Snowy gestured for me to follow her as she approached her coach. Reaching into the conveyance, she removed a wide board from its mount under a seat cushion then attached it to the side of the carriage through two cleverly hidden holes covered by metal caps. Once she had the board mounted, I realized that it would act as a standing desk mounted on the outside of the carriage—an ingenious solution to holding court with a large number of advisors when a tent was not available. While Snowy climbed into the carriage to find some paperwork, the driver - an older man whose wrinkled face attested to the fact he wasn’t a hidden mage - mounted an awning over Snowy’s makeshift office.

While Snowy prepared, the Captain was making efforts to organize his men. He would need to split the troop, leave enough leaders to control the fortress, as well as enough supplies to support them when they made it to the fort—a fort where we had planned to resupply on salted meats while delivering some vegetables. Now, we couldn’t trust whatever food was left in the fortress, if any. Also, they would need to send out men to hunt for game and so needed hunters. None of which had been a part of our preparations.

The men had a strange sort of disquiet. Fighting the undead was always a horror. Worse, these had been their fellow guards. Some of the men knew or were related to the reanimated guards. On the other hand, this kind of horde would ravage the countryside, razing farms, and leaving destruction and desolation. Suffering only minor injuries and not a single death while destroying a horde of the walking dead was nearly a tale for the bards. Given the tired but happy looks from some of the guards, I was sure we had a few more combat Skills as well.

My thoughts were interrupted by Snowy gesturing for her advisers to approach. Captain Terrod was delayed giving instructions, but he nodded in her direction. Unfortunately, Sir Wincome was not so hindered, and he made his position clear quickly.

“My Lady, it's foolishness to split the troop like this. We should return to your father’s castle,” Sir Wincome said, his voice hissing out to not be heard by the nearby troops.

Alexis turned to her guard and nodded but said, “I know it’s not the best choice, but this is a compromise. The undead had defensive wounds. None of them were armed with real weapons. Most had wounds that indicated they were the victims of surprise attacks. Likely the fort was swept clean and looted in a night. Where are the mercenaries now, hmm?” Snowy said to Sir Wincome’s statement. Silencing his response with a gesture, she nodded to the approaching Mage.

“Mage Fordson, you have earned my ire by not announcing yourself to me before this mission. Why was I not informed that you would be with us? Explain yourself,” Snowy said, her voice cutting across Sir Wincome’s attempted interruption. I had heard this tone of voice before; it was similar to that used by the Baron, only differing in tenor. It was likely she was snapping at the Mage only now because, instead of bringing up her annoyance before, since this was the first clear chance to rebuke someone and so show her command of the situation. At least, that was how my failed training in leadership would have suggested handling the situation.

Chewing lightly on a bit of jerky as he approached, the Mage nodded to Snowy’s criticism, though he seemed unconcerned.

“Your father asked me to get a feel for Mr. Stills here. Though I must admit a bit of perverse enjoyment at my act,” he said to Snowy’s annoyed look, then turned to me and continued, “by the way, you’ve impressed me, Mr. Stills.”

I was a bit unbalanced by that and could only mutter, “Uh, thanks?”

Nodding, the Mage bit into more of his jerky. While still chewing, he smiled through the bits of food and said, “It’s not often I get to see someone piss off so many people at once, I have to admit. I’m only play-acting as an annoying asshole to get people to leave me alone. You, Mr. Stills, are the real deal.”

My frown didn’t faze the Mage in the slightest; in fact, he seemed to take joy from it.

At Captain Terrod’s approach, Snowy began the meeting. She quickly jotted down a message on her communication scroll to the Baron. I watched in interest, trying to see if I could determine how it worked, but it was opaque to my mana sight. As far as I could tell, it was just an ordinary parchment. The magic must have been in its formation rather than in an active effect.

Once Snowy updated her father, she turned to the group and listened to suggestions on further actions. The Mage and I mostly stayed out of it. Captain Terrod was of the voice that we should all travel to the fortress to man it and wait for the Baron’s other men to reinforce us. He wanted to hole up in preparation for a siege. The only problem with that plan was that Snowy had already ordered the split of the troop. So, he thought they should continue along those lines. He was of the mind that an order once given, should be followed in order to maintain discipline and trust in a commander. Which, I could understand that view, but only to a limited extent.

Sir Wincome, on the other hand, wanted everyone to retreat to the Baron’s castle to prepare for further raiding actions. He felt that Alexis should return to her rightful place in the capital of the Barony. Her father would order defensive measures from there, preparing to retaliate against whoever was the actual attacker when they knew for sure.

I’ll admit, I thought that Sir Wincome had a better plan.

Once the two military men had their say, Snowy thanked them for their opinion and then told them to prepare as to her orders.

Chuckling at the grumpy men’s look, the Mage returned to his wagon, though I noted he sat in the cart that was to return to the capital. Captain Terrod bowed slightly to Alexis, then returned to directing his Sergeants. Sir Wincome gave only a slight bow, then turned and moved back to his normal guard position.

