by J. J. Thorn
Britta was the first out of us all to turn 17. The Affinity Test had required everyone to be 16, but obviously, everyone had different birthdays. So for people like Britta, they had waited most of the year to finally receive their affinity.
Zane and I stood beside each other as Cassie stepped in after Britta. Cassie had been tasked with bringing Britta here under the guise of a day in Krader for activities on her birthday. We'd all spent Saturday together as well, but the surprise party was intended to be a shock altogether.
We spent the next hour talking amongst each other and telling Britta how we pulled it off. We had been most worried about Trish, who surprisingly, had a difficult time keeping secrets. When she had something on her mind, she was quick to get it out. She and I had spent a lot of time talking about dungeons in general, and I enjoyed hearing about her classes. Her path at Prep was so different from most of us, but I couldn't fault her for doing what she enjoyed.
Eventually, Britta's mother brought out food to feed us all. We weren't all able to sit at the table, but we all found a place to sit as we grabbed food to eat.
Britta seemed overwhelmed by it all, but extremely happy. We had all given her small tokens for her birthday yesterday. We were still students after all, and for the most part, we had no way of making any money on our own.
We were sitting around the room when Britta's father actually called for us all to be quiet.
"Thanks, everyone, I just wanted to say a few words and give Britta her birthday present. Before that though, Britta's mom and I just wanted to thank you all for coming. We've only met some of you recently, but we're thrilled to know that Britta has such wonderful friends to keep her company." Britta's father was not a small man. With darker skin and a large frame, he worked as a dungeoneer in Krader and hunted monsters in the nearby region, helping out the guard on occasion.
Similar to what Uncle Tom and I had done, posts were placed in the Guild Hall often for monsters in the area. The number of monsters in the area was greater because of the number of people who had affinities nearby, and the dungeon also attracted monsters as well.
Despite this, the guard was well equipped and the number of Dungeoneers in the region was high. Krader was one of the safest places, despite the increased population of monsters.
"We could not have planned today without all of you, so truly, thank you. We thought long and hard about what to get Britta, but we think you'll enjoy your present.
In two months, when you're finished your first semester, I am planning a small hunting trip into the woods to the east. For that trip, they will be inviting Britta to join them."
Everyone looked at Britta jealously. Nobles often got to go hunting with their families, but for most people, it rarely happened. For starters, the majority of us joined Krader immediately after receiving our affinities. Secondly, at that point, we were only 16 years old. As a result, we didn't have many opportunities to go hunt monsters. Even my excursion with Uncle Tom had been a gift.
One that I wouldn't ever forget.
I had finally started sending letters to my parents, often asking about Uncle Tom. They hadn't heard anything about his time up north, but I knew he would be OK. Disregarding some of my professors, Tom was still one of the strongest people I had ever met.
"That is not all. As part of that invitation, we would like to extend it to a few of her friends who are currently enrolled in Krader as well. We will leave this up to Britta to decide, but she can choose 4 friends to go with her. There will be 5 fully capable dungeoneers going with you, so you and your friends will make 10.
You won't have to fight anything since the team will all be there, and they're also planning to hunt something less dangerous, but I pulled in a couple favours to make this happen.
I am planning the trip, and even though I may not be going, I trust each of the Dungeoneers implicitly.
For those of you that wish to come, please let your parents know. Otherwise, discuss things with Britta and she'll let me know.
Now, that is all. Please feel welcome and thanks again for coming."
He raised his glass to initiate a cheer for Britta. We couldn't drink alcohol as yet, but we grabbed what glasses we had and joined in.
If Britta wasn't the star of the night beforehand, she was after her father's announcement. We took what opportunities we could to also ask him some questions:
"What monster do they plan on hunting?"
"Where in the forest do you think they'll go?"
"What Dungeoneer Rank are the people going?"
To everything, he said he would wait to tell the group that Britta eventually decided on.
My friendship with Britta had grown, but I didn't hold my breath. She had her three best friends already and several others that she knew from Krader in the room as well. Even if Trish didn't want to participate, that still only left two slots. If somehow Zane or I were given the chance to go, I know she would choose Zane.
Despite the progress I'd made since I was here, Zane was more capable than me with weapons and also more knowledgeable. He was my best friend, and I knew that the best.
The ability to join a hunt would be amazing, but for now, I would let them go.
"Why are you looking so glum," Zane asked while we were sitting down to eat.
"Did I look glum? Sorry, it's nothing." I said, putting a smile on my face again for the party. I hadn't been to too many parties in my life, but I didn't want to be the one bringing down the mood.
"Oh, don't give me that," He said, giving me signature smile. "You're worried you won't get picked for the hunting trip."
"Sure, but doesn't that make sense? Look around, there are 13 of us here and only 4 spots available."
"Ya, but you're discounting the fact that Britta trains with us constantly and is our friend. You're just being down on yourself because you've never had close friends. Just wait, man. And even if we don't get to go on this one, don't worry. We'll have lots of opportunities when we're out of Prep. Plus, we have the dungeon trip next semester. Nothing to worry about."
