Last minute cram reviews were not proven to be effective or successful, but many people still did it. As an instructor of several courses with lesson plans and student assignments intermixing his brain circuits every day, Captain Lance Foright needed them. Having reviewed his presentation notes for the third time that morning, he stretched by his office window. A view from five stories up overlooked a silent parking lot, enormous icicle walls behind that, and a teal-crested mountain looming in the distance. He admired the same view every work day for the past six years. The inside of the room was riddled with bookshelves full of textbooks, hardbacks, and paperwork. Nothing new. Nothing extraordinary. But he had earned the view and office through years of harsh work in the Special Armed Forces.

He did not go into the Armed Forces with the intention of becoming an instructor or trainer. That was how he ended up; instruction was a captain’s responsibility, and a complicated one, at that. He was almost all alone in the handling, teaching, and grading of examination, training, and assignments for five integral courses per term. After accepting it, he understood why it was such a high paying position, Armed Forces or not. If a less than stellar instructor apprised the role of captain, one who only toiled away at their duties without satisfaction and kept forgetting the material, they would have been demoted within the first week. He understood the need, even enjoyed the stress, but the dull grind? That was one aspect he did not appreciate.

“But it’s the first day. New faces,” Lance murmured. The skeptical hope at the start usually dissipated by the second week as he would identify the ignorant students, the halfhearted students, and the rebellious students—always more of them than he would have liked. The Kingdom’s history of war and its effects on haggard soldiers had churned out those kinds of flaws in its customarily hardworking crystal people.

Pulling on his lapels and tie until they were straight, he returned to his desk and stored a folder of packets in his case. He lifted the case and shrugged on his coat, then went for his first classroom where Barrier Strategies Intelligence took place. It was located in the Combat Intelligence building a quarter of a mile from his office in the Special Armed Forces Headquarters, or SAF HQ for short. The HQ was somewhat at the center of campus in order to make security and the Armed Forces in reach of the military—in order to use them in ways that ordinary soldiers were not used. They were better paid for their special training and extra disposable, extra protective responsibilities.

Lance approached his classroom at 2:15 PM, not one to be too punctual or late. He noticed, remarkably, that most desks were occupied. Early birds. Some by soldiers he knew, some by complete strangers. Through his programmer[1], he pulled up an introductory cover page on the projector with his full name, unit name, course name, and term number.

He spread what folders and materials he needed on the instructor’s desk on the far side of the room, as well as a mug, then sat in the chair and leaned back. A hand resting over his mouth, he eyed the anxious students as they chattered in between halting pauses and hushed voices. He did not care if they wanted to chat in his presence. Class had not begun, but he never got over the fact that the presence of instructors and trainers made their students and trainees nervous. Worried. Over nothing. It still amused him that his people watching before a lecture affected them. Once the new students got to know his easygoing nature, they weren’t going to be as nervous or amusing. He would keep up his pretend watching routine until the inevitable end.

The sound of a ping from his programmer nabbed his attention. He opened the live message on his text application.

N. Wilroe: Right about now, you are “watching” your new students. Aren’t you?

Lance could not resist a twitch of a smile. It was his colleague and friend, a fellow captain and instructor. He was so serious and bland, using his real name for a handle name.

CaptainMindboggler: Are you stalking me Nathan? ;)

When the clock showed 2:30, he minimized the chat box and moved his hand to the packets he prepared months ago. “I have a syllabus for you guys. Chardell, take these and pass it behind you.”

The closest student, General Soldier Carlyle Chardell, grabbed the thick packets handed to him.

“If you lose the syllabus, don’t worry because it can be found on my campus course feed. Moving on. Call me Lance, Foright, Cap, Captain, whatever. I belong to the Special Armed Forces, but these past years my career is pretty much all lectures and training, aside from meetings. Some of you know me from different courses I taught. Some of you are taking this for the second time to refresh your training. I teach many courses. Unfortunately. Not my idea, but you will likely have me again. Bear with me.” He skimmed through his monitor as he pulled up names. “Announce yourselves when I call out your name. I’ll take attendance this way for two weeks. The next few classes, though, I’d like you to give me a piece of trivia about yourself: a hobby, a pet, an old nickname, anything. We have two hours together, twice a week, for these next few months, so let’s get along.”

Most of the 26 students were new to their positions, as he expected from this specific course being mandatory to new leaders. There was one particular soldier in the class he recognized and took note of for his tendency to stare more than was comfortable. Despite the blank set to his features, the lack of feeling, he had a watchful and judging gaze when he observed others, which unnerved Lance like no other soldier. Eyes intent with disdain, judgement, and criticism. His cynicism, extreme standards, and low esteem of others were frightening. He lacked social skills and relationships compared to his other peers, making it hard for Lance to ignore him out of innate concern.

