorian and his father had that when they sparred. It should be their own pure muscle power, techniques and experience that won them the fight. The raw physical fight was something both of them enjoyed.


    His mother smiled a bit as he noticed how his thoughts were roaming across whatever places he was creating in his mind. He tended to do that quite often. When Dorian was doing something mundane or something were he didn''t have the need to concentrate, his mind would roam any which way.


    The meditating went on for a while until he fell asleep, even though he was still sitting upright. Another of the peculiar traits Dorian had. He could fall asleep almost anywhere doing anything if he didn''t focus himself on doing anything else.


    His mother looked on at his slowly rising and falling chest, she sighed deeply. Her husband who had just walked into the room put a hand on her shoulder comforting her. She put her hands over his and for a moment they just stood there watching their child sleeping with his legs cross legged as if it was the most comfortable position in the world.


    His father took soft deliberate steps toward Dorian to pick him up and haul him to bed. His wife stopped him with a hand and walked forward herself. Lifting the boy that was easily a head taller than her as if he weighed nothing she carefully walked him to his room and tucked him into his bed.


    She knew that he was actually to old to still be carried to bed and normally they would do no such thing and just leave him sleeping there until he woke up again and moved himself to his bed. Tonight however she was feeling sentimental. She was remembering the years she had spent fostering and caring for her son.


    Breastfeeding him, giving a slap on the back of the head whenever he did something he was not supposed to. Cooking for him, teaching him how to read and write, teaching him magic, Meditating together. So much different little things went into raising a child.


    To both her and her husband this boy was something beyond precious to them. Their dark pasts had brightened immensely when a small child had joined their family. They put their previous occupations behind them and moved to a remote village to raise their son. To start the happy little family neither of them had ever expected to be able to have.


    Life had a weird way of sorting itself out if you looked at it like that. Closing the door the red headed mother led her husband to their bed were they snuggled up against each other letting sleep take their consciousness.


    The next day breakfast was a lively thing. Dorian was packing his bags for whatever little belongings he could take with him. His mother and father were teasing and arguing about little things, an all for good fun nature as they so often did.


    Breakfast was full of laughter and stupid jokes. The light hearted mood was good for ones soul. Every little bit of laughter would make the world a slightly better place his mother had always told him. Once breakfast was done Dorian swung his bag over his shoulder and walked out the front door, mother on his heels.


    Once outside he could see his father waiting there with 2 horses. His father would go with him to the city until he had enlisted. Dorian himself had never really left to see a city and had always lived out here, in the remote countryside. So without a proper guide like his father who knew where he would end up.


    ¡°One last thing before you go.¡± His mother said grabbing his hands into one of her own. Her hands as always were warm to the touch. One of those hands was behind her back. She put something in his hands.


    The item she put into his hands was a knife. It was a short straight blade with a diagonally sharpened edge. The side of the blade with the lower sharpened edge was also sharpened. The knife was only sharpened on that one edge so it could stab but would be most efficient in slashing.


    The knife had no guard but went straight from the blade into the hilt. His fathers expert smithing techniques could be seen. There was no extravagance or markings on the blade at all. This would have fit neither him or his father. There was beauty in simplicity. This was something they both agreed on.


    The sheath was made of simple yet sturdy black leather and was made with a belt with a few pouches in it that fit around his waist leaving the knife on his lower back. The place where he preferred the blade to be.


    The blade itself was most peculiar however. It was pitch black, so dark in fact that the light from the sun seemed to dim a little around it. He was certain that the area around him had gotten darker as soon as he had removed the knife from the sheath.


    He had seen enough of the weapons his parents had created to know that even amongst the highest grade weapons, when they had created this knife. They made something else entirely. The knife felt ominous to the touch but familiar at the same time. The knife fit his hand so perfectly that he could tell it had been created especially for him.


    ¡°A parting gift from me and your father, we hope it will keep you safe.¡± His mother told him looking him in the eyes, trembling slightly.


    ¡°This knife is something rather special it is made from a material you will never be able to find anywhere else. Its a piece of another weapon that i used to make this with. Its a unique knife and it may have some properties, magical ones perhaps, that even we are not aware of. Handle it with care.¡± His father told him with a stern face.


    His mother nodded frantically embedding the words in his mind. Then with a swift step forward she hugged him as hard as she could.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± She whispered. ¡°make sure you come back to me in one piece.¡±


    Saying her last goodbyes to her son she watched him get on the horse together with his father. Give his mother one last wave he and his father urged the horses forward. Disappearing from her eyesight over the horizon his mother stayed in her spot staring at them for a few long minutes before going back inside.


