Battalion training

The colonel’s office was at the very top of the Rezah tree. Due to the limited space at the summit, hers was the only room on that level which made it very easy for Gin to find it. The journey to get there, however, was another matter. He had to climb over a hundred sets of stairs and he was exhausted by the end. Was it worth it? Gin let out a deep breath, got composed and knocked on the door to find out.

‘Come in.’

Gin opened the door and entered the room for the first time. For someone said to be the leader of a squadron, the room wasn’t in the best conditions. The walls were thin and covered in untrimmed branches. The floor was covered in dust and had some dark marks, as if burnt by something. The ceiling wasn’t really a ceiling either. It was just a mesh of the tree’s branches that seemed to converge to create a makeshift roof. It had several holes in it and rain could easily drip through.

‘The tree’s still growing, child. In a few years, this floor will have much more room and another floor will be created above this one,’ the colonel said.

‘I see,’ Gin murmured.

‘Of course, we must hollow the floor out, cut down the inside of the trees and so on to make it habitable but we’ve got a lot of time on our hands, don’t we?’

Gin didn’t comment. Instead, he looked at the ceiling once more. The more he stared, the more he felt like the branches were moving, trying to cover the gaps by themselves. If it takes a few years to create a whole new floor, just how long did it take to grow the whole tree out?

‘The MBP sure is amazing,’ the colonel continued. ‘They had this idea centuries ago and now all the Eurasian squadrons use the Rezah as their place of residence and work. It’s only in the past two hundred years that their plan has come to fruition. You are definitely too young to know this, child, but we used to live under metal and wood roofs called ‘houses’. Even now the MBP uses its metal fortress in Russia to raise the next generation. But you’re not here for this monologue, are you? Tell me what brings you to my office.’

‘Thank you, colonel. I actually have two requests.’

‘Ooooh? You become a battalion leader and now you’re demanding so much. You’re not getting too greedy, are you?’

‘Apologies. But if you could hear me-’

‘Ha! I was just joking, child. No need to be so formal. No need for this colonel nonsense,’ Maria said with Gin laughing meekly in response.

‘I don’t feel right calling you by name, colonel. I came from a place where you can’t really drop these honorifics, colonel.’

‘It’s fine with me what you do so let’s hear out these requests.’

Gin took out the INS, that was used as a projector, from his belt. He activated it to show some handwritten documents, projecting them onto the colonel’s desk. She looked through them and realised what they were.

‘These are the documents I had sent out to all battalion leaders, right?’

‘Yes. For my first request, I just wanted to go through a few things and give my opinions, if that’s alright. If you need my INS, feel free to take it.’

‘I know the documents off by heart. No need to show me.’

‘So, is it true that we’re now expected to face five-thousand?’

‘Indeed. It seems that our assassination plan has somewhat backfired. Without a leader, they decided to opt for raw man-power rather than proper leadership. All information in the document is reliable, by the way.’

‘Why is it taking so long, though? Their plan to attack through the path, connecting Eurasia and the AAA, was decided a couple months ago. Surely, they could have attacked us while we were unprepared.’

‘You make it seem like travel is quick, child. Not everyone has ridable familiars! To call for reinforcements, after the death of their leader, would take several months at the minimum due to the slow pace of walking. This assassination has bought us a lot of time, but it did bring its downsides, admittedly.’

Familiars? Who said anything about familiars? It became apparent to Gin that transport, such as cars or bicycles weren’t used by mages. It was probably because of the fall of the age of science, Gin thought. Gin took those pieces of knowledge of the past world like that into account and kept it to himself. The problem was that he didn’t know what he shouldn’t know most of the time and made assumptions too eagerly. There was still so much to learn.

‘If they don’t have an experienced leader, they’re pretty much all brawn now,’ Gin said. ‘We have less than two thousand combatants. With our numbers, we wouldn’t stand a chance.’

‘So, what are you proposing?’

‘We’re fighting on our home turf, basically. I would like to use that to our advantage. If the maps are correct, the plan should work, I think. I put everything on my projector. Go ahead and look through it. The relevant slides are at the end.’

Gin handed the INS over to the colonel. She fumbled a bit with the technology but after some guidance, she got the hang of it. She flicked through Gin’s slides and, although Gin’s handwriting was on the brink of illegibility, she got a grasp on what he wanted to do.

