Chapter eleven: The Greatest Mystery of Life

After a lot of yelling, screaming, and swearing the instructor left John with one sentence. “You better be finished by morning.” John swept the sweat from his brow once the door finally shut. With the sun already set John decided to set several light balls into the air. John was quite skilled at this simple light spell. Not only was it practical in normal life, but with some adjustments it was a highly efficient tool in battle. The room looked quite eerie in the white light pouring out of the orbs. John quickly found the two books that he was suppose to study. Two medium sized books titled Battle Strategies of the Murus Kingdom and Protocols of the Murus Military were sitting in front of John as he sat down at the table once more.

John decided to do a cycle in his new breathing technique before he got started. Once he felt the energy within his body settle back down, he began to study the two books with a ravenous hunger. He was determined to know these books inside and out by the time that instructor returned. John knew that he had to put forth his full effort if he didn’t want to become a punching bag. Thinking of the frightening instructor John started to wonder what his name might be. Would it be something strong like Smith, or maybe something sharp like Acutus? John shook his head, dispelling the thoughts that whirled around like pesky flies.

Although one night wasn’t much time, John had a talent for study and memorization. Combining this with the knowledge he already possessed in the fields of strategy, it only took him a few hours to thoroughly understand the two books. After that he looked through several other books on strategy, and studied until there was only a couple hours to sunrise.

John truly loved books, but he understood the meaning of balance. Rather his uncle had beaten it into him. There had been countless nights that John had wanted to read till sunrise, but if the fierce blow from his uncle didn’t knock him unconscious he would be forced to slink off to bed to await his morning training.

John thought about sleeping, but decided that the instructor, whose name might be Joe, would probably erupt if he came in to such a sight. Because of the years of training in the basic breathing technique John could go almost three days without sleep, and if he supplemented with the breathing technique he could probably go at least a week before he collapsed. John decided to use his last couple of hours to practice his new breathing technique again. After reading a few pages of gibberish from his father’s old book, John started to practice the technique. He could feel the energy in his body slowly changing, but something was different this time. John tried to understand what was happening as his mind grew hazy.

It was midday as John stood in the middle of a marketplace. He could smell oranges as he saw a middle aged women bargaining with a plump merchant. Several children were running back and forth playing a game of catch. Their giggles sounded like the songs of the birds or the chatter of squirrels. Many people smiled as the children ran around them. John recognized where he was, he had seen this place just this morning. This was the market just inside the gates of the capital of Murus. John closed his eyes as he breathed in the feeling of life and joy flowing around him, but at the end of that breath he smelt a slight twinge of decay. He opened his eyes to see the sky turn dark. Thunder rolled and rain fell as screams began to shriek. John saw the people about him grow thinner. Their faces turned pale as their skin began to peel away. Goblins began to run out of every shadow. Gray little creatures, misshapen, naked, and vicious. Their claws, teeth, and eyes were all black and filled with hungry. John pulled out his sword, trying to hack down as many as possible, but there were too many. The people about him were all devoured as he felt the teeth bite into his legs.

The door creaked as John awoke from his vision. He was drenched in sweat, and his face was pale, almost sickly. The instructor’s eyes squinted at the sight of him, “Are you okay boy?”

“Yes Sir. Just a side effect of my breathing technique.” John quickly stood up and bowed to the instructor, who John thought might be called Thadeus.

“Don’t think you can escape with such a sorry excuse, now tell me the fifth strategy listed in the book.” The instructor, maybe Jack, was quite surprised at John’s understanding of the material, and after a dozen questions he was finally forced to mumble, “Fine. You’re certainly a smart one. Follow me.”

“This is the mess hall. Today you’ll start with some basic training with the new recruits; then you will be sparring with me in the afternoon, so get a good meal.” A dangerous glint crossed the instructor’s eyes as he bid John goodbye.John felt a chill go up his spine. He didn’t need a six sense to realise that he was going to get a thorough beating today.

The mess hall was a fair sized room that could sit a couple hundred people. The food didn’t look too fancy, but it was far better than what John was use to. After he filled his plate he carefully selected a table. “Hello, my name is John. Do you mind if I sit here?”

“You must be new, have a seat. My names Damean. This here is Rut and Charlette. We are nearing the end of our second year, so if you have any questions feel free to ask us.”

After exchanging pleasantries John got straight to the point. “To be honest I grew up near the dark trench, and have no idea what’s going on here.”

Charlette, a eighteen year old girl with red hair, giggled. “The news of the innocent country bumpkin has already spread across the girl’s barracks. That was quite the show you put on in front of miss Reynolds, turning all squeamish under her icy gaze. Don’t worry too much she’s cold to everyone. As far as information goes Damean will be more than happy to tell you everything.”

Rut, a mountain of a man with a very simple look, grunted in agreement. John looked over at Damean who pushed his glasses back up. “Well if you want to start at the beginning, this is the noble’s barracks. It’s reserved for the kid’s of nobles and rich merchants from various kingdoms. The training regime is a bit more customized. Each person starts off in basic training were the instructors decide how much they need to learn before they can join a team. This can take a day or even six months. Once someone joins a team they do specialized training under a specific instructor. Once the team is cleared they will divide the remainder of their four years between doing missions in the city or out of the city. Inside the city it’s mostly patrol, but outside they will end up doing a variety of missions such as subjugations, escorts, rescues, or the occasional patrol. Of course they will still receive training from time to time. The main thing you need to pay attention to around here is relationships. Since most of the other kingdoms are rather peaceful right now, they send their elites here to train. There is always a few royalties around, and you don’t want to offend them.

John quietly thought of a certain detail, before deciding to ask, “Is martha a royal?”

Charlette spewed her milk all over Rut as she began to laugh. “Yes, and she’s quite interested in you, so be careful. She’s in a rather rebellious phase. Her brother is also here, and he’s been know to be over protective. Your first day and you’re already digging your grave.” Rut gave Charlette a dirty look as he began to wipe the milk off of his face.

John stayed silent for a few moments, “Damean how do you handle women?” Rut was once again drenched in milk.