2 The March
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409 A.D. South of the Wall
Caledonia was a wildland. Though Ambrose had grown up in a village south of the border wall, called Hadrian's Wall after the Roman Emperor of the time, he had never crossed the wall.
The wall itself stretched from east to west, from his hometown Luguvalium in the west by the Hibernian Ocean to Pons Aelii in the east by the Germanic Ocean. The Savage North was a constant threat to Roman Britain. Thus, every few miles along the wall, a Fort was made and garrisoned in order to protect the border against the tribes to the North of the wall, tribes that regularly conducted raids.
In recent years, Roman presence had firmly established control over Britain, and the Antonine Wall that stood further into Caledonia had long been abandoned.
The Romans were a powerful force, yet even they could not compete with the brutal savagery and determination of the Northern tribes.
The Roman Emperor Honorius had been dealing with the festering presence of Barbarian Tribes attacking Rome and had long since ordered a conscription notice and called for the return of the Roman soldiers to protect the Empire from invasion.
This is how Ambrose found himself marching with a group of children and soldiers through Roman Britain in the middle of Winter.
The march itself was trying on everyone, even the veterans stood shivering in their heavy furs and armor. The children took the brunt of the cold without much in the way of comfort.
The winds blew, and night came and went, for days, and onwards they marched. Some of the children had frozen to death in the night or collapsed from exhaustion and never found the strength to stand up again. Yet, as cold and aloof as the weather itself, they marched on.
It has to be said that although Ambrose spent as much time shivering as anyone else, he suffered far less compared to the others.
Indeed, he had a hard time keeping a huge grin off his face.
The day after Ambrose had set on the road to join the Army, he heard a wonderful sound echo in his mind.
[SYSTEM HAS COME ONLINE]
[ACTIVATE PROTOCOL 1?]
"Yes!" Thought Ambrose
[ACTIVATING…]
[Welcome to the Library System. Would you like to synchronize Host's knowledge?
"Please do."
[SYNCHING…]
[Synching has completed. Your library currently has a total of 12,000 books related to Advanced Scientific Theory. Would you like the System to organize this information based on topic?]
"System, can you please organize everything based on topic and relevancy so that all relevant information for each topic is able to be quickly linked to if needed?"
[Initializing command… … … Complete.]
"System, please analyze my surroundings and see if there's anything you can do about the cold. I'm freezing, and I don't have proper clothing for the weather."
[Detecting… Host is currently under threat from inclement weather. Identifying solutions… … … 6 Solutions detected.]
"What are my options?"
[In order of Difficulty: Build a fire – Find shelter – Make a shelter - borrow a cloak – create a makeshift coat – Upgrade Body Development Level.]
Stunned, Ambrose paused while walking and bumped into the soldier behind him before stumbling forward and continuing to walk.
"System… What is Body Development Level?" thought Ambrose.
[System has determined that through training it is possible to increase the bodies ability to survive and adapt to harsh environments.]
"System, can you estimate my current level compared to the level of the Soldiers around me?"
[Detecting… Analyzing Data… System has determined that Host has yet to reach level 1. Soldiers have achieved a Maximum of level 3.]
"What do I have to do to upgrade my level?"
[Analyzing… a training method suiting your current circumstances is available.]
"What's the method?"
[System can use the harsh weather to improve the physique of the host by moving the host's latent energy to those areas most harshly affected by the weather. The process of cycling the host's energy in this manner will lead to the widening of the Host's energy pathways. When the host's energy pathways have been opened wide enough, the host will reach level one.]
"Do it." Thought Ambrose.
The cold was biting. Ambrose almost was nauseated by the sensation as different parts of his body suddenly heated up intensely before quickly becoming cold again. The feeling traveled to different parts of his body at times slowly and then suddenly very quickly.
Gracchus had noticed Ambrose' odd behavior and fell back to check on him. Without a word, he reached out a hand and felt Ambrose' head.
"Gods, boy, its this cold out and you're burning with a fever."
With a sharp whistle, a nearby soldier immediately picked Ambrose up and tossed him in a cart where he was promptly covered in furs gathered from hunting animals.
Gracchus stared at him intensely. "You'll not be dying on this march, boy. Your father saved my life. Making sure that you live long enough to die in battle like a man is the least I can do in return."
Ambrose nodded and simply went to sleep amidst the furs.
"System, is it going to be an issue if I don't expose myself to the weather?"
[No. The system can continue cycling your energy, though you may experience fatigue and have an increased need for rehydration.]
"Good, stop cycling my energy if it becomes too dangerous to continue."
And with that, he fell asleep. The actions of Gracchus did not escape the notice of the other centurions who raised eyebrows but didn't complain about it.
The other children who were almost frozen to death, however, quickly assigned feelings of intense jealousy and hatred to Ambrose for receiving such special treatment.