‘You want to use our non-combatants, child?’

‘Yes. I’ve gone through everyone’s profiles and realised that most of our non-combatants are just people who haven’t found a role in the squadron because of their lack of ability. But I think I can make use of them. Its success might bring our numbers to two-and-a-half-thousand. If you could send the names on the final slide to either my or Brim’s battalion, that’d be great.’

‘Ha!’

‘Something the matter, colonel?’

‘No. It’s just that you only just received the mantle of battalion leader from Alder a few days ago and you’ve already showed this much composure. Guess he was right to pass it down to you. This plan of yours could work but I will have to make some amendments before it could be considered.’

Gin smiled meekly and bowed down in gratitude. Although he showed humility to the colonel, he couldn’t help but feel ecstatic from the praise. He was thrust into this alien world that he never knew existed until the attack on his village, but he was determined to conquer it. It’s what his father would have wanted and what his mother would have watched with affection. Despite being an adult, Gin still had that child-like ambition.

‘What was the other request?’ the colonel asked.

‘Oh, right,’ Gin said, standing upright again. ‘I need a lot of stone and wood and people who can create things using them.’

‘I can grant that request since we have a lot in reserve. What do you need them for?’

‘You’ll see. I’ve actually got quite a lot planned.’

‘If that’s the case, then I’ll enjoy finding out what you have planned. Is that all for today?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Then you are dismissed.’

Gin bowed once more and Maria watched as he left the room. She enjoyed watching his progress from behind the scenes. She felt like she was his guardian and wanted to nudge him in the right direction but Gin had been doing that by himself, without any help. Even when Alder was leaving and Gin didn’t come to see him off, it turned out that instead of sulking (like all adolescents would have upon losing a role model), he was busy drawing up plans for both the squadron and his battalion.

Despite his rise in responsibilities seemed to be going too fast, Gin seemed to make rational decisions, acting calm and responsibly as if he was an experienced man. Maybe Gin wasn’t in puberty and actually was an adult like he tries to tell her. But an adult at thirty-three? That’s impossible! Maria couldn’t convince herself, and continued her opinion of Gin being an immature child.

****

Gin gathered his battalion together outside the Rezah. It was the first time in a while that he experienced the chill of the wind and the warmth of the air. The rooms used for training were very realistic, but they could never compare to feeling the actual thing.

With only a few members yet to come, Gin decided to start. He ordered everyone to get into a standard block formation. With only a hundred at his disposal, he didn’t have much flexibility in what formations he could create. The ten by ten block would have to do for now. Gin stood at the front and got everyone’s attention. Their faces were filled with doubt and confusion, as they looked towards their new battalion leader.

‘As you know, Alder has retired and he has made me his replacement,’ Gin began. ‘I can see from a few of you that you either disapprove or are uncertain of the decision. My aim is to change your minds and to gain your trust. I will say one thing, however, and that is that my methods will be different from what you’ve experienced in the past. Everyone understand?’

Gin saw a few nods and heard a few mumbled yeses. He wasn’t sure what tone he should have spoken in. Should he have been harsh? Should he have been lax? Or maybe a more forceful approach would have been best. Instead he opted for a friendly manner of speech.

‘I’m presuming this is the first time you’ve ever been brought outside for training, right?’ Gin said followed by more disgruntled words of agreement. ‘Well, I brought everyone here for some sparring training. After each spar, I would like you to go to over to the man over there.’

Gin pointed to a man covered in stone. He had long dark hair and porous white skin that secreted an even whiter substance. He had a pen and paper in hand and nodded at Gin upon his introduction.

‘His name is Michal. He’s a stone elemental and will be in charge in making your armour. He will ask for measurements and what type of armour you need. But I think that’s all for now so let’s get started with the sparring!’

The battalion began to talk amongst themselves. The main topic of interest was ‘what is sparring?’. Gin sighed a breath of annoyance. It seemed that, even within Squadron W, sparring was an uncommon practise. Why did Alder only spar with Gin and not teach it to the others in his battalion? Gin thought it was best to expel the confusion.