Zane was right, as he eased my worries.
"Thanks, man, that makes me feel a bit better."
"What makes you feel better?" Jen said as she overheard our conversation.
She and Trish sat closest to us.
Zane responded before I was able to.
"Ren's a bit worried about not being picked for the trip. Just told him not to worry much."
"Zane's right, it's not worth worrying about. Just wait to see what Britta decides." Jen responded.
"Easy for you to say, you're her best friend."
"Look around you Terrence, you are one of a few people here as well. I may be one of her closest friends since we've known each other the longest, but I wouldn't think so little of your own friendship with her as well."
"And we all know I'm not going to go" Trish added in.
"Haha, ya, no offense Trish, but I don't think any of us would let Britta take you. Whoever goes will tell us all about it though haha." Jen joked as we continued to talk about the latest announcement.
Britta went between everyone that night but didn't make her decision. Her parents had also gotten her a shield for her birthday, which she was also keen to show off. The shield had no enchantments but was still a great present.
The night continued and people left as it got later and later. I considered both Zane and Jen's words throughout it all. My friendships were important to me, and I needed to stop worrying about them so much.
Eventually, Zane and I said our goodbyes and headed back to the dorms as well.
We had General Magic Studies in the morning, and we were especially excited because it was the first Monday of the month.
That means we got to have another guest speaker!
Chapter 25
Vigor
We were all waiting in the auditorium for class to start. Ever since Professor Valk's first class, we all looked forward to the special guest demonstrations. It wasn't ever
y day that you saw an affinity user at a higher Rank openly discuss their Skills and demonstrate them.
Last month's class had been interesting, if not a little different from what I'd expected. The person had been a builder in town whose affinity was to WOOD. By his accounts, he had started life with very little money and despite gaining an affinity, he had never really felt like becoming a Dungeoneer.
Instead, he had spent the beginning of his life as a lumberjack. When he gained an affinity for wood, his physical abilities went up, but his Skills are what really helped him out. He had started with an ability to identify different types of wood. To most, this would have been useless, but as a lumberjack, he appreciated the extra knowledge. As he increased his abilities, that knowledge helped him in identifying higher-quality woods that were from better trees.
At Rank 2, this fascination had given him a Skill capable of refining wood more effectively than anyone else. Due to his second Skill, he was able to start earning some significant money as towns would look to him for specific types of wood. It was this Skill that actually led him to Krader. Krader's dungeon manifested as a giant forest. The forest had trees in every direction, allowing him to make a killing. He moved to Krader and went into the forest often for its trees. He himself didn't fight monsters, but he was able to make use of the Dungeon.
I didn't see myself going in the same direction, but his story had been fascinating.
He was only Rank 2, but he had become rich from his chosen profession.
Now, one month later, we were all excited for the next special guest. I hoped they would be a bit more focused on fighting, but I appreciated the different types of abilities that the class would showcase.
Over the last few weeks, we had progressed through the different Ranks. Though we didn't dive as deeply as General Energy Manipulation would, we also spent time discussing energy manipulation. But where that class spent a lot of time focusing on other methods to manipulate, Professor Valk spent a great deal of time discussing different ways to vary our own Skills with energy.
Some Skills were very rigid, but she tried to get us to consider different ways to make our Skills work for us.
As I thought back to some of those previous classes, Professor Valk started to walk into the room. At her side was a man in a Krader Guards uniform. The main was tall, with some grey hair in his beard. His body was fully encased in armor, with Krader's crest on his left shoulder. He had black scruffy hair, but otherwise looked well kept. As he walked beside Professor Valk, his shoulders were back and he walked with the rigidity of a soldier.
He reached the podium and put his hands behind his back as he waited for Professor Valk to start the class.
"Ok, settle down everyone, we'll be starting class now. As you are all aware, this is the first Monday of the month, and as a result, we have our Guest Speaker talking to you all today. For today's class, we will be heading from Sergeant Bolbek. He is the Sergeant in charge of Krader's guard and we are very fortunate to have him with us today. He is a very busy man and you will all treat him with the respect he deserves."
She paused, allowing her words to sink in.
"Good. You have the podium Sergeant Bolbek."
"Thank you, Claire. Good Morning students. As you heard, my name is Sergeant Bolbek. I have been the Head of Guard for Krader for the last 10 years. Prior to this, I was a regular guard within the ranks. I did that for 12 years before my promotion. Before the promotion, I tried several occupations, and even tried to enter a couple dungeons, but eventually, I realized that I did not enjoy the instability of a Dungeon.
For some, the Dungeoneering life is sought after, but for me, it had no appeal. I did not enjoy leaving my family for months at a time for the prospect of either death or disappointment. Many do very well in Dungeons, but for every person who does well, there are 2 that do not.
I saw this too often and decided to change careers.
