Chapter 21: Book 1-09.1: At the Watchtower

The next day, Yuriko was up bright and early though she wasn’t preparing for her morning exercise routines. Instead, she was finalizing her packing. The backpack she prepared was already stuffed with her clothes, mostly underwear and casual attire. She hesitated to pack her forceweave clothing since Armsmaster Byrne said that they would be given protective gear.

Beside her pack were her side-blade and her Plasma Caster. The rifle was about forty inches long, just a bit over a pace, while the side-blade was half that length. The blade could be used on its own or attached under the rifle’s barrel to create a makeshift spear.

She also packed a set of messenger paper cranes, a fountain pen and a bottle of ink, and a portable writing pad, some water bottles, and meat jerky. Da always said that, when packing for a trip, it's best to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it.

Yuriko paused. In that case, she would bring her forceweave outfit anyway. The cloth lessened the impact of Animus empowered attacks. It shed the effect of the opposing Animus, giving her own defences an easier time and ensuring she would not be critically wounded. Of course, it was always better to avoid or deflect any such attack.

She needed to be at the training hall by midmorning, so she just stuffed everything she could into the bag and closed it. She was surprised that her bag weighed less than she expected it to. Yuriko carried it and her weapons downstairs, leaving them on the couch in the living room before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. Kato was already there, frying eggs and bacon.

“Good morning,” he said when she came in. “Here, eat your fill. You’ll need it.”

“What was it like for you?” she asked as she transferred a handful of bacon and a couple of eggs onto her plate. There was toast on the table, too, and she grabbed several slices.

“Boring, mostly,” Kato shrugged.“Da taught us most of the stuff they’ll bring up. It's the practicals you need to do well in. The results you get from there will determine which Academy you’ll enter. Speaking of, where do you wanna go anyway?”

“Agaza Academy. Where you and Marron enrolled.”

“What I meant was what do you want to specialise in? Striker like the rest of us?”

“Yes, I believe so. No matter what my Facet is.”

Kato shook his head. “If you go to Agaza Academy, you need to finish your inlay. And you’d better hope that it passes muster otherwise, you won’t be able to enrol there. Your major will have to be based on your Facet no matter what you feel like doing instead, and you will be assigned to the Academy unless there are other extenuating circumstances. They won’t allow you to waste your time and talents. If you want to focus on Striker despite your Facet, you’re better off doing it here in Faron’s Crossing’s local school.”

“I know.” Yuriko shrugged as she started devouring her food. Her appetite had increased in the last couple of weeks, probably from her use of Recovery. She had tried limiting her intake, but hunger pangs were hard to resist. “I still want to enter the Legion Vagaris and I have to be in Agaza to qualify later.”

Kato sighed. “There are other paths to enter the legion, you know. But since we don’t know what your Facet is, nothing is set in stone.”

Yuriko nodded and kept eating.

When she was done, she washed the dishes she used, to which Kato nodded amiably. Rami had wandered into the kitchen while she was eating and he was halfway done by the time she put away the plate and tumbler she used.

As she was about to leave, Rami got up and hugged her, squeezing her tight enough that she could barely breathe.

“I’ll miss you.”

Kato hugged her from behind and kissed the top of her head.

“Take care, Yuri.”

She awkwardly patted Rami’s head and Kato’s hand. “I’ll be fine. It’s only four weeks.”

After a while, they let her go and she grabbed her gear and left. It was a bit warm under her jacket, so she removed it and tied the sleeves around her waist, making sure that the side-blade sheathed on her belt was still easily accessible. The white tee she had on was considerably cooler. She walked down to Krystal’s house, finding her friend with a more modest backpack and no weapons.

“Yuri!”

“Krys!” she smiled. “Ready for the camp?”

“Not really,” the other girl muttered, “but I have little choice anyway. We’re headed to the waiting shed. Right?” Krystal demanded as she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders.

“Ehehehe.” Yuriko chuckled sheepishly. She had intended to walk to the training hall but the look on Krystal’s face quickly made her change her mind.

Soon enough, they caught the Circuit Tram, alighting at the campus. There was already a smattering of their peers loitering by the gates. A couple of boys were unfamiliar; from the outlying villages, Yuriko thought. They stared at her and Krystal when they walked up to the gates but quickly shifted their gazes when they noticed Yuriko’s weapons.

