Induction

When they finished supper and the "meet and greet" with their officers, they all made their way towards the lecture theatre. They would have their orientation soon and after that, they would be dismissed and expected to go and sleep. The lecture theatre they occupied was one of the more recently renovated ones. Casimir was sitting in what was generally the middle of the room. It did not attract as much attention as sitting at the back or the front and it was a safer option considering some rowdy youths had already colonized the back rows from some timid cadets. Casimir paid it no mind and continued to inspect the room and its very bold design. The seating was the usual slopping tiers where spectators would be able to see over the head of the person ahead but the desks were a very strange wood. It was blue, and not the paint blue but rather it looked like it grew blue. Glossed very impressively, it was definitely done by a man very familiar with their trade. Even Casimir was impressed by the diligence. The desks were adorned with the Cestane's military emblem, a crest with a western dragon reaching for a thorny crown. At the base of the room was a small platform that had a desk and behind it a large board.

After the cadets finished pouring in two officers followed and closed the door behind them. One of them coincidentally was Officer Evelyn the other was a handsome middle-aged man with black hair decorated by grey streaks. The male officer initiated the orientation.

"Greetings to you all as my name is Captain Morris next to me is Captain Evelyn we are the primary captains for the group you shall join upon finishing your orientations. In this orientation I shall entertain questions but only after I finish briefing you all on your life here in the military. For those who read their code of conduct well done but for those who haven't then I will let you all know, you will be required to be up and at the first field for early physicals by four in the morning. After that you will have breakfast and go to lectures from eight to eleven, there you shall have five major modules that pertain to military upkeep and your social lives. War tactics, General Finance, Weapon and Origin theory, General Geography, and Wilderness and Monsters' lore. After that, you will have lunch then attend weapon training and ether management training, which shall round up your day. Of course, after supper, you will be expected to engage in solitary training but for now, it will be monitored."

Captain Evelyn subsequently took up from where Captain Morris left off.

"I will remind you that you will be undergoing continuous assessment and ranked in most categories, the high-rankers will of course enjoy more resources and have better chances to reach the second soul core tier before graduation. Of course, they will receive the military scholarship as well. So, you'd do well to be very diligent in your training. Questions will now be entertained."

Casimir listened intently as the questions began to fly, he hoped there'd at least be one person who would ask something sensible and helpful to the rest of the group.

"How many of us can qualify as high-rankers?"

"Only the top 5 from any ranking shall truly have real advantages however 15 will always be selected. Remember this is for your whole squadron and since you are the last addition, you'll have to work harder to get used to the system some have already been here for two weeks, it is unfair but such is life."

"How frequently do the rankings occur?"

"Every month, there will be rankings about your physicals and ones to your educational."

"Captain, is it possible for us to still be scouted by a high family?"

"No not while you are under training."

The last question seemed to deflate a lot of the recruits and Casimir could understand why the majority of these people were nobodies so getting affiliated with the elite even as just a fringe would be a dream come true. However regardless of what Captain Evelyn said Casimir would reckon if an important enough person came requesting for someone, they would get them. The questions went on for another twenty minutes but not much was of interest to Casimir. Not that he was disappointed, if there was a very boiling issue, he would simply have asked himself but there was none. At least none he could think of at the moment. The questions began to dwindle and the cadets had seemingly settled now having had most of their queries solved. Captain Morris saw this and decided to conclude the Orientation.

"You are dismissed you may leave, please stay out of trouble today."

The cadets left the lecture hall and made their way over to their building of residence. This time however it was not silent upon their return. It was filled with their squadron mates and the were waiting for their new and last additions it seemed. Casimir did not engage anyone but went to his room quietly. He would access the tome and satiate his burning curiosity. He entered his room and closed the door and sat on the bed. He accessed his glyph, the feeling of doing so was very new to him and he enjoyed it. He did not know why but he would always be left satisfied.

Name: Casimir Nagid

Fable: Gedeon's Last prince

Aura: [Destroyer]

Soul Core rank: I

Origin [Primus]: Arcadia's ruin

Abilities: [Hearth of desolation]

Artifacts: [Iron maiden] [Gedeon's ichor] [Tranquility][Gedeon's tome]

Heritage: none

Ether: [0/1000]

He focused on the tome and summoned it. It shimmered into existence and before him in was the stone. It looked like an ordinary stone tablet bar the very weird runes etched onto its surface. He looked at it and nothing happened but he knew now most things that existed in the awakened world would need ether to activate. He willed ether from his core to move towards the tome and its runes began to glow purple. The world around Casimir went dark… Once again.