Chapter 23: Book 1-09.3: At the Watchtower

For the next six days, Yuriko and the other cadets were kept too busy and exhausted to do anything other than training and attending their lessons. Well, that and crawling back into their bunk beds after a gruelling day.

Their days began before dawn. All fifteen of them were brought to the grounds between the perimeter walls and the base of the tower then, accompanied by Leader Yoran and Armsmaster Byrne, they ran along the walls thrice. The total distance was about six longstrides and the pace wasn’t that bad. For Yuriko anyway. Most of the girls, with the exception of Yuriko and Danika, could barely keep up the pace and after the run, they certainly couldn’t continue with the rest of the exercises. Of the boys, only Heron and Zeyn were relatively fine afterwards.

They were then taught the basic Recovery Technique that Yuriko had already been using. The yelps and screaming as their muscles’ healing was forcibly accelerated were so loud that the sentries on top of the walls took notice. They just chuckled amongst themselves, though, and continued their duties.

By the end of the week, they were all proficient enough with the technique that, after an hour of using it, their bodies had recovered enough to continue physical training. Yuriko spent much of that meditation time either doing flexibility exercises or focusing on her Animus control.

After the recovery period, the cadets were subjected to various forms of strength training. This consisted mostly of bodyweight exercises and some callisthenics. Afterwards, they were introduced to a set of spear katas commonly used by the militia.

Yuriko hefted the training spear in both hands, noting that they were much heavier than the ones back in the training hall. The spearhead was actual metal, too, instead of a blunted wood mockup. The weapon was more than twice her height and was designed for killing swarmlings. It was also meant to be used in a group rather than alone, it was all too easy for the enemy to slip past the haft and get at the vulnerable cadet behind it.

One of the village boys, Keir, who was from Northwold Village like Gilda, was on her left while Ishika was on her right.

“Strike!”

As one, all three of them took a step forward while thrusting the spear straight ahead, and they pulled back as soon as they thrust to the weapon’s full extension. Yuriko tried to match her rhythm with the other two but it was hard since Ishika struck half a beat ahead of the order while Keir got the timing right. Yuriko wound up striking a bit faster than the boy, but slower than Ishika.

They recovered to their previous position waiting for the call, and “Strike!”. This time, they made a credible effort at striking in unison but their recovery didn’t match. After a while, they switched partners around and they did the same simultaneous spear thrust. An hour later, everyone’s arms felt like pudding and they could barely keep the weapon steady.

It took the first half of the week for all of them to be able to strike simultaneously in a line, following a rhythmic one-two-three pattern of ready, strike, return. Afterwards, they practised injecting their Animus into the weapon or used Empowered Strike just as they struck. The spear, much like the Plasma Caster, could siphon the user’s Animus to allow the attack to break past the swarmlings’ protective field but using the technique allowed them to use less Animus and increase the strike’s penetrative power.

They needed to inlay the technique’s pattern to do so with enough speed, however, so no one was ready to use the technique in quick succession. Yuriko managed to use the raw form of Empowered Strike every third blow, the other two times she used the weapon’s default mode. By the time spear practice ended it was usually time for lunch and they all went to the same mess hall where only the training camp cadets and actual militia trainees ate.

“My parents didn’t pay an entire gold mark so I can eat this kind of trash,” Braden grumbled at the slightly burnt sausages.

“You paid for the training and not the food. What, you think learning Animus techniques is cheap?” Heron remarked.

“They could have given us normal food instead of this.”

One of the militia cadets was on the table behind them. She turned around and said, “You can actually buy food, you know. There’s a different hall that sells food. You don’t have to eat the free stuff.”

“Really? Where is it?” Orrin, Heron, Braden, and pretty much all the boys said at once.

“Once you exit, follow the hall on your left to the stairs and climb up two flights.”

“Thank you!” Practically all of them dumped the food into the bussing area and ran off. Yuriko shook her head, as even some of the girls left. She finished her serving but resolved to see what the other food hall had to offer for dinner.

After lunch, Heron, Orrin, and Braden complained to her.

“Why are things so expensive?” Heron groused. “A sweet parfait here costs an entire silver mark! Ten Sovereigns for something that would cost two at home.”

“Ancestors, I thought my allowance would be enough but I won’t even be able to eat at the food hall for more than five days,” Braden whined. “Oh, my savings!”

Yuriko and Krystal looked at each other.

“How am I going to afford cakes now?” Krystal lamented.

Feeling for her coin purse, Yuriko mentally computed how much she had and how much she could afford to spend. Her lifetime of savings amounted to a couple of gold crowns but most of that was held for her at the Imperial Bank. She usually lived on her weekly allowance of a single silver mark, which was worth about ten parfaits if they were discounted, five otherwise. Either way, she only had change worth a single silver crown on hand, which would give her exactly ten parfaits.