After attendance, he projected the first syllabus page. “I’m going to read the introduction and objective. I want each of you to read the next paragraph when it’s your turn, starting with Andre. Raise a hand if questions arise.” He read, “In this course, you are going to learn about the basics, training, strategies, and importance of Barrier Strategies Intelligence. It is going to detail the summarized start of each strategy by their inventors, step-by-step instructions of each strategy or technique, and specifics of the circumstances and situations that should call for each strategy. Notes should be taken at all times during the class and training exercises of those three aspects, for they will likely be on your examination and vitally necessary in real-time battle.

“In addition to such information, you will learn to improvise strategies of your own in the field and to memorize backups. It is my aim to ensure you all understand the way crystallizing barrier strategies work in leadership positions, to drill them into your memories with good teaching and practice, and to have you identify innovative ways to form new strategies, as existing ones are not necessarily the only ones you will need. Barrier Strategies Intelligence is all about the making of strategies for your troops, to train them in it, to make battle as smooth sailing as possible.”

Andre met his gaze. He read, “Resources of knowledge are available anywhere on campus, from your campus feeds, net feeds, Combat Intelligence building, other intelligence buildings, instructors, libraries, scholar sector, and study rooms. You may find yourself needing them because of the great quantity of technicalities involved in this course, so don’t be afraid to use them. I will be wide open for any and all assistance, and will hold regular study group sessions during office hours and study hours (see schedule on page 3), exercises and training included.”

When they had gone through the course schedule and conclusion paragraph of the syllabus, Lance stood and said, "Before you ask, no, I can’t crystallize barriers. Even after all these years, I still get skeptics. How could I teach a barrier-related course if I don’t crystallize barriers in practice? Well, I don’t need to be able to do it to learn, understand, and teach the steps, especially after I gained experience as a teacher. As we’ve gone over, you will have a training mentor to instruct you during the training and exercise sessions. I will be there to observe, but he will do the heavy lifting. Some of you, those of you who know these techniques, will take the place of demonstrating them to the class during training and lecture as well. All of you will have taught one training exercise by the end of the term as your final training assignment. You’re leaders, so it’s a win-win.”

“Sir, will we get a chance to see you crystallize?”

“Yes, curious cat, you will.”

“Will you play a part in some of the training exercises? Show us your expertise from the Armed Forces?” another student asked.

“Sure. We can spar even. Any other questions?” Seated, he crossed a leg over the other and glanced at one student who raised her hand, eyebrow arched. “Yes?”

“How did you get into teaching? Are you still doing work for the Armed Forces other than instruction?”

A common question he got in every class, despite having already said that he mostly taught. “I was proving to be an excellent captain with my teams, so they trained me to instruct. As you know, captains have to instruct as well. There aren’t enough instructors, so they had me permanently instated as one.” Lance hesitated to answer the second question, musing to himself. “As for the AF, I work for them part time.”

“Really? What do you do there?” she continued, then sat back against her chair. “Sorry.”

Lance smiled. She had remembered that their department work was classified. “That’s alright. I understand your curiosity. Any question goes.”

Before he even finished speaking, someone, whose name tag read Holly, asked in an expectant manner, “Do you have a wife? Girlfriend?”

He blinked, but continued to smile as if amused. “L-Let’s leave that sort of private information out of the classroom, huh? You can ask me anything, but I won’t guarantee an answer.” He chuckled. “But hey, thanks for trying.”

He was friendly, but not that friendly.

“If someone wanted to transfer into the Armed Forces or Investigations Unit, some day, would you make a recommendation for them?” The speaker bounced his legs under the table.

“Kent, huh?” He was not sure why he was so jittery, but he seemed like the goal oriented sort, so he filed him away under a mental file for his interest in the AF. “Yes, I can, but you would have to prove your worth in specific skill sets, which I will look out for on my own. Usually individuals don’t even know what talent is special to the AF unit. So there is nothing for them to work on except for what they believe it to be. You could bribe it out of one of them, but I doubt it will work. Now if you were to tell me of your interest, I will bear you in mind, but right off the bat I can usually determine if someone is not capable or suitable. Just like with all superiors and authority figures, I will see which unit or department is best suited to someone as well, and now that you all are leaders, you must learn to do the same for your lower ranking comrades.”

