The next morning greeted us with a clear sky and what normally would have been a beautiful day. That was all ruined by the sight of Instructor Daniels directing carpenters in the drill yard as they built, something. So far it was a wooden wall about eight inches high.

“That’s no building.” Lawrence said as we all sat down to breakfast. “Way too many reinforcing spikes along the edge. I wonder what they are up to?”

“I’m sure we will find out after breakfast.” Dorian said. “Let’s hurry up and eat. No sense worrying about things we can’t change.” That seemed to be a good idea by the group, and we were uncharacteristically silent as the others ate. I kept a surreptitious eye out, straining my senses, but nobody was talking about what surprises the instructors had in store for us. Near the end of breakfast, Dorian shot me a questioning look, and I simply shook my head no. He shrugged and took his last bite, and we all left the dining hall only to meet our worst fears.

Instructor Daniels was smiling. It was an honest to Solaris smile, and his posture reflected it. “Good morning recruits! And welcome to the start of advanced training! You may see the strange construction behind me and wonder what it is. Well, come on and we’ll see.” He motioned us to follow, stepping over the small wall and walking over to a covered wagon. One of many covered wagons.

“Joffrey! Since you got off light last time, go ahead and take that shovel there and see what’s in the back of the wagon.”

Shrugging, he stepped forward along with Small Paul and Lawrence. “Huh? Looks like clay.” He said.

“It is. Grab a shovelful and drop it on the ground for us.” Daniels instructed, and he immediately obeyed.

“Wait!” Paul cried, but it was too late. Joffrey had already turned with a full shovel.

“Gah!” He cried as his momentum pulled him off balance, the clay stuck to the end of his shovel like it was welded on. It took six whacks on the ground to dislodge the clay, and while he was doing it Paul apologized.

“Sorry man, I was a bit too slow. That’s bank clay from the river outside the city. It sticks to everything, and is heavy as hell.”

“No worries.” Joffrey said, finally managing to get his shovel clean. “So, what are we doing with all this clay?” He asked Daniels, to the groans of the rest of us.

“You guys will be taking turns emptying the wagons.” He said, nodding to several that were already lined up. “And you will be filling the training yard with the stickiest mud we can create. The rest of you will be adding water to mix it in. Advanced training requires us to be prepared for everything. So we are making a battlefield with the worst footing you will likely come across, and every week we will be making it worse. This week, you will learn how to fight with poor footing and your feet weighed down with clumps of mud. Now, hop to it!” He said, heading over to a chair in the shade from which he could oversee.

“Hold up a second guys.” I immediately said, stopping everyone. “Joffrey, gimme that shovel.” I ordered, taking it from him and turning it over. I infused a bit of magic in my blood, and drew the rune for release on the back of it. “There. Give that a try.”

Joffrey shrugged, scooping up a big clump of clay. This time, when he went to unload the shovel, it all slid off perfectly as soon as he turned it sideways to slam against the ground. “Whoah!”

“How the hell did you manage that?” Dorian asked, immediately intrigued. The group got closer as well.

“Those magic lessons aren’t just for show.” I said. “I put a rune for release on it, hoping that it would prevent the clay from sticking. It will only last for an hour or so, but I can keep reapplying it. That should save us a lot of time and effort. I’ll just add the runes as things start sticking again.”

“What are the downsides?” Small Paul asked.

“Minimal really. I am obviously using a bit of blood and mana, but one rune isn’t much. I might start slowing down by the end of the day, but I should be able to go for ten to twelve hours before it really starts showing.” I explained.

“Right. Let’s get to it then.” Dorian jumped in. “Any objections if we let Brandon start skipping shovel duty towards the end of the day? We need to keep everyone available to battle, I don’t like the look on Daniels’ face.” The group chorused assent to that, and we broke up to start unloading.

“Instructor Daniels!” Thomas called, getting his attention. “Any chance we can get the wagons to move around? Unloading all of them at one spot is inefficient.”

“Sorry recruit!” He said with a laugh in his voice. “The terrain is too limiting. Your wagons are only available at that location. I will let you unload two, side by side if you wish.”

“Guys?” Thomas asked. “I vote we unload two at a time. Have two people in the back of each wagon unloading into a large pile. Let the last shovel start moving around to the end of the area and start distributing. Rotate as needed.”

“Why not have all five shovels running?” Dorian asked.