‘It seems that no one knows what sparring is. I’ll be honest with you here. I find it weird that training, sparring and any other form of improving one’s battle prowess, apart from when you are raised in the MBP, is unknown to most. Are we not in times of war? If so, shouldn’t we strive to be the best, even during adulthood?

Of course, the MBP has told us that we can’t improve once we hit adulthood. But with my relatively unorthodox methods, we will dispel that notion and reach new heights! But that’s not what you want as an answer, I’m sure. To explain what sparring is one thing, but to show its effects is another.

Whether I liked it or not, you’ve seen me on the side-lines each training session with Alder. I don’t know why he did it, but I presumed it was to prepare for the moment I took over as battalion leader. I spent each session monitoring each and every one of you. I put together everyone’s strengths and weaknesses in my mind.

If we looked at the overall stats of everyone, I would lose to each of you. But I really want to show you why I support my methods. Therefore, I will fight everyone in a one v one. Sound impossible? Well, let’s see. First on the list is Emily Blunt. Would you step forward.’

A chubby woman stepped up. She had holes in the palm of her pale-skinned hands and the sags of skin seemed wobble with every step. She found it hard to walk, but Gin patiently waited for her to get to a large square-shaped open space he had set up as the arena. The boundaries were marked by engravings in the dust. The rest of the battalion gathered around while Gin and Emily faced each other.

‘The rules are simple. Your aim is to knock me out, or even kill me. I, on the other hand, have to be in a position to assure my victory. You can’t go out of the make-shift arena as well. Understand? Gin explained, with Emily nodding in agreement. ‘Then let’s begin. I’ll have the rest look at learn.’

Gin beckoned Emily to begin. He saw that she was nervous. It was probably her first time fighting someone so it was only natural. She was also an E ranked water elemental, so he didn’t expect her to have much confidence in her abilities. But despite all that she raised her hands at aimed straight at Gin who just grinned in return. He knew what she wanted to do. He was just a melee ranged Xernim user, after all. How hard could beating him be?

Shields.

The branches grew and activated the shield INS. Gin used them to immediate effect as Emily fired a jet of water right at him. He deflected the water out of harm’s way. If it hit him directly, a small hole in his stomach would have been expected.

Gin then made his move, rushing at Emily. She panicked and aimed both her arms at him, firing piercing streams. Gin ran in a circle around her, avoiding the water in the process. His speed outpaced her aim and she couldn’t keep up. Gin watched her as he ran. Her sags of flesh seemed to deplete and when they looked to be gone altogether, he changed directions and charged straight at her.

Emily thought this was her chance and tried to send a large blast of water at him but it was futile. Barely anything came out of her hands. She had used all her water reserves and before she knew it, Gin had a blade at her neck.

‘As you can see, I win that,’ he said. ‘Now here’s the part where I tell you where you can improve, and use what I say to improve yourself in the future.’

Emily was usually quiet anyway, but for some reason she felt especially speechless as Gin lowered the blade. The best she could do in response was nod again.

‘I want everyone to listen up. It will help you in your future battles as well as give you ideas on your battle techniques,’ Gin continued. ‘Emily here is a water elemental. When facing her I realised that the bloated skin she had the beginning seemed to deflate during our spar. I figured this out ages ago but those sags of skin are probably her water supply, right? Once that seemed to run out, I went for the finishing move with success. I didn’t rush things. If I did, I was sure to get hurt.

Now Emily, my advice to you is that you need to be more conservative in your water usage. Use it when you’re sure to do damage or if you aim to move them to a certain location. You just continued your assault while I just ran in circles. There was a lot of wastage. If in battle you run out of water, you become useless and a hinderance to us. Do I make myself clear?’

She took everything into account, smiled meekly and nodded once more at Gin. It seemed that Gin got a loyal follower in his new ideas. One down, roughly a hundred to go, Gin thought.

‘Now, the rest of you will probably still have doubts and thought that I fixed that. So, like I said, I will take the rest of you on. Emily, go to Michal. Next up is Samuel Smith.’

Gin went through the same process again. Fight, win, and give advice at the end. With each fight, he gained another person who looked up to him. They were going to get stronger as a result and Gin was going to enjoy engineering that.

