One week later, Derek’s column arrived in Telis. This was Alicia’s home. Derek was interested in the kind of life the people here lived. The altitude had risen as they came north. Telis could be considered highlands, with many ridgelines running through it. Herds of sheep could be seen everywhere on the green highland hills. Fortifications on those various hills and ridgelines controlled the high points and gave Derek the impression that invasion would be problematic.

The region where Telis currently existed had originally been the border between a few of the neighboring countries. The capital, Telis, had been a border city between three neighboring kingdoms. The ongoing conflicts between those kingdoms had amplified the value of the border city.

One day, that city had grown valuable enough and powerful enough to become the foundation for a new kingdom. Just two generations ago, the Duke of Telis had united the various highland lords to found his own kingdom. He became the new King of Telis and was the great grandfather of Derek’s friend, Alicia.

This had, naturally, not sat well with those neighboring kingdoms and Telis had been under constant pressure since its founding. They benefited from their natural terrain and their enemies’ distrust for each other to keep their territory, but nevertheless, since its founding, the nation of Telis had spent most of its years at war. Such was the fate of most hegemons on the continent of Elanith.

Due to the history of the region, every major strategic point and town had been fortified. They all commanded the high ground and controlled the roads. To follow the roads from one end of Telis to another, one would have to pass through dozens of such fortifications. Standing at the top most of the towers in one of these fortifications, one could easily see half a dozen other fortifications within view, and they could coordinate using signals in times of trouble.

Setting camp for the night after having passed the second such fortification that day, Derek was sitting next to Tristan as they ate. They were looking at the terrain in the region and marveling at how the elevation could change so much. With the highway they were taking it would only take another week to cross this country, but without that highway their trip would have taken months.

Derek looked into his bowl and scooped out one of the larger pieces in it. He couldn’t quite tell what was in the stew. Everything had been cooked over the day and he thought the cooks had put in extra effort to render the whole meal into some kind of tasteless concoction. Not that he minded, starved as he was he barely tasted any of it as he mechanically ate it in his weary state.

Tristan glanced up at him, “We’re in Telis now. Their contingent will be joining us at the capital and we might be able to see your family when we get there in two days. Are you excited?”

Derek smiled thinly, “Yeah, I kind of am. Maybe we can get something with some actual flavor to it. Do you believe the rumors that the meat in this is actually rats?”

Tristan laughed and shook his head, “No, it’s not rats. It’s just lower grade meat they picked up at the market. The bland flavor isn’t them hiding unsavory materials, but rather from the effort they made to make the food easier to eat and digest. Why? Does the princess not want to eat rat meat?”

Derek snickered at the name. He had heard some of the more finicky students called that by the veterans of the camp throughout the march. No matter that they were all combat classes, some had never undergone hardship. They fussed over any inconvenience, such as long marches, standing watch, weather and camping conditions, and most frequently, the food. They were like those classical princesses from the stories that had never undergone hardship and they had been ridiculed that way.

Derek thought it was funny that there were actually two students in their group who could be considered Princesses and both behaved far more admirably than the students getting labeled with that title. Thinking about it, perhaps it didn’t fit. Maybe there is some more appropriate derisive name they could use to prod these students along?

After a while of thinking about it, he decided not to pursue that line of thought anymore before answering his friend, “No, I was just wondering where they would find enough rats to feed us all…”

Tristan laughed even harder before setting his empty bowl next to him and leaning back to look up at the stars. “Ha, that never occured to me. Can you imagine the Quartermaster going into a town and asking the local merchants to bring out all their rats? It’s a bit absurd now that I think about it.”

Derek had just finished his meal and used a bit of his water to rinse his utensils and metal camping bowl before dropping it in the fire. It wasn’t enough to put it out but it did fizz a little bit. Looking at his friend, he shook him a bit, “Come on man. Don’t get comfortable there, you won’t want to get up. I don’t have watch tonight, so I am going to make the rounds before turning in.”

Tristan groaned before getting up and cleaning his kit as well, “You know, I thought I was in good shape before this, but I am quickly being disabused of that notion now. Hmm, unlike you, I do have watch tonight, so I will be turning in. See you later.”

Derek nodded to his friend before beginning his rounds. Before they started marching, he had accompanied Captain Drake in this process, but now he could do it on his own and knew what to look for. He checked the temporary defenses and posts at the edge of the camp, then passed through the lines of horses, before checking each unit’s tent lines. Then eventually he made it to where the supply wagons and camp followers had been gathered.

He heard the craftsmen doing their work and even saw a farrier shoeing one of the horses. These scenes were quite common on the trip, as with this many horses the odds of a thrown shoe became almost a guarantee. He looked and saw a carpenter preparing a spare wheel for one of the wagons that looked like it needed a replacement, and eventually passed where the cooks were cleaning up after preparing the meal for the entire encampment.

Nodding to them in gratitude for the sustenance during the day, he continued, passing through the final infantry unit’s campground before returning to the command tent. He had been surprised at what he had seen. There were many students among the more veteran troops in the camp and those students should statistically be stronger than the older tier zero troops, but by far, the veterans were in better shape than the students after the march. Hell, even the craftsmen they had brought were still working, while the students were in many cases lying about or sitting like discarded sacks in the camp after their meal.

Thinking about it, Derek thought of his own experience with the trip and realized that it must be conditioning and growing used to the fatigue mentally. In many cases, the students’ bodies should be much more robust than the veterans they were with, but they simply had never been pushed this hard before. He supposed the march that was supposed to last a month and the pace they had maintained was a perfect method to get them used to the process before they travelled into enemy territory.

Knowing that, he stood in front of his tent and began to practice, pushing himself just a little bit harder to get the full value out of this training opportunity.