“Speed and effort.” Clint said. “It’s a lot harder to take a shovelful of clay out of a wagon at shoulder height and move it around. If we have someone in the back of the wagon, it’s a more natural movement. Plus with the clay sliding off the shovel, we can use gravity to help us unload.”

“Alright. Call out when you are starting to get tired, and we can switch. Anyone else come up with ideas to make our lives easier, let’s hear ‘em.”

There weren’t any, so we broke up and started a very physical day. Despite them being willing, we all agreed that everyone would switch to a shovel after a half hour. It took three hours and six carts before we had a pile bit enough that our system shifted. We went to one person in the back of each cart, and three shovels moving the large pile. The water crew kept the pile wet so that it would remain pliable, but it worked against keeping the blood runes on the shovels.

The rest of the afternoon went as smooth as possible. My magic levels were fine, but I was starting to feel a bit light headed from constantly using my blood. “Dorian, guys, sorry. I’m tapping out on the runes.” I said once we had the last of the wagons unloaded.

“No work for a half hour.” Small Paul immediately said. “Not even water duty. We’ll be fine. Guys! Keep your shovel wet and the clay will slide off easier, even if we don’t have the runes on them. Every time you empty a shovel, dunk it in a bucket.”

Grunts of acceptance came from everyone, and we started the final slog. We were trying to minimize the amount of mud on our feet, but it was getting hard. The clay was at one edge of the field, while the water barrels we were getting water from was suck to the other side. So we had a thin walkway cleared of mud, while the rest of everything was filling up. We had worked through lunch, and it was nearing dinner by the time everything was finished.

“I don’t suppose you could enchant our boots to kick off this clay, could you?” James asked, trying in vain to remove the clumps that were expanding the width of his foot.

“Sorry. I know wards and a few basic runes. Enchanting is beyond me at the moment.” I apologized, getting a pat on the back from him.

“Bah, not a problem. You’ve already made this day a good bit easier. One thing about soldiers though, is that we always have something to complain about. If not, then something’s wrong.”

“Wise words. Your dad’s?” Thomas said, having drifted closer to us.

“Yeah. I’ve tried pressing him for details, but he always refused. Said I would see, if I managed to hold it together.”

“Well done recruits!” Daniels interrupted, strolling over to us. Behind him were the rest of the instructors, and they all had full gear on. “Let’s do one game. Form me a shield wall, two deep. While you are doing that, tie this rope between yourselves. Instead of tug of war, we are going to see which one of us can out push the other.”

Everyone knew it was going to be a slaughter, but we just didn’t realize how badly we were going to do. Small Paul was the first to drop down, getting stabbed in the stomach as he was down. Killed, he was now a detriment to everyone tied to him, and things snowballed from there. Within a minute, our line was pushed back and slain to the last man. Tired, sore, and now coated in mud, the instructors grinned at us.

“Anyone pick up the lesson?” Daniels asked.

“Punishment can’t be avoided?” Joffrey immediately asked.

“No. You guys did wonderful coming together like that, the incident from yesterday has been forgotten. This wasn’t punishment.”

“Footwork.” Virgil said quietly.

“Lawrence. Louder!” Daniels called out.

“Footwork!” He practically shouted, straightening up as he did so.

“Exactly. I’ll take over Virgil, you don’t seem to have the energy to be loud. What Virgil saw that you all missed was the footwork of our second line. They dug a small hole in the mud, getting down to solid ground. They could then brace their foot, and with the shield in front allowed the first line to have a solid launch point for their own footwork. We’ve set up around back several water barrels. Use them to clean up, then think about today’s lesson. Footwork is the key to victory. Just like building a house, you need a solid foundation. Dismissed, and take your time at dinner tonight. You can get seconds if you wish, you’ve earned it.”

“Hey Brandon, wait up a second.” Small Paul called out as we were making our way to dinner.

“Yeah?”

“This night training you do. It’s more than obvious from today that its helpful. Do you mind if I tag along tonight? I wanna see if there’s any extra training I can get while we are there.”

“Be my guest.” I said with a shrug. “I doubt that Alphonse will have anything to help you tonight outside of what you can find in a scroll, but he will probably enjoy setting some things up for you to challenge. Anything in particular you want to improve?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking about trying to be a scout. I can move through the city like a thief, no worries there. I’ve never been outside the city though, and would need a lot of help. Think he can do it?”