When Snowy turned to me, her face went from stiff and arrogant to a more relaxed smile. A smile I couldn’t help myself but return.

“Well? Don’t you want to tell me how I’m making a mistake?” Alexis asked, though her voice was more relaxed and almost playful compared to how she directed her men.

Shaking my head in negation, I continued to grin, “No. Like I said. I’m not a leader. I know some of the ways of war from my father’s lectures, but it’s all from the point of view as a mercenary,” then I chuckled and continued, “as I seem to remember his stories. It involved a lot of him and his men being sent to fight where his employer thought his men would die, not that helpful all in all.”

My smile cut short when Snowy’s grin fled, her eyes shifting to the men then back to me. When her eyes locked onto my own, she shook her head at my questioning look. Finally, her distant look faded as she returned to the present and nodded.

“Trainer Stills, you will follow me back to the capital, where we will continue my training. While your training would assist the troops, you are a strategic resource similar to Mage Fordson,” Snowy said with the tones of her official voice.

At Snowy’s raised tones, I bowed deeply, making a play of it to be sure others could see me and my sign of respect, [Acting] telling me exactly how long to hold the bow to convey my feelings. Returning upright smoothly, then snapping a nod held for a brief moment to counter the idea that it was given in annoyance. Gently, I turned and wandered away to gather my supplies.

It took a bit longer to gather everything, but everyone was ready to travel at first light. Those who would remain in the fortress were gifted with most of the cooking equipment. This ensured that even if the fort had been stripped clean, the guards would be able to eat. Unfortunately, this meant those returning would be doing so with only hardtack rations.

The next day dawned early, and I was sore, tired, and grumpy. My sleep that night was filled with horrible dreams of undead creatures. None so terrible as to count as nightmares, but not restful in the slightest. Still, I had more sleep than the sentries who had to keep an eye out most of the night.

Once everything was packed up, and the men had marshaled around the carriage with Sergeant Baker in the lead, Snowy called me forward to join her in her carriage.

“I thought you might like to ride with me. Get away from Mage Fordson,” Alexis said with a smile before returning her focus to the papers she was shuffling around.

Nodding to Alexis, I leaned back and relaxed, letting my mind drift and calm before starting my experimentation with [Meditation].

With my eyes closed, I focused inward, feeling along my mind to see if I could feel any change when my Skill activated. There was a slight shift, it wasn’t obvious, but it existed. It was there. With [Meditation] active, I could feel my focus pulled toward myself, inward. The urge was to ignore my senses and the world around me. It wasn’t like a rope pulling me inward. Instead, it was like a gentle nudge to keep my perception of self in mind.

For a time, I focused on the change when [Meditation] was activated—trying to feel how things shifted as I used it. Eventually, I stopped focusing on the switch. I decided to let the change pass without paying attention, leaving the Skill active, and allow whatever would drift through my mind to flow without care. While I remained passive and calm, a pulse of mana drifted through my body and latched onto my mind. In my disconnected state, I watched as this tiny burst of mana fastened onto something inside myself. It grew like a branching tree, the mana crystalizing, following thin tracers through my mind. These traces, the connections, existed before the mana formed. It was pulled from somewhere else, connecting to something else, the hints of growth there before the mana solidified.

Eventually, the growth spread too quickly, the mana held within a bubble surrounding me drained away, and the branches stuttered then stopped. The crystals of mana faded away from my view as the changes slowed then stopped.

Gasping, I pulled out of my mind. Soul? [Meditation] pulsed in my mind like a sore limb, the Skill feeling overused and strained, a new sensation beyond anything that I had ever experienced.

Dripping sweat, I turned to Snowy, who was staring at me with a concerned look.

“Are you alright? You were breathing deeply, and slowly, but your pulse was pounding. You were burning up and sweating. You seemed asleep, but nothing I did would wake you,” Snowy said with concern.

At this, I realized I was no longer sitting up, but instead lying on the far side of the carriage, my shirt opened to the air, and my forehead covered by a wet rag. My cheeks lightly ached and I worried that I would have bruises. There was even a patch of skin on my arm where my sleeve was rolled up that was bandaged. More evidence of the attempt to rouse me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but croaked instead, my voice scratching against my dry throat. Alexis passed me her water flask. Quickly I sipped, then gulped the water as I discovered my thirst. The position awkward to drink but I was still too dizzy to rise before consuming the water. Eventually, I slowly levered myself up. Looking out the carriage window, I realized that hours had passed, and it was quickly approaching the time to camp, my entire day passing in [Meditation] unaware.

“I’m fine? I think? I was just testing something…I…” I said, my voice fading away when I realized the improvements to my Skill.

Meditation has increased to 9.

Meditation has increased to 10.

…

Meditation has increased to 15.

At that, I focused inward, trying to determine what exactly had just happened, and how I could reproduce it.