The Swimming Hole

My muscles wept as I entered the conference room at the barracks. Richard showed another side of himself, shouting as we were forced to run lap after lap around the grounds.

Granted, he was a drill sergeant. I should have expected this when I signed up.

That wasn’t to mention the sparring afterwards. I used my fists, not a sword, and without my magical ability to cheat, I wasn’t a great contender.

I collapsed into my seat, Aila gently taking the one next to mine. The ability to run fast made a lot of the training lose a bit of the implied suffering, apparently, though that didn’t keep her from complaining all throughout the night.

Most of the other seats sat empty as Richard marched in and slammed the door shut. “One day in and you survived. Not bad for a rookie.”

“Thank you, sir,” I gave a simple salute as he walked over toward the map. One day was all it took to realize that even in a different world, military drills don’t differ that much. If anything, they took it more seriously here than any military on Earth.

Three hours in after grocery shopping all day, that was all the time it took for them to throw me into a faux battle.

“As members of Unit E, you both are expected to serve as role models for the rest of the trainees, and for your first day, you did a half-decent job. I'd better not see anything just half decent on the battlefield again.”

“Yes sir.”

“Perfect,” Richard clapped his hands, looking satisfied. “With the formalities out of the way I’m sure you both are wondering why I called you here so early into your schooling. How do you feel about getting some practical experience?”

“Practical?” Alia tilted her head. “You mean like a mission? But it’s Rin’s second day! Not to mention his Senn barely works.”

“That’s exactly what we have to fix! Senn welders represent the knights in shining armor that protect Gallai from forces unknown. How would the people feel if a royal Senn user, especially one from an unknown god, could barely use his god-given abilities while serving on the battlefield?”

I muttered a select few curse words, just quiet enough to where Aila couldn’t hear from besides me.

“Bellon!” Richard shouted, “Come in.”

The door swung back open, a tall knight walking through. He had silver plate armor covering him from the shoulders down, only letting his face be seen.

Bellon swept an armored hand through his short blonde hair, shooting a smile toward Richard before taking the seat next to him. “You called, sir?”

“As I am sure you know, Gallai’s size presents its advantages and disadvantages, and one of those is the lawless lands to the west.” He grabbed a baton from the nearby table and pointed toward the upper left of the map. “Recently, there have been reports of bandit groups raiding the villages and towns of the area, and with the knights recalled for classified reasons, there is little preventing these assaults.”

“So you want us to go and take care of them? No problem for us!” Aila grinned.

“Now, you may be confident on the battlefield, but this is Rin’s first time. Bellon will be watching over you two and providing an evaluation on Rin.” Bellon gave a stiff nod. “Any questions?”

I leaned back in my chair, looking our guide in the eyes. Two days in, and they were already sending me halfway across the country? This felt early, way too early for my liking.

Not to mention, Bellon didn’t feel like the average student, even for Unit E. There was a casual feeling around this place that this man clearly wasn’t a fan of.

Almost like an active duty soldier.

“Yeah,” Aila tilted her head. “Why bother sending a guide? From everyone I've chatted with, it's tradition to send new partners together by themselves on their first mission, and someplace local too!”

“Call this a break in tradition,” Richard snapped back, batting his stick on the table. “No more questions. Dismissed!”

Aila opened her mouth to complain, only to be ignored as Richard marched out the door. “Well, that was fucking rude!”

“Complaining’s not going to do much. We were assigned the task either way,” I said.

“But still,” Aila crossed her arms in annoyance. “Eh, whatever.”

“Bellon,” I called out to the stiff man still sitting at the head of the table. “Do you have any details about the quest?”

“Yes,” He grabbed a pile of papers from the desk and slid them over. “Two main villages to scout. It’s a three-day journey by carriage. We leave tomorrow at dawn.” With those few words, he stood and made a dash for the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“That was also fucking rude,” Aila gave a long sigh and rested her head against the table. Her arms did little to hide the tired expression on her face.

“Have you met that Bellon person before? He doesn’t have the same vibe as the rest of Unit E.”

“No, he is,” Aila said. “A third year, though he never bothers to hang out here, might as well be a typical soldier. I think that's the longest he’s bothered to speak to me.”

“So Richard’s little pet then.”

“Pretty much,” Aila slowly got up, completely ignoring the stack of papers beside her. “Well, nothing to do about it. Don’t let the quest stress you, I can’t see them being any worse than those amateur bandits we fought in the woods.”

“The idea of fighting some bandits from the boonies doesn't have me shaking in my boots.” Bellon worried me more than a thousand of those lowlifes. “Best I can guess Richard is wary of my Senn, and Bellon’s the scout. Wouldn’t be the first time someone's taken a step back and watched.”

“Well, just another reason to put our best foot forward tomorrow!” Aila stretched, renewed with a newfound energy. “Make sure to keep your muscles fresh, you’ll regret it tomorrow otherwise.”

“Will do,” I gave a slight grin as I got up from the table. Tomorrow would be the real start to my journey here. I’d have to be prepared.