I paused for a moment before answering, wondering if the aura training I was currently doing would be able to be switched to a forest setting. Assuming it would, I answered, “There’s a good chance. Come to think of it, I hope eventually I have some time to do forest training too. I know some basics from back home, but the mushrooms that are safe there aren’t likely to be found everywhere, know what I mean?”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A few hours later and we were making our way through the city. “Hey Brandon, I don’t mean to be a bother, but do you guys realize that we’re being followed?” Paul asked.

“Really?” I asked, trying to stop only to keep moving as he shoved me in the back.

“Don’t stop and for Solaris’ sake don’t look around idiot.” He hissed, “Have you people no common sense?”

“Apparently not.” Thomas muttered.

“If you stop and look around, they’ll know they’ve been made.” Paul whispered. “Act normal, but use your magic stuff to see if you can find out who it is.”

“It doesn’t.” I started, then just shook my head. “I’ll use aura to track them, and keep an eye out for an ambush. It’s part of what I have been training anyway. But for the scribe, my magic doesn’t work like that.”

“Oh? What can you do?” Paul asked, interested.

“Runes like what I did for the shovel, and I can ward a small camp with enough time. I can diagnose and treat the majority of common illnesses and poisons. I can create weapons and armor from blood, though right now I’m more adept with just enhancing what I already have. With a blood sample, I can track the source and tell immediate family members. I think I’m close to being able to track family members, but I could be wrong. But the two most powerful abilities are to make blood projectiles that can kill and to paralyze a target if I have a sample of their blood.”

“Damn. Good luck getting someone’s blood in a fight though.” Paul shrugged.

“Unless you do the crazy gladiator thing.” Thomas chuckled. “Give them a small wound, and lick the blood off the blade.”

“That’d do it.” Paul said. “Definitely ramp up the creepiness, too.”

“Be ready guys.” I warned. “There are four guys waiting up ahead.” I warned, and we came to a stop in the road a bit before the crossroads. “We know you’re there. Come on out.”

Two groups of two walked out of darkened alleys, the obvious leader was picking his nails with a thin knife. “Well, well, well. Smalls! Long time no see buddy! Imagine my surprise when we were planning on just abducting these two ta draw ya out, and here you come a’walkin’ right to us!”

“What’re you doing here Levian?” Paul snarled.

“Aw, is that how yer s’posed to greet old friends? You didn’t even introduce yer new buddies, and even I know that’s a bit rude.” As he spoke, the group in front of us spread out. Thomas turned and drew his blade, pointing it at the ones behind us.

“Easy there fellas, that’s as close as you’ll be needing to get.” He said, and I felt the two of them stop.

“What do ya want Levian? I thought I told you I was out.”

The leader was nodding along. “Yeah, ya did manage to dig up ‘nuff coin ta pay yer way out. I’ll give ya that. But see, yer pa done paid us a good bit o’ coin to bring ya back. Even offered to cut us in a bit, if’n ya know what I mean?”

“So you’re just going to kidnap a legionnaire?” I asked, shaking my head. “You’re more fool than his dad, if you ask me.”

“Oh? And why’s that boy?”

“We are legion.” We said as one, dropping back into a fighting triangle and drawing our blades. I was facing the leader, as I had managed to make a half scutum from blood.

“You’re outnumbered fools. Kill them, but leave Smalls alive.” The leader ordered.

“Gaaaah!” I had turned slightly, and used two blood missiles to spear the stomachs of the thieves to our right, sending them stumbling back. Levian wasted no time, lunging toward me with his knife only to have it stopped dead by my shield. He danced back from my retaliatory strike, smiling at me.

“Close, oh so close.” He taunted, but he failed to realize two things. First, I was only using a bit of my speed, wanting to keep him occupied while I was using aura to watch the fight behind me. It was still three on two, but Paul and Thomas fell into a battle rhythm and were holding their own using the reach of their blades. I let Levian think he was drawing me away, only to spin and fire another missile into the leg of one of the attackers.

“Saul!” One of the goons cried as Paul immediately took advantage of the distraction, stabbing Saul in the chest and retreating back as he fell to the ground.

“You are losing minions at an alarming rate.” I taunted, smiling at Levian.

“Arrogant bastard.” He growled, drawing a much larger blade, one made for slashing not stabbing. “Imma make you bleed.” He charged forward, and I took a flurry of blows on my shield, letting him wear himself out. To encourage him, I let some of the blood from my shield fall to the ground and took a few retreating steps so that I was back near the others.