    The next chapter of Dorians life was now being set in motion.

 Chapter 2

    Dorian and his father had quite the distance to travel. It would take themat leastthree weeks to reach the city on horse. TheAethling empire was as huge as its army. Their population exceeding billion, its numbers hard to imagine.


    The empire stretched across the land. It could take you more than a year to reach the nearest city from the furthest outposts of the empire. TheAethlinglegion consisted of around the six million soldiers. A number that may seem small in comparison with the sheer amount of people living in the country, But the country was not at war, in wartime the amount of soldiers would increase exponentially.


    There was also a separate group that monitored the streets and took care of civilian safety and waged their never ending war against criminality. The group was simply referred to as ''The Guard'' and could be seen at any of the larger towns or cities.


    The army wasseparatedinto divisions. A Company consisted of ten Battalions, Each Battalion consisted of two Cohorts, and each Cohort consisted of ten Centuries, a singleCenturieconsisted of a hundred soldiers. Which meant that each Company had 20.000 Legionnaires.


    TheAethling Empire commanded three-hundred of these companies. Dorian knew the numbers of theAethlingarmy in his head but he could just not imagine such a vast amount of people gathering in one place. And all of them soldiers, Armed to the teeth. His head turned blank at the financial costs an army of that size must entail.


    He could almost see the rows upon rows oflegionnairescrashing down on their enemies. The file and rank of theAethlingEmpire visible as far as his eyes could see. To be a part of such an armyfilled him with a strange sense of pride. He could feel his mind slipping away into daydreams of glorious battle.


    The empire may be huge, and their armies powerful and intimidating yet theAethlingEmpire did not have a lust for war. Despite the size of the empire there was no wish to expand. They already had all the resources and land they could occupy.


    Having no need for conquest the army was mostly stationed at key points to defend against raids or attempts at conquests from other neighbouring countries. Not that there were many of these brave enough to do so, most of the raids were done by rogue tribes not affiliated to any country.


    The travel along the road got boring quick. His father was cutting through area''s to take the shortest route they could, instead of travelling by road. He often heard that monsters attacked any traveller brave or stupid enough to do this.


    After two weeks of making their way through forests and grasslands he started to doubt these stories. After all this time he had not seen even a single monster. Animals he had also seen very few of. It was as if all creatures steered clear from this area.


    He and his father barely talked at all during the trip. Both of them were men of few words and since they were father and son, they had spent Dorian''s entire life together so there were not many topics they could discuss which hadn¡¯t been discussed before.


    Finally his father told him they would see the city soon. Honestly his fingers where itching for something else to do than hunt and travell. His father had already told him he would take him straight to the cities Enlisting Station, help him enlist and then be on his merry way back home.


    Soon enough Dorian saw the towering granite walls of the cityappearingbefore him. It was humongous. Nowhere near the size of his village. The city far expanded beyond the limits of what his imagination had been capable of. The walls moved out to both sides as far as his eyes could see.


    "So the Capital is this big!" Dorian exclaimed.


    "Don''t be so ignorant." His father said smirking. "This is just one of the normal cities. The capital is many times larger than this. In the capital it will take you near a week to reach one edge of the city from the other."


    A city that took a week to pass through? Dorian couldn''t even begin to grasp the sheer size of the capital. This ¡®minor city¡¯ was already larger than he hadimagined. The capital huh. Now that was a place he yearned to visit.


    Once they got on the road that led to one of the city gates he saw other people again. The sheer number of them was insane. It wasmind-bogglinghow many people could be together in one place.


    At second glance he noticed that hecouldn''teven call all of them people. There where many other races he could see. The pointed ears of the elves, the small bearded frames of the dwarves. A couple of toweringEntmen stuck out above the crowd. Beastmencrowded the roads. But theAethlingsthemselves far outnumbered any of the other races.


    Dorian himself was human half human at least. Although humans werenot an uncommonrace to be found in nearly any empire or country. Norverns were far more rare, although Norverners had near the same appearance as humans their physical capabilities far out-ranged those of a normal human. Distinctive marks of a Norvener were their copper hair, and a band of red around their pupil. Those that came from the old tribes themselves often had the tribal marks that came with it. The empire was a mixed country and did not have anyseparatelaws for theseparateraces. That doesof course didnot mean that there was no discrimination. Racism had all but died out however, the races having lived together for hundreds of years.