“Ugh.” It wasn’t as if she only wanted sweets.

“A set meal is also a silver mark,” Orrin said helpfully when he saw her frowning.

When the cadets assembled for the afternoon class, the very first thing they asked Armsmaster Byrne was why everything costs so much.

“Aside from this being the only place militiamen could buy food,” he grunted, “well, you’ll find out why it costs so much next week. You can eat as much as you want in the mess hall, you won’t starve here. Now, sit down and pay attention, I’ll only go through this once. Sit!”

Despite protests, the cadets sat behind the desks while Armsmaster wrote on the chalkboard.

‘LOCAL MILITIA’

‘IMPERIAL LEGION’

“Do any of you have any doubts on which organization is currently running the Watchtower? Right, the local militia is in charge of protecting the Empire’s territories. We are trained mainly in defensive warfare or in hunting down Wyldlings. After this training camp, you may apply to join the local militia and we will take care of your training and education for the next five years. Afterwards, you will start from the ranks and can work your way up. It’s good pay, not much danger and steady work.

“The Imperial Legions on the other hand are in charge of projecting force upon the Empire’s enemies. They may be sent to secure new planes, or they may be sent into the Chaos Sea to seek out enemies and treasure. It is dangerous work but incredibly rewarding. To formally join the militia, your Anima must be at least Journeyman level, while only Knights may join the Legions. Any questions? No? Well, let’s move on…”

This wasn’t really something Yuriko didn’t already know. Her father was part of the militia, the current head of it for that matter, and he had retired from the Imperial Legions when he and her mother had Marron.

Eight years ago, just when Rami had just been weaned, mum left. Da said that she had her duties and that she would return every now and then, but the look on his face when she left was something four-year-old Yuriko could never forget.

Whenever her mother, Sadeen, returned to Faron’s Crossing, she could only stay for a couple of weeks at a time and then she was gone again for another two years. Neither of her parents ever mentioned why.

Well, Yuriko knew she wouldn’t get any answers in Faron’s Crossing. She had asked her Da and he only deflected the question each time.

Krystal nudged her side and when Yuriko looked at her, she held out a handkerchief.

Her cheeks were wet, Yuriko suddenly realized. She had been looking down at the desk so at least nobody else saw while she surreptitiously wiped.

“What’s wrong? It’s not the food is it?”

“No,” Yuriko smiled, “just suddenly thought about mum.”

“Ah.”

Armsmaster Byrne was still talking.

“...the five roles in a team is the same for both the militia and the legions, so the next few days you will be learning about these roles, and finding out which one you will take. I’ve mentioned it before, but here…”

He wrote on the chalkboard:

CONTROLLER

SCOUT

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STRIKER

DESTROYER

WARDER

“For the next five days, we will go through each of these roles in-depth as well as teach you some of the basic techniques they use. You already know about Empowered Strike and Field, the first being a basic technique for a Striker, and the second for a Controller…”

As laid out by the Armsmaster, their schedule after lunch was spent in classes that detailed each of the roles.

The first one taught was the Controller role that a mousy-looking young man who called himself Eadwin, who was about a year older than Marron, discussed with them.

“Control yourself and you can control your foes,” Eadwin said. “Frequently, the controller role falls on the shoulders of the team leader, if only because their Facets are often used to support their squad. The base technique used by any Controller is the Field technique which projects an area of control for you in the Tidelands, or other areas of Chaos…”

For most of that day, dutifully Yuriko wrote down notes, determined to never touch them again after this. She knew she wasn’t cut out to be a controller, as the only role she ever wanted was like her Da’s: to eliminate the enemy before they could harm anyone. The rest of the day was mostly spent honing the cadets’ Field technique.

Aside from the stated use, Field also allows them ease of transferring Animus to any Animatech items such as their protective training gear or the flying shuttles used by the militia.

On the afternoon that the Scout role was taught, something Krystal’s Facet was well-suited for, Yuriko realized that one of the techniques Virgil had taught her was from this discipline. It was limited to her eyes though so other than spying and locating distant targets, it wasn’t of any use at least until she learned that she could channel her Animus to her other sensory organs to enhance them as well.

Various methods of tracking, hunting, and concealment were touched upon during the lecture but since she already knew the basic application of the technique, she attempted to expand on them.

She fell into a trance and pulled on her core, drawing out a tongue of flame. She imparted the desire to be better at distinguishing scents and shoved the flames over to her nose. She almost screamed when she was overwhelmed by a deluge of smells especially since someone just passed gas.

“Urk!” She moaned and pinched her nostrils shut, cursing Heron as she did. She would have glared in the direction of the boys except Krystal had passed gas beside her, too. Gagging, she wrenched the Animus away from the organ which, blessedly, returned to normal.

Krystal was looking at her strangely, especially after Yuriko started glaring at her.