“Looks like yer shield ain’t quite as strong as a real one.” He said, stepping around the piece that was still rattling a bit on the ground. The piece that slowly morphed into a curved blade and slashed through the back of his heel.

“Aaah!” As he stumbled forward, my own blade thrust forward with my shield, taking him in the chest while protecting my arm. Seeing their leader die broke the remaining two thugs, and they fled as fast as they could.

“You ok?” I heard Paul ask, but I ignored him. The blood running down my hand had caused a roaring in my ears, and I shoved the body off my blade and started dry heaving in the gutter.

“He’ll be fine in a minute.” Paul said. “Let’s finish off these other two pieces of trash.” I felt them walking away, and assumed it was for the other two goons that I had shot in the stomach. That set off another round of dry heaves, and I assumed my body considered blood so important that I would never throw up anything again. As I heard the other two returning, a clapping came from one of the alleys.

“Not too bad, apprentice.” I heard Alphonse say as he seemed to form from shadow itself. “You used your aura to detect and remove the threat of ambush. Ranged attack to injure and even up the odds, and maintaining vigilance with your own aura in battle to create an opening for your friends. As for vomiting, don’t feel too bad. It’s a normal reaction for your first blooding. You’ll get over it soon enough.”

“What. Are you. Talking. About?” I asked between breaths.

“What? Did you think Daniels would be the only one with advanced training? This was my version. I simply pulled a few strings to get some interest in you. I can test your abilities all I like, but you never truly know what you are capable of until you get into that first combat.”

“You set this up?” I shouted, forcing myself to my feet.

“I just said I did. You were in no danger, as I was more than capable of handling this trash should they prove to be beyond your capabilities. I’m simply glad I didn’t have to. Come now, we have a lot to go over tonight yet. And as for your questions earlier Paul? I will be more than happy to teach you both woodcraft, though it isn’t my specialty. I can at least transfer over the basics.”

“Thank you, sir.” Paul said.

“Fuck you.” I growled, turning to head back to the barracks.

“Where are you going?” Alphonse demanded.

“Back. I’m done with training for tonight.”

“Why?”

“BECAUSE I JUST KILLED SOMEBODY!” I screamed. “Several people! I need to report this to Daniels, to the guard.”

“And just what do you think they will do? You killed a gang leader and a good portion of his gang. They’ll thank you and dispose of the bodies. Come, we have training to do.”

“You don’t get-“ I started to say only to freeze as Alphonse seemed to appear right in my face.

“No, apprentice.” He hissed. “You don’t seem to get it. This was a test, the first of many. Like it or not, you are a soldier, BOY! You signed up to walk a very bloody road, and these are the first of your kills. That’s aside from what you are. You are the bane of vampires. Once they learn of you, they will hunt you down. You will never know peace until you have the ability to demonstrate to them THAT YOU ARE NOT SOMEBODY TO FUCK WITH!” His aura finally let me stumble back, and he cracked his back as he straightened his robes. “In order to do that, you need strength. To get strong, you need training. Now, get your ass moving! I may have all night, but you still need rest. And I am just decided your lesson needs to be twice as difficult. Your enemies will strike you when you are weak after a battle, and you must be prepared for this.”

“What of the bodies, sir?” Paul asked, distracting Alphonse. He didn’t answer, just waved his hand and tendrils of darkness covered the bodies and moved them, somewhere. The blood on the street lifted up and formed an orb in front of Alphonse, and he condensed it down into a small pill and swallowed it.

“Bah. Bitter. I hate the taste of malnourished blood.” He muttered, before turning and striding away.

“You ok?” Thomas asked, patting my shoulder.

“I’ll be alright. How about you two?”

“I’ve been through worse.” Paul admitted.

“It’s rare, but not the first death I’ve seen.” Thomas admitted. “Accidents happen while unloading. Come on, let’s get going. Your teacher is a horse’s ass, but distracting yourself with something is the best way to deal with these deaths for now. Later, when the adrenaline is gone, you can come back and try and work your way through it. Or bury it deep and never forget. Choice is yours.”

Nodding, I let them lead to the library. I kept guard with my aura, but the area was clear. I threw myself into the training, but no matter what I did I couldn’t forget the shocked face of Levian as I pierced his chest, or the resistance as my blade slid through his flesh. The warm blood splashing on my hand.