    As longas there were differences in people there would be people who would look down on others. These cases had become rare over the years however. It took Dorian a few moments to get used to the press of bodies. Even the smell was nearly enough tooverwhelmhim. Nobody had warned him about the stench that accompanied such a huge number of people living so close to each other. He could feel the sweat of thousands of different individuals penetrating his nostrils with their unpleasant oder.


    Then something strange happened, his vision went hazy for a second as he looked at a particular man walking down the street. The sides of his head were shaved and he had the rest of his hair tied back in a tight braid. A magnificent bronze coloured beard decorated the mans face, accompanied with some savage and tribal looking tattoo''s. A Norvener.


    A strange sense of recognition grasped his heart as he stared at the man. He felt like he knew the Norvener. He felt connected in a way that he could not explain, he felt trust. The word ''brother'' came to mind when looking at the man, a brother not of blood but forged in battle.


    Before he could approach the man the sweeping of the crowd took him away, leaving him with many unanswered questions. He tried standing as tall as he could to gaze over the crowd but he did not spot the man again. His father dragged him further through the crowd to avoid being separated from him.


    Following the flow of people they eventually came to the gate. The gate itself was humongous standing at over 25 meters tall. The flow of people wereallowedin without needing any identification or pass.


    Once in a whileguards wouldpull over a random cart or ask a citizen if they could look through theirpossessions. Random searches for contraband being their choice of approach. It would indeed require a considerable amount of manpower to check every person who wanted to enter this city.


    The city guard, his father told him, Were not even under the same command as the men of the legion. They wereseparatelyconscripted men and women who lived in the city itself. Much like themilitiahis own village had.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Although the city guards were not as well trained or armed as the averagelegionary, they were not to be underestimated.


    Getting into the city without any problems his father led him through the streets as if he knew exactly where to go. In truth his father DID know exactly where to go. He had been in the city multiple times for some special requests hereceived. Sometimes he would be gone for a month or so at a time. But he would never accept more than one of these requests a year. He wanted to spend most of his time with his family.


    The buildings of the city were pressed close together. There was no space between the houses at all as there would be in the village. Also all the houses had multiple floors. Something he rarely saw in his hometown. Why build up when you could just build to the sides, it was after all considerably easier.


    The architecture of the city was nowhere near as awe-inspiring as the size of it all. There were no real points of interest on the majority of the buildings. Just dark grey blocks that people lived in. It was a bit disappointing really, Dorian expected the city to have a vast arrange of architectural wonders he could not even have dreamed of. Then Dorian started to wonder what they did with all the sewage.


    But then he saw the metallic pipes running past the houses and over their heads the pipes seemed to have some kind of enchantment engraved on them and he assumed that magic was being used to pump waste through the pipes and into wherever it was headed.


    An invention he realised, that was sorely necessary in a city of this size. He imagined what would happen if the people had no way to remove their waste and it just gathered on the streets. The image growing in his mind turned his face pale. He quickly brought his mind to more pleasant and enjoyable pastures.


    At long last they reached the Enlistment Station. The building was a good deal larger than the others around it and had a squadron of proudlegionnairesposted outside. Thelegionarieseach had a spear in one hand and a tower shield in the other. A short sword in its scabbard on their hips.


    The armour they wore was dark plate with copper or bronze linings. The plates had no sleeves and hugged the torso tightly. They had gauntlets to protect their fore-arms that cameattachedwith leather gloves. They had boots of the same leather that was attached to the same dark plate and bronze greaves.


    EachLegionnairestood straight and proud and swept their eyes over the crowd. They had aprofessionalaura that was a great deal more intimidating than the cityguard. He noticed that each of theseLegionnaireswas anAethling.


    Aethlingslooked a lot like humans except for their slanted eyes and their blue, grey, or even green hair. Their skin was also a bit peculiar. You could see a soft outline of their veins pulsing beneath the skin. Their slightly ash coloured skin almost transparent.


    His father stepped into the Enlistment Station not giving anyparticularattention to theguards. Theguardsdidn''t pay him any attention other than a quick up and down to asses the threat. Once inside the Enlistment station he saw that it was quite a large room. Although ithadn''tlooked very big on the outside, once inside it was larger than expected.


    Wooden counters with both male and female clerks behind them took up most of the space. Each of these booths had a line. The lines were filled with young men and women who wanted to enlist into the legion. On second glance he noticed not all of them were young. Some of the people looking to enlist had already passed the age of his father.


    The legion did care who entered its ranks. If they did not manage to pass the training then they were not ready to be enlisted. Any of them who passed was good enough for the legion no matter age,sex or religion. This was the simple doctrine that the Legion followed. If they could be trained, they could fight.