Kent had nodded during his explanation, but not taken notes. A good sign in his book. He probably had a great memory.

“That’s all for questions? Usually I get a ton…Am I losing popularity?” His grin faltered at the raised hand of one particular man. “Yes?”

A deep and quiet voice emanated from the large gentleman as he said, “How was your break?”

He showed genuine interest in just those mere words. Lance was fond of him for it and other reasons, but outside of classroom lessons, his behavior always put his guard up at once. He never knew why.

“Wonderful, thanks. I love instruction, but there are times I do need a breather and hobby time. The end of term is a relief for trainers and instructors too, even though we still have work during the reprieve.”

“What hobbies?” a woman interjected, leaning forward.

“My favorite question so far!” Lance beamed, tapping his glasses, ready to lay it all out despite the fact it was so off topic. “Jillian! I used to like reading books and nonfiction, but this work has really put me off on that. I practically read all day long, all year long. I barely have time for hobbies with a career like this, like most of you I’m sure, but if you couldn’t tell already, I’m rather a social soul. I hang out and bug my friends, even when we didn’t make plans. I’m certain most of you know that feeling and desire.”

He pointed at one man shaking his head. “I know, get a life—am I right? That isn’t my only hobby, unfortunately. I do an insane amount of sudoku; it’s relaxing and stimulates the brain. Puzzles of all varieties as well. Goodness, I sound like the most boring nerd on the planet. While I’m on this subject, there is a question about your hobbies on the survey I delivered to your campus feeds earlier. Bearing in mind that you are fed up with me talking your ears off by now—I know I am—I would like you to open that up and fill it out for me, then press the submit button at the end. I’ll use this survey to understand you as people, soldiers, and students.

“Why are some of you shaking your heads?”

“We can’t tire of you talking us away,” one of his past students, Leonard, said, grinning. “Bro, don’t you have a dating life? It’s all the girls ever talk about.”

Lance crossed his arms and frowned. “That...Don’t know why you had to dig that up again. Hobbies are a go, relationship status is a no. End of discussion.” He coughed and muttered into his shoulder, “But yes, I date.”

“Did you ever like a student?”

Dangerous territory. He fibbed, “No.”

Another asked, “Do you give more favorable attention to your non-barrier related courses? I mean, given your form of magic.”

“No, I don’t,” he said with conviction. “You are all equally important to me, and to each other as well, I hope. Help out your comrades if they need it; we’re all in this together. Drop all of the needless prejudices and stereotypes and selfish ego. Hate only spreads hate. Etcetera.”

A raised hand. “Where is your hometown?”

“Chellen City. Land of the law.” He sighed. “I know, you’re thinking rich brat. Privileged. Cultured. Nerd.”

In Chellen City, Lance grew up with food on the table, feet on the floor, televisions shut off, newspapers strewn about, textbooks spread open, and law and order on the tip of everyone’s ethical tongue. If a native there was not born with magic or did not hone it for a position that used it, they tended to become lawyers, law enforcement officers, investigators, detectives, firefighters, informants, news reporters, or secretarial or office drones. Chock full of them. Chock full of stereotypes and judgement as well.

“That’s nothing to criticize you over. Chellen is amazing.”

“You know how stereotyping works,” someone replied, glancing at the other person. “It’s what we’re going to war over, isn’t it? At least, partially.”

Lance smiled. “Well, it was presumptuous of me to automatically assume any of you were judging me. It happens a lot. If that’s all for questions...”

A hand shot up, taking him aback. “Have you ever won at the Games? I’m sure you participated a few times.”

He barked out a laugh. “Of course I participated. That’s pretty much a must for every soldier, isn’t it. I never won. Not enough talent and not enough luck. I’ve been in second place, or third place. I’m not down for losing again. Are any of you ready?”

He got some nods, some head shakes, and some uncertainties.

“Here’s advice you’d do well to remember: don’t slip in the sneaky patches of water and mud those mean designers snuck in, unless you want to flush red with embarrassment. Then go ahead.”

That received a few snickers out of them. So he wasn’t being an utter bore. Not that the barrage of personal questions meant he bored them in the first place. General soldiers, even new ones, tended to be a confident and outspoken bunch.

“Captain, how did you get into teaching this particular course? You can’t crystallize barriers, after all...It still doesn’t make sense to me. You haven’t explained that.”

He nodded. “Understandable. Not enough instructors, not enough captains. You’ll hear that all the time on base. Barrier users make up only 30% of the crystallizing population...not nearly enough. We never have enough. We lose so many friends and comrades in each battle, each war, while our enemies deal out so few of their own numbers. There aren’t even many fire manipulating users in the first place. Also, our financial state far surpasses theirs. It’s shameful how much we lose.”