Zeyn and Maryn were chatting by the wall, their bags resting on the sidewalk. Beside Zeyn was a glaive, a long-hafted polearm with a single-edged sword in place of the spear head. At the base of the blade was a ring of red jade etched with a runic script meant to aid in channelling Zeyn’s Animus or to boost whatever was channelled into the weapon, she wasn’t quite sure. Runic scripting was something she didn’t study in-depth and the subject was only briefly mentioned at school.

The two of them nodded their greetings, though Maryn’s face grew a bit clouded when she saw Yuriko. Zeyn was all smiles and enthusiasm.

“Krys, Yuri!” Mikel yelled when he arrived. The two girls had picked a spot to wait and were in the process of shucking their gear.

“Miki,” Krystal grinned. The shorter boy was laden with an overly large bag, and on his belt hung a combat knife. “You look happy.”

“Well, I guess.” He shrugged. “I finally took the plunge and finished my initial inlay. It wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Why would it be?” Yuriko asked. “It’s a strong Heritage.”

“Yes, well, I’ve had my difficulties. Truth be told, I’m still not that comfortable with it but I realized I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Oh.”

“What about you, Yuri?” He asked, “how are you doing with your inlay?”

“Hmm, some progress, but I’m not sure how much I need to do to actually succeed.”

They waited in companionable silence and, eventually, all of them had arrived at the school and were just waiting. Eight boys and seven girls. Heron, Orrin, and Braden joined their group while waiting. Nearly everyone wore a bit of forceweave clothing, mostly jackets. The protective cloth was an amalgamation of cotton, wool, or linen, which had been treated with a solution that had different coloured powdered jade, along with something else she didn’t know. It would be relatively expensive if not for the fact that the Zarek Mountains had numerous jade mines. There was even some imperial jadeite to be found there but the one vein located was almost completely tapped out.

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Chug-chug. Tsshhh.

A wheeled transport that looked like a cross between a flat-bed hauler and a tram with wheels nearly as tall as Yuriko pulled up next to the gates. Armsmaster Byrne was driving and beside him was a dark-eyed woman with dark blue hair held in a single braid.

“Form a line,” the heavily muscled man yelled as he jumped out of the cabin. Yuriko and the others picked up their gear and gathered in front of the instructor.

“This is Company Leader Jacqueline Sayer Yoran,” Armsmaster Byrne pointed at the woman. Just like Yuriko, she was taller than the beefy Armsmaster but she was thin as a rail. Her uniform was neatly pressed with the sleeves rolled up to form crisp lines. She carried a list and called out all seven of the girls' names.

“Line up in front of me, please.”

The village girl, they learned, was named Gilda Fern Piala from Northwold Village. She had bright orange hair, freckles, pretty green eyes, and still had quite a bit of baby fat on her cheeks. Leader Yoran had the girls enter the transport from the rear and sat them on the right-side bench. Their gear was stowed in the overhead compartments, including any weapons brought, though Yuriko kept the rifle with her since it was too long to fit.

The boys sat on the opposite bench and once they were all settled, Armsmaster Byrne and Leader Yoran climbed back into the cabin and they trundled off. The transport was slow but they soon found themselves out of the town proper. An hour later, they could see the Watchtower in the distance and another half hour saw them by the gates.

Sentries wearing green uniforms opened the gates and let them through the perimeter walls and the troop transporter came to a halt near the entrance of the tower proper. The boys and girls were segregated. Yuriko and the other girls were led to a set of rooms on the west side of the tower and the boys headed off to in the opposite direction.

They had two rooms with a pair of bunk beds each. Yuriko chose a room with Krystal, Ishika, and Millie, while Danika and Maryn bunked with the village girl.

“Top bunk’s mine,” Yuriko declared, tossing her backpack over. The room was big enough that they weren’t really crowded, but it was smaller than Yuriko’s bedroom at home. The view from the window was nice as they were high enough to see just barely past the perimeter walls.

“Weapons will be checked in the armoury,” Leader Yoran reminded Yuriko just as she was about to place her rifle and blade inside the cabinet. “Bring them along. We’ll head there after basic orientation.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You ladies will have enough time to unpack later. Come along, please.”