    The line slowly moved forward, there was a little space behind each person that was at a clerks desk. Peoplepreferredto have a little privacy in moments like these. A small yellow line drawn in the floor indicating where the line should start. The line slowly yet steadily moved forward as the clerks took their jobs seriously and worked diligently.


    Soldiers discipline he supposed. At long last it was their turn, the clerk that helped them was a younger lady maybe twenty years of age. She was pretty, with her dark eyes and thick lashes. The dark curly hair that framed her head doing her face justice.


    There it was again, that strange sense of familiarity. He felt like he could trust this woman, like he had fought with this woman. The unexplained feelings made him a bit uncomfortable , the woman spoke up and he snapped out of his line of thought.


    "Name, age and place of birth please." The clerk asked them as soon as they stepped forward.


    Dorianopenedhis mouth to answer but a gesture from his father stopped him.


    "His age is 16, Place of birth isWalmontVillage, Name is DorianStorsworn." His father told the clerk.Storsworn? Who the hell wasStorsworn? The family name wasLiftfuornotStorsworn. Dorian knowing that his father always did things for a good reason tried to keep his face blank . Luckily, the clerk wasn''t paying him any particular attention


    "Ok, a minute please whileifill in the forms" The clerk told them. After a few seconds of scribbling the clerk looked at them again and asked. "Preferredarea ofexpertize?"


    "Excuse me what?" Dorian asked the clerk.


    The clerkdidn''teven blink at the question andimmediatelystarted explaining what she meant. "The army has groups specialised in different areas. Here read this form that will explain the different positions and what they do."


    Dorian took the piece of parchment that the clerk handed him and started reading.


    Infantry : The foot soldiers of the Legion they form the proud backbone of the empire. They will be the first Into the fray and the last out. They will clash with the enemies of the Empire face to face. With their comrades by their sides.


    Archers : Pelting the enemies from a safe distance withsharpenedprojectiles. Raining death on the enemies that dare attack the Empire. Using the infantry as a shield they increase casualties in the further ranks of the enemies reducing the amount the front lines would have to face. The empires hand strikes swift and hard.


    Calvary : The mounted fighters are specialised and trained together with their mounts. Fighting together with another creature has its advantages. Especially when large groups of them drive themselves into the core of the enemy forces. Pay increased by 0.5x , training twice as long as infantry.


    Administrative duties : Even the army needs to keep its finances and other paper work in order. The clerk you are speaking with now is someone who has chosen administrative duties. Clerks make sure the items arrive at the right spot at the right time. If you have any further questions about this job please address the clerk.


    Logistic Duties : If supplies and working in a warehouse is more your fort¨¦ than fighting the enemies in the field thenthis thisis the place for you. You do not have to fight, to do your part for the empire!


    "Welliwould like the infantry then" Dorian told the clerk. His reasoning was simple. He had never worked with a bow so archery was out of the question, he would prefer fighting on his own feet in the dirt like he did with his father than on a mount. He did want to engage in battle so there was only one option left.


    The Clerk nodded and startedscribblingsome things on her parchment again. After a minute or two of writing she finished and looked up. "DorianStorswornyou may nowexitthrough the door there in the back" She told him, pointing at a door in the back of the building.


    "Alegionnairewill take you and the rest of your group to the bunks were you will stay until training starts. You happen to be in luck the training will start tomorrow so you will not have to wait long."


    Happy to hear that he could get started soon he looked at his father once more. His father looked him in the eyes and stuck out his hand. Dorian graspedhis fathers handand gave him a firm handshake.


    "Do me proud boy." He told him.


    Dorian nodded and headed out through the door. Although the question about the change in his surname still swam around in his head he didn''t ask his father about it .He would simply call himselfStorswornfrom now on. The reasoning didn''t matter. He had more than enough faith in his father to follow the things he did without question.


    Following instructions without question was the mark of a good soldier after all, was it not?


    Walking through the door he saw thelegionnairethat nodded at him and told him. "Very well you are the last one, everyone follow me!" Thelegionnairesaid striding away without looking back obviously expecting everyone to follow him.


    And so follow him they did, pacing through the alley behind the building they were led through the streets and eventually they headed out of the city. After a good while of walking some people had started talking to the ones walking next to them.


    TheLegionnairediscouragedthis with a gruff remark about how they should start learning how to be silent. Glancing at each other they just shrugged and followed thegrumpylegionnaire.


    After about an hour of walking they finally reached the camp.