“Though it makes sense, considering the harsh, persistent spread of disaster and catastrophe a single fire can cause. It’s like a torrent of rain, if rain was toxic. Crystallizing is just a sword in comparison.”

Lance stared at him along with the other students. “Yes, but a sword that gives off a chilly substance painful to some.” Nevertheless, that was some interesting symbolism. Hamell. He’s sharp and poetic.

“I’d love to chit chat all day as much as the next guy, but it’s your turn to answer questions. You’ve an assignment I need completed by the end of the lesson. Get to it.”

A chorus of groans met the inevitable words, though they went straight to it like the diligent workers they were, and he smirked. Such fun soldiers. I’ll certainly enjoy having a discourse with this class.

The deluge of questions on the long survey were personal, asking for bits of trivia and background stories. He gave it to all of his courses, using them to extract observations and data on each student to better understand how to teach, tutor, and train them over the term period without too many complications or bumps. He had used to throw in icebreaker activities when he was new to instruction, but he had quickly learned they were not reliable to the memory. Nathaniel Wilroe had been the one to suggest doing personal surveys, so he did.

He stared at his screen, attempting to think of jokes or witty observations to share with the less-than-amused Nathan.

CaptainMindboggler: Are you teaching a class right now?

If he was teaching, he knew he would not receive a reply until his friend took an actual break. He scrolled through his various social media feeds as he waited, almost giggling to himself as he did. He didn’t want to bug his students with his time just yet.

CaptainMindboggler: I’ve some intelligent and amusing students. This class might be bearable.

CaptainMindboggler: Talk to me!

He checked the audio to verify if it was muted.

N. Wilroe: No, I’m not. That’s good.

CaptainMindboggler: What are you doing then??

N. Wilroe: Working. What else?

CaptainMindboggler: But you aren’t teaching!

N. Wilroe: I’m studying for the class this evening. Don’t bother me.

CaptainMindboggler: Fine… :( *sulks*

He turned his gaze to the busy students. He caught the eye of one of them, the man who asked how his break was earlier, who stared at him, unblinking. His phone sat untouched.

“Are you done already, Julien?” he asked, brow raised. Surely his answers were not all short. Perhaps they were the same answers as the last class he had with him.

“Yes.”

Lance opened up Julien’s submission and stared at the brief, terse answers. “I’d hardly call this handful of blank, prepared spaces done. Julien, I know you don’t have much in the way of interests, but won’t you give me more? Who are you, Commander Caspian’s long lost twin?”

Some students snickered, while others were aghast.

“Take a joke, y’all.” He sent a blank survey to Julien’s inbox. “Please give it more effort. I know we know each other, but I still want to learn more about you.”

He could feel Julien’s dark golden eyes boring into him, and they had a brief stare down before Julien tapped his phone. The guy was tall and imposing compared to most, unaided by his silent and watchful demeanor giving off an intimidating air every second of every day. Peers often pitied his team and close comrades, whispering behind his back about his fierceness, criticisms, and lack of conversational skills. He only looked fearsome to Lance; not so much anymore. Over time, he became like a gentle, mild-mannered bear in his eyes, and though he was sure of it, he knew there had to be more to him. More to the rumors and more out of the rumors.

He went back to his programmer.

CaptainMindboggler: Guess who’s back in my class?

N. Wilroe: Hmm…

CaptainMindboggler: Come on, try!

N. Wilroe: Garrison?

CaptainMindboggler: Interesting guess, but no! I wish he was. Wonder how he is.

N. Wilroe: I had him two years ago, so I don’t know.

CaptainMindboggler: Take another guess!

N. Wilroe: I give up.

CaptainMindboggler: Ugh…it’s someone we discussed before. Someone noteworthy.

N. Wilroe: Ah Julien. The student who only participates in your class.

CaptainMindboggler: Yes! What? No he doesn’t. I’m sure he gives his other classes his best effort too.

N. Wilroe: I didn’t say he doesn’t give his best effort. I said he participates. That means answering questions. Volunteering. Normally he doesn’t say a word unless he has to.

CaptainMindboggler: I’m my own teacher so I don’t know. Haven’t seen him in other classes. Anyways what i wanted to say...he’s as blank a canvas as ever.

N. Wilroe: Quit messaging nonsense. Get to work.

CaptainMindboggler: Don’t be a dullard. They’re doing a survey! I’m waiting...