This led me to be a Guard. In my capacity as a guard, I protect regular citizens every day from monsters that would attempt to approach our city. Furthermore, as most of you know, the Guards are the first to leave the city walls to find monsters. If we do not feel comfortable with the threat, we make the Guild aware, but we must first venture outside to find these monsters.
It can be a thankless profession, but as I walk through the city, I can see the thousands of people we help every single day.
Further to monsters, we also help in managing the jails within the city. While most abide by the Kingdom's rules, many do not. The guards are tasked with apprehending these individuals.
Since several of these people are affinity users themselves, we require both affinity user personnel AND specific methods to keep these people apprehended.
I won't speak about this much, as we have a Warden who manages the jail, specifically.
My duties are two-fold. To train and manage recruits to the Guard and to help in managing the monster population itself.
The Guard is not a profession as highly decorated as Dungeoneering, but we are a very important one.
Before I talk about my abilities, I want to say two additional things about the role itself. I have spent a lot of time talking about everything OTHER than my affinity because you must remember that the majority of the guards in Terna do not have an affinity. In Krader, we have more affinity users than a regular city might, but even then, we have a large portion of non-affinity users.
This does not make them incapable. In fact, a lot of our training goes into tactics that would make them more capable against most affinity users.
In our training, all recruits are taught to respect everyone, regardless of their affinity status.
When you walk through Krader, as a student or afterwards, I ask that you treat all guards with that same respect. We have more than enough to deal with without adding disrespectful students to the mix.
My second point is an advertisement for anyone who might consider becoming a guard. I will not talk about specific numbers, but because of the importance of the role, you can expect financial stability. Along with financial stability, you can come home to your family every night knowing that you've helped protect them for another day.
Now, onto my affinity and it's abilities. Unlike some of your other guests, my affinity is quite common. I was given the SWORD affinity. At Rank 1 I was given the 'Use Sword' variant, allowing me the ability to handle myself with a sword better than others. At Rank 2, I was also given another pretty common Skill, Sharpen. This Skill allows me to sharpen any weapon of my choosing. The sharpness can be either physical or magical. I can sharpen other people's weapons, and this is purely physical. As I progressed, I was able to make my own weapons sharper in a magical sense. It allows me to cut through things that others would not.
Even weapons that I myself had sharpened physically could not match up to the magical variant.
I had these two Ranks for the majority of my time as a Guard. It was more recently that I received my Rank 3 upgrade. It was during my time as Head of the Guard, in fact.
My Rank 3 Skill is called 'Vigor'. This is the Skill I will be demonstrating today.
Because of how many of you there are, I will not be able to do this on all of you. The most I have ever done it on is 100 people, so I'll be aiming for the same amount of people today.
First, I'll need a series of volunteers. You will be my recruits for the day.
Now, I would like anyone willing to do some drills up here on the podium. You will not be asked to do anything dangerous. We don't have space to do much, so I'll be taking you through a series of exercises that should tire you out quickly.
Secondly, I want people who are capable of both seeing their internal energy and are capable of expending it quickly and safely.
The emphasis is on safety.
If you cannot expend energy safely, do not volunteer. This can either be via the use of your Skill or through the direct application of your internal energy.
Do we have any volunteers?"
Sergeant Bolbek stood still as students started to raise their hands.
I considered the two requirements and decided to volunteer. So did Zane.
I hadn't done my exercise for the day and was definitely willing to give it a shot. He hadn't given many details on what his Skill would do, but Professor Valk was right there and didn't seem worried.
"Ok, that looks like a good amount. If you've raised your hand, please find your way down to the podium."
He motioned for us all to come down from our seats as he started to move everything that was on the raised platform away from the podium.
Students started to walk towards the platform. From the other side of the auditorium, I could see Jen and Trish walking down as well. Within our group, I knew that Jen could quickly expend her energy by creating a sword. And Trish was able to augment her eyesight following some of my directions.
From my estimates, there were a little over 100 students on stage. Several had probably decided to stay away. Both because of the odd requirements and the lack of information provided by the Sergeant.
"Ok, I know space is limited, but we're going to do this as well as we can. Now, I want you to start sprinting in place. Not running, literally sprinting. Go."
We all started running as fast as we could in place. We had been training in general fitness for the last couple months, so running in place did not prove difficult at first, but the Sergeant continued to give new instructions over the next 15 minutes.
Whether that meant running in place, or raising our knees towards our chest while we ran, or doing jumping jacks (a term I had heard in physical training), we continued to follow along.
By the end of the 15 minutes, I wasn't completely exhausted, but I was a bit tired. I looked around me, and several were doing much worse.
Zane was shimmering slightly from sweat, but he still looked ok as well.
During the entire display, some in-class had taken the opportunity to make fun of people on the platform. This had not gone well for them as either Professor Valk or the Sergeant would name and shame them. They were asked to remain after class for some additional exercises of their own, which I was glad to see.