 Chapter 3

    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 every single part of the camp. The legionnaire led them through the camp until they where in the centre 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. 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 organised. 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. Tomorrow! The real work begins." The sergeant declared with his powerful voice. "I will now form you in groups of eight,You and the other seven 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 complete! There will at all times be six members in your squadron unless circumstances require otherwise! I will now call your names. If you hear your name step forward and follow the legionnaire assigned to you."


    The legionnaire 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 legionnaire 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 beastman 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. The boy had a sturdy build much like his own and his golden predatorial eyes swept the grounds. He gave Dorian a nod and stood next to him keeping silent.


    "Vorkolimi¨¢ri S¨¦tra Everwoud"


    Now that name was a complete mouthful. This time a huge Entman of at least eight feet stepped forward and made his way to Dorian, and Blaitz. His steps heavy, he truly was an impressive sight. His skin resembled bark, tough and cracked. His eyes had the green of the forest, his hair resembling grass as it framed his rough face. Yet gentle caring oozed from his otherwise intimidating demeanour.


    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.


    "¨ªstril von ¨¦llenmare"


    This time it was a female elf that stepped forward and walked towards them. Stepping may have been the wrong. She 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 a lot of experience with women and the one standing close by, was in no way any less sensual than anything he had ever fantasised 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 shoulders 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, with defined springy musculature.


    Once Gladiel joined the group he gave ¨ªstril 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 humour to match it. Walking towards them with quick steps she gave the group a wave and joined them. The rest nodded in response.


    ¡°Vivri Crimwald¡±


    Another elven woman stepped forward, this one darker of skin. Eyes a bloody crimson, a scar over her left eye. Silver-gray hair in a bobcut, the woman sent a tingling sensation all over his body. He found his body primed for action when she neared them, it wasn¡¯t just him either. Blaitz¡¯s fur was bristling, claws growing on his paws.


    ¡°Easy boys.¡± Her sultry voice commanded. ¡°Same side remember?¡±


    The rest of the group glanced at Dorian and Blaitz who forced their instincts back down. Dorian bowed his head towards her. ¡°Apologies.¡±


    Her returned smile shattered his mind, leaving his mind blank and fuzzy.


    ¡°Kala Sommersift.¡±


    The last one to join their merry little squad was a petite girl. Hardly measuring at five and a half feet. Her hair tied back in a tight copper-coloured braid. She had a disarming friendly smile, and that tang of recognition struck him again as she walked over.


    He shook the stray thoughts from his head as he nodded a greeting to her.


    "Follow me." The legionnaire 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.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "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 legionnaire earnestly pressed them.


    The group nodded to his words and thanked him for the advice. Dorian took a look in the room and saw four bunk beds two on each side of the room. 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 on one side and we take the other?." Dorian asked 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 I''m fine sleeping with beautiful over there." Arin said grinning.


    ¨ªstril¡¯s crystal clear voice rang throughout the room demanding attention. "This would be adequate."


    After the quick arranging of the beds Gladiel would sleep on the upper bunk bed with Vorkolimi¨¢ri 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 I''m here to get more combat experience." 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 don''t really stay in one place so wouldn''t say i live anywhere in particular. Joined the army because i was tired of the life of a nomad and wanted to do something more exciting." Blaitz told them, his voice a near primal growl.


    " Vorkolimi¨¢ri S¨¦tra ¨¦verwoud, is what I am known as. I understand the name is a harsh on the average tongue. It would please me to simply be known as Vor. I hail from the lush forests of Tolr¨ªm 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 extremely deep and gave Dorian the impression of bumblebees.


    " ¨ªstril von ¨¦llenmare, 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 joined 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 so let''s get along and graduate together!"


    ¡°That would be great!¡± The petite girl commented. ¡°I¡¯m Kala, hailing from the Norvener tribe Liftfuor.¡± Dorians heart stopped at the mention of his families name.


    A wave of shock went through the rest of the group.


    ¡°THE blood Liftfuor tribe?¡± Gladiel exclaimed staring at her, eyebrows crawling up so much it seemed they wanted to escape from his face.


    Kala chuckled, scratching the back of her head and biting her lip. ¡°Well yea, but I¡¯m just a normal tribesmember!¡± she quickly added.


    ¡°Did you ever meet the Infernal sorceress?!¡± Blaitz asked excited.


    Infernal sorceress, Liftfuor tribe. It would take an idiot not to make the connection. Now he knew why his father had wanted to keep the family name a secret.


    ¡°Boys, boys, give the poor girl some room. Although I am curious as to if you have ever met the Bloody Bladesmith.¡± Vivri interrupted.