N. Wilroe: Wait quietly.

What a bore. It was his own time, and he could do what he wanted with it. He scrolled through various parodies in comic form in search of something to keep his mind off the first lesson of the day, and was in no mood for his usual podcast tales. His head was filled day to day with dull, tedious information that almost did not benefit or delight him in any way, shape, or form. After years of the same material over and over again, he was becoming weary of all of it, and he was only in the throes of early teacherhood. The days of being bored out of one’s mind for an experienced teacher, a veteran, was in their 15th to 20th year, but these days Lance could not envision himself getting there, no matter how much he enjoyed learning, socializing, or being with his students.

He was so consumed by his comical binge that when he checked the clock, he was startled how much time had passed. He sat back in the chair and moved to the next slide, which displayed on the projector. “Most of you should be done by now, I guess. If you aren’t, save as draft and finish as soon as you’re free today. I’d prefer to be able to read through all of them by evening.”

He shuffled through his notes. “I need you all to open up your campus feed and press the file attachment for the textbook I uploaded. I know not all of you have textbook access yet, so we’ll use this for today, and the rest of the week as needed. However, I want you to bring the physical book whenever you get it. Open up the file called “Basic Barrier Techniques” I attached as well. Obviously it’s a comprehensive list of your barrier techniques from Basic Barrier Techniques you took as baby soldiers. It’s there in case some of you don’t have it. Uh, navigate to page 18. The first lesson today is chapter one, ‘Basic Techniques for Crystallizing Barriers’, which is basically a very brief, condensed summary of what you learned in Basic Barrier Techniques. Boring, am I right?”

For the rest of the lecture, Lance sped through the most basics of basics, sprinkled with history lessons that no one cared about, name after name and step after step of common barrier techniques, and a statement about how the reader was about to embark on a ride to leadership and intelligence strategizing using common, uncommon, and complex crystal barrier techniques.

One common piece of knowledge of the various elements of crystallizing and barrier crystallizing went as follows: the breath, pace, volume, energy, and intonation in each word of the chanting mantra affects its efficiency, speed, appearance, strength, purpose, and precision. Different techniques required specific and subtle changes to the mantra, form, and motions. For some, Caspian tended to be used as a model of the ideal crystallizer because his motion and form were fluid and clean, though his verbal chanting remained quiet and even as ever.

The Basic Barrier Techniques list included three of the most common barrier crystallizing techniques used for training or emergencies.

Barrier Nick—Sacrificing some thickness, or width, this is the quickest barrier to make out of all barriers, including normal ones that barrier users make—that is, when they chant the mantra without any special features or motions. In addition to the mantra, they add, “Nick come forth,” at the end, while holding their index finger and thumb together.

Barrier Nuke—This is the thickest barrier a single barrier user can make, but it starts a countdown after the chanted mantra before it loses density or disappears. They add, "Nuke come forth," at the end of the mantra, while pointing the thumb to the side away from the body. Double barrier users can use this if they need a timer.

Cross Arm Motion—At the expense of pose and time, this technique is used in place of rest to revitalize or recover magic energy at a quicker rate, but it has limited use. Moving one arm across the body in a swift, cutting motion, chant the first line of the barrier crystallizing mantra (“Drawing pure water energy, rushing a line in our veins, I collect our vola into a pool”), snap the other arm over the first one, and chant the second line (“Law says everything in the pool is serving a higher purpose: to fortify a population, solidify the intangible soul, to defend the people”). The short mantra chanting while doing the same above motions is: “Through pure water energy collect our vola into a pool. Law says, ‘defend the people’.”

The first basic strategy that Lance had the leaders-in-training study at home was the Defense Immobilization of an entire team; in short, the immediate, unconscious execution of a Barrier Nick, usually done in a time of need, such as during a frontal assault or protection from an explosion. There is no thinking involved, only the using of barrier crystallizing magic wherever the soldier chooses. After the leader makes the signal, the whole team would use their magic and create a synchronization effect as a result. Its most effective form would be a giant shield of sorts, much like an unbreakable towering wall. When this strategy was called by several leaders, captains, or even commanders at the same time, within short distances of each other, the cohesive experience of total trust and union with many comrades would often boost their sense of camaraderie and confidence.

By the time 4:30 rolled in, Lance was tired of talking to himself. He left for the restroom to wash his face before he would return to his office to prepare for the next course. He was eager for it as it was his favorite lesson to teach, much more his interest and strength than anything else was, as he was allowed to get more philosophical and experimental. Always a plus in his book.