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Montage mode engaged. Repetitive daily tasks streamlined. Wood construction expertise increased by 30%. Reputation with army personnel increased to 65%. Personal knowledge gained: Your Lot In Life.

Your Lot In Life is defined as your current sociopolitical position in the hierarchy of civilization.

Current status: Rock Bottom / Army Man.

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The whole week passed by in a blur. First thing in the morning I cut logs and put the choice planks on the piles for the boatbuilder. After that, Gary and I built the inside wall of the garrison. We did it in sections and sealed the outside wall, then filled the space with the number ten potion. We went so fast that we had half of the garrison's outside walls reinforced before we ran out of planks and I had to start harvesting logs from the forest by Diane's house.

In the evenings, I had supper with Sandra Rivers and lessons with her. Boy, oh boy, you sure don't know how much you don't know until someone tells you what you don't know. The biggest take away I got from it was that I was considered even lower than a commoner. As a conscript, a criminal whose life was spared solely for army service, meant that I was everything like a slave, except for the name. Also, everything I did would be seen as the desperation of a man trying to stay alive.

That part I could agree with. I would do anything to stay alive. After everything I went through to survive living with the Hag, I was pretty sure there wasn't anything they could do to me that would be worse.

The morning of my departure arrived and I was unceremoniously told that I wouldn't need all of the things in my pack. Food, clothing, and bedding would be provided as well. I thought about arguing and decided that my pack was a bit cumbersome and I had taken to sealing it up under my bed anyways, so I left it there with my knifed-pitchfork.

I took my canvas bag of smoked food and my bandoleer, recently topped up with number ten potions, and met Lt. Alex Smith and Sgt. Donna Simms at the CO's office. She gave us our orders and told me to expedite my travel to the army base by boat with Donna guiding me. I knew what that meant and so did Donna.

We left there at a jog and I was a little surprised that Gary and the purser were waiting at the gate for us. They both saluted me as I passed by them and I used my real hand to do it back. That made Gary laugh and the purser's eyes seemed to sparkle a little, as if they were wet. I wasn't sure why, though. I asked Alex when we were through the gate if he knew why.

“If I had to take a guess, I think it was because yesterday you gave her most of the money back that she allotted to you for equipment.” Alex said. “No one's ever done that before.”

“Why not?” I asked.

Donna laughed. “Most people don't think they need to.”

“I didn't spend it all, though.” I said and that made them both laugh. “What's funny?”

“They'll do their best to make sure they spend it all, even on things they don't need.” Alex said.

“How do they live wasting money like that?” I asked. “The Hag would fillet me if I ever bought something I didn't need.”

“I think you meant 'flay'.” Donna said.

“No, that's if I do chores wrong.” I said and she gave me a strange look.

“Let's get going.” Alex said as we approached the dock.

We climbed into the boat and I disengaged it from the dock as I put magic into the weight enchantment to almost lift us completely out of the water. I turned us around and took off at my best speed and not necessarily the safest speed. Donna knew where we were going, since she had been there before, and she guided me the entire way.

“David, are you sure you can handle travelling this far and for this long?” Donna asked, concern in her voice. “We're going very far past the town, nearly five times the distance.”

“I'll need breaks every four hours to rest, when I get near exhaustion.” I said and she gave me a surprised look. “I can get to town, rest while buying things, then come back without having to stop.”

“No wonder the CO had no problems sending you alone.” Alex said, impressed. “You had to rest when we went that first time.”

I didn't tell him I was resting my mind from using the vigilance technique, because I didn't want a headache. The more I used it, the more I could use it, just like my gland. The gland still took an hour to fill; but, there was a little bit more in it each time I exercised it. I hadn't made the connection until Sandra had told me what basic training was going to be like. They would teach me to use muscles a certain way to get them used to it.

Since then, I had been practising my vigilance technique every day and had pushed its use to just over four hours, which was great. Going into a hostile environment meant that I was going to need it a lot more than I normally did. I also didn't have my guard with me, despite his protests that he was needed. When Sandra informed him that he would need to go through basic training again to stay guarding me, he gave up.

We travelled on with Donna's directions, taking smaller waterways as to not alert the other boats of my particular skills. We took breaks to eat and rest every four hours and kept going. I had to say that there wasn't much scenery to look at that was different from when I visited Ester's Village. Trees and farmland were everywhere and there was almost no variation.

We arrived at the small waterway that was near the army base that night. It had taken sixteen hours to go from the garrison to the base, and that was amazing to both Alex and Donna. It was normally a two week journey by boat or a month or more by horse and carriage. That was why they usually used a mage to send quick messages over longer distances. A physical message just wasn't a viable option when swiftness was needed.

Alex and I poled the boat over to the army dock and the large building that was there. After talking to the man and giving him the orders from Sandra, we were assigned a boat slip where my boat would be stored for the next three months. I quickly secured it, covered the enchantments with wood and sealed them, and unhooked the canvas top to save it from wear and tear and tied it up to the tops of the main posts.

We left there and went into the army base. It was very different from the garrison, especially in the size of the thing and the number of soldiers and people walking about. It was even bigger than Ester's Village inside the walls!

I stared around at everything and followed Alex and Donna to the main building. We went inside and presented our orders the the male clerk there. He easily processed the orders for Alex and Donna, then he came to mine. His eyes seemed to bulge a little as he read all of the warnings, cautions, conditions, and requirements for me to safely attend the required basic training.

“You're not shitting me, are you?” The man asked and looked at me, then at Alex and Donna.