    Kala fidgeted. ¡°I saw them once when I was young, but nobody has seen them in years.¡±


    ¡°Before I forget to introduce myself.¡± Vivri said cutting the rest off from asking more questions. ¡°I am Vivri, one of the Crimson Clan, also here to escape a spot of trouble like Goldilocks over there.¡± Giving ¨ªstril a conspiratorial wink she continued. ¡°Not to worry boys ¡®n girls, but I¡¯ve already had my fill of meat for the day.¡±


    The rest of the group chuckled, Kala and Dorian just shared a look of confusion at the apparent joke.


    After having introduced themselves to each other they started making small talk. Learning about eachother, they would be spending the next few years together after all. That is if they all managed to graduate.


    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 what 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 they kept the curtains shut. The guys didn''t bother doing anything of the sort and just pulled of their clothes until 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, both he and Blaitz were wearing a loincloth instead of the boxers he and Gladiel used.


    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 just as large 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 what would happen tomorrow.


    In the morning the loud yelling of the drill sergeant woke them up.


    "You have five minutes to dress yourselves, get outside and line up! Hurry it up!" He roared pounding on all the doors in the dorm.


    Quickly waking up Dorian leaped out of bed and rushed to put on his clothes. The rest of his squad was just as fast. ¨ªstril had just slipped on her dress and jumped out, Vor had some trouble with his robes but with some help he was quickly done as well. 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.


    "Four 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 again, Dorian and his squad once again 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 it a hell of a day for you!"


    The sergeant then proceeded to roughly line up the squadrons and put them in formation there were exactly two-hundred recruits in their group so he lined them up in rows of twenty. He told them to put their heels together stand up straight and put their right fist to the shoulder of the one to their right. 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 one recruit.


    After having positioned themselves the sergeant once more told them to get back in bed. Once he 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 the four minutes they had been given.


    The sergeant of course didn''t care about their petty reasoning and ordered them to get back in bed. After confirming they were in bed he yet again roared his order. This time everyone was in a deadmans 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 didn''t;t care about their plights and ordered them to get back in bed. 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 until 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 rage painted on the mans face. "I can be here all damned day!" The sergeant took out a lunch box and the legionaries 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 what felt like the hundredth 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 up looking like pretty little toys!"


    Here and there a mumble of agreement could be heard from the other recruits. Dorian saw that the legionaries 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 Dorian¡¯s thoughts.


    "CENTURY!" The sergeant suddenly roared. "BEHIND ME, FORMATION!"


    The surrounding legionnaires rushed forward in their full Armour and within thirty seconds the fifty on watching legionaries were standing behind him in perfect formation. 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 legionnaire if you cannot even form ranks properly?"


    "If that is how you feel you are free to leave. Anyone who feels this way is 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 spoken up, 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 three 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 Canteen." The sergeant told them, the words were received by the growling stomaches of the recruits who by now were extremely hungry.


    So this is what legionnaire training is like. Dorian thought to himself. Not quite what he expected but it sure was interesting.

 Chapter 4

    Dorian and the recruits followed the sergeant into the Canteen. The canteen was the largest building of all, made sense when everyone in the camp would congregate here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even a legionnaire needs food after all.


    The building was the same dull gray as the rest of the buildings, and the same boring square architecture. Inside there were rows upon rows of tables and benches. Although now it was deserted except for the kitchen staff. Which as he understood it worked around the clock, most likely in shifts. Although it was possible for some races to go without sleep for days or even weeks.


    Apparently the sergeant had sent word ahead that his group of recruits would be done soon. Otherwise it was beyond explanation how the kitchen staff had two hundred fifty meals waiting for them as soon as they entered.


    The sergeant didn¡ät let them leave formation. He made them bend off in rows of two to enter the canteen. The canteen was a bit peculiar in the fact that upon entering there were counters on either side of the hallway so they could serve twice the amount of legionnaires at once. He supposed it meant they had two kitchens as well.


    Waiting in line was testing everyone''s patience. The people in the front lines had it easy, or so they had thought. They were allowed to pick up their plates and take place in the canteen but they would not be allowed to eat until everyone had gotten their share.


    One recruit with with his face inches from the ground, sweating from more push-ups, had found this out the hard way. More then enough reason for the others to hold their hunger in check.


    With the hunger and the exhaustion from the repeated exercises building up, frustration was reaching mountainous levels in record time. Yet another test, Dorian thought to himself. The first day and they are already pushing us past what we would previously have been comfortable with.


    As if hunger is gonna break me just because i didn''t have breakfast yet, Dorian thought.