By the thirtieth spar, Gin’s large pool of stamina began to show signs of reaching its limit. His movements were slower. His reactions weren’t as sharp as before. He started getting hit and as he won his sixtieth match, he was covered in cuts, bruises and maybe even a bone or two. But he soldiered on. The adrenaline that flowed through him carried him through the pain. His desire to make his battalion accept him allowed Gin to speak and give advice with a smile.

With just less than twenty to go, his battalion stopped him from continuing. Their hearts were won by their new leader. They didn’t want him to over exert himself, telling him to rest. Gin accepted gleefully and collapsed to the ground. He wondered what he was going to do for the next training session.

****

Gin woke up to the sight of Joan. He was propped up on her lap, in a room he had never seen before. It was circular instead of the standard rectangular shape. Apart from that, and a few containers with fluids on the shelf, that Gin presumed were for medicinal purposes, the interior was similar to Gin’s own room. He looked up once more to see that Joan had a needle in hand and was concentrating. Gin felt a sharp pain as the needle went through his face.

‘Don’t move. Don’t talk,’ Joan ordered, ‘or you’ll make me mess up.’

Gin followed her instructions. He was too tired to do anything anyway. The feeling of lying on a person’s lap felt nostalgic. The last time he did it was when he was a child on his mother’s lap. It was nice; Apart from the pain of Joan’s stitches.

‘Ok. All done,’ she said.

Gin remained where he was. His eyes were closed and body relaxed. He didn’t hear Joan and completely missed her look of annoyance. She waited a few more moments before giving up, and bashed him in the head with her fist.

‘Ow! What was that for?’ Gin exclaimed, getting up immediately.

‘Everything.’

‘Everything?’

‘Everything.’

‘Yeah…repeating the word doesn’t help me understand, Joan.’

‘You’re just an idiot, Gin.’

‘Because I got injured again?’

‘No! It’s because you decide to get injured –’

‘That’s what I just said.’

‘Let me finish for goodness sake! You go and decide to do something that will obviously get yourself hurt AND you never tell me! I’m your medic. You need me! Do. You. Understand. Now?’ Joan shouted, tapping Gin’s forehead on her final sentence.

‘But -’

‘Don’t give me the ‘but I got Wo, I don’t need you’ nonsense. He does absolutely nothing. He wants you to suffer for the sake of his amusement.’

Gin wanted to say something in defence, but the more he recalled his memories of Wo, the more he remembered of all the teasing, bullying and pranks he pulled on him. Even when he was being force fed mage meat, Wo stood there and enjoyed the scene. Gin realised that he couldn’t defend Wo, especially to Joan’s criticism.

‘Look, Gin. What I was trying to get across to you, is that I want you to tell me what you plan to do. I know how stubborn you are. I know how much you strive for self-improvement. I know how annoying it must feel for you to not be a mage. Why else would you decide to get a Xernim? But I just want to be there when you overdo it.

Yeah, I don’t approve of half the things you do. I also have this feeling you just don’t want me telling you not to do this or that. So, I won’t. I will just be your support and when you get hurt, I will treat you on the spot, so you don’t have to come to be bleeding like this time. Or any time for that matter.’

‘How did I get here, wherever I am?’ Gin asked, processing what Joan had just said.

‘You’re in my room. Some people from your battalion brought you here. I guess your self-abuse paid off this time. They seemed worried, wondering when you would be available for sparring again.’

Gin breathed a sigh of relief. That confirmed their trust in him. They also wanted to spar again so they liked his new method of training. The only thing Gin had forgot to do was ask Michal how the armour was doing. He could do that later. For now, he wanted to rest. The training session took a greater toll than he had anticipated. The high he felt during it, crashed down into the draining low he had now. But before giving into his body’s desire, he wanted to ascertain one more thing.

‘Do you really mean it when you said you won’t tell me what to do?’ Gin asked.

‘Mmm. Probably not. I’ll show my frustration here and there, but I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to. Alder’s gone too so I can’t use him like last time. Remember to eat your meat rations!’

‘Yes. Yes. I guess that’s as good a deal as I’ll get with you. Mind if I sleep now?’ Gin asked as he lay down on the ground.

‘Sure. Make sure you recover properly. I’ll just go rest in your room. I have the keys.’

‘Of course you do,’ Gin remarked before going to sleep.