They were led into a small room that would have fit a dozen people inside at most. There were desks and chairs set in a classroom style with Leader Yoran walking up to the front where there was a blackboard with some writing chalk on the ledge. “ORIENTATION” was written on it, with a smaller “for young ladies” under it.

“Right, get comfortable. I know sitting down is the last thing you girls would want to do after the last hour and a half on that sorry excuse for a transport, but sit down anyway.”

The chairs were comfortably padded but Yuriko didn’t have a sore bottom so it didn’t matter all that much to her. From the winces coming from Millie, Ishika, and Maryn, perhaps they would have preferred standing.

“First of all, congratulations are in order. Congratulations for having parents with enough money to let you attend this training camp. Although some may say this is mandatory for all newly-awakened children, the fact of the matter is, it isn’t. Attending this camp and passing the trials will earn you a recommendation letter to enter an Imperial Academy in Rumiga City, but it won’t automatically allow you to enter. Note that the letter will do little for you at Acadmies not on this plane. The ones in Delovine City on the Delovine plane, for example, have different standards and things are much more stringent on any plane that is closer to Realmheart.”

Leader Yoran had a sweet voice but her brutal words confused Yuriko. She had never really entertained the notion of continuing her education away from Rumiga. Although she might reconsider if she could spend time with her Mum; not that she had been given that choice.

“The reason you are here is for that letter and to earn it, you will have to demonstrate the capability to learn, to adapt, to face danger, and to triumph over it. You will also need to adhere to the strictures of the militia. I will be giving you the basic rules and regulations over the next hour or so and then I will show you around the Watchtower. Any questions?”

Millie raised her hand.

“Yes, Cadet Keryn?”

“Uhm, why were we separated from the boys, ma’am?”

“Aside from the fact that I will bring you to the women’s bathing areas, there are some things that are relevant for women and there are other things relevant to men. We will go through that information later.”

“Oh.”

“May I know what kind of trials we will be tested in?” the village girl, Gilda, asked. “I heard rumours that we will enter the Shallows.”

“Take rumours with a grain of salt, Cadet Piala. We may or may not, depending on the circumstances. Any other questions?”

None of them raised a hand and, each girl looking expectantly at Leader Yoran.

“Good. Now, who amongst the seven of you have already started their menstrual cycle?”

Yuriko blinked in surprise, not really expecting that question. She knew what that was, of course; her mum had told her about adolescence and puberty last year. Looking around, she saw that the only girls who didn’t raise their hands were her and Gilda.

Leader Yoran looked at Yuriko and Gilda before saying, “Don’t worry, you two. If your cycle hasn’t started yet, it will soon. The Atavism Ritual triggers all sorts of changes in the body and the Anima. Go to the infirmary or seek me out when it starts and we can sort you out with the proper instruction and gear. Now, for most of you, this is the first time you will stay for an extended time in a mixed-gender setting. There are certain things that you, as young ladies, should be aware of and…”

What followed was a rather detailed and frank discussion of how babies were made, relations between men and women, pregnancy and childbirth, even rearing a child afterwards.

“All of you are too young to be thinking of making babies, but your body is already capable of it so take note of the consequences fooling around can have. Also, it's better if you wait until your Anima is at the Knight level before you have any children as that would give them a better chance of gaining a strong Heritage.”

Yuriko found the discussion interesting, though she felt a bit uncomfortable when Leader Yoran went into the more sordid details. Most of them had flushed faces, some in embarrassment, others in interest.

From there, the discussion went on to proper hygiene protocols especially when they were in the field, which would begin by the next week. After a while, just as it was almost past noon, and their bellies were rumbling, Leader Yoran concluded her lecture with a final warning.

“If anyone, your peers, instructors, or members of the militia, touch any of you inappropriately, or make any unwanted advances, let me know. Such behaviour is not tolerated within the Empire and will be punished accordingly. Make known any such incident; do not attempt to endure or hide it since that will only make things worse.” She gave a grim smile before standing up.

“Now, I can hear that you’re all hungry. Let us head to the mess hall and afterwards, we’ll continue the tour.”

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