    The rest of his squad didn''t seem to have a problem with it. Well that may not have been entirely accurate. ¨ªstril seemed to have trouble keeping her knees from shaking. He could see her tremble ever so slightly. It was honestly barely noticeable, he could only see it because he was the one standing behind her.


    Even so he was sure that there would not be a trace of exertion on her face. She would stand there with that cold look on her face, her pride keeping her from showing any weakness. Wherever ¨ªstril came from he was pretty sure that she was used to getting meals whenever she so desired. She had this kind of air that made her feel like she belonged to a noble family.


    Blaitz seemed to be having trouble as well. Standing right next to him it was kind of hard not to hear the continued growls of his stomach. They were near the end of the line so the standing still, with growling stomaches was straining their patience.


    But at long last it was their turn. They walked up to the kitchen staff who handed each of them a plate filled with some kind of thick white liquid with chunks of what seemed to be a type of bread in them. Not the most delicious looking or smelling food he had ever seen. In fact as used as he was to his mothers cooking this was borderline disgusting.


    Thing was that he was so hungry he didn''t really care what he ate. Going about a day without food would do that to you. None of the recruits had eaten since enlisting. He was glad he had gotten a bite to eat before he entered the city or he would have been even worse off.


    Sitting down at the table with the rest of the squadron he took place on the end of the bench. Vor sat down on the other side of the bench launching Dorian through the air landing with a smack on the floor, this to the amusement of the other recruits around him. Even the legionaries had to stifle their laughter.


    Not letting it bother him, Dorian was just glad he had already put his plate on the table. Vor raced to his side awkwardly moving his hands trying to help Dorian up repeatedly apologising.


    "Don''t worry about it neither of us expected it, we''ll just take it as a lesson for the next time we sit down!" Dorian told him giving him a pat on the shoulder, well the pat was more on the side of Vor''s arm than anything, the shoulders were out of reach.


    "I will take care the next time i seat myself" Vor said with that deep rumble of his.


    Vor decided to sit on the floor, something he told them he was very used to. Even sitting on the floor Vor easily reached the same height as the rest of them on the benches. Dorian put the bench back were it was and sat in the same place as before, shaking his head he wondered at the weight of the Entman,to be able to actually launch him like that he must weigh hundreds of pounds.


    It took a few more minutes for everyone to get their food. After what seemed like an eternity the Sergeant gave them the go ahead to eat. Ravished all of the recruits swiftly dug into their meal. Even though the look of the food was not particularly pleasing the taste was honestly not that bad. A little bland but the hunger more than made up for that.


    While eating the weird porridge he could feel the energy seeping back into his body. Fuelling his body with his favourite resource of food, he spooned the porridge into his mouth at lightning speed, barely taking the time to taste it properly. It wasn''t just him that acted this way the rest of the recruits were favouring speed over manners as well.


    Thus it did not take long for the meal to end. At the end of the meal the sergeant stood up demanding their attention.


    "Okay we will now go back to the square and get in formation, we will then be heading to the armoury to give each of you a practice legionary set. You will get a proper set of armour fitted to your body once you have completed the basic training!"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Until then you will have to make due with these. It will take some time for your body to get used to the weight of the armour. Although it is not the same as the armour you will later receive the weight is exactly the same! The rest of the day we will practice getting in formation and marching. This will continue for the next few weeks. Only once you recruits have mastered this will we move on to combat training!"


    "That will be all, now follow me" As the sergeant ended his short speech he made a gesture with his hands and the other legionnaires got up and followed him in neat formation to the square.


    After leading everyone to the square he made them stand again in the same formation. By now all of them knew where to stand. Repeating something for over fifty times made it pretty easy to remember. To his left was Blaitz and to the right ¨ªstril. Blaitz had become his assigned buddy.


    The legionnaires had what they called a buddy system. A legionary would be paired with another Legionnaire and they would be joined at the hips throughout their army career. That is assuming both of them managed to finish training.


    The way they had gotten buddied up was rather simple, The sergeant had just started from the beginning of the line had had said that every one in this column would be buddied up with his neighbour in this column. Blaitz had coincidently been the one to stand next to him at the time so they became buddies.


    ¨ªstril was buddied up with Vor, Vivri with Kala and Arin with Gladiel. The latter seemed to be fit together perfectly, both misfits at heart. It hadn''t taken long for the rest of the group to notice this. Both of them were optimistic jesters. Something that Dorian rather enjoyed even if he kept it to himself, who didn''t like a good joke now and then after all.


    Once everyone was back in square formation the Sergeant led them through the camp in a ten man thick formation. For now the walking was not fussed about and they could just follow the sergeant at their own pace.