“If anything, that understates it.” Alex said. “You are to contact either myself or Sgt. Simms as soon as anything happens.”

The man gave him wide eyes and read the order again. “I need to talk to the base commander.”

“We'll wait.” Alex said and we did.

Half an hour later, the clerk came back into the room with a very tall and muscular man, a very skinny and also tall man, and the Hag.

“Ah!” I gasped and froze, quickly used the vigilance technique, and saw that it wasn't really the Hag.

She was just a woman that looked like the Hag when she was her evil and beautiful self. Her eyes were a different color, her long dark hair didn't have the same natural curls, and she didn't have sharp teeth. I let out the breath I had held and they all looked at me with concern. I couldn't tell them that she looked like the Hag, since they only knew her as her old and wrinkly self.

“She's beautiful.” I said and pointed to her. That really surprised them and the woman blushed, which was something the Hag would never do.

“It wasn't the Drill Sergeant that scared you?” The tall man asked and I shook my head. “So, beauty scares the beast.”

“Lance.” The woman said sternly and her blush didn't fade.

“I've protested having someone so dangerous on my training base and was overruled by the colonel of your detachment.” Lance, the tall man said. “I hate politics even more than I hate troublemakers, so I'm turning you over to my executive officer and washing my hands of you officially.”

Alex opened his mouth to protest and the CO held a hand up.

“Good or bad, I want nothing to do with a conscript, no matter the circumstances.” Lance said. “I've filed appropriate paperwork to reflect that as well. I don't want my name mentioned anywhere in any of this.” He turned to the beautiful woman. “He's all yours.”

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You have a critical choice to make. Will you speak up or accept your fate?

A) Protest. B) Say nothing. C) Attack. D) Run. E) Yell. F) Cry. G) Choose two.

Accepting my fate isn't what I want. I fought for years to get away from the Hag and now I'll be stuck with a woman that looks like her? No, I don't want that. At all. I won't get any sympathy from them, either. Maybe if I turn on the waterworks? I thought about it and made my decision. I'll choose A and F.

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“You have no right to do that.” I said and they all looked at me. “I was a slave for all my life and was treated cruelly by an evil Hag that tortured me every day.” I let several tears roll down my face. “I won't put myself in the same situation ever again.”

“David...” Donna started to say.

“If you give me to her, I'll attack and kill you. I'll kill you all.” I said as more tears streamed down my face. I slowly pulled my knife from my bandoleer and charged it up with magic, which made the muscular drill sergeant take a step back.

The CO stared at me with a surprised look on his face.

“David, it's a figure of speech.” Alex said and I didn't look at him.

“I don't understand.” I said. “He said I was hers. I can't allow that.”

Alex put a hand on my shoulder and he sighed. “David, put the knife away.”

“No.” I said and made a fist with my other hand.

The woman that looked like the Hag moved the CO over and walked across the room to me. “My name is Anna Carter. I'm the XO of this training base.” She said and her voice was nothing like the Hag's. “All the CO meant was that I would be assuming responsibility for you and your actions while on the base and he wouldn't deal with you at all.”

I stared into her eyes and she didn't lie. “You won't own me?”

She smiled and her face changed almost completely and became lively. “No, Private. I won't own you. I'm just going to be your commanding officer while you are here.”

I stopped charging my knife and put it back into the bandoleer. Everyone relaxed for a second and then the CO spoke.

“Confiscate his weapon. I want him in chains and confined to the stockade.” Lance said. “Threatening a superior officer is...”

“...not your concern.” Anna said in a stern voice as she turned to face him.

“I am ordering you...”

“You can't legally do that, remember? You even filed paperwork stating you have washed your hands of him and bear no responsibility.” Anna said and smiled in satisfaction. “You cannot order anything, at all, that will affect him or his stay here. You also can't order others to harm him or impede him in any way.”

“Now listen here...”

“Your own words and actions have bound you, sir.” Anna said. “Or do you wish to file more paperwork to undermine yourself and your authority even more?”

Lance gave her a stern look and held it for nearly ten seconds. “You will regret this.”

“Actually, it's you that will regret it if you try anything, sir.” Anna said. “I warned you that what you were doing was both unethical and went against your oath to train and help soldiers become better fighters. Now you know that you have tied your own hands, which has left you powerless on your own base, and you can't do anything about it.”

Lance opened his mouth and looked about to say something, then he closed his mouth and walked back to his office. He slammed his door and it rattled a few pictures and things hanging on the walls.

“I'm glad that unpleasantness is out of the way.” Anna said and turned to look at me. “Your friends need to report to their respective sections and you need to come to my office. We have a few things to discuss.” She glanced at the drill sergeant. “Come along, Will.”

“Ma'am.” Will said and saluted.

The three of us walked across the room to another door.

“Good luck.” Alex and Donna said at the same time.

“We'll stay in touch at least once a week to check on you.” Donna said and waved.

I waved back and followed the XO and the drill sergeant into the office. The XO sat down behind her desk and motioned for me to sit. I did and she stared at me without an expression on her face for several minutes without saying anything.

“I want you to be completely honest with me. I know an automatic fear response when I see it.” Anna said. “I need to know what just happened.”

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You have a choice to make. It will only affect your standing with the XO. The drill sergeant doesn't care what you decide.

A) Stay silent. B) Blubber everything. C) Tell the truth. D) Run. E) Kill them. F) Do nothing.

I'm going to be stuck here for three months, assuming I can't be expelled because I'm a conscript. I thought. So, I might as well tell the truth. I choose C.

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“Can you keep a secret?” I asked and her face broke into another smile.