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

The next day, it was her brother Marron who instructed them on the minutiae of being a Striker. He grinned at her when he entered the lecture hall. Her brothers took after their father when it came to their looks. They were all tall, had broad shoulders, dark brown to light blonde hair, and hazel eyes. Marron was more heavily muscled than Virgil, and more markedly so compared to Kato, who was whipcord thin. Marron had his rugged good looks and her peers, the girls anyway, seemed to agree.

Most of what Marron taught Virgil had already drilled into her. The only difference was that not all Strikers utilized ranged weapons. The core tenets were mostly to eliminate the high priority targets with prejudice.

The roles of Destroyer and Warder had little to do with Yuriko and she spent most of those lectures focusing on her Animus control. She had managed to control seven strands by then, even if she couldn’t always do it simultaneously. Her idea of putting some of the strands on autopilot bore fruit though she wasn’t quite fast enough when she tried to juggle eight. She figured she either didn’t juggle control fast enough and one of the strands dissolved, or the strain got to her and she fumbled all of the strands.

For her Facet, it seemed that seven strands weren’t quite enough to continue, but she felt that eight was the target number. She had tried for the last three days to handle eight but she had yet to succeed.

The evening of their sixth day in training camp, Yuriko was challenged by Braden and Orrin to a Tracer battle. She was about to refuse as she wanted to continue working on her Facet; it was so close she could practically taste it.

“How about this,” Braden said as he whipped out a small box. “If you win, we’ll give you this.”

Furrowing her brow, she asked, “What is it?”

Glancing around furtively, Braden slowly opened the box. Inside were three dark balls about three-quarters of an inch across, placed on golden foil.

“Chocolate truffles,” Braden whispered before he quickly closed the box.

Yuriko’s mouth would have fallen wide open if she had less control over herself, but her eyes widened a little.

“Where did you get that?” She gasped. Those were the peak of luxury, and they weren’t made in this plane but had to be imported from beyond Delovine. Those three truffles were worth more than their stay here in the training camp.

“Uncle got it for us,” Orrin said. “Will you play?”

“Why would you use those as a bet? I’m not sure what I can offer to match it.”

“How about a favour?” Braden smiled slyly.

“I’m not sure I can pay any favours worth that much either,” she said drily.

“Well, you won’t have to pay it if you win.” Braden grinned. “Unless you don’t think you can?”

“I haven’t really played Tracer, you know.”

“Let’s have three games then, as long as you win once, then you win,” Orrin said.

“Hmmm.” Yuriko tapped her cheek with her fingertips. When she was younger, mum had given her a sliver of chocolate to taste. The experience was something she would never forget. Besides, they were giving her such an advantage. “Fine, it's a bet.”

The first game they had, she lost of course. It was the first time to play after all. She fumbled with projecting her Animus into the board and by the time she got used to it, Braden had pulled far ahead in scoring.

The second game was a close match and she lost by a point. Her advantage was that she could easily control two strands of Animus. Her problem was that she couldn’t invest two different intents on either strand easily. She got the hang of it quickly enough and understood what she needed to do next.

Braden was sweating profusely by the time the third game started. On a whim, Yuriko decided to try something new. Instead of constantly feeding each strand with Animus, she estimated how much each stone would take before they activated and invested that much into several strands. In the first round, she activated four stones and in the second, she activated two of the purple ones. The third round, she sent six strands to different stones while she created another two strands to channel into a third purple stone.

All six activated their target stones, while she fed the purple one with two Animus strands with opposite intents. By the fourth round, she had run out of stones to activate and she dominated three-fourths of the game.

She stared at the Tracer board and she felt herself standing on the edge of enlightenment. Animus strands sent into her Facet need not be continuously fed but apportioned with a set amount enough to accomplish its goal. To inlay, all she needed to do was to make sure each terminus line was fed enough Animus to last the entire process. But she still felt that that wasn’t quite enough.

She stood up, clearly forgetting the truffles if not for Orrin pressing the box into her hand. She absently thanked them before rushing out of the game room. She wanted to discuss her thoughts with someone but when she arrived at the shared room, nobody was there. It was still the dinner hour so perhaps they were at the mess or food hall.

Well, she didn’t want to be in a crowd right now. She headed over to Marron’s office, perhaps he’d have something to offer.

At the door to Marron’s office, a space he shared with a few others, she was about to knock when she heard someone shouting inside. She couldn’t help but eavesdrop.

“...it’s too dangerous. Especially now.”

The next voice she heard was Marron’s.

“I don’t care about danger! They haven’t responded to any of our messenger cranes, and it's already past the time when they should have sent word! Something’s happened, I know! Da--Knight-Captain Davar and the others are in danger and may be in need of help!”

The hand she raised to knock on the door fell numbly to her side.

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