    The armoury was another of the larger buildings in the camp and just as much of a boring gray square as the rest. The recruits moved ten in a line and an old gruntelled looking quartermaster gave gruff orders to those under his command. Taking a single look at a row of legionnaires and sending them out to get the sizes that were appropriate.


    Even when it was Vor''s turn the veteran quartermaster wasn''t phased in the slightest and just gave another of his curt commands. Within the matter of an hour the quarter master had amazingly managed to get all of the recruits a fitting set of armour.


    Fitted with the armour the sergeant led them away again to an area just outside the camp. The area had track marks all over it. They practised marching here over the years. You could see the ground being dented from the centuries of marching legionaries pounding their boots into the earth.


    The Sergeant had them take an eight man thick formation. A squadron in each row. He then told them to line up properly the way he had taught them to do before. After having done so he took the lead.


    "Every time you hear me your left heel will hit the floor understood!?" The sergeant told them.


    A few yesses and nods could be seen throughout the formation.


    "I EXPECT AN ANSWER DAMN YOU AND IT HAD BETTER COME AS A YES SERGEANT!" He suddenly roared at them making a few of the closer recruits jump.


    "Yes sergeant!" The recruits said.


    "I CANT BLOODY HEAR YOU"


    "Yes Sergeant!!" The recruits said louder this time.


    "YOU BUNCH OF SISSIES, MAKE SOME NOISE!!" He berated them with that loud drill sergeant roar.


    "YES SERGEANT!!" this time there was a harmonised roar coming from the recruits. Nearly all of them roaring at the top of their lungs, Dorian included.


    "Better" The sergeant said calming down. "Now follow me and keep pace!"


    He started marching at a steady pace and every time his left heel hit the floor he would roar some word that Dorian couldn''t make out. After a few minutes of the exercise people were starting to get the hang of it.


    Soon enough the sound of footsteps started to harmonise. The sound of two hundred and fifty boots hitting the ground at the same time had something enchanting to it. It just felt so, right. That was the only word he had for it, the harmony of all the footsteps simply felt right.


    He didn''t think he was the only one, others sank in a trance as they marched. Before the trance could sink in however the Sergeant ordered the group to halt.


    The order came a bit unexpected, causing some people to collide with the ones in front.


    "Now that i have your attention! We will now start making turns, the people on the inner side of the turn will make small steps in place and turn towards me! Those between the inner and outer side will need to adjust their paceto stay in line with the rest of their squadron. Those on the outside will just maintain the marching pace and make the turn!."


    Sounded easy enough Dorian thought. But yet again things did not go as expected. It seemed that not everyone was able to keep the pace or fully understood what the sergeant meant. This however did not seem to bother the sergeant in the slightest.


    Normally he seemed like the type of man who would roar at them at the slightest mishap. It seemed that marching was a bit of an exception even for the Sergeant..


    The day melted away while they were practising marching. They started to practice different orders as well. Such as stopping in formation or making a one hundred and eighty degree turns. The sergeant even had them walk in a circle for a while closing in until they just made a complete circle of marching legionnaires. Focused entirely on keeping pace without colliding with their fellow legionnaires.


    The hours flew by because of the harmonised marching. Somehow even the constant marching was not as tiring as the morning exercise they had done. He thought that a great majority of the group even took pleasure in the marching.


    Soon enough it was time for dinner and the sergeant made them all head back to the Canteen. Dinner this time was potatoes with some meat that he didn''t know the name of and what seemed to be a weird kind of carrot, this carrot was green for some reason. It also tasted differently.


    Besides the green carrot, dinner was unremarkable. After dinner the sergeant took them out to the marching fields again where they marched until the sun had long since went down and the moon had risen high in the sky.


    At long last the first day of training came to an end and the sergeant marched them back to the square lining them up for the last time today.


    "This was the first day of training and the days after this one will be mostly the same. Your weeks will be filled with marching until i decide that it is good enough for you to move on to the next phase of the training."


    "Until then make sure you get a good nights rest because tomorrow will feel remarkably harder than today because of the accumulated amount of stress!."


    Sending them off to bed with those last words the sergeant somehow reminded him of his dad. Rough around the edges but at the end of the day doing what he thought was best for his kid. The sergeant had the same kind of tough love fatherly feel to Dorian.


    Heading back to the dorms rather tired after the long day of work each of them removed their armour and placed them in the closet in the therefore designed hanging standards. Then they collapsed in bed and drifted into deep slumber